A little over a month ago I preached a sermon at our little church about how we are to respond to our government. It was one of the last in a series on the doctrinal statement of our church.
Our doctrinal statement says the following…
Section 6.11 On Civil Government
We believe that civil government is ordained by God in the interests of law and order within society, and that we should therefore pray for the governing authorities. We also believe we must honor and obey them in everything that is not contrary to the teachings of the Bible.
Romans 13:1-7; Acts 5:17-32
The sermon slides are here in PDF form.
The real challenge I tried to convey in the sermon is that we constantly have to make choices to obey our government, which God put in place over us and the laws that the government proposes. There are times when the laws or ways of the government will come into conflict with our understanding of God and His Word.
What are we to do when they are in conflict?
- We look to God’s Word for direction.
- We pray to God asking for direction.
- We remember that we are fighting a spiritual battle.
- We remember that we are citizens of heaven.
- We remember that the Lord is the refuge of the oppressed.
- We remember that the Lord is still in control.
Here is a story about a women who is doing exactly what the sermon was about. She is balancing what her government is asking her to do and what her Lord tells her to do. Please read the story and be encouraged by her brave sacrifice.
