The Faith that Shaped a Nation

“The Faith That Shaped a Nation: America’s Religious Beginnings and the Gift of Freedom”

Scripture reading about freedom

John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Well, last week Alice gave us a story for students about the Pilgrims and the Thanksgiving story, and that inspired me to depart from the series of messages we have been in this week, and revisit the story of the beginnings of our country.  And I know that we often hear the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians, and that first Thanksgiving meal at this time of the year.  But I wanted to expand that a little bit to get into the motive behind the Pilgrims and many others who came to this land, the motive behind their pulling up stakes in their home countries to come to this land.  And one of the big reasons was: Freedom.

America’s story is not simply about politics, economics, or geography—it is, at its core, a story about faith.  A story of persecution and perseverance. A story of people who crossed oceans for one reason:
to worship God according to Scripture, without fear. They were not perfect—none of us are—but their longing for freedom reflects a truth woven through all of Scripture: I just read some Scripture. (reread)

There is a strong theme of Freedom woven into the pages of Scripture.  Of course when we read those Scriptures, especially when we are thinking about our country, and American history, we think about freedom in the context of freedom from governmental powers, and kings, restricting our “rights.” 

We’re chanting with Braveheart, “You can take our lives, but you will never take our freedom!”  Or we think of Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

And we often think of the American idea of freedom which is self-determination, nobody can tell me how to live my life-ism. 

Of course, if you know Scripture, the verses I just read are not about that kind of freedom. They were written about people who were oppressed by religious rules and rituals that supposedly were to make them righteous before God.  They were written about the bondage to sin. They were written to tell people that their freedom was found in the shed blood of Christ.  But it was not a freedom from all restrictions.  We learn that from other Scriptures.

Romans 6:6–7 “Our old self was crucified with Him… so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Romans 6:18 “Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

But today I did want to look back on those founding days of our nation, not to glorify our nation, but to glorify the God who raised us up and called us people to stand faithfully within this nation, and to thank the Lord for this land that still gives us the freedom to worship the Lord as our conscience, guided by Scripture, dictates.  Before we jump in, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father,
We come before You this morning with thankful hearts. You are the God who sets captives free, who breaks the chains of sin, who opens blinded eyes, and who calls Your people into the glorious liberty of the children of God. As we have just read from Your Word, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Lord, we confess that every true freedom—spiritual, moral, and even civil—flows first from You.

We thank You today for the story of our own nation, not because it is perfect, but because in Your providence You used ordinary men and women—Pilgrims, preachers, and pioneers—who longed for a place where they could worship You according to Scripture without fear. Thank You for the courage You gave them, the faith that sustained them, and the freedom we still enjoy because of their sacrifices.

But Lord, keep us mindful this morning that the greatest freedom is not written on parchment or defended by armies. The greatest freedom is found in Your Son—freedom from sin, freedom from guilt, freedom from fear, and freedom to walk in righteousness. Help us never to confuse political liberty with the liberty of the gospel. Make us a people who cherish both, but who cling most tightly to the freedom purchased by the blood of Jesus.

As we look back today on America’s beginnings, help us to see Your hand in history, Your grace in our blessings, and Your call upon Your people to stand faithfully in whatever land You place us. Speak to our hearts now through Your Word. Shape us, convict us, strengthen us, and free us anew.

We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Liberator.
Amen.

I hope to make several points today around the story of peoples coming to the New World.  And these are really the things that they were thinking as they boarded sea vessels for the long journey here.  Here are their thoughts; They knew that Freedom grows out of suffering.  They were crossing the oceans for the right to worship. They knew that Conscience should belong to God alone. And they knew that Providence would shape a new land far more than politics.  Lastly, they knew that Freedom must be used for God’s glory—not wasted.

Let’s start.

POINT 1 — RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BEGAN WITH SUFFERING, NOT COMFORT

In Acts 8:1 this statement is made— “There arose a great persecution… and they were scattered abroad.”  After Stephen was stoned to death for preaching Christ, those opposed to the gospel were emboldened to pursue others who worshipped the Lord.  And because of that many Christians fled from the hub of that persecution; Jerusalem. But something surprising happened, verse 4 of the same chapter.

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 

Persecution has always been one of God’s surprising tools in advancing the gospel. The early church did not grow because life was easy—it grew because life was hard. When Stephen was stoned, the church might have expected the movement to shrink. Instead, Acts says believers “were scattered,” and everywhere they went they “preached the word” (Acts 8:4). What Satan meant for harm became God’s megaphone. Jerusalem’s persecution became Judea’s revival. Judea’s revival spread into Samaria. Samaria’s revival eventually shook the Roman Empire.

And this pattern has repeated itself throughout history. In Europe during the 1500s and 1600s, religious freedom was not simply limited—it was nearly nonexistent. Luther, the great church reformer once said, “If I rest, the gospel lies down with me.” John Huss, a key predecessor to the Reformation was burned at the stake. William Tyndale was strangled and burned for translating Scripture into English. Queen Mary’s persecution filled the pages of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs with stories of men and women who chose Christ over life itself.  And lest we think that persecution was only against Protestants, we must remember that across Europe:
• yes- Reformers were burned at stakes in public squares.
• but Catholics were also hunted in Protestant lands.
• Protestants were imprisoned in Catholic territories.
• Baptists were drowned for rejecting infant baptism—mockingly called “the third baptism.”  And this was by Protestant reformers.
• Separatists were fined and jailed simply for worshiping outside the state church.  And this was by the Anglican church, supposedly a part of the Protestant Reformation.
• Quakers were beaten and exiled, by Puritan leadership, including women like Mary Dyer who was publicly executed in Boston for her faith. 

People often imagine that religious liberty was the norm in the Old World. It wasn’t. Faithful Christians learned that open worship was not a basic right—it was a privilege paid for with tears and blood.

The Pilgrims’ Story

The Pilgrims began as a small Separatist congregation in England under pastors like John Robinson. Their homes were often raided by constables because they held Bible studies outside the Church of England. Their pastors were imprisoned. Families were torn apart as authorities forced children into Anglican schools to “re-educate” them. To gather for prayer, they often met at night in barns or in forests to avoid detection.

William Bradford wrote:
“But though they could not long continue in any peace, yet they were not suffered to rest long, for their troubles soon increased.”

Their first escape to Holland was so dangerous that many were arrested in transit. Others were betrayed. Some women were separated from their husbands. But they pressed forward, believing—as Bradford said—“it is not with us as with other men whom small things can discourage.”

Eventually, their journey stretched farther than they ever imagined, across the cold Atlantic into an unknown wilderness. Not to become wealthy. Not to exploit land. But simply to worship without fear.

Application

The point for us is, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BEGAN WITH SUFFERING, NOT COMFORT.  Most of us here have grown up and grown old in a country that allowed us to exercise our faith unrestricted and unmolested.

But we must never take our freedom for granted. The freedom to open your Bible in public, gather in a church building, pray without fear, talk to your neighbor about Jesus, modestly dress how you want, get a job or move to a new city, and raise your children in the faith—these precious liberties, often are restricted religiously in other countries, they were purchased with suffering.

And God still works through suffering today. Many of your greatest spiritual breakthroughs will not come from comfort but from hardship. Some of the greatest revivals in history began in prisons, in exile, or in seasons of intense distress. When the church is pressed, the gospel often shines brightest.

POINT 2 — THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS: A FAITH WORTH CROSSING AN OCEAN FOR

Hebrews 11: 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

This passage of Scripture spoke to the depths of the Pilgrims spirits.  They took their very name from Hebrews 11.  They were originally called separatists.

When the Seperatists boarded the Mayflower in 1620, they were not entrepreneurs building an empire—they were believers pursuing obedience. They read that the writer of Hebrews says that true people of faith “desire a better country,” not meaning a political nation but a place where God’s presence is their home. That is exactly how the Seperatists thought.

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Bradford said, “They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest country.” For them, America was not the Promised Land—Heaven was. America was simply a place they hoped they could seek God freely while journeying toward their real home.

When they set out, they carried: A Bible in one hand, A future they could not see, And a conviction that God’s will was better than ease.

Governor William Bradford wrote in his journal: “We verily believe and trust the Lord is with us… Our task is to follow the will of God.” That was their mission statement.

In the 1630s, another wave came—the Puritans. Led by John Winthrop, they sought not to separate from England, but to purify the church according to Scripture. Winthrop preached his famous sermon aboard the Arbella, declaring that their community must be:
“A city upon a hill… with the eyes of all people upon us.” This analogy he took directly from Scripture, the sermon on the mount, where Jesus said,

Matthew 5:13-15 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Not a utopia. Not a perfect society. But a place where Scripture shaped homes, laws, and hearts.

Application

Do you have a A FAITH WORTH CROSSING AN OCEAN FOR? Would you follow Christ if it meant losing everything? • Your job? • Your home? • Your reputation? • Your comfort?

The Pilgrims and Puritans did. They believed that faith worth having is faith worth sacrificing for. Christ calls His followers to take up the cross (Luke 9:23).
How far are you willing to follow Him?

POINT 3 — THE QUAKERS, BAPTISTS, AND OTHER SEEKERS: A CALL TO RADICAL FREEDOM

Many religious groups of that time heard the truth of Romans 14.

Romans 14: 3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. 5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

The passage was about people in the 1st century church who had disagreements about things like, can I eat meat sold in an idolatrous temple, or should I not work on Saturday, or should I reserve Sunday for worship.

Not all believers agreed on how churches or believers should operate. And this translated into their own time when the state, the government, and the “approved” church made laws governing things like “approved” church attendance, baptizing your children in the “approved” church, having no “unapproved” Bible studies, or teachers.  And many could not accept the idea of a state-sponsored church controlling the spiritual life of its citizens. Out of this conviction came groups who championed a new idea—freedom of conscience.

Romans 14:12 “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men.”

Jesus invites, He does not coerce

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

James 4:12 “There is one Lawgiver and Judge… who are you to judge your neighbor?”

All these together point out that Christ’s kingdom, during this age, is not a coerced kingdom.  Jesus told Pilate that He did not come to build an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly one.  So, neither should we as Christians be trying to enforce spiritual conversion or decisions on the populace.  To us, this seems reasonable, but it was a radical thought when the New World was discovered.  But several groups championed this truth.

The Quakers

The Quakers rejected formal clergy and believed the Holy Spirit could speak through any believer. But in England, they were imprisoned, beaten, and fined. In the American colonies, especially Massachusetts, Quakers were whipped, banished, and in several cases—executed.  Mary Dyer, a Quaker martyr, declared before her death:
“I came to keep blood-guiltiness from you; choose life, therefore, that you may be saved.”

William Penn, a Quaker convert and founder of Pennsylvania, envisioned something revolutionary: a colony where believers of all denominations could worship freely without fear. His founding principle was, “There can be no freedom without freedom of conscience.”

The Baptists

The Baptists likewise suffered intensely. Roger Williams, a Baptist and fierce advocate for liberty, taught that: The church must not control the state, Faith must be voluntary, Forced religion produces hypocrisy, And civil government has no authority over the soul.

For these beliefs, he was banished into a winter wilderness. He survived only because Native Americans took him in. Williams later founded Rhode Island, the first place in the Western world with complete religious freedom—no state church, no forced tithes, and no government interference in worship.

Williams wrote: “God requires not a uniformity of religion… enforced by the civil sword.”

And even though we can find many doctrinal differences with these groups, and even modern groups, we to believe in the freedom of conscience.  We believe that there are moral laws that the civil government should enforce.  But, because Scripture says about conversion, “Whosoever will, may come.”  We don’t want people forced to be Baptist, or Methodist, or Anglican, or Catholic.  They come because they will to do so.

Application

True faith cannot be forced. God never coerces—He invites. Jesus said, “Whosoever will may come” (Revelation 22:17). Christian liberty means defending not only our right to worship, but the rights of others—even when we disagree.

Why? Because coerced religion does not honor Christ. Jesus reserved His greatest criticism for hypocrites.  And forced religion creates multitudes of hypocrites. History shows that when the church tries to control consciences, it loses its moral power.

A CALL TO RADICAL FREEDOM is a call to let people choose to reject Christ, truth, and the Bible.

That also is something we must remember as parents and grandparents.  We can set guidelines and rules in our homes.  When our children are not of legal age, we can require them to be in church, we can restrict what our children watch or listen to, and even if they are still in our homes as adults, we can set limits about behavior we will and will not allow. But we cannot make our children follow the Lord.  We cannot guilt them or badger them into it, because we will be in danger of creating rebels and hypocrites.

POINT 4 — THE BIBLE AND PROVIDENCE SHAPED AMERICA FAR MORE THAN POLITICS

Psalm 33:12 — “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”

Though America has always included diverse beliefs, Scripture undeniably shaped its early identity.

Examples:

• Schools were founded so children could read the Bible.
The New England Primer (1690), America’s first textbook, began with:
A — “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.”  B — “Thy life to mend, this Book attend.”

C — “Christ crucified for sinners died.” D — “The Deluge drowned the earth around.”

E — “Elijah hid from Jezebel.” And on it went

• Colonial laws required church attendance.
Massachusetts Bay required every citizen to attend weekly worship. Now, this directly contradicts a belief in a freedom of conscience, but it shows how strongly early government was influenced by the Bible.

• Political leaders openly quoted Scripture.

George Washington — First Inaugural Address (1789) “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.”

John Adams — Second President “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.”

Patrick Henry — Governor of Virginia “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this nation was founded… by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Benjamin Franklin — Constitutional Convention (1787) “God governs in the affairs of men… except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.”

Samuel Adams “The right to freedom is the gift of God Almighty.”

• The Great Awakening swept the colonies, preaching repentance and the new birth through Christ. Jonathan Edwards warned, “There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God.” George Whitefield thundered across the colonies, bridging denominational lines and uniting the people spiritually long before they were united politically.

Even those not considered orthodox Christians defended religious liberty for biblical reasons. Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Compulsion makes hypocrites; only reason and persuasion lead to truth.” James Madison, the architect of the Bill of Rights, said:
“Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” Out of this came the First Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In other words: Government cannot force belief. Government cannot forbid belief.

THE BIBLE AND PROVIDENCE SHAPED AMERICA FAR MORE THAN POLITICS

Application

Guard your freedom of conscience. Use it faithfully. Teach your children why it matters. Religious liberty is not maintained by governments—it is maintained by people who value it.

POINT 5 — RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS A GIFT TO PRESERVE, NOT ASSUME

Galatians 5:13 — “Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Freedom is not a license to drift morally—it's an invitation to live righteously. Paul warned the Galatians not to misuse their liberty, not to turn grace into permissiveness. The same danger exists for nations. Israel walked through the Red Sea by grace, but quickly forgot God in the Promised Land. America has been greatly blessed with: • Scripture, • Conviction, • Suffering, • Courage, • Providence.

They have also been blessed with a movement toward moral clarity.  We have our original sins, slavery, oppression, injustice, just as every man is born with a proclivity to sin, our nation was born with aspects of injustice and violence.  But, because of our founders, and their creation of a system that allows freedom, and change, many injustices were removed from their encodement in law. That doesn’t mean we are perfect.  But I would challenge anyone to find another place in the world where we have the freedom that we do here.

But blessings can be forgotten. Freedom can be neglected. Conviction can be abandoned. When a nation forgets God, liberty becomes fragile.

Religious Liberty Allows Us To: • Preach Christ openly without fear of the state. • Gather freely without secret meetings or state permission. • Send missionaries across the globe with full legal protection. • Support the hurting through churches and ministries. • Raise children in the faith without government interference. • Speak biblical truth into culture, even when unpopular. Not every generation has enjoyed these gifts. Not every nation does today. Freedom is a stewardship—a responsibility to use for God’s glory, not our own ease.

Application

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS A GIFT TO PRESERVE, NOT ASSUME

Thank God for your liberty. Protect it. Use it wisely. Live in such a way that future generations will inherit not only the freedom to worship, but the knowledge of who that freedom came from. The same God who guided pilgrims, reformers, persecuted believers, and revival preachers is guiding us today. May we honor Him with grateful hearts, obedient lives, and a bold witness.

CLOSING PRAYER

“Lord, thank You for the gift of liberty purchased by the blood of martyrs, the tears of the faithful, and the providence of Your guiding hand. Help us use our freedom to worship You wholeheartedly and to shine the light of Christ in our generation. Strengthen our faith, protect our conscience, and guide us as You guided those who came before us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”