Sanctity of Human Life
Psalms 139:11-16
The day started out by waking up early. You see in our house we always decorate the floor with balloons on the kids birthday. I remember getting up early with Becky and blowing up the balloons and scattering them across the floor. After the kids got up I took them to school and dropped them off. As I was on my way home I stopped by the Post Office to pick up the mail before heading off to the hospital and to a meeting. I walked in and Larry (our postmaster) said, “Did you here what happening in New York?” It sounds like a bomb went off in the World Trade Center.
I like rushed home and like many others in America turned on the t.v. to see what was going on. Like many other in America, I stayed home that day watching the event occur. As a watched I saw the second plane crash into the other tower, I watched as they showed pictures of the pentagon. As I sat there glued to the T.V. watching those smoldering towers, and thinking this was the beginning of world war 3, the first on collapsed. Then I watched as people were diving out of the windows. Then the second one came down and the picture of the people covered in the soot will forever be embedded in my mind.
On that day, September 11, 2001 over 3000 lives were taken. They were taken by people who had no regard for life. They were taken by people that thought they were doing the right thing. Those lives could have been future leaders of this nation. Economic geniuses, some may have solved the deficit problem. Scientist who may have found a cure for cancer. On September 11, 2001, radicals believing they were doing the right thing killed over 3000 people.
On September 12, 2001 4000 more lives were taken and again on September 13, 4000 more, on September 14, 4000 more. Every day in America there are over 4000 unborn babies who’s lives have been taken by doctors believing that they are doing the right thing. 4000 each day, 28,000 each week, 112,000 each month and 1,460,000 each year.
On September 11, 2001 terrorist killed over 3000 lives were taken, and the outcry for justice could be heard around the world. We mounted up the troops and went in search for the enemy. When we found them we destroyed them. We cleaned house in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet in America 4000 unborn babies are being taken everyday, but I see no weeping, no anger, and no outcry for justice and no one who cares. The enemy does not live outside the boarders but the enemy is with in.
Now some of you think that this is a political issue. But it is not. It is a moral and religious issue.
Luke give us the words of Jesus himself in Luke 16:13, It states, No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. And God is Pro-Life.
Please turn with me to the first Book Genesis…
Gen 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Each time God created something in Genesis he followed it by saying and it was ______.
God created us in His own image. We are a part of God and God creates every child that is conceived in His image. Even while that baby is in the womb, he or she is in God’s image. Let’s look at what God told Jeremiah.
Jer 1:5
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
God also tells us to Show Love for one another… I am not going to stand up here behind the pulpit and call those have had an abortion anything, other then offer you forgiveness through Christ and tell you that Our God is a God of forgiveness and second chances but you need to ask for that forgiveness.
The reality is you are not alone, not even in this church today. The reality is that 1 out of 4 women have had an Abortion… In the Church 1 out of 10 and 4 out of 5 are directly affected by someone, either a family member or a close friend that has had an abortion. I am not here to look down on you… I just want you to know that God Loves you and wants to Forgive you and give you the healing today. You just need to Ask Him.
Life… Life is sacred.
So you may be sitting there asking yourself, what difference can I make anyway? I’m just one person. Let me tell you a story about what happened to me a couple of years ago as a pastor and youth leader.
There was a couple of kids in my youth group, and if I told you their names most of the youth here would know them. They began getting close, too close. I wanted to tell their parents that they had better watch out but I didn’t. My fear became a reality, on night when I got a call from the mother asking if her and her daughter could come over and talk.
She was 14 and pregnant and wanted me to know. I wrapped my arms around her as she cried. We prayed and she asked for forgiveness. I told her that I would never leave her and would walk with her through this time of struggle. The boy was with her and he asked for forgiveness also. The following Sunday they came before the church on their own and told the church.
I must tell you that I have never been so proud of a church. They never condemned her or the boy but only loved them and tried to help.
The girl gave birth to a little girl and the both of them are still together, as a matter of fact this June I will be marring them. Now, to be honest, this is a pretty picture to a lot of struggles. It has not nor will it ever be easy for these two because of the decision that they have made.
The church could have turned their back on these kids. They could have talked about them in the halls. They could have pointed a finger at them and made them an example to others, but instead they chose to love them they way that Christ would have.
The world would tell you, to have an abortion. The couple is too young to have a child and it will rune their lives. The world would tell you that it would be justifiable and the right thing to do. But, I can tell you that the little girl that was born would tell you something quit different.
Some of you may be thinking that was a great story but I can’t do anything to save the 4,000. And you right there is very little you can do, but, you can do something. It reminds me of a story about a young man and an old man walking along the beach.
A young man was walking along the seashore. Far ahead of him, he saw a distant figure: someone who, like him, was walking, but who paused every few steps, stooped down, and seemed to be throwing something into the sea.
His curiosity aroused, the young man hurried forward, his feet awkward in the sand, as he tried to catch up with the man. As he came closer, he saw that it was an old man, and the reason that he would stop every step or two was to pick up a starfish and fling it into the ocean. It was only then that the young man noticed the thousands of starfish that littered the beach for miles, stranded there by the tide.
The young man felt a rising sense of anger. What the old man was doing seemed so pointless, and he couldn’t wait to catch up with him to tell him so. By the time the young man came abreast of the older man, he was out of breath.
"Why are you doing this?" he gasped. "You can’t save all of these starfish! It’s useless! What does it matter?"
The old man paused for a moment, looking down at the crusty starfish he’d just picked up. He turned it over slowly, then answered.
"It matters to this one," he said, as with a slow deliberate motion he tossed it back into the sea, into life.
Much in the same manner as the old man in this story, we can make a difference by getting involved. We may not be able to save them all but we may save one.
David wrote in Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
I have two testimonies I want to share with you both are true there not stories they are real life.
On our trip home from Orlando after the beyond all limits conference that I attended we got to meet a lady who shared one of the most powerful testimonies that I have ever heard. Because that week’s Bible Study was on the subject that I am preaching on today she shared her testimony and I think it fits so well… Let me share it with you.
She and Her Husband tried having a baby for years… They went through all the treatments and all seemed to fail. They had found an adoption agency and was looking into Adoption but could not afford it when all the sudden she became pregnant.
Can you imagine the joy, but something went wrong and she had a miscarriage. She lost the child after all the prayers and efforts her child died in her womb. It was an extremely difficult time for her and her husband but they had a supporting church and they got through it.
Then God opened up her womb and she became pregnant a second time and again she miss carried, but she never gave up hope. And She became pregnant for the third time. The pregnancy was a difficult one but in the end God gave her a beautiful girl.
This girl grew up and got around the wrong crowd. She met a boy that her mom bitterly despised and at age 15 she became pregnant. The first thing the mother did was call Family Planning and schedule an appointment her daughter to have an abortion.
Her daughter was 15 years old… The Father of the Child was a bum and she knew that he would never be around and this mistake would destroy her daughters life… She was scared and didn’t know where to turn… She was even scared that the church would find out and she was the church organist and adult Sunday School teacher. What would the Church think to know that her daughter was pregnant…
What kind of a mother was she that her daughter would end up pregnant at the age of 15… She was desperate and wanted to get rid of the problem so her daughter could get on with her life… and deep down she knew that it was not right… deep down she knew that God doesn’t make mistakes… But she was scared.
Her daughter refused to go and decided to have the baby… Some of the older ladies from church found out and they took the young girl and her mom and loved her and was there for her… The baby was born and we saw the little guy running around the church when we were there.
She praises God that her daughter did not follow her advise. Was it hard to raise a child at 15… absolutely… as a matter of fact for the first 2 years the child was raised by the grandmother… But now the daughter has met a young man, a Christian Boy, They have gotten married and he has adopted the Boy. But the question remains what would have happened if the daughter would have taken her mothers advise? Praise God we will never know.
Let me warn you though, Don’t condemn the Grandmother, until you have walked in her shoes. The other reason why this is a happy story is because the church never condemned the Grandma or the granddaughter they only loved them and helped them through it.
Ladies and Gentlemen: WE NEED TO MAKE THE CHURCH A SAFE HOUSE AGAIN! A place were people come to get healing. A place that shows love to our brothers and sisters. A place that when someone comes and asks for prayer we understand that they are asking us for prayer and giving information to gossip about. We need to show one another the Love that Christ showed us.
Isa 44:2
2 This is what the LORD says-- he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant.
In my view you only have two Biblical options when it comes to what the world calls a “unplanned pregnancy”… The reality is there is no unplanned pregnancy… any time you are intimate you are planning on being pregnant. The first options is to keep the child and the story I began the mother chose that option. But there is another option… it is called adoption. It is so biblical that if we belong to Christ we are all adopted.
Eph. 1:5 says, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Let me give you the other testimony,
The event occurred back in the early 60’s when Abortion was not a legal option. She was a young High School student. She met a boy that was everything that she dreamed of. She allowed him to have his way with her and she became pregnant. He told her that he had no desire to marry her and was going to college. She wanted to keep the Baby but her family had different Ideas. They told her that she was to young and it would be to difficult.
Her uncle had found a place that cared for unwed mothers and agreed to take her there and take care of her while she was there. The baby would then be placed up for adoption and she could return to school and finish her high school education.
It was a different time, unlike today where the girl remains in school and around her friends and it is accepted and even somewhat expected to have pregnant girls in High School… It just didn’t occur that much back then and if it did the girls were usually taken to away to places for unwed mothers or moved to family members that were far away.
She ended up having a little girl and the girl was placed up for adoption. A few years later she met a man while she was working in a factory. He told her that he loved her and she moved in with him and became pregnant. The man found out that she was pregnant and kicked her out and moved a different girl friend in.
She didn’t know where to turn so she went back to her Uncle that helped her the first time. This time he suggested that she get an abortion. When she refused, He told her that he was not going to help her this time and she was on her own. She had no where to turn so she moved into an old friends house but quickly got thrown out of there also.
Pregnant and no where to turn she moved into the Salvation Army shelter where she lived until the birth of the child. She planned on raising this child on her own but the state had different idea’s. After she was admitted to the hospital the case worker for the state came along and told her that she would have to sign papers to have the child put up for adoption. She didn’t want to but what hope did she have? She had no money, No place to Live, No way to get the food that her and the child needed so she signed the papers.
The child was born, this time a baby boy which she named Tommy. Two days later little Tommy was taken away and placed into foster care. The mother didn’t believe in God and thought the church was only a group of hypocrites. After all where were they when she needed help? Oh, they talk a good game… They love to condemn… But where were they when she needed them?
The little boy was placed into a loving home that loved the Lord. The child was raised in church. Life was not perfect for the little boy, There were hardships that came his way. But he was given the gift of life and the gift of a mother and father that loved him and instilled Christian values in him.
He graduated High School and served 4 years in defending this country in the military. After he got out he went to college and graduated. He got married and has children of his own.
Today Little Tommy Stands before Today, you see Its not just a story about a women choosing life to me… Because I was given that gift, a chance to become whatever God had planned for my Life. Today, God has given me the opportunity to share the gospel with hundreds and lead over many to the life changing relationship with the Lord. What if she would have chose to abort me? I can tell you one thing you would not have me here today.
What the world calls “unplanned pregnancy”, God calls miracles. God has a plan for each one of us. Each and every child that is conceived God has a purpose and a plan for them. Some children never get the chance because we play God and choose to abort… Choose Life so that some may live…
I believe that the moral standard for this country circle around how we feel about the unborn. God chooses Life. And His says that it is Good… We should choose the same.
