Prelude
Welcome / Invocation
Rom 14:7-8
For none us lives to himself alone
and none of us dies to himself alone.
If we live, we live to the Lord;
and if we die, we die to the Lord.
So whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.
Welcome, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of,
Marion Faye Gregory
Who was known by God in her mother’s womb,
who came to know the Lord God through an anointed relationship with Jesus Christ,
and who is now in full communion with God
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father,.
You are truly the source of life, in you we live, in you we have our being.
This afternoon, we ask you for your peace and comfort – be with us in both power and strength.
We thank you for the privilege of knowing Marion,
For the kindness and love she manifested toward us
And for her real and deep concern for her friends and her church family.
Lord, be with us now,
May your sweet spirit fall upon us now.
We ask this all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Song - Lord’s Prayer
Scripture
1Cor. 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,
but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
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.
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,
but when perfection comes,
the imperfect disappears.
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 childish ways behind me.
Now we see but a poor 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.
Message
We are all gathered here – Because we love Marion
Isn’t that wonderful?
It was Marion who brought us here today.
And gave us an extra richness for life.
Marion was a woman of God.
A faithful woman.
Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Dedicated to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
She knew and loved him well.
And we can be sure of this:
There is a cloud of witnesses gathering to testify how she gave glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some question: Will we recognize each other in heaven?
Yes. And more than that the Word of God describes our gathering like a wedding banquet. A time full of celebration and joy, a time of looking forward to what is to come.
A time where we will commune with each other in the radiance of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We see in Scripture that when humans come into the presence of the mighty God, they always respond with worship of the Lord God. We saw this with Moses at the burning bush, we see this with the prophet Ezekiel, we see this with the Apostle John when the Spirit comes upon him. Marion, arriving in the presence of our Lord Jesus, she will have no worry, no concern of what to say, of what to do – for the presence of God is overwhelming, and she will fall in worship.
We see in Revelations chapter four that twenty four elders sit around the throne of God and they cast their crowns and the feet of the throne. The crowns reperesent the good works in the life of a saint. In ither words – the good works that we have unselfishly done are ours to take with us when we die, and to lay at the feet of Jesus in worship. It is like, I offer my life, what I have done, to worship you Lord.
Marion will have a beautiful crown to cast won’t she, for she truely was a giving person.
Her visits to the Pioneer home weren’t for any reason except to give hope.
We picked out 1 Corithinans chapter 13 to read for Marion, not because Marion was perfect, but because Marion exibited more of the attributes of love mentioned than your average person
Love is patient, kind, doesn not envy or boast is not proud
Not self seeking, rude or easily angered.
A stiking description of Marion.
If we could all strive to be described in that way......
One of the last times I sat down and chatted with her she had a variety of concerns in her life. But you know what her first concern was?
Her son Robert.
Her friends.
Marion Gregory was somewhere down the list in concerns.
Her greatest concern was: what does the Lord Jesus want me to do next?
I was tken back, as all of us were when I heard Marion had a stroke so soon after her arrival in Minnesota. Why God allowed all this to happen in Marion’s life, it is hard to say.
And right now, I believe she has found peace.
The details of the how and why about Marion are not fully revealed to us.....yet.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 13,
For now we see but a poor reflection
as in a mirror,
then we shall see face to face.
Now we know in part,
then we shall know fully,
even as we are fully known
Exactly why things come together as they do, will remain unclear, for now. But we will all stand before our Lord Jesus, and everything will be made clear – because now it is hard for us to understand the full picture, but then when we are face to face there is nothing that we will not understand. There will be a day, by the grace of God, when we will have an understanding of all of life.
And together, Marion alongside we will cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus and worship his holy name.
Hymn – In The Garden
Time of Remembrance
Frank Puschak
Song Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Prayers For The Family
God of mercy, Lord of life,
you have made us in your image
to reflect your truth and light:
we thank you again for Marion ,
for the grace and mercy/she received from you,
for all that was good in her life,
for the memories we treasure today.
You promised eternal life to those who believe.
And we know that because you live
Because you have risen from the grave
Marion, who fully entrusted her life to you
Shall live also.
Your mighty power brings joy out of grief
and life out of death.
We pray for Marion’s family
Lord have mercy on then all as they mourn.
Give them patient faith in times of darkness.
Strengthen them with the knowledge of your love.
Comfort them when the silence is too heavy.
Lord God
We entrust into your hands all that you have made
and especially our sister Marion
and we rejoice in our communion with all your faithful people,
we ask this through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen
Hymn – Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Benediction
May the Lord hold you and keep you
May the Lord give you comfort
May the Lord shine his face upon you
and give you peace.
Postlude
