Funeral Service: Where, O Death, is Your Sting? - Arami Picazo

Order of Service

Prelude

Welcome and Prayer

Eulogy: Cole, Trevor

Hymn: Amazing Grace

Scripture Reading: Psalm 23 - Chad

Remembrance: Zack, Anthony, Scott

Song: Nemari

Message

Remembrance: Tamara, Arami, Zavian, Maciel, Valenti

Hymn: The Lord is My Salvation

Final Instructions

Benediction

Prelude

All rise. Song: Come Thou Fount. Enter and seat family.

You may be seated…

John 11:1-6, 17-26 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was...

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Welcome and Opening Prayer

We are gathered here today to remember Arami Picazo.

Arami was born on Friday, September 18, 1981 in Santa Clara, California. He died at the age of 41 on Friday, December 23, 2022 in Centerton, Arkansas.

He is survived by his wife, Tamara; and his four sons, Arami, Zavian, Maciel, and Valenti; his parents, Santiago and Elva; and his three sisters, Tiani, Denovi (Julio), and Nemari.

Arami was a devoted husband. Loving father. And most of all…a godly man.

This service is a time for us to say goodbye. Celebrate his life.

And most importantly give glory to God for Jesus Christ who conquered the grave and remember the hope of the resurrection.

Let’s begin with a word of prayer.

Prayer

Thanks for Arami’s life

Comfort and peace for the family

God’s glory in funeral

Eulogy

My name is Cole Shinall, and I had the great joy of being Arami’s pastor for the last year of his life.

I never knew Arami before he had cancer.

But just as gold is purified by the fire, I believe that getting know know Arami during that fiery trial really served to prove who Arami truly was as a man.

Our sufferings and hardships have way of stripping away all the dross, all the facade, and revealing who we really are.

And what I would say about Arami, if I had only one thing to say, would that he was a godly man.

He was a man that trusted in the Sovereignty of God.

That lived all of his life by the grace of God.

And He was a man of great perseverance and faith.

Sovereignty

First and foremost, Arami was a man that trusted in the Sovereignty of God.

Arami knew that God created all things and governs everything in the world, down to the smallest, most insignificant detail towards one singular purpose: the glory of His own name.

And Arami, as a man that trusted in the sovereignty of God, lived every aspect of his life good and bad for the glory of Christ.

One of the things that Arami said before he died was that he wanted us to remember that God was sovereign over all of this.

Nothing was an accident.

God in his infinite wisdom, even when we don’t understand it, determined this was how Arami would most glorify God.

And Arami believed that to the very end.

God is wise. God is good. God is kind, merciful and gracious.

And most of all, God is worthy of all our glory no matter the cost.

That’s the faith Arami had, and that’s the testimony that Arami wants all of us to have today.

Grace of God

Arami was also a man that lived all of his life by the grace of God.

I don’t understand the faith Arami had.

He always trusted the Lord and leaned on him, and God sustained him every step of the way.

For as long as I knew him, he never grumbled or complained.

He would laugh.

When I would ask him how he was doing he would always say “Better than I deserve.”

Even in the midst of his suffering he always had joy in the Lord and was always wanting nothing more than to be the most godly husband, father, and Christian he could be with strength God had given him.

When he was asked what he would want people to remember about him after he was gone, Arami said that he hoped people would remember that he loved. He trusted. And he sacrificed all by the grace of God.

Perseverance and Faith

And finally, Arami was a man of perseverance and faith.

Every time we would get together, I would ask him, “Arami, how can I pray for you?”

And his answer was always the same…that he would finish well.

That he would honor the Name of Christ and persevere to the end.

That he would not give up but bring glory to Christ with every breath of his life.

Conclusion

And as his pastor I can tell you today, God answered all of those prayers.

Arami finished well.

He fought the good fight. He finished the race. He kept the faith and glorified the name of Christ to the very end.

And now, as sad as we are, he is with the Lord. No more pain. No more tears. No more death.

He has traded all of those things for joy forevermore.

And here’s what God has promised to Arami for His great faith and perseverance in the Lord.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

We grieve. We mourn. But not as those who have no hope.

We grieve knowing our brother is with the Lord, freed from all sin and death and the brokenness of this world.

And one day all of us who believe in Christ will see him again.

We will see our dear friend, brother, husband, father on the other side of glory, and in that sweet reunion we will stand side by side and celebrate the Lord together for forgiving all our sin and bringing us out of death and into eternal life just as Arami did every day of his life.

But now I want to bring up someone else who can give a fuller picture of who Arami was. One of his best friends and people that knew him most…

Trevor Pascal

Hymn: Amazing Grace

Scripture Reading: Psalm 23.

Remembrance: Anthony, Zack, Scott

COLE INTRO Song: Nemari - Arami’s Sister his eyes on the sparrow

Sermon

In 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, God says...

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Paul here, is looking forward to the resurrection.

That glorious day when Christ returns to make all things new.

When He will give a mighty shout to raise everyone who believes in Him from the grave to eternal life where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes and death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore for the former things…all the things associated with sin, death, and the curse will pass away (Rev. 21:4).

Days like today make us long for that day.

Make us long for when we will no longer feel the sting of death.

But what about today?

As we face the grief of losing our dear brother Arami, what comfort does God’s Word have for us today?

What comfort does the God of all comfort give when everything about today looks like Death still has the victory and Death’s sting feels sharper than ever before?

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 (1 Thes. 4:13).

We do grieve. It does hurt. And Tamara, Arami, Zavian, Maciel, and Valenti, there is a part of this that will hurt the rest of your life.

Nothing can ever replace your husband or your father.

But because of Jesus, I want you to know, we have a great hope.

Paul says Death is the last enemy Christ will destroy when He returns leading to that great and glorious passage where Death is swallowed up in victory and loses its sting once and for all at the resurrection.

And we will not know the fullness of that promise until that Day.

But the seed of that promise is already true today.

Death might not be destroyed, but he’s already been defeated. He’s already been conquered. He has lost his greatest sting because he was swallowed up in victory when Christ rose and overcame the grave.

How can we say that? How can we say that death has lost its sting? How can we say that he’s been swallowed up in victory?

Don’t you see where we are? Nothing about this says that’s true. Everything around us says that is a lie.

But faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

I’m not saying that death does not still sting. We all still feel it. That’s why we’re here.

But because of Jesus death has lost its greatest sting and now because of Jesus we do not have to grieve as those who have no hope.

Sin

Immediately after Pauls says Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting, Paul says the sting of death is sin.

That is where death came from.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

We die because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

All of us have sinned against God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

God created us to love Him, worship Him, and live all of our lives wholly for Him. In other words, to live for His glory.

But we have all fallen short.

The proof of that is. maybe now more obvious than ever, that we are all going to die.

Death was not a part of God’s original plan. Death entered the world through sin.

We die because we are sinners.

And that’s really bad news because the Bible says It is appointed once for man to die, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

When we die we will stand before God, the holy and righteous judge to give an account of our life, and if we have even one sin we will suffer for all eternity in Hell under the wrath of God.

That’s the sting of death.

Death brings the judgment of God against our sins. And after death there are no second chances. There are no do overs.

There’s a finality to it. A once for all eternity to it.

And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ.

Gospel

The wages of sin might be death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).

Jesus died and rose again to save us from all of our sins.

That’s the gospel.

The eternal Son of God became a man in Jesus Christ.

He lived the perfect and sinless life we failed to live, and He died the death we deserve to die when He bore our sins on the cross and suffered the wrath of God on our behalf.

And when He died, our pure and spotless substitute, he cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished” (Mt. 27:50, Jn. 19:30).

Finished is a word that means paid in full.

Jesus made a full atonement for our sins so that all the wrath that God had against us was once for all satisfied in Him.

When we put our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven of all our sins and God gives us eternal life, and He proved it by raising Jesus from the dead three days later to proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ really was the Son of God and that His sacrifice was perfect and all sufficient to make a full payment for all our sins.

That’s why Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26).

Jesus wasn’t talking about physical death. Though he die, yet he shall live.

He was talking about eternal death. The sting of death. The judgment of God for all our sins.

But because of Jesus, Death has lost its sting.

It is no longer the gateway to the eternal punishment it once was.

For everyone who trusts in Christ, death has become the sails that carry God’s children home to glory.

The enemy has been defanged and thrown down, swallowed up in victory, because the tomb is empty.

Romans 6:9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

And so it is with everyone who believes in Jesus.

We are freed from the dominion of death.

Though we die, yet we live because we have passed from death to life through faith in Jesus Christ.

This is why we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

Death is not the end. Its not the final word. Christ is.

This was Arami’s gospel. This was Arami’s hope and Arami’s life.

When he closed his eyes in death, he opened them in glory.

No judgment. No fear. No sting of death because all of his sin was fully paid for in Jesus Christ.

Death was swallowed up in victory and because of Jesus, when Arami went home to be with the Lord he opened his eyes and for the first time finally saw Christ face to face (2 Cor 5:8).

Death as Sails to Glory

We who are left behind…we grieve, and we mourn, and we miss Arami. We miss him terribly.

But we cannot forget what Paul said. For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain…I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better (Phil 1:23)..

Because of Christ, where Arami is, is far better.

He fought the good fight. He finished the race. He kept the faith.

He persevered to the very end, and when he went home to be with the Lord he heard those sweet words every Christian longs to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.”

And that’s exactly what Arami did.

When a believer dies and the soul departs from the body they go home to be with the Lord.

And in that moment their soul it is freed from all weakness, pain, darkness, and fears.

When God called Arami home, all of Arami’s pain, sickness, cancer, every corruption of this weak and fallen body melted away.

And in an instant, he was free for the first time without any hinderance of our fallen flesh to glorify and enjoy God just as he was created to.

To use all of his powers of faith, love, joy and happiness to know and enjoy God for all that He’s worth as never before, and celebrate all the wonders of God’s amazing grace the heights of which we can barely dream of.

At the moment of death, Arami went to be with the Lord and in an instant was freed to worship God just as he was created to, and there is no greater joy than that.

My desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better.

Because of Christ our enemy death has been defeated.

He is no longer the harbinger of God’s judgment and wrath but has been transformed, subdued and made a servant of Christ to be the sails that carry all of God’s children home to glory and the fullness of joy forevermore.

Arami won.

He was not defeated by death.

He was more than a conquerer in Jesus Christ because he had put all of His faith, all of his hope, all of His love in Christ and followed Him to the very end.

Future Hope

And one day, if we also believe in Christ, we will see Arami again.

Christ will return to destroy death once and for all.

And when He does, He will bring with Him all of those who have fallen asleep.

And everyone who trusts in Christ will be raised to eternal life in glorified, resurrected bodies to live forever with the Lord.

Where He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:4).

Conclusion/Gospel Call

We do not grieve as those who have no hope.

Through faith in Christ, Arami was forgiven of all of his sin, and when he died, he went home to be with the Lord.

And one day, Arami will rise again, and all those who believe in Christ with Him to be with the Lord in a New Heavens and New Earth where every trace of sin, and death, and curse will be washed away.

And all because Christ conquered the grave and swallowed death in victory!

Jesus is our great and marvelous hope who promises that everyone who believes in Him, everyone who casts their soul on Christ and trusts in Him alone for salvation will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

And everyone that comes to Him, Christ will never cast out.

And everyone that comes to Him will never be lost because Christ promises to raise us up on the last day (John 6:37, 39).

Because of Christ, death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O Death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?

We grieve. We mourn. But not as those who have no hope.

Christ has conquered the grave.

He died and rose again to save us from our sins and robbing death of its sting.

The only question is: How will you face death?

Will you taste death’s sting and suffer the wrath of God for all your sins?

Or will suffer death on your behalf?

Will he pay the wages of your sin, so that when you die, Death’s sails will carry you home to glory?

It is appointed once for man to die and then comes judgment.

Do not face that day unprepared!

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:26).

There is salvation in no other name For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.

The fact that we will all die proves proves that we are all guilty and condemned in our sin. That we all need a Savior.

And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus died in our place for our sins and rose again three days later to forgive all our sins and give us the gift of eternal life.

But only if you repent and believe.

This was Arami’s gospel. This was the gospel he believed. The gospel that gave him hope and roots our hope today.

And this is the only gospel that has the power to save.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life and be saved from the sting of death.

Let’s Pray

Remembrance: Picazo Family

Hymn: The Lord is My Salvation

Final Instructions

There will be a reception in the fellowship hall following the service with small snacks provided.

The family has invited everyone to attend if you wish to remember Arami and pay your respects.

In a moment, I will ask you to stand and read a benediction and then afterwards I ask that you to continue standing until the family exits the sanctuary, after which you will be dismissed.

But I want to leave us today with our great hope promised to us in Christ who is the One who forgave all our sin and overcame the grave.

Benediction

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 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.

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