July 4th Celebration
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231 years ago 56 brave visionaries fixed their signatures to a newly written document entitled ‘The Declaration of Independence’. These men, the forefathers of our nation, deserve a high position of honor and respect for their courage and commitment. With their signatures they knew they were signing their death warrants and would be hunted down, arrested and executed if possible by the British. These men were:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Matthew Thornton
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
John Hancock
Let’s read the document they signed with such passion and purpose.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. …
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
The last sentence of that July 4, 1776 Declaration signed by these 56 men reads:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Not only did these 56 well known men sign this document but a whole nation of people, men, women, boys and girls, embraced the vision of freedom, joined themselves to a cause worth dying for and pursued their destined course. They paid for a day beyond their own lifetime and people like these continue to lay their lives on the line daily for the ideals we hold and now call the United States of America.
Tonight we celebrate the birthday of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Our Key Scripture read at the beginning of this service tells us that God is interested in and takes note of the affairs of state.
“If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God’s notice, it is doubtless that a nation can rise without His intervention.” Benjamin Franklin
Key Scripture: Psalms 33:12 ¶ Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
Won’t you stand as Christy Greer comes to lead us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the Unites States of America and then in the song, God Bless America.
Then we will conclude with prayer for our nation and God’s intervention in our lives.
