Untitled Sermon (2)

SCRIPTURE

John 14:1–6

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

COMMENTS TO THE FAMILY

When I meet with a family who has lost someone, I usually ask a few questions about their loved one then allow them to simply talk while I listen for key memories or a particular characteristic that will help me describe the person well and help the family feel as though I knew them even if I didn’t.

Fun and Funny

- Some of the very last conversations with dad consisted of dad jokes.

- He literally used some of his last breaths to make us laugh – or at least smile.

- I think that is why dad was fun and funny – not so much to make us laugh but to make us smile.

- There are pictures of him wearing a wig and a dress at a family reunion – sadly, I have little other context than that photo.

Dad would some things funny on purpose, but other things were funny because they happened to dad.

- “The biscuits are burning!”

- Riding down Alpine Slide and skinning his knees

Dad was also funny because he was fun

- Pulling up to another car blasting music and dad would turn up The Carpenters or whatever easy listening station he had on

- Buying fireworks and setting the roof on fire or flying fireworks over the police station

- Mt. Airy Lodge and signing to all the 1%ers

Steady and Steadfast

Dad was steady. Some things with dad were always “dad.”

- He could always be found in his Lazy Boy

- Always watched COPS or NASCAR – just for the accidents – which he would rewind and watch later

- Always loved his ice cream, or donuts, or coffee – cream and sugar

- Limited wardrobe – always had same clothes

- Always asked for the same Christmas gift so he wouldn’t be a burden

- Always had change in his pocket

While there were things that were “always dad” one of those things was that he was steadfast.

- He seemed to always be “just chillin’”

- You could be anxious or worried but I didn’t see it in dad

- There was a safety around dad

Faithful and Full of Faith

- Faithful to mom

o He loved her

o I never grew up wondering if mom and dad would make it

o Dad signing, “Even though we ain’t got money, I’m still in love with you, honey” then kissing mom

- Faithful to us the kids

o You could count on dad being at the game or concert

o He would arrange his work schedule to take care of the things you needed.

Dad was faithful and full of faith:

- Though he was not always outspoken about his faith, he was faithful as he was full of faith.

- Every Sunday watching dad lead the hymns – singing songs of the faith

- Remember dad’s Bible? I remember it flying off the car more than a few times

- He asked a lot of questions about heaven the week before he entered heaven – What will heaven be like? When will I get my new body? Will I see mom? Will we recognize each other?

- Not once did dad ask, “Will I be in heaven?” He already knew the answer to that question. Not because he was a perfect person (see above)

- He trusted Jesus is real, died the death dad deserved, to give dad the life only he could give.

- Dad told me the last message he heard me preach was Easter

- IF it is true that Jesus rose from the dead, then this changes everything!

20 times in NT - we will be raised

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Romans 8:11‌

11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Though none of us were quite sure what he did at work,

we were all affected by the work he did at home.

COMMITTAL

In the light of these promises God has given us in His Word and in as much as it has pleased the Lord in His sovereign wisdom and purpose to take from our midst our dad, as the dust of which we are made returns to dust, we now commit his body to its final resting place to await the fulfillment of the promise of Scripture:

SCRIPTURE

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for this day as “it is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

And we thank you this day for Jesus, for his precious gift of eternal life, and for the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of our natural sorrow, we thank you for your supernatural grace.

In facing death, we thank you for the promise of life everlasting.

And in the face of separation, we thank you for the assurance of eternal reunion.

We thank you for dad life here on this earth, and we recognize that the body before is not dad but is the house, the tabernacle, in which helived.

We acknowledge that dad is with you now, rejoicing in your presence and enjoying the blessings of heaven.

So Father, we now commit the body of Samuel Dickinson to this earth, and we rejoice that his spirit is with you even now.

We look forward to that day, when we can all rejoice together, and we thank you that we are not without hope or comfort at this time.

We thank you for making your presence very real to each family member, and that you will especially strengthen and sustain us in the days, weeks, and months to come.

In Jesus Name, Amen.