The Preciousness of Life January 25, 2026

The Preciousness of Life
Psalm 139
St. Peter’s Anglican Church
January 25. 2026

As many of you know, I go to America’s Keswick which has an Addiction Recovery Ministry for men and women and also a Conference ministry.

In fact, I am supposed to be going tomorrow for three days for their Annual Pastor’s Conference. We will see if that comes to past.

Last week their Director of Programming and his wife had a baby — Samuel — who was born with a very rare and incurable genetic disorder.

The baby cannot live without being on life support.

The family prayed for a miracle. There was a period of fasting and prayer for Baby Samuel.

The miracle was that Baby Samuel lived 10 days … before God called him home.

He was loved for 10 days …
He was held for 10 days …
He was prayed over for 10 days …

I don’t know God’s purpose in all of this, but I do know that He will be glorified whatever happens!

The sad part is that in parts of the United States, Samuel could have been aborted up to the time of his birth and left to die … and it would have been perfectly legal

Today is Life Sunday … some still call it Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

This past Friday there was the March for life, with the theme: “Life is a gift” … and it is estimated over 100,000 people in attendance with various speakers.

And … as always … there was a gathering of people who still want abortion on demand without any restrictions.

My question is: Where are the feminists.

Mother Teresa said: “Abortion is profoundly anti-women. Three quarters of it’s victims are women. Half the babies and all the mothers.”

We are those who advocate for those with disabilities … because babies … such as those with downs syndrome are often aborted.

Joni Earkeson Tada said that abortion is the worst form of discrimination against those with disabilities.
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When we think of abortion … it is not a topic that people generally want to talk about, or even speak about from the pulpit … but we must.

Statistically, over 65 million babies have been killed since 1973. And that is only in the US.

The World Health Organization estimates there are 40-50 million abortions every year … or about 125,000 PER DAY!

That’s well over 5,000 PER HOUR!!

In the US minorities are higher. … while African-Americans account for about 12 % of the population, they account for 26% of the abortions in this country.

This goes along with the views of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood who wanted to rid the world of those she considered unwanted … she was a racist and so African-Americans were those she wanted less of in the world.

By-the-way — this is why there are Planned Parenthood locations in minority neighborhoods.

With the increase in deportations, some have said what if one of those deported could have found a cure for cancer?

And the response said, what if one of those aborted babies found a cure for cancer?
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SCIENCE … tells us that life begins at conception.

From the MOMENT of conception … with the fertilization of the egg … life begins … new life … with unique DNA!

At conception … all the genetic material is present.

Scientifically we know a lot about that which is being formed in the womb … much more than when Roe versus Wade was past and one of the reasons was viability of life outside the womb.

At 15-16 days after conception the circulatory system begins to form.

At 20 days the heart is formed and begins to beat one day later.

At 28 days 40 pairs of muscles along the trunk are developed and brain waves can also be measured at this time.

At 30 days ear and nasal development has begun and at 35 days all the regions of the brain have been formed.

At 42 days the skeleton is complete and reflexes are present.

At 49 days all inner and outer organs are established.

The baby has a face with eyes, nose, lips, tongue and milk teeth.

And at 8 weeks — TWO MONTHS — all organs are functioning — stomach, liver, kidneys and brain.

ALL this … TWO months after conception!

What happens after this is continued growth. So indeed, that which is being formed in the womb has all the characteristics of a human being.

Dr. Ben Carson … who was a pediatric neurosurgeon operated on babies in the womb … and he said that they were indeed human.

Now … before you ask, there is no specific verse in the Bible that says to the effect: “Thou shalt not commit abortion.”

However, what do we often say ““Thou shalt do no murder”” … as we recite the 10 commandments.

AND … As you will see, the taking of a life before it is born … IS JUST THAT!

I realize that these are strong words … but, I believe that clear Biblical teaching leaves us no other option.

Logic tells us that if we are pro-life … the opposite is pro-death. It is NOT the euphemism of pro-choice …

— In a way … I’m pro-choice … I just believe that abortion is NOT one of those choices!!

So, where do we begin … and some of this may sound familiar … as I told you some of this a few years back.

We begin at the beginning … in the story of creation …

— Genesis 1:26-27: :“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.””

We see from these verses, from the first book of the Bible … that man is created in the image of God.

Remember … it is ONLY this part of God’s creation that is said to be made in the image of God!

What this means is that men and women faithfully represent God with intellect, limited knowledge and a will.

Included in this … is that as His creation, we have an intimacy with Him … which of course, has been corrupted by sin — but we can also have communion with Him — and as we know … it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ.
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As we look at the Scriptures … then as a whole … we see much, much more.

Psalm 51:5 says: ““Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.””

This verse … TO ME … is one of the foundational verses as to why life BEGINS at conception …

IF we are sinners from the moment of conception — that means that we have a soul … and if we have soul … life is there!

This is an undeniable fact!

In Isaiah 44:2 we read: ““Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.””

The Lord is forming that which is growing in the womb — this is absolutely clear … there is no doubt about it.!

Jeremiah 1:5 is also very telling: ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.””

This passage is part of the Lord’s call of Jeremiah to be a prophet — telling us that even before he was formed in the womb, Jeremiah had been set apart by God to be his chosen vessel.

We see the same thing with the birth of John the Baptist.
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One of the most powerful passages concerning the beginning of life is Psalm 139.

We see these words in Psalm 139:13-16:

““For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.””

One translation … which I love … translates verse 15: ““My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, INTRICATELY WOVEN in the depths of the earth …””

I love that description … INTRICATELY WOVEN

Again … powerful words from the Word of God.

That which is being formed in the womb is that which is being put together by God.

One other passage that is also very powerful is that which we read in Luke 1.

As Elizabeth … who is pregnant with John the Baptist is visited by Mary, who was carrying the Lord Jesus … we read these words — Luke 1:44 , where Elizabeth says:

““For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.””

The first person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah was a baby in the womb!

Again, further proof that that which is being formed in the womb is a baby.

And the destruction of the baby in the womb is destroying that which has been created in the image of God.

I am thankful that our Denomination — the Reformed Episcopal Church — has taken a strong stand for life.

You can read our statement on the Denominational website — recus.org.

I am thankful that the ACNA has taken a strong stand for life.

At the March for Life there was a large group of people with signs that said: “Anglicans for Life!”

The mainline denominations do NOT stand for life from conception to natural death.

As you know, I was raised in the United Presbyterian Church, which wasn’t really united because it had been separated from the Southern Presbyterians since the Civil War.

In the 1980’s when they reunited to become the Presbyterian Church USA, one of the first things that they did was to affirm a woman’s right to choose aborting their babies.

Sad, indeed!

These are some of the facts that are before us. And you might rightly ask, “what can I do about it?”

There are a number of things.

The most important thing we can do is pray that the Lord would remove this sin from our nation and our world!

We cannot expect God’s blessing on us as a nation as long as we are active in killing that which is made in His image!

(This is … along with the multitude of other sins that we have as a nation — calling evil good and good evil … promoting alternate lifestyles … but that is for another time!)

But … we also have to pray for changed hearts … hearts that can only be changed through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior …

As I have told you many times … we need to pray for the salvation of those in our circles of influence … family, friends, neighbors, co-workers … that they would come to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The other thing that we can do is be pro-active in helping those with unplanned pregnancies know that there are options beside abortion.

St. Peter’s actively supports Anglicans for Life and the local pregnancy center.

But perhaps we should be doing more.

… for example … regarding our elected representatives … a pro-life stance should be at the top of the list for us in deciding who we should vote for!

Another idea is to support someone with an unwanted pregnancy … either personally or through our local pregnancy center.

But one other thing must be addressed … and that concerns those who may have had an abortion … or know of those who have had one.

And as Mother Teresa said … abortion is anti-woman.

The other day … coming home from a Teleprompting job … I saw a billboard with a website and the banner was for Women who had been hurt by abortion!

We … as Christians … must make it known that there is forgiveness and healing for those who had abortions.

We are all sinners … no one is exempt … no one is without sin

It is NOT the unforgivable sin … Our God is a forgiving God through the Lord Jesus Christ … and this must be clearly communicated!

If God forgives … then we must also! It is not an option.

But most of all, we must let it be known, that life begins at conception, and we need to pray that more people will understand and believe that … and that abortion would be not only illegal … but unthinkable.