In the Beginning

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I don’t know about everyone else, but our family had a relatively low-key Fourth of July celebration this year. In fact, on this historically pivotal 250th anniversary of America’s founding, our family gathering was out of character with our past Independence Day parties.

We had fewer people in attendance, fewer preplanned activities, and fewer photo ops. Truth be told, we failed to snap even one picture of our family celebration to post and share online. Though unusually quiet for our rowdy bunch, the entire July 4th holiday was filled with love, laughter, and gratitude for our family and our nation.

As part of our gratitude for our nation and its amazing past, we watched a historically based movie the night before our holiday celebration. That film, A Great Awakening, was a great viewing choice for such an important moment in national history, since its storyline is set during America’s colonial times.

Released in April 2026 by Sight & Sound Films, A Great Awakening was written and directed by Joshua Erick. The official Sight & Sound synopsis of this historically accurate drama explains that its plot centers on a very unlikely friendship, a relationship that providentially impacted defining moments in the formation of our fledgling nation:

“With the colonies on the brink of collapse, the Reverend George Whitefield sparks the first Great Awakening, uniting an entire generation with his thundering proclamation of liberty in Christ. In a miraculous turn of events, one of Whitefield’s closest friends and greatest promoters becomes none other than Benjamin Franklin. With the nation’s freedom hanging in the balance, Franklin discovers true liberty cannot be written into law – it must be awakened in the hearts of the people.”

Without spoiling the entire movie, let me just say that it is a very realistic portrayal of America’s foundational years. This movie is not some sugar-coated version of that time in our history; nor is it a glossy look at our nation’s earliest citizens or leaders. The movie depicts the highs and lows of our founders’ struggles to truly establish what they eventually termed “a more perfect union” than any that had ever existed before.

Prayer was and always will be the key to such a perfect national union, and though he had been dead for several years before July 4, 1776, Reverend Whitefield’s life of obedient sacrifice to his Savior most definitely impacted the birth and growth of our nation. It is no wonder that he is often called “the spiritual founding father” of America, for Whitefield’s story is a wonderful part of our history.

According to author, speaker, and evangelist Greg Stier, it is calculated that 80% of the people living in the American colonies had witnessed firsthand the fiery preaching of Whitefield. Stier also recounts how Whitefield helped spark what is known as the “First Great Awakening” in the United States.

Likewise, this film tells the story of Whitefield’s conversion while he was a theater student at Oxford. Through the efforts of members of the university’s Holy Club, including brothers John and Charles Wesley, viewers see Whitefield’s inner (and fruitless) struggle to earn God’s grace. But they also get to witness his growth into a radical minister of the gospel.

His radical preaching placed him on a path to the colonies, where he traveled extensively in his efforts to share the gospel message of repentance and salvation. And Whitefield’s story became Franklin’s story, shared via his printing press. For both men, it was an unlikely but productive partnership that ultimately led to a spiritual and moral awakening of the American colonists, preparing the ground for the cultivation of a nation totally dependent on God for its early existence.

Their friendship was truly a story only God could have written, because, as the movie depicts, Benjamin Franklin openly claimed to be a deist. But Whitefield challenged his beloved friend’s beliefs in the most pivotal and moving scene of this movie. And though the film never traces Franklin’s change of heart, editor and author James Breig wrote that later in life, Franklin “mutated from defining himself as a deist to saying that deism had ‘perverted’ his friends.”

Breig reminded readers that Franklin also stated, “The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of men.”

And as this movie readily portrays, Franklin was one of America’s eldest statesmen when he tried in vain to relay the importance of prayers for God’s guidance during the Constitutional Convention. This scene was particularly poignant, considering the dire need for our nation to turn to God now, before it is too late.

So, truthfully, after viewing A Great Awakening, I can honestly say that the telling of this part of our nation’s providential story is excellent. The acting in each scene is top-notch. I was especially impacted by the powerful delivery of Whitefield’s sermons, words that I had read repeatedly through the years.

But somehow, Reverend Whitefield’s words came to life for me in this movie, convicting me to my core. As a result, the film’s message is profound and enduring, reminding us of America’s continual need to seek God first in every aspect of life.

As founder James Madison stated upon reflection of the contentious Constitutional Convention dramatized in this movie, “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution.”

May all “pious” Americans pray in unity that God’s almighty hand be extended once more to our country. For He alone is our hope, but we are His hands and feet. If America is to endure 250 more years as a Christ-centered nation, it is up to us, my brothers and sisters.

In the words of Reverend George Whitefield, “Lord, help me to begin to begin.”

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