What is Thomas Paine saying in "The American Crisis?"

Thomas Paine's major goal in writing the pamphlets that
make up "The American Crisis" was to increase the colonies' chances of winning the war
and becoming an independent country.  In pursuit of this goal, Paine appealed to the
patriotism of the colonists, to their belief in God and to the British people as
well.

To the Americans, Paine was encouraging people to
stand up for what he saw as their country.  He starts in on this theme from the very
start of the first pamphlet where he says

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THESE are the times that try men's souls. The
summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of
their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and
woman.

Here, he tries to
shame people into supporting the revolution by denouncing " the summer soldier" and "the
sunshine patriot."

At other points, Paine tries to paint
the actions of the British as evil and offensive to God.  He says, for example,
that

I cannot
see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a
common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as
he.

Here, he tries to make
the British look bad by saying that they are like common criminals who cannot hope for
God's support.

Overall, then, Paine is trying to rally
support for the colonists' cause in the Revolution.  He is trying to get Americans to
hate what the British government is doing and to participate in the war
effort.