Behind the Praise - FREEDOM CELEBRATION July 4, 2010

FREEDOM CELEBRATION July 4, 2010

"Why We Honor" - opening DVD

click here to watch the video:

www.sermonspice.com/search?topic=Sermon+Illustrations&q=why+we+honor+

“Battle Hymn of the Republic”

Words by Julia W. Howe 1861. This hymn was born dur¬ing the Amer¬i¬can ci¬vil war, when Howe vis¬it¬ed a Un¬ion Ar¬my camp on the Po¬to¬mac Riv¬er near Wash¬ing¬ton, D. C. She heard the sol¬diers sing¬ing the song “John Brown’s Body,” and was tak¬en with the strong marching beat. She wrote the words the next day with a strong march¬ing beat.

"I awoke in the grey of the morn¬ing, and as I lay wait¬ing for dawn, the long lines of the de¬sired po¬em be¬gan to en¬twine them¬selves in my mind, and I said to my¬self, “I must get up and write these vers¬es, lest I fall asleep and for¬get them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dim¬ness found an old stump of a pen, which I re¬mem¬bered us¬ing the day be¬fore. I scrawled the vers¬es al¬most with¬out look¬ing at the p¬aper."

The hymn ap¬peared in the At¬lant¬ic Month¬ly in 1862. It was sung at the fun¬er¬als of Brit¬ish states¬man Win¬ston Church¬ill, Amer¬i¬can sen¬at¬or Ro¬bert Ken¬ne¬dy, and Am¬er¬i¬can pre¬si¬dents Ron¬ald Rea¬gan and Ri¬chard Nix¬on.
Music: John Brown’s Bo¬dy, poss¬i¬bly by John Will¬iam Steffe
John Brown was an Amer¬i¬can abo¬li¬tion¬ist who led a short lived in¬¬sur¬¬rect¬¬ion to free the slaves.

Click here to listen to the many arrangements of this great hymn:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=battle+hymn+of+the+republic&search_type=&aq=0&oq=battle+hymn+o

"My Country Tis' of Thee"

"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants." -- William Penn
Moved deeply by the desire to create a national hymn that would allow the American people to offer praise to God for our wonderful land, a twenty-four-year-old theological student, Samuel Francis Smith, penned these lines on a scrap of paper in less than thirty minutes in 1832. Yet even today many consider "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" their favorite patriotic hymn and call it our "unofficial national anthem."
The easily singable words of the song are matched with a popular international melody used by many nations, including England, where it accompanies "God Save the King/Queen." The emotionally powerful ideas that Smith expressed had an immediate response. The hymn soon became a national favorite. The stirring tributes to our fatherland in the first three stanzas lead to a worshipful climax of gratefulness to God and a prayer for His continued guidance.
Following his graduation from Harvard and the Andover Theological Seminary, Samuel Smith became an outstanding minister in several Baptist churches in the East. He composed one hundred fifty hymns during his eighty-seven years and helped compile the leading Baptist hymnal of his day. He was also editor of a missionary magazine through which he exerted a strong influence in promoting the cause of missions. Later he became the secretary of the Baptist Missionary Union and spent considerable time visiting various foreign fields. Samuel Smith was truly a distinctive representative of both his country and his God.

My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride,
From ev'ry mountain side let freedom ring!

My native country, thee, land of the noble free, thy name I love:
I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills like that above.

Let music swell the breeze, and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song:
Let mortal tongues awake, let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to Thee, author of liberty, to Thee we sing:
Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might, great God, our King!

Click here for the various recordings:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=my+country+tis+of+thee&search_type=&aq=f

"Salute to the Armed Forces" worship choir & orchestra
Click here to listen to this tribute song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwnwONrLNio

"Scripture Reading"
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which re called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Romans 13:1
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Haggai 2:7
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Psalm 33: 8-22

8Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
10The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
11The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
14From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
16There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

"Freedom's Never Free" worship choir with Jason & Stephanie Meyer

click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFBzNibOl78

"Save America"
Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzRXb3rm_g

"I Fought for You" - DVD
www.sermonspice.com/search?topic=Sermon+Illustrations&q=i+fought+for+you

"Break our Hearts"
This song was written by Billy James Foote.

Learn more about Billy's ministry on his myspace website & ministry website:
www.myspace.com/billyfooteband

Learn more about Billy's ministry here:
www.billyfoote.com/

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBLEckfWPWY

"I Believe in Freedom, Thank You"
www.sermonspice.com/search?topic=Sermon+Illustrations&q=i+believe+in+freedom

“God Bless America” - Nancy Hill

The unofficial national anthem of the United States was composed by an immigrant who left his home in Siberia for the USA when he was only five years old. The original version of "God Bless America" was written by Irving Berlin (1888-1989) during the summer of 1918 at Camp Upton, located in Yaphank, Long Island, for his Ziegfeld-style revue, Yip, Yip, Yaphank. "Make her victorious on land and foam, God Bless America..." ran the original lyrics. However, Irving decided that the solemn tone of "God Bless America" was somewhat out of keeping with the more comedic elements of the show, so the song was laid aside.
In the fall of 1938, as war was again threatening Europe, he decided to write a "peace" song. He recalled his lyrics of "God Bless America" from twenty years earlier, then made some alterations to reflect the different state of the world. Singer Kate Smith introduced the revised "God Bless America" during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. The song was an immediate sensation; the sheet music was in great demand.

Click here to read more details about the song:
http://katesmith.org/gba.html

Click here to listen to Celine Dion singing this great song at the Super Bowl following 9/11
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13R_stGuLo

Click here to listen to the different arrangements of the song:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=god+bless+america&search_type=&aq=f

Click here to purchase Celine Deons’ version of “God Bless America”