Funeral Service for Stuart Morse
Kilpatrick Funeral Home / McClendon Baptist Church
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
March 13, 2006
Outline:
*Life can be extremely hard, but there are 3 eternal truths that can help you in the days ahead...
1. The 1st timeless truth is that God is good. (Ps 25:6-7, Ps 33:5, Ps 34:8, James 1:17)
2. The 2nd timeless truth is that God loves you. (John 3:16)
3. The 3rd timeless truth is that God will help you. (Matt 11:28-30)
Message:
*Family, we know that this is an extremely difficult time for you...
-Death is never easy, but these circumstances multiply your pain and sorrow.
*To lose someone so young, so unexpectedly... -To lose your son, your grandson, when you always thought that you would be the one to go first.
--All of these things multiply your pain and sorrow today.
*Life can be extremely hard, but there are three eternal truths that can help you in the days ahead...
1. The first truth is that God is good.
*When bad things happen like this, sometimes we are tempted to blame God. But the Bible tell us not to make that mistake, because God is Light and God is Love.
*In Psalm 25, David said, “Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, For they have been from eternity past.
-Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
-According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.”
*Psalm 33 says that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
*Psalm 34 urges us to “taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man who trusts in him.”
*In the New Testament, James tells us that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights”. (James 1:17)
*So, when you think of the good times and the good things about Stuart, know that these came from God. And you do have a lot of good memories:
-That good baby, who grew into a sweet natured kid, who hardly ever gave you a minute’s trouble.
-Stuart giving Dot the name Mimi, because he couldn’t say Memaw.
-Trading toys with Crystal, and putting He-Man in the Barbie Jeep to go rescue Barbie.
-Those summer vacations at Lake Claiborne, and Stuart’s love for animals.
-Then there was Stuart’s love for baseball, and how he taught Jessica to play.
-His gift for singing, and his love for singing both at school and at church.
-Remember his big, bear hugs and his big, loving heart.
*These were some of the good things about Stuart’s life, and every bit of that good was a gift from God.
*I am not trying to say that Stuart lived a perfect life. He made some terrible choices. He hurt himself, and the people around him.
*But we must not be too quick to judge Stuart. In fact, we must not judge him at all. I don’t think we can begin to comprehend the pain he went through.
*There he was, a young man, with what seemed like a bright future before him. And then the pain comes: those terrible headaches that no one can understand or explain. Then to find out that you have a tumor right behind your eye!
-A tumor that was virtually impossible to get at.
-A tumor that gave you relentless pain every day.
-A tumor that stole the future you thought you had.
*What would you have done? *It’s hard to say, but the Bible says that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And many of us (including me) have made terrible choices under far less pressure.
*Our job is not to judge Stuart. Our job is to learn from his mistakes. I am sure that Stuart would want us to do that. Our job is to love each other, to pray for each other, and to keep leaning on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is merciful, kind and compassionate.
-He is the only One who ever lived a perfect life.
*God is good. But if that is true, then why is there so much evil in the world? It’s because Satan is real, and he is the father of all evil. The Bible says that he comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. We see his evil hand all around us, and today we are tasting some of his bitter fruit.
*But Jesus Christ came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free. One day God will wipe away all sickness, evil and pain. And all who receive Jesus Christ will live together in total perfection.
-No more sickness, no more pain...
-No sorrow, no sin, no shame...
-Face to face forever with Jesus Christ!
2. Until that day, life can be extremely hard, but remember that God is good. And the second timeless truth is that God loves you.
*The Bible tells us that in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
*When something terrible happens, it’s easy to think that God doesn’t love you, but He does. God the Father has shown it in many ways, but the greatest way was when He sent His Son Jesus to die on the Cross for our sins.
*The Bible also says that “God showed his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
-God doesn’t love us because we are good...
--He loves us because He is good.
*Stuart knew that. He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior when he was 8 years old. And he loved the Lord.
*Even when Stuart felt like he couldn’t do anything else, his mom would bring the Prayer List home from church on Wednesday night. He would tape that list up in his room and pray for us. Stuart prayed for us!
*And when Stuart got so far off track, one of his biggest problems was that he couldn’t forgive himself. But he realized that God loved him anyway, and God forgave all of his sins
3. Life can be extremely hard, but remember that God loves you. And the 3rd timeless truth is that God will help you.
*In Matthew 11, Jesus said: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
*Jesus Christ has the power to help us today, not only because He died on the Cross for our sins, but also because three days later, He rose from the dead! And He says...
-If you will come to me, receive me and put your trust in me...
--I will come to you, forgive you, help you and comfort you.
*In another place, He said: “I will never leave you or forsake you...”
*I once read about a lady named Sue Heil. Her only child, Steven, graduated from high school one June morning, only to be killed in a car wreck that night.
*Just a few hours before, Sue had given thanks for Steven’s life, and asked God to keep taking care of him. How could God let this happen?
*In the days after Steven’s death, Sue was often angry with God. Her pastor assured her that this was normal and urged her to keep praying. Sue was disappointed with God and she told Him: “You are supposed to be near the brokenhearted. Do you care?”
*Sue had lost her son and she felt like she had lost her relationship with God, too, but one day she got a card from a friend that said: -“When God conceals His purposes, keep living on His promises.”
*Sue said that it was as if God were saying to her, “Let go of your anger and trust me again. You do not know why things happen, but you do have my promise of eternal life.” (1)
*We need to hear the words that strengthened Sue that day: -When God conceals His purposes, -Keep living on His promises.
*The next weeks will be some of the hardest in your life, but remember...
-God is good...
-God loves you...
-And He will help you.
(1) THE UPPER ROOM, May/June 1997, p. 44. Found in “Bound By A Promise” Sermon by King Duncan - Genesis 15:1-18
