Tifanie Charmagne Hammond Funeral

Order of service

Musical Prelude / Processional Sunday Is Coming by Phil Wickham

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us here today as we celebrate the life of Tifanie Charmagne Hammond. She was 48 Years old.

PRAY

Slide Show Andy Kowalchuck

Scripture

Old Testament Zephaniah 3:17 - Brandon Hammond

New Testament Philippians 4:8 - Brandon Hammond

Prayer for the Family Elder Darrell Carson

Solo Kristin Anderson

Obituary Robert Hammond

Words of Expression / Reflections

Philippians 2:1-4 - Darlene Carson

Family and Friends

Eulogy Pastor Aaron Kaufman

Thank you to our church family Brandon Hammond

Recessional Song - Only A Holy God by City Alight

Reception to follow at First Assembly Of God 4905 Mt. Rushmore Rd. at 3:30 - 5:30PM

Ethan, Sadie, Bill and BettyAnne, Robert, and Brandon, thank you so much for the honor of being here today with you. I have been eavesdropping on the family telling stories about Tif, and they have made this whole service that much more special to me.

Thruout the time I’ve known her, I have learned how much Tif loved kids, working with emergency foster care children takes a special person. As a father of 3 adopted kids, and a foster parent, I understand how special you need to be to work with the kids in emergency care. I was told of a story where one girl came in with a head full of lice, so she mobilized to take care of the situation with the girl with Vaseline to kill them. Knowing that she now had something that can stain everything on this little girl’s head, she put a shower cap on this young girl…but then, in a turn only someone like Tif could pull off, she convinced the rest of the kids to wear a shower cap too in support so she didn’t feel singled out.

She had a special way of seeing people and knowing they were hurting and in need of a helping hand or even a foot scrub. It was truly a super power she had. It’s like she could see your heart and knew something was wrong, and she would come and talk with you and help you get that problem out into the air. Then, she’d go to work trying to help you find the solution to the problem. It usually involved one of her mama-bear hugs.

Judging by the size of this crowd, I would say that this woman touched many, many lives. I can’t imagine the stories about the ways she’s touched you, inspired you, or just flat out told you how it is, and what you need to do to get over it.

Today, we’re celebrating the life of Tifanie, but her story doesn’t end here. She’s made an impact on so many lives here. Most of us are asking simple questions, and there is one question that only has one word to it, and that’s “Why?” I wish I could answer this in any other way than “I don’t know.” What I do know, is that there is a battle for the souls of men and women that started in the garden of Eden, where God placed his prized creation and said “Fill this earth.”

That battle for our souls was evident in Tifanie’s life. She fought hard for people to have the relationship with her savior that she had. Most of you, though, don’t know the war that waged within her. It’s always the sweetest, most outgoing people who seem to draw the harshest attacks. When you are that kind of person, you are a major threat, and our enemy will do anything it can to stifle that joyous attitude and cover that light so it cannot shine. Some of us here today feel that battle every second of every day. It’s real, and if it effects you, you’re not alone.

There is a person in the Bible who understood the internal conflict that goes on within the life of one who has put their trust in the Lord. One who could relate to the battle for Tifanie’s soul. His name was David.

David is listed as a man after God’s own heart in both the Old and New Testament, and before he was crowned King, he was just David. He was a man of Psalms, a musician, later in life a man of war, a man of mistakes, a man of sorrow, a man of faith. Why was David listed as a man after God’s own heart? Because he was sinless? NO. He did terrible things, selfish things.

He was a liar, he was a thief, even trying to hide his adultry by having a righteous man killed by commanding his army, telling them to abandon him on the battlefield.

What is the difference, then? What made this man special? Was it the wisdom he gleaned from these many mistakes to not make them again? No, It was the faith that he returned to every time he went astray. It was the repentance in his heart. It was passages like this, that I’d like to share with you. A passage that I think the family will acknowledge, mirrors Tifanie’s life that can give us insight and hope for our futures. It’s 21 verses, Psalm 25:

Psalm 25:1–5 “1 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. 3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. 4 Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.”

These aren’t the words of a person who’s got life figured out, is it? This is a man in anguish, in dispair…in fear. He’s being hunted, and he knows he hasn’t acted righteously his whole life. But, there’s something that he understands, he has placed his trust in The Lord of Lords, and he has seen how mighty and merciful He is to save. Let’s go on:

Psalm 25:6–11 “6 Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord. 8 Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. 9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”

David, here, crying out to God, he feels alone, he pleads knowing his life could be ended in a matter of moments, he asks for forgiveness of all of the things he’s done.

Do you hear the heart of this man in these verses? The agony, coupled with the comfort knowing that the Lord teaches sinners in the way they should go. Whether we like it or not, God knows what we are doing, He knows what we keep hidden in the closets and computer screens of our hearts. He knows, and He still says “Let me show you there’s a better way. Don’t give up”

It doesn’t stop there, there’s more to this message:

Psalm 25:12–15 “12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. 15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.”

That fear of the Lord is not a tremble or a shock, it’s respect, out of love. When you hear a call to change your ways, do you listen it? Do you want to hear it? For some of you, it’s calling today. Some of you came here to show respect to a good, sweet friend, and weren’t expecting someone to be probing into your hearts. Tifanie would have known better, though, I’m sure of that.

She knew of this secret that David had a knowledge of, but no understanding of, and he was speaking 500 years before Jesus would be born. The secret is the fact that God so loved the world, that He sent his only son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

I’ll close out the last few verses of this chapter here: I want you to hear, not only David’s voice here, but Tifanie’s too:

Psalm 25:16–21 “16 Turn Yourself (Lord) to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! 18 Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. 19 Consider my enemies, for they are many; And they hate me with cruel hatred. 20 Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You.”

Is this the cry of your heart this afternoon? Lord, Turn yourself to me? It was Tifanie’s. She is no longer in pain, she no longer struggles with the burdens of this life. But some of us are struggling. I’m here to tell you that pain has a purpose, and I once heard a great pastor make the statement “Don’t waste the pain.” I said to Ethan and to Bill, you need to teach me how to walk this walk, because I don’t know how. Don’t let this pain go, because it will save lives.

David’s God, Tifany’s God, the God of the Bible is serious about what happens to us after our lives are finished here on earth. Where we spend eternity relies on one question: Whom do you serve? You cannot serve two masters. We are each one breath away from eternity, and the only way to heaven lies in the hands of the only one mighty enough to save.

Jesus knew the price He would have to pay to redeem your life, and he willingly stood and was mocked, beaten, and hung on a wooden cross. He knew it wouldn’t take a couple drops of blood, but all of it would be required.

It wasn’t the nails that held him on the Cross, though. He saw you and I covered in sin and said “I love YOU this much.” With his last breath, he made a way. Then he left that grave proving He alone had the power over death.

So, let’s go back to the question that I mentioned we’re all asking right now, “Why?” I believe part of the answer can be summed up like this: Tifanie is not here with us anymore, but she brought all of you here to hear that she is alive with the Lord right now. You are the fruit of her labor here on earth, her labor of love, and thru that example is how you recognize someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus.

This all happened so the Holy Spirit could prepare a messenger to give you this message alone: She is alive with Christ, not by her might, but because of what Jesus did for her, and He can save you from hell, which is real, and it’s hot and easy to get to. She was a sinner, and any sin that we commit, whether it’s a single lie or stealing something as small as a post-it note, that disqualifies us from our chance at heaven on our own.

Our destination relies on a choice: that whosoever believes in Jesus shall not perish, but have everlasting life. The Bible tells us that the impossible is possible with God. He made a way for us. Heaven is, and will be filled with whosoevers. Great men and women who were just like us, by Grace, thru Faith in Jesus, we can be saved and secured in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Tifanie was a whosoever. This life isn’t the end. There’s still time to examine your life and take it before the Lord, to the foot of the Cross, repent and say “I want to be a whosoever.”

We mourn those we lose here for a time, but we never forget them. Her legacy lives on in our hearts. Don’t believe the lies you’ve been told your whole life. You are precious, you are loved, you are not alone and there is a way where there seems to be no way, there is a hope and a promise for your future. Jesus is calling to you to change your life, even for some of you far away to return to Him. He will stand at the door and knock. You need to open the door.

PRAY