Celebration of life for Paula M. Blessing

Welcome and Prayer:

Good morning, For those of you who don’t know me my name is Joe Kindon and I am the Pastor at Diller. Today we celebrate and Thank God for the Life of Paula Blessing to find comfort in time of need, and to place ourselves in the presence of God, whose love knows no end.

I want to say to the family that God has promised that he will never leave us. He is our rock and our fortress; he will walk with you through this time and remain with you always. May the prince of peace be with you this day. Would join me in prayer to prepare our hearts for what God has for us today?

Prayer

Lord, our God, you are great, eternal, and utterly

to be trusted.

You give life to all of us.

Give us now your Spirit of comfort and hope.

Set our hearts at peace

so that we may bring our thanks and needs

before you without fear.

In the strong name of Jesus Christ.

if you have your bibles would you join me in reading of Eph 2:1-10

Ephesians 2:1–10 NIV

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Walking Through the Text

At the core of this text is salvation, within this text we see the story of Paula Blessing’s life and love for the Lord. For as a follower of Jesus Paula was saved by grace through faith in Jesus. It is that relationship with Jesus that shaped who she was and the love she shared with others. She believed that each day was a gift to be thankful for because of her belief in God. Thats why one of her favorite verses was Psalm 118:2 that says, this is the day the Lord has made. and I will rejoice and be glad in it. Paula’s life was part of the Gospel Message that Christ Died for our sins and through his death we have forgiveness, freedom, and eternal life in Him. Thats the message that Paula believed and lived.

Transition: Now this text says that we are God’s handiwork created to do good works that God has prepared for us to do in advance. One of the things that God prepared in advance for Paula to be was a mother. A mother that would pass on the faith in the little moments of life.

Steve told me one of his favorite memories of his mother was “When I was a young boy 5 years old  thru -13 years old my Mother would always tuck me into bed each night. After I was securely tucked in she would sit on the edge of my bed and ask me what I was thankful for that day. Whatever my answer was she would always include it in her prayers when she prayed with me. “

Paula passed on the gift of being thankful always. and I see that in her son, Steve who starts every day with “Lord I thank you for another day”

God’s love and character was the reason that Paula could be thankful. God’s grace was a gift that she could share with others.

Another favorite Bible Verse of Paula’s is Psalm 63:7, Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. God was Paula’s source of Joy. Its because of Knowing Jesus Paula could sing for Joy, all the things that Jesus has done in her life and all the things that Paula treasured in her heart.

Steve shared that one thing that brought her joy that he could see on her face and hear in her voice was when she knew her family would be visiting her, She loved her sister Judy and brother Bill , brother in-law . sister in-law  nieces and nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren so much!! 

Her life and love was a blessing everyone she interacted with! In the brief time that I got to interact with Paula, I could see that she loved the Lord. I could see that God had clearly touched Paula’s life. I could see her faith admist the struggle. I remember sitting with Steve and Judy as Paula shared how she wanted to be home with Jesus.

As we reflect on the fact, that Paula is now in heaven worshiping Jesus with her brother Bill. The pictures Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 12 comes to mind.

Hebrews 11 talks about the Hero’s of the faith. Those that are models for us to follow. Chapter twelve follows with words for people of the faith who are still running the race. Paula ran the race with perseverance and endurance. She walked with Jesus, her shepherd. For those of us here, we have our own journey to make. This season of mourning will not be easy friends and family, but we do have Jesus who we can look to and put our hope in. We trust in Jesus, friends and family because we know He will be with us in every season of life just as He walked with our sister Paula. AMEN.