July 5, 2026

Anniversary 250 communion

Jeremiah 29:4–7; Matthew 5:1-12

As this 250^th anniversary celebration echoes across the land, what should Christians do? We can pray with hope.

We can celebrate with gratitude. We can reflect with honesty. We can engage with humility. We can remember that our deepest identity is not American, or British, or anything else—our deepest identity is beloved children of God, citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

The United States is 250 years old. The Church is 2,000 years old. The kingdom of God is eternal. So, we stand in this moment with perspective. We honor the good. We lament the harm. We commit ourselves to the work of peace. And we trust that Christ, the Prince of Peace, is still guiding His people to be salt and light in the land where we live.

May God bless this nation—not with triumph, but with wisdom. Not with pride, but with humility. Not with comfort, but with courage. Not with nostalgia, but with justice. Not with self‑interest, but with compassion. And may God bless us, the Church, with the grace to be peacemakers in a world that desperately needs peace.

 

O Christ, whose kingdom does not rise by war,

You call us from the noise of nations’ pride;

You teach us how to see our land once more

With grateful hearts, yet truth we cannot hide.

For every blessing woven through these years,

For freedoms cherished, voices lifted high—

We offer thanks. Yet still we name with tears

The wounds of history we cannot deny.

So, shape our love with mercy’s steady hand;

And guide us in the way our feet should move.

Make us Your peace within this restless land,

A people marked by grace, not fear, but love.

And as we come to share Your feast anew,

Bind us as one—our hope, our peace, in You.

Ned Holderby July 5, 2026 communion