Gaile Peake Funeral Service 5-2-24

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor Bill Wenstrom

Thursday May 4, 2024

Memorial Service for Mrs. Gail Peake

Greeting

This morning, we come together as a church, family and friends to bring into remembrance and celebrate the life of Gail Peake.

So today we will shed those tears of sadness for the loss of our wife, mother, sister and friend.

However, we will also shed tears of joy because Gail no longer suffers since she is in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, our brothers and sisters in the Lord who are already in His presence and His angels.

Since Gail was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, today is a victory and a celebration since the believer lives even though they die because they have placed their faith in the One who has risen from the dead who has released us from the power of death.

This morning, we will sing, we will remember Gail and we will learn what the Bible says about death and what the Word of God says about what Gail saw the moment she died and what she is now presently experiencing in heaven as we speak.

Today, we will receive comfort, encouragement and strength to deal with the loss of Gail and we as believers will receive a challenge to live our lives in light of our own impending death.

For those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ you will receive an invitation to believe on Jesus so that when you die, you too will receive eternal life.

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, we confess to You any sins we have committed most recently (pause).

We thank you for the forgiveness of all of our sins.

Father, we come before you today to remember and cherish Gail.

We thank you for loving us by sending your Son to the cross.

We ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit during this service.

We pray that the Spirit would lead us in celebrating and remembering Gail by concentrating upon what we hear and see today.

Let us cherish these moments and reflect upon our own lives and relationship with You.

In our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Affirmation of Faith

Death is the sovereign decision of God based upon the integrity of God and omniscient knowledge of all the facts.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth: 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted. (NET)

Psalm 116:15 The Lord values the lives of his faithful followers. (NET)

Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good reputation is better than precious perfume; likewise, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. (NET)

The death of a member of the human race is not ruled by chance or fate but according to the providence of God.

The doctrine of providence expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God Who reveals the purpose of providence through the work of Christ on the Cross.

The believer’s physical body goes to the grave at death and his soul and human spirit go to be face to face with the Lord who is in the third heaven (2 Cor. 5:8).

2 Corinthians 5:1–8 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 5:2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, 5:3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. 5:4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5:5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 5:6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord—5:7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (NET)

The believer will receive a resurrection body at the resurrection of the church, which is called by theologians, the “rapture” of the church.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—15:52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (NET)

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross has freed us from the fear of death.

Hebrews 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. (NET)

The Lord Jesus Christ declared to Martha that the person who believes in Him will live even if he dies.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (NET)

Gail believed this and still lives.

Not on this earth but in the presence of Jesus Christ her Savior she lives forever more and she wanted all of you to believe this as well.

God has a plan for all of you just like He had a plan for Gail.

God’s plan from eternity past for every believer is that they be conformed to the image of Christ or in other words, that they possess the character and nature of Christ.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (NET)

Now, you might be saying to yourself, well mister…you don’t know how much of a wicked sinner that I am but may I say to you…that I’m no better than you.

If you realize that you are a sick sinner and need a Savior, you have come to the right place.

According to the Bible, we are all sinners in the eyes of God.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (NET)

However, God’s will is that He wants all men to be saved because He loves all men.

1 Timothy 2:4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (NET)

John 3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (NET)

The Bible teaches that we accept His gift of salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ since there is no other way to get saved but through Him.

John 14:6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NET)

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (NET)

Once you get saved, God has a fantastic plan laid out for you from eternity past.

Physical death can never separate the believer from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39).

Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NET)

What did Gail see when she left this earth?

Heaven is the place where Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (NET)

What is Gail seeing at this moment and doing?

Revelation 5:11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand—thousands times thousands—5:12 all of whom were singing in a loud voice: “Worthy is the lamb who was killed to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!” (NET)

For those of us left behind, the Lord promises to wipe away every tear from our lives caused by the death of loved ones.

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” 5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.” (NET)

Life hangs by a very fine thread that can be snapped at any moment and should motivate the believer to use the remainder of their time on earth to execute God’s plan for their life to become like Christ.

Romans 14:8 If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (NET)

Finally, God promises a reunion with Gail and all those who have died as believers in Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. 4:15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (NET)

Closing Prayer

Could I ask everyone to bow their heads in prayer?

Father, we thank you for this day of remembrance and celebration for Gail.

We know she is already in your loving arms and we look forward to the day when we go home to be with you also and be reunited with Gail.

We miss her and will continue to miss her throughout the rest of our days here on planet earth.

We look forward to the day when are with her again in heaven.

Please tell her Father that we love her so much.

Father we also ask for Your hand upon the Peake family and all of us who are here to comfort them.

Help us in this time of sorrow and lift us upon by Your amazing grace in the coming days.

We thank you for giving us these precious years with Gail and look forward to eternity with You and her and all the saints.

We ask for these things in Your Son Jesus Christ’s precious Name.

This concludes our service.

You are all invited to the graveside service at Maple Hill Cemetery.

There will be no formal procession-just make your way there.

You are all dismissed.