__________ better known as ____, she was a wife, mother sister, aunt and friend a lady with a ready smile on her face. One that I was privileged to call ______ even though we were not related still she was always ___ _____ to me. I remember going to see her in the hospital expecting to see her lying in the bed but no there she sat up in the chair with that smile of welcome on her face. I knew she wasn’t feeling well but there was that smile and before I could say more than hi she was asking how I was doing. That was the ______ I knew
I want to start with a couple of scriptures they are scriptures that _______believed and received into her life
The first is a familiar one but I would like to read it to you from the Amplified Bible
John 3:16 reads like this
16 For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
The next one is found in
John 11:25
Jesus said, in “I am the resurrection and the life; they that believe in Me, though they were dead, yet shall they live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”
These Words of God are not meant to diminish or erase the grief and sorrow each of you may feel at the passing of your loved one. They are meant to give a hope that there has been made a way we can one day be united once again.
Let’s pray… Father God I thank you for the time we had with _________I thank you for her family, and friends gathered here today and I ask that You allow my words to bring Your comfort…help… and peace here today! I thank you God, Creator of life, that because of our Son Jesus we have a refuge. He is our strength. I thank You that Jesus will help us in times of trouble. We have only to ask and receive. Today we need that help and strength. It is from You we come, and unto You our spirits return. You are our dwelling place.
help us place our trust in You.
Lift our eyes from the sorrows of this earth and help us to see the lhopeof eternity in You today.
In Jesus Christ’ Name I pray, amen.
I would like to read to you another scriture the 23rd Psalm from the AMP Bible
1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.
2 He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.
4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.
6 Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
This Psalm again assures us that God is there for us, to lead and guide us through times of trouble and hardship.
He stays close to us…providing for us…and loving us.
-And even when we face those troubling days with hurts that are all too painful and real.
-He promises that He is there for us, and all we need to do is ask Him and run to Him for refuge and strength.
Lastly let me share three brief things about what death means to a Christian.
1. It means a change of environment. Everything down here has been contaminated by sin. All around us we find dishonesty, of every kind, cruelty sickness, sorrow, pain, poverty, and death.
But when God’s people die, they go to a place where these things can never touch them. There is for them a complete change of environment. They go from earth’s discords to heaven’s harmonies, from all that is bad to all that is good, from all that hurts to all that brings happiness.
2. It means a reunion with thier loved ones. You may have sat by the bedside and watched your loved one die. You may have looked into their faces for the last time and wept many tears, but they are not gone from you forever as the scripture said I read to you in John 3:16 if you have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior you will have eternal life
3. Finally, it means that they will see Jesus. If it were not for Him, there would be no heaven. But, praise God, they will see Him and they will know him and they will fall at His feet and thank Him for saving them and bringing them safely home to see Him
So to conclude we know the Lord Almighty God in His mercy received back unto Himself the soul of our ____ a Mom, Grandmother, Sister Aunt and Friend, we therefore commit her body to the ground…
-Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…
-Fulfilling the saying in Ecclesiastes, which is written…”then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Father God I come to You once again to thank You for the life of _______. And her family I ask that You will continue to be their comfort…help…and peace as they lay their loved one to rest today!
Only you can lead us through this time of grief and change.
Therefore, let us know and understand Your enduring presence in our lives.
I ask the In the Precious Name of Jesus, Amen.
