Lorelai Faith
Welcome
On behalf of Kyle and Kelly and the family - I would like to both welcome you and thank you for being here to honor the life of LORELAI FAITH.
And let me say, that you have no idea how much your presence today, means to them.
UNDERSTAND - the family will never forget they you took the time and made the effort to be here tonight.
NOW - what I’d like to do at this time is to read some from God’s word – AND - my reason for doing this is because the Word of God is powerful - it is living and it is active.
And God says of His word in Isaiah 55
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty BUT will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Is 55:11,12
AND LISTEN – I am really convinced (as I always am) that God’s Word has a purpose for us tonight in this room.
HAS – a purpose for you, and a purpose for me.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me! - Psalm 139:13-18
About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me… Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. Matthew 18:1-14
The LORD gave me this message “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.
– Jeremiah 1:4,5
Prayer
Pslam 46
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
MY GOD – bless the reading of His word.
At this time I would like for us to stand and sing two songs.
Two songs that are foundational to the hope, peace and comfort that we can have even in the most trying of times.
Amazing Grace
It Is Well
Lorelai Faith Haney was born on September 5th, 2018.
And she went home to the arms of Jesus 1 hour and 1 minute later… Kyle and Kelly’s time with her (though powerful) was much, much, much too short.
NOW UNDERSTAND – Lorelai’s journey did not begin on 9/5/2018…
INSTEAD – it began the minute that our great, good and sovereign God began to knit her in Kelly’s womb.
AS TO WHY - God choose the path that He did for Lorelai I do not profess to know or understand.
BUT – here are a few things that I do know…
I know that…
• Lorelai was tough,
• She was a fighter
• She defied many odds along the way
• Her journey affected hundreds of lives during those 37 weeks, seriously hundreds. I mean - people were hitting their knees in prayer, they were speaking words of comfort and caring, they were reaching out to Kyle and Kelly in practical ways displaying God’s compassion and love and I know that Lorelai’s journey moved some people to reflect on their own life and turn back to God.
• Lorelai fought hard and that God was gracious, giving Kyle and Kelly those precious 61 minutes to hold her, snuggle her, kiss her, love on her, be with her
• And I know where she is right at this very moment…
In paradise with Jesus.
I mean, can you imagine what that precious little girl is experiencing as we sit in this room.
AND - I also know that those words I read earlier from Jeremiah chapter one, apply to Lorelai…
The LORD gave me this message “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.
– Jeremiah 1:4,5
UNDERSTAND…
• God knew Lorelai before he formed her in Kelly’s womb
• And listen, before she was born on September 5th 2018 God really did set her part to be His prophet and to give a message to those were and are willing to see, hear and receive it.
Lorelai’s journey brought to us a message of faith, hope and love.
A Message Of Faith
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1
AND LISTEN – Lorelai’s message of faith was specifically seen lived out in HD by her mom and dad… Kyle and Kelly.
I MEAN – they knew that…
• the odds were not in their favor,
• how things most likely were going to turn out.
AND YET – they choose life, they leaned in hard and trusted in God and prayed for a miracle.
BECSUSE – they knew that God really could make all things right – AND SO THEY - put their faith in the one who breathes out stars and holds the oceans in His hands.
NOW – the message of faith that we see lived out in Lorelai’s journey is the same message of faith that we see being lived out over 2500 years ago by three guys who were exiles in Babylon.
Three guys who were told that they must bow down and worship before a 90 foot tall golden idol that was set up on the plain of Dura.
The order came directly from the king who had gathered his entire kingdom on the plain, telling the that once you hear the music play, you must to bow down or else you will be thrown into a firey furnace.
AND SO - the music played and they did not bow down.
We will pick up our reading at Daniel 3:13…
Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up?
I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.
But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” – Daniel 3:13-18
UNDERSTAND – that is the kind of faith that Kyle and Kelly had…
• A faith that trusts in God no matter what.
• A faith that does not demand that God bow to our wants and desires, but instead trust fully in God and His will.
Yes Lorelai was and is God’s prophet to those with ears to hear and eyes to see…
And her journey brought a message of faith, and
A Message Of Hope
In 2 Samuel 12 the son that David had with Bathsheba becomes very ill. And we read in 2 Samuel 12:16ff…
David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?”
When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the LORD. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.
His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”
David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” – 2 Samuel 12:16-23
I will go to him one day…
AND B/S – that is the same hope that God wants Kyle and Kelly and everyone in this room to have in regards to our loved ones who have died.… one day we will go to them..
YES – Lorelai’s journey underscores the living hope that we have in when we put our faith in and surrender to Jesus…
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. – 1 Thess 4:13-18
Kyle and Kelly – you will see Lorelai again!
One you will go to her
One day you will see her in her fully restored body
Yes Lorelai was and is God’s prophet to those with ears to hear and eyes to see…
Bringing to us a message of faith, hope and…
A Message Of Love
NOW – when I meet with Kyle and Kelly the other day to tlak about today’s service this is the passage that Kelly wanted to make sure would be in tonight’s service to honor Lorelai.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others,
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.
LISTEN, LISTEN – that is how God loves us (how He loves you and me) and it is how He expects us (you and me) to love everyone else.
Especially those people God has placed in our lives…
But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Yes Lorelai was and is God’s prophet to those with ears to hear and eyes to see…
Bringing to us a message of faith, hope and of love…
And so I guess that the only question that remains is will you receive her message.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
QUESTION – which one of these messages do you need to receive tonight from God’s little 5 pound 15.6 Ounce prophet?
OKAY – we are going to wrap up tonight by watching a slide show… of Lorelai’s journey, of Kyle and Kelly’s journey…
NOW – you will probably recognize the song playing in the background…
And it is the song that was playing during Lorelai’s birth.
From what I understand the nurses asked Kelly if she want some music on – and she said yes, put on a Christian station and this is the song that played… “I Can Only Imagine”
It was most definitely a God-Cidence…
