Rollie Lewis Memorial Service

July 9, 2024

Welcome & Prayer

I’d like to take a moment to welcome each one of you to the memorial service for Rollie Lewis, our beloved brother in Christ. Rollie had a great deal of influence in this life, made so many friends which is apparent by the love, appreciation and support this community has shown to the family. I know they would like to thank each of you for coming today.

Following the service, the family will proceed to the Corvallis Cemetery for the graveside service and if you’d like to join them you are welcome to be there. After that, there will be a fellowship time, with light snacks at CCC in the CE Building. So you’re welcome to come to the cemetery or head directly to CCC.

Would you bow your heads with me as we open this service in prayer?

Our gracious Father, we come before you today b/c you alone are God, the creator of all things, you are the one who designed us and made us in your image, and you have given us our life and our breath. And when there is loss of this life, there is a deep sadness and grieving hearts that long to be comforted. I know Rollie’s family and friends miss him very much and yet we also know that he is even now worshiping in the presence of our Savior and that’s where we want him to be, but we miss him.

Father though there is an absence b/c you have taken Rollie to yourself, yet we are assured of your own presence here even now. We are mindful of the promises of your word:

Psalm 46:1 NASB95

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Isaiah 41:10 NASB95

10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Psalm 117:2 (NASB95)

2 For His lovingkindness is great toward us,

I would ask you to minister comfort and courage to these friends and also extend to them your grace that we would learn how to carry on without our beloved friend. I pray that each one here would experience the depth of this great lovingkindness to us thru these difficult days. We ask you to be honored in our time of sharing and commit these moments to you in Jesus name, Amen.

Reading Obituary

Don Dunbar

Eulogy

Warren Taylor

Congregational Singing

The Old Rugged Cross

Words of Remembrance

David Lewis

Poem

Tim Huls

Special Music

Scott Slight (It Is Well)

Slideshow

16 minutes

Message

Rollie passed away at the age of 84. He lived a good, long life, though the past several years were beset with challenges to his health. This is what most people come to find as the aging process continues. The older you get the more the body wears out and breaks down. There is a time when our physical bodies can no longer endure that aging process and we too will pass away. The state of your health may be different from Rollie’s but the end for each one of us is still the same. Death cannot be avoided.

I mention this b/c I want to spend a few moments with you exploring 1 verse that is found in the Bible. This verse is a love letter, really. A verse that Martin Luther once called “The Bible in miniature” b/c it presents God’s plan for humanity in just a few words. In fact only 25 words to be exact. I think Rollie who was not a man of many words—appreciated the brevity and simplicity of the message of this verse.

I’m sure most of you know this verse very well—in fact, we could probably all recite it together (but I won’t put you thru this). It is John 3:16

John 3:16 NASB95

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

This is God’s love letter that (unlike us) will never grow old. It will never become obsolete, it will never break down. It actually becomes more personal and more precious the more we set our minds and hearts upon its simple yet profound message. This is what I want you to think about as we remember Rollie’s life. Let me highlight several features of this letter that stand out.

The Warning

In this letter there is an awful word— “perish” (to ruin, to bring to total destruction). This is addressing a universal problem that every person faces b/c “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We have all turned aside from God. We have all gone astray. Most love letters do not contain this kind of language—warnings about being lost, to die, to perish (not annihilation from existence but destruction from anything that is worthwhile). The place where perishing occurs, the Bible refers to it as hell and hell will be eternal (forever)—separation from God—without end. What a magnanimous, loving God to warn His creation about perishing in eternal hell, about the consequences of our fallenness and for our sin.

The Solution

This letter not only describes the warning from God but also God’s answer/solution to this awful problem of ours. “For” “God so loved the world.” God’s message to us is not a message of doom, destruction, judgment or even leaving us at the mercy of Satan b/c of our sinful condition. It shows God’s ultimate act of love, despite our sin—to solve our sin problem.

The Provision

God gave His Son—why would He do that? The answer comes to us in the Bible by way of the angelic announcement of the birth of Jesus to Joseph, “you shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). God sent His son (only begotten—only unique, one-of-a-kind son to be the Savior) and the purpose for coming is to provide forgiveness to the world. There would be a tremendous price to pay in order to bring forgiveness to mankind.

Romans 6:23 NASB95

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

JC lived 30 some years only to be crucified (mocked, spit on, laughed at, scourged, beaten, crown of thorns, nailed to cross). You remember His prayer on the cross? Father forgive them…

Some say Jesus lived a good life, some say He was a good/moral teacher, even a prophet. But God called Him His only Son (with whom He was well pleased). Jesus Christ came b/c God sent Him in order to pay the price for the forgiveness of your sin. That forgiveness (very costly) can only come from the shedding of blood.

1 John 1:7 (NASB95)

7 the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

God’s love letter explains how we can escape total ruin—not by our own works but b/c of the perfect work of Jesus—His Son.

The Invitation

“that (result) whoever believes in Him…”

This letter is a matter of life and death (not like your spam folder) this is an urgent appeal. And I want you to consider:

Those God makes the offer to— “whoever” This invitation goes out to every person here today. It really is God’s desire that all people be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Can you see the heart of the Savior when He says:

Matthew 11:28 NASB95

28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

And you must respond to this invitation. Believe or don’t believe. Accept and reject the invitation—but do so knowing the warning and promise.

The Promise

“shall not perish but have eternal life.” Accept the invitation is simple, by believing in the Son and you will receive the precious gift of God—eternal life. This comes not by works (if I do these things—go to church, read the Bible, pray, give to the poor), living good life (not killing, stealing adultery…). Too many people have be deceived thinking that by doing these things—you will have eternal life. No! God says “whoever believes in Him…will have eternal life.” This is a profound promise from God Himself (who cannot lie).

Romans 10:9 NASB95

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

What is that promise to those who believe in Him:

John 14:1–4 NASB95

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.”

Eternal life (that you have even now—the condition of life/the quality of that life) is to be in the presence of LJC and belongs to those who accept the invitation of God—just as Rollie did so many years ago. Believe on the LJC today!

Prayer

Father we thank you for your vast love which moved you to make provision for our sin by sending your son who upon the cross would bear the sins of many and that those who believe in Him would never perish. This is a testimony of your goodness and grace and we thank you for showing us the way to eternal life thru Him. We thank you for grace, for drawing us to yourself—and I would ask you to pour out that grace on these beloved friends today—in Jesus’ name. Amen

Congregational Singing

Amazing Grace

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Graveside

John 11:25–26 NASB95

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 5:24–25 NASB95

24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 5:28–29 NASB95

28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Take comfort in the words of God. He is a good God and always keeps His promises.

Within the ancient city of Thessalonica there was an inscription that illustrates the typical absence of hope that you find in the world, in those without JC. The inscription read, “After death no reviving; After the grave, no meeting again.” That would be a very hard thing to deal with in the death of a loved one if it were true. But it is not—and there is a remarkable contrast to the hope we have in JC.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NASB95

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain 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 shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The apostle Paul wrote these words for our encouragement and comfort knowing that one day, we will be reunited with Rollie (and every other loved one who has died in Christ) to ultimately be with LJC—forever.

Be comforted in knowing that Rollie has heard the most precious words anyone could ever hear:

“Well done good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.”

For as much as it has pleased our Mighty God to take from this world the soul of His servant Rollie, we therefore commit his body to the ground, from earth to earth, from ashes to ashes, from dust to dust. We look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of JC who shall change the body of our humiliation and fashion it anew in the likeness of His own body of glory according to the working of His mighty power.

Prayer

Our Lord God, we know you as the compassionate Father. You alone are able to heal broken hearts. We ask you to give peace to your children and comfort according to your loving care.

Father, I pray that with patience and trust in you we may be able to learn to live with the changes and losses of this mortal life and the afflictions with which we are afflicted by this world. Give us your sustaining grace that we might live in hope of the everlasting life thru JC our Lord.

May the Lord bless you and keep; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace. Amen.