R Cecil Warren Memorial

Welcome

Good afternoon everyone. Before I even begin to speak, let’s open with a word of prayer.

Well, if you are not familiar with who I am, my name is Robert Augi. Pastor Cecil Warren was my father-in-law - I am married to his second daughter, Kelley, and together we have the privilege of pastoring this church, Cutler Bay Worship Center.

Now, if you knew Cecil from his time here, pastoring St Timothy Lutheran Church for more than 28 years then it might look a little different in here. No pews. Some walls have moved. Even the stage is different. But all those physical changes pail in comparison to the foundation that was laid here for so many years. Of course this church was built quite a few years before he arrived, but Cecil built a foundation here of worship, love, the heart of God expressed to people, an open invitation to the Holy Spirit, and true adoration and honor of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says this of King David, but I would say this today as well, that Cecil Warren was a man after God’s heart. A man who pursued and laid down his life to follow the way of Jesus Christ.

And that is what we are here to celebrate today. A great man. A wonderful father and grandfather, and personally I would add a great father-in-law. He was a devoted husband. A faithful pastor. And he was ridiculously talented at just about everything he put his hand to. Whether it was choral directing, singing, playing piano, preaching, decorating, cooking, you name it he seemed to be able to do it. We are here celebrating a really great man.

So, as the pastor of this church, as the first one with the microphone, and as a grateful to be married-in member of this family, I want to say thank you for being here today. Thank you for coming to celebrate the life of Pastor, Coach, Choral Director, Cecil Warren. Thank you for loving him like we love him.

As you all know music and worship were a central part to Cecil’s life, and he’s asked that we take a moment and in song, worship the God he loved so much and that he is in heaven worshipping now.

These moments can be hard. It’s hard to sing through tears, even if you’re a trained singer, and if you know this family you know it is stacked with great singers. But to save them from having to come up here on a day like today I am going to lead us in a couple songs that Cecil loved and I invite you to sing them with us. The lyrics will be on the screens. But I don’t just invite you to sing, but to take this moment to allow God, who is the God of all comfort and peace, be with you, and be with us today, and to also take a moment to thank Him for His great mercy toward us.

And how we do things here, we stand to worship, so if you feel comfortable doing so, I invite you to stand together and sing with me.

Song: Father’s Song

Song: How Great Is Our God

I want to invite a couple people up to share a few words. The first couple I want to bring up here are Murray and Ash Smith. You may not know Murray and Ash. But this incredible couple over the last 13 years have become good friends to this family, not just friends but for a season pastors, and not just pastors, but family as they are Paul Warren’s father-in-law and mother-in-law.

But they are also now the pastors of Catch the Fire Toronto, what used to be called Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. And if you know that name you know how much the Holy Spirit impacted Cecil and Julie’s life through the move of God and the leadership in Toronto. And so it is really good to have you down here, I feel like you’re here as family, as friends, and as very welcome emissaries of a church and ministry that means a whole lot to us.

So if you want to come up here please and share whatever you have on your hearts.

Murray and Ash Smith

Next I want to invite Cecil and Julie’s oldest daughter, Kim LeMaster to come up and share a few words.

Kim Lemaster

Kelley, Cecil and Julie’s second daughter has prepared a slideshow of photos for us to take in. And after we have watched this, if there is anyone who would like to come up and share anything at that time we will welcome you to do so. So, while you’re watching this slide show you can be thinking about what you might want to come and share.

Slideshow

People Comments

Well, I don’t want to take a long time here, that can be a problem when you give a preacher a microphone, they might just talk forever. And I do want to make sure that you all know after the service here we have a reception set up in our Hall just in the building next to us. I want to invite you all to come over. There’s a lot of faces in this room that haven’t been seen for a long time and I know the family would love to have a moment to connect with you all.

But before we do that I want to honor what is probably the biggest wish Cecil had for this day, and that’s to take a few minutes and talk about his favorite person in the world. Now, you might that that’s kind of a strange statement. Wouldn’t that be obvious. It’s Julie… by the photos we’ve seen there’s no doubt he was absolutely smitten with this young lady. Or maybe, if you’re like me and you’ve been around the family long enough, you’ve heard all three of the Warren sisters express their understanding that they were in fact the favorite.

I’ve never heard Paul jump into that one. And he either just wasn’t going to get involved on that one. Probably a wise choice. Or he quietly resolved that he was in fact the favorite.

But I’m not talking about any of them either. Or his grand kids that he adored so much. The pictures of joy on his face with his family say that over and over again. And no it’s not even #45, President Donald Trump.

No, Cecil’s favorite person in the world is actually not even of this world. It was Jesus. And maybe even only by a hair, because of the immense love he had for his family, but I know that I know that Jesus was Cecil’s favorite person in the world.

There’s a story in the bible. You might know it. It’s about a man named Lazarus. Well, I think maybe it’s actually more about the other people in the story. See, Lazarus got sick, and his sisters, who were friends of Jesus, sent word to him that his good friend Lazarus was sick and it would be a really good time to come and visit, maybe pray for him, maybe heal him. But Jesus doesn’t make it in time, and Lazarus dies.

Jesus arrives and his sisters are beside themselves, of course, and Martha one of the sisters says to Jesus, “If only you would have been here, my brother would still be alive...”

And Jesus says, “Don’t worry, your brother will rise again.”

And she doesn’t fully understand what he’s talking about, maybe at the end of all time, when she and the Jewish community believed everyone would be raised again, but then Jesus says this, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.”

Now, if you know the story, Jesus actually does raise Lazarus from the dead, calls him out of a grave in dramatic fashion. But, his statement he made to Martha wasn’t actually talking about that.

And if you know the Warren family, if you know us here at Cutler Bay Worship Center, you know that we believe God heals. And we had hope, we prayed, and we believe that God could have healed Cecil of every ailment in his body. The ones the doctors had defined, and the ones we were still puzzled about. And we believe this story, and other stories where God has actually raised people from the dead.

But Cecil, and by his life lived and his message preached, we all have an even greater hope. And that hope is in what Jesus said to Martha. If you believe in me, even though you die, you will live.

And he wasn’t talking about a resurrection to live on this earth just a little while longer, and then die again, or even talking about total physical healing, but he was talking about an eternal destination.

This is the hope that Cecil had.

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies.

Paul also says that Jesus is the first of these, making the way for the rest of us.

See, Jesus Christ is real. He is God the Son. He did come to this earth 2000 years ago, as a baby - we’re about to celebrate his birth in a few short weeks. He lived on this earth, perfect, and because he was not only man, but also God he was the only one able to take all of our wrong doing, all of our bad decisions, all of our mistakes and carry it on His body when he was betrayed and crucified, which means he was hung on a cross to die. And he did die, but three days later, by no one’s hand but his own, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, he was raised to life.

There is no denying this truth. This last week has been incredibly hard for the family and friends of Cecil Warren. The heartbreak that I have seen and experienced is terrible. But the hope that Cecil had, is the hope that we have, and it’s the very reason that we celebrate today. It is because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that today we don’t grieve and mourn our loss, but we celebrate with joy and hope.

Joy, that Cecil is no longer in pain, no longer suffering, no longer unable to do what comes into his mind to do, but he is in heaven, not even restored, not even healed, but given NEW life, eternal life. The old man, his body, passed, but because of his faith in Jesus he lives on, and will live on for all eternity.

And we have hope, hope like he had that we can experience the same thing, and that we will see him again.

Here’s the thing. It’s not because he had some special ticket. There are not tickets to heaven.

And it’s not because he was a really good person, and he did it all right. That won’t actually get you into heaven either.

The way you get into heave is the same way Cecil did. By following the one who made a way. And that is the only way.

Jesus said of himself, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father, that is God in heaven, except through me.

Heaven is real.

There is life after death.

And I know Cecil, if he was here, would tell you to not just believe that there is a God, or believe in God, but to choose today to follow Jesus Christ. To find a community, a group of people, a church that is doing their best to follow Him. You won’t find a single church that’s perfect, but you can definitely find people who may be a little broken, maybe a little hurting, maybe just like you and me, to follow the one who IS perfect, Jesus Christ.

And I have met so many people that say this, myself included, and I know Cecil would say this as well, that deciding to give his life to following Jesus was the best decision he ever made.

And to me, that says a lot because he made some big decisions in his life, and his physical life was full of great results from those decisions. I’m married to one of them.

But I know if he could send a letter from heaven right now to us it would say, “Guys, it’s beautiful up here, and my legs are working, and my voice is working. Please, Please, Please, Do anything and everything you can to make sure you arrive here one day!”

Following Jesus isn’t always easy. In fact, the way we do that usually involves giving up our own plans on how to do things, and choosing to do what He said we should do. But I can tell you this. The more I choose to follow the way of Jesus, the more I realize I should have been doing that all along. And it’s not just good for this life, but it’s the only way there is to experience eternal life.

We will all come to the end of our lives at some point. And we will all stand before God. And it won’t be because we were good enough people to be let into heaven, it will only be because we are following the one who made a way.

That’s where Cecil is right now. He chose to follow Jesus on this earth while he was alive, and because he did that, because he acknowledged that Jesus was the only way to make his life right with God, when he died he got to follow Him into heaven.

That is why we celebrate his life today! It’s why in our grief we can take great comfort. It’s why we have hope.

And I want to invite each of you to make that choice today. I’m not going to force you to do anything. I’m not going to make any decision for you. But I can tell you it’s the best decision I ever made. I can tell you it’s the best decision Cecil ever made. It’s the best decision so many of us in this room have made in our lives. To follow Jesus. And I want to invite you to do the same, because He is worth it.

I want to pray for you this morning, and for all of us, and if you recognize that you truly do want to follow Jesus, then I want you to pray with me when I get there. I’ll let you know. And then afterward I want you to find me and talk to me, let me know you made the best decision for your life.

Let’s pray.