First Church of God in Harvey
Funeral Service for a mother of our church
May 21st, 2011
To ..................... all family members, pastors, ministers, saints and friends. We are here today to celebrate the home-going of one whom we all dearly love, in the person of.................... On Friday, May 13th, 2011, Mother........... left this world of trouble and sorrow to be with her Lord, whom she served faithfully for many years.
Some people say bad things happens on Friday the 13th, but good things also happens on Friday the 13th. There are some people who are very careful as to what they say, what they do, and where they go, on Friday the 13th. On last Friday, which was May the 13th, something good happened. I left my home to be at the bedside of a dear saint of God. As I stood at the bedside of this dear mother at the Nursing home, she was unresponsive. I talked to her realizing that she would hear what I was saying, but would not be able to respond. I read to her one of her favorite psalm, which was psalm 27. Here are a few verses taken from that psalm, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? As I was reading the psalm, I would pause, touch her gentle on the head, and continue to read. “Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger; thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” The last verse of that psalm says, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."
Mother....... was waiting on the Lord, and she would always say, pastor I am ready to go home, and I would say to her, in God’s own time, and you have to wait on the Lord. After I had finished reading the psalm, I anointed mother .......... with oil, and prayed for her. Somehow, I did not pray for God to heal her, but I prayed for God to keep her mind focus on him. I then started to remind her how much the Lord loves her. I then walked over to the nurse who was sitting in her room, and started talking to him. The nurse commented how her face looked so smooth, and when I mentioned her age, he thought she was much younger. As we were talking, the nurse turned away his face, and looked at mother............, and made the remark, “she is not breathing.” He got up, went over to her, and started to take her pulse. He tried several times, and suddenly it dawned on me, that mother.............., had left this world of trouble and sorrow to be with her Lord. Mother ............ was absent from the body, but present with the Lord.
I believe as I was talking to the nurse, this is what happened. Mother ............... have said over and over again that she wants to go home. At approximately 11:00 AM, on Friday May 13th, mother ............. heard her name being called. She has been waiting for a long time to hear her name being called, but on this day when she heard her name, I believe she must have said, “hush, hush, somebody is calling my name……Hush, hush. Somebody is calling my name, it sounds like Jesus, but I know somebody is calling my name. As she listened to her name being called, she might have said, that’s me, that’s me, and I am ready, and waiting to go home. She had no time to say good-bye to her son and daughter. She had no time to say good-bye to her pastor who was close to her bedside. She had no time to say good-bye to any of her friends, because when your name is being called you must answer. It is not polite for someone to call your name, and not answer, unless you are hiding. Ready or not you have to answer. No time to say, call back next week, I have to take a vacation. No time to say, I have to get things ready, when your name is called, then you have to answer, and it is time to go. One writer caught the vision and said, "when he calls me I will answer, when he calls me I will answer, I will be somewhere listening for my name."
In order for mother ............ to be with her Lord, she had to leave this world through death. It seems to me, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. We try to cling to life as long as we can, and our love ones will do all they can to make sure we live, but no matter how hard they try, no matter what they do, we all have to face the reality of death. Death is universal. The rich man is going to die, and the poor man is going to die. The black man, and the white man are going to die. That man or woman who has all that fame and fortune, they too are going to die. That man who no one cares about, is going to die. It does not matter if you are young or old, if the Lord tarries, you are going to die. The truth is, we are all going to die, but we just do not know when. Mother ........ was waiting, she was anxiously waiting, because she was ready to be with her Lord.
As the apostle Paul was coming to the end of his life, he gave a solemn charge to Timothy his son in the faith. In this charge, which is recorded in 2 Timothy 4 verses 7 & 8, the apostle said, I have fought a good fight; or I have fought long and hard for my Lord. Timothy I have been knocked down a few times , but the Lord enable me to get back up, I have fought a good fight. It is quite possible Paul might have related to Timothy his son in the faith, what he had gone through. Timothy, I have been in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft, but I have fought a good fight. Five times I have received stripes from the Jews save one, but I have fought a good fight. Three times I was beaten with rods, I was stoned once, I suffered shipwreck three times, a night and a day I have been in the deep, but I have fought a good fight. Timothy, I am not complaining, but I have been in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in he wilderness , in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, but I have fought a good fight.
Timothy, I have suffered weariness, and painfulness, hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, but I have fought a good fight. Maybe mother.......... could not relate to all the things that the apostle Paul went through, but she could say like Paul, I have fought a good fight. Mother........ would say, I will go down with the ship. Mother.......... was born during world war one, she lived during the depression days, she lived during world war two; she lived during the Korean war, she lived during the Viet-Nam War, and other wars, so I am sure she knew what it meant to suffer want, but she was always giving of herself, and so she could say, I have fought a good fight. When mother ....... could not give what she has, she would give to others what she did not have, just ask her daughter.
Mother ............ knew what it meant to be involved in a good fight, and she was not afraid to tell you like it is, and you just could not help but love her. She knew how to speak the truth in love.
Not only did Paul say I have fought a good fight, but he also says, I have finished my course, or I have finished the race. In a marathon, not all the runners finish the race, because some runners fall by the wayside. Paul was in this Christian race for the long run, and despite all that he had gone through, now he was able to say, I have finished the race. On Friday May 13th, mother ........... finished the race. She had gone through the toil and heat of the day, but now she has finished the race. She had gone through pain and suffering, but now she has finished the race. She had gone through ridicule by some, even though she was love by so many, but now she has finished the race. Misunderstanding no doubt came her way, but now she has finished the race. Mother ........ lived a good long life, but now she has finished the race.
Not only did Paul say I have fought a good fight, not only did he say I have finished my course, but he also says, I have kept the faith. Paul was a faithful follower of the Lord. He was a good example of what a child of God should be like. He was a man of action. Mother ................. was faithful until the end. Before mother.............. became ill, she was in Sunday School at 9:30 AM. She was in our morning service at 11:00 AM. She was in our Wednesday Night prayer and Bible Class at 7:00 PM. She was actively involved in all our church services. She loved to pray, and she was in our Saturday morning prayer service from 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. When mother ............... had to use a wheel-church, and found it difficult to get around, she still came to prayer meeting on Saturdays. A brother who was also sick was her chauffeur, and with another friend who was in her nineties, they would all come out to the house of God, that was faithfulness.
Mother ......... would faithfully sit on the second pew that is on my left side. Mother .............. many times would complain that she had nothing more to do, and that she wanted to go home. In her old age she became chairperson of our wheel chair fund. In her old age she brought the Revival magazine to our church so that others could read about the Lord. In her old age she was called upon to pray in our morning services. In her old age she testified about the love of God. She was constantly asking for prayer for her family, she wanted to see them saved. She was faithful in passing out candies to the young and old. She would say to me pastor have some candies, and if I say no, she would say just take one, but for her one would mean six. Mother ...... was faithful, and she was faithful to the end.
Timothy, there is one more thing I should let you know. Because I have fought a good fight; because I have finished my course; because I have kept the faith, there is awaiting 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.
Mother Velma Southern was longing to go home, and I believe on Friday May 13th, just before 11:00 AM she heard the singing of angelic voices, singing her song. A song that Dr. Marcus H. Morgan and others had song over the years on Zion’s Hill. She decided to join in the singing, and decided to change the word someday, to today. Here is what I believe she was singing…(Read song….There waits for me…)
I believe as mother Southern was singing this song, she slipped away to be with her Lord. I believe as she landed on the portals of glory, she must have seen many of her love ones who had gone before, but I can hear her saying to them, wait a minute, I just want to see Jesus, the one who died for me. To the family, and friends, if you want to see mother Southern again, then you need Jesus. Mother Southern is now safe in the arms of her Lord. No more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain, no more lapse of memory, she is safe. If mother Southern could speak out, she would say, don’t wait for tomorrow, but accept the Lord today.
Dwight L. Moody preached to a great crowd in Chicago one night, and when he asked for a response, no one responded. He said to the crowd, when you go home tonight, think about what I had said, and then come tomorrow night and decide what you are going to do. That night, there was the great Chicago fire, and Moody vowed that he would not send people away to think about making a decision for the Lord. The only time we have is now, and we must make use of the time we have. Today is your day to seek the Lord.
With all heads bowed, all eyes close….ask for a show of hands of all those who would like to put their trust in the Lord, and pray for them…….
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