Irma Clark Funeral

Order of Service

Can't Help Falling in Love with You, Elvis Presley

READ PSALM 23- Nathan

Prayer & Read obit—Nathan Pellegra

There Will Be Peace in the Valley —Elvis Presley

Family Tribute—Rhonda Clark

Eulogy —Nathan Pellegra

Elvis Montage

It’s an honor to stand before you today, representing the family with the opportunity that I have to speak well of Irma Clark in this celebration of her life. Irma, or Nana, as her family, called her, was a servant full of unconditional love to all those she loved. I got to know Irma best over these many years as I watched her care for and parent her granddaughter, Shelley. Shelley was in my youth ministry at the time, and it was always a beautiful picture when I would have a parent meeting for some trip or event for the youth and there in the midst of these parents were Harris and Erma Clark. They were on their second round of parenting at that point and they were so committed to loving Shelley and raising in her in the church so that she might believe in Christ they way they did.

I never visited their home in Easthill without Nana pulling me aside to show some new collection he had acquired. See, if you didn’t know, Irma was sort of a collector of historical artifacts. We could call her an archeologist of sorts. She didn’t collect museum piece but instead pop culture items. She loved doing it as a passion and she loved showing it off to others.

When I was over to see these collections, I was amazed at how meticulous she was in organizing these items. To you and I, it might seemed a little overcrowded but her passion led her to catalogue in her mind every piece she owned and exactly where to find it. This passion of hers can teach us a very foundational lesson as we remember her life.

Long ago, Irma put her faith in Jesus Christ( if Rhonda doesn’t share it, I will here) as her Lord and Savior. There is a promise to all those who believe in Jesus. The promise is this…the Lord Jesus has recorded all who truly confess him as Lord and believe. Just like Irma had a mental record of all these personal items that she had collected the Bible tells us that all those who believe in Christ are written down and recorded as belonging to him.

The concept of the Lord, recording those who belong to him, begins in the Old Testament. This record keeping has great significance to those who truly trust and follow the Lord by faith. In the book of psalms, it says about the unrighteous…..

Psalm 69:28 (NASB95)

28 May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

As a physical nation of people, the people of Israel were consistent in the record-keeping of those who belong to them as a physical nation. This helped in their record-keeping as they would travel through the wilderness and as they tracked the lineage of those who would inherit the blessings of the promised land.

In the New Testament, under the new covenant, this concept takes a spiritual meaning as those who truly confess Christ and belong to him. Believers in Jesus Christ are called spiritual Israel, and the record book to which their name is inscribed is a eternal record.

Luke 10:19–20 (NASB95)

19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

Jesus words are simply that the greatest 1celebration that one can have is that our names are “recorded in heaven.”

How are our names recorded in heaven? We are not born into this eternal inscription by birthright. Instead the bible says that to experience eternal rest and joy in Christ, we must put our faith in Christ alone for the salvation of our sins. Jesus came into the world, as both God and man, and he lived a perfect life and he died upon the cross to provide a way for evil and wretched sinners like us to be freed from sin’s hold on our lives and we can have peace and freedom. Those who are saved from the wrath of God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, their names are written in whats called the Lamb’s book of life.

Rev 21:23-29 describes a vision of heaven given by the apostle John. In this vision, heaven is described as focused on the glory of Christ with those populating heaven whose names were written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 21:23–27 (NASB95)

23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

It is the Lamb’s book because it is only by Christ that they are present in eternity. He authored the book and it accomplished all that was necessary for them to be inscribed in such a record.

Earlier in Rev 3, these believers are said to be clothed in white garments. The garments represent a new life that is cleansed by stain of sin and forgiveness is granted to them. That stain was removed when Jesus became the substitute for sin and brought salvation for all who would believe. This is why the book is also called the book of life. Everyone in the world is born into sin and we are in need of transformation. That transformation comes when we are given new life in Christ. New life in Christ is represented in the inscription of your name in the book of life.

Lastly, no other book expresses the true meaning of life like the Lamb’s book of life. Jesus said in his ministry on earth,

John 10:14–15 (NASB95)

14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

As I stated before, Irma’s collection of treasures were just one example of her love. This love was demonstrated to all those around her as she served them. This is a reflection of Christ and his love for his people. Their names are recorded because he died for sin. He died for sin to show the love of God to the world and provide a way to bring glory to his name through this act of love and grace. Love is best displayed in this loving sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

Urge people with good news- Rev 21:27

Revelation 21:27 NASB95

27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.