Inaugural Passages

After spending four years out of office, his party once again turned to Grover Cleveland to be their standard bearer for 1892. When inauguration day came around on Saturday, March 4, 1893, in Washington, D.C. a light snow fell on the nation’s capital as Americans inaugurated the 24th president of the United States. He was familiar to the nation as he had the job before. Grover Cleveland took the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Melville Fuller and became the first, and until Donald Trump, the only US president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Inaugurated with Cleveland and serving a term as vice president was Illinois own Adlai Stevenson. For this inauguration, the Bible was open to Psalms 91:12-16. I was unable to determine if that was a random opening or deliberately selected. My best guess is that it was random. Thank you for watching. If you would like to know more about God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ and how to become a Christian as the New Testament teaches, contact a church of Christ in your area or email me at 2 Timothy 4.2dot3ATgmail.com I do my best to keep a record of sources for illustrations, quotes, statistics and other information used in sermons and classes. However, I get a lot of sermon ideas and content from a lot of sources and don't always remember to make a note of those sources. Therefore, no claims to total originality are made or implied for this lesson. Any and all bibliographical information I have for this lesson is available upon request. Email me at: 2timothy4.2.3 at gmaildotcom with questions, comments or sermon suggestions.

Until the 2024 election (re-election?) of Donald Trump, Grover Cleveland was the only man to serve two non-consecutive terms as President of the United States. Elected in 1884, he was defeated for reelection by Benjamin Harrison in 1888, then returned in 1892 to win the rematch. For his first inauguration on March 4, 1885, Cleveland took the oath of office on a Bible that, at the last minute, was handed to US Chief Justice Morrison Waite, who randomly opened it to Psalm 112:4-10. When we use the term “to be blessed by God”, we are referring to being “favored by God”, which prompts the question, “what kind of man does God bless and honor? Psalm 112 gives us some characteristics of the man who God blesses.

Last week, we started a new sermon series entitled Inaugural Passages. Most Presidents Elect took their presidential oath on a Bible, some were open and some were not. The lessons look at some of the known passages to which the Bibles were opened. Today’s sermon is the conclusion of last week’s look at George Washington’s passage in Genesis 49 and the final blessings and prophecies Jacob made for his 12 sons and how they apply to us in modern times. Thank you for watching. If you would like to know more about God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ and how to become a Christian as the New Testament teaches, contact a church of Christ in your area or email me at 2 Timothy 4.2dot3ATgmail.com I do my best to keep a record of sources for illustrations, quotes, statistics and other information used in sermons and classes. However, I get a lot of sermon ideas and content from a lot of sources and don't always remember to make a note of those sources. Therefore, no claims to total originality are made or implied for this lesson. Any and all bibliographical information I have for this lesson is available upon request. Email me at: 2timothy4.2.3 at gmaildotcom with questions, comments or sermon suggestions.

We just elected (reelected?) the next president of the United States an he took office on January 20, 2025. 46 men have taken the oath of office of President of the United States and most men elected to the office have placed their hand on a Bible to take the oath of office. Some of the Bibles were closed, while some Bibles were opened to specific passages. This series entitled, Inaugural Passages is group of gospel sermons that look at some of the known passages to which the Bibles were opened and the application we can make of those passages. George Washington took the oath for the first time and after him, 45 more men have taken the oath. Most presidents-elect has placed their hand on a Bible to take the oath of office, while some did not. When Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on Air Force 1 on November 22, 1963, he used a Catholic Missal, since there was no Bible on the plane. John Adams placed his left hand on a law book. Contrary to urban legend, Barak Obama did not take his oath on a Koran for either term. Some of the Bibles have been closed, while some presidents elect have selected a passage to which their Bible is opened. Sometimes, someone just opened the Bible to a random passage. I’d like to look at some of these passages in this series I’ve entitled Inaugural Passages. For the first inauguration of America’s first president, the Bible was randomly opened to Genesis 49:13. By itself, Genesis 49:13 does not have much application to us today, but if we look at it in context with the rest of chapter 49, we see an application of the whole chapter and that is what I would like to do today. Genesis 49 contains Jacob’s last words to his sons, all of whom can be seen as representatives of Christians today.

Every four years American citizens exercise a right very few people in the world have ever had. We get to elect an individual to serve a four year term as president of the United States. In 1789 George Washington took the oath for the first time and after him, 46 more men have taken the oath (counting Donald Trump's recent second inauguration). Most presidents-elect have placed their hand on a Bible to take the oath of office, while some did not. Some of the Bibles were closed for the inauguration. Some of the Bibles were opened to a passage of Scripture selected by the president elect (Ronald Reagan), some were opened to a random passage (George Washington). Some were opened to a particular passage, but we do not know what that passage was. This sermon series studies some of the known passages that Bibles were opened to on inauguration day. The lessons are standard, Bible based sermons with a LITTLE bit of presidential trivia.