Are You "pro-Life"?

A. In 1985, a professor at the Illinois Medical School in Chicago decided to determine the value of a human being.

1. He began with a chemical analysis of the human body.

2. The average adult human body is made up of 5 pounds of calcium, 1.5 pounds of phosphorous, 9 ounces of potassium, 6 ounces of sulfur, 6 ounces of sodium, an ounce of magnesium, and less than an ounce each of iron, copper, and iodine.

3. The value of all these elements of a human totaled $8.37. That is no way to measure our value!

B. What is the real value of a human being?

1. Today, Sunday, January 18, 2026 is designated as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

a. It is the annual day when churches are encouraged to reaffirm the value of human life from conception onward.

2. Tomorrow, Monday, January 19, 2026 is designated as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

a. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year.

b. Dr. King, as you know, was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society.

c. Tragically, Dr. King was assassinated on April 4th, 1968, but his efforts and the Civil Rights Movement led to many groundbreaking legislative reforms in the United States concerning racial discrimination.

3. In light of these two important days, back to back on our calendar, I want us to spend some time today thinking about the sanctity of human life and the importance of valuing all people equally.

4. I want us to think about how these values come from God who created us in His image.

5. I also want us to think about our calling to love all people like God loves all people.

C. If we are not careful, then we can allow these important issues and values to become a political platform and tool, rather than allow them to be at the center of our faith and our commitment to love as God loves, which is where they belong.

1. I want to encourage us to think about the implications of these truths and the kinds of godly attitudes and actions that should come forth from these truths.

2. What does it really mean to be prolife? Surely it means more than being pro-birth.

3. What does it mean to say that there is sanctity in all human life?

4. What does it mean for all people to have equal value and equal rights?

5. What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?

6. Who is your neighbor?

D. I want to begin by challenging us to ask ourselves: Is there anyone who we devalue in our heart and mind?

1. Is there anyone who is not made in God’s image?

2. Is there anyone who doesn’t have the right to life and the right to be cared about and cared for?

3. Is there anyone who Jesus didn’t die for and anyone who God doesn’t want to redeem?

4. I am going to show a series of pictures and ask the question: How does God want us to value and love these people?

a. How does God want us to value and love the unborn children in the womb?

b. How does God want us to value and love children with special needs?

c. How does God want us to value and love children in poverty?

d. How does God want us to value and love children in orphanages?

e. How does God want us to value and love the elderly?

f. How does God want us to value and love foreigners/immigrants – here and abroad?

g. How does God want us to value and love the LGBTQ+ community?

h. How does God want us to value and love those addicted to drugs or alcohol or pornography?

i. How does God want us to value and love drug dealers and workers in the sex industry?

j. How does God want us to value and love prisoners and death row inmates?

k. How does God want us to value and love your enemies – people who have hurt you, are opposed to you, or seek to destroy you?

E. Let’s me repeat the questions I asked before showing the series of pictures.

1. Is there anyone who we devalue in our heart and mind?

2. Is there anyone who is not made in God’s image?

3. Is there anyone who doesn’t have the right to life and the right to be cared about and cared for?

4. Is there anyone who Jesus didn’t die for and anyone who God doesn’t want to redeem?