Sunday, July 5, 2026 · Resources · Acts 17:1-7

But What About Christian Nationalism?

Preaching from Acts 17 — where the early Christians were dragged into court for saying ‘there is another king, Jesus’ — Pastor Kent Keller answers a question that flares up every Fourth of July. He starts with his own loyalties, plainly: ‘I love my God. I love my country. I worship my God. I do not worship my country.’ Patriotism is good; it becomes something else when we wrap the cross in the flag. Was America founded Christian? The historical evidence is real — the Mayflower Compact, Winthrop’s ‘city upon a hill,’ the Declaration’s four references to God — yet the founders deliberately refused an official state church, because faith can never be forced and the gospel persuades rather than coerces. Underneath the whole debate is the confession the church has made for 2,000 years: we have no king but Jesus. Grateful citizens; faithful first to Christ — and the freedom that lasts is not political but the freedom Christ won at the cross (Galatians 5:1).

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Scripture

ACTS 17:1-7 (ESV)

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica... And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures... saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ...they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also... and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

JEREMIAH 29:7 (ESV)

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

GALATIANS 5:1 (ESV)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

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