With only two days remaining until Election Day, churches across the U.S. united in worship on Sunday, lifting prayers for the nation and its future as Americans prepared to make their voices heard.
In many instances, pastors used their sermons to provide Scriptural guidance, emphasizing the importance of voting while encouraging members to trust in God's will and to speak the truth in love to friends and family.
Here are samples from five sermons.
1. Ray Johnston, Bayside Church, California
"We are now the divided states of America. …I want us to live, love, lead, vote, and participate like God's people should," Johnston said. "And I want to give you five instructions. ... Number one is this. Vote your values. ...We have a Bible. We have the greatest source -- God's wisdom and values -- ever written. Read your Bible, absorb what it says, become a Christ-follower, become a disciple, and shape your values, and then go out and, above all things, number one, vote your values. Second thing I want to say is this: How you vote matters, but how you behave matters even more than how you vote. Therefore, be a living example of Jesus Christ. I know a lot of Christians, they own a Bible, and they're mean, nasty, uptight, and they turn people off. The whole Bible says God is working in all of our lives so that we end up living, loving, and leading like Jesus Christ. So, be Christ's ambassador and live, love, and lead like Jesus- that'll start a brand new pattern in our culture. Number three is this: Do not let politicians you don't know stop you from loving people you do know. ... That has been a tragic epidemic in the church and in the community.
"Number four is this … We are called to live with an eternal perspective. … And in the light of the fact that we're gonna be in eternity for a billion years, in the light of that, how should we live? …I'd like us to lead Republicans to Christ. I'd like us to lead Democrats to Christ. I'd like us to lead Independents to Christ. …Live for something bigger than just the next four years -- live for the next 40 billion years, and get those priorities right. And the last one is this: We are also called to love our country. We're called to pray for our country. …We're going to pray for our country, and pray for the protection of God and the provision of God, and pray that God would have His way. …We all want a country with God-honoring values, and we want a country where every single child ever born has equal opportunity to thrive in this country."
2. Jason Strand, Eagle Brook Church, Minnesota
"God is in control, not just of your life and my life, but God is in control of the nations," Strand said during his Sunday sermon. "I want you to know the weekend before this election that our hope is not in a politician, our hope is not in a political party. Our hope is not in politics. Our hope is found in Jesus Christ. He is on the throne.
"... As we approach an election on Tuesday, how should we live? Here's the first way I believe: It's to speak the truth in love. … Every person we label is a person God loves. In fact, it's difficult to love people who you've labeled. … It's really difficult to love someone that you have labeled because they become an opponent to defeat and not a person to love. … In his book Truth Plus Love, author Matt Brown says this. He says: 'Nowhere in Scripture does God give us permission to be a jerk.' He says, 'How is the world supposed to see the grace of God if the people of God are not gracious?'… Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about compromising the truth. I'm talking about speaking the truth in love.
"Vote based on godly values. … If every single follower of Christ said, 'You know what, I'm sitting it out, I don't want to vote,' -- well, then all the non-Christians decide the future of our country. And I don't love that.
"... Vote and pray. … Would you be willing to pray for someone you didn't vote for? … Be praying that God would soften their heart and that God would work in their life."
3. Greg Laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship, California
"It's very important that we as Christians vote," Laurie told church members. "... And I know some would say, well, you know, Christians shouldn't get involved in politics. And after all, we're citizens of heaven, and we should be in the world but not of the world. Well, you know, it's true that we're citizens of heaven, but we're also Christians on Earth. And Jesus told us to be salt and light in our culture. So how do we do that? Well, we're light, according to Jesus, when we let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven. And we're salt when we stop the spread of evil to the best of our ability. So we need to pray, we need to proclaim the Gospel, and we also need to vote.
"It's very important that we vote because we have a book of absolute truth called the Bible that tells us what God thinks about a lot of the issues that are on the ballot right now, and we need to speak out because the Bible says when godly people rule, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. You know, we who are Christians and conservatives have been insulted quite a bit recently by the Left. They think our women are stupid and weak. They think our men are cavemen. They call us terrorists, Nazis and fascists. They call us deplorables and outright garbage. They want to abort our babies up to nine months, and they want to mutilate our children. They support nations that back terrorism, like Iran, and want to pull some of our support from our longtime ally, Israel. They can't define what a woman is. They want to redefine the family. They incentivize criminals and ignore the victims. And when someone says Jesus is Lord at one of their rallies, they tell them you're at the wrong rally. So, this party and these people will not get my vote; I just want you to know.
Why we as Christians should vote. Make sure you hear this whole message, it’s under 4 minutes. pic.twitter.com/eSN7EpKFIr
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) November 3, 2024
"People say, vote your conscience. I don't know -- depends where your conscience is at. I say vote biblical values. Vote for policy over personality, but most of all, vote -- and we will pray and leave the results in the hands of God. And as I've said before, whoever is elected the President of the United States, I will pray for them because I'm told in Scripture to do that very thing."
4. Ed Young, Fellowship Church, Texas
"I voted a couple of days ago, and I asked myself these same questions, so I want to sort of throw out the questions I asked, and maybe they'll help you. ... Number one: Which candidate will best protect God's design for biological sex? ... The Bible only gives us one option when it comes to sex: one man, one woman in marriage. ...Here's the second question: Which candidate stands for religious liberty? Do you realize in Canada, if I preached this message, I could be arrested? And if we pick the wrong person, the wrong group, it's just a matter of time because I'm telling you something: they're coming after you, and they're coming after me. ...Number three: Which candidate protects freedom of speech and a right to bear arms? ...Number four, which candidate protects the lives of developing babies? ...Number five, which candidate underscores and highlights Christ's values for the family? ...[Number six:] Which candidate stands with Israel? ... [Number seven:] Which candidate protects our borders? We have to protect our borders. I am all about people coming into the U.S. I think it's great, but they have to do it in the right way."
5. Skip Heitzig, Calvary Church, New Mexico
"Don't sit this one out," Heitzing told members. "Do your homework. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but if you want to come see me privately, I will tell you who I voted for, but that's a private conversation. …Go and find out what the platforms [of] the parties are. You say, 'Well, I don't like either candidate.' Tough. You're not voting for just a candidate. You're voting for thousands of people who are going to go to Washington and implement an agenda. You get a voice in what agenda you want implemented, so get out there. …Make your voice and vote heard."
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Martine Severin
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.