Preparation Funeral Message

Dee Wood’s Memorial Service:

SCRIPTURE READING

One of Dee’s favorite scriptures is: Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

INTRODUCTION 1. At a time like this, the Word of God becomes very precious and comforting for only words spoken from the very heart of God can meet our deep needs and comfort our aching hearts. 2. It was to the Word of God where Dee so often went to find strength and help. Similarly, we, too, must listen to the Lord as He speaks to us in His Word. 3. A passage of Scripture that speaks to us in this hour is found in John 14:1–6 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” 4. The disciples, like we do today, found themselves in deep distress.

Jesus words to them were to give everlasting comfort and revelation to those in distress.

MESSAGE To those in distress, the Lord promises: 1. Peace at Heart (John 14:1) Verse 1. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” The disciples’ whole world seemed to be crumbling around them. The Savior had just told them that Peter, was going to deny that he ever knew the Lord.

Earlier, Jesus Himself had announced that He was leaving them.

Everything seemed to be happening at once, and everything seemed to be at the verge of collapse.

Jesus noticed their stunned gaze and with a compassionate voice told them, 1. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” (v. 1a NLT). 2. “Trust in God, and trust also in me.” (v. 1b NLT). Don’t be troubled; trust Him; lay hold of Him in your hour of need. Our Savior experienced every emotion that we experience. He wept with those who grieved, and He experienced the sorrow that death brings. He understands and wants us not to be troubled but to trust Him and to lean upon Him. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

Not only can we have peace of heart as we trust Him but also He reveals to us that there is …

2. A Prepared Place for Us John 14:2–3 “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” Yes, the Lord was leaving them, but He had not forgotten them. He was preparing them a place among His Father’s mansions, and someday He would come and take them back with Himself. That we may be with Him forever. Other portions of Scripture give us more detail of this revelation of Jesus and Heaven. We are told: 1. In Philippians 1 that when a Christian passes from this life he and she is with the Lord. 2. In 2 Corinthians 5 that when we are absent from the body we are present (at home) with the Lord. 3. In 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 that one day these bodies that now sleep will be resurrected and united with Christ, and in this new and incorruptible form, we will always be with the Lord. 4. In Revelation 21–22 that not only are there mansions in glory (heaven), but also there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more sin, no more night, and no more death. So we sorrow today but we do not sorrow as others who have no hope, for we know that Dee is with the Lord. The Savior whom she loved so dearly has prepared a place for her. Do not be troubled; trust in the Lord. 1. You can have peace in your hearts 2. For the Savior loved Dee so much that He has prepared a place for her. ​ 3. A Prepared Person John 14:4–6 “And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” This verse makes clear that there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. Man’s sin is what separates him from God. Jesus (God’s Son) provided the way back to God 1. By Himself bearing our sin in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). 2. By becoming our substitute and paying the penalty for our sin (2 Cor. 5:21). 3. By His death, burial, and resurrection. But these facts of the gospel demand a response. 1. We can either accept them or 2. We can reject and ignore them. The Lord asks each of us to believe on Him. 1. That is, by an act of our will to trust Jesus Christ to be our personal Savior from sin. 2. To entrust to Him our soul’s destiny (on the basis of His work on Calvary) and invite Him into our lives. I invite you right now where you are seated to trust Jesus Christ to be your personal Savior from sin. On the basis of God’s Word, if you will do this, your sins are forgiven, you have eternal life, and you stand before God justified (John 3:18, 36; Rev. 3:21–22; 8:1). One did not have to talk long with Karen to realize that she had trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. 1. In the years of her illness and struggles, she shared with many people about who Jesus is and made a difference in people’s lives. 2. She had a peace in her heart that the Bible describes as “passes all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). It was a peace that came from knowing her Savior. A Savior who loved her deeply and had a purpose and plan for everything He allowed to come into her life. Dee - truly experienced the reality of these verses. 1. She had a peace in her heart. For she trusted her loving, all-wise Father. 2. She had a vital awareness that this life was not all there was to life. a. That there is a heaven to which to look forward. b. That there is a prepared place for God’s children. C. And she was herself a prepared person. She was ready to meet her Savior. CONCLUSION 1. These truths give us much comfort in this time of sorrow. 2. Two verses in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians 5:15 sums up Dee’s life and her desire for all of us…

2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV)

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Graveside Message:

It is a privilege and honor for me to share a few words with you today. Funerals are difficult. Services like this serve as a reminder that life is truly short.

I am often reminded of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 where it says, To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: It goes on to say, A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. And it goes on. In truth, there are seasons in our lives. To be honest with you, we really do not have control over that. But one thing is for certain, we will all have to come to this crossroad one day. We must put our entire hope in Jesus alone.

2 Corinthians 4:14–18 (NIV)

because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

2 Corinthians 5:6–10 (NIV)

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Revelation 14:13 (NIV)

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Benediction: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Committal:

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; but the spirit is with God who gave it. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, the general resurrection in the last day, and the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His promise who was dead and is alive forevermore.

"And now, I commend you to God, and the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified," Acts 20:32

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, we ask you to heal the broken hearts and to give peace and comfort to your children. Continue to show us how to trust you. Reveal to each of us the hope that we have of eternal life with you. And we pray this now in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Numbers 6:24–26 (NIV)

“ ‘ “The Lord bless you

and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.” ’