Psalms 139:13-16

Good morning. Let's stand and set our mind and hearts on Jesus and just praise Him for everything that He's doing in our lives. He's worthy to be praised, right? Amen? A little more enthusiasm. Come on. He's worthy to be praised.

Amen? Amen?

He's worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of everybody.

breath we could ever breathe

we live for you

Jesus the name above

every other name

Jesus the only

one who could never

say

you're worthy

of every breath

we could ever breathe

we live for you

holy there is

no one like you

there is one

inside you

open up my eyes

in one

show me

who you are

and fill me

with your heart

and lead me

in your love

to boast

around me

worthy of every song

we could ever sing

worthy of all the praise

we could ever breathe

worthy of every breath

we could ever breathe

we live for you

Jesus the name above

every other name

Jesus the only one

who could ever save

we could ever give you

we could ever live for you

Holy, there is none beside you

There is none beside you

Open my eyes in one way

Show me who you are

And there with your heart and peace

If you are close to the ground

Holy, there is none beside you

There is none beside you

Open my eyes in one way

Show me who you are

And there with your heart and peace

If you are close to the ground

And there with your heart and peace

Open my eyes in one way

There is none beside you

And there with your heart and peace

Open my eyes in one way

And there with your heart and peace

And I can not be shaken

Slowly and strong

I can't stand beside you

Open my eyes in one

Show me who you are

And I can't breathe with your heart

And lead me in your arms

And close up the ground

I can't stand beside you

And I can't stand beside you

Open my eyes in one

Show me who you are

And fill me deep in your heart

And close around you

And fill me deep in your heart

Your love will not run empty

Your love's a well that will never run dry

Your love will not run empty

Your love grows sweeter, sweeter time

Your love will not run empty

Your love's a well that will never run dry

Your love will not run empty

Your love grows sweeter, sweeter time

Your love will not run empty

The God of grace

The King of kings The King of kings calls me His own Beautiful Savior I'm yours forever Jesus Christ my living hope Come and be here Praise the one who sent me

to be free Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah!

Then came the light, the seal of God, your very light, and we came to breathe.

Out of the silence, the roaring lion, deep where the grave has no pain on me.

Then came the morning, the seal of God, your very light, and we came to breathe.

Out of the silence, the roaring lion, deep where the grave has no pain on me.

You have broken every day, the salvation of Jesus Christ might be in me.

Oh, hallelujah, praise the one who set me free.

Hallelujah, death has lost his grip on me.

You have broken every day, the salvation of Jesus Christ might be in me.

From my slumber, oh God

Take these shaking hands

And hold them rest still

Make me up

From my slumber, oh God

Lift my eyes to your heart

Where my hope comes from

Over and over again

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh When my feils chase my failures, oh God

Oh, in heaven's love

Sit so far

Wake me up

To your glory

Oh, God

Draw my eyes to yours

Where my help comes from

I will find you over and over again

Your love and your mercy will be free

No matter how far you find me where I am

Yes, over and over again

Your love and your mercy

No matter how far you find me where I am

Oh, in my suffering and in my weakness and when from you I ran

You find me in the dark of sin when I'm there again

You find me in my suffering, in my weakness and when from you I run

You find me in the dark of sin when I'm there again

You find me, you find me over and over again

Your love and your mercy will be free

No matter how far you find me where I am

Oh, in my suffering and in my weakness and when from you I run

You find me in the dark of sin when I'm there again

You find me, you find me in my suffering and in my weakness and when from you I run

You find me in the dark of sin when I'm there again

You find me in my suffering and in my weakness and when from you I run

You find me in the dark of sin when I'm there again

You find me over and over, over and over again

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over over and over and over no matter how far you find me where I am Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I am over and over, and over and over, and over and over, and over and over, no matter how far you find me where I am.

I am over and over, and over again, over and over again, over and over again.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So wake me up to your glory, oh God.

I lift my eyes to the Lord, where my help comes from.

Amen.

God of holy grace, God of the sacred chance, your place in this world, your love in heaven.

Then in my darkest moments, all hope burned to the blind, that's where the mercy of God, that's where the hope came down.

Turn my morning into dancing, you turn my sorrow into the gray, oh, you give me your ashes, give me your ashes, give me your ashes, give me your ashes, give me your ashes.

Thank you Jesus.

God of holy grace, God of holy grace, God of holy grace, you turn my sorrow into the gray, oh, you give me your ashes, give me your ashes.

God of holy grace, give me your ashes, give me your ashes, give me your ashes, give me your ashes.

I'm a red-uproof, Lord, you make it every day. Oh, I thank you, God. For all you've done against you. I'm a red-uproof, Lord, you make it every day. Oh, I thank you, God. I'm overwhelmed by your red-uproof, Lord.

Thank you, God, for all you've done and given me.

Give me beauty for ashes, beauty for ashes.

Oh, thank you, God.

I'm overwhelmed by you, no matter what you do.

Oh, thank you, God.

For all you've done and given me, no matter what you've done and given me.

Give me beauty for ashes, beauty for ashes.

Give me pretty precious

Father, I just ask you right now to prepare our hearts

Ask to prepare our hearts for worship

Ask you to prepare our hearts for the word

Lord, just free us from distraction

Put our phones down

Lord, we thank you for your mercy

We thank you for your grace

We thank you for settings like this

Where we have family

That we can worship freely

With each other

Lord, thank you

Hey guys, my name is Rebecca

I was a single mom for about the first seven years of my son's life

When my son was five, I really hit a low point in my life

But God used Beloved Ministries to show me that he will meet me where I am

And show me how much he really loves me

Beloved Ministries offers a safe place for single moms to connect with each other and also with God

I'm excited to announce that Beloved is moving to Brunswick

We're opening up a new chapter

And we're really looking to invite single moms

And we also need volunteers to help out with serving food, child care, and anything you feel led to help with

Where our first meeting will be on September 17th

And then we'll be meeting every other Tuesday

Dinner will also be provided for the moms, volunteers, and the children

If you need more information, you can just come find me after the service

Or you can visit the website, BelovedMinistries.com

Good morning

And for more information about Beloved, see Rebecca

Farrell at the Information Center after worship. Well, welcome Rhema. Welcome family today. Welcome visitors. And we also want to let all visitors know that we do have these information cards and welcome cards in the back of each seat that's in front of you. If you have any prayer requests, you can find them in the back of each seat that's in front of you. If you have any prayer requests, you can find them.

You can fill these cards out and you can fill these cards out and you can place them in either one of the churches on the front or the back of the auditorium building. Okay, we want to also celebrate the RCC involvement in the Movement Day at Coastal College yesterday. Well, there they are. Let's see it. Okay. And thanks to all who came out to help. Because you see everybody,

who made it out, who made it out. Also, a huge thanks to all who cooked or came out to serve for the Friday night fellowship. That's at his ministry. We served about 130 meals that night. Again, thank you. Amen. Thank you, Ms. Paula.

Hey, this morning, before we continue in anything else, we want to just have a time of prayer real quickly over, there's a ministry that our church is involved with, Good News Club, which is a Golden Isles Elementary School. And it kicks off this Tuesday, right? Is it this Tuesday? Yes, this Tuesday. And we have a handful of our volunteers.

Shereka, will you come on up? Come on up. Ms. Dina. Where's Ms. Dina? Come on up, Ms. Dina. You love the spotlight, Ms. Dina. I know you do. Yeah, I know, right?

Cynthia. Cynthia, who's here this morning? Yeah. And Taylor. These folks are involved in the Good News Club every Tuesday from what time, Taylor?

2.30 to 3.45. 2.30 to 3.45. If you guys could come and be a part of just sowing into these young boys' and girls' lives at Golden Isles Elementary School, that would be a huge blessing.

And I just want to just pray over them, just say thank you for the way that you volunteer and the way you serve and give of yourself.

And you can probably speak loud enough, you don't need a mic, do you? I'm going to let you lead the prayer in this.

And I'm going to ask our elder leadership, if you guys will come on up this morning.

And let's just lay hands on these guys. I think Foster's still out of town, and I guess Tom's out of town as well, too.

Joe, come on. Thank you, sir. And Taylor, go ahead.

God, thank you so much for these people who stood up to serve you, Lord, to make you known in our schools.

God, I ask that for the four of us who are serving this year, Lord, that you would anoint us with your spirit in a fresh way, that you would allow us to love these kids well,

that you would give us discernment and understanding how to best reach these kids and share their good news with the Lord.

Lord, that you would allow us to disciple them and help them grow in their faith.

And that, God, that you would, the kids that you want involved in this club this year, Lord, that you would lead them to the club.

And, God, that you would be glorified through our lives, Lord, that we would make much of you for this, for this club this year.

In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

If you would like to be a part of that ministry, we can always use some more help.

I'd ask you to reach out and touch base with Taylor, and he would love to get you connected.

And at this time, I want to dismiss all of our children, K-5 through fifth grade.

Debbie and Chris have some fun stuff planned for you.

Chris is going to get everyone a cheeseburger today.

I said that as Chris is out the door. He doesn't hear me, so that's good.

We do want you to please take the time, if you are visiting with us this morning, to fill out a visitor card,

just because we'd love to just touch base with you, and maybe you have some questions about our church,

and want to be able to connect with you on that aspect.

If you are visiting with us, just know that we are in the midst of an expository study through the book of Genesis,

but we are putting that on hold right now.

We finished last week in chapter 33 in Genesis.

And so we're going to take a few weeks' break.

Today, I have a message that God has been putting on my heart for quite some time.

It's been something that's been stirring.

And then the next few weeks, we're going to take a little bit of a break,

and I think I'm going to do a short series on encouragement.

I think a lot of folks need to be encouraged today.

Anyone here need to be encouraged?

Okay, well, hold on. Keep your hands.

Giving Voice. And go ahead and turn to Psalm 139. That's where we're going to start this morning. Just kind of hold right there, because it's going to be a while before we get to the Scripture, but that's kind of where we're going to begin. But I just want to make a statement today, and I've got to lay a lot of groundwork here this morning. My first thing is that my feeling today, as I sat right there and our worship team is leading me, I can't help but I'm drawing

back to, I'm drawing back to, as Jesus speaks in the book of Luke, and he gets to a place where the Pharisees and the teachers ask him to teach, and he grabs the scroll and he unrolls it to a specific passage in Isaiah, and he just makes a statement.

And that's the statement that I'm trying to claim for myself today, that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me today, and has anointed me to preach good news today.

And I pray for that anointing to rest on me in a tender way today, because what we're going to talk about today is some big stuff.

We're going to talk about the dignity of life.

We're going to talk about the sanctity of life.

We're going to talk, these are all, these are all just, this is just big stuff, but we're going to, this is important stuff for us to kind of look at and really dissect.

And of the things that we're going to talk about today, I want to let you in on a little bit of a struggle, because as a preacher, when you, when you, God's putting all these things on your heart, there are, there are things that you feel that God wants you to say,

and it's a struggle in terms of formatting it, because the, the, the, the, the stuff is so huge.

It's like trying to get the ocean down into two buckets of water for everyone to play in.

You know, it's, it's, it's just so big.

The subject matter is so massive.

So bear with me as I try to bear some of this out for you and lay some groundwork again.

But one of the problems I think that we have when we talk about the sanctity of life, and we're going to get to a different term that we're going to use a lot today,

and that's individuals thriving.

We'll get to that in a second.

But the problem that I have with the sanctity of life, the concerns that I have, is that we tend to brand ourselves.

And we tend to brand ourselves for that which we are against, rather than that which we are for.

All right?

And that's the mindset.

And as a believer, we absolutely should be against certain things.

But we are against certain things because we are more for something else.

You with me on this?

And we need, we need to remember that.

In other words, we are passionately opposed to abortion.

We are passionately opposed to abortion.

And we should be.

But the reason why we're passionately opposed to abortion is not because we are mean and nasty people.

Okay?

The reason why is because we are pro-life.

And if we are pro-life, it means we are for all of life.

We are for all of life.

Okay?

And we want to line up with the heart of God.

We want to line up with what God's doing.

So we're for all of life.

And that's not just spinning something or doing something that the politicians do today in our mindset.

And, and, um, but it is, there is a theological and biblical reality that we are for all of life.

So, before we even get even, we're not even, you're not even a fingernail into this thing.

I want you to turn to your neighbor, turn to your neighbor, and I want you to say,

Today, Pastor Curtis, is going to challenge you and what it means to have a biblical worldview.

So, if you get your feelings hurt, talk to Jesus.

Don't email Pastor Curtis, okay?

So, yes, today we're going to talk a little bit about abortion, but we're going to, but I'm going to talk about something far more than that.

Far more than that.

Including all of life.

And, and what we're going to talk about today, there's, there's terms that are thrown around today.

And the term that gets thrown around is individuals thriving.

Every individual has the right to thrive.

Every individual has the right to flourish, right?

I mean, that sounds good, right?

It's something that's thrown out.

No, we can't do this.

We have to do it because all individuals need to thrive.

Listen, to be a believer, to be a follower of Jesus Christ,

that means that we are committed.

We are committed to every individual thriving.

We are committed to every individual living living.

We are parte共有da.

So, let's do it.

And what the Bible does teach has nothing to do with lifestyle. It has nothing to do necessarily with money. It has nothing to do necessarily with visibility whatsoever, okay? In fact, Jesus is the ultimate model of an individual thriving. And Jesus said of himself, he said, hey, the birds have nests and the foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Nowhere. So, we're not talking about materialism when we talk about every individual thriving.

individual has the right to thrive. But what we're talking about is the freedom to be everything that God has designed us to be. The freedom in that, okay? To pursue the purposes and the plans of God in an unrestricted way and to affirm the dignity of every human being. Every human being. That's what the Bible means about individuals thriving. Jesus said in John 10.10, he says, I've come that

you may have life and have it, what? More abundantly. That you may have it more abundantly. You know, I want you to thrive. I want you to flourish, Jesus says, in an unencumbered way. And so, I need to say a few framing things before what I get to and what I'm going to call the three pillars. The three pillars of individuals thriving today. Okay? So, theologically and biblically, when the Bible talks about it, there might be other things and other avenues, but I think that there are

these three necessary avenues. And we'll get to these three necessary avenues. And we'll get to that in a second. But to be pro-life, okay? Now, some of you, we're going to get knee-deep in this thing this morning. You're going to wish we were still in Genesis, okay? But to be pro-life means that we stand in solidarity for all people. All life, okay?

Don't let anyone narrowly define, change your definition of what pro-life means. Don't let that happen. We stand in solidarity for this. And the Bible is our context in this. Scripture is our context.

One of my frustrations with Christians today is that the Bible is more of a point of reference than it is context for their lives. Realistically, materialism and political parties and all this other stuff become our context. That becomes our context. And then we run back to the Scriptures when we get into a jam and the Bible is treated as a point of reference and not necessarily context.

context. That's the problem. But as we approach these issues, we have to understand, to have a biblical worldview means of necessity that you don't use the Bible and pick and choose your favorite verses and then apply that Scripture to that situation.

That's not how it works. That's not how it works. To have a biblical worldview out of necessity means that you have immersed your life into the very context of Scripture and that every decision, every choice, every response, every reaction is enveloped by the context of the Word of God.

That's how you have a biblical worldview. That's how you have a biblical worldview. So don't say you have a biblical worldview when you want to just use the Bible to endorse something or use the Bible to win an argument.

That's not a biblical worldview. If the Bible does not inform your every choice, your every decision, your everything about life, then to be quite honestly, you don't own a biblical worldview.

And revival breaks out across the church. I'm going somewhere with this. But again, I think we need to lay some groundwork this morning in view of how we view these issues.

So if that's the case, then that means that our thinking, the way that we think, should not be dictated by our personal preferences.

Our thinking should not be dictated by our culture. Our thinking should not be dictated by any political affiliation.

These things should not inform the way that we think. We don't go to them for our framework. We have our framework. We edit them. They don't edit us.

Listen, right over the way is this, Paul, they don't care. Right over the way is this, Paul, I will turn the right to see if we have our solutions.

I listen to God for us. He gave Christians to come up against us, Paul will turn the right to lawsuits.

The idol of God of God has a child in view is the lifestyle as our opinion being зм Parliament, they don't want to win each other or even in view.

And in the narrative focus.

I ayahu Cijk yeah, you don't try this, Paul.

You might're in our control of what we are going to do.

When we add ourselves, if we have a power act.

Christians, Christians should be a little bit difficult to pigeonhole. Christians should be a little bit difficult to pigeonhole. We should be a little bit difficult to put into categories. In other words, if we have a biblical worldview, please hear me on this. Of necessity, you're going to be sometimes too liberal for some conservatives and too conservative for some liberals. Depending on the issue, depending on what's going on.

You cannot be shoehorned into all issues. A biblical worldview does not have you shoehorned. This is it for every single issue. That's the way it is. I personally lean a little bit more to the conservative side of things.

But there are some things about the Republican platform that are absolutely horrific. There are some things about the Democratic platform that are absolutely horrific. Why? Because they collide. They collide with an understanding of the Scriptures.

That's why you can't just take a hard line on everything. You're not thinking for someone else's thinking for you. And guess what? Someone else has already thought for you. Here's your context.

So, you know what? I'm just pleading with all of us to hear this morning because part of what God is doing today, I told Bobby and Angel this morning, I feel this, part of what God is doing today in our culture with all the divisiveness and all the stuff that's happening is He is spanking some of us Christians for worshiping at the shrine of public opinion.

Amen. There's your feel good message for the week. Send that off to Houston. See if Joel Osteen preaches on that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't say that. Father, forgive me if I know exactly what I'm saying. Listen, don't drink the Kool-Aid. Just don't. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. You know, you have content right here. This book sits in judgment. This book sits in judgment.

Jesus Christ is Lord. I don't care who holds office. He, she, black, white. I don't care. The president is not God. It's not God. I love this nation. I cannot and will not live, unless God moves me, live anywhere else.

But the president is not God. And what I'm trying to say is that if we are aligned, if we are aligned to another kingdom, if we really are kingdom people, then we bring those values, those kingdom values into everything that we're about here on this earth.

Your kingdom come, Lord Jesus. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Not my kingdom. Not my kingdom. And to me, it's time to take up the mantle that we need to take up the mantle and begin to model moral leadership without reflecting the culture that we live in.

Because, see, we're committed to being, if we're kingdom people, we are channels of God's love.

We are voices for individuals. Individuals thriving.

Paul puts it this way in Galatians 6.10.

He says, so then, Galatians 6.10, so then, you, you who are distinctly Christian, so then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.

Let us do good to everyone. And especially those in the household of faith, yeah.

But let us do good to everyone. You who are Christian, you do, as you can, do good to everyone.

And all of this sets up the reality of, for individuals thriving, again, I'm just going to rest on these three statements.

And I'm going to give them to you real quick. You don't have to, I'll have them up here later on.

But it's these three things, these three things that we're going to hone in on today.

Number one, the conceived must live.

The living must be cared for.

And the poor and the oppressed must be defended.

There's your pillars. Everything else can flow out of that.

But I believe those are the pillars, and those are the pillars.

You can spin it in all these different ways.

But biblically and theologically, these are the primary pillars that we're going to unfold today.

And part of my problem is,

And you've got to see this as you look through Scripture. Listen, God is for life. He's for life. He's for life. He's for all of life.

life. All right, first, you know, and because he's for life, he holds his covenant people

responsible and accountable, responsible and accountable, not only for the preservation

of life, but to be ambassadors for all of life. So many of us, so many of us are willing

to give voice to those lives that are in the womb, and we should. But what happens

when those, when those lives become six years old, 12 years old, 40 years old? They still

have value. Well, they've made bad decisions. You haven't? You haven't? Now I'm going to

say the responsibility and accountability. There's a balance in there. We'll get to that

in a minute. But first of all, let's look at the conceived must live. The conceived must

live. Listen, statistics show, and it's probably a lot greater right now. Jimmy, you volunteer

over at Skylack a lot. Maybe you hear some of the statistics now. But it's suggested that

since 1973, over 50 million, quotation marks, legal abortions have taken place. 50 million.

And it's probably more like 60 million right now. And that doesn't, I'm sorry? Okay. And

you see, that doesn't even include all the back alley stuff and back room stuff that goes

on and God, God forbid, all this other stuff. But let that number sink in for a second.

At least 60 million since 1973, 60 million babies have been murdered.

Now, one of the great pieces of this news is that those numbers are declining year by year. Okay?

That's great news. So we need to stay in the fight. But in Psalm 139, we're going to read

verses 13 through 16. But in verse 13 through 14, the first thing I want you to see is that

it's God. God sovereignly superintends the process of reproduction. God does this. God sovereignly

superintends the process. You don't do it. Man doesn't do it. God does it. God does it. Verse

13. For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you

for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it well. God did

this. The pronoun tells us that. God did this. Now, I know that there are collision points in

our mind when we think through this. Well, what if someone was raped? You know? That's

a horrible situation. That's horrible to happen to anybody. You know? Well, you know, what

if I didn't want to have a child? You know? Well, you wanted to have sex, didn't you? Now,

I'm not trying to be cute. But, you know, one comes with the other, right? Okay? All right?

But, you know, what I'm trying to say is once a child is conceived, it's out of your

hands. Once a child. It's God's business. God superintends that process. The next thing

I want you to see in this text is that God also orchestrates the finest details. Look

at verse 15. My frame was hidden from you. Was not hidden from you. I'm sorry. When I was

being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. You know, David's

saying that, you know, everything about me, not just the general process, but everything

about me, everything about, you know, you were involved with, everything about the development

of the baby in the womb. Everything, you know? The baby is intricately woven, it says. Woven

possibly could be speaking of the veins and the arteries and everything. Frame right here

as a reference to the skeleton of the system, okay? But it's, in that womb, God himself

is overseeing the development of that child. And you may say, well, what about if the child

is, the doctors are telling us that the child is going to be deformed and it's not going

to last for just very long, you know? Well, you know, I had a close friend of mine years

ago who walked that path and they were told that. And his child did perish an hour and a

half after birth. But that, my friend sat there and told me, he said, I had no right to take

the life of a book.

Because even in this, God's glory shines through in some way, some form, some fashion, okay? Even in, even in defects, even in birth defects, deficiencies, we don't understand it all, but it's all part of God's sovereign plan. The next observation I want to make is an important point of view of God's sovereign plan. The next observation I want to make is an important point of view.

Verse 16 in this. And it says that from the time of conception, we have meaning and we have purpose. Verse 16. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. It says from the time of conception, we have meaning and purpose. Alright? Not the time of birth. The time of conception.

Did I already read 16? Yes. And so, you know, from the time of conception, so that, you know, we don't know, we don't know the value of every life. We don't know what the destiny of every child is going to be.

We don't, we don't, we don't, we don't understand, we don't, we don't sovereignly oversee all of this stuff. You know what? The cure, the cure to cancer might be in some disposed bin in some, in some treatment place somewhere. You don't know that.

And you just stepped in and you played God.

The conceived must live.

And it says right here that the, the unformed substance, that refers to an embryo, okay?

And here again, it's not a mass, it's not a glob, and I'm not going to get into that silly, stupid debate,

well, when does it actually become a life?

You know, the scientists tell us that at conception, that child has every bit of DNA that it will have

to, to make it who it's going to be the rest of its life.

It's all there.

So you tell me.

You tell me, okay?

When that child is conceived.

And the point that I believe David is making is that even before I took shape, I had personhood.

Even before I took shape, there was purpose and destiny determined by God.

Every, every detail of my life.

You know, when someone is pregnant, they're not expecting a child.

They already have a child.

When someone is pregnant, you don't say, well, she's going to be a mother.

She's already a mother.

The child is already conceived.

It's a child.

You are a mother.

That child is viable in the sight of God at the time of conception.

All that to say, to abort a baby is to take the place of God.

Now, yes, absolutely.

We need to remember Romans 8.1.

Absolutely.

There is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

Okay?

There is forgiveness.

But here this morning, I don't want to mince my words.

To abort a baby or to suggest or to encourage a young lady,

that's the best choice you need to make in your life at this point right now.

Okay?

It's to take the place of God.

Who put you on the throne?

Secondly, it's also to rob history of God's contribution through that life.

You know?

It's wrong.

For all individuals to thrive.

That's what we're talking about.

Every individual has the right to thrive.

Right?

Has the right to thrive.

The conceived must live.

And here's where I get a little concerned about people who want to promote justice.

And they want to cry about the mistreatment that's taking place in this world.

And they cry about mistreatment.

And yet, they promote abortion.

Intellectually, that makes no sense.

You're crying for injustice.

You cry for all this stuff.

They're poor and they're oppressed.

And yet, at the same time, you want to campaign for the right for taking lives.

It makes no sense intellectually, let alone anything on a spiritual level.

Anybody with me on that?

Okay?

Here's the bottom line.

If you value life, you value life.

Plain and simple.

But it seems that today it's all about your personal happiness, my personal freedom.

And I don't want to be encumbered by any certain thing.

And I don't want to...

And we tend to justify these things.

Our choices.

Our decisions.

But clearly, in Psalm 139 and further teachings throughout the scriptures, it's flat out wrong.

And you need to hear me say that this morning.

It's flat out wrong.

And at the next level, though, the Bible just doesn't talk about that the conceived must live.

It says, now, wait a minute.

coming from us to lives. OK, if you if the very nature of that. And again, we can read a boatload of texts in here, but I want you to turn with me just a few several pages over a few chunks to the right to Isaiah 58 and Isaiah 58. God is busting on the nation of Israel because of their lack of compassion and care for the very people around them. They're so self-righteous and ostentatious and they're praying and they're fasting. OK, but they're disingenuous. They're disingenuous. They're disingenuous.

And God says, hold up. How can you say all this stuff and have all these people in great need around you? And basically, God's saying the fast that the fast that means something to me is you will sacrifice so that others can be cared for.

Now, you read that and certainly it introduces justice, but I think there's a broader thing here. Fasting here.

means that you need to give up something so that others can be cared for.

You know, why have you been given privilege?

Why have why have you been been been been given possessions?

Why have you been given an education?

Why have you been given any exposure?

Why have you been given given these things?

You know, you are kingdom people.

You are kingdom people and you're fasting to prove how spiritual you are.

And you want to keep your mouth quiet about your fasting and do it in such a way that makes you an open channel of blessing and hope to other people.

That's what he's saying.

That's what he's speaking to us today.

Hey, he and the next thing in here is that you need to identify with the needs or we all need to identify with the needs that are around us.

Stay connected to that verse seven.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house when you see the naked to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Curtis, Jill, you can help them.

You can help them.

Rob, Michelle, you can help.

You can do something.

You know, I believe, I believe, and I also believe part of what he's saying as well is this could be you.

This absolutely could be you.

I mean, have you forgotten from which you have come?

I mean, have you never been in a place in your life when you were needing help in some form or fashion

and someone has stepped in out of the blue and blessed you?

Helped you out?

Rebecca gave a testimony.

See, it wasn't a full testimony, but I bet Rebecca could stand up here and say,

I never saw these blessings.

I was a single mom.

Somebody stepped up and my rent was paid for.

Somebody stepped up.

I had grocery money.

You think it just happened?

Someone sacrificed in order to bless.

In their prayer and their fasting, they said, God is calling me to be a kingdom person.

To be kingdom minded.

And they sacrificed in that.

And so, we need to not lose track that this could be us.

And he's saying, he's saying in here, you are hiding yourselves from your own flesh.

I think we need to stay exposed and connected to human need.

All of us, including yours truly.

Including yours truly.

Look, look.

I didn't drive by any ghettos to get here this morning.

I don't live in the hood.

I'm just being honest.

I don't live.

And what happens, okay?

I can be as insulated as anyone else here.

And what happens is that when you get removed from that,

when you get removed from the help that needs to be given,

you get removed from that,

you start making pejorative or negative conclusions.

And then you begin to...

And that's someone else's problem to fix.

I thought we were kingdom people.

We are kingdom people

I could bring Jeremiah up here

And he could stand here

And with a broken heart

Big God, big man

I bet this man would cry

When he would tell you about

Some of the family situations

That he sees day in and day out

As he goes into these homes

And responds to 911 calls

Kingdom people are broken for these things

Don't get so engulfed in your little bubble

That you miss out on what God's trying to do

That's part of what all the divisiveness

Is happening in this world today

God's trying to wake up the church

Trying to wake the church up

You can sit inside your four walls

And isolate yourself

You can go to Shoney's

And you can go home and meet next Sunday

What have you done for the name of Jesus in that?

What have we really done?

We might only have three people here next week

Hey listen

But also in this text

He promises blessing out of this

There's a blessing that's promised in this

You know, verse 8

The Lord God who gathers the outcasts

No, let's turn the page

Sounds like that is not right

Then

Shall your light break forth like dawn

And your healing shall spring up speedily

Your righteousness shall go before you

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard

Then you shall call

The Lord will answer

You shall cry

And he will say

Here I am

If you take away the yoke from your midst

The pointing of the finger

The speaking of wickedness

If you pour yourself out for the hungry

And satisfy the desire of the afflicted

Then shall your light rise in the darkness

And your gloom be as the noonday

And the Lord will guide you continually

And satisfy your desire

And in the scorched places

And make your bones strong

And you shall be like watered garden

Like a spring of water

Whose waters do not fail

You want to know how to have true joy?

Cause others to thrive

Cause others to flourish

Cause others

That'll bring true joy

In your life

This side's getting it

You guys gotta wake up

I'm messing with you

Ah

Goodness people

Listen

So

Be a

A vessel of

A blessing

That's really what it's talking about

Open doors

For other people

I'm not just saying

Open the door

So they can walk through

I'm saying doors of life

Set an extra plate

At your table

Open your house

For some way

That's what believers do

Do

That's what believers do

So the conceived must live

The living must be cared for

But the poor and the oppressed

Must be defended

Christians

Do

Justice

This is probably the weakest part

Of our theology

Christians

Do

Justice

And yet from Genesis

To Revelation

It's hard to read the scriptures

Without seeing that

God's advocacy

On behalf

Of the poor

And the oppressed

Is there

God's advocacy

For those who don't have voices

Man

He gives voices

He finds a way

To give voices

To those people

And if God shows us that

Then we should pay attention

To that

And the reason why

We get pushed back

On all this

Is because

We

We all tend to bring up

You know

Culture

And political parties

And react to this kind of thing

You know

Well I don't want to do

Certain things

Because all it's going to do

Is it's going to create

A dependency

And if we really help

These people out

In this fashion

It's going to create

A dependency

Anybody have those conversations

And it's

And we

I don't want to do that either

There is a

Help that will hurt

Yes

There is a help

That will hurt

And some of this stuff

That we're saying

That we're trying to do

Actually all we're doing

Is creating a greater dependency

With other people

I get all that

But don't let that

Inform your head

Let the Bible

Inform your head

Alright

That we need to give voice

To those who cannot speak

For themselves

And again

well, this is Old Testament, stick a fork in it, it doesn't really apply to us today.

Unless you think that, and by the way, this right here is a summary statement of the entire Sermon on the Mount, right there.

All the New Testament, all the New Testament, we don't have time to go through it all this morning,

but the truth of the matter is, this is what we are to be all about, Micah 6-8, right there.

Boom, you want to narrow it down? I'm a simplified guy.

You want to simplify things? Micah 6-8.

You live out Micah 6-8, I'm telling you, we'll be at church on fire, for the Lord Jesus Christ.

It tells us that our posture and our attitude must be one of justice, and it must be one of love,

and must be one of a humble dependence upon God.

Bam, right there, it spells it out.

And as people look at kingdom people, as people look at kingdom people with a biblical worldview,

if we truly have a biblical worldview, what should they feel about us?

They should feel, you know what, you know, Curtis, man, that guy is goofy.

He is goofy.

And he tries to dress really cool, but he's not cool, okay?

And you know, I don't always agree with everything that he says,

but I know he's going to do right by people.

May that be said of us, as kingdom people.

You know what?

He seems to emanate this humility and this gratitude.

That's what kingdom people do.

We treat others with justice.

We treat others with love.

And they observe our humble dependence upon God.

And this becomes transformative.

In churches, communities.

And I want to extract one statement here.

It says, the line that says,

To do justice.

Do justice.

Now, what does that mean?

Sometimes we make these subjects of justice more complicated and confusing than they need to be.

See, if I stood here and talked about justice, I'm going to give you my definition.

If Bobby stood here, Bobby would probably give you about an hour and a half dissertation.

Bobby's more complicated than I am, okay?

He's a deeper well than I am.

He's a smarter guy.

I'm just an acorn here, okay?

Trying to be an oak like Bobby one day, okay?

But if we're going to talk about justice, okay?

The problem is a lot of the theologians make it heavier than it needs to be as well, too.

Justice is the outworking of righteousness.

Plain and simple.

Justice is the outworking of righteousness, okay?

And that's all justice is.

We have been, we have experienced vertically righteousness, okay?

We have experienced that righteousness.

We have been declared right with God.

And justice simply means doing right on behalf of others.

That's my acorn definition right there.

If you want an oak definition, contact Bobby, okay?

How about that?

But, you know, and we shouldn't just talk justice, okay?

And get other, we, that's what a lot of people, we want to talk justice and get other people to act justly.

No, no, no, we do justice.

We do justice, okay?

And I'm going to give you four implications and we're going to be finished here with this.

And I guess I said the first one already.

And that's doing right for people.

Speaking up to correct the wrongs that have been done to people.

Speaking up for it.

The unborn don't, the unborn don't have a voice, right?

The unborn, and hear me on this.

A while back, they had what, they had like 100,000 believers show up in Washington, D.C.

to give a voice to the unborn.

And that's an absolutely right thing to do.

There should have been 3 million people there, to be honest with you.

But hear me.

Christians should not tolerate injustice no matter where it takes place.

If it's wrong, it's wrong.

And we need to give voice to that.

It's not right to treat people a certain way.

It's not right to be exclusionary.

It's not right to say certain things about certain folks.

It's not right not to give a person a job because of their color of their skin or any other thing.

That's not right.

And if it's not right, we need to give voice to it as believers.

No?

Holy cow! I've made all you mad this morning. Listen, the second implication here this morning is that we have experienced righteousness, so we must stand for those and extend righteousness on behalf of others because we have received it. We do that for our kids all the time, right? You ain't

you ain't gonna treat my kid that way somebody mistreats your kid by golly you step in you know

you don't do no no no we'll do that for our kids we need to do that for our brothers and sisters as

well if it's wrong it's all it's wrong a hundred times out of a hundred somebody needs to give

voice to this okay um where was i you know uh you know further away if i've got a voice if i have a

voice you're not going to use this be our mindset you're not going to use your power to mistreat

someone else and have me be silent as a kingdom as a kingdom person and have me be silent you know

it's time it's time for us to be listen it's time for us to be comprehensively courageous

and not selectively courageous people who are selectively courageous are cowards oh oh

it's time for us to be comprehensively courageous okay if it's wrong it's wrong if it's right it's

right you need help discerning what whether it was wrong or right you go to a brother or sister

you come to your pastor you come to your elders you go within the with the context that we have

and the lord will show you whether it's right or wrong and you give voice to it

don't allow your political persuasion to muzzle your mouth

did we just go political on everybody on church oh separation of church and state well

go separated there we go here we go lastly lastly christian is that lastly i don't know i got four

don't i yeah thirdly how about that christians means that we are for removing the the boundary

and the barrier that blocks and suppresses the dignity and the brilliance of the image of god

that is stamped on every single human soul every single human soul has dignity and value

they are created in the image of god the imago dei

what about the ones that are born in argentina they are created in the image of god what about that

indigenous tribe and such and such they are created in the image of god what about those obnoxious

georgia fans they are they are they are created in the image of god and we are called to love them and

win them i'm kidding i gotta get you guys to come alive somehow come on man fire you up some way right

right listen seriously every human soul has dignity every human soul has value

you know

this is a little thing but it's not a little thing

um this is just a conviction that i have there are certain places that you can go and you can visit

as a man and either uh have something to eat or do whatever and there are women there that are serving

you and they're maybe dressed a certain way or do a certain thing or whatever and there's a lot of

places like that let me just say this reason why i have a hard time with that

is because even though that that young lady may not realize it and hold on to it she has dignity

and she has value and all i know all i can help but think is that's somebody's daughter

that's somebody's little girl who sat in her daddy's lap one day something happened something was wired

and she needs to know the love of christ yes maybe i need but i don't need to meet her on that avenue to do

it too every soul has value every soul has dignity

and we need to see it as such and we need to treat it as such

and give voice to it and now you know um

i'm not suggesting that we got to go out in march

to provide an opportunity to provide opportunity and freedom to others yeah i've i've felt this personally for the last five or six years just for me you know i've been convicted by this whatever little recognition god has given me in my in my life the lord constantly reminds me curtis i didn't i didn't do all this stuff for you in your life so you could break out into the into the great anthem how great thou art

so you could introduce your business i'm pastor gary you hear what i'm saying

why why do i have some privilege in this life and i know there's a lot of talk about going around about privilege but the reality is you shouldn't beat yourself up for having privilege and the reality is all of us have some privilege different degrees but all of us have different privileges the question is not to be mad that you have

some privilege or some sort of some privilege or some sort of avenue to to me it's what do you do with that if you abuse it then you get then guess what that privilege is worth nothing but there's there's a privilege there's some there's some people who are able to minister to people in areas of this town i could never get close to god has given them privilege for that we need that so they can understand they have the dignity and value as well too amen

what do you do so what do we do with the privilege the power and the privileges that god has given what are we doing with it and there's a there's a story that a friend of mine knew years ago he's a little older than i was he grew up he grew up in new jersey went to high school in the i think it was late late 60s early 70s but he's in new jersey he played he and so you know don't say the jim crow thing wasn't popular up north either you know okay so don't be thinking that there was a line that stopped

okay he was in new jersey he played sports and he was in the school choir well he tried out for the new jersey state choir all right and so uh and he went out for the audition he made it he made it he was all excited he got back to the school

that next week and they were in the choir room they were doing a rehearsal they sat in the other and evidently the teacher was brought in a note he was given a notification

that there was a quota only so many black students were allowed to be uh accepted in there and so that he was they made a mistake and he needed to go and tell that young boy that he was no longer accepted in that and that because it was a problem you come up with it whatever story you want

the teacher left the uh left the choir room and they were all sitting there rehearsal went in closed the door had a conversation but the conversation could be heard through the walls in there

and the teacher had a conversation with the with the powers to to be in there and it left an impact on this young black boy's life for the rest of his life

and he said he didn't have to do that he didn't have to do that but the teacher said what's wrong is wrong

what's wrong is wrong and he gave voice to it and today this this black man is is all about giving voice to what is not what is unjust

he's lived it and he sees how god could use those things and what is wrong so how many times do we close our eyes

to what is wrong what's going on if we are kingdom people okay we're directed to use our power our privilege

and our position to do what is right use our sphere of influence if you will okay all of us have a different

sphere of influence and different levels i know that i get that but what are you doing with the

maybe god's only giving you a sphere like this because you're not even using that to your to the extent that

you should

but you know what isn't that just like to operate in that manner isn't that just like christ likeness

isn't that just being just like jesus christ you know what our savior has done he used his power

he used his position and he used his privilege to set us free

that's exactly what he did

and for us to be like jesus that means that we use our sphere of influence to help set people free to

help speak for for for other people and so our prayer is you know

I know I know I know on the job you you can still you know probably Steve could talk about you know at Fletzi he has opportunities to to help train people and really cause them to flourish and you know in there in their calling and whatever but as a as a teacher as a young person to sow into that life to sow into that young life and see them bear fruit by a man using your sphere of influence well how can I really make up they're just kindergartners come on we got Einstein

in here maybe maybe maybe come on up worship team I want to close on this thought you know to to have a biblical worldview to be kingdom people I want to say this

it starts from a platform of context it starts from a platform of context to have a biblical worldview and to be kingdom people it starts from a platform of context and the context is the word of God being in the word of God after context then it comes down to you can know you can know it can have

all this knowledge you can know it can have all this knowledge you want in the world but then it comes down to surrender it comes down to surrender and you know how you surrender really surrender you pray and you ask God every day and this is what I want your prayer to be this morning I'm going to wrap this up

if you really really want to surrender to the Lord if you really really want to surrender to the Lord and be a kingdom a kingdom person you pray destroy

he would crush you he would crush you he would devastate you and in the devastation of you arises the Lord Jesus Christ

in the devastation of you arises hope for someone else in the devastation of you comes the vision for the hurting in the in the destruction of you comes the realization I need to give voice to this I cannot sit by any longer

I am I need to give voice to this I can't stand by any longer there's nothing I need to say enough to bring a teacher and I think there's one other thing we need to mention on the Micah 6 8 where it says walk humbly with your God to give voice to something

God doesn't need you to be militant there's a humility there's a humility in kingdom people that win souls that win souls

why

because some people

just need to be reminded

you still have dignity

you still have value

I believe

you're wrong in this situation

but you know what

you still have value

I believe that you are

making some devastating choices

in your life right now

but you are still valuable

in the eyes of the Lord

God

that's a word for someone here today

I'm telling you

I've felt it for three and a half

weeks

Father I will

cease speaking today

and I pray

I pray

I pray for me

that I would be a kingdom man

and I will you simplify

I pray for you

others and they would choose life and they would choose life. Let's stand and give God praise this morning.

I believe that you are the truth, I believe that you are my fortune, that you are my hiding place, I believe that you are the way, the truth, the light, I believe that you are the way, the truth and the light.

The truth

The lie

I believe through every bless

Through every promise

Through every breath I take

I believe that you are provided

That you are protected

That you are the one I love