Funeral For A Great Mom

Sarah loved to sing, so I’m going to ask you to stand and sing that song (Amazing Grace) this morning:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see.

"When we've been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun.”

So, we can’t earn a place in heaven. It’s only because of GOD’S AMAZING Grace that we have hope. It’s only because of the blood of Jesus that we’ve been offered something we don’t deserve.

A little earlier I mentioned that YOU mattered to Sarah. She built her life around you. I want you to imagine what it would be like if she could come here today and talk with you. You see, she has passed over to the other side, and she’s seen things we’ve never seen. She’s seen the glories and beauty of heaven, and she’s seen the horrors of hell… and I’m pretty sure she knows where you’re going. So if she were here today what would she tell you?

I suspect that if she knew you were going to heaven, she’d sit right down beside you and describe in ways that would rival John’s description in Revelation. And she’d urge you continue to strive to be God’s child so that you will share in that glorious place.

But if she knew you weren’t going to heaven, she’d get down on her knees and plead with you. She’d make it clear what was at stake and how much it would break your heart if you were to miss eternity with God.

Now, one last thought. A few years ago, I saw something in a Bible passage I’d never considered before. Romans 6 tells us that when we became Christians, we became DEAD to our sin. What do you do with dead bodies? You bury them! And so Romans 6 says that in baptism we are “buried with Christ” and our sins are all washed away.

BUT THEN IT SAYS: we rise up from that watery grave to “walk in newness of life.” I’d never thought about this before, but baptism not only tells us our sins are washed away in baptism, but that – as we rise up out of the waters of baptism, so also we will rise up from the grave when Jesus returns. It’s a promise of our future resurrection! When Jesus returns there isn’t a grave or tomb or vault that will hold us down. We WILL rise from the dead.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is from I Corinthians 15: “Listen! (pause) I tell you a mystery. (pause) We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where O death, is your victory? Where O grave, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 15:51-57)

You see, without Jesus, the grave is a locked door. But with Jesus, that door is just a passageway into an eternity with Him. The question today is – which choice will you make.