Monday, June 22, 2009

Is God pro-choice or pro-life? Sermon...

I) God is pro-choice(John 15:16)
Before anybody wants to start a political battle, I know you all agree. God is pro-choice because he is the one who chooses us. As Jesus tells his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I have chosen you.” God has chosen you on the cross, manifested that in your life through Baptism, and has chosen you for salvation through Him. God is pro-choice, because we have no choice in the matter, HE IS OURS AND WE ARE HIS!

II) God’s choice is life(Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139, Luke 1:41-45, and John 10:10)
*Throughout Scripture, God ALWAYS chooses life of His people. There is no indication of God choosing death above life, there is no indication that someone’s rights is above the choice of a defenseless human being, and there is no indication that a small child in the womb is not a human being.
*A person is a person, no matter how small.

III) Our life begins with the life Jesus brings (John 10:10)
*We can not begin with political agenda, we can not begin with what party we enjoy, what candidate we voted for, or what experiences we have had with some life issues. But it begins with seeing ourselves as redeemed by the blood of Christ, saved by Jesus, and realizing that without Christ, we have no hope for life, we are dead in sin, we have no solid foundation, identity, or anything that would lead us to looking to anyone else. But we begin by knowing that our Lord has given us the gift of salvation and we give the gifts He gives to others.

IV) Life begins at conception and ends with natural death.
*This is where we would argue that God’s Word stands from all the Scripture readings God has given. This is why we make a big deal about abortion, this is why we been against embroyonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and the usage of birth control that destroys embryos. A life is a life no matter how small, how disabled, or how old.

*A young man from England. Was an amazing rugby player. And on his 20th birthday got into a terrible car accident and was a quadrapalegic. After a few years of struggling in this life, his parents took him to the Alps of Switzerland, to a home that allows what they call mercy homes. Where they will take the life of someone who wants to end their life and the parents of this young man watched as his son passed away.
*That is a tough story and none of us can say that we know what that must be like. But I would say that the true tragedy of that story is not what happened to that young man, but what that means to all people who are quadrapalegics. Because when the parents took the life of their son, they not only said his life was not worth living, but all other people who are paralyzed are not worth living either. That is tough.

V) We struggle with the complexities and look to the cross.
We struggle when we find out that a young person is pregnant outside of marriage, we struggle when a loved one is on a feeding tube, we struggle when someone becomes paralyzed, and we struggle when a loved one is on a ventilator. And in our world, sometimes people death as the hope, but as Christians we see life as the hope, we see a future resurrection as the hope, and we see our Lord’s will not focusing on death, but on the new life that his Son has and the new life that we possess.

VI) We witness to life in word and deed.
We don’t only prove that life is precious, but we take that hope of Life in Christ to defend life in how we act. By supporting organizations like A Place of Refuge, making this place a haven for people struggling with life issues, and live as his people defending the defenseless and realizing all life is life, no matter how small.

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