Melissa Vigil Funeral

Melissa Vigil Funeral /Friday 4 Aug 2023/11am

Memorial Service @ Tabor Funeral Home

(Viewing 9-11am)

Funeral Service:

Prelude: Sheila

Welcome – Pastor Ward

Song: (In the Garden – 264–1,3)

Poem – Samantha

Special (Pastor Walker)

Scripture reading – Psa 23 Pastor Walker

Song (When We All Get to Heaven- 498-1,4)

Obituary – Pastor Walker

Song: (It Is Well with My Soul – 256-1,2,4)

Testimonies (brief remembrances)

Song: (Softly and Tenderly – 246–1,4)

Special: Pastor Walker

Message – Pastor Ward

Closing Prayer: Pastor Ward

On behalf of Vigil/Montano family, I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate and honor the life and passing of Melissa Vigil.

Although I didn’t get to know Melissa, like you all did, I had the privilege of getting to know her a little through the eyes of some of her family the past few weeks and just the other day as I visited some of the family at Desirae’s home. I learned some things about her life especially in the good times. I was told how she especially loved her children and made sure they had every opportunity to get involved in school sports and multiple activities. How, also she loved to have other kids of the neighborhood around and would care for them and feed them, she was known for keeping a pot of beans on the stove for visitors, she had a heart for people. She enjoyed seeing God’s creation in the mountains by hiking and taking the kids camping, even panning for gold, matter of fact , I was told there are still three buckets of dirt that need to be panned, just saying. To sum up what I learned about Melissa is that she was a loving Mom, with a servant’s heart for others. I really would like to have known her better, like you all. Thank you for sharing a little of her life with me. But why are we here today? It is to celebrate her life and to help each other to deal with Melissa’s passing in a positive way.

That being said, funerals are contradictory times of grief and sorrow and remembrance and celebration due to the loss of a loved one, and this is no exception.

Most or many of you here today have heard of the Dickens novel “A Tale of Two Cities” and it famously opens with the statement “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times….” These words reflect the contrasts and contrasts of family relationships and life in general. Without the worst of times, we cannot truly appreciate the best of times, like I just spoke about a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, like each of us, there have also been some “worst of times” in Melissa’s life. Especially her final weeks in this life, could easily be called the worst of times.

But now, even in this difficult time for her family and friends it is truly the best of times for Melissa, she is with the one she professed as her savior so many years ago. Because of that, this should really be a time of rejoicing, a celebration of her life. It is the best of times in spite of our own personal sorrow over our loss, yet we can rejoice because we know that Melissa is not really in this casket. What we see before us is merely the earthy shell called the body, but her spirit/soul, the essence of who she is, is with the Lord and will one day be resurrected and reunited with that part of her which lives forever. Because of that, this is not a time of sadness, but of joy knowing that as one of God’s children, through having a personal relationship with Jesus she is now home forever with her creator (2Cor 5:8 tells us that “…to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”). I know these are easy words to say, but I believe them to be true because the Word of God is truth and tells us that anyone who will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Rom 10:13 I was told that Melissa made that profession of faith as a young girl many years ago while attending FBCW with her family. In spite of her salvation, we who are left behind also know that in our humanity, we all feel the pain and sorrow of loss and desire comfort and healing of our hearts. So, the main purpose for our gathering here today, is to attempt to bring some form of comfort and hope to all of you here that miss and long to have Melissa still with you. I know the words I speak may not take the sting out of this difficult time, but the only true living God/Lord Jesus can and will provide the comfort you all desire because He is the God of comfort, consolation, and hope and come not by the words of men, but by the love, the words, and the actions of our loving creator.

I would like to read to you a passage of scripture from the book of John 11:23-26 “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

We are told in the preceding verses of our text, that Lazrus (brother of Mary and Martha and friend of Jesus) became sick then died. We know thru experience and the Bible that:

I. Physical Life in this world is just temporary, death comes to everyone!

A. Death is a fact of life because…

1. Man was originally created sinless and was to live in blissful peace and fellowship with God.

a. But, one day Adam sinned, and the penalty of sin was passed upon all mankind.1Cor 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

b. Because of that, man would suffer physical death and spiritual death/separation from God.

c. Mans sinful nature still separates him today from the original purpose God intended.

2. The Bible reinforces that fact and tells us that:

a. “Life is but a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Jam4:14

b. Psa 90:10 goes on to say: “The days of our years are threescore and ten (70) and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years (80), yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and will fly away.”

i. Melissa only had the opportunity to live a portion of the years mentioned in that passage.

ii. As in this psalm, in all her years, her strength was labor, and life was most certainly filled w/sorrow.

iii. But no matter how hard she/we try, eventually it ends. In the grand scheme of things, however long our Life is, it is too short for those of us left behind.

We can also see from our text, that we each have purpose in life, even if we sometimes may not understand what it may be. Therefore:

II. We can have comfort Knowing our life has meaning and purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ, like Lazarus had purpose.

A. Like in our text, if for no other reason, even Lazarus death had purpose, he was a close personal friend of Jesus and Jesus used him to show his divine power and to bring glory to God. Mat 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls”. There is purpose and value to all life, even in death by having a close personal relationship with Jesus. He receives glory even in the most difficult circumstances of life. Jn 9:1-3 & 11:4

B. Melissa’s life and your Life was/is not an accident. It’s not a coincidence!

1. God is the giver of all physical life (man is created in the image of God) Gen 1:26 w/a Spiritual life-1Cor 15:44. “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”

a. Therefore, there is and must be purpose and meaning in each life b/c God created it.

2. Mans purpose is to bring Glory to God in all he does in his life.

3. Just as Lazarus had a purpose, so did Melissa.

a. She had family fellowship and she had spiritual fellowship with the Lord in this life.

b. She also helped fill our earthly lives in many ways and impacted the lives of everyone that she met.

4. Psalm 116:15 Tells us how valuable we are to God. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” We are precious!

a. God’s creation is important and has value to him because he created and loves us.

b. He loved us so much that, Jn 3:16 “He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”

c. Jesus died on the cross for Melissa and for everyone and anyone that believes on Him.

In our text, unbeknown to Lazarus he died so that he could be resurrected to life. Vs 25

III. Therefore, we can have proof of the hope in the resurrection of life from death in Jesus Christ.

A. Through the resurrection of Lazarus, and then later, Jesus himself, He proved that He was God and had power over death unto eternal life.

1. 1Cor 15:19-21 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man/Adam came death, by man/Jesus came also the resurrection of the dead”

B. A number of years ago, Melissa made her decision for the Lord and received Jesus as her Savior and Lord. And since that time despite the challenges and difficulties of her life she still had comfort and hope, in spite of those circumstances. Even if she didn’t always understand how, but she trusted in the Word of God, that God would take care of her and that she would live eternally in heaven when her days here would come to an end.

1. John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Fathers’ house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”

Again, from our text, Martha, not understanding that Jesus was not speaking at that time of a future resurrection, but that he was going to raise Lazarus presently from the dead. Jesus used her understanding of the future resurrection spoken of throughout the Old Testament to instruct her and us, that Jesus is the only way to salvation and eternal life.

IV. So, we too, like Martha and the onlookers can have comfort and hope of Eternal life in Jesus.

A. Because Jesus tells us in Jn 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the father but by me.” Salvation is like a one-way street, there isn’t many ways, just one.

B. Jesus told Martha that whosever believes in Him, will never die, that their bodies may die, but they/their essence will live on eternally.

1. That one day our old bodies will return to the earth as dust and will one day be made new and incorruptible. Gen 3:19

2. And that one day, we will be changed and reunited with them. In new glorified bodies w/o imperfections.

3. 1Thes 4:14-18 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep/died.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,

with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and

the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and

remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to

meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

CLOSING: We all know that comfort and hope in this world are often fleeting and hard to come by. But like Melissa we can have comfort and hope, not of this world, but of the world and life to come. Knowing that life is in Jesus Christ who has the power to not only create life, but to resurrect life from death, and make that life eternal. Therefore, all of us can have comfort in knowing by the decision Melissa made a profession of faith for Christ as a young girl and is in heaven with the Lord.

Remember: Her days of suffering, pain, heartache, trials and tribulations of this life are over, but just as Melissa had hope through trusting in the Lord Jesus, knowing that her time on earth was only temporary, and that it simply was the end of the beginning, we too can have that same hope, not fretting over our present circumstances of this life, knowing that God cares for us and we too can look forward to the hope of eternal life, if we only receive the free gift of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. One day everyone that has a personal relationship with Jesus can look forward to being reunited together with Melissa and other family members and friends. Allow yourselves to be comforted with the words of Jesus Spoken to Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

PRAYER:

Announcement: There will be a Grave side service at Elmwood Cemetery 14800 Old Brighton Rd. Also following the Grave side service there will be a food fellowship to be held at the Northglenn Moose Lodge #2166, 11449 York St, Northglenn, everyone is invited.

Melissa Vigil Grave-Side Service @ Elmwood Cemetery, Brighton

Friday, 4 August 2023/12:30am

I have three passages of Scripture I would like to share with you to help you understand that though death may be a fearful thing, death is nothing that we need to fear:

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

1Cor 11:51-58 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on Immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

2Thessalonians 2:16-17 “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”

We can have hope in this life and the next because!

Our hope is in the resurrection of Christ. It proves that physical death in not the end. It is the beginning for his children, they too will have eternal life in Him.

Our victory over death and the grave is in Christ. The grave is just a resting place for the body, Melissa is not here today, she is in eternity in the mansion prepared for the saints. The troubles of this world are over for her. So let us, in this life then keep on keeping on until our labors for the Lord are finished and we can be reunited with Melissa.

Remember, Our comfort in this life is in Christ. Let the God of everlasting consolation, comfort your hearts in every good thing you do. He loves you and gives himself for you, he wants to help you through this time and all times.

Closing Prayer: (emphasis on family)

Melissa Vigil Funeral Schedule of Events

4 August 2023/Friday/11am – Tabor Funeral Home

PRELUDE: Sheila Key

WELCOME/OPENING PRAYER: Pastor Ward

HYMN: “In the Garden - #264 – 1,3”

POEM Reading: Samantha

SPECIAL: Pastor Walker

SCRIPTURE Reading: Psalm 23 Pastor Walker

HYMN: “When We All Get to Heaven” #498 – 1,4

EULOGY: Pastor Walker

HYMN: “It Is Well with My Soul” #256 – 1,2, 4

Testimonies: (brief testimonies from congregation-use mic)

HYMN: “Softly and Tenderly, Jesus is Calling” #246 – 1,4

SPECIAL: Pastor Walker

SERMON: Pastor Ward

CLOSING PRAYER: Pastor Ward

ANNOUNCEMENT: There will be a graveside service at Elmwood Cemetery, 14800 Old Brighton Rd, Brighton at 12:30pm. Following the graveside service there will be a food fellowship time @ the Northglenn Moose Lodge, 11449 York St, Northglenn, everyone is invited to attend.