Enter: A Funeral Sermonette Series

Psalm 100.

Psalm 100 is one of a series of Psalms of praise and is used by the Psalmist to sum up to wrap up the Psalms from Psalm 90. Interestingly Psalm 90 is all about God being the peoples dwelling place, and length of our days being seventy years or eighty if we have strength.

I have only known …. and ……. for two and a half years but what I knew of …. was obviously a man of strength of character, a good husband and family man. Today through the sharing of his family we have all learnt more of …. In the time I spent with …. he was a man who always had a smile on his face, things were tough health wise in the last few years, but he would always pray with me, and for Rochelle and I when I visited, always thankful to God, for his life and loved ones, and for the blessings God had shown him in his life.

In Psalm 100; we can reflect on a little of ….’s personality:

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the Earth.” This first verse says something about ….. …. was what is referred to in The Salvation Army as a Pub Boomer. Now this takes a bit of courage to go into a Pub when all the others present have decided to have a few beers at the end of a working week, …. had a circuit of Hotel’s he visited, not just the one. Like others who would do the Pubs, …. would rock up in uniform, that bloke from the Sallies, with a smile, rattling a collection box and sharing a word through the War Cry or in conversation. Dressed in full uniform, shouting out for the Lord, declaring his faith in Jesus, this was ….!

“Worship the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs”, Again this second verse fits …. to a T. I've heard of his ministry to others, his smile and his songs alone or with others joining in rejoicing and praising God, this was a special ministry visiting rest homes and the sick, this was ….!

Why did …. do this? What was his thinking behind this? Because …. had a friendship with and faith in Jesus his Saviour, a relationship with his heavenly Father, a relationship that he wanted to share, as the Psalmist says, “know that the Lord is God. It is he, who made us, and we are his; we are his people the sheep of his pasture. …. had a relationship with God that he wanted to celebrate and share.

There are two more verses of this Psalm to reflect on. Today we mourn at our loss, for …. was a good man, one of the best, he will be missed, by us his family and friends. …. has received his promotion to glory; but I think from his vantage point he would agree with the words of the Psalmist about his God.

Those words “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Why? For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

We hold onto those words of Jesus as we think of …. today from what is the best known of all Bible verses; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Today as we celebrate …. life, a life well lived, we can also celebrate that …. is with his Lord. Today we hold onto that promise of Jesus’ and in years to come we too will them fulfilled. Let’s stand and sing “Standing on the promises of God!”