Fourth of July Sharing Time
by Jody Boyd / ga06302006

 

Tell them, "I LOVE the 4th of July! Who can tell me what we celebrate on the 4th of July? That's right - our country's independence. I am extremely patriotic - I really love my country and I feel so blessed to have been born in this land of freedom! Do you think that it was just a coincidence that the church was organized here in the United States? No! Of course it was not a coincidence. This land was prepared. There was nowhere else in the world that granted people the religious freedom that was needed to reorganize God's church here on earth. When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776, it was the first step to becoming a free country and to the eventual formation of the constitution that gives our citizens the right of religious freedom. The men that wrote and signed the Declaration were prepared by God. How do I know this? Well - something really cool happened in 1877 to President Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the church.

Have someone come up and read the Story of the Forefather's visit while the piano quietly plays "I Love to See the Temple in the background":

Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church, recounted a vision in which many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence appeared to him and asked that their baptisms and temple work be performed for them in the St. George Temple. On 6 September 1877 Pres. Woodruff recorded:

The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, 'You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we . . . remained true to it and were faithful to God.' These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. I thought it very singular, that notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others. I then baptized him for every President of the United States, except three; and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them.

Sing - I love to See the Temple #95

Show the American Flag - have kids come up and hold it. Have someone read the history of the flag.

"On June 14, 1777 the U.S. Congress passed it's first flag resolution saying the flag should have 13 stripes, alternating red and white and have 13 stars, white in a blue field. This was to represent the 13 original colonies. Then they started added a new star and stripe for each new state. But - the country was growing quickly and the flag started getting CRAZY to work with. So, in 1818 they decided to keep the original 13 stripes and only add a star for each new state."

Explain what the colors of the flag represent. Put three songs on the board. Have 3 clear cups in the front filled with water. Next to them will be 3 spoons. Put a few drops of food coloring on each spoon then a cornstarch paste on top of that, let it dry. This will hide which color it is. Have a child come up and mix solution and see what color it comes out as. Then they can guess which song goes with that color because of the color's representation.

1.. White - Loyalty - I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus #78
2.. Red - Courage - Nephi's Courage #120
3.. Blue - Liberty - Book of Mormon Stories (both verses) #118

Do you know another name for our flag? The Star-Spangled Banner. Spangled means bejeweled. So it's a flag that is decorated with jeweled stars! That's so cool! Have someone tell the history of the song while the piano plays it in the background.

"The Star Spangled Banner is our country's anthem. In 1812 the U.S. went back to war with Great Britain. In 1814 the British came to attack the U.S. at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The commander of the fort ordered that a HUGE flag be raised over the fort to defy the British. It was SO big that the stars were TWO FEET across! The British attacked Fort McHenry on Sept. 13th. The battle lasted all day and all night. Francis Scott Key was a young American lawyer. He was on the deck of an American ship during the battle. Huge bombs exploded in the air, and by the light the bombs produced Key could see the flag still flying over the fort. As long as the flag flew Key knew that the British had not won the battle. He waited all through the night and all the next morning until the fog lifted and he saw the flag still flying over Fort McHenry. He was overjoyed. He took an envelope and wrote down his feelings in a poem which he noted could be sung to a popular tune of the day. The song spread rapidly and became our national anthem in 1931.

Tell them, "Listen while I say the words to the song. Close your eyes and see if you can picture that night at Fort McHenry." Say the words while the piano plays in the background.

  Sing The Star Spangled Banner, hymn #340.

End with Teresa's poem (see below) while piano plays Oh Beautiful #338 in the background. When I finish the poem have pianist go right to the chorus and I'll sing the chorus.

Listen
by Teresa Bateman

Listen -
Can you hear it?
That soft whisper in the trees?
The sound of honest cotton
Reaching out to catch the breeze?
Unfurling in the gentle winds
Red, White, and Blue it flies -
The flag of our great nation
Standing crisp in freedom's skies.

Listen -
Can't you hear it?
That soft flutter in the wind?
A touch of martial music,
A soft-sung, distant hymn?
The weeping of a war bride,
a wounded soldier's moan,
The sound of distant cannon,
A bugle's lonely tone.

Listen -
Can't you hear them?
Those who struggled valiantly
Through years of war and hardship
that their children might be free?
The winds of change are blowing.
Can we stand before the test?
Have you noticed it's the strongest winds
that make the flag show best?

Listen -
Can't you hear it?
That soft whisper in the trees?
The sound of honest cotton
reaching out to catch the breeze.
Unfurling in the gentle wind,
Red, White, and Blue it flies -
The flag of our great nation
Standing crisp in freedom's skies.
Remember what it represents -
The cost behind the vision.

Look up -
Can't you see the way it beckons to you?
Listen.