Giving Thanks for 250 Years Semiquincentennial In the year of our Lord, July 4, 2026 Today we gather to give thanks to God for two hundred and fifty years of the United States of America. Few nations in history have contributed so much to the advancement of liberty, representative government, economic prosperity, scientific achievement, and the spread of democratic ideals throughout the world. Whatever our present challenges may be, we should not fail to acknowledge the many blessings that God has bestowed through this nation. As Lutherans, we understand these blessings through the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. God rules His creation in two distinct ways. First, He rules through the kingdom of the left, His earthly kingdom. Through governments, laws, courts, and civil authorities, God preserves order, punishes evil, and protects the neighbor. As Saint Paul teaches in Romans 13, governing authorities are servants of God for our good. Civil government is therefore a gif...