Religious Freedom

From Reverence to Revival to Revolution – 1. Coming to America

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Coming to America

For God, Gold, and Glory! God’s first directive to mankind was to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28a)  Those who came to the New World had a variety of reasons for doing so, but those whose hearts were turned toward God also came to honor that first directive as well as the Great Commission of our Lord to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”  (Matthew 28:19-20a)

Columbus – The Pilgrims – The Puritans – These all came to the New World with the belief that they were doing the Will of God. However, even those who came for other reasons – gold, land, glory, conquests, future profits, and future military strongholds – unwittingly were doing what God wanted them to do. “For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.” (Psalm 22:28) “He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.” (Job 12:23)

Even as Pope Nicholas V sought out new territory after loosing land to the Islamic forces in the Middle Ages, he and later popes issued Papal Bulls to encourage the conquest of foreign lands in the name of the church. However, what the Pope meant for the good of the church God meant for the good of His Kingdom. And His Kingdom spread all across what we now call North and South America.

They came to America!

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on 2 consecutive Sundays, May 10 &17, 2026. It is part of a series called From Reverence to Revival to Revolution: The Influence of Christianity and the Great Awakening on the Founding of The United States of America. Handouts with class presentation content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .

Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


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Class Notes – Coming to America – 05.10.2026 & 05.17.2026Download

Back to the Future: From 30 AD to 2023 AD and Beyond – Part 2

/ Bob

The history of the church began on the Day of Pentecost when the church was born and continues on up until today. God has been at work through His church and He has used His servants to proclaim His Gospel message and preserve His Word. Last week we began with the first 400 years of the church and moved through the Great Schism in 1054 to the Reformation of the 1500’s.

Beginning in the early 1600’s the Baptists took their place in the development of the church. Even though they were often shunned, cast out, and persecuted they persevered with the Truth of God’s Word as their guiding light. In today’s lesson we will meet heroes of the faith such as John Smyth, Roger Williams, and Obadiah Holmes. We will see how Baptists were not only breaking new theological ground with adult baptism, but we will also see Baptists at work in the Colonies and in the early years of our nation.

Bold is a word which describes Baptists from the early 1600’s as they sought to proclaim the Bible as the Word of God and as the only source for our faith. They were bold when they promoted religious liberty. They were bold when they stood up against established religions. They were bold bold when they were mocked for “re-baptizing” adults. And next week we will see how the boldness of Baptists has spread around the world.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, July 16, 2023. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions entitled Living the Agape Life – a Bible study curriculum developed by Bob Young with input from the members of the Agape Life Class. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .

Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

class-notes-07.16.2023-30-to-2023-and-beyondDownload