Sermon Is There an If in Life

Sermon – “Is There An ‘If’ In Life?” Sunday, January 20, 2008 Faith Temple Church Pastor Jeff Hayes Title “Is There An ‘If’ In Life?”

Scriptures: Deut. 30:19-20 Plus Many from Various Chapter in the Bible!

Introduction: 1. Sanctity of Life Teaching

2. Today is the Sanctity of Life Sunday. We are to celebrate and hold in high regard the issue of life from the point of conception to the point of death.

3. Today our world is divided on the issue of life to the point we have labeled ourselves into two camps …

- Pro Choice … those who favor abortion, the taking of life while still in the womb. - Pro Life … those who oppose the taking the life of the unborn.

4. Straightforward teaching… presenting the facts…presenting truth!

5. Let me break the abortions down to a national statistic: 1,600,000 babies are aborted in these United States every year. Per day, that’s 4,383; per hour, that’s 183; per minute, there are 3. Chuck Swindoll’s illustration

6. 96 Percent of Abortions In South Dakota Not Preformed To Save The Life Of The

Mother, or to end of the life of the baby because of Incest!

7. If you are here today and have had an abortion… or influenced a woman to have an abortion… you’re always welcomed!!!

8. Our hope is that Healing has come or is coming to your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9. In SOuth Dakota and In Our Nation…. Great Majority of Abortions Are Preformed For Birth Control Purposes!

Title: “Is There An ‘If’ In Life?” Page 2 Title…. “Is There An ‘If’ In Life???”

#1. If We Choose Life, We’ve Made A Wise Choice, God’s Choice!

Would it surprise you if I told you God is pro choice? He is! God made man a "free moral agent" … that is, one who would have to make his own choices. God desires for man to make choices … thus He is pro-choice….

He’s also PRO LIFE BECAUSE LIFE IS HIS CHOICE!!!!!!!!!

In allowing man to make his own choices God gives man the measure of HIS WORD to help him make the right choices … the choice of life. God not only encourages us to choose life … for God is "pro life." He warns us that in not choosing life, we have made a bad choice.

(Is Thee An ‘If’ In Life…

1. If We Choose Life, We’ve Made A Wise Choice, God’s Choice!!!!

SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 30:19 "This Day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you LIFE AND DEATH, blessings and curses. NOW CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your children may live…

A. A teacher gave the following situation to a class of students. How would you advise a mother who was pregnant with her fifth child based on the following facts. Her husband had syphilis. She had tuberculosis. Their first child was born blind. Their second child died. Their third child was born deaf. Their fourth child had tuberculosis. The mother is considering an abortion. Would you advise her to have one? In view of these facts, most of the students agreed that she should have an abortion. The teacher then announced, If you said ‘yes’ you would have just killed the great composer Ludwig Von Beethoven! CHOOSE LIFE! B. Choice Depends On Facts! C. Ill Choice Doesn’t Always Recognize Facts!!! D. Is The Baby In The Womb A Glob Of Tissue Or An Individual Person? E. A developing embryo is also genetically different from the sperm and egg that created it. A human being has 46 chromosomes. A sperm and egg each have just 23 chromosomes. But a trained geneticist can now distinguish between the DNA of an embryo and the DNA of a sperm and egg. But that same geneticist cannot distinguish between the DNA of a developing embryo and the DNA of a full- grown human being. F. Reminder God Choose Life And Made Us In His Image! G. Genesis 1:27 –“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Page 3

#1 “If We Choose Life, We’ve Made A Wise Choice, God’s Choice!”

#2. If We Choose Life, Choosing Life Brings Blessings!

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:20 – “…And that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers…”

A. CHILDREN ARE INCREDIBLE BLESSINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! B. LIFE IN AN INCREDIBLE GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!! C. LIFE HAS MANY QUESTIONS…. D. Rachelle… Why does a round pizza come in a square box??? E. What disease did cured ham actually have???? F. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?? G. MANY INTERESTING QUESTIONS BUT GOD GIVES US BLESSINGS!!!!! H. God’s Unselfish Blessing…Life and Breath!- I. Acts 17:25 –“And he (God) is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.“ J. God’s Creative Blessing…Creation and Our Creation! K. Isaiah 44:24 –“This is what the Lord says---your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…” L. God’s Blessing…Forming Us, Knowing Us And Giving Us Purpose! M. Jeremiah 1;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.”

(#2 Cont. If We Choose Life, Choosing Life Brings Blessings!)

ILLUSTRATION The late Ethel Waters, a famous gospel singer, is only one of many who was conceived and born as a result of rape. “HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW AND I KNOW HE’S WATCHING ME! What a blessing her life has been to the world and to the Kingdom of God! Page 4

#3. If We Choose Life, We’ve Chosen Righteousness For A Nation!

A. Deuteronomy 28:1 "If we fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will see you HIGH ABOVE ALL THE NATIONS ON EARTH.” B. Medical authorities determine a person to be "alive" if there is either a detectable heartbeat or brain-wave activity. With that in mind, it is eye-opening for some to realize that unborn children have detectable heartbeats at eighteen days (two and one-half weeks) after conception . WHAT IS SO SHOCKING IS THAT ESSENTIALLY 100 PERCENT OF ALL ABORTIONS OCCUR AFTER THE SEVENTH WEEK OF PREGNANCY. Sanctity of Life, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990 p. 11-12 C. Isaac and Rebekah… EXPECTING TWINS! D. Genesis 25:23 – “The Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger.” (Jacob and Esau). E. Jacob named in the lineage of Jesus!!! F. JACOB AN IMPORTANT FIGURE IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL! G. Matthew 1:1-2 –“A record of the geneaology of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: vs. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob…” H. HOW SERIOUS IS ABORTION AND THE BIG MONEY INVOLVED IN IT?? I. Deuteronomy 27:25 – “Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.” J. Mary Ann Bell has said about the decision to have abortion in a nation…”It is not freedom of choice people want so much as license to sin.” K. Proverbs 14:34 – “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” L. Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality…(there is no death)! M. Therefore we must conclude that the taking of innocent life…within the womb as well as life beyond the womb is wrong and a sin against God, others, and the nation., Page 5 ( Continued “Is There An ‘If’ In Life???”)

#4. If Life Has Been Chosen For Us, We Must Choose Life For The Unborn And

Not Be Silent!

A. Rhonda Jenna – Alpha Theta protein test… indicated that she had Down’s syndrome.. IF YOU KNOW JENNA , SHE WASN’T BORN WITH DOWNS B. Told the high skilled, high risk pregnancy doctor…I’m not going to end my pregnancy! THIS IS MY BABY INSIDE OF ME AND I’M GOING TO GIVE HER LIFE!’ C. “Where is our voice in a day that so easily takes the life of the innocent? Silent voices do not produce the righteousness of God.” D. Martin Niemoeller, a German pastor imprisoned for opposing the Nazis, illustrated the gravity of remaining silent: "In Germany, the first came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." E. Most Dangerous Place In America… The Mother’s Womb!!!! F. Proverbs 31:8 –“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

Conclusion: “Is There An ‘If’ In Life????”

1. If We Choose Life, We’ve Made A Wise Choice, God’s Choice! 2. If We Choose Life, Choosing Life Brings Blessings! 3. If We Choose Life, We’ve Chosen Righteousness For A Nation! 4. If Life Has Been Chosen For Us, We Must Choose Life For The Unborn And Not Be Silent!