Funeral - Christian Man Who Died After A Prolonged Illness Series

(1) Song – How Great thou Art

(2) Scripture – 2nd Samuel 3:38

(3) Prayer

(4) Message Part 1

There are 5 men identified in scripture as “great” men, men such as Moses, Daniel, and Naaman. These are the words of King David to his men at the death of the great Israelite General Abner.

Such words come to mind today as we come to celebrate, remember, and praise God for the life of ___________, to take time out of our normal daily existence on this day in November to give honor where honor is due!

If David could pronounce these words over Abner, how much more may we pronounce over this great man just departed from our lives?

While he may be gone from our daily lives, he will never be far from our thoughts and memories. Through wisdom known only to God, we were privileged to know him, and to have him in our lives for ___________ years.

Obituary

At a time such as this the words of the Apostle Paul seem fitting;

“The time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” - 2nd Timothy 4:6-8

In claiming his crown he has gone from this life to the next he has left an indelible mark on our world, impacting and helping shape the lives of others, including his wife of, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchild and many other lives which are too numerous to count.

Today we say goodbye, at least for now, and today, as we stop to remember ___________ and all those things that made him unique, who made him who he was, and so special to us.

Yes there are things that we’ll all miss about him… I will miss his warm smile, his quick wit, and endless sense of humor! I will, but most of all I will his encouraging words.

Even towards the end of his life, times when the pain that racked his body was at its most intense, he always had a way of encouraging me.

When I first came here to ___________ as the minister, he treated me as if I had always been here … which is how he treated everyone… I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that ___________ and ___________ adopted Kim and I into their family, and they were like grandparents to us, even when our family was so far away…

I believe that’s its appropriate for us to be here today in this place. There are countless people that have poured their lives into the ___________ Church, into the lives of her people, and into the people of this community.

___________ was one of those people; I can still see him handing out snacks a V.B.S. He loved the kids and found great joy in being with them.

He gave so much of his life to others, to his family, his friends and was a parent and grandparent to so many that were not his own, a joy I got to experience firsthand.

If someone was in need – you could count on ___________ to be there!

He also gave much to the work of his church, if one looks around the church today they cannot help but see some of what he’s done, it’s part of the very fabric of this congregation…

We can look in any direction here today and see ___________ … his fingerprints are all over this place!

(5) SONG – Mary Did You Know (Mark Lowery)

(6) Message Part 2

It is also during seasons of life such as this that we realize that life as we know it is uncertain. Scripture tells us that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow, or even the rest of today for that matter.

But today we can find comfort that in the fact that Jesus has power over the grave, power over death!

The words of the song… Mary did you know? She did! – and so do we!

Strange as it may sound the memorial service of a follower of Jesus is much like the Easter services we celebrate every spring… really like an Easter service?

Yes really… because both of them find their true meaning in the resurrection. In both we see struggle, and in both we see triumph!

This is true in the great story of Jesus. And it is true in the personal story of each Christian. It is true in the story of ___________ . There's triumph in the struggle. Grace glimmers here in this life. The struggle bears fruit in the triumph. We die in Christ to be raised with him.