Funeral Service for Louis Wofford

Opening:

Thank You all for coming to:

Show your respects to Uncle Louis

Honor his life

Comfort his family.

It is appreciated.

-Even under the best of circumstances...

…this is a difficult thing to endure.

But, God (in His great mercy) has provided us...

…with some things to help us in times like these.

He’s given us:

Community:

Family, Friends, Christian Brothers and Sisters

The promises of His Word.

The promise of His own abiding presence with us

The Scripture tells us:

2 Corinthians 4:7–5:10 (ESV)

...Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Let’s go to Him in prayer:

Pray

Committal:

Family, we've come here, to...

…commit the mortal body...

…of Uncle Lewis to the ground.

And it’s so important that we remember...

…why it is that we do this!

We don’t do all of this...

…because it’s the easiest option.

As Christians:

We bury our dead

We commit their bodies to the ground.

Why do we do that?

We do it as an act of faith

We do it because we have a hope:

Beyond this mortal life

Beyond the grave.

The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians this:

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV)

13 ...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.

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

What we’re doing is simply...

…tucking away Uncle Lewis’s body for safe keeping.

Paul told the Romans:

Romans 8:10–11 (ESV)

10 ...if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Paul told the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit...

Ephesians 1:14 (ESV)

14...is the guarantee (earnest — down payment) of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it...

Family:

Our hope is certain

Our promise is secure

He goes on to say:

15 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.

16 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.

17 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.

18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

You see, this is the promise we cling to...

…as we lay our brother to rest...

...in the dust of the earth.

We are NOT discarding his mortal body...

We are planting it in the soil...

…fully expecting an abundant harvest...

…when our Lord returns in power and Glory...

… to collect what is His by right of redemption.

The Scripture tells us this:

1 Corinthians 15:36–49 (ESV)

36 ...What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel...

38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen...

...What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body....

Finally, we’re told this:

1 Corinthians 15:53–58 (ESV)

53...this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The victory is certain!

If you are in Christ...

If your Faith is In Him

If He is your righteousness

If His finished work is your only confidence before God

If He has taken your guilt upon himself...

…and borne its punishment

If He has given his righteousness to you!

If that is your only hope...

…Then your future is secure!

And...

The Word of God...

The Resurrection of Christ...

And the indwelling Holy Spirit...

…Guarantee it!

Take comfort in that, family...

…as we sow our brother in faith.

Let’s Pray.

Message from family?

Receive guests back at the church?