Our dignity as humans is directly tied to God. Did you know that welfare strips people of their dignity and self-worth? Now think about this — welfare leads to socialism/Marxism which leads to Communism. America was built on the idea that people can work for a living. If the government just gives us money for doing nothing, we will become nothing and that wasn’t God’s plan.
In this 3rd installment of the special Sunday series, Pastor Jerome lays down the truth about where our dignity comes from and how welfare can easily take it away.
Citizens of Heaven on Earth — Dignity
Notes from today’s message:
We as humans are built to reflect the image of God Himself. He made us to rule and have dominion, not over each other, but with each other. Jesus makes us that unstoppable force!
Today’s Scripture
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
…
15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.
“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
Genesis 1:26-2:25 NLT
Dignity
Dignity is the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect; a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect.
Statistics:
- Men who retire early have a 20% higher death rate than those who don’t.
- Single parent households are 4-5 times more likely to be in poverty than 2-parent households. Back in the 60s, 80% of African American families had both parents in the home.
- In 2018, $445 billion were spent on welfare programs. If all the Christians in America tithed (gave 10% of their income), that would total $488 billion per year.
Welfare ultimately destroys the dignity of a person/people. Jesus understood this…
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14 At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
17 Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
Matthew 17:14-18 NLT
Jesus also told us…
2 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
John 14:12-14 NLT
We bring glory to God the Father when we pray to Him in Jesus’ name! We don’t pray to anyone else!
God has something to say about what’s going on in today’s world. It’s in the Bible…
Lazy people are soon poor;
Proverbs 10:4 NLT
hard workers get rich.
A hard worker has plenty of food,
Proverbs 12:11 NLT
but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.
Wise words bring many benefits,
Proverbs 12:14 NLT
and hard work brings rewards.
Work hard and become a leader;
Proverbs 12:24 NLT
be lazy and become a slave.
Lazy people want much but get little,
Proverbs 13:4 NLT
but those who work hard will prosper.
Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears;
Proverbs 12:11 NLT
wealth from hard work grows over time.
I could go on. When was the last time you read through the Book of Proverbs? I highly recommend it. We all need a healthy dose of wisdom!
Welfare in America was started to help widows who lost husbands in World War II. However, the idea of subsidizing the poor goes all the way back to the Roman Empire! Where does the money to support welfare programs come from? Taxes.
The problem is that welfare is not sustainable. It was not part of God’s original design! Welfare leads to generational poverty, which leads to more welfare programs which leads to socialism.
Was Jesus a Socialist? No. I explain here….
Our dignity as humans is directly tied to God. It’s what sets us apart from the rest of creation. We are not absolved from helping those who are under-privileged or disadvantaged, but…
The Big Idea:
The further we get away from God’s way of doing things, the more conflict, pain, suffering, sickness, sin, racism, fatherlessness, abortion, addiction, abuse, poverty, unrest, murder, stress, fighting, lack of dignity and ultimately death is what we have — but we have Jesus!
We as Christians are citizens of a Kingdom — Jesus is our King, the ruler of our lives.
Jesus alone!
America’s Two Roads
This coming election will define America’s future. Listen to this podcast…
Who Should You Vote For?
First off, let me say that we are not electing a “Pastor-in-Chief”. We are electing the person who’s going to be the CEO of our country for the next 4 years. The best person for the job is Donald Trump. Joe Biden won’t last past next March if he’s elected and then we get Kamala Harris as president. That will be the downfall of our nation.
If Trump wins, we’ll have 4 more years of
peace and prosperity.
If Biden/Harris win, our country will head down the worst path ever. Anarchy will reign in our cities. More businesses will close. Unemployment will increase. Our relationship with Israel will break and our relationship with Iran and the terrorists will bloom. Life will get worse! Do you really want that? All because you don’t like what a guy tweets?!
And, if you consider yourself a Christian, remember that President Trump is the most pro-life president ever. Moreover, Biden, a professed “practicing” and “devout” Catholic, supports the murder of innocent lives up to birth. Learn more about that here….
Also, take into consideration that Catholic Biden also approves of same-sex marriage.
Besides that, we’ll lose our freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the freedom to own a gun to protect our families, homes and businesses.
If American falls, we’re stuck. If we lose our freedom, we’re stuck. There’s no place else to go!
Pray wholeheartedly before you cast your vote! Read the Bible! Seek the truth!
