Lamentations 3 - Funeral Sermon - Pamela S Hunt

Welcome

Good morning. My name is Curtis Rhoadarmer and I am the pastor at New Hope Baptist Church. On behalf of the family, we want to welcome you here to honor the life of Pamela Hunt. Thank you for your presence during this time of grief for the family and thank you for the kind words which you offer in sympathy and the hugs which are meant to bring comfort. They are helpful and they are wanted.

Prayer

Would you join me in prayer as we start this service,

Father, Today we come to you with heavy hearts because we lost a woman whose life touched so many others. We are grieving Father. We are trying to be strong but death defeats us and we cannot find our own way. God, you are the Father of mercies, be merciful to us in this one of our greatest times of need. You are the God of comfort and you comfort us in our time of afflictions because we are a broken and sinful people. Please place your hand of healing on our hurting hearts and give us the mercy that only you can give.

In Jesus Christ’s most precious name I pray, AMEN

Special Reading: Verse 31 – God Saw You Getting Tired

God saw you getting tired, And a cure was not to be; So he put his arms around you, And whispered, “Come to me”. With tearful eyes we watched you, And saw you pass away; Although we loved you dearly, We could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, Hard working hands to rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best.

Special Music - In the Garden - Ann Murray

Obituary

Pamela S. Hunt

April 14, 1949 ~ May 23, 2024

Pamela Sue Hunt (Carney), 75, Marion, passed away on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Marion Health. She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Joseph E. and Donna L. Carney (Wolfe).

Pam was a graduate of Mississinewa High School class of 1967 and attended Ball State University. She retired from H&R Block after 30 years as a tax preparer and an Enrolled Agent. She taught many tax courses, teaching others the work she enjoyed. She had many faithful clients that returned year after year. She lived a very full life and will be missed by many.

Pam had many adventures with her daughter in girl scouts, camp-outs, family vacations and spending time with her. She was a fun-loving and very family oriented individual. She loved to talk and laugh of old memories and new. She was an avid sports fan of many different sports, from football and basketball to the Olympics and spent a lot of time watching them. She immensely enjoyed spending time with her grandsons and all their adventures in fishing, shooting, going to the movies, watching them play sports, and family dinners.

Pam is survived by her daughter, Suzi (John) Lane; grandsons, Bryce and Beau; and special friend, Cheryl Gilkison.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Patricia Webb (Carney).

Memorial

I spent some time with John and Suzi the other day to to learn about her Mom and to see who Paula was and how she lived. As we spoke I got to hear about the joys of life with Suzi’s mom and I got to hear about a woman who was a joy to be around and to know. Paula loved well and she knew how to take care of those around her. She loved with a no nonsense type of attitude that helped her give good advice as well as tell you hard truths. As a single mother she learned how to thrive with little. As John said, “Suzi never knew she was poor.” That says a lot about how Paula chose to parent and how she held her head up high. There was a depth of character there that kept her from feeling like her lack was a character flaw. And speaking of character she appeared to lack none. John and Suzi both stated without a moments hesitation that Paula was “Strong, Opinionated, and Independent” These traits helped her to weather the hard times and to show much love and care for those around her especially her beloved daughter Suzi. A Daughter whom she showered with love and as Suzi admits maybe spoiled her a bit. There were girl-scout camping trips and long vacations on back roads always taking the long way to get anywhere. There was food and friends and love aplenty and Suzi always knew she could ask her mother for anything and she would do all that she could to help her get it. John is an example of that because when he came around Suzi’s Dad’s response to John was “No” so Suzi said, “Fine I’ll go ask mom.” A “Yes” from Paula that I am sure she didn’t regret.

As John and Suzi’s family grew so did Paula’s love. She loved her grandson’s and on the day she passed I sat there talking to Bryce and Beau about their Grandma and I could hear in their voices the joy that she brought into their lives. Their favorite memory of their Grandma was and always will be their “Chopped” meals. They would sit together and watch the show “Chopped” on Food Network and Bryce would get it in his head that he wanted to try something that they had just seen. As if by some miracle that only Grandmas have she would have most if not all the ingredients so they would get started. Often the meal would turn out but often it wouldn’t however it was never truly how it tasted it was all about the journey and the task being done together. Beau was usually just along for the ride but on occasion when he would try his hand at cooking what usually came out was Mac & Cheese with Hot dogs.

Right up to the end she loved her family. As John took off time to be with her Paula would ask about what he was missing to be there, she knew that it was a sacrifice and she loved her entire family for their willingness to take care of her. Paula will be missed for she was a loving mother, a devoted friend, a caring grandmother, and a wonderful person. Today we remember her life. For the next few mins we would like to open the floor up to any of you to share your memories of Paula and at the end we have a special song that we will close out with.

Special Music - Amazing Grace - Randy Travis

Sermon

I want to read you another scripture that I want you to think about in a moment of contemplation. Lamentations 3:22–26 “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.”

Today we are going to read a couple of passages from this book of Lamentations. Lamentations is a book of the Bible that you probably aren’t as familiar with and there is a reason for that. The author Jeremiah wrote this book out of his grief. From beginning to end this book is like listening to someone weep, and through his sobs we hear words that are raw and filled with questions and complaints towards God. Many compare the book of Lamentations to music because in music the songs we like to bob our heads to and sing along with are all done in a major chord but the songs we want to hear when we are down, when we are sad, these songs are usually done in a minor key. Think of Lamentations that way it is a book written in a minor key, because it is written as a sad song of grief. It seems appropriate then to read from and to think about at a funeral where we too are in need of expressing our grief.

I want to read you the first 8 verses of chapter 3.

In the midst of our grief this is exactly how we feel. It is as though the hits just keep coming and there is no bright side to any situation. We can as Jeremiah does here even blame God for all of our problems. And let me tell you something that is OK. God has declared that He is all powerful and all knowing and that there is nothing that happens that He is not aware of. If that is the case then God can handle our questions and our complaints. Imagine the child pounding on their fathers chest for all they are worth in their anger. God our Father hears our complaints and He listens to our questions and He is strong enough to love us through them all. Right now as your friends and family are grieving over the loss of Pamela these words of Jeremiah might be echoing your own feelings. You might be crying out in a similar way and God wants to hear your cries and He wants to comfort your grief.

The truth that Jeremiah always came back to through his own grief was the comfort of knowing that God was there and that God does care. He loves us and He wants us to feel His love. Listen to the words of Lamentations 3:22–26“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.”

This God who is the one and only God, He knows your every way and He knows your actions. God knows who you are deep down all of our insecurities and evil thoughts. He knows our joys and our disasters, all the happiness and all the grief, all of your ups and your downs. Psalm 139:1–4 says, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” God knows it all. The hardest part about God knowing it all is that He knows all the sin and rebellion that we have commited against Him. The sin and rebellion that the Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” we don’t deserve any mercy but that is exactly what God gave us through the act of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. In this passage in Lamentations it says that through God’s mercies, we are not consumed. We deserve to be but His mercies which are new every morning they sustain us they allow us to continue on. God is faithful, and God is Just, because of that justice our sin is deserving of death and yet God is merciful.

Verse 26 says that it is good to wait quietly and to hope in the mercy of our Lord for through that mercy we will receive salvation. Don’t wait too long to put your hope in the salvation that only God can bring. Hear and obey the Word of the Lord and the Gospel of Good news that Jesus Christ is risen and His victory over death is your victory, for through it you can be saved, having your sins washed away and your future secured in Heaven. Sin has corrupted all of our lives and that sin deserves death. However, Jesus came as the mercy of God to bring us salvation because humanity’s sin was too much for humanity to bear. Therefore, Jesus had to live the life that we cannot, a life without sin. Jesus’ life was then sacrificed on the cross in order that God could place the punishment for all of mankind’s sin on Jesus. The payment for all of our sins placed on the body of the only one who was sinless. And once that sin was paid for Jesus died. And if that was the end right there then it would have to happen over again and again and again but oh the joy that we get to share because Jesus did not stay dead. He rose, defeating death so that we might have life. Jesus’ resurrection gives us life. Do you believe? Jesus says that He has gone to prepare a place for you, Heaven, because He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life, and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.

I ask that you all would bow your heads with me and if you would like to receive the promise of Jesus Christ as your savior then I ask that you believe in your hearts that God raised him from the dead to save you from your sins. You can call out to Him now to save you. If you would like you can repeat this prayer of salvation after me.

God, I know that I am a sinner / but I know that you provide mercy from my sin. / I believe that Jesus came and died for my sin / I believe he didn’t stay dead but rose so that I may have life. Today I place my belief in Jesus’ sacrifice / I ask that you will call me your child / I ask to receive your gift of Mercy / In Jesus Christ’s most precious name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer today I ask that you come and speak to me after the service.

Special Music - The Old Rugged Cross

Prayer:

Join me in one last prayer: God, your days are without end, and your mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, be deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let your Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days; that, when we have lived our days here on this earth, we may be gathered to our you, having the confidence of faith, the comfort of hope, in favor with you, our God. AMEN

Benediction

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. [Amen] 2 Thess. 3:16