fifty years of fifty stars

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Page 1: Fifty years of fifty stars
Page 2: Fifty years of fifty stars

The flag of the United States of America is the oldest national flag in the world.

The Star-Spangled Banner had 15 stripes & 15 stars.Both stars & stripes were added when Vermont &

Kentucky jointed the Union.In 1818, Congress reduced the number of stripes

to the original 13.Only stars were added for new states.

Page 3: Fifty years of fifty stars

Exactly 50 years ago today – July 4, 1960 – the first 50-star flag was flown in Philadelphia.

For the past 50 years, this flag has flown.This is the longest-used version of the American

flag.There has been talk for many years of adding a

51st state.

Page 4: Fifty years of fifty stars

There are some more states we need to add.I’m speaking of states we need to add in the

church.To our flag, we need to add:

THE STAR OF SAMENESS;THE STAR OF SERVICE;THE STAR OF SALVATION.

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The “Star of Sameness” says there is equality among men.“All men are created equal.”Scripture affirms the equality of man.

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen 1:26, ESV).

All humans have descended from eight souls.“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 9:1,

ESV).God “made from one man every nation of mankind to

live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26, ESV).

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Some in the early church had a difficult time adding “The Star of Sameness.”Jewish Christians had a hard time letting go of

the Law.Some well-to-do brethren had a hard time

accepting their poorer brethren.“In eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal.

One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?” (1 Cor 11:21-22, ESV).

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“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (Js 2:1-5, ESV).

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“The American flag stands for the fact that cloth can be very important. You can tell just how important this cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment. Nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. A homeless person can lie all over the ground all night long without anyone picking him up, folding him neatly and sheltering him from the rain. School children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning.

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“No one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. But we all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth. Betsy Ross would be quite surprised to see how successful her creation has become. But Thomas Jefferson would be disappointed to see how little of the flag’s real meaning remains.”

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The “Star of Service” declares that we are to serve our God.

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

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In Luke 20, the scribes & the chief priests send spies to catch Jesus in a mistake.“Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or

not?” (Lk 20:22, ESV).Jesus asks to see a coin & asks whose image is

on it.The spies answer, “Caesar’s.”Jesus: “Render to Caesar the things that are

Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Lk 20:25, ESV).

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We must serve our God.“My beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58, ESV).

“Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Heb 12:28, ESV).

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Shall we be those who serve God?

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The Continental Congress was eager to escape the tyranny of George III.

Today, we face a more brutal tyrant – sin.“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits

sin is a slave to sin” (Jn 8:34, ESV).We have all seen that tyranny.

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“We know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Rom 7:14-20, ESV).

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“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the

truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31-32, ESV).

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That Word teaches us to live appropriately.That Word trains “us to renounce ungodliness

and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Tit 2:12, ESV).

That Word teaches us how to come to God out of slavery.At Pentecost, “those who received his word

[Peter’s preaching] were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41, ESV).

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