Eulice Vial - April 10, 2025 (January 20, 1930 - March 3, 2025) Is. 40

Introduction

Welcome & Gathering

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of Eulice Hoke Vial. We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss. May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow….hope, in death….resurrection.

Pray (Ruth Ann gets in place)

Hymn - Joyful, Joyful

Old Testament Scripture - JW

Isaiah 40:1–8 NIV

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

Isaiah 40:28–31 NIV

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Psalm 146 NIV

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

Pastoral Prayer

O God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Add prayer for family:

Lorie

Chris

Elizabeth

Jonathan

Amen.

Hymn - It is Well with My Soul

Eulogy - Elizabeth Amsler

New Testament and Scripture

Romans 8:14–23 NIV

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

Pray.

Eulice Vial

It has been an honor to celebrate Eulice’s life and to get to know her on a deeper level. I did not grow up in a musical family that resembles this one in any way, shape, or form. So at Eulice’s celebration of life, to talk about music, I run the risk of outting myself as less than a cultured savaant. However, I think music can help us reflect on her life in an interesting way.

Growing up, there was a opera/ classical song that became so popular that it even made it to my home. My home was more typical of AC/DC, Tom Petty, John Denver, and maybe the Beatles. So it caught my attention to hear my mom listening to this other album on repeat. I also remember wanting to pretend like I didnt like it. But it was surprising and powerful. It got all the acolades, and awards. It was mysterious how I couldnt understand what was happening and yet I understood it.

Eulice’s life is a lot like that. There is some mystery. There are some conundrums, like the random gifts she would give or the interesting art choices at times. Her life was generous in the number of lives she touched. From immediate family to all the number of students she affected over the years. 75 years in the choir here. Playing the harp for special services. By the way as far as i can tell she was the longest living tenured member of our church. She became a member here 81 years ago.

52 Pastors come and go at FMC.

From 1944….

Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president for the 4th time.

D-Day, Normandy

Don’t Fence me in by Bing Crosby

She has impacted so many people.

Like the song from my childhood… had all these facets to her life:

Costumes at the Renaissance festival from travel with Bob and her research in England to bring authentic constumes.

She studied Tomb Effgies in Cathedrals

Musical trio called the Happy Harpers

Eukelelye group at the Baptist church

She always had a song ready to sing.

World Traveller.

A song is not really a song when it is written, or even when it is sung…a song finds its completion when it is shared. Eulice’s fascinating, interesting, quirky, sometimes frustrating, legacy….it is best understood, experienced.

Like a song, when we lose someone it requires some reflection, internally and in community. It requires one to self-interrogate, how do I feel about this?

Isaiah: Give some background

Isaiah 40:1–4 NIV

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

Here we find:

1. Comfort

2. Forgiveness

3. Promise

4. Future

Comfort, comfort my people:

The very first word in the midst tragedy and loss is comfort. God says to the people of Israel, I see you. The Hebrew word for comfort is encourage or strengthen, to stiffen. This is the message in the midst of your plight.... Hold on, I see you.

Forgiveness:

When we face hardship, in so many ways our faith is revealed to be very small. God is not surprised by that, instead God understands.

Eulice wasnt perfect and neither are any of us here. God promises forgiveness.

Promise:

In the midst of the wilderness of exile, God proclaims....I am coming.

Calling my dad when I was in trouble one day.

I am coming.

Future:

Finally a promise not just of comfort, presence, but also of restoration....

Isaiah 40:4 NIV

4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

We can rejoice today because we believe in Eulice’s full healing. Eulice is now in a place where there is no more pain, suffering but joyful unending presence with the one who lavished love upon all along. The one who wrote the song to begin with is the one that she now rests in.

And for those of us that mourn today, this is our hope. The story of Israel and the story of God’s people in Jesus is that God has and continued to reinsert Himself into our story. That is Christian hope.

Thanks be to God.

Let us pray.

Hymn - Amazing Grace-Led by?

Hymn - Thine be the glory

Benediction

The peace of God He which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

Hallelujah Chorus