Funeral Sermon 1 Series

Funeral Sermon for Mature Christian

Text: John 14:1-6

Title: Heaven Bound!

As I began to consider what to say on such an occasion as this, I thought how great of a privilege it would have been to be a door keeper in the celestial city, when _________ entered there this past TUESDAY morning. As the doors swung open, an announcement would ring out through heaven: “My heavenly Father, I present to you, your humble and faithful servant, _________!” With her eyes wide open, Mae probably grinned and shouted, “I finally made it!”

Of her we may say: “The silver cord is loosened, the golden bowl is broken, the body has returned to the Earth as it was, and the spirit has returned to God who gave it. A tall cedar of Lebanon has fallen. A servant has ceased from her work to enjoy peace and rest and to receive her reward. A Christian soldier for Christ has been given an honorable discharge, and now goes to wear the victor’s crown.”

I have been asked to come to speak to all of you to tell you several things, but take note of this, SORROW folks, is not one of those things. You see __________ made it abundantly clear that she wanted her life and death to be a celebration. While some of you here today feel that her death is an occasion of sorrow, by virtue of the life she led, it CAN and SHOULD be an occasion of happiness, celebration, and hope. The Apostle Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” And “while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Ladies and gentlemen, our loving _________ died with this hope. Let me start off by saying…

I. SHE WAS A CHRISTIAN WOMAN WHOS HEART WAS AT PEACE! John 14:1 says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

Her heart was at peace because she abided in God’s word. She didn’t run to scripture when life got hard, NO, she was able to handle the troubled times because she was always in God’s word. She had such a deep respect and admiration for God’s word that she would never dream of adding to it or taking away from it. She knew it was the authority in her life and it was the way to life. As any of you who have studied the love letters you received from those you adore, without missing a word, so ___________ clung to every word from her God. She referred to the Bible as God’s personal love letter to her. A letter of reconciliation. And because of this love she has for God’s word, she begs us, from beyond the grave, to never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because she recognized that the gospel is the power unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). She knew the gospel contained:

FACTS to be believed ---COMMANDS to be obeyed---WARNINGS to be heeded---PROMISES to be enjoyed. She knew that, “to live is Christ and to die is gain”. She knew, that Jesus was not “a way, a truth, a life” but instead she took comfort in knowing that Jesus is, “the way, the truth, the life” as it says in V. 6, and that no one folks, goes to the Father except through Him”) you see…

II. HER HEART WAS AT PEACE BECAUSE SHE TRUSTED IN THE LORD. Verse 1 says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and, “trust in God, trust also in me”.

This wonderful example of a heart at peace by _________, came from meditating on passages such as Psalm 23. Psalm 23 says, “1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

_________ understood that God leads on paths of righteousness, not because He is trying to protect His name, but because it lines up with His character. God leads on no other path than that of righteousness. But notice that His paths of righteousness lead right through the “valley of shadow of death”. She knew that going through the valley of shadow of death led to greener pastures and quiet waters. Continuing on in the passage we read…

“5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.” This gives the picture of God not just filling our cup half way, or even to the brim, but so much that it overflows from us. Verse 6 says, “6 Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me (pursue me) all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”