Thank you, Laurence. It is a great delight to be here and to see some old friends. I'm going to introduce you a little bit to the scale of the issue in various aspects of the world.
And 13 and a half years after it started. Now I've made a kind of assumption, haven't I, in the title of the talk, Love and Our Unborn Neighbors, that that is how we should think about unborn life.
But the reality is that the defining what it is that's growing inside the womb of a pregnant woman. And really, this is the whole issue.
And there are lots of different words that are used. Some of them are more scientific, technical words like fetus or embryo. Some of them more relational, warm words like baby.
Others that sound really very deliberately impersonal, like ball of stale or blob of jelly, which is how it can be described in some settings.
And the range represents the fact that there are very widely differing opinions on the status of the unborn, but on what options are legitimate for pregnant women.
And I know that the divisions are very wide and very deep. So I know that to speak into this area is to speak into an area around which people have often been used to living and thinking and debating at one or other pole of a very seriously called debate.
I also know, perhaps even more importantly, that because of some of the numbers I'm going to go on and look at with you, this is an issue which almost certainly affects people in this room.
You don't need to get very many people in a room before you find someone who's deeply personally affected by this issue.
And it's very important and it's a matter of rejoicing to me that a church is taking time to look at the issue and discuss the statistics and what the Bible teaches.
And this is a talk that is thinking about those kinds of structural things, background.
It's not the kind of thing you would say to someone if you were in a conversation about what to do with their unborn, what we decided to call it, or with someone who's been through an abortion in the past.
That conversation is very different.
But I want to, it's great to take the time to have this kind of discussion.
We've got to do that, and that may mean that without intending to, I say things in ways that feel painful or hurtful or touch on areas which are tender and cause pain.
I don't intend to do that.
I want to try and be as understanding and as mindful as I can.
But at some point, we have to stand back from the very significant personal obligations and think carefully about what's really happening and how we really ought to respond.
Or indeed, if we ought to respond.
Because when you read Scripture, when you read Matthew 28 and you realise that we're supposed to say everything Jesus commanded,
it is long if you're reading the apostles that you realise there is quite a lot that Jesus commands.
There's quite a lot that God commands his people to do.
And there are lots of priorities there for the church to consider and weigh.
And church leaders have a tough job working out which of these many possible ways of loving our community,
which of these many possible ways of glorifying the Lord have been to concentrate on.
I think it would be true to say that in most churches, we've spent many years thinking about some of the things that churches do,
and a lot less time thinking about other things that churches might do.
And I would argue that the issue of responding to abortion is one of those that Christians must be responding to in some way.
And that implies that there's something for churches to be teaching all Christians about the issue,
and to be teaching all Christians about how to respond to the issue.
So, I'm really glad to have the chance to be part of the process in this church and these churches here tonight.
So, here are some facts.
I want to start with some pictures, don't worry.
None of them are gruesome pictures.
And these are a couple of slides that are taken from a DVD, which you can watch later if you want.
I've got it with me.
I'm not going to try and show it on here.
It'll be too complicated.
But these are the scenes in a DVD, which takes you through the whole of the development of an embryo.
And you can see how much it develops at different stages of development.
By four weeks, that's four weeks from fertilization, the way this DVD is presented.
So, by the embryo has been four weeks old, you can already see, and there's a video of an embryonic heart beating about 130 times a minute.
By six weeks, you can see the ears and the diaphragm.
And by eight weeks, 90 plus percent of all the major organs are already present in developing a new being that's only about that size.
And it grows over the coming weeks and months.
So, by 18 weeks, they look like that.
By 22 weeks, they look something like that.
Now, to my mind, that 22-week-old baby should be called the baby.
Because it looks exactly like a baby.
But before we get to thinking whether that kind of instinct, that kind of reflex is right according to Scripture or not,
let's just find out some more facts about what happened.
Because at 22 weeks, that baby or any baby could be aborted.
And you might think, well, that's so obviously a baby.
That must be quite rare.
Abortion must be quite a rare thing.
And Lawrence has already told us some local facts.
I checked the latest figures that were available to 2018.
In 2018, there were 205,000 abortions in England and Wales.
And if you add up all the abortions that happened since 1968, which is the year after I was born,
so in my lifetime, there have been 8.7 million abortions in England and Wales.
That's way over 10% of the population.
If you ask the question, of all the pregnancies that happen in a year, what percentage of pregnancies end in abortion?
I wonder what you'd think it is.
Perhaps you know most people think it would be something well under 10%.
If they thought about it at all.
It's actually 22% of pregnancies end in abortion.
So more than one in five, little lives that start in their mother's womb end in abortion.
Now there's lots of reasons for that.
And I won't have lots of time to unpick those, because they're different situations.
But it's an extremely high number.
If you ask the question, of all women by the age of 45,
so all women in England and Wales by the age of 45,
what proportion of those women would have had an abortion?
The answer is one in three.
Now you can break those numbers down a little bit more.
So 22% of pregnancies, one in three when they were aged 45,
81% of abortions are done in women who are not married.
1.6% of abortions, so a very small, very small percentage of the total,
were done where you would believe there was a risk of serious handicap in the baby.
So in 2018, there were 618 unborn children,
that were reported with Down syndrome.
Some of you will have friends with Down syndrome.
You'll know people with Down syndrome.
You'll know what they're like.
You'll know they are people.
You'll have, you'll count them as friends.
And there are 618 that are not alive now,
because they were killed in this country.
This is happening.
And only 7 of the 205,7%,
7 were done to save life in an emergency.
So 97.7% are done for what is described in the legislation as ground C,
that is, if there is a risk,
greater than if the pregnancy is terminated,
to the mental health of the woman.
Now, that, the mental problem, is never specified.
The official statistics confirm that in 99.9% of these abortions,
the code that is given for the mental illness is F99,
which is unspecified.
So no one's thinking about what the mental health problem is,
because effectively they don't need to.
The law offers abortion on demand.
If a woman says, I don't want this baby,
and they go and see a doctor who is willing to allow abortion,
that is all they need to say.
And that means that you have this huge table,
where more than one in five pregnancies,
every year, end in abortion.
As I say, 8.7 million since 1968.
Now, this is related.
If we're thinking about what's the status of the wrong-born life,
it's right that we think not only about abortion.
It's right that we also think about some other things,
which, for other reasons, may affect people in this room very personally.
Some of the mechanisms by which infertility is treated,
IVF,
some of those result in embryos being created,
which then result in a baby.
And it's a little bit hard to put the numbers together.
But something like 170,000 embryos
are lost in in-vitro fertilization treatments per year.
Only about 7% of embryos created in the laboratory
for these facility treatments end up in pregnancies.
All the others, in the end, die.
Either because they're frozen,
and when they're thawed,
they don't reanimate,
they don't continue dividing.
Or because they're used and destroyed in research and development.
Or because they're implanted in cycles,
and they don't implant there.
So, we've got 205,000 abortions,
and 170,000 embryos lost in IVF.
One more thing to mention
before we start thinking biblically
about what might be going on.
This is a poster that I saw on the Tube a few years ago,
which is,
for Tommy's,
the baby charity,
and you may have seen,
they're quite a big charity,
they advertise quite effectively.
They're trying to research miscarriage.
And here is the poster
of a baby crossing its fingers
with the statistic
when anxiety pregnancies fail
in miscarriage.
And the proportions are
roughly the same, therefore.
There's roughly the same number of abortions,
actually,
a little bit more
babies are lost in abortion
than lost in miscarriage
at the moment.
That data comes from
a reputable source too.
What that means is that every year,
there is more than half a million
embryos dying.
Because,
either because we're
killing them in the top two,
one way or another,
or because
they're dying in miscarriage.
And plus,
there's an unknown number
that,
in some methods of contraception,
they allow fertilization to happen
and then prevent the fertilized
egg from implanting.
And so,
they work by disrupting
barrier to pregnancy.
And you can ask about that
later if you want to.
I need to
keep moving.
But in other words,
from multiple angles
in this culture,
we have become used to
a very high rate of loss
of unborn life.
And the big question is,
how do we process this?
How do we process this
as people?
How do we process this
as Christians?
What are we to make
of this extremely high number?
Well,
wonderfully,
by God's grace,
Christian ethics are not difficult.
They're very straightforward
because God tells us
everything we need to know.
And in fact,
he summarizes it
in two very straightforward commands.
You'll know them
from the Old Testament
you mentioned
in the teaching of Jesus.
Love God
and love your neighbor.
That's all we have to do.
Love God
and love our neighbor.
There's a bit too
loving God
and there's a bit too
loving your neighbor.
But that is
the essential center
of the Christian life.
One of the big things
we need to work out
is who are my neighbors?
Who are the people
I should be loving?
And I'm to argue
very strongly
that the evidence
of Scripture
is overwhelming
that unborn life,
unborn people
are our neighbors
that we should be loving.
And I've got four
straightforward points to make
in order to persuade you that.
The first is that
unborn life
is created by God.
I'm not saying
anything remarkable here
to a Christian
because everything
is created by God.
And whether we think about
the Father
from Genesis chapter 1
and the Father,
the Son,
the Spirit
from Genesis chapter 1
or whether we think
personally about
the Word,
Jesus Christ himself
in John chapter 1 verse 3
through him
the Lord God,
Jesus,
all things were made.
Without him
nothing was made
that has been made.
Now,
this means
before we start to think about
whether there's a particular
status to unborn life
we have to acknowledge
that like everything else
that exists
unborn life does not
belong to us.
Unborn life belongs
to its Creator,
belongs to God,
it belongs to Jesus.
And whatever we think
it is,
is his,
not ours.
And we must work out
what he thinks of it
and what status
he wants us to give it,
not just come to our
own conclusion
as if it belonged to us.
We're used to
the kind of language
and in a sense
there's nothing wrong with it
because to be given a baby
is a very high trust.
When God gives us a baby
we feel,
we feel the responsibility.
But we use the language
of my baby
or our baby.
And,
in a sense it is.
But first,
it's God's baby
given to us,
loaned to us,
put under our care
by the Creator.
So,
firstly,
unborn life,
like everything else
that exists,
is created by God
and he's the one
therefore that should
tell us
what to make of it
and how to treat it.
Secondly,
not only creator
but God
creates a human
unborn life
is human
I would argue.
Here is one of the
famous passages
that I think
absolutely explicit
from Psalm 139.
Psalm 139
is a beautiful psalm
in which David
is describing
his total confidence
that he will never
ever ever
be able to escape
from the
gaze and care
of God.
And,
to some extent,
that's a little bit
scary.
I'll never be able
to get to a place
where you can't see me
in everything I'm doing,
David says.
But,
similarly,
I'll never be able
to get to a place
where you can't
be with me
and help me.
And,
one of the reasons
for that is because
for,
you created my
inmost being.
You and me together
in my mother's womb.
Before I began to
exist outside my mother,
you were there,
you were with me
and caring for me there.
In fact,
I praise you
because I'm seriously
and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
I know that so well.
My frame was not
hidden from you
when I was made
in the secret place,
when I was working
together in the depths
of the earth,
your eyes saw
my unformed body.
David has confidence
that God is going
to care for him
and be with him
everywhere he goes
in creation
because God was
with him
and caring for him
before birth
in his mother's womb.
It's one of his reasons
for confidence
in the care of God
now as an adult
is because
under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit
he reveals
his certainty
that God was his God
and caring for him
in his life
before birth too.
Similarly,
in Psalm 22,
which is the psalm
that Jesus takes
on his lips
on the cross,
begins,
my God,
why have you
forsaken me?
And on the way
through,
reveals this,
from birth
I was cast upon you,
from my mother's womb
you have been my God.
It's an original
psalmist,
indeed,
and Jesus himself.
The relationship
between the human
being and God
begins the full birth
in the mother's womb.
Luke 1.31
Very similar words,
we're about to hear them again,
read a number of times
in the church
over Christmas.
You will
not give birth
to a son
and you'll call him
Jesus,
you will conceive
and give birth
to a son.
You'll give birth
because you will conceive.
So,
Jesus'
incarnation,
a remarkable
moment
when the sovereign
eternal daughter
is united
to a fully human nature,
that happens
not at a virgin birth,
that's a nonsensical term
in a way,
it's a virginal conception
and the birth
that follows from it.
So,
Jesus'
incarnation
begins at conception,
explicit
in scripture
and conception
is the main
of the way
egg and sperm
come together.
Although,
differently,
we assume
in Jesus' case
we haven't been
revealed to us
exactly how
the father
made that one work.
And,
in Hebrews 2,
talking about Jesus,
he's described as
fully human
in every way.
So,
it's not likely
to think of
Jesus' conception
as abnormal
and humans
as different.
His,
the whole of
his human existence
from his conception
he was fully human.
It wasn't that
because he was
somehow God
and man
and that his
humanity was
less than human.
He was fully human
in every way
all the way through.
So,
Jesus'
own humanity
confirms the witness
of the rest of scripture
that unborn life
is human.
I think we can
add an extra
wrinkle to this too
that the unborn child
is unique.
Especially sometimes
in a kind of
attempt to comfort
people after miscarriage.
The impression is given
that unborn life
is kind of replaceable.
well-meaning people
would say something like
well,
don't worry here
I'm sure you can
have another one.
Kind of built
on the assumption
that,
you know,
one day it's pretty much
like another baby.
And yet,
what these two
verses reveal
is very plainly,
if it wasn't already
plain,
that the individuality
of the human beings
and the consideration
in these verses
has begun in a way.
They're already the people
they're going to be
when they're born.
So,
Luke 1.44
is Elizabeth
at the arrival
of Mary.
And Elizabeth
feels her baby John.
And the text
makes explicit
that the Holy Spirit
reveals to her
why John the Baptist
jumps in her day
and it's for joy.
So,
the Holy Spirit
is telling us
that John the Baptist
has begun
his distinctive ministry
of pointing to Jesus
with all birth.
So,
it's not just
a block of jelly,
it's not just
any old human being
who becomes
John the Baptist
when he's born.
He's John the Baptist
already,
miraculously,
of course.
But he is.
He's already
a unique human being
fulfilling the role
that the prophets
assigned
and announced
in advance
to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
And in Genesis 25,
22,
23,
you have a very similar thing.
That is,
Jacob and Esau
twins.
Some of you may have
had twins
or had the experience
of having twins.
It can be pretty uncomfortable.
But for their mum,
she feels
an unusual amount
of pretty strong movement.
And again,
the text takes the trouble
to tell us
that it's God
reveals to her
why she's feeling it.
Because
two nations
are in your womb,
Rebecca.
These two babies
are not just
sort of
impersonal beings.
They are already
playing out
the personalities
before birth
that will so colour
much of the rest
of the story
of Genesis after birth.
Do you know
some of the
in your womb?
So,
when Scripture
gives us a window
onto life
inside the womb,
it tells us
that not only
is it part of
the whole creation
over which God
is sovereign
and to whom
we are accountable,
it tells us
that unborn life
is human
and distinctively
personal,
unique already.
And therefore,
there's another
aspect to
Scripture's teaching
which is very
important,
which is
the unborn
child is weak.
The unborn
child is weak.
The most dangerous
place to be
in the whole
of your life
in England
and Wales,
statistically speaking,
is in your
mother's womb.
You are never
more likely
to meet a violent
death
than in your
mother's womb.
Because never
again does the
death rate
reach 22%.
And at that
stage of development,
there is obviously
no possibility
whatever for the
unborn child to
express themselves
and to exert
their own
on the situation
they are as weak
as it's possible
for a human
being to be.
And Psalm 82
is one of those
places all over
Scripture where
God gets very
crossed with his
people when
they overlook
the cause of the
weak and the
fatherless.
So defend the
cause of the
weak and
fatherless.
Maintain the
rights of the
poor and
oppressed.
Rescue the
weak and
needy.
Deliver them
from the hand
of the wicked,
God says to
his people.
And God is
saying in part,
is this not how
I treat you?
Haven't I
taken you as a
weak nation from
among all the
nations of
the earth and
protected you and
loved you and
cared for you?
And now when you
see weak people
around you and
do nothing,
you're denying my
character and
you're inviting my
anger.
And we do
well to hear
such instructions
today.
That if you
ask who are the
weakest, who are
the fatherless,
the way of
abortion legislation,
the way abortions
work, is the
father is legally
deleted from the
process.
The father has no
rights.
I don't understand
why, because the
baby is entirely
growing in the
woman's body.
The father may or
may not be keen
to keep the child.
It's irrelevant.
And fathers are
often far too
absent.
But one way or
another, this
baby is made
fatherless.
And that's an
issue we need
to think about
how to respond.
So summarizing
what's seen from
the Bible, I
would argue, the
unborn child is
great by God, a
unique and very
weak human being.
And therefore, they
are our neighbors.
They're in God's
image to be loved.
How are you that?
It's a big question.
Because it's quite
hard to get to
them.
But that's the
direction that
Scripture, to my
mind, necessarily
pushes us.
Now, there are
people that read
the same Bible and
they come to a
different view and
you may be one of
those.
I want to introduce
you to this thing
called the
precautionary
principle.
That's one thing
you can call it.
And I want to
introduce it by
telling you a little
story.
Imagine, this may be
very far from
anything you'll ever
do, but imagine
you're going hunting
with a friend in a
forest.
And let's say you
want to hunt deer.
And you split up in
two directions.
and you're waiting
for some time
before you see a deer.
And you see
something that's a
shootable distance
away in a bush.
And you're 99%
certain that it is a
deer.
So there's just a
1% chance it could
be your friend.
I think everybody
would know that
was not acceptable
odds.
You ought to be
absolutely certain
that it's not a
human being before
you pull the trigger.
And even for people
who find scripture
is less straightforward,
less clear than me,
I'd love to have a
discussion about why,
because I think it's
very clear.
But, as I say,
there are people who
take the Bible as
seriously as I do
and come to a
different view.
And they'd better
be 100% sure,
before they say,
before they come to
a different view
about abortion,
they'd better be
100% sure that the
lives we're talking
about are not our
human neighbors who
need to be loved.
I argue that they
are, and that if
there is any doubt
about it, we must be
certain to treat them
as they are.
And the conclusion
that I draw from
these parts of God's
word has moved me
in my medical training
as a medical student.
I was a Christian,
but I hadn't thought
about ethical things,
and it was a routine
part of medical
students' training to be
offered a chance to
be involved in
abortions.
And I never did a
procedure, because
only doctors can do
it, and I was part
of the care of women
who were having
abortions.
And I knew it was
sad, but I've come
to think, under the
teaching of Scripture,
that in fact it is
wrong.
Abortion is wrong.
And it's wrong for
the reasons that I've
seen in Scripture and
shown you, even though
it's legal.
And it's hard,
this, because in our
country, wonderfully,
most of the laws on
which society
organises itself are
heavily influenced by
the day of Christian
values, and so they
fit very well with the
teaching of the Bible,
by and large.
And it's a surprise for
us to say, to come to
the conclusion that this
law is radically
opposed to the main
thing in the Bible,
but I think it is.
And if abortion is
wrong because it's the
ending of a human
life, the kind that
God rules out in his
work, then it's wrong
even in the really
hard cases.
There's one exception,
and that will be the
exception where, as in
for example in an
ectopic pregnancy, where
an embryo is developing
outside the womb, as
happens sometimes, it
doesn't go quite far
enough down into the
womb, for example, but
it's in the uterine
tube.
When that happens, it's
not possible for the
pregnancy to develop
beyond a certain size.
What will happen if it
does, is it will
expand, it will burst
the uterine artery, and
then within a very few
minutes, the mother will
bleed into her tummy
and die.
And there is no way to
sustain the life of that
baby when some mother
died.
In that setting, it
seems to me right to
intervene because you
know without a doubt
that you are saving one
life from death.
And there are Christians
who would disagree with
me, because they would
say it's not a
circumstance where it's
okay to take human life
even then.
that it's one of those
risks of having sex that
people ought to accept
and that could end up
killing them.
But, for myself, I
think that's the one
exception.
There will be one or two
similar cases where
there's no doubt that
intervene now will save
one life rather than a
certain loss of two.
There are plenty of
other hard cases where
I don't think it is
justified.
And if you'd like to
ask me a question about
a particular one that
relates to you, if
your starting point is
that if you have a
pregnant woman, then
you have two human
beings, then you have
to try and find a
solution which doesn't
result in one of them
dying.
And even if the
second life has come
about, for example,
as a result of a rape,
which is a horrendous
crime against a woman,
and where that rape,
let's say, has been of
a Muslim girl who is
now thrown out of
her family because her
family can't come to
terms with what has
been done to her.
And where she would
be, you know, perhaps
if she could get an
abortion, it would be
possible to cover it
up and save her life
from falling apart,
you might think.
Even in those cases,
I'm forced to think it
would be better to try
and find a way of
supporting her with her
child, even if her
family throw her out,
because the alternative
is ending in human life.
And there are some
extraordinary books and
testimonies written by
people who have been
raped.
raped, and there's one
quite well known one, a
woman who had been
raped, and had wanted to
have an abortion, and the
abortion had not
succeeded.
And she ended up carrying
the child to term.
And she's able now to
see, and to be so glad
that she now has this
child, because the
child is not half its
father.
It's not half a
rapist.
It's a new individual.
And she celebrates and
rejoices over her.
There's more one, I've
actually done it if it's a
boy or a girl, but there's
more one to say about
parques, and you're
welcome to ask me about
them if you would like.
But our starting point, if
we're thinking through them
all, is a woman who's
expecting a baby is two
human beings.
Now, having said that, it's
really important to go
straight on to say that
forgiveness is always
available, even for such
things.
And this is what Jesus
meant when he was hung
across and said, it is
finished.
I have paid for all sin,
all the sin that I did.
When I push God to
do my life, I'm committing
an infinitely serious sin
against an infinitely
powerful God, and
thinking that I can
replace him with me.
Christ died that even
that can be forgiven.
Christ died that all our
sins can be forgiven.
And in this beautiful
picture in which the
ministry of Christ is
foreshadowed, it says,
they or sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow.
That's what Jesus did for
us.
And that's the sweet
offer and discovery in the
gospel.
But even where we've done
wrong, and there'll be
different reasons why we
did it.
Many of them may have
been because we were
responding to advice that
this was the right thing
to do.
As we discover the way
the Lord views it, we can
discover at the same time
the ruin of the Lord
has made us, let's
forgive us, and have us
as his children, clean and
white and pure, because of
Jesus.
And I always put a slide
like this up.
There may be closer ones
to you, but that's the
phone number for
Oxford Wimbledon, and
that's the website where
you can find other
Brexit centres while you
wait for eating to start.
If it affects you or
someone you know, there
are places to go to get
help to discuss what's
happened without you
having to necessarily
tell a friend.
Though if you can tell
a friend, it's usually
that way.
Abortion is wrong.
And while we're at it,
we should probably say
that some of those
forms of contraception
are wrong for the same
reasons where they
result in the failing to
implant or the
embryo that's been
created.
Even though it's so
common, everyone does
it, you go to CGP and
you ask for, you've had a
baby, the standard
standard of
contraception after a
baby is a mini-pill,
a progesterone-only
mini-pill, and it's
likely that that works
in a percentage of
times by preventing
implantation.
So, again, it's
normal, it's entirely
legal, but Christians who
know this and get to
find out about this
will want to discuss
another way of doing
contraception than one
of those methods.
And again, if that's
rather than to you, I
can point in the
direction for some more
information about that.
And it also means that
some infertility
treatments are wrong
for the same reason.
Again, even though
they're legal, and
even though a baby
itself is such a
beautiful thing to
long for, if the
process results in the
death of embryos, we're
talking about a process
that is creating and
then resulting in the
death of human beings.
And I don't think that
it's okay, because I
think the Bible is
encouraging me to see
that it's not okay.
And it also means that
miscarriages are
bereavements.
But when a pregnancy
ends in a miscarriage,
it's right to be sad.
We don't just shrug it
off.
And we're not kind of
prescribed that everybody
has to respond in the
same way.
So it's a very odd time
because there's a
relationship which was
anticipated and dreamt
about in all kinds of
ways, and then suddenly
brought to them before it
ever became very much
more than a hope.
And so there's going to
be a wide range of
differences.
But it's certainly wrong
to assume that
miscarriages should be
the kind of thing you
might have a day off
working and you're
back in and it's all
just as it was.
And I'm delighted that
here's a secular charity
miscarriage.
Let's enter silence
around miscarriage.
Yes, let's.
Because it's a loss of
human life.
Now, if you share those
convictions, I think it's
one of the things that
will change our view of
the kind of country in
which we live.
Because we are used in
the West to pointing at
civilisations and cultures
that we think barbaric and
that do terrible things to
some of their citizens.
And the way they treat
women in some parts of
the world.
Or the way that they
treat people from some
religion in some parts of
the world.
And the history of
torture and persecution
and so on.
And I think we need to
turn a rather more
perceptive gaze on our
own country where you
and I live.
Because we supervise the
death of half a million
of our population every
year.
The twin thousands
were three and a
half thousand.
Two hundred and five
thousand abortions
every year in the
world.
How many people died
during the Second
World War?
More have died from
abortions than
humans could get.
But who knows this?
People with God's word
in their hand know this
and that means that
Christians must leave
the way.
There's no one else
who's going to.
And there are some
Christians that have,
and Christian traditions
that have a very strong
and dignified history
in leading the way or
trying to.
But not very many
and not mine
and perhaps not yours.
And it is so
encouraging to discover
that not only here in
Ewing but in other
places around the
country, there's another
one they're trying to
start in Cambridge,
at the same time as
you, that people are
beginning to realise,
Christians are beginning
to realise that this is
something we need to do
something about.
So the question is how
will we love our
humble neighbours?
We've worked out that
they are humble neighbours
and we need to love them.
The question is how?
And I think there are
two broad ways we can
think about it.
Here's the first one
which I'm going to cover
quite quickly, just on
this one slide.
Challenge the culture,
even try to change the
culture.
There are lots of ways
we might do that.
It's something we could
and should be praying
about.
Not all the time,
because there's lots of
things that we're praying
about, but we should be
praying about a culture
that finds it possible
to kill so many of its
citizens.
The one in which we live.
And we should, we can
write or speak, campaign,
you know, like, that's a
social media comment.
I don't really know how
it works, but you can like
things, can't you?
You can let people know
the causes that you think
really matter with one
click.
You can do that.
You can put your head
above the parapet.
You can get shot down
for it.
Because you won't get
shot down for it, will
you?
Your life will be fine.
You can follow.
Another social media
thing.
You can protest.
I mean, that actually
is saying, I know why
they've done it, but you
could protest about that.
You can advertise.
I know someone who is
making a bit of money
at the moment, and when
they finish making a bit
of money, what they quite
like to do is spend a bit
of money, buying cinema
advertising, and just
showing 4D ultrasound
of unborn babies.
30 seconds before the
main feature.
By that advert, it's not
making a pro-life message
because that would never
get shown in the cinema.
But just a bit of
feature.
You know the film
2001, Space Odyssey?
It ends with a rotating
baby, doesn't it?
Well, similar image
before birth.
That's what they want
to do.
Maybe you've got money
if you want to know
who it is, I'll tell you
if you've got to get up.
And to do these things
with energy, this is
going to cost us to do
and have to pour out
some energy to do this,
have to make time in all
the other things we're
doing, if we're going to
do it.
Strategy, we want to work
out what's effective.
So there's a whole bunch
of campaigners in the
States that have done a
lot of study in how big
social changes actually
happen.
Particularly, how was it
that slavery got
overturned?
This great social horror
which is not as bad as
abortion, in my view.
Horrible though it was,
I think abortion is more
serious.
That in the end
came to an end
because the campaigners
put images in front of
people so they could
actually see what was
happening.
And I'm not going to
share those images
tonight, but I know
why people do that in
their campaigning.
Because they care enough
about what is happening
to try and let other people
know what is happening.
And when you see what
is done, it's very hard
to deny that this is the
ending of human life.
Here's another thing you
could do as part of
that campaign, or
changing the culture
anyway, changing the
culture.
That is one of, I suspect,
many websites that
ehd.org produces apps
that you can download.
I didn't actually know
about it until I came
across it today.
And if you've heard
people who've been
through printing, you must
know all about them.
But this is called
See My Baby, or My
Baby.
And it takes you
through, it shows you
pictures of what your
baby looks like at each
stage of pregnancy.
And apparently my wife
told me, oh yeah,
they'll be around
sometime.
And pregnant women
share links to say,
oh, this is what my
baby's doing right now.
What a beautiful way to
share real knowledge of
what's happening and
what it really means to
be pregnant.
It's not just a
preparation for a new
human life.
It's a new human life
growing.
So, in that way and
other ways, challenge the
culture, we could change
our language.
I mean, it would be a
bit radical, but we
could move our
birthday.
Or as well as our
birthday, we could have
a conception day party.
It's a bit odd, isn't
it?
Because no one's
thinking about that.
But maybe at least we
could say, how old are
you?
Say, well, I've been
born for 50 years, but
I'm actually nine months
older than that.
We could say, so,
they say, tell me about
the family.
Well, instead of
saying I have one
younger sister, I
could say, as is
true, my mum had a
miscarriage shortly
before she became
pregnant with me.
So I'm in the middle
of three.
And there's a
culture.
And, you know, we
can shrug this off and
go and think there's
something else to do
tonight, but
alternatively, we
could go and look for
something that we
will begin living and
be part of the
change.
And the same thing
we do is we can
create a new,
microculture.
That is, we still
have a lot of
freedom in this
country.
We don't have to do
everything the way
everybody else does
it.
And we can create a
microculture in which
things look different.
And I want to use my
last very few minutes
just talking about
options, which is what
we did in Wimbledon.
And I'll just share
very briefly how we do
it, and there'll be
some differences,
great, glorious
differences about
animals, these things
are annealing, and this
is good.
But that we're doing
something is really
important.
So options is down
in Wimbledon.
These are the services
that we've been doing
as for, I think it's
13 and a half years.
I've got to check
the card date.
We had our 12
anniversary a couple
years ago.
There must be more
than that now.
Anyway, pregnancy,
crisis counselling.
So that's when a
woman knows she's
pregnant, and it's a
crisis for her, she
doesn't know what to
do, she may be
thinking about abortion,
but she's willing to
have a conversation
with someone who can
help her think about
what's going on, think
about what she really
wants, think about
the fact that though
some people may be
telling her she must
have an abortion,
she doesn't have to.
But there's a
possibility of keeping
the baby, and the
options will support
her in any way during
that process, or
if keeping the
baby seems impossible
as the possibility of
blessing someone else
with a baby for
adoption.
There's a very long
waiting list for
babies between 0 and
2 in this country,
because most of
those that would
otherwise end up for
adoption are
obviously being
killed in the womb.
A good friend of
mine, he's a
pastor of the church
in Sollum, St.
Peter's Sollum,
Ruth Standering,
doesn't mind, who
knows, that he was
conceived shortly
before the abortion
act became law.
And he was given
up for adoption.
And if he'd been
conceived just a few
months later, he
wouldn't have been.
And so it's real
people.
Post-abortion or
post-termination
counselling.
Adoptions, we do
offer that, because
women who've been
through an abortion
and are feeling one
or other of the
effects of it, and
one of our early
clients was someone
who had had an
abortion 30 years
ago, and there
wasn't a day since
when she didn't
think about it.
And she came to
us to post-abortion
counselling.
Women who've had an
abortion are among
our neighbours who
we are to love.
And we think a good
way to love them is
to offer them
counselling.
In that counselling,
the model that we
use talks about
forgiveness, and we
make explicit at the
beginning that it
will be an opportunity
if they want to, to
talk about forgiveness
by God.
There's more than
one woman in the
Wimbledon area now,
in church, a
Christian, because
they heard the
gospel in post-abortion
counselling.
Miscarion counselling,
when someone's had a
miscarriage, there is
someone who understands
the grief that other
people don't have in
options if they can't
otherwise find someone.
And they can be
helped through a
process that is in
some ways similar and
other ways different
from post-abortion
counselling.
We offer support for
single-munch-to-be,
whether it's in a
group, an expected-munch-group,
or whether it's giving
clothes, or whether
it's giving, we can't
do car seats, second-hand
ones, whether it's
giving clothes or
push-chairs, or
any of the huge amount
of clutter that
accumulates as people
grow out of the baby
stage.
They're only too keen
to dump it somewhere
in the church property,
so it can be waiting
for a young woman who
needs it.
Material support for
families with newborns.
When we had a
camp centre, we had
someone who learned
an awful lot about
debt and money, and
we can offer that
kind of support as
well, because the
camp centre's closed,
and that skill is still
around in the church.
We've tried, from
different times, to
try to do some
preventive work by
doing relationships
and such as
the school, and
the schools I've
had ago, the
others had, and
we just haven't ever
quite managed to get
the resources to do
it, and it just
seems that in the
Lord's hand, he's
provided resources for
us to do other
things and not for
that, and so we
haven't yet sustained
about it, but I
think it's a great
idea.
Also, but not
quite publicised on
the website, but
strongly motivating
us, we pray for our
clients.
We can pray with
our clients, with
their permission, if
they want it.
It's never forced on
them, but the offer
is rightly made in
some conversations, and
we can share the
gospel, and that's
happened.
And there are one or
two counsellors who,
you know, for all
their Christian life,
they have felt like
they're rubbish
evangelists.
They're never quite
good at taking
opportunities, and
they just love this
work, because they
just see opportunities
all over the place,
and they feel that
God has put them
there to open up a
conversation, which
is very natural.
And so there are
people in options who
have been given the
ability that they need
to share the gospel
with people in this
thing.
And it's not
surprising, because we
think God loves these
people, and if he
loves them, the thing
he wants to do is give
them eternal life.
And so it's not
surprising that he
makes that happen.
And it would be
remiss of me to say
anything other than
that options have
been the work of
God's provision, and
that if it's to
happen anywhere else,
it's to happen here
in Ealing, that
means God's
provision as well.
And I mean, there's
a huge amount of
things he's done, but
some of them, I
mean, our most
precious resource by
far is a constant
stream of amazing
volunteers, and who
give, I can't
remember how many
hours it is now, but
certainly the first
volunteers to train
in course, it was
56 hours to train,
just in crisis
pregnancy counselling,
and another whole
chunk of hours to
train in post-abortion
counselling, and they
would do it on
Saturdays, they'd do
it in the evenings,
they gave their time
for free, out of love
for these women in
the wrong one
building.
I'm so impressed
with both women and
one man, and he
only sees men by the
way, and so grateful
to God for them.
We've had the centre
directors that we've
needed, and our
first one was a
volunteer, and then
wonderfully we became
going to employ one,
and we've got one now,
she's called Nikki,
and she's great.
We've had a lot of
help of cash and
space from Don
Donald, which is the
church that it
started from, which
is part of a network
of churches, because
for a crisis
pregnancy centre to
run in a sustainable
way, it's incredibly
helpful to have a
wider network
contributing prayer
and money and
people, because
the kind of very
special people that
you need to keep
the volunteer body
up, are not so
thick on the ground
you'll find enough
of them in a church
of 50.
Don't know there's a
bigger church than
that, but even in a
church of 500, it's
been good to be able
to include volunteers
from other churches.
And now, we're
operating another
local GP practice,
because we're one or
two Christian partners,
they're really glad
of what we do.
Many GPs who aren't
Christian are very
glad to have someone
to send people so
they can have a
proper conversation
about abortion rather
than the ten minutes
that's all they've
got before they
need to sign a form.
And there's a very
happy relationship
there.
It's dependent on
local circumstances,
but it's been a
great joy to us that
the London church is
now being demolished
in order to make
way for a new
building.
We've got a
wonderful home that
feels a much more
normal place to be
having discussions
about these things
down the church
building, and that's
been a great aspect.
And in Stratham,
up the road from
one of them, there's a
new satellite centre
being drawn together
now, where there's a
new team of
volunteers and a
director being trained
in the world.
And so, having been
led to care about
this issue, and to
pray about this issue,
however many years
ago it was, the Lord
led us to start, and
has been sustaining
us ever since.
And so, let me just
finish my presentation,
I hope we'll get
some Q&A, but finish
my presentation by
thanking God for what
he's done in enabling
our response to
the ministry that I
think he cares about
more than we need
to realize.
Thank you.