Celebration of Life - Michael Barnes

Opening Remarks

"Thank you all for being here today. (Tammy, Kristine, Christopher, Kayla, Matthew, Elliot, Owen, Ivy, Corey), we want you to know that our hearts are with you. Each person gathered here today loved Michael and loves your family, and are here to support you and help you through this difficult season.“

Facing Death & It’s Reality

Whenever we face death, even the death of a strong believer like Michael, whose faith was strong to the end, we are left with questions. So this afternoon, we're going to think about two questions to help us understand what has happened and what is yet to come, to help give us strength and hope in hard days and to help us know what to do.

What happened to Michael when he left this earthly home and his body? We can analyze and describe what went on in his body. But we're not talking about vital signs,

heartbeats, or illness. What happened to the part of Michael you can’t monitor or see with screens and technology? What happened to the eternal soul created in God's image?

To know this, the only place we can turn is the Bible. On Thursday, September 12th at 2:59 p.m., Michael went to be with Jesus. The Bible says that:

2 Corinthians 5:8 NLT

Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

There is no safer place to be. God's Word tells us,

Romans 8:38–39 NLT

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Not even death itself can separate us from God's love.

When we come face to face with the end of life, we need to remember that death is not all-powerful. We all die, so it might seem that nothing can stand against death. But there is someone greater than death!

Where did death come from?

Where did death come from? When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, the curse of death was placed on humanity. So we realize that death ravages this world not because it is more powerful than God, and not because God is unloving or doesn’t care, but because mankind chose to do what was good/right in his own eyes, and rebelled against God. We do the same each time we choose our own way, and what is “good” in our own eyes apart from God’s Word and will for our lives.

The good news we discover in the Bible, though, is that Jesus

1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)

carried our sins

in his body on the cross

so that we can be dead to sin

and live for what is right.

By his wounds

you are healed.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is greater than death! He says,

Revelation 1:18 NLT

I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

So death is not the end, because our Jesus holds the keys! Jesus is stronger than death. And this is the hope that Michael so clearly had.

Jesus said:

John 5:24 NLT

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

Michael’s Story

Michael heard Jesus's words and believed them in 2022 when he and his wife Tammy walked into Bridgewood Church to be baptized after some major health battles and after watching our services online.

That was the first time I met Michael, and I was awestruck that he wanted to boldly declare his faith in Christ as his Savior that day. He trusted in Jesus to take away his sins and publicly became a follower of Jesus. Since then he’s been whole-heartedly turning his life around by God’s grace, and learning how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ since that day. According to Jesus's words, the day that Michael made Jesus His Lord and Savior, was the day he passed from death to life.

This is the hope of all God's people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's last known words before being executed for treason in Nazi Germany, written in complete confidence to a friend, were, "This is the end, for me the beginning of life.”

If Michael is with God, death is not the end. Michael is alive right now in the presence of Jesus!

Our Blessed Hope

The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:51–57 NLT

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

These weak bodies will be made new:

• No more eyeglasses, or even Lasik surgery

• No more prescriptions

• No more cancer, no more coughing

• No more fear of the latest virus

• No more aging, frailties, limping, or pain, for God will make all things new!

A Doctor can tell us what happened to Michael’s old body, but God tells us what has already happened to Michael the day he passed from this life into eternal life.

Personal Reflection/Response

What will happen to your soul after you die? Are you confident in what will happen to you?

Michael knew his time was short on earth, so he put his trust in Jesus as his Savior.

John 3:16 NLT

“For this is how 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.

What or who are you trusting? Death comes to us all, but are we ready to meet God after we die?

What do we have to look forward to? Do you have hope for something better? God isn't just transforming people, like Michael. His plan is much bigger. He's transforming the world! He is making a new heaven and a new earth.

Isaiah 65:17 NLT

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.

The joy of what God is creating will be so overwhelming. We will forget the pain and sorrows of this life. Light will dawn and chase away the shadows. God knows we have tears and tragedies, and he will heal hearts and lift the sorrows from our minds. The whole world will be made new!

The first detail we need to know about heaven is that a service like this won't happen there. No funerals! There will be no evil, no sin, no one who hurts another, no disease, no random violence, no terrorism, no threat warnings, no AIDS, no smallpox, no congenital defects. I think that sounds pretty good, don’t you??

Isaiah 65:25 (NLT)

In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.

God is making all things new. If you love God, if you belong to Christ, this is what you have to look forward to! In that new creation, those of us who know Jesus will meet Michael again. I can’t wait to see Michael again.

Someone asked W. A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, whether we'd know each other in heaven, and he answered,

"We won't really know each other until we get to heaven!"

When we see Michael again someday, we will see him as God has seen him all along, perfect and complete, shining with glory in God's presence.

If you loved Michael already for who he was here on earth, you’ll love him even more when you meet him in Heaven someday!

Donald Grey Barnhouse, a pastor and preacher, lost his wife when their three children were still young. They were driving to her funeral, and Barnhouse was thinking about how he could comfort his children. It was a bright, sunny day, and as they came up to a stoplight, a big truck pulled up beside them and put them in its shadow.

Just then Barnhouse had an idea. He asked his daughter, "Which would you rather be hit by, that truck or the shadow of the truck?" "The shadow, of course," she answered. "That's right," Barnhouse said, "and that's the way it is with death for a Christian. Jesus was hit by death so we would only be hit by the shadow of death.”

This is our confidence and our strong hope.

Will you pray with me?

"Dear Heavenly Father, in this time of sorrow, we lift our weary hearts to You. I ask for Your loving embrace to surround Michael’s grieving family and friends today. May they find solace in Your constant presence and feel the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. O Lord, grant them strength for each step of the way.

And we entrust our dear friend, Michael, into Your loving arms. We believe that Jesus has welcomed Michael into the promise of heaven, where there is no more pain of loss, only the love of God. Grant Michael eternal rest, O God, and let Your perpetual light shine upon him. Amen."