Funeral - Prayer Champion

Funeral – Mrs. _______

We have come to the moment in the service where I am expected to say some nice things about _____. I need to share with you that finding something nice to say is harder than you might think. Please don’t mis-understand. The only reason it is hard is because there is so much to say that I don’t know where to start.

I decided That I should start with a quick list of her qualifications:

From her family you will find that she is praised in her role as a wife and mother. She herself was open about her love of her children and she spoke about how much she missed Charles her husband. The family all speak of her influence on their lives and about her amazing strength and deep faith. It was said that she loved her family even when they were less than perfect. It is common to hear family members describe ______’s faith as being an inspiration as to what faith is to be.

From her own description she had a life filled with honest hard work. She shared about her hard times, illness, healing and deep loss….but always add how God had pulled her through. Her faith and stewardship we apparent when you spent any time with her.

From her church the discussion goes immediately to her faithfulness in using her spiritual gifts. Her main gift was one of prayer.

Michael already mentioned that she was a prayer warrior…That seems to be a constant description that is used by many people when talking about ______. It is a trait that is offered with great respect. .

However, I would offer a slightly different description.

She was a prayer champion for her family and church and even the community. There is only a small difference between the two descriptions. Both train and exercise and engage in the battles for their king and kingdom. A champion is a warrior that has endured challenges and consistently been the winner, consistently been the intercessor and protector.

______ was the person that was the first person called when any of her family and friends struggled with life’s battles became overwhelming and needed intersession when any one needed a champion before the thrown of God.

Another Gift that she had but would never really claim, ______ was an endless source of encouragement. You might have gone by or called to try to lift her up; however, in every conversation she always seemed to give the visitor a lift as well.

______ was a small lady but possessed amazing strength, faith and power all of which came from her relationship with Jesus Christ.

______ understood something that a lot of people miss. God never retires us from using our gifts for His kingdom.

Those are wonderful basic qualifications that any person would wish to be know for while in this world. But there is something deeper that we need to look into.

In considering the scriptures to focus our celebration today I came up with all kinds of words that would help us to remember her, words like wisdom, faithful, righteous, generous. I could have made a sermon on any positive character trait we could name and found plenty of material.

But, most of the words that we can use to describe people are actually very temporary. Most of them either disappear or fade fairly quickly as the person leaves our presence.

According to Paul there is one exception. Let me read part of his description

in 1 Corinthians 13 with you V1-8a

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Personally, I believe that ______’s life is a great example of how this scripture could illustrated. According to Paul Genuine Live is a trait that does not disappear. It has a powerful influence on people. The Love that ______ demonstrated is going to live on in this world long after her physical presence has left.

Cathy, Pinkie and the rest of the family can’t help themselves. They have been tainted, stained, spoiled by the love that ______ felt and showed to her family. The same is true for her friends and church family because love is infectious and once shared the affect can never really be totally removed.