Verna's Memorial Message

Personal Tribute

This morning it is a honor to stand and speak on behalf of a wonderful person in my life.

It is also with a heavy heart that I stand here. This precious lady has meant so much to so many of us. I would like to share a few thoughts on her and what she meant to me.

Verna came into my life when I was in Junior High. Her family moved to my hometown to minister there and stayed for 9 years.

Verna was my mentor, pastor, fiend, right hand and confidante.

She was ministy minded and loved to serve people, she loved to help out wherever she could. She was extremely organized. She loved to laugh, to have fun, she was a jokester. She loved God and was dedicated to God.

She was genuine. She was a person who wanted to see us suceed.

She loved hard.

She was a proud wife, mother and grandma that’s for sure.

She knew the meaning of being a true friend.

She was a great cook too!

1 Thess. 12-28 talks about Christian conduct I certainly saw evidence of this in Verna’s life.

v. 12 talked about diligently working

in Vern’as life there was always room for ministry and mentorship

She taught me respect and to respect others, especially your leaders. She was my leader, she taught me how to lead, serve and respect.

Then I was her leader and she demonstrated these lessons back to me.

v. 13 - appreciation is mentioned and working together with others, being a peaceful person.

those who knew her knew she was a person of prayer, love and backed up your vision

Verna ensured I knew she stood with me as her pastor. She ensured I knew she appreciated me and my ministry.

Verna also loved to love. She always gave lots of hugs, kisses, kind words and affirmation. I loved going to ECC and seeing her big smile, she made me feel very special.

This lady had my back. She knew ministry was challenging. She encouraged me, reminded me that I was capable, she encouraged me to be strong and secure in my calling and identity in Christ.

When I felt discouraged, weak or small she was quick to remind me of who I belonged to and who called me.

I miss her

There are so many times I have went to message her, text her or call her and realized she is not here and the hurt was so difficult and still is.

v. 16 - Rejoice always - this was evident in her life - she loved to worship and praise God. She came to church prayed up and ready to go!

She loved coming together to pray, prause and point others to God.

Having faith in God truly delighted Verna, she loved sharing about God.

I believe with all my heart she was missional in her life. She pointed others to Jesus because He did so much for her.

She loved missions, loved outreach, loved to minister.

She took trips to Africa to participate in missions work with Wayne

She was a youth leader to me and ensured we got to youth rally’s and events because this mattered

She shared about the difference God made in her life both in her family and personal encounters.

v.18 - she was an example of a person of prayer - she was persistent in prayer

She knew there was power in prayer

Prayer changed things

She saw healings in her family because of prayer

Prayer brought provision when things were not clear

Prayer gave purpose and a clear path to her life

I learned the power of seeking a prayer language from Verna and she stood with me as I asked God to give me more of Him in my life. Verna was right there next to me holding up my hands, praying with me when I was at a loss for words, and helping to carry the burden.

She helped me seek God for direction and blessings in my life.

1 Cor. 15:50-58

We need to look at 1 Cor. 15:50-58

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 NIV

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Despite the loss that we feel over Verna no longer being with us, there is a message that I know I have to preach today.

Yes death is hard.

Loss is hard

But there is hope!

There is a message of victory that we need to focus on.

This scripture show us that death is not the end. There is a mystery to death yes but it is not the end. When we have a relationship with Christ we have hope.

Those in Christ will all be changed! Our physical body will be transformed. There will be a transformation that will transform our mortal body into imortal body. Paul refers to this transformation as a mystery, but friends one day the trumpet is going to sound and we will go from perishable to imperishable.

The trumpet is an instrument used to signal the end of a battle, it signaled victory!

The mystery that Paul mentions is to show that we don’t have all the details of how it will all take place or what it will be like.

But think of it like this:

“On this side of eternity we are growing in Christ and being shaped more and more into the image of Jesus which can be a slow and difficult process as we put sin to death and try to walk in holiness”.

This passage also teaches that things will change in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed and be like Him. What is difficult for us is not difficult for God.

Friends, to put our hope in this physical world alone is not a smart choice, the words used to explain it is actually “done in vane” - meaning will not be successful.

Enjoy your life and this world as a gift from God but at the same time remember that your hope in Christ is that although we will die our mortal body will put on immortality because of the victory of Jesus Christ!

We often hear that death is a part of life. Yes this is true, but death is also an enemy and intruder.

In verse 56 Paul interconnects death, sin and the law.

Sin came when Adam disobeyed God. Since Adam is our representative we are born into sin. Therefore there is a need for salvation.

Death is an intruder and enemy because it is a bi-product of sin.

God warned Adam by saying “in the day that you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you will surely die.” So in Adam’s sin, all die. More than that, the Mosaic Law created opportunity for us to trespass against it (Romans 5:20-21, 7:5-25). The Law was designed to restrain sin and to reveal our need for a savior but all fall short of God’s glory and transgress against the Law.

Even though everyone will experience death, death is an enemy that will be defeated. Because in Christ we experience the death of death.

To mark the victory of Christ Paul quotes Isa. 25:8

Isaiah 25:8 NIV

he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.

This passage gives us the image of the mountain of God, the wedding feast and death being swallowed up forever!

We know that this is something that will happen in the future because death is still painful. There is still a sting to death. Paul taunts death because the victory of Christ is certain and the victory of Christ is shared with his people.

If you are a follower of Christ you have hope! Followers of Christ don’t worry, hold on, endure a little longer and be faithful to God because the hope we have is certian.

Our work for the Lord will bear fruit because God is at work in it. So even when life feels and the experiences of death around you feel heavy, know that it is not in vain and that God has worked to defeat death in Christ.

Please my friends know in your heart today where you stand with God. Make sure you have surrendered your life to Him. Do not let death have victory in your life. Allow the hope of Christ to be real and evident in your life.

We want to be able to be reunited one day with precious friends and loved ones like Verna. Be sure you are ready for the second coming of the Lord while there is still time.