January 2012 was the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that struck down all state laws protecting unborn children from purposeful abortion. St. Timothy has a service each year especially recognizing God’s creation of marriage and family and His command to protect the lives of others, particularly those unable to defend themselves. This year the pastor, elders, and counsel decided on an observance that would bear witness also to the community.
The objective was two-fold. In the first place, it is important to stress that the killing of the unborn, the infirm and the handicapped is truly murder and falls under God’s judgment. In the second place it is important to stress that the grace of God because of our crucified and risen Savior is also for those who have taken the lives of the unborn.
| On Sunday, January 13, 2013, following the Sunday morning service, everyone who wished went out to the front lawn and placed 100 crosses on the lawn. Each one represented about 550,000 unborn children killed in the united states—over a million each year—since 1973. This is a sober reminder of the extent to which our society has departed from Biblical morality and has embraced a culture and theology of death. No doubt if our country and culture is spared judgment and as a people we repent of this cruel and evil behavior, this time in our history will be remembered as Europe remembers the holocaust, for truly this is an evil on the same scale as genocide and cries out for judgment. |  |
In order to make a clear confession of the gospel to the community, the sign carried the message,
IN MEMORY OF 55 MILLION
UNBORN—GOD IS FAITHFUL
AND JUST TO FORGIVE
This allusion to 1 John 1:8 is to remind us all that the real solution to the sin of our land is repentance and faith, as Jeremiah proclaimed, (Jeremiah 18:7–8 (ESV)) “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.”
There are more and more in our country who now grieve over decisions that they made (or were made for them) that resulted in the death of innocents. We hope that our witness will in some measure stem the tide of death and at the same time offer the hope of the Risen Christ to those who grieve over their sins.