Welcome to Calvary Church with Skip Heitzik. We're so glad you joined us today.

We've heard and even repeated catchy band-aid phrases that seem comforting and empowering.

Phrases like, God helps those who help themselves. Speak your truth. Follow your heart.

But did you know the Bible doesn't say any of that?

In this study, we'll turn to Scripture to expose commonly repeated misconceptions

and find freedom and true power in the life-changing truth of God's Word.

Would you turn in your Bibles, please, this morning, to Mark's Gospel, Chapter 12. Mark Chapter 12. A while back I came across

this book called The Separation of Church and State, which is what the topic today is in this message.

It is a booklet by David Barton. It's only 25 pages. I was so impressed with it that I've got a whole bunch of them, and

we're not going to sell them to you. I'm so impressed, I'm going to give one to you, and you can get them after the service.

We're asking, though, that it's one per family, so if you got like five people in your family, don't take five copies,

take a copy, read it and pass it around, and only take one if you're going to read it. But it's for free. You can grab it. It will clear up the issue in more detail even than I'm going into

today, the separation of church and state.

The old saying, as Johnny mentioned, is never discuss politics or religion with polite company.

I am going to violate both of those today, and for two reasons. number one, because it's on your mind anyway,

it's election season. People are asking, as believers, should we be involved? If so, how much should we be involved? And second, because there's probably no statement that is more controversial

for a Christian in the United States of America than that little phrase, the separation of

church and state. Now, most everyone has heard that statement. What I've discovered is most people who have heard that statement

do not know the origin of the statement, nor do they really know what that statement originally

meant. And because it is so misunderstood, the common thought is this, that people of faith should zip it and not get involved at all

intersecting with the political world, that they should keep the cross that is the church

and the flag that is the state, totally separated.

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