Funeral For Elderly Christian Lady

Funeral for Elderly Christian Lady

We are here to Celebrate life of ___________. Read Obituary.

The thing I will always remember most about ______ is her love for children. When we began children’s ministry______ volunteered to share Bible story week. Over a short period of time kids fell in love with _____ Irene because knew she loved them. Often in our prayer meetings, Irene asked prayer for children at ______School where volunteer foster grandmother. She loved working with those kids. She loved those kids.

The last time I saw _______ at hospital she grown weaker, but nobody knew when pass away. There was sense in my heart that time growing near. So we prayed over her & asked God to have His angel carry her safely into heaven. I left hospital & when I got home I received a text from _____ saying had gone to heaven.

I have been asked to minister this morning from Bible and I want to speak from a very familiar verse—perhaps best known verse in the Bible.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The PROMISE in passage is particularly comforting when one of our loved ones passes away. Irene was very vocal about her commitment to Christ. John 3:16 was a part of who Irene was and is today. The promise of eternal life comes front and center when we are dealing with matters of life and death. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

What is eternal or everlasting life? According to Scripture it is something more than existing forever. In fact, the Bible teaches that every human being will exist forever. Death is simply a transition out of this physical body into another realm. In the story that Jesus told in Luke 16 there were two principle characters: a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. Both men died. Both men continued to exist after they died. The rich man opened his eyes in hades which was a place of torment. The Bible says that the angels of God carried Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom, a place of comfort and peace. The promise we have in John 3:16 is more than just existing forever. The issue is where we will exist forever and what will be our state of being during that existence. Everybody exists forever. But God gave His only begotten Son so that we would have everlasting life—so that we could enjoy God’s kind of life forever and ever. When a Christian dies, we have the assurance that he or she will be carried by the angels into the very presence of God to share in His comfort and joy forever and ever. Death is not the end of the matter. In 2Cor. 5:8 Paul said that being absent from the body for the Christian means being present with the Lord. I’m so glad Jesus made all that possible for the believer. “… whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The reason that is possible for you and me and _____ begins with the heart of God toward us. “For God so loved….” 1 John 4:8 tells us “…God is love.” That is His nature. God loves. Before the world ever existed, God existed, God existed eternally as three persons loving one another perfectly: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “…God is love” and out of a heart of love He made the universe and every thing in existence. He made it so that He could love it. Even when mankind rebelled against Him He continued to love His creation.

Our simple text this morning even talks about the extent of that love. “For God so loved….” Love caused Him to do something that no one could have ever imagined He would do. He gave the most precious thing He had to make everlasting life available to you and me. Love is always expressed in the giving. It’s not mere talk. It’s not just sentimental feelings. Love causes a person to do something good for another person. But here we see the ultimate expression of love. Love caused a Father to give His only Son for our salvation. No wonder there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved but the name of His Son, Jesus. God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son for our salvation—so that we would not perish but have everlasting life.

2 Peter 3:9 expresses the heart of God toward every human being on the face of the earth. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” The Lord is not willing that any should perish. That is why He gave His only begotten Son. He does not want anyone to self-destruct. He therefore sends a way of escape—Jesus.