Pastor Brian and Jacque Lother
Brian: Can you all hear me? Good. Traditionally, the sanctity of life Sunday is in January and many churches across the country. Remember that day and so forth, but often Jackie and I are out of town during that time. How many think it's a good idea to go to a warm climate in January and February? That's what we try to do. What we have traditionally done here at Hope, because I value the same entity of life and the sacredness of life so much that I don't want that service to happen when I'm not here. Today, we are going to celebrate the sacredness of life and how wonderful life is. How many know that if we don't have the right to life, all other rights actually don't really matter much
If we don't have the right to live, then we can have all the other rights granted to us, but they are meaningless if we don't have the right to live. Today, I'm excited. We are really privileged to have Joanne Eklund be a part of our church. She's been a part of hope since the very first Sunday and she was part of our church that we were planted out of 25 years ago this coming August. Hope began 25 years ago this coming August and Joanne has been with us from the very first Sunday. For, I think almost 24 years, you have been a part of the Robbinsdale Women's Center. More than that. Okay. So maybe even longer. 30 years, she has been a part of that. I just wanted Joanne to come and just share a little bit. So Joanne, why don't you please come? She's going to share just a few things about the Robbinsdale women's center and we are going to take an offering for the Robbinsdale women center at the end of the service today.
We are so privilege to have this wonderful lady to be a part of our church and the heart and the passion she has, not only for the Lord, but for women who are at a crossroads in their life where hopelessness can sometimes be so overwhelming that they don't feel they have any other option, but to terminate their pregnancy. There has been an incredible, I would almost say explosion of success, at the RWC over the last few years. Why don't you just tell us a little bit about what you do at R WC and just share your heart here today. I know you have a video we are going to see here in a moment. We also have a guest with us today that was a client at RWC. we are going to pray over them and hear her story a little bit. Put your seatbelts on. This is going to be a great, great day here today. So go ahead, Joanne.
Joanne: Robbinsdale women's center started back in 1992, 20 years after Roe v Wade. It started because before that there was a group of women who would meet and pray in the Robbinsdale area for the Lord to open a pregnancy care center for women that are seeking help for unplanned pregnancy. Because of this prayer, that's kind of how it started. Our church would go to the abortion clinic and pray. At that time Jackie's sister was praying and actually Jackie was with her. Can you talk about that?
Jacque: We were praying together. There were so many people there praying that day. Nancy, she and I, when we get excited, we kind of let out lots of sounds. And she kind of just hollered, like God had really shown her and she really saw a vision of that center across the street. So it would be immediate access
Joanne: That's right. She said that was the only time she has ever heard the audible voice of God saying, "Do something about it". And she turned to Jackie and said, "Did you hear something?" And Jackie said, "No, I didn't hear." So Jackie was there when God commissioned the Robbinsdale women's center. And then like a few weeks later, when they were praying, they looked across the street and it said "for rent." It's an older building, but the Lord provided that building for us. I had a young lady come up to me and ask me if I would be interested in taking training because this center was going to open. I grew up Catholic and so I was always pro-life, but I didn't really understand why it was because that was just the way it was in my life. And so I had no idea what a pregnancy care center did, never heard of it, but I just felt moved in my heart that I just felt like I should do this.
We had two weeks of intense training and wow. It changed my life. All I could do was cry. It was so broken-hearted to hear the truth. But that's how it is for women that come to us. They don't know the truth. And so there has been many women who have actually gone through abortion because they haven't been able to hear the truth. The Lord planted the Robbinsdale women's center, so he could share his truth of life and life abundantly that there is hope and that they can see their baby. With ultrasound, they absolutely can see their baby, like from five to six weeks along, they can see that baby. It makes a huge difference.
Even though sometimes people get a little bit weary about hearing about pro-life pro-life pro-life, it is so much more than that. The Lord keeps doing new things all the time through his ministry of reaching out to women. So many families have been helped. He knows the regrets so many people have gone through for not choosing life, but he provides compassion, and he provides help for people to go through that grieving period of losing a child. Whenever we have a woman come in, that's two lives that can be saved physically and spiritually. We have just a wide variety of women that come through from different walks of life.
Brian: I'm sure you have many statistics.
Joanne: We have lots of statistics.
Brian: So tell us how many in 2021, how many confirmed babies were saved in 2021?
Joanne: Last year we had the largest amount, our record number of 279 babies saved. And so that is, on average, six per week that are choosing life. 97% of women who come to us are looking for abortion information. They want to have an abortion. They're coming to us because they want to find out how, if they are pregnant for sure and how far along, they are, because it depends on what kind of abortion they want to have.
Brian: The whole abortion industry is really changing, and it has been changing and they are transitioning from more of a clinical to the abortion pill, which makes it much more challenging to enter on behalf of the pre-born and so forth.
Jacque: Right. If they are looking for the abortion pill, they are coming to us because they can find out how far along they are, because you have up to 12 weeks to be able to take that abortion pill. It costs the same as a surgical abortion. It's very expensive. And then they don't have the medical supervision. They call us because they don't know if it's working or they are experiencing clotting. So we have to tell them to call 911 or go to an emergency room. So that's one of the things that we are facing right now. All the time, women call us because they've taken an abortion pill and they are experiencing a medical trauma.
Brian: There has been a, I think I would call it more of an expansion on how RWC does their ministry, but one of the focuses now is the health of the mother, not just trying to stop an abortion from happening and the welfare wellbeing of the mom and the result of that has been, I think, this ex this huge number of people being affected in a positive way.
Joanne: That's right. So we really focus on the woman. She already knows that she might be pregnant or pregnant. She doesn't need us to remind her that it's a life. The ultrasound speaks for itself; a lot that we do speak for itself. So they know that we really care about them. It's just a great outreach to make them feel comfortable and build that trust. And then the other thing that really helps them is that we have that real time prayer. We started that a couple years ago.
Brian: Explain a little bit what that is.
Joanne: Our doctor, who is in charge of our medical clinic, came up with this idea to send out when the woman is getting ready to have the ultrasound, before that, have the nurse text out a message to people who are on the prayer group and they get it to their phone. It just gives a brief description So and so is here, kind of her dilemma, please pray for her. The nurses say that when they send that out, the atmosphere changes and the woman calms down. There's more of a peace. Also, they pray for good images on the ultrasound, and that has made a difference. Right now, we have like 700 people on that prayer team and it's making a huge difference. So now we are teaching other centers to do that.
Jacque: How do you get on that list? I want to be on that list.
Joanne: Well, there is a table back there with a card and all you have to do is pick it up and you just text "join" to a phone number, and that's it. And then you'll get the prayer and then you just type in "P" send so that they know that you've prayed.
Brian: So you'll be in the back after the service and you can hand some of these cards out
Joanne: I can answer any questions that you might have or interests.
Brian: You have a video you want to show today. Why don't we do that? And when we are done with the video, we'll have a couple more things here.
[video: 1:04:20 -1:06:30]
Brian: We are going to have an opportunity to give at the end of the service, but Robbinsdale Women's Center has a very important event coming up on March 25th. It's the 30th anniversary, correct?
Joanne: Yep. Fundraising gala.
Brian: Talk to us a little bit about that. And can anybody come?
Joanne: It's a free event and you can register on our website or you can see me after the service here. Our website is RWCinfo.org and it's free. However, we do take an offering. We look for monthly support and then one-time gifts as well. That is what covers our programs. The reason it's free is we get donors to underwrite the event so that whatever you give the night of the event, it goes totally to the programs.
Jacque: Another way we can help is we are having a drive this month to help bring in items for your baby boutique. Can you tell us about that?
Joanne: Our moms and dads, they join parenting programs and we have it full. It's really full. We have a lot of people and what they do is they take these classes online and that's where they really learn about the Lord. There's so many unchurched people and that is a great way for them to be acquainted with the Lord. They earn mommy and daddy dollars, and then they go into the boutique and they buy brand new baby items. They get formula and diapers and strollers and all that kind of stuff.
Brian: We can help support that all year long.
Joanne: Boutique filled.
Brian: So we could support that all year long.
Joanne: Oh yeah, all year round.
Brian: Good, good. Well, you have a very special guest here with us today. Why don't you introduce her?
Joanne: Sasha and Dan and Charlie and then their little girl is in class right now, but maybe she can come out. Keith was going to go get her. Sasha was a client of Robinson women's center and Charlie was her son and she chose life. She'll just share a little bit of what the Lord is doing for her and her beautiful family.
Brian: Why don't you come up here, Sasha, right in the front? Jacque will give you her mic and Dan, you are welcome to come too.
Sasha: Hello.
Brian: Hi. Welcome. Welcome.
Joanne: There's Landry.
Sasha: My name is Sasha and this is Charlie and Dan. and here comes Landry. I was raised in a Christian home, but when I found myself pregnant before marriage, I thought abortion was my only option. So I went to the abortion clinic. When I first got there, I was in tears, bawling and I knew I could not go through with it, but I wanted to have an ultrasound done to see how far along I was. I went into the room and they wouldn't show me the screen. They turned it away from me and I left there in tears. So a friend of mine looked up the Robbinsdale women's center and we made an appointment for me to go get an ultrasound there. When I entered the Robbinsdale women's center, I was greeted with hugs and smiles. They were just so kind. I went in and I had the ultrasound and I could see my baby and he flipped and I knew that I was going to have my baby.
Brian: It's okay to cry. It's okay.
Sasha: In the Robbinsdale women's center, like she said, I was able to get some training materials to help me and they prayed with me the whole entire time during my pregnancy. Now, Charlie is 16 years old and he is such a blessing. He is such a giver. He makes everyone around him smile and he is just a light of my life. He started a ministry going into nursing homes and handing out gifts and hugs. My heart’s desire is just every woman out there chooses life because it's the greatest blessing.
Brian: Go ahead. Go ahead.
Dan: My name is Dan. When I met Sasha, I met Charlie when he was three years old. His middle name is Daniel and my name Dan, so I thought that was quite the coincidence. It was quite an honor when Sasha told me about Charlie and when I met Linda and everything. It was like— man, you are going to make me cry. It was like, God just kind of spoke to me and to Sasha because she was nervous, obviously, when we met, but it just comforted me seeing Charlie and being with Charlie. It was like I instantly became his father and this was all kind of part of God's plan.
Sasha: He adopted Charlie
Brian: And I adopted Charlie.
Jacque: That's so beautiful.
Brian: So Joanna and Jackie, why don't you come up here? I'd like to just pray over Dan and Sasha and Charlie. What's the little girl's name again?
Dan: Landry.
Brian: Landry. Is this a friend of yours over here too?
Dan: That's my mother-in-law.
Brian: Why won't you come up please too? Yes. Come on up. We just want to pray a blessing over them. If any of you want to just come up and be a part of this, please feel free to come up and just stand down here in the front. We just want to extend our hands of blessing upon them. The redemption of Christ redeems all aspects of brokenness. There's nothing that Jesus can't heal and there is nothing that Jesus can't put back together again. I just want to just say how proud I am of you Dan and Sasha and your family for being a living hope for people because I'm sure Sasha felt at times hopeless, but there was something in her that while wanted to not go the traditional route that has become, and God has honored that and blessed your lives, but we want to pray more blessings on you.
And so father and heaven, I just thank you for your grace that is greater than any fallenness in this world. Any schemes of the enemy. We thank you for others, Lord, who will witness this testimony today and receive hope from it. I also pray for the countless number of women who have gone through abortion. And I pray that, Lord, your grace would come and heal their hearts. Just heal their hearts, Lord, and their minds. You are the healer. There's nothing you can't heal. And there is no one that you can't redeem. So we just want to pray blessings today over Dan and Sasha. We thank you, Lord, for the beautiful children. We thank you for the gift that they are to us and this world. We just pray, Lord, that the windows of heaven will open up and pour down blessings upon them so much so that they can't contain it, beyond their expectations. This, we pray, Jesus in your name and for your sake. And everybody said... Amen.
Let's just give the Lord a thank you. Thank you, Joanne. Thank you. Well, I'd like to ask Pastor Robert to come up. Pastor Robert has also had a ministry with Robbinsdale Women's Center. Just take a couple moments to share about that.
Robert: Praise the Lord 14 years ago, I was a young seminary student in my final years of my studies. In my pastoral care curriculum, I had to have some clinical hours of pastoral ministry. I was already working in ministry and I could have used that time to go for credit, but anybody knows I don't like the easy way out. There's no challenge in that. I was working with Jackie's sister, Nancy and she told me she founded the Robbinsdale women's center. I actually lived in Crystal for some time, and I actually passed by the center all the time. Not really knowing what it was. It situated right across the street from an abortion clinic and also situated right next to a Catholic church, so I used to see people all the time, but never thought about it.
Nancy said, well, "I have a perfect place for you: the Robbinsdale women's center. " I'm like, why would I go volunteer at the Robbinsdale women's center? You said you wanted the challenge. Yeah, but I— They had a, what's called a father-focused mentor program and I was recommended to volunteer. But I'm like, okay, here's another challenge: I wasn't a father yet. The guy that was over there said, "Oh, you'll be great." I'm like, okay. So I just took it on personally as sewing a seed that I believe that one day I would be a father. What started out as a clinical requirement for me turned into a passion. I fell in love with the staff and what we were doing at Robbinsdale women's center. So after I graduated, I still stayed on for a little bit as a father-focused mentor.
What I would do is mentor the boyfriends or the partners, or the husbands that were there to support the women who wanted to keep their babies. We would take them through the programs. The mothers would go through a program. The fathers-to-be would go through a program. It was a series of lessons and life lessons and counseling. I was strict on my daddy dollars. They had to do the work, but the biggest joy for me was when the fathers completed the program, which was a big challenge. A lot of the guys at that time did not complete the program. It was a big commitment. I felt really good when I was able to take a dad through the entire program. We would really celebrate them. They came from all walks of life. I mentored anywhere from 15 to 60 years old. There were guys that were there, all kinds of stories.
Working there changed my life. I saw many miraculous things. One of my biggest memories actually involves my wife. She wasn't my wife at the time, but she was a new member at my former church. She would always bring women and young girls to church and she would always have me pray for them. There was one evening service. She brought a young lady that was pregnant and wanted me to pray with her. She was getting a lot of pressure and from the guy that she was with to have an abortion, and I talked with her and I said, "Do you want to have an abortion?" She said no. I said, " Do you want to keep your baby?" She said yes. I said, "Well, if you are serious, meet me in my office tomorrow morning at nine o'clock." Well, TaQuaris had her there before nine o'clock and I said okay, she's serious. So I said I don't care about what other work I have today. She got in the car with me and I drove her down to the Robbinsdale Women's center. I said I'm leaving. I did my job. She met with the women and did the intake.
A year later, TaQuaris brought her back to the service, but this time she wasn't by herself. This time, she brought her baby. I just cried and was just so elated. I thanked her for bringing the baby to see me. It just made me feel great about being at a place like that. Just one more story. I have countless. There are things going on all the time. I came in one day and right as I came in, the staff was praying. This is a praying place. They don't just talk about it. They're praying. I was a little late. There was a lot going on. I came in and the staff was praying and I'm like joining in like, what's going on?
There was a young lady that had come in. Oftentimes, because of the location, there would be women that would come in looking for an abortion and mistaking the RWC for the board clinic. And so this lady came in at this particular time to the center and thought she was going to the abortion clinic. When she found out it wasn't, she left out to go over to the clinic, because we don't force people. They didn't force people. They were upfront to let them know what they were. She left, and so the staff entered in a time of interceding. That's what they were doing as I was walking in. So I joined in the intercession. We prayed for about 20 minutes and then dispersed and went about our business.
A little while after that, the lady came back in the door and she said, "I went across the street. I was treated so unkindly. It was cold." Often, the women give this testimony. She said it was cold. She said, "I can't do this. Can you guys help me keep my baby?" It gives me goosebumps now, but things like that happen all the time. And so it was a blessing to get to know Joanne and Peggy and the other staff members that were there, the nurses, the doctors, and the volunteers. It's an experience that changed my life. I was blessed to go to a couple of the banquets over the years. It's a place that will always be in my heart.
Brian: Well, thank you for all the work you've done there, Robert. We are proud of you. We are glad you are part of our staff and a part of Hope. Let's just, again, thank the Lord for all these.
Jacque: There might be men out here that want to go work in that capacity. Absolutely.
Brian: I just got a few minutes left here and I just want to share just a few scriptures with you this morning. Matthew 18:10 refers to the words of Jesus. And he has this to say about children.
Jacque: Be aware that you don't look down on any of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven, their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly father.
Brian: Let me just ask you a question. If there is an angel, that's in the presence of our heavenly father in heaven, and that angel has an assignment, I'm assuming we realize how important that assignment is and how important the target of that assignment is. This scripture by the mouth of Jesus says that in heaven, every child has an angel. That's in the word of God. These are not fairy tales. This is the word of God. We can attribute value by what Jesus says, and he says, there is an angel that's assigned to every child. So we need to understand the value of a child.
Life is very precious. I think we've also discovered more clearly the last few years, the last couple years, that life is also very fragile. We've discovered that with some of our friends that took ill with COVID and they didn't survive. We see the reality of the fragileness of life. Because life is so fragile, I think it needs to be protected to the very best of our abilities, to do the very best that we can to preserve life. Because every life is unique and every child in the is a person. I think the scripture was on the, on the video, but Jeremiah 1:4 says this:
Jacque: The Lord gave me this message: I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nation.
Brian: So before even Jeremiah was born, there was an assignment already given to him. The fact of the matter is when a woman is pregnant, that entity— and I'll use that word entity because the word entity means something with a distinct and independent existence. That's what an entity means. It's something with a distinct and independent existence. When a woman is pregnant, that entity in the womb is a baby. It's a child. You may not be aware of this, but let's look at Luke 1:41. we are familiar with these two verses, but you may not be familiar with the uniqueness of this.
Jacque: At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her and Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit.
Brian: Mary who is now pregnant with Jesus goes to visit her aunt Elizabeth, who is a little bit further along in her pregnancy. As soon as Mary, with the Messiah in her womb, walked into the presence of Elizabeth, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit at that moment. Now let's look at Luke 2:16.
Jacque: They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph, and there was the baby lying in a manger.
Brian: In Luke, 1:41, the word child is used and in Luke 2:16, the word baby is used, but interestingly enough, in the Greek, it's the same word: brefos. It's the exact same word. The word for baby in a manger is the same word as child in her womb. It's the exact same word. There's no change in the Greek word here. And so this word actually can be translated to infant. It can be translated to baby. It can be translated to newborn. It can be translated in our English or Latin terms, fetus, but it's all the same word. It's all the same word. That's how God views it. A child in the womb, a child outside of the womb is a child. Just the location is different. That's all. We have another verse in Isaiah 49:1
Jacque: Listen to me, all you in distant lands; Pay attention, you who are far away. The Lord called me for my birth. From within the womb, he called me by name.
Brian: So he called Isaiah by name because Isaiah was a person in his mother's womb. He was a person. Paul has a similar story to tell in Galatians 1:15.
Jacque: But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.
Brian: Wow, even before I was born. Wouldn't you say that sometimes God has trouble with some of his children? Let's not blame the parent for the child's behavior anymore than we would blame God for the behavior of the sins of man. The apostle Paul, who was Saul, didn't have the best beginning, but he had a great ending. He had a great ending and that life of his, he describes it this way. Even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then we have the oldest book written in the Bible, the book of Job. When I say oldest book, it's the oldest book that we have a copy of. Obviously, Genesis is a timeline before the book of Job. Job says this:
Jacque: You gave me life and showed your unfailing. Love. My life was preserved by your care.
Brian: You gave me life. Sometimes we forget that God gives life. Sometimes we just forget that. Life comes from our creator and it comes as a gift to all of us. Every single person that's a part of our lives, they are on loan to us from God. Before Jackie was my wife, before Jackie was a daughter, before Jackie was a mother, before any of that, she belonged to God. She was a life that God gave to us on loan to us. Every life is so valuable. That's why we need to give value and give credence to every life that's ever been born.
Jacque: Every person matters.
Brian: Every person matters. Every person has significance. Unfortunately, the world doesn't live by that principle. The way we can begin to murder a whole group of people is we begin to dehumanize them. We begin to make them less significant. That's how Hitler was able to get a whole virtual group of people to kill over 6 million Jews. We dehumanize them. When Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, Hitler attributed it to the fact that, well, he actually wasn't human. When you can dehumanize someone or something or a race or group of people, you now feel that you have a greater power over them, and you are better than them. It's rooted in pride. But the fact of the matter is life comes from God. Every life matters. Every life has value. Every life has significance.
And so we need to understand that we don't have the right to take a life. We don't have a right to do that because that life wasn't created by us. It's not owned by us. It doesn't belong to us. It belongs to God. We are all, in a sense, stewards of the life that God has given to us. I am mostly responsible for my life as a good steward. I need to be a good steward for my life. The giftings that God's given to me and the health that God's given to me, but I'm also to be responsible for other people's lives. We have a verse that's very important for us to understand. We find it in Proverbs 24:11 and 12
Jacque: Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die, save them as they stagger to their death. There are all sorts of different ways that this versus translated, but I actually really like how the New Living Testament is translating this because it broadens this whole verse to include more than just the preborn, which it should. Every life has value, and there are some people who are scheduled to die unjustly. Tonight, Pastor Jeff will share about this a little more. We are going to have a special prayer time tonight at seven o'clock for all of you who want to join us on Zoom for Ukraine, because there are innocent lives that are going to be slaughtered. If God doesn't do some kind of divine intervention, there are going to be innocent lives.
We see that all of these babies are innocent. Just by being there, just by having a place there, Sasha today has Charlie. Just because somebody said this: I want to do something. I want to do something and I'm going to help these people. We are not just going to stand with our megaphones and tell everybody how bad they are for what they are thinking of doing. We are going to offer hope. We are going to do what Jesus does. He doesn't focus on the sin. He focuses actually on the sinner and bringing love and grace to that sin. He doesn't focus on the sin.
We are given this command by God to rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die. Save them as they stagger to their death. How many people are staggering today under the weight of sin or rejection or feeling marginalized and they are just on this slow plotting walk to death? He goes on to say this:
Jacque: Don't excuse yourself by saying, look, we didn't know, for God understands all hearts and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.
Brian: That's a very sobering scripture, isn't it? I like to talk about the grace of God and the mercy of God and how much love God has for everybody, but there are odds in relationships. There are responsibilities that we have in relationships. I don't think we should be driven by odds or obligations because that takes the real joy out of relationship. However, at the end of the day, we can't stand before God and say, well, I didn't know anything about this. We do have to respond to the needs of people being sentenced to die, unjustly. So it's within our power to respond to this.
I believe our world needs an attitude adjustment towards our fellow human beings. I think our world truly needs an attitude adjustment towards our fellow human beings. We need to begin to look from the perspective of Jesus, where all life matters. We need to not operate from a position of power over but service under like Jesus did. We know that there is a scripture in Psalms that says that children are gifts from the Lord. We know that. All life is a gift from God. All life is a gift from God. And we need to look at every life because you know what, every life needs to be redeemed too. My life needed to be redeemed. Your life needed to be redeemed. we are all in that “need to be redeemed” category. Some of us, it might feel like, need to be redeemed a little more than others, but at the same time, we are all in that category. We are all in that category. And we are all in that boat. When we stand before Christ in heaven, worshiping the Lord, we are not going to be comparing our pasts. We are going to be looking forward to our future. That's what we are going to be doing, that we have with the Lord.
I just want to invite us today to let the Lord empower us to really help and be a part of saving lives in our country. Obviously, this is something we can do for RWC that has a powerful, powerful effect, but I want us to expand our horizons when we think of the sacredness of life to beyond simply supporting a women's center that that helps women who are contemplating abortion, but we need to take this attitude of the value of life to all walks of life that we have, that every human being matters, every single human being that has ever been born matters. It matters to God. It matters to the future of our world. It matters to the future of our world.
How many abortions we've had since 1973? I don't know, 60 million, maybe more. How many of those in the last roughly 40 years could have possibly been somebody who came up with a medical breakthrough that could have saved hundreds and thousands of lives. Maybe someone who could have invented something that would've made your life and my life better. The greatest resource we have is life. That's actually the greatest resource that we have, and we are not valuing it as we ought. We don't understand the sacredness of every life that matters, whether it's a child in the womb or someone like my mother who was almost 99 when she passed. Some people might have looked at my mother and thought, well, she's not good for anything anymore. She prayed, but she prayed all the time. Every life has a value. Every life has significance. And so today, I want to take a moment to pray that God would touch our hearts. Did you have something you wanted to say?
Jacque: I just want to also acknowledge our sweet Misty over here. We met Misty in front of the Robbinsdale women's center, and now we have almost six year old, sweet little Mariah. We are so proud of you Misty.
Brian: Last year at this time, we dedicated all of her children to the Lord on the sanctity of life Sunday. I just love the physical testimonies, our witness of God's grace. Don't you love that? So father, I pray that as we just go through life. It's so easy, Lord, for the moras and the ideologies of our current world to influence how we think. Help us, Lord, to go back to you, help us Lord to have the paradigm and the view of our world. Be based on what you say. Holy spirit, I pray that you'll come in a way that will, will sweep over our land, sweep over our community, sweep over our church, Lord. And help us begin to just value every life as a gift from you. Every life, a gift from you. And that Lord it's only you that have the right to take that life home, to be with you. I don't have the right to cease a life from existing here on earth. Only you have that right because that life belongs to you.
So help us Jesus to be enthusiastic about the life you've given. Help us to look for all the good that might be in a fallen person. Help us find that good; help us find that nugget of gold in there. Sometimes our behaviors, which are so sometimes wrong and so bad and so contrary to your ways that it just completely blinds us to see the gold nugget in that person. But Jesus, today I pray you will help us to have eyes to see, like you see. You saw the woman at the well who had gone through relationship after relationship after relationship and your heart for her was, hey, if you just drink from me, you'll never thirst again. You didn't have a finger pointing in her face about all her failures.
The man with leprosy, on the outward appearance, everybody rejected him because of what he had, his condition, but you hugged the disease right out of him, Lord. For the Demoniac of Gadarenes, who probably was the victim of much abuse during the course of his life, he probably had been victimized over and over and over until finally only the demonic realm could be manifested in him and nobody saw any value to him whatsoever. They chained him up, put him in a cemetery and said, this is your home among the tombs of the dead. And yet you came across the lake to go right to him and you brought your love to him and you brought your power to him and your deliverance to him and your restoration to him.
I pray that today, Jesus, we will look at those who are so fallen off the radar and say, but you are not too far from God. You're not too far for Jesus and pour our love that you've given to us and pour your love into them and bring your delivering power to their lives. So I thank you, Jesus, that there is nobody that's unredeemable. There's no life that's too far gone. There's no problem too big that it can't be overcome by following you, Jesus. And so we pray today. I pray for the Robbinsdale women's center. I pray for their fundraising gala on the 25th, this year of March. I pray blessings over them, Lord. I pray that next year, just the lid will be blown off with how many babies they will have been able to save and how many women they will have been able to have loved. And hopefully fathers that will be able to be mentored, Lord.
We pray, Jesus, for our families and our homes. Lord, they are so fragmented today and our country is only as strong as the strength of our families. And so I pray in Jesus name that, Lord, you would just continue to pour your grace, on these, your people. We ask this in your name, Lord and for your sake.
I'd like the ushers to come. We are going to take an offering for RWC. I tell you this is money well spent. This is money well spent. I don't usually tell people what I give to and whatever, but I give monthly to the Robbinsdale women's center. I believe in what they are doing. You don't have to give a lot, but if we all gave something, it would make a huge difference to the RWC. Hallelujah. So father, we just prayed blessings on this offering now. Help them, Lord; help us to be able to give. Help us, Lord, to be able to support. We may not always be able to be out in front of a clinic. We might be very good at counseling women or having the medical understanding of the ultrasound machines and all those kinds of things. But Lord, we can still give and we can pray. And so today Lord, we give to this very, very worthy organization that brings your love to so many people in your precious name we pray. Amen.
Go online and do a special. Thank you. I'm going to ask Pastor Jeff to just come up and grab a microphone. I would just like him to pray here as we close our service. Those of you who are watching on livestream, you can donate as well. Just go and look up “special” and we'll get it today and we'll get it to the Robbinsdale women's center. We just thank you for joining us today. God bless you for being here. Pastor Jeff.
Jeff: Hallelujah. Thank you, Joanne. Thank you, Sherry?
Brian: Sasha.
Jeff: Sasha, thank you. Thank you, Misty. You guys are living testimonies of the goodness of God. We don't want to leave the service without giving anybody who is listening by livestream or here by chance who hasn't turned their life over to Jesus to have that moment to do so, because that's where it all starts. He is the life changer. He pulls us out of despair. He pulls us close to him in situations that are impossible, and he does miracles.
It's so easy to start a relationship with Jesus. It's just a matter of saying yes. So if you are in that position, watching by live stream here today, just say with me; just say, Jesus, yes. I let you in. I give you my heart. Change my life and I will live for you. Let me just pray for you all. If you need God to do a miracle in your life, just lift your hand, would you, please? Lots of different needs that we all carry with us in our lives, different needs of different times. Same on live stream. If you are sitting at your kitchen table or in your living room, just lift your hand with whatever needs you have. Lord, I pray for my friends and I agree with you, father, as you have chosen to love each one of us and to pour out your favor upon us in your blessing. Lord, we trust you because we know that you see intimately into our lives.
Becky, who is watching online, I want you to know we are praying for you and for your niece and her family. Becky lost your niece just this week suddenly. So, we are including you and niece prayers. Sharon, we are praying for you of course. But Lord, in the place of our need, we trust you to come. We trust you to meet us exactly where we are. We trust you to be the provider and the healer and the one who walks with us when we can't walk ourselves, we trust you to heal our broken hearts. We thank you for saying you have a purpose for us for good and not for disaster, to give us a future and a hope. And we take hold of you for that. We thank you for a miracle just the way we need it, in Jesus' name
As Pastor Brian said, I just woke up this morning with Ukraine, just a heavy burden in my heart. I have many friends there; I've traveled there quite a lot in past years. I've been asking the Lord how to pray. I haven't got a good answer yet. And I just felt like every evening from 6:45 to 7, we have Reaching for More. And then when that time of prayer is done, if you can't be with us during those 15 minutes, you can jump in at seven. If you are with us during Reaching for More, and you can't stay, that's fine too. But whoever wants to come on at seven, just go to the Hope Happenings email that you get every time. Go down to reaching for more and click on that link and you'll be able to jump into that prayer time. And we are just going to continue to pray.
My intention really is for whoever is there, we are just going to wait on the Lord. We are going to ask him how to pray. And then we are going to pray how he shows us. Many of you've heard of Rees Howells, an intercessor in Wales who had a Bible school. He and his small Bible school prayed fervently during the course of World War II. Many of you know Carl Anderson, he featured them in several of his episodes of Love Speaks and Heroes to Hope. Literally, that small band of intercessors changed the course of World War II. And because of their intercession, God showed tremendous work mercy to the nation of Russia and delivered them from the hands of Hitler. It was a miracle. And so that very same nation now we are going to ask for God to show mercy and deliver them from what could be a horrible situation in the world. So join me at 7 if you are able to be there. Pastor Brian.
Brian: Pastor Robert and to course will be serving communion today at the end of the service, for those of you like to have communion. Let's just raise our hands together as we pray God's blessings on us. Now, may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord turn his face towards you and give you his peace. And may we value every life because every life is a gift from God. This, we pray, in the name of the father, son and the holy spirit. Amen. God bless you. Thank you for being here today. A special thank you to Sasha and Dan for being here. Bless you.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 2-20-22. If you would like to watch the full service, click the link below.