Unexpected Funeral - Man

Funerals Provide:

• An Opportunity to Mourn

• An Opportunity to Give and Receive Comfort

• An Opportunity to Honor, Remember, and Give Thanks

• An Opportunity to Declare Our Hope in Jesus

Funerals remind us of:

a. The Certainty of Death (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

b. The Shortness of life (James 4:14)

c. The Shortage of life (John 10:10)

• How much do we struggle in life?

• How much do we waste on the trivial?

• There is power in priority!

d. The sovereignty of God and Reality of Eternity.

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Obituary

Marlon had a quick passing. He had little suffering or pain and now, now pain and discomfort.

There is some comfort for us but there is still loss.

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Two things that stand out to me about Marlon:

1. He loved children and Children were attracted to Him.

“He was a big kid.”

“Onery” in teasing children; pestering his sister

“Honky Tonky Wink Wonky Donkey Book”

Jesus and Children

Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 18:15-17 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

God Sees US Children

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Psalms 127:3-5 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is His reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

SOME WOULD GATHER MONEY

Some would gather money

Along the path of life

Some would gather roses

And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children

From among the thorns of sin;

I would seek a golden curl

And a freckled, toothless grin.

For money cannot enter

In that land of endless day,

And the roses that are gathered

Soon will wilt along the way.

But oh, the laughing children,

As I cross the Sunset Sea

And the gates swing wide to heaven

I can take them in with me.

2. He loved to make people laugh

• Look for Laughter – For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven…A time to cry and a time to LAUGH. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 (NLT)

Will Rogers – “I don’t know any jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”

• Take a Daily Dose of Laughter – A cheerful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22a (NLT)

JEWISH PROVERB - “What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.”

A child laughs 400 times a day on the average, while an adult laughs only 15 times each day. Which is puzzling since laughter feels so good and is so good for us!

• Follow the Creator of Laughter – The One enthroned in heaven laughs. Psalm 2:4 (NIV)

Victor Borge – “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

• Jesus was “the man of sorrows” but he also had Laughter

People were attracted to him because he brought joy, sometimes even in the midst of sorrow.

Matthew 7:3-5 – speck and log

Matthew 23:24 – strain gnat; swallow a camel

Mark 10:25 – camel needle

Luke 6:39 – blind lead blind – both in pit

In Matthew 9:15, when they reproached His disciples because they did not fast, He said they couldn’t…..they were too busy PARTYING at a wedding!

Look how He conducted Himself with children in Matthew 9:14. Actually rebuked disciples for being interfering with the fun when the children were brought to him. What a FUN time! Don’t you think they sat on His lap? Don’t you think he was SMILING and GIGGLING and LAUGHING with them? They were children! They were HIS children!

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Prayer

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