A Doxology of Gratitude

Tonight is not just a concert or a birthday celebration. It is a doxology—a song of praise and thanksgiving to God who has been gracious to America.

I want to speak especially to our younger people tonight, those who look at our cultural moment and may feel growing skepticism about expressing appreciation and love for America. Let me assure you: there is absolutely no inconsistency in loving the Lord Jesus Christ as your supreme King and at the same time being a patriot and loving the nation in which He has placed you.

A Biblical Call to Stewardship

The prophet Jeremiah, writing to God's people living in exile, gave them this word from the Lord:

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city. Pray for it. Work for it. Get married. Have children and invest yourself in it.

Our ultimate home is heaven, and we hold this world with open hands. But while we are here, we are called to love and serve our earthly home and to seek the good of this nation. Loving America and longing for the kingdom of heaven are not in conflict. That is the posture of a faithful, gospel-driven citizen.

History: Flawed but Blessed

America's history is not perfect. It has never been. But neither is the history of any nation, and neither, if we're honest, is the history of the people of God themselves.

When you read the Old Testament, the history of Israel is a story of golden calves and broken covenants, but it is also a story of grace and promises. America is accountable to God like every other nation. But America is also a nation that has been remarkably blessed because her foundations were laid on a Judeo-Christian vision of man, law, and liberty.

Reasons for Thanksgiving

So tonight we give thanks. We thank God that no nation in the history of the church has sent more missionaries, planted more churches, and carried the gospel to more places than this nation.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the French diplomat who visited America almost two centuries ago, called America an exceptional nation. What struck him most was not her wealth or her armies, but the faith of her people. John Adams observed that the principles uniting that brilliant assembly of founders were, at their root, the principles of Christianity. Whatever else they disagreed on, they agreed that liberty without values collapses, and values without God have no foundation.

Our Generation's Stewardship

Two hundred and fifty years ago, Christian men helped give birth to this nation. Today it falls to us—Christian men and women—to preserve it, to improve it, and to steward that which has been entrusted to our generation. That is an amazing stewardship.

I say this with deep gratitude because I have experienced those blessings personally. I say this as a man who was not born under this flag. I came from outside, and it was here that I was found by Christ. It was here that I was saved. It was here that I was called to ministry. It is here that I serve the Lord.

As an American citizen, I do not take this privilege lightly. Freedom of worship, freedom of conscience, freedom to stand in a room like this and sing praises to Jesus Christ without fear—that is not normal in human history. It is a gift of God's grace.

So tonight we honor the men and women who bled so that we could gather here in peace, and we commit ourselves to steward what they purchased.

The True Source of Hope

But let us be clear about this: the hope for America does not begin with America. It begins with each one of us. This nation is a reflection of our individual hearts, our values, and our character. We need Jesus. And America needs Jesus.

A nation cannot be renewed from the outside in. It is renewed from the inside out—one life transformed by the gospel at a time.

Our Calling: Salt and Light

So brothers and sisters, let us be salt and let us be light. Let us defend freedom and let us be courageous. Let us love our neighbors and let us be bold with the gospel. Because only in Christ is there true and lasting freedom—not freedom from a king across the sea, but freedom from sin and death.

This freedom is purchased not by the blood of patriots, but by the blood of the Lamb, at a cross outside Jerusalem and sealed by an empty tomb.

An Eternal Perspective

Two hundred fifty years from now, the United States may stand or may not. Empires rise, and empires fall. But the kingdom of Christ cannot be shaken. And citizenship in God's Kingdom is not given by birth or by law—it is given by grace, through faith, to all who will believe.

So today we invite you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came down from heaven to save and redeem a people for Himself through His life, death, and resurrection.

Tonight, we thank God for the United States of America. Sing tonight as free people—and if you are in Christ, free indeed!