Funeral for Roni
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Thank you for all coming to celebrate the life of Veronica Margaret Aittama,
but of course we all knew her as Miss Roni.
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Let us Pray...
Remain standing as we sing the song cornerstone...
Story of the first time we met Roni...
(Brought food over)
[yankee stick together]
Over the last year I was blessed to get to know Roni.
And today I want to share 3 things that me and miss Roni shared very closely with one another.
Our hate for the cold and snow.
(on a cold day… we would joke...)
[Went home to be with the Lord before the snowstorm]
2nd thing we shared was
2. our love for this church.
If the church doors were opened,
she was going to be here.
It did not matter how she was feeling she was going to be at church.
One of the last text we recieved from her,
Roni wrote…
I want to thank the entire church for all the help… I don’t feel deserving, but I appreciate the love your help has shown… I think I have the best church family ever. I feel Jesus so often at Rock Creek church. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
When Em and I and the boys would go visit,
she would share her excitement of all the new faces in church.
(Roni had been with this church through thick and thin… and I am so thankful that she was able to see the church growing before she went home)
I know she prayed for this church….
Every pastor needs a Roni in church...
it is hard to make excuses for skipping church when you have a Roni at church...
Me and Roni shared
a hate for the cold
a love for our church
but the most important thing we shared.
3. Our love for Jesus.
How Roni and I came to faith was very different.
I grew up in the church,
my dad is a pastor,
my mom is the worship leader.
I gave my life to Jesus at a young age,
Roni gave her life to Jesus when she was a little older.
Roni’s testimony.… at a bar… half in the bag…
no condition to drive, but that did not matter to God…
Became a new creation in Chirst…
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Because Roni gave her life to Jesus as her Lord and Savior,
she became a new creation in Christ.
As a new Creation in Christ,
she experienced what Jesus calls being born again.
Jesus said
3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When Roni gave her life to Jesus she was born again as a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Because of that reality,
death for Roni was just a doorway to be in eternity with Jesus in heaven.
Though we may be sad that she is not with us here on earth,
we who are new creations in Christ and are born again,
look forward to the future reunion we will have with Roni in heaven.
Paul writes…
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross,
we don’t fear death,
because death has lost its power...
we don’t fear death,
because death has lost its sting...
Death for those who are in Christ,
is just a doorway to the eternal reality with Jesus.
Though we may be sadden today,
we can also celebrate,
because Roni is no longer in pain,
no longer suffering the effects of sin on this earth.
She is with Jesus,
celebrating the fact that she is finally home.
Paul writes…
9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
We can’t even comprehend,
the beauty and majesty of what God has prepared for us in heaven.
I want to close with what I know Roni would want me to ask each and everyone of you here today.
And that is.… are you right with God?
Have you excepted the gift of salvation,
that has been made available to you through Jesus’ death on the cross?
We all need salvation.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Salvation is a free gift
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Good news… Jesus made a way for Salvation
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Romans 10:9-10 tells us what we must do to be saved.
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Salvation is available to each one here today.
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Everyone… does not matter your past…
If you have not surrendered your life to Jesus,
and made Jesus your Lord and Savior.
May today be that day,
so you too,
can one day be reunited with Roni and spend eternity in heaven in the presence of God Almighty.
Pray....
