Sermon Central
-
Born Identity
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Aug 10, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Will my baby / child go to heaven if it dies? Can my mentally challenged youngster get saved? As a Pastor I hear the first question a lot. As the parent of a special needs child, I ask the latter question often. What does the Bible say on this subject
Born Identity
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/BornIdentity.html
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
I believe that at the moment of conception a never-dying soul is born. Nine months later its body is born. The soul was born before its parents could conceive of what they had done, and long before they could consider preventing its body from entering the world. Even if their body dies their never dying soul does not!
And so, we are all born with an identity given to us by our REAL Creator. Today, we remember those we call the 'unborn.' And let's be careful not to forget that the Sanctity of Life should also apply to all of us whose bodies have been born as well! [special needs / elderly / orphans / trafficked / imprisoned / impoverished]
How awesome would it be if someday in America abortion were both illegal and unthinkable! I wish that in the future, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday would seem as unnecessary as a Reality of Gravity Sunday. It's a natural understanding: The earth holds us to it. And life is just as natural a realization, and GOD will hold us to that!
Abortion is unnatural. And we live in the last days in which the Bible says love will wax cold and mankind will have unnatural affection. This weighs heavily upon us. Let's consider today the gravity of our situation!
The gravity of our situation is this: As I’m preaching there are babies warmly nestled in wombs nearby who won’t be there tomorrow, as Planned Parenthood began performing the first abortions in our town a few weeks ago. I’m reminded that there are children, maybe even blocks from this pulpit, who’ll be slapped, punched, and burned with cigarettes before nightfall. I’m reminded that there are elderly men and women languishing away in loneliness, their lives pronounced to be a waste.
But there is some good news today. God is good, no matter how bad mankind becomes. And when I think about the fact that I serve a congregation that is on board the right to life movement, and who believe in adoption, my spirit leaps! [Sarah C. / Linda S.] I love to reflect on those who serve at NLPC. And I love to see men and women who have aborted babies find their sins forgiven, even this sin, and their consciences cleansed by Christ.
We're a church. We won't stop celebrating Christmas. We’ll always remember Easter. But I hope and pray, please Lord, someday soon, that Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is unnecessary. [Russell Moore]
There's more good news to come, but first, let's face the bad news...
In God’s eyes, Life is Sacred, but in America, Life is Scared! [and now in Decatur]
Margaret Sanger was a racist / wanted black children aborted / founded Planned Parenthood. What a reputation. What a mockery of our community!
As of this semester, a new form is being handed out to girls at school. With a parent's signature, a pregnant girl can be escorted by a school counselor for an abortion without a parent present for the procedure. This has been the case already in the past. What's new now? A check box: "Check here if you do not wish to be contacted"
Let me interpret for you - You can now forge your parent's signature and check the box in order to get away with it! Now, try to tell me that's for privacy reasons, rather than for evil motive, hatched in the halls of hell!
These things make our blood boil...as they should! It's called righteous indignation, and Jesus showed it on behalf of innocent blood, which cries out to God!
Have you ever seen an apparently healthy driver pull into a parking space marked "Handicapped" at the store? A feeling of indignation rises in your chest, doesn't it? "They shouldn't take advantage that way!" you comment to your companions.
Yet when someone is pregnant with a child that the "experts" say may be less than perfect, they are encouraged to eliminate it. Or when an elderly person has been partially incapacitated by illness, some advocate facilitating their demise.
Why is it that, in the first instance at the store, being disabled engenders a desire to protect, to defend, to stand up for; and in the other two, there's only a desire to get rid of "the problem?" The unborn need a voice.
ill.--special needs boy being abused
We must not overlook those who have challenges in this life.
I say this not only as the preacher today, but as the father of a little autistic boy. Jesus showed special concern for the lame, the blind, the woman with the issue of blood, the lepers. In our day we mustn't forget.
