The Funeral Service
Opening
I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
Invocation
O Eternal God, our Father, from whom we come and to whom we go, grant us the favor of Your divine presence at this time in our earthly pilgrimage; assure us by Your Holy Spirit that the one we serve, even Jesus, has conquered death and is alive forevermore; enable us to view our temporal lives in the light of the eternal; and so may our spirits grow calm and our vision clear. Through Christ we pray. Amen.
Introduction
1. Our Tribute - Commemorate
A. To pay tribute: We have come to pay tribute and honor a life well lived; a life that has touched many. What a high tribute it is to have lived for Jesus Christ! Pat Bidlack was a follower of Jesus and a child of Almighty God.
B. Poem – Walking With Grandma
I like to walk with Grandma, her steps are short like mine. She doesn’t say “now hurry up,” she always takes her time. I like to walk with Grandma, her eyes see things like mine do… wee pebbles bright, a funny cloud, half hidden drops of dew. Most people have to hurry, they do not stop and see… I glad God made Grandma, unrushed and young like me!
C. John 14:1-6
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
2. To comfort: Though we are assured that Pat is with Jesus there is a vacancy that she leaves in the lives of those left behind.
A. Meditation
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Christ knows your need
God loves and cares for you
God loves each and every person enough to make Himself available for us to lean on him in times of trial and distress.
God will allow His presence to rest with you in this very moment. The presence of God brings peace to the troubled. The presence of God brings provision for tomorrow. The presence of God brings power for the weakened and the weary.
The meaning of comfort
The original meaning of this word we translate comfort literally means “to come alongside and help.” When Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth, his purpose was to encourage them in a time of great trial that no matter what they faced in life, God would be by their side.
Today, this truth has not changed. God is here with us and has come alongside you to help you through this very difficult time.
Christ knows your grief
The suffering of Jesus
When I think of the sufferings of Christ, I almost always think of the cross and the pain of enduring the crucifixion. However, it is helpful to remember that Christ suffered in many ways during His life and was no stranger to sorrow and grief.
Jesus lost His father, Joseph, sometime before His ministry began. Jesus lost His friend, cousin and partner in ministry, John the Baptist. Jesus also lost His close personal friend, Lazarus. It is from this passage that we find the shortest verse within the entire Bible: Jesus wept.
Today, I can tell you with confidence that God not only knows your pain but he understands because He has experienced it through Jesus. God knows your grief and shares your pain.
Christ knows your hope
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Heaven is a place of residence
Jesus has prepared a place for all of His people to live with Him. Pat believed in Jesus, she followed Him and He had a place prepared for her. Saturday was not the day she passed away but rather it was the day that she moved into her new home. A home in heaven.
Heaven is a place of restoration
In heaven all things are made new. Pat has been given a new home. She has been given a new life. Pat has been given a new body. A body that does not know sickness or pain. A body that does not suffer from Diabetes or any other physical impairment.
Heaven is a place of reunion
In heaven there is a great reunion and Pat is experiencing that even as we speak. She has been reunited with her parents. Pat has been reunited with her granddaughter Brandi. She has been reunited with her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Most importantly, Pat has been reunited with Christ.
B. Prayer
Let us pray
O Lord, our Lord, we come into your presence this day to mourn the passing of Patricia Ann Bidlack, Mother, grandmother, sister and sister in Christ. We also come to celebrate a life well lived, a life that served you and followed your leading. We come to be comforted in our sorrow and pray that your spirit would cover us with peace that passes understanding. We know that just as you walked with Patty throughout her entire life; you are walking with her now in her new home her true heavenly home. Grant us now strength and courage to face the new challenges and demands that await us. Be with all of the family and give them a new sense of your comfort and peace, be with the friends and give them a extra source of your love and understanding. Be with our community as our sister in Christ has moved on to her higher calling and allow us to never forget the contributions and efforts that Pat made on your behalf in this world. In the name of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. Amen
GRAVESIDE SERVICE
Scripture Reading – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
My peace I leave you; my peace I give you.
The Commital
Inasmuch as Almighty God, in his wise providence, has taken out of this world our deceased sister, we therefore commit this mortal body to the ground, looking for the general resurrection in the last day and the life of the world to come through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose second coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able t subdue all things unto himself.
The Collect
O merciful God, father of our lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life, in whom whoever believes in shall live; though they die, and whoever lives and believes in him shall not die eternally, we humbly ask you, O Father, to raise us from the death of sin into the life of righteousness, that when we depart from this earthly life we may rest in Him, and at the general resurrection on the last day may be found acceptable in Your sight and receive that blessing which your one and only Son shall then pronounce to all who love and fear you, saying, “Come, you blessed by my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” Grant this, O father, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer. Amen
Benediction
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of god, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen
This service order, including prayers and general statements is taken from the Free Methodist Discipline: Ritual of Burial.
