Fiery FL Preacher: “Take New Ground”

Faith

By Senior Pastor Zach Terry, First Baptist Church Fernandina Beach, 6-28-25

This keynote presented at the 2025 Christian Heritage of America Festival – Fernandina Beach, FL

Good morning, friends—fellow believers, patriots, and defenders of the faith.
There is a powerful spiritual principle that is woven into the very fabric of creation that
says this: what gets CELEBRATED gets REPLICATED.

That means that if you want something to grow, celebrate it. If you want more baptisms
in your local church, celebrate when people get baptized. If you want more people to
visit your church, celebrate guests in every service. What gets CELEBRATED gets
REPLICATED.

If we want to see the same principles that forged our nation revived in this generation,
we must CELEBRATE them. Culture is downstream of Celebration. But understand the
public square is only ONE PLACE where we seek to leverage Christ’s influence.

In 1975, Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ and Loren Cunningham of
Youth With a Mission, and that great Christian Philosopher Francis Shaffer all
received what they and many others believed to be a word from the Lord that directed
them to lead Christendom to systematically and intentionally conquer the 7 Mountains
of Influence.  

Joshua 14:12 (ESV)
So now give me this Mountain of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you
heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

There intentionality in the late 1970s and early 1980, together with others working
toward the same goal, resulted in a time when the MORAL MAJORITY held sway over
the direction of this country. God raised up leaders like Ronald Reagan to usher in a
period of unprecedented economic and military strength, which in turn led to the defeat
of the old Soviet Union and brought the Cold War to an end.

Today, we are sensing some of those same stirrings of MORAL CLARITY and
PASSIONATE PATRIOTISM. Our country faces new enemies both forign and domestic,
but the tides are finally changing in our favor once again. It is now more than ever that
we continue the surge to reclaim those same mountains that God revealed to our
leaders so many years ago.

The 7 Mountains are as follows: family, religion, education, media, arts and
entertainment, business, and government. Those are the spheres where culture is
shaped. I promise you – the enemy is seeking to occupy and leverage his influence in
those 7 spheres, so should we.

Family
Genesis 2:24
“A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall
become one flesh.”

Family is where worldviews are first formed. The enemy knows that if he can fracture
the family, he can fracture a nation. Christians must be models of covenant marriage,
biblical parenting, and multi-generational faithfulness.
I want to challenge our county and city officials to cooperate with the leaders of
Governor DeSantis in declaring the month of June “Responsible Fatherhood Month”. In Fairfax County, Virginia has already taken this step to leverage the month of June
for something that will build up families.

2. Religion
Ephesians 3:10
“Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known…”
Just this week, the Empire City has selected Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic
candidate for Mayor of that Great City. Mandani is the most ANTI-CHRIST candidate for
that office the world has ever seen. If Islam is going to raise up men to step into public
office, the Church must answer.
In every society, faith is upstream from everything. When the Church is strong, bold, and
pure—everything else follows.

3. Education
Deuteronomy 6:7
“You shall teach [God’s words] diligently to your children…”
For decades, we’ve seen a slow and steady erasing of God from the classroom.
But that tide can—and must—turn. We must demand that books with a pornographic or
immoral agenda be struck from our school libraries and we must hold our administrators
accountable.
Just this week, the Supreme Court of the US sided with parents who spoke out against
these materials. We need parents who run for school board, teachers who stand for
truth, and students who are unashamed of the Gospel.
If we fail to disciple the next generation, the culture will be more than happy to do it for
us. Let’s take back the ground we surrendered. Let’s redeem education for the glory of
God.

4. Media
John 8:32
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Right here in Fernandina Beach, we launched a ministry called Code Red Talk—
designed not just to speak into our moment, but to shout truth around the globe. With
every broadcast, every podcast, every YouTube upload, we are planting flags in digital
mission fields. 
The Great Commission didn’t stop with Jerusalem—it stretched to the ends of the earth.
And today, it stretches to earbuds, smartphones, and streaming platforms. You may not
stand behind a pulpit, but you have a platform. Use it. Your voice matters. Your
testimony matters.
Media is not just about facts—it’s about framing reality. We need Christian voices in
journalism, broadcasting, podcasting, and social platforms. Ministries like Code Red
Talk are doing just that—taking the truth from here to the nations. If the enemy has a
microphone, so must we.

5. Arts and Entertainment
Psalm 33:3
“Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy!”
God is the Creator. Creativity isn’t optional—it’s in our spiritual DNA. But for too long,
we’ve let Hollywood tell the stories. We’ve let the world define beauty, identity, and
purpose. It’s time for a Christian renaissance in art, music, film, and media. We need
filmmakers, authors, songwriters, actors—who don’t just entertain, but inspire and
declare truth.
This mountain speaks to the heart. Film, music, literature, and theater move the soul.
But too often they’ve been abandoned to darkness. We need songwriters,
screenwriters, and storytellers who are anointed to inspire truth, beauty, and virtue.
We must stop criticizing the culture and start creating it.

6. Business
Deuteronomy 8:18
“Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…”
Business leaders have the capacity to fund vision and steward influence. Christian
entrepreneurs are needed not just to build wealth, but to build the Kingdom—to fund
missions, serve communities, and disciple in the marketplace.
If God has blessed your hands—it’s time to extend them.

Government

Proverbs 29:2 says:
“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people
groan.”
We cannot afford to just vote every four years and think our job is done. We need godly
men and women running for city commission, county school boards, state legislatures,
and Congress. Imagine if just a handful of believers in every district said, “Here I am,
Lord—send me.” The laws would change. The culture would shift. The groaning would
give way to rejoicing.
Christians must run for office, serve on school boards, vote biblically, and challenge
corruption wherever it hides. If we abandon government, we abandon justice. If we
speak up, we can turn the tide.
Let’s take new ground—for our families, for our faith, for our future.
Not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit, says the Lord. Let’s not just preserve the
past—let’s take new ground in our time:
• Let’s train up children who won’t just survive—but thrive.
• Let’s raise up leaders who fear God more than man.
• Let’s create content that renews the mind and uplifts the soul.
• Let’s send the gospel into every corner of culture.
We’re not called to escape the world—we’re called to engage it. God bless you. God
bless Fernandina Beach. And God bless the United States of America.