The House of Refuge Statement
Riverside Calvary Chapel is a House of refuge; This applies to everyone in this church or people you know that need a place of refuge.
Here is what we believe:
if you find yourself in an unplanned pregnancy, please know that being pregnant is not a sin, and the child you carry is not a punishment; it is a blessing. God is knitting this child in your womb. You may have made a sinful decision that led to this pregnancy, or you may have even been sinned against, but we want you to know that you are loved, and we will do whatever it takes to help you carry and care for this precious child before and after birth.
We can never support or encourage a woman to have an abortion because this child you carry is made in the image of God and is intrinsically valuable and loved by God. You need to know how we will respond.
Here’s what we won’t do:
This church family will not gossip about you, shame you, or abandon you. This is a House of Refuge, and we will not allow for the family of God to harm one another with words or actions contrary to the love of God as revealed in his word.
Here is what we will do:
We will do everything in our power to remove whatever obstacles may stand in the way of you having this child. There are people in this church ready to mentor you, throw you a baby shower, and to connect you with resources both inside and outside of our church. Resources such as local pregnancy care centres, and if required, adoption agencies.
We will also hold men accountable for living out their calling to provide and protect women and children.
Finally, if you have ever had an abortion in your past, we want you to know that abortion is not an unforgivable sin. Whoever confesses and forsakes their sins finds both forgiveness and mercy. If you have never gone through a post apportion Bible study, we will be happy to connect you to one so that you can walk in complete healing and freedom.
This last part is something that needs to be stressed so strong. The devil is such a liar, he would have you to believe that there is only shame, regret and condemnation and that no one could possibly understand or forgive you for having an abortion.
That is such a LIE. He would use the same lie in order to get you to have an abortion and the exact same lie after to bring on guilt.
When we as the body of Christ bring the gospel of salvation and healing we bring the truth to shine the light of Jesus on the lie.
The bible tells us in Romans 8:1 – there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And as we talked about a couple of weeks ago, 1 John 1:9 tells us: if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus knows how you feel, He understands, and He cares. Hebrews 4:15 says: for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
And we as a church body will follow His example to love, care and forgive anyone who has been through this trauma.