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Sermon Title: “Home of the Brave?”
June 30, 2019
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. – CS Lewis
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. – John Adams
1. The Courage to have Self-Discipline
2D Communication: Email, Texting, Letters
3D Communication: Speeches, Conversations, Meetings
If you communicate 2D Messages in 3D Medium: Waste Time
If you communicate 3D Messages in 2D Medium: Loses Richness
2. The Courage to Love
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 worthy, 2) To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and 3) To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side. – John Wesley’s Journal October 6, 1774
How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults. – Benjamin Franklin
3. The Courage to Do Something
Democracy…while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide. – John Adams
Questions for Reflection:
- Where have you seen people fail to have the courage to have self-control when it comes to social media and politics? Did this change the way you viewed them? Did it change the way you viewed the issue they were sharing on social media?
- What can you do to become known more by your actions than your positions?
- Where have you failed to have the courage to do something? What would you have done if you weren’t worried about being criticized?
- Describe a time when you or someone you know has discussed political issues while forgetting that there are real people behind the issues. What would it look like to have the courage to have self-control, to love, and to do something in that situation?
- What might being courageous look like for you this week?
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LIFE IS NOT MEANT TO BE LIVED ALONE. YOU WERE CREATED TO EXPERIENCE LIFE WITH OTHER PEOPLE.