8-22-23 Darla's Service

Isaiah 41:10

I would like to thank everyone for your attendance this morning. We can see from the number that have been here this morning that Darla had an impact on many today. That testifies to the way that she lived her life. And she will be missed by many,,, as we continue in the days and weeks ahead. We will begin this morning with Alan Jackson,,, Amazing Grace ------------------------------------------------------------- Song: Amazing Grace ------------------------------------------------------------- Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also. ------------------------------------------------------------- We have gathered here today in God's presence as family and friends,,, to praise God and to witness to our faith,,, as we celebrate the life of Darla Marie Cameron Martin. Darla was born on August 25, 1968, in Collins, Mississippi to Jerry and Fredia Cameron. She was employed by the City of Slidell for over seventeen years in the engineering department and in the city council office. Darla was a member of the Christian faith. To know Darla was to love her. She loved to be in the country and being out in her yard taking care of her flowers. Darla was an exceptional seamstress, and even though she could not have children of her own she enjoyed making children’s clothes and selling them at every craft show and festival that she could. She enjoyed capturing every moment possible with her love of photography. She will be dearly missed by everyone. She was preceded in death by her mother, Fredia Dearman; her father, Jerry Cameron; and her brother, Shannon Cameron. Survivors include her loving husband and best friend, Kenny Martin; her sister, Debbie Logan; her brothers, Jay Cameron, Joey Newell, Kent Dearman, Rickey Dearman, and Jimmy Dearman; and her stepmother, Linda Cameron; and a host of nieces and nephews. ------------------------------------------------------------- While we have came to celebrate Darla's life,,, we also come together in grief this morning,,, acknowledging our human loss. May God grant us grace,,, that in pain we may find comfort,,, in sorrow,,, we find hope,,, and in death,,, we have the promise of resurrection.

For the family,,, and friends,,, the days ahead will not be easy.

But you know that Darla would want you to remember the good times,,, and forget the bad,,, because that's the way that she was at all times.

Doing anything that she could,,, to keep anyone else from hurting.

The days ahead won't be easy,,, and they will take time,,, but eventually the good memories will keep coming to mind,,, and they will crowd out the bad,,, and then,,, once again,,, she will bring smiles to your faces,,, when you remember the good times that you had,,, and God will help you along the way,,, just trust Him,,, and follow His guidance through the journey that's ahead for each of you. Prayer: - Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father,,, As we come before you this morning,,, we thank you for our many blessings. At the same time,,, we ask for comfort for all of us,,, the family and friends gathered here today. Help us through this service Lord as only You can,,, in Jesus' precious name we pray,,, Amen ------------------------------------------------------------- Song: Dancing In the Clouds ------------------------------------------------------------- Our scripture for this morning is Isaiah 41:10 And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Isaiah 41:10 Isaiah is describing God’s personal love and care for His people. The implied question is, “Have idols ever cared for you so tenderly?” God has called them from Ur of the Chaldees to be His servant; they are assured of His presence, His relationship, His help, and His sustaining power in what must be one of the loveliest verses in Isaiah: Isaiah 41:10 10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ------------------------------------------------------------- The first three words,,, Do not fear,,, should comfort us through any problem that we might have. How many times are we told this? How many times do we truly put this into use? Darla understood these words,,, and trusted God all throughout her ordeal.

That doesn’t mean that she didn’t have questions,,, she didn’t have struggles because of her sickness,,, or disappointments from everything that she was going through!

It just meant that she understood that God was in charge,,, and she trusted Him,,, as we all should,,, no matter what we are facing!

This is a problem that we can all face at times,,, but we need to be reminded of these words over and over again,,, which is apparently why it was written down so many different times,,, by so many different authors,,, and in so many different places! ------------------------------------------------------------- The reason that we should believe the first three words,,, Do not fear,,, is simply because of the next five words,,, for I am with you.

God is with us through our good days and our bad!

God is with us even before we became Christians!

If you are here today and you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,,, God is beside you right this very minute,,, nudging you,,, guiding you,,, trying to get your attention,,, trying to get you to realize that you cannot make it without Him!

How is He doing that?

Through the help of the Holy Spirit!

If you are already a Christian,,, God is right beside us as well,,, nudging us and guiding us,,, so that we can live the life that God wants for us to live!

You see,,, we can’t make it without God’s love and help!

And He made it easy when He sent His Son to live here on earth,,, die on the cross for our sins,,, resurrected 3 days later,,, and who now sits at the right hand of the Father,,, interceding for us,,, each and every day!

While also during this time,,, after Jesus ascended back to heaven,,, He sent the Holy Spirit to help us,,, again,,, each and every day,,, if we just listen and obey the way that we should!

------------------------------------------------------------- Isaiah told the people,,, do not be afraid, for I am your God.

We can take comfort that the God of the Bible,,, is our God!

Our God,,, spoke,,, and the world that we know today was formed,,, simply because He said the words.

Jesus calmed the storm,,, simply by the words that He spoke!

We serve a mighty God,,, yet,,, remarkably,,, over and over,,, we need to be reminded,,, because we still try to deal with problems with our strength and our limited knowledge,,, when everything that He has,,, is available for us to lean on!

I hope and pray that you hear these words today,,, and file them back,,, so that you can use these words to comfort you in the days ahead.

------------------------------------------------------------- The people were told,,, I will strengthen you;,,,

God gives us the strength that we need,,, if,,, and that's a big if I might add,,, we trust Him,,, and rely on His strength not our own,,, the way that we should!

God knows everything that we need,,, we have that available to help us,,, but we don't use it like we should.

Again,,, this is something that we need to remember,,, and I believe that these words helped Darla during her battle these last few months.

------------------------------------------------------------- God told Isaiah to tell the people,,, I will help you,,,

Those words are true for us today.

We can have things so much easier in our day to day activities,,, if we learn to lean on God the way that He would like for us to do!

God wants what's best for us,,, and yet,,, we hold ourselves back because we don't take advantage of all the resources available to us.

Everything He wants us to do or accomplish,,, can be completed easily and quickly,,, if we use God's help and strength and quit trying to do things our way.

------------------------------------------------------------- The last sentence Isaiah said that came from God to the people,,, I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.,,,

God's right hand symbolizes power and authority,,, and since He will hold us with that hand,,, there is nothing to fear!

That is something that I know that Darla would tell us today!

As long as we trust God the way that we should,,, nothing or no-one,,, will ever separate us from the love of God.

And God will always bring us home,,, safely home,,, where Darla is today!

------------------------------------------------------------- Psalm 116 verse 15 says: 15 The death of His faithful ones is valuable in the Lord’s sight.

Darla was faithful,,, and Darla was valuable to God!

He was watching over her while she was in this world,,, and He was with Her as she left.

We,,, those of us left here today,,, family,,, and friends,,, are sad that she's gone!

But she was precious in God's eyes while she was here,,, and we know from scripture that He guided her home!

And we will see her again,,, those of us that have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior.

------------------------------------------------------------- In John 14:6 “Jesus told Thomas,,, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The only way that we will ever experience heaven will be by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

God wants all to live in eternity in heaven with Him,,, but it's up to us to decide,,, no-one can make that decision for you.

That's why that I know she would tell us today,,, to be sure that we are making the right choices.

Choices that will change our life forever!

Choices that usually we don't think about,,, but the loss of a loved one can make us realize that our time on earth is short.

A choice that decides whether your eternity is spent in heaven or hell.

She would tell you,,, your choice should be,,, to put your trust in Jesus,,, confess your sins and ask for forgiveness,,, ask Him to come into your heart and live for Him,,, because it's only through Jesus that we will ever see heaven.

Because Jesus said that: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

And that's all the directions,,, we should ever need!

Darla was valuable in God’s sight,,, and I know that she would want the same for you!

So be sure that you have made the right choice today,,, so that you will be valuable in God’s sight,,, as well!

------------------------------------------------------------- Let us pray:

“Eternal God, we praise you for the great company of all those who have finished their course in faith and now rest from their labor. We praise you for those dear to us whom we name in our hearts before you. Especially we praise you today for Darla,,, whom you have graciously received into your presence. To all of these, grant your peace. Let perpetual light shine upon them; and help us to believe where we have not seen, that your presence may lead us through our years, and bring us at last with them into the joy of your home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”