Sermon Tone Analysis

Choose Life

Pastor E. Keith Hassell

 

 

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV) /“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”/

I.

God has given us two choices: Life or death

 

II.

God’s Command: Choose LIFE!!!

 

III.

The Problem:  We don’t choose life because don’t respect life

 

IV.

What are the consequences?

A.               Abortion

B.                Murder

C.               Hate

D.               Prejudice

E.                Violence

F.                Abuse

G.               Suicide

H.               Euthanasia

I.

All of these are fruits of rejecting life, but not the root

 

V.

The Root:  The root behind rejecting life is rejecting God who gives it

 

VI.

Why is it important to choose life?

A.               Life is sacred

1.          God creates life

a               And God created man in His own image.

(Genesis 1:27)

b              For in Him all things were created.

(Colossians 1:16)

2.          God protects life

a               And Thy care has preserved my spirit.

(Job 10:12)

b              For He will give His angels charge concerning you (Psalms 91:11)

3.          God values life

a               Behold I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.

(Isaiah 49:16)

b              I have loved you with an everlasting love.

(Jeremiah 31:3)

c               Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.

(Jeremiah 1:5)

d              I am come that they might have life and have it to the full.

(John 10:10)

4.          Illustration: 

Have you ever done a piece of needlework, or woodworking, or ceramics for someone special to you?

Or for yourself?

Or what about an organization, a ministry, a campaign that you founded?

You always have a very special place in your heart for that which you had a primary role in creating, don't you?

Imagine how God feels when He creates each one of us, and then we are simply "thrown away?"

 

B.

Life is valuable—no matter what condition it is in

1.

One soul is worth more than everything in this world

2.          Every soul has a destiny in God (there are accidents in God)

3.          Jesus reached out to those who no one else deemed valuable

4.          God didn’t abort us in our sin!

5.          Our value?

The precious blood of Jesus!

6.

We are valuable to God because He made us and loves us!

7.          Illustration:

 

Pastor and author Max Lucado tells in his book, /The Applause of Heaven/, about a sweater that hangs in his closet.

He says he seldom wears it -- it's too small, the sleeves are too short, the shoulders too tight, some of the buttons are missing, the thread is frazzled.

Logically, he says, he should throw out that sweater since he has no use for it and will never wear it again.

It simply takes up space in his closet.

That's what logic says.

But love, he reports, won't let him.

Why not?

What's unusual about that sweater?

To start with, it has no label, no tag telling you "Wash in cold water."

That's because it wasn't made in a factory, produced on an assembly line as the product of a nameless employee earning a living.

Rather, it was the creation of a devoted mother expressing her love -- his mother.

That sweater is unique, one of a kind, irreplaceable.

Each strand was chosen with care, each thread selected with affection.

And so, even though that sweater has lost all of its use, it has lost none of its value.

It is valuable not because of its function, but because of its MAKER.

So is each life.

C.

Life is eternal

1.          Physical life begins at conception

a               Psalm 139:15-16 (NKJV) /“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.”/

2.          Eternal life begins at the new birth

a               John 3:3 (NKJV) “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”

 

D.

Life IS a choice

1.

You are here today because God and your parents chose LIFE!

2.          Eternal life is YOUR choice!

a               God made His choice by sending Jesus Christ to die for you

b              Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE! (John 14:6)

c               Now YOU must choose eternal life!

You must choose Jesus!

3.          Two Choices:  LIFE or DEATH

4.          What will YOU choose?

5.          Choose LIFE!

6.          Choose JESUS!