1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,160 Join me in praying for our time in the word this morning. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:06,600 Father, thank you. 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,960 Our rock and our salvation, who is like the Lord, 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,480 who is like the Lord, strong in power, 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,880 who is like the Lord, mighty to save. 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,480 I thank you, Lord, that you have done all of these things 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,480 and made a way for us to come to you. 8 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:34,760 And I pray that as we come to you in your word, 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,760 as we receive the wisdom of your word, 10 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:39,760 that you would change us, 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:41,320 that you would transform our hearts, 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:43,720 that you would renew our minds, 13 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,280 that we would know your will and your desire for us 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,960 as your creation, and that we would learn to live it out 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,680 day by day in our regular lives, in our marriages, 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,760 in our family, in our community. 17 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,280 We pray, Lord, that you would change us today, 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,880 in Jesus' name, amen. 19 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:09,040 Amen. 20 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:16,040 So it all begins with a flash, a flash. 21 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,840 At the moment the sperm enters the egg, 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,080 that's kind of a weird way to start a sermon, huh? 23 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:24,480 I put that right there, like, 24 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,080 what, I'm in the wrong room, wait. 25 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,080 It's the other class I need to be at. 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:33,480 I recognized that in the first service 27 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,680 when I saw faces go, huh, huh? 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:40,480 Let me start my monologue over again. 29 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:43,760 I always have a way of ruining my own things, but. 30 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,680 At the moment the sperm enters the egg, 31 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,360 it actually triggers a calcium spike. 32 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,360 And this in turn causes the egg to release zinc. 33 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,960 And the zinc binds to small molecules that emit light. 34 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:06,560 It's extraordinary. 35 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,360 At the moment the sperm enters the egg, 36 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,360 the spark of life. 37 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,360 I've caught it on microscopic film. 38 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,160 Just extraordinary. 39 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,960 At the moment of fertilization, a distinct human organism 40 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,160 comes into being with its own unique DNA, 41 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,160 different from both the father and the mother, 42 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,360 along with 10 to the 30th power of likelihood 43 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,160 that you share it with anyone else. 44 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,560 21 days later, before most women even realize 45 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,360 they are pregnant, a new heart begins to beat. 46 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,360 At five and six weeks, the baby's major organs 47 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,360 like the brain and spinal cord are rapidly developing. 48 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,360 Arms and legs are well defined, 49 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,960 spontaneous movement begins to occur 50 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,360 between weeks eight and 10. 51 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,360 At 16 weeks, all the fundamental skin ridges 52 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,360 that make up their distinct, 53 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,360 individually patterned fingerprint 54 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,000 that we call the 55 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,360 their distinct, individually patterned fingerprint 56 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:15,360 are developed. 57 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,760 16 weeks, the same free fingerprints 58 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,360 that they will have for the remainder of their life. 59 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,360 By week 20, the baby can hear 60 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,160 and even respond to loud noises or the mother's voice. 61 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,560 Week 23, it is possible with medical assistance 62 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:41,160 for a premature baby to survive outside the womb. 63 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:42,360 What a miracle. 64 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,160 What an absolute miracle. 65 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:55,400 One Sunday, every January, we spend a weekend service 66 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,480 talking about the sanctity of life. 67 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,800 And today is that day, so welcome. 68 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,800 If you weren't planning on it, here we are. 69 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,800 In the book of Jeremiah, we read about Jeremiah's calling 70 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,800 by God to be a prophet to the nation and to the nations 71 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,800 and that he would go on to be God's spokesman or spokesperson. 72 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,800 But even in his calling in Jeremiah chapter one, 73 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,800 we can learn something about the sanctity of life. 74 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:26,800 If you have your Bibles, you're welcome to join me 75 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:27,800 in Jeremiah. 76 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,800 We're only gonna be in one verse, 77 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:30,800 so it'll also be up on the screen 78 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:31,800 if you don't wanna turn there. 79 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,800 But it reads like this, chapter one of Jeremiah, 80 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,800 beginning in verse five, it says, 81 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,800 I chose you before I formed you in the womb. 82 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,800 I set you apart before you were born. 83 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,800 I appointed you a prophet to the nations. 84 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:50,800 I'll read that one more time. 85 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,800 I chose you before I formed you in the womb. 86 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,800 I set you apart before you were born. 87 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,800 I appointed you a prophet to the nations. 88 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,800 Now Jeremiah, he prophesied in a time of great turmoil 89 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,800 in Judah, the people of God had turned away from God's laws. 90 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,800 They had violated God's commands 91 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,800 and they were facing spiritual decay. 92 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,800 It was all around them and they had turned away from God 93 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,800 and then as a result, all of the, 94 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,800 what we might call the curses of the law, 95 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,800 there's blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. 96 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,800 All these things were coming upon them 97 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,800 and it was going to ultimately result in exile. 98 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,800 A foreign nation was going to come 99 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,800 and be the instrument of God's judgment against their sin 100 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:42,800 and was going to lead them off in exile 101 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,800 away from the land that God had given them. 102 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,800 And Jeremiah is called a prophet during this time. 103 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,800 And the calling of Jeremiah we see in this scripture 104 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:54,800 is a personal calling. 105 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,800 It's initiated by God for a specific purpose 106 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,800 that God had chosen in advance. 107 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,800 Before Jeremiah was even born, God knew him, 108 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,800 God called him, and God set him apart. 109 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:17,800 The verb formed in Hebrew is Yatzar, Y-A-T-S-A-R, Yatzar. 110 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,800 Y-A-T-S-A-R, Yatzar. 111 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,800 And it's the same word that's used back in Genesis, 112 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,800 chapter two and verse seven, 113 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,800 for God forming Adam from the dust. 114 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,800 It's like an artist or a potter working to bring to life 115 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,800 the pattern that's within his mind. 116 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,800 And so the psalmist in Psalm 139 captures this 117 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,800 in a poetic way when he writes, 118 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,800 for it was you who created my inward parts. 119 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,800 You knit me together in my mother's womb. 120 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,800 I will praise you because I have been remarkably 121 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:54,800 and wondrously made. 122 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,800 Your works are wondrous and I know this very well. 123 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,800 My bones were not hidden from you 124 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,800 when I was made in secret, 125 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:04,800 when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 126 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,800 Your eyes saw me when I was formless. 127 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,800 All my days were written in your book 128 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,800 and planned before a single one of them began. 129 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:21,800 God is the active agent in the creation of life. 130 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,800 Say that again, God is the active agent 131 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,800 in the creation of life. 132 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,800 You and I are each uniquely knit together 133 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,800 by the great designer. 134 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,800 And not only are we knit together, 135 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,800 but he foreknows us ahead of time 136 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,800 and he sees our days laid out before him, 137 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:48,800 written in the book, 138 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,800 planned before a single one of them has even begun. 139 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,800 Now you and I, we live in this post-industrial age, right? 140 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:59,800 We're really acquainted with the idea of mass production 141 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,800 and assembly lines and cranking out widgets 142 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:03,800 that all look the same, right? 143 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,800 It could easily be said, 144 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,800 sure, God formed me, God formed me, 145 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:10,800 but he also formed nine billion other people 146 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,800 who are alive today, along with everyone who has been alive. 147 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,800 And it was more of an impersonal, cold, 148 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,800 industrialized process he used. 149 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,800 And that's why God says to Jeremiah, 150 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,800 not only did I form you, he says I chose you. 151 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,800 And hidden behind the word chose is this Hebrew word, 152 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:37,800 yada, Y-A-D-A, and yada is not simply choosing. 153 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,800 We're losing something in the translation here. 154 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,800 Other translations will say what it's getting at. 155 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:46,800 I chose you. 156 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,800 Yada means, it talks about intimacy and relationship. 157 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,800 It has the idea of knowing someone, 158 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:56,800 knowing of someone. 159 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,800 And the choosing aspect of it that's translated in the CSP 160 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,800 is the idea of knowing you individually. 161 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:06,800 The intimacy and relationship, 162 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:08,800 not some cold and personal calling. 163 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:10,800 It's intimate knowledge 164 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,800 that you are an object of love that he chose. 165 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,800 An object of love that he chose. 166 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,800 God personally cares and intimately knows you. 167 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,800 You were in the mind of God before you were created. 168 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,800 He loved you and desires good for your life, amen? 169 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:31,800 Amen. 170 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,800 If one of infinite worth has set his affection on you, 171 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,800 what does that say about your worth? 172 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,800 If one of infinite worth has set his affection on you, 173 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:48,800 what does that say about your worth? 174 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,800 And some of us walk around like God hates us. 175 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,800 Like God wants nothing but trouble and hardship 176 00:09:57,800 --> 00:09:59,800 and bad for us. 177 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:01,800 And yet scripture tells a very different story 178 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,800 of a God who knows us before we were even created. 179 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,800 That we were in his mind. 180 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,800 That he intimately, in a relationship type way, 181 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:14,800 knew us, desired to bring us into being, 182 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:16,800 laid out the life for us. 183 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,800 That he would have us live 184 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,800 as God who was intimately involved. 185 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,800 Does not hate you. 186 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,800 Does not want trouble or hardship or bad for you. 187 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,800 For Jeremiah, God goes on to say, 188 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,800 not only did he form him and chose him, 189 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,800 but he set him apart. 190 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,800 He called him for a purpose. 191 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,800 He exists for a divine purpose 192 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,800 set in motion before he was even born. 193 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,800 You guys know that you have a divine purpose? 194 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:54,800 And this doesn't mean, oh, you know, 195 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,800 I'm gonna be a great leader or, you know, 196 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,800 I'm gonna be really rich necessarily. 197 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,800 Some of those things come our way 198 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,800 through wise living and wise choices, right? 199 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,800 But do you know what we're all called to? 200 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:10,800 Know God. 201 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,800 He brought you into being for community, 202 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,800 for communing with him. 203 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,800 God, a being of overflowing love, 204 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,800 more despair, desire to create humanity 205 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:27,800 so that he might pour that love into us 206 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,800 and have us reflected back to him in our love for him. 207 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,800 We're all called to that. 208 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:38,800 And so he had you in mind, he foreknew you, 209 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:40,800 and he desired to bring you into being 210 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:42,800 so that you might know him 211 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,800 and that you might love him. 212 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,800 And that you might love him. 213 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:49,800 Every one of us, you can say, 214 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,800 you can look at every single human being 215 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,800 and say, you have a purpose. 216 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:57,800 You have a purpose. 217 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,800 God has a purpose for you. 218 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,800 While this verse that we looked at 219 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:09,800 is uniquely addressing Jeremiah and his situation, 220 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,800 I believe that it reveals God's intimate involvement 221 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,800 in foreknowledge, in forming and calling 222 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:17,800 each and every human being. 223 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,800 We are not the result of random chance, 224 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,800 no matter what your story is. 225 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:32,800 We are literally bearing the imprint or the image 226 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,800 of a personal loving creator. 227 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,800 Me and my wife, we owned a business for a while, 228 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:41,800 about a decade down in Bakersfield. 229 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:43,800 And one of the things you learn 230 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,800 is you best be proud of what you put your name on. 231 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:49,800 You best be proud of what you put your name on 232 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:51,800 if you want your business to have any success 233 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:53,800 or thrive in any way. 234 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:55,800 And so you're very careful about who you hire 235 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:57,800 and the products that you sell 236 00:12:57,800 --> 00:12:59,800 because you're gonna put your name on it. 237 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:00,800 And that means something. 238 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,800 What does it say that the God of creation 239 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,800 stamped his image into all of us? 240 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,800 That we are in mago day, made in the image of God. 241 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:14,800 It must say something pretty special. 242 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:22,800 God, in his knowledge and care and purpose for Jeremiah, 243 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,800 it began in the womb before he had done anything. 244 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,800 And I believe from that we can infer a biblical principle, 245 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,800 and that is that human life, even in the womb, 246 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,800 is valuable and known by God. 247 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,800 In Exodus chapter 20, verse 13, 248 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,800 we read a command that most of us are familiar with 249 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,800 from the Ten Commandments, do not murder. 250 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:51,800 Do not murder. 251 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:53,800 And murder is the intentional killing 252 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,800 of an innocent human being. 253 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,800 And what does innocent mean? 254 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,800 Well, innocent meaning not guilty of committing any act 255 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:06,800 that morally justifies their life or killing them. 256 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,800 And there are acts that morally justify someone's death. 257 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:14,800 The Bible lays it out quite plainly. 258 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,800 But murder is the killing of an innocent human being. 259 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,800 And you might say, okay, 260 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,800 but that only includes those who are already walking around, 261 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,800 those who are already born, not babies in the womb. 262 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,800 And I'll say, just a few chapters later in Exodus, 263 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,800 there's this interesting instruction given in the law. 264 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:37,800 It says this, when men get in a fight, 265 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:38,800 do men ever get in a fight? 266 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,800 They do sometimes, right? 267 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,800 The next part's kind of funny though. 268 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:49,800 When men get in a fight, I'll take that back, it's not funny. 269 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,800 But it's kind of an odd way of phrasing it, 270 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:53,800 just out of the blue. 271 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,800 When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman, 272 00:14:57,800 --> 00:14:59,800 that's why it's not funny. 273 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,800 That'll get you in trouble, right? 274 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:02,800 Don't hit pregnant women. 275 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,800 But when men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman 276 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,800 so that her children are born prematurely 277 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,800 but there is no injury, the one who hit her 278 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,800 must be fined as the woman's husband demands from him, 279 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,800 and he must pay according to judicial assignment. 280 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:20,800 Basically it's saying, if you're in a fight 281 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:22,800 and you're swinging and you hit a pregnant woman, 282 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,800 but she gives birth prematurely 283 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,800 and the baby is okay, well, you're not off the hook. 284 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:30,800 You shouldn't have done what you did, 285 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:32,800 but you do owe a penalty, 286 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:34,800 a judicial assignment against them. 287 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:35,800 And that's their law. 288 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,800 Nowadays you go to jail, right? 289 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:41,800 But it's the second part that's interesting. 290 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,800 It says, if there is an injury, 291 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,800 and based upon the structure of this paragraph, 292 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,800 it's talking about both the woman and the unborn child. 293 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,800 If there is an injury to either the woman or the unborn child, 294 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,800 here is the assessment of God's law. 295 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,800 Then you must give life for life. 296 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:03,800 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, 297 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,800 hand for hand, foot for foot, 298 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,800 burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound. 299 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,800 And so the assessment in this scripture applies 300 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:15,800 both to the woman and the unborn child. 301 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,800 If the child is killed, the one who punched the woman 302 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,800 must pay with their own life, life for life. 303 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:26,800 The Bible says that that unborn child has the sanctity of life, 304 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:27,800 the value of life, 305 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,800 and the one who would take that, owes. 306 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:36,800 God places value on a human life, 307 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,800 regardless of the stage of development that it's in. 308 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,800 The cultural debate that's around us about abortion 309 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,800 often sidesteps core moral and biblical truths 310 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,800 related to the value of life. 311 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,800 It's so easy to get tangled into a number of side arguments 312 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:59,800 about what about the care of the child after they're born, 313 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,800 or the circumstances surrounding the initial pregnancy, 314 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,800 or the argument that men just wanna control women's bodies. 315 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,800 And these are all arguments that need answers, 316 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:11,800 but they're not the core fundamental 317 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,800 moral center of the arguments. 318 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:16,800 They are not. 319 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:17,800 They are a sidestep. 320 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,800 They are a work around. 321 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:29,800 As Christians, as those who put our hope and faith in God 322 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,800 and believe His word to be true, we have to respond to it. 323 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,800 And we have to hold a position in our hearts and our minds. 324 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:39,800 We have to reconcile. 325 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:40,800 It doesn't mean that it's always easy. 326 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:42,800 You guys know when you read the scripture, 327 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,800 sometimes it's hard to wrestle with it. 328 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:49,800 But a God who always agrees with you is no God at all, right? 329 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,800 And so the word of God confronts us head on sometimes, 330 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:58,800 and we have to wrestle with our own personal thoughts 331 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,800 and feelings about how we're going to respond to it. 332 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:11,800 As Christians, we are called to speak the truth in love. 333 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:16,800 And the truth is, God hates abortion. 334 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,800 The truth is, abortion is murder. 335 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,800 The truth is, one who actively initiates 336 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,800 and participates in the commission of an abortion 337 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:41,800 is a murderer. 338 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,800 So here, to cut through the noise of the argument, 339 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,800 here is the basic argument for life 340 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,800 as it relates to the unborn. 341 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,800 It's broken down in a logical progression, 342 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:57,800 and it goes like this. 343 00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,800 Premise number one. 344 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:04,800 It is morally wrong to kill an innocent human being. 345 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,800 We have somewhat of agreement in here on that, yeah? 346 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:10,800 Yeah? Head nod, shake. 347 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:15,800 Morally, it is morally wrong to kill an innocent human being. 348 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:17,800 Premise two. 349 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:23,800 Abortion kills an innocent human being. 350 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:28,800 Therefore, conclusion, abortion is morally wrong. 351 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:32,800 Someone wants to sidestep the issue, 352 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,800 but what about, what about? 353 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:35,800 This clarifies. 354 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,800 It's morally wrong to kill an innocent human being. 355 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,800 Abortion kills an innocent human being. 356 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,800 Abortion is morally wrong. 357 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:47,800 We can talk about the other issues. 358 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,800 We can get to the other circumstances. 359 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,800 But do we have agreement? 360 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,800 If premise one and premise two are true, 361 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:58,800 the conclusion follows. 362 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,800 It focuses, it clarifies the argument. 363 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,800 Of a preacher man, it's just a clump of cells. 364 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,800 It's just a clump of cells. 365 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:16,800 And I say, call it what you will. 366 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,800 You will not be able to do it. 367 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:20,800 And I say, call it what you will. 368 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,800 You can call it a zygote or a blastocyst 369 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:26,800 or an embryo or a fetus. 370 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,800 Whatever term you choose to use, 371 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,800 do you even know what you're saying when you use those? 372 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:35,800 The fascinating thing about the terms 373 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:37,800 that are thrown around as a sidestep 374 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,800 to not acknowledge the humanity of the baby 375 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:41,800 is every one of those terms that I just used 376 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,800 that are often spewing out of people's mouths 377 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,800 are simply just developmental states of a human being. 378 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:51,800 You guys ever heard of an infant, 379 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:56,800 a toddler, a teenager, and an adult? 380 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,800 Developmental stages of a human being. 381 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,800 Well, so is a zygote. 382 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,800 It's the single cell organism that's formed 383 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,800 when that spark of life happens, that fertilization. 384 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:07,800 That's a zygote. 385 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,800 A blastocyst, it's an early embryo 386 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:12,800 about five to 10 days old. 387 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:17,800 An embryo is 14 days plus from fertilization and a fetus. 388 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,800 Well, that's from the ninth week on to the end of pregnancy. 389 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:23,800 Developmental stages. 390 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:29,800 Developmental stages for a human being. 391 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:32,800 That's all they are. 392 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:35,800 And many will hide behind these terms, 393 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,800 but these terms themselves betray those who will. 394 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,800 For if it continues infant, toddler, adolescent, teen, adult, 395 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,800 at what developmental stage are we allowed to kill human beings? 396 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:49,800 Innocent human beings. 397 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:56,800 And yes, it is a clump of human cells, 398 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:58,800 just like you. 399 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,800 But at a different stage of development. 400 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:04,800 Should we kill you? 401 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,800 Because you also are a clump of human cells. 402 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,800 Because you also are a clump of human cells? 403 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:09,800 No. 404 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:12,800 The Bible lays out a different plan. 405 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,800 So what about these different circumstances? 406 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,800 Well, I believe as Christians, 407 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,800 we are called to be full of compassion. 408 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,800 We are called to be full of compassion. 409 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:26,800 We should acknowledge the difficulty 410 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,800 that surrounds many folks in their stories. 411 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,800 So many different stories related to this. 412 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,800 We should weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. 413 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:39,800 We should come alongside many people 414 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,800 who are going through it right now 415 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,800 and be with them as they walk through the process 416 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:45,800 of figuring out how they're going to move forward 417 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:47,800 and what life is like. 418 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:49,800 This is what believers should do, 419 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:54,800 but in doing so, we are not allowed to set aside truth. 420 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:57,800 We are not allowed to set aside. 421 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,800 There is grace and forgiveness for all who want it. 422 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,800 The gospel is so great and such good news 423 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,800 that it extends to every sin, even murder. 424 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,800 Abortion is not unpardonable. 425 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,800 But grace and forgiveness are available 426 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,800 to all who will confess their need for it. 427 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,800 Grace and forgiveness is available to anyone 428 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,800 who will confess their need for grace 429 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,800 and forgiveness, who will call sin what it is 430 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,800 and will trust fully in Christ's saving work. 431 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,800 Those who say, I did it when I was a lot younger 432 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,800 and I made the best choice for myself at that stage of life 433 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,800 are not positioning themselves to receive the grace of God. 434 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:51,800 Do you see that? 435 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,800 See, they're deflecting from the sin of it 436 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,800 and they're saying, well, I made the best choice 437 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,800 for when I was that age or my life circumstances 438 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:01,800 and now I'm in a different one 439 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:05,800 and I can see how that probably wasn't that good. 440 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,800 But the Bible says that thing that was not that good 441 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,800 was murder, the taking of an innocent life, 442 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,800 a life treasured by God, foreknown by God. 443 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,800 And unless our sinfulness weighs down on us, 444 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,800 then we don't understand the depths of the grace and mercy 445 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,800 we can receive in Christ. 446 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,800 It must weigh down on us first 447 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,800 before we can fully appreciate and give thanks. 448 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:37,800 The one who has sinned much and been forgiven much 449 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:39,800 loves much. 450 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,800 And it does us no good to deflect and sidestep. 451 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:52,800 Our brother, the apostle Paul, abused, murdered, 452 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,800 endorsed the murder of believers, 453 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:57,800 those who had put their faith in Christ 454 00:24:57,800 --> 00:24:59,800 before he was converted. 455 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,800 Grace of God was enough for even him. 456 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,800 The grace of God extends to any and every sin. 457 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,800 And is available to those who will confess their need of it. 458 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:21,800 Those who are not grieved by their sin with a holy grief 459 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,800 at the offense that they've committed against God 460 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,800 for disobeying his law, 461 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,800 for not living according to his way, 462 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:33,800 those who will not be grieved 463 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,800 by the sin of their sin 464 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:40,800 at the offense of their sin, 465 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:42,800 those who are not grieved 466 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,800 are not in a position to have the grace and forgiveness 467 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:46,800 applied to them, 468 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,800 though the invitation is extended to all the cross, 469 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,800 the extent of the atonement of Jesus Christ 470 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:55,800 is for the whole world. 471 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,800 It is powerful enough to cover the sins 472 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,800 of all of humanity, past, and present, and future. 473 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,800 The extent of the atonement is only available 474 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,800 to those who will repent and believe. 475 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,800 And therein lies the difference. 476 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,800 When we want to extend grace and mercy, 477 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,800 it's through the door of repentance and faith. 478 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,800 It's not by saying, no, no problem. 479 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,800 It's not that big of a deal, 480 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:27,800 or that was a different time. 481 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:29,800 It's again, we fall into that trap of thinking, 482 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,800 time erases sin. 483 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:34,800 If time erases sin, 484 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,800 well then we all have a hope of saving ourselves, right? 485 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,800 Just outlast our sin and hope we don't die before 486 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,800 enough time has elapsed. 487 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:46,800 But time does not erase sin. 488 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,800 The only thing that erases sin is the atonement of Christ. 489 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:53,800 And the only way the atonement of Christ 490 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,800 is applied to a person is through repentance and faith, 491 00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:59,800 putting their hope in Christ. 492 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,800 And so when we go to minister to folks 493 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:04,800 who have struggled with this or dealt with this 494 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,800 in the past and in their life, 495 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,800 it is not loving to say, it's all right, 496 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:12,800 but to say, you know what? 497 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,800 Well call it what it is. 498 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,800 But the cross is big enough. 499 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:19,800 The atonement is big enough. 500 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,800 And it can cover the most heinous of sins. 501 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,800 And we all have all sinned in some way. 502 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,800 And all of our sin, whether great or small, 503 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,800 deserves hell, separation from God. 504 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,800 And yet the blood of Christ is sufficient 505 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,800 to cover for all who will come. 506 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,800 There is value for every person. 507 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:52,800 God so loved a world of his image bearing creation 508 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,800 that in Christ he took on a human body. 509 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:57,800 And here's what blows my mind 510 00:27:57,800 --> 00:27:59,800 about the incarnation of Christ. 511 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:01,800 He took on a human body and that, 512 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,800 sometimes our image can immediately blast forward 513 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,800 to the latest episode of The Chosen we watched, right? 514 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,800 We watched The Chosen and we see that beautiful Jesus 515 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,800 walking around with his nice hair, 516 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:15,800 walking the countryside and we're like, 517 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:17,800 wow, there's Jesus right there, man's man, 518 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,800 or whatever, or beautiful man. 519 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,800 But here's the amazing part of the incarnation, 520 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,800 is that he experienced humanity 521 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,800 from conception to death. 522 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,800 Conceived by the Holy Spirit, 523 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:37,800 that's what our creeds tell us, 524 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,800 conceived by the Holy Spirit, right? 525 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:41,800 That's what the New Testament tells us is 526 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,800 the Holy Spirit was the active agent in his birth, 527 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,800 conceived by the Holy Spirit. 528 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,800 But in the womb of Mary, the spark of life, 529 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,800 and Jesus' experience from conception all the way to birth, 530 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,800 he experienced every stage of development in that process 531 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,800 and then all of the stages of development into adulthood 532 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,800 and then he experienced the grave. 533 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,800 And the only thing he's experienced 534 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,800 that we've never experienced is the resurrection 535 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,800 that we all hope for in the future. 536 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,800 The new body, the glorified body, 537 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,800 and the new heavens and earth with the Lord forever. 538 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,800 But he's experienced it all. 539 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,800 In fact, there's a story, a pretty neat story of, 540 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,800 who was the first one to acknowledge 541 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,800 the specialness of Christ in the womb, right? 542 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:31,800 The first one to acknowledge the specialness 543 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,800 of this Messiah who was born to Mary 544 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,800 was John the Baptist, who was in Elizabeth's womb. 545 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,800 It said he left for joy when Mary entered the house. 546 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:45,800 A preborn baby left for joy, 547 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,800 acknowledging that he was in the presence of the Messiah 548 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,800 one door over in Mary's womb. 549 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:54,800 That's extraordinary. 550 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,800 He developed, he experienced all the developmental stages 551 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,800 with his earthly mom, Mary. 552 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,800 And this highlights God's high view of human life 553 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,800 from conception to the grave. 554 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:12,800 As a congregation, as village, 555 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:16,800 we must see the unborn as God sees them. 556 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:23,800 We must be a voice for those who cannot voice 557 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:25,800 their situation. 558 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:31,800 We must be unapologetically about life 559 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:35,800 from conception to the grave. 560 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,800 But we also must be people of grace and forgiveness 561 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:40,800 who extend the love of Jesus and tell them 562 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,800 the cross is big enough, he saved me, 563 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,800 he can save you from anything 564 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,800 if you express your need for his salvation. 565 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,800 And in our particular context, our day and age, 566 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,800 our society, our culture, 567 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:58,800 with this issue being such a forefront, 568 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,800 we have to take concrete actions 569 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:05,800 to support the cause of life. 570 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,800 Fascinating, you guys know who Elon Musk is? 571 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:11,800 He's kinda in the news a lot right now. 572 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,800 Elon Musk is a pretty consistent, 573 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,800 he's consistently sounding the alarm 574 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,800 on the plummeting birth rates in America, 575 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:28,800 worldwide, but America specifically, 576 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,800 that our birth rates currently stand right on the edge 577 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,800 where if we drop any lower, 578 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,800 we will not have enough children born each year 579 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,800 to compensate for those who pass away or die, 580 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,800 and that we'll begin to see population decline 581 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,800 among at least those who are currently in America. 582 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,800 And that this is a worldwide phenomena, 583 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,800 some areas definitely are seeing positive birth rates, 584 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,800 but a lot of places have seen a plummeting birth rate, 585 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:03,800 and he sees it as an existential threat to humanity. 586 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,800 And I think he's got something, the data seems to show that, 587 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,800 but in this particular context, 588 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:14,800 I've got an idea for at least step one 589 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,800 of the process of reversing that trend. 590 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:22,800 My idea is we stop murdering one million babies a year, 591 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,800 and we let them live first, 592 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:28,800 and we come and we support the moms 593 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:29,800 and we support those children, 594 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,800 and we make sure that we're not killing them, 595 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:32,800 and we support those children, 596 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,800 and we make sure that they are raised 597 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,800 to know and love Jesus Christ, 598 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,800 and we fill the world with the glory of God through them. 599 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:43,800 That's at least the first step, 600 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:45,800 anyone on board with that idea, yeah? 601 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,800 Let's start there. 602 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:51,800 And one of the ways that we as a congregation, 603 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,800 as a ministry, take concrete action 604 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,800 is through an organization called 605 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,800 Alternatives Pregnancy Center, 606 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,800 maybe some of you have heard of it. 607 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,800 Alternatives Pregnancy Center is a gospel-centered 608 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:05,800 alternative to abortion. 609 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:09,800 It's a great facility run by some great folks 610 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,800 just off of Folsom down the way, Folsom Boulevard. 611 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,800 They provide free care to those who choose to not abort, 612 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:20,800 but instead have their babies, 613 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,800 and it's all that list of care right there, 614 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,800 but in addition to that, 615 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:26,800 for the grace and forgiveness side of it, 616 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,800 they also offer post-abortive care 617 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:31,800 for those who have had an abortion 618 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:34,800 and need to hear the truth of the gospel, 619 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:36,800 to have a place to heal from the effects of sin 620 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,800 in their life, and to receive the life-giving support 621 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:41,800 that they need into the future. 622 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:43,800 They care for them whether they choose 623 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:45,800 not to have an abortion or whether they just came 624 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,800 from the doctor having had an abortion. 625 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,800 They will receive them and care for them 626 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,800 and offer all kinds of services. 627 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,800 And we've partnered with them now for over a year 628 00:33:57,800 --> 00:33:59,800 and a half, I think, or so. 629 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:00,800 We've partnered with them. 630 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,800 We regularly give to them on a monthly basis, 631 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,800 committed to give as a part of our culture initiative 632 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,800 to bring the gospel to the culture. 633 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,800 But each year on Life Sunday, 634 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,800 we also do a baby bottle drive. 635 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,800 And today is that day, and so as you leave today, 636 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:19,800 someone will be standing out front 637 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,800 with a basket full of baby bottles. 638 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,800 And all we're asking is for you or you and your family 639 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,800 or a couple of you to grab, you know, 640 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:27,800 if you want multiple in your family, 641 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:29,800 you're gonna put one in each car, 642 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:31,800 whatever you wanna do, grab a couple baby bottles. 643 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,800 And all we're asking is for the next few weeks, 644 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:36,800 fill it up with money. 645 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:38,800 Fill it up with money. 646 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,800 Fill it up with cash, coins, a check, whatever you want. 647 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,800 Talk to people that you know who might wanna give toward it 648 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,800 and fill it up with money because we're gonna gather 649 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:48,800 that all together in a couple of weeks. 650 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:50,800 Do we have the dates on that? 651 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:51,800 Throw that other slide up. 652 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:52,800 There it is. 653 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:54,800 On February 9th, we're asking everyone 654 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:56,800 to bring those bottles back, 655 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:58,800 and we're gonna get all that money together. 656 00:34:58,800 --> 00:34:59,800 We'll announce how much we're gonna go 657 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:01,800 and give to Alternatives Pregnancy Center 658 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,800 to help support them for another year, 659 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:06,800 offering this Gospel Center ministry. 660 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:08,800 So make sure to grab a baby bottle. 661 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,800 We want to do, I think last year we gave $800, 662 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,800 but I think we're in a better position 663 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:14,800 to do a lot more than that. 664 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,800 And so it'd be awesome if we could double that. 665 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:18,800 Let's double that 800. 666 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,800 Let's give $1600 to Alternatives Pregnancy Center, 667 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:23,800 along with what we've given every month. 668 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:25,800 That would just be an awesome goal 669 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:26,800 and an awesome way for us to say, 670 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:28,800 hey, this is one small way 671 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:29,800 that we're gonna get behind life, 672 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,800 and we're gonna say life matters. 673 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:34,800 And every one of those dollars goes 674 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,800 to partnering with Alternatives to Care for Young Women, 675 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,800 just like this one in the video we're gonna watch now. 676 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,800 I did, I felt like having a child would stop me 677 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,800 from being able to complete my goals and my dreams. 678 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:49,800 So when I did find out I was pregnant, 679 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,800 it was, I was devastated. 680 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:57,800 When I first felt like abortion was the answer, 681 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,800 I was laying in my bed, I was crying under the blanket. 682 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:03,800 I was crying, I was crying, I was crying, 683 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:05,800 I was crying, I was crying, I was crying, 684 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,800 I was crying, I was crying, I was crying, 685 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,800 I was crying, I was crying, I was crying, 686 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:11,800 I was crying under the blanket. 687 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,800 Something just deep down inside told me I can't do it. 688 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,800 The backlash that I would have got just for having a child. 689 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,800 I've never had that real support system. 690 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,800 I was considering getting rid of a blessing 691 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:29,800 behind other people's thoughts 692 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,800 and other people's emotions 693 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,800 of how other people would feel. 694 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:35,800 When I first walked into APC, 695 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,800 my first thought was, this is cute. 696 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:40,800 I like the set up, I thought everything on the walls is cute. 697 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:42,800 The little ball, how the chairs and everything were, 698 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:44,800 to me, it was all cute. 699 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:46,800 It was warm, it was comfortable. 700 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:48,800 It didn't feel like a pregnancy office. 701 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,800 When I did go back and I talked to Katie, 702 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,800 she truly, truly showed me what an abortion was 703 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,800 and the process and how it is. 704 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,800 That really, I'd say, was an eye-opener for me 705 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:03,800 because when I went to Planned Parenthood, 706 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:05,800 I didn't know what an abortion, 707 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:07,800 I knew what an abortion was, 708 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:09,800 but I didn't know how it was going to happen. 709 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:11,800 I didn't know, let alone how far along I was, 710 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:13,800 I just knew I was pregnant. 711 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,800 While we were in the room talking, 712 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,800 I remember telling her, I think I'm only a couple weeks. 713 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:19,800 It couldn't be that much. 714 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,800 We were expecting to see a little peanut or something, 715 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:24,800 something small, 716 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,800 but when we got in the room and we looked on the screen, 717 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,800 it was a peanut, but it had little arms and little legs 718 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:34,800 and you could see the little bony fingers 719 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:36,800 and everything, like my baby was there, 720 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,800 my baby was developed, my baby was happy, 721 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,800 it was moving, it was like jumping around, 722 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,800 it was spinning, it was the whole thing. 723 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,800 And then on top of, I was further along 724 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:51,800 than what anybody expected. 725 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,800 It broke me, it did. 726 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:55,800 I started crying. 727 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,800 I couldn't believe that this is what I was considering doing 728 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,800 to my child less than 30 minutes ago. 729 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,800 When I first found out I was pregnant 730 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:07,800 and I went to the ultrasound, 731 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:09,800 APC was my support system. 732 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,800 Like I said, you guys really showed me the blessings 733 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:15,800 that were in front of me. 734 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,800 I feel like that's what APC really did, 735 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,800 was really showed me how much of a blessing that it was. 736 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,800 One, to have the people around me 737 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,800 and then for my baby to be so happy and healthy. 738 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:30,800 Yeah, you guys showed me that I could have a relationship with God. 739 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:35,800 You guys made me not only feel comfortable talking to Him 740 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:37,800 when you guys asked me to pray, 741 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:39,800 but the way you guys were praying 742 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:41,800 and how you prayed for me, 743 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,800 I just felt like even in that moment, 744 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,800 a weight was being lifted off my shoulders. 745 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,800 I did, I felt like having a child would stop me 746 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,800 from being able to complete my goals and my dreams. 747 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,800 But now I feel like having a child 748 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:01,800 is what's actually motivating me 749 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:03,800 to complete my goals and my dreams. 750 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,800 That's just one of countless stories that you can hear 751 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,800 or check out on Alternatives website. 752 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:23,800 Far more to minister to, 753 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:25,800 and hopefully through our bottle drive 754 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:27,800 and other churches who do the same thing, 755 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,800 we can make sure that that ministry continues 756 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:32,800 and be a part of it. 757 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:35,800 They love to have folks come over and visit. 758 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,800 They do a tour ever so often that you can sign up for 759 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:41,800 and they'll walk you through and show you the whole place 760 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:43,800 and talk about what they do there. 761 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,800 She talked about it at the beginning of the video 762 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:48,800 about loving the decor and the place 763 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:50,800 and how it made her feel. 764 00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,800 If you like pink, you're going to love it there. 765 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,800 Because there's a lot of pink. 766 00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:59,800 A lot of pink. 767 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,800 But it's perfect and it is very warming. 768 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,800 It feels like they were prepared, very hospitable. 769 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,800 They prepared for you and we're welcoming you there. 770 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,800 And so great place to stop by. 771 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:11,800 We'll do the bottle drive. 772 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,800 If you want to go further with your support to them 773 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:17,800 beyond the bottle drive, they do have, 774 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:19,800 you can go to our website and I believe there 775 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:22,800 on one of the tabs you can see are the ministry 776 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,800 that we support there at Alternatives. 777 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,800 You can give to an Amazon wish list that they have 778 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,800 for supplies for the babies. 779 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:33,800 So like diapers and blankets and other things that they give. 780 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:36,800 We can also, if someone's heart has moved and you're like, 781 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,800 I want to do more here at the church for them, 782 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,800 we can plan a, they call it like a baby shower. 783 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,800 And you do a baby shower for one of the moms. 784 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,800 The mom won't be here, but we throw the baby shower 785 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:49,800 and we get all the gifts together and we bundle them all up 786 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:52,800 and we take them over for that mom. 787 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,800 And so we can plan those out too. 788 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:56,800 If someone wants to spearhead that, 789 00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:58,800 we would love to have, do more things 790 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:01,800 for Alternatives Pregnancy Center than just this. 791 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:02,800 But this is a start. 792 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:03,800 Take a bottle on your way out. 793 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:05,800 I'm gonna invite the worship team to come up. 794 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:07,800 They're gonna lead us in a song 795 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:09,800 and then we're gonna receive communion 796 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:19,800 and then go out with our benediction in just a little bit.