Memorial Service for John Makortoff

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July 17, 1938 - January 2, 2025

Order of Service

Prelude - Bonita

Welcome & Prayer - Pastor Andrea

Dear friends, we are gathered here today to remember and to celebrate the life of John Makortoff. Tears have a place here because our lives are poorer for his loss. On the other hand, our sorrow is relieved, for we know that because of John, we have much to celebrate and remember with gratitude. Even though we are still reeling from the finality of his passing, we trust that he has now found victory over death in his Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our tears are for our own loss, for he is in a place where tears and death and sorrow will never touch him again. The same God through whom John has life after death is present and available to us in our need today. Let us turn to God for comfort, strength and guidance. Let us pray…
God, our Creator and Source of all life, we bow before You in need of Your sustaining grace and love. As we gather here today we know that we ache inside. We are burdened with questions and longings. We may carry regrets for things undone or unsaid. We may carry an awareness of our own fragile mortality. Still, we thank you for the mystery of your presence among us today, as we gather with gratitude for the privilege of knowing John, and for the impact he has had upon us.
Draw close to us, we pray, and grant us assurance of your compassion and companionship, even in the face of death. We bring to you the mix of feelings and questions and memories that stir inside us, and ask for your blessing and peace. Amen.

Song: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Intro to readings?

It is a common experience at times like this to feel at a loss for words. We long for meaningful ways to express what we hope and believe. At just such times, we may discover that the words of others who have gone before us, especially words that have stood the test of time, may focus our minds and give voice to what we cannot quite say ourselves. Listen then, with me, to hear the Word of Life, as we find it in the two Bible readings that the family have chosen for today.

Scripture Readings: Psalm 103:8-14 and Matthew 11:28-30 - Juanita

Eulogy - Louella

Song: I’ll Fly Away

Tributes - Gloria, then Eric

Lord’s Prayer - in Russian (Nell & Louella)

Words of Comfort - Pastor Andrea

bread-water-salt
These items were on the table in John’s home and community growing up. Part of the Doukhabor tradition, these staples of life would often be seen at community events, representing the staples of life, the practice of peace, and the value of hospitality.
As I’ve been listening to stories of John’s life, i realized how these symbols would continue to be meaningful to him, even as their meaning might have shifted and evolved over time.
For, eventually, John would come to see Jesus as the way we can see what God is really like - and he decided that he wanted to make Jesus his trajectory. Turning towards God, towards what he was seeing in Jesus. And John faithfully lived this out. Not perfectly, of course. But John turned towards Jesus and that turn would mark the rest of his days.
And, of course, if you know the words of Jesus, you will see that He spoke of these everyday items as well.
Salt - Matthew 5:13
Matthew 5:13 NIV
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Mark 9:50 NIV
50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Water -
John 4:13–14 NIV
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 7:37-39
John 7:37–39 NIV
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Bread - John 6 I am the bread of life, the bread that comes down from heaven
So, perhaps, Jesus is calling to us, through the everyday staples and symbols of our lives and customs and traditions, too. May we hear the invitation that John heard Jesus make… Matthew 11:28-30
Matthew 11:28–30 NRSVue
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Prayer - Pastor Andrea

Divine Presence, Author of Life, Giver of All Good Things, we offer You thanks today for the life and memory of John Makortoff. We give thanks that his life touched ours and for the difference that has made for us. We thanks you for his faithfulness and resilience. We thank You, too, for the assurance that he is now safe with You in perfect health and peace and fullness of joy.
Our God, even as we thank You for the joy of knowing him, we ask You to reach out and touch those of us who feel his loss most keenly. Especially Grace, Louella, Earl, Charlotte, [grandchildren & great grandchildren]. Touch us with Your peace, we pray. Answer our weakness with Your strength, our despair with Your hope, our grief with Your comfort. Hear our prayers and meet our needs we pray, with confidence in Jesus the Christ, Amen.

Slides Song: The Old Rugged Cross

Poem: Title - Louella

Benediction - Pastor Andrea

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be yours, now and always. Amen.

Postlude - Bonita (O When the Saints)

(Slideshow should play again during the postlude)
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