Joel Grubb Funeral | February 24, 2025

Order of Service:

Seating 

Funeral Playlist

Family Enters

Pastor announces “Please rise for the family”

Pastor has everyone seated once family is in place

Pastor introduces song, “We’re going to begin the service with a recording of Bro. Joel singing Trust And Obey”

Audio Recording

“Trust And Obey” (Joel Grubb)

Welcome & Prayer

On behalf of the family, I’d like to welcome each of you here this morning as we celebrate the life of Joel Grubb. It’s a bittersweet occasion, of course, but we’re so thankful for his life and the impact he had on those around him. We’re also thankful that He knew Jesus Christ as His Savior and is completely healed.

 I’m reminded of Revelation 21:4 this morning, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Joel has experienced the victory over pain and sickness and sorrow, and we’re thankful for that.

I imagine he’s singing praises to His Savior as we speak. Music was a big part of Bro. Joel’s life. He loved music and singing. He clearly had a wonderful voice. But music meant a lot to him and the family too. One song that was requested is “The Lily Of The Valley,” which Karla will sing at this time.

Special Music

“Lily Of The Valley” (Karla DeKnikker)

Obituary & Eulogy

Atha Booth

As soon as she’s finished, begin the audio recording of “Where The Soul Never Dies” 

Audio Recording

“Where The Soul Never Dies” (Jake & Joel)

When it’s finished, Pastor introduces next song

One of the songs that their family has sung since the kids were young is called “The Crayon Song.” He would have them sing it often and they had to be ready to do it at a moment’s notice. But it uses the colors of crayons in a crayon box to give the Gospel. It’s a family tradition and one that Delia requested Jesse and Anna to sing, so they’re going to come and sing that together. 

Special Music

“The Crayon Song” (Jesse & Anna) 

Message

It’s so difficult to sum up a person’s life in a short amount of time. Especially when a person has left a mark on our lives.

There’s a lot to say about Joel, and we’ve already heard a lot of it.

Some things stood out to me as I talked to the family:

Joel was a talented man

It’s clear in his singing. I didn’t know he could sing that well.

The family said he could sing so loud that his choir director used to say, “Everyone sing louder, unless you’re a Grubb.” And that runs in the family, by the way.

Bro. Joel could sing over the whole choir.

He was also a talented man when it came to using his hands. He had an engineering mind.

I can envision his truck running on used veg oil going down the road smelling like French fries.

He was a master stone craftsman. He was known for his work - anything to do with masonry like granite and marble and stone work.

He was so good at it that every job he had he ended up being in charge. It sounds like he was good at being in charge.  

At the same time, he had a heart for people

He hired multiple deaf men to work for him because he had a special place in his heart for the deaf.

He was fluent in sign language and tried to invest in deaf folks. To the point that he helped start that Deaf church.

I first met Bro. Joel at a men’s campout in 2019.

What stood out to me was his ability to have a conversation with anyone.

He was an interesting, engaging person.

He was also strong-willed. The family said maybe even stubborn or hard headed.

On Christmas Eve of this year, I went to visit him in the Rehab facility and it was group therapy time. I saw the group working and exercising and he was giving his opinion on something to the person leading the exercise. I don’t know what it was about, but it was something that didn’t make sense to him, and as I listened, I thought, “He makes a good point.”

That’s the hard part about some people - they have strong opinions but they’re

He was a strong-willed, hard working, family man.

But of all the things that define Joel Grubb, the one that most accurately describes him is he was a child of God.

When he was 15, he was saved at a Revival Meeting at Second Baptist Church in Douglasville, Georgia.

That moment defined the rest of his life. He gave himself to Christ and that’s who He lived for.

And the family wanted this part to be a simple and clear presentation of the Gospel, because that’s what Joel would have wanted. What’s interesting is, as passionate as he may have been for others to hear the Gospel when he was alive, he’s even more passionate about it in death. Now that he’s seen Jesus, I can guarantee you he’s thinking, “Everyone needs to come here. It’s worth it!”

So here are the truths he would want you to know:

#1 - Sin Is Our Problem

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

Romans 3:10 “There is none righteous, no, not one:”

When Joel was 15, he came to the understanding that he was a sinner and that sin was his biggest problem with God.

God is holy, and he can’t allow sin into Heaven. Which leads to the second truth:

#2 - Hell Is The Consequence

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.”

Death means separation from God. Eternal separation in a lake of fire called Hell. As a 15 year old, Joel recognized that his sin put him at risk of spending eternity in Hell. 

Which leads to the third truth Joel would want you to know. 

#3 – Jesus Christ Is The Answer

Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

He substituted Himself in our place on that cross to pay for our sins. So even though sin is a huge problem and hell seems like an overwhelming consequence, Jesus took care of it for us.

But there’s one more important truth Bro. Joel would want you to know: 

#4 – Faith Is The Key To Salvation

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

 We can’t work for it. We must have faith for it.

Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 states, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

You must repent of your sin, believe in Jesus Christ, and place your faith in Him alone to saved you.

Joel Grubb experienced that. And now that He’s seen Heaven, he’d tell you, “Best decision I ever made.”

Heaven is ours if we’ll believe the Gospel.

And the great thing is if we repent of our sin, turn to Christ in faith and cry out to Him believing, then we will get to see again one day all the people like Joel who have been saved and gone ahead of us to Heaven.

You can be saved this morning, if you’ll humble yourself and believe what God has said. 

Prayer   

After prayer, Pastor Jett introduces the audio recording

“One of the songs that Bro. Joel specifically requested to be sung is called Arise, Shine, For Your Light Has Come. It’s a beautiful song that ministered to Joel. The lyrics come from Isaiah 60.”

Verse 1 says “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”

It’s a verse that follows the darkness in Isaiah 59 and points to the fact that Jesus Christ the Redeemer comes to rescue His people like light in darkness.

The message of Isaiah 60 is this, “It’s been dark, but your light has come, so arise and embrace it, then shine like a light for others to see.”

Bro. Joel is done with darkness. No more sin or pain or suffering. And today his light is shining to us to encourage and inspire us to carry on and be light to those around us.     

Listen to this beautiful song.

 Audio Recording

“Arise, Shine, For Your Light Has Come”

After

“What a beautiful song. I’m imagining the light that Bro. Joel has seen from the throne of God is unlike anything he could have ever imagined. And now it’s our turn to shine to those around us. We still have an opportunity to be lights to those we meet. I can tell you this, after seeing Heaven, Joel would say, ‘Tell everybody. Trust me – this place is worth it.’ “

At this time we’re going to dismiss the family

Dismissal Instructions

The family and pall bearers will exit as the casket is taken into the care of the coach.

When they are out of the sanctuary, you will be ushered out by the funeral home. And then you’re invited to stay around for fellowship and light refreshments to visit with the family. There is no graveside service today, so once they take the casket to the coach, they’ll come back in to fellowship with you.

Dismissal

Once the family is dismissed, play the Funeral playlist