Sanctity of Life - Bethany Christian Services

PROCLAIMING THE
SANCTITY OF LIFE
2011 RESOURCE GUIDE

Welcome
At Bethany Christian Services, we believe that all life is sacred and ordained by
God. As followers of Jesus Christ, we seek to extend God’s love and compassion to
everyone created in God’s image, from the unborn to the elderly. We are pleased to
offer you this resource guide to plan a meaningful Sanctity of Life Sunday at your
church and celebrate the life that God generously gives.
Each year, a Sunday in January near the anniversary of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade
Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. is set aside for churches
to focus on the sanctity of human life. Emphasis is given to a broad range of life
issues, including abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, health care, and
child abuse.
We seek to extend God’s love and
compassion to everyone created in God’s
image, from the unborn to the elderly.
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Prayers, songs and hymns
The following resources can help you plan your Sanctity of Life service. Feel free to use
them as they are or to adapt them to suit your church’s needs.
LITANY FOR THE SANCTITY
OF HUMAN LIFE
God formed man from the dust of the earth.
We praise God for His gift of life to man
and woman.
God breathed into man the breath of life.
The gift of life is precious in the sight of God.
Man became a living being filled with the
Holy Spirit. God formed man and woman in
His own image from the dust of the earth.
Life is sanctified and held holy by all who
believe in God. The gift of life is precious
and holy in His sight.
We praise God for the gift of life and for the
courage to embrace it, protect it, and honor it.
We offer prayers of thanksgiving to honor
the Sanctity of Human Life. We ask God to
bless all who bring life into the world.
Amen.
GIVER OF ALL LIFE
God, You are the Giver of all life. You bring
each person into being, sealed with divine
and infinite love from the time of conception.
Enable us to cherish and protect each precious
life. For those children who are unborn in
their mothers’ wombs, we thank you for the
gift of life. We praise you that these souls are
already created in your image. Kindle in our
hearts the desire to do your will and to care for
one another in love.
Amen.
GOD OUR CREATOR
God, our Creator, guard the life of each
unborn child.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
Help us to see your handprint on everyone
you have created.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
Protect the vulnerable and needy in our
nation today.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
Strengthen those who tirelessly work to
preserve life.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
May our nation turn to abundant life in You.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
We ask these things through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Amen.
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CONTEMPORARY SONGS
ALL MY LIFE –Noel Paul Stookey
FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE
–Matt Redman
GIANNA MOLLA (MOTHER’S SONG)
–Fr. Kent O’Connor
IT’S NOT THE TIME –Kendall Payne
MY SWEET CHILD –Sally Bolderson
PRECIOUS UNBORN CHILD –Margo B. Smith
WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO BE? –Acapella
WHISPERS FROM HEAVEN –Donna Lee
“ Jesus loves us, this we’re told, loves all
children young and old ...”
HYMNS
ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING
CHILDREN OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER
CREATING GOD, YOUR FINGERS TRACE
GOD OF THE EARTH, THE SKY, THE SEA
GREAT GOD, THE GIVER OF ALL GOOD
I’LL PRAISE MY MAKER
LET THE WHOLE CREATION CRY
NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD
JESUS LOVES ME
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible
tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong; they are weak,
but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves us, this we’re told, loves all children,
young and old,
Image bearers in His sight, their creation
His delight.
Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
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What does the Bible say
about the sanctity of life?
Scripture is filled with references to the sanctity of life. What a privilege it is to nurture
young lives from conception to adulthood! God has graciously given us the gift of life. We
strive to preserve this gift in unborn children. The following Bible passages can be used in
planning your Sanctity of Life Sunday. They can be read aloud during the service or used as
sermon starters.
GOD IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our
image, in our likeness …’ So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very
good” Genesis 1:26, 27, 31, NIV.
“Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his
wife, because she was barren. The LORD
answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah
became pregnant” Genesis 25:21, NIV.
“You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my
spirit” Job 10:12, NIV.
“Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children
a reward from him” Psalm 127:3, NIV.
GOD’S CREATIVE WORK IN THE WOMB
“For you created my inmost being; you knit
me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full
well. My frame was not hidden from you when
I was made in the secret place. When I was
woven together in the depths of the earth, your
eyes saw my unformed body.” Psalm 139:13-16a,
NIV.
“This is what the LORD says—he who made
you, who formed you in the womb, and who
will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my
servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen” Isaiah
44:2, NIV.
The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart” Jeremiah
1:4-5a, NIV.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the
baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she
exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the child you will bear! But why
am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? As soon as the sound of
your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my
womb leaped for joy” Luke 1:41-44, NIV.
GOD’S COMMAND TO PRESERVE LIFE
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man
shall his blood be shed; for in the image of
God has God made man” Genesis 9:6, NIV.
“You shall not murder” Exodus 20:13, NIV.
“There are six things the LORD hates, seven
that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a
lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood
...” Proverbs 6:16-17, NIV.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for
themselves, for the rights of all who are
destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend
the rights of the poor and needy” Proverbs 31:8,
NIV.
“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the
same will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven” Matthew 5:19a, NIV.
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OUR BODIES ARE A GIFT FROM GOD
“Do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you
have received from God? You are not your
own; you were bought at a price. Therefore
honor God with your body” I Corinthians 6:19-
20, NIV.
GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR EACH LIFE
“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the
potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to
the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your
work say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who
says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’
or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to
birth?’” Isaiah 45:9-10, NIV.
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do” Ephesians
2:10, NIV.
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of
many parts; and though all its parts are many,
they form one body. So it is with Christ. For
we are all baptized by one Spirit into the body.
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need
you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet,
“
For we are God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus ...” Ephesians 2:10, NIV
‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those
parts of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable” I Corinthians 12:12-13a, 20-22,
NIV.
GOD CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO ACTION
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold
back those staggering toward slaughter. If you
say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not
he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not
he who guards your life know it? Will he not
repay each person according to what he has
done?” Proverbs 24:11-12, NIV.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment
in the Law?” Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord
your God will all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second
is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All
the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments” Matthew 22:36-40, NIV.
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you
in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When
did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit
you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew
25:37-40, NIV.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill
cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a
lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put
it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in
the house. In the same way, let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven” Matthew
5:14-16, NIV.
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Sermon: God at the outer
limits of life By Stan Mast
Psalm 139:13-18
I have chosen Psalm 139 for our reflection on
this Right to Life Sunday because of its pro-
God focus. So much of the battle surrounding
abortion and other termination of life issues
has been shaped by the terms “pro-choice” and
“pro-life.” Psalm 139 is pro-God. Those words
about being fearfully and wonderfully made
have often been quoted by pro-life people, but
it is really about God, about God at the outer
limits of life. And that has a lot to say about
this whole business of abortion and related
“life issues.”
“You hem me in—behind and before,” like
bookends, like parentheses, or, better, like
a fence or a wall surrounding our lives. But
not a fence or a wall. That’s too impersonal.
God is not there as an impersonal force or a
disinterested observer. “You have laid your
hand upon me.” That might refer to God’s
hand of blessing laid gently upon our hearts, or
God’s hand of supervision placed firmly upon
our shoulder, or God’s hand of punishment
pressing hard upon our soul, or God’s hand of
protection shielding our lives from ultimate
harm. The point is that God has laid his hand
upon our lives in a personal way. He is in
touch with us, always and everywhere.
God is there at the outer limits of life, both in
terms of where and when. In lovely, haunting
poetry, the Psalmist reminds us that no matter
where you go in the universe, God is there.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can
I flee from your presence?” The Psalmist speaks
not as a terrible sinner who wants to flee from
God’s judgment, but as a mere human who is
overwhelmed by the awesomeness of God, the
sheer Godness of God. Where can I go where
I shall not encounter the touch of your hand
upon me? He mentally flees to the vertical
extremes of life—the heights of the heavens
and the depths of the earth. And he flees to
the horizontal extremes of life—the wings of
the dawn (the east) and the far side of the sea
(the west). But no matter where he goes in this
universe, God is there. “Even there your hand
will guide me, your right hand will hold me
fast.” God is there at the outer limits of the
space in which we live.
Even if I try to hide in the darkness, God is
there. Some scholars think that the Psalmist is
thinking there of dark powers, of supernatural
powers, of magic, like when Harry Potter
and his friends pulled that magical cloak over
themselves to become invisible. No matter
what powers you may use, the very powers
of darkness, or even the powers of science, or
science fiction, God is there at the outer limits
of life and his hand is upon you.
Thinking about the darkness makes the
Psalmist think of the darkness of the womb
and the other outer limits of life—not the
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“where,” but the “when.” Verse 15 says, “When
I was woven together in the depths of the
earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”
And not only did your eyes see me there at
the beginning of my life, but your hand made
me. The Psalmist continues his wonderful
imagery of God’s hands to communicate how
God was there at the outer limits of our life’s
beginning. God knit and he wove my bones
and my sinews and veins. He began with my
unformed body, which means literally that
time in my life when I was just a ball of cells,
an unformed mass of molecules, undeveloped
and undifferentiated, with nothing that
would distinguish me as human, just a piece
of matter, some would say. But “your eyes
saw” me that way and your hands gradually,
carefully knit and wove, one thread, one vein,
one bone, one organ, one system at a time.
And it was always me. At the very beginning
of my life, at that outer limit of what science
would call human life, you laid your hand
upon me. Me.
Some of you have seen that incredible picture
entitled “The Hand of Hope.” Dr. Joseph
Bruner of Vanderbilt University in Nashville,
Tennessee, was performing a very delicate
and risky surgery on Julie Armas. She was
pregnant, 21 weeks pregnant to be precise, and
her baby, Samuel, had been diagnosed with
spina bifida, a hole in his spine that would
leave him physically and mentally disabled.
He couldn’t be removed from the womb for
surgery to repair the hole in his spine. But
Dr. Bruner has developed a very complicated
surgical procedure in which he removes the
womb from the mother by C-section and
makes a small incision to operate on the baby
in utero. Dr. Bruner successfully completed
the surgery, but before he could sew up the
incision, the womb began to move, though no
one was touching it. In a split second, a tiny
hand, a 21-week-old hand reached up through
the incision. When Dr. Bruner touched
it, little Samuel, in a motion that recalls
Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, tightly
squeezed the doctor’s finger. I’ve seen the
picture. That hand is not bigger than a match
head, but it is firmly grasping that finger. An
attending nurse asked what had happened.
When the photographer explained, she said,
“Oh, they do that all the time.” At the outer
limits of life, God’s hand was upon that little
one. And me. And you. And all of us.
That is also true for the other extreme of life,
the outer limit of death. Even there, even in
the shadow of death, God’s hand is upon us.
Indeed, says verse 16, “all the days ordained
for me were written in your book before one of
them came to be.” Now that’s a mind-boggling
thought. It raises all kinds of questions about
God’s plan and human choice, predestination
and free will, questions I don’t know how to
answer. The Psalmist speaks for all of us when
he says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for
me, too lofty for me to attain.” That doesn’t
mean such things are nonsense—impossible.
It means that we are human, merely human,
and God is God. And we ought to respond to
such mysteries with the kind of hushed awe
that leads the Psalmist to say in verse 17, “How
precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count
them, they would outnumber the grains of
sand.” And if I were to fall asleep pondering
these mysteries, you would still be there when I
awake. Your hand is still laid upon me.
So, mysterious as it is, all the days of my life,
all the days ordained by God for me, were
written in your book before one of them came
to be. The day of my conception and the day
of my death and all the days in between were
ordained by God. What a thing it is then,
what an awesome, godlike thing to interfere
with the days God has ordained for us. Some
of you have read the wonderful story passed
along by our own Dr. Peter Tigchelaar,
professor of biology at Calvin College. A
young woman approached him before class
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and asked if he still had the 3-month fetus
encased in plastic that he used to show his
classes at the appropriate time. He said he
did and asked her how she knew about it
and why she wanted to see it. She said that
he had shown it to her mother a generation
ago. Unknown to Dr. Tigchelaar, that young
woman had been pregnant when she saw
it. Confused and panicked, she had visited
Planned Parenthood and was told about the
“products of conception” and advised to have
an abortion. But after viewing the 3-month
fetus in Dr. Tigchelaar’s class with tiny
fingers and facial features and liver and eyes,
she realized this was more than “the product
of conception.” She decided not to have the
abortion. And, said the young girl who wanted
to see the fetus Dr. Tigchelaar had shown her
mother, “I was that baby.” She is now living
out the days ordained for her.
Now I know that this is a very complicated
business, and not only for the theological and
philosophical reasons I mentioned before.
The fact is that the hand of God has put into
the hands of human beings the right to take
life in some circumstances. Romans 13, for
“ It is God who gives life, and it is God
who takes life. At the outer limits of life,
we are treading where God rules.”
example, talks about the power of government
to wield the sword as an agent of God to
bring punishment upon the wrongdoer. That
has implications for such things as capital
punishment and war. And there are other
examples, extreme ones, of the necessity of
taking life to save life. So, when you get down
to the details of a particular situation, you
need the wisdom of Solomon.
But the complexity of real life situations
doesn’t change the fundamental truth of this
text. It is God who gives life, and it is God
who takes life. At the outer limits of life, we
are treading where God rules. When we take
life, even at its outer limits, in the earliest
moments after conception or in the latest
moments of terrible suffering, we are walking
in God’s territory. It is holy ground, and we
must take the shoes off our feet and proceed
not with a passion for human freedom or with
the best of humanitarian intentions or with
the most advanced scientific precision or even
with the authority God has given us, but with
reverence and wonder and humility. Above all,
we must be pro-God and let God be God, the
giver and taker of life at the outer limits, the
sustainer and savior of life always.
When I come to the end of all this, I find
myself repeating the Psalmist’s last words.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test
me and know my anxious thoughts. See if
there is any offensive way in me, and lead me
in the way everlasting.” The way to everlasting
life begins with such a humble prayer,
acknowledging that I am as guilty as any of the
people I might single out as enemies of God
and life. And it comes to completion when
we cast our sinful selves into the nail-pierced
hand of the Author of Life saying, “Lord into
your hands, I commit my life.” Then no matter
where the way of life may take us, even to the
outer limits of human experience, we can say
with deep relief, “You hem me in—before and
behind; you have laid your hand upon me.”
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Sermon starters
The following verses provide ideas and themes to help you get started on your own sermon
about the sanctity of human life.
IN GOD’S IMAGE
We have all been created in God’s image
(Genesis 1:27). All of life is divinely created,
and it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus
Christ to protect unborn children and support
expectant parents in making choices that honor
God’s ways. God formed each of us in the
womb (Isaiah 44:2; Psalm 139:13-18).
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FACE
OF INJUSTICE
The Bible speaks clearly to us about the need
to stand up to injustice. As Christians, we
can speak out against abortion and other acts
that do not uphold the sanctity of human life
(Proverbs 24:11-12; Proverbs 31:8).
SET APART FOR GOD’S PURPOSES
Each life has a purpose. God has a special plan
for each unborn life. Even in the womb, God
knows and loves us (Jeremiah 1:5). We are set
apart for the divine task that God ordains from
our very beginnings (Isaiah 49:1).
THE LEAST OF THESE
Jesus emphasized that his followers must value
and respect the poor, the sick, and the lowly.
One day, everyone will be judged on how
they treated those who were most vulnerable
(Matthew 25:40)—the hungry, thirsty, sick,
those in prison.
TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit
(I Corinthians 6:19,20). We are to honor
God with our bodies, offering them as living
sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1). The bodies of
unborn children are also precious temples of
God’s Spirit. Every living soul belongs to God
(Ezekiel 18:4).
IN GOD’S IMAGE
We have all been created in God’s image
(Genesis 1:27). All of life is divinely created,
and it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus
Christ to protect unborn children and support
expectant parents in making choices that honor
God’s ways. God formed each of us in the
womb (Isaiah 44:2; Psalm 139:13-18).
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FACE
OF INJUSTICE
The Bible speaks clearly to us about the need
to stand up to injustice. As Christians, we
can speak out against abortion and other acts
that do not uphold the sanctity of human life
(Proverbs 24:11-12; Proverbs 31:8).
SET APART FOR GOD’S PURPOSES
Each life has a purpose. God has a special plan
for each unborn life. Even in the womb, God
knows and loves us (Jeremiah 1:5). We are set
apart for the divine task that God ordains from
our very beginnings (Isaiah 49:1).
THE LEAST OF THESE
Jesus emphasized that his followers must value
and respect the poor, the sick, and the lowly.
One day, everyone will be judged on how
they treated those who were most vulnerable
(Matthew 25:40)—the hungry, thirsty, sick,
those in prison.
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A story about preserving life
Stories of personal experiences can be a powerful way to share the importance of preserving
life. The following is a powerful story written in December 2003. For almost three decades,
Calvin college professor Pete Tigchelaar has shown his human biology classes a threemonth-old
fetus encased in plastic. One day, he discovered the unexpected result.
A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL
Before one of my classes last year, a student
asked if I still had the three-month fetus
encased in plastic that I usually show my
students taking biology. I said I did, and she
asked if she could see it. I invited her into my
office and asked her how she knew about it and
why she wanted to see it.
The young lady said that I had shown it to her
mother (a former student) a generation ago
and, though I did not know it at the time, this
student was about three months pregnant.
“ I am that girl,” the student informed
me. “Thanks for my life.”
This confused and panicked mother told me
that she had visited Planned Parenthood and
was told about the “product of conception” and
“contents of the uterus” that she had within
her. She was advised to have an abortion and
had one scheduled for the following morning.
After viewing the fetus and seeing the tiny
fingers, facial features, eyes, outline of the
liver, and many other features characteristic of
humans, she realized she had more within her
than a “product of conception.” She cancelled
the scheduled abortion, continued with her
pregnancy, and eventually gave birth to a
beautiful baby girl.
“I am that girl,” the student informed me.
“Thanks for my life.”
I assured her that I did not give her life, but
simply gave her mother the information to
make an informed decision. In this season
when we celebrate the birth of someone who
came to give each of us eternal life, I am
reminded that unwed Mary would have been
the perfect candidate for a similar procedure. I
am thankful that her response was, “I am the
Lord’s handmaid. Be it to me as you say.”
Bethany Christian Services manifests the love and compassion of
Jesus Christ by protecting and enhancing the lives of children and families
through quality social services.
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