Let Us Be Renewed As A Nation

We have begun our
"BE RENEWED" time as a church! In the continued challenges and adversities of this unforgettable year, 2020, we will gain the most to renew ourselves in heart, mind, spirit, strength, and in the promises of God. On this week of our national election, let me add one more priority of renewal. LET US BE RENEWED AS A NATION!

• Let us be renewed to exercise our democracy by taking the time to vote.
• Let us be in prayer for the liberty of all people of our Nation and all who serve.
• Let us be in prayer for the President and the Executive Branch of Government.
• Let us be in prayer for Congress and the Legislative form of government.
• Let us be in prayer for the judicial branch, our Supreme Court, and the new judge Amy Coney Barrett
• Let us be in prayer for all who will be either reelected or elected in this election.
• Let us, in a time of division, ask the question of Abraham Lincoln, "The question is not whether God is on our side but rather are we on God's side?"
• Let us renew ourselves as citizens to ask John F. Kennedy's question, "Not what can our country do for us but what we can do for our country."
• Be renewed to the freedom of religion in our country and not the freedom from religion that President Ronald Reagan envisioned.

As we move into Tuesday's election, let us remember the three words of advice from John Wesley's journal about elections.

*I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election and advised them,
1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worth.
2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against.
3. To take care, their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side. (John Wesley's Journal entry on October 6, 1774)

As I finish writing this article, I am going across the street to vote. Please take the time to vote, and may our great Country be renewed! Let us be in prayer for our Nation! And let us sing the hymn, we sing so frequently by Irving Berlin in World War I.

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
God bless America, my home sweet home

Shalom,
Philip