John Adams predicted Independence Day would be the greatest holiday in the year for Americans, a day, as he put it, for "pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other." And so we shall begin the celebration this Sunday with stirring hymns, a Word of remembrance about the meaning of The Day, followed by a rousing patriotic concert later that night in our bunting wrapped sanctuary.

John Adams was a child of the "Congregational way." So was his sturdy, steady, independent wife, Abigail, daughter of the Reverend Mr. Smith of Baintree. It was from her kitchen that Abigail managed her husband, John, and did so much in her own way to make independence possible for those English colonists who discovered they had become Americans.

Their Declaration of Independence was largely inspired by the preachers of those New England Churches who proclaimed that the right of kings to rule came from God alone and that when God's laws are defied by such a ruler he loses the right to rule and should by all rights be overturned. And so theology laid the foundation for politics and the revolution that surprised King George who had taxed without representation.

We do well to remember that foundation and its Biblical roots, the One in Whom all freedom consists, and what freedom requires of us in our day. So, come for worship...and come back for the concert with homemade ice cream to follow in the Atrium.

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.
Amen

-Dr. Donald Gordon Lewis
Senior Pastor