Faith And Citizenship
Posted by Chris on July 8, 2013 under Front Page Posts, Sermons
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Sermon for July 7, 2013 by Chris Benjamin
Timeline for Bulgaria
1. Bulgarian State: 1878-1946
2. Communist State: 1946 – 1990
3. Transition Era: 1990 – now
Seminar: The Power of Faith, Hope, and Love
America’s First Atheist Monument
Faith and Citizenship are related. Faith informs the way a follower of Christ practices his or her duties as a citizen. Just as faith informs and guides the way we live our lives in all contexts. However, citizenship must not take precedent over faith.
Faith and Citizenship are not the same thing. If we think that our faith depends on the blessing or affirmation of the government, then we ought to re-think what we call our faith. It may be that our faith is in worldly institutions rather than the kingdom of God.
The Epistle to Diognetus: For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers
Romans 13:4
1 Peter 2:11-14