How To Face Death With Confidence

How to Face Death With Confidence

Funeral Service

(2 Timothy 4:6-8)

We are gathered here this afternoon to celebrate the life of_____________. We also gather with the desire to comfort his family both by our words and by our presence. And finally we are here to hear what God has to say to us through his word about the realities of life, death and the eternal life possible through his son, Jesus Christ.

We are tempted to focus on the fact that _______ only lived __ years and that seems short. But how long you live is not as important as how you lived. And we are here to celebrate a life well lived!!!

You are here today because you life has in some way been touched by the life of __________. You are his family and his friends. I know that many of you, if you were given an opportunity this afternoon, could stand and share all the things that _________ meant to you and all the ways in which he touched your life. These memories are precious and will continue to live on in our hearts. Your presence here today is a testimony of how highly you thought of _________.

I want to assure that _______ has gone to a better place, a place where there is no pain and sickness. About this special place Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3 NKJV) I believe with all of my heart that George is today enjoying all the benefits of that place, called Heaven. And I believe he would want me to tell you how you too can go there.

In our lives each of is in effect writing on the hearts of those we love what they will remember about us. As I reflected on what I wanted to share with you today, about the impact that ________ made in my life, some very clear images came to mind.

The first thing I think of when I think of ________ was his tremendous Courage. For years _______ has courageously fought the diseases that ravaged his body. I have often heard others say, “________ has one of the most positive attitudes that I have ever witnessed.” No matter how much pain he was in, I never heard him complain about anything. I think that we all realize today that it was best for _______ to leave behind this body of pain and suffering and find rest and peace in the presence of the Lord.

___________ was also a man of Enduring Faith. It was my privilege to serve with _______ over a number of years and I always found _______ to have a faith of quiet confidence. This kind of quiet faith is captured for us in the words of the Apostle Paul. In his second letter to Timothy, and as he faces his own imminent death he wrote, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. (7) I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:(8) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:6-8 KJV)

I believe that each of the ideas that Paul expressed in these verses are also true about ________.

Paul begins his thought by stating, “I am now ready.” Someday each of us will face our final hour and nothing will be more important then than the ability to say, “I am ready.” I know that _______ was ready, but are you? If this were your final hour on earth do you know where you would spend eternity?

Paul further says that he was “ready… to depart.” He uses a word that takes its meaning from the idea of a ship in the harbor and the time has come to cast off the lines and set sail for home. If Paul were writing today he would probably use airplanes to illustrate his meaning. It is as if Paul was saying, “It’s time to catch my plane. My flight has been called and it’s time for me to board!” Paul says that death for the Christian is like a departure. We are cutting loose from this life and setting sail for the next.