Hello, thank you for joining me today for Give Him 15.

And the title of today's post is,

We have answered the call.

As we celebrate our nation's birthday tomorrow,

it is good to be reminded that God created America for his purposes. It is clear that the

motivation of the early settlers included the furthering of the gospel. John Winthrop, an English

lawyer and leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,

led the first large wave of colonists from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of the colony's first 20 years.

On the voyage to America aboard the Arbella, Winthrop composed a lay sermon,

entitled a model of Christian charity in which he pictured the Massachusetts colonists

in covenant with God and each other, divinely ordained to build a city upon a hill in New

England. He took the phrase from Christ's message in Matthew 514. On May 19, 1643,

Winthrop organized the New England Confederation

among the colonists of New Plymouth, New Haven, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

They covenanted together under the Constitution of the New England Confederation.

Here's a short portion of the covenant. Whereas we all came to these parts of America

with the same end and aim,

namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the

gospel thereof with purities and peace, and for preserving and propagating the truth and

liberties of the gospel. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Just over 130 years later, following the signing of the

Declaration of Independence, a committee was appointed to draft a seal for the newly formed

United States, which would express the spirit of the new nation.

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