Kyle Habetler's Funeral Service

Welcome

Thank you for being here to support the Habetler family and to honor Kyle’s life.

I know that your presence today, during such a hard time, means the world to Josh and Kris.

It means the world to Aidon and Marie.

It means the world to this family.

On one hand, the word family makes today so hard.

The Habetler Family is large and it extends well beyond blood, as many of you know.

Family is so incredibly important to Josh and to Kris.

Their kids are so important to them.

And so today is absolutely as difficult as one could possibly imagine.

One of the worst evils that this fallen world knows is parents burying their children.

This is a hard family day.

But on the other hand, family makes today much more bearable.

The Lord uses family and friends as a sweet grace to us when we suffer.

And so how encouraging it is to Josh and Kris to see all the family that is here to support them this morning.

Opening Prayer

Lord God—we turn to You today.

Even before we turn to family.

You are our Shepherd and so we shall not want.

You lead us beside still waters.

You make us lie down in green pastures.

You lead us in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake and You restore our souls.

Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, as we are today, we will not fear evil.

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort us.

You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies—even the enemy of death.

You bless us and our cup overflows.

And though we are in the house of mourning today, goodness and mercy shall follow us throughout life and those who trust in You will dwell in Your house forever.

Keep these promises to us Lord and we will stand on them.

In Christ’s name—AMEN.

Scripture: Lamentations 3:16-24

Lamentations 3:16–24 ESV

He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Song: How Great Thou Art, Chris Rice

Eulogy for Kyle Habetler

Kyle John Habetler was born on September 5th, 1997.

He passed away early in the morning on April 25th, 2025.

Childhood:

Growing up, Kyle was your typical outdoors-y boy.

He loved being in the pool or in some type of water

He loved to play rough, but he also always loved big

As he grew older, his adventurous spirit took on some more extreme forms:

Hiking, rock-climbing, biking and skateboarding

Also, when it came to nature, Kyle loved dogs.

His parents said he was a dog-lover from a very young age

Character:

As Kyle grew up from a boy into a man, he grew into such an impressive man.

If you wanted to have fun, he was your guy.

He loved to have fun

If you wanted to throw down on burritos and pizza—he was your way.

He loved to eat them.

If you wanted adventure—he was your guy.

His adventurous spirit never went away.

He would do blackflips off of rocks into water, which I am sure made his parents plenty nervous.

His adventurous spirit also bled into his profession, which I will get to in a moment.

He continued to adore the outdoors, just as he did as a boy.

If Kyle wasn’t outside and busy, he wasn’t happy.

He loved enjoying sports and nature. If Kyle wasn’t outside and busy, he wasn’t happy. He loved enjoying sports and nature.

He particularly loved soccer.

He played for Eastern New Mexico (Go Greyhounds)

His family and friends meant the most to him—because that is the Habetler way

He loved his nephews and his brothers and sisters

He longed to start a family of his own.

He had a happy go lucky personality and he lifted up the people around him.

If you needed his help, he would help you if he could

He made the most of life and lived it to the fullest

Profession:

In terms of his career—the adventure continued for Kyle, as I mentioned.

He was a first responder–-both EMT and firefighter

He was often on missions getting dropped into forest fires

He went up to California and Utah and Colorado for this work–also in New Mexico

He saw a lot of hard things as an EMT

This led to him Changing careers and went into Program Management in construction

He built his mom’s house

His sister’s house

And his own house

He Ventured into commercial work

In fact, He was the superintendent for the University of New Mexico’s Children’s Hospital

All of this in a few short years.

As Kris said—Kyle lived more life in his shortened years than most live in a life that ripens to old age.

Faith:

We can also say that Kyle did not live life as if what we see under the sun is all there is

He and his mom had deep conversations about the Lord and the Gospel of Jesus.

They talked about the differences between Mormonism and Protestant Christianity

They wrestled through sermons I preached together.

He was particularly intrigued by who Christ reveals Himself to be in Luke 5-6.

We will talk more about that in a moment.

Kyle came to church and sat under teaching here.

I remember one Sunday when I was explaining a deep biblical truth from the pulpit:

I was explaining how in the South, “Bless your heart,” doesn’t mean what Northerners and Southwesterners and Midwesterners think it means.

It sounds nice, but it is often a way of passive-aggressively saying, “What a fool.”

As I explained this, Kyle blurted out in the middle of the sermon, “Wait—that’s what that means?!?”

Kris and Josh loved that.

It shows how honest and real Kyle was as he explored faith and church and the Bible.

Suicide Awareness:

Now at this point, I want to address something I have been asked to address.

And that is the manner of Kyle’s death.

Kyle took his own life on that morning of April 25th.

It is a tragic reality, but a reality nonetheless.

Now suicide is complex.

When I was in 11th grade, I had a lifelong friend I had known since Kindergarten take his own life.

I have spent many days in my adult years wondering what drove my friend, Will Shepherd, to make such a decision.

In the end, I do not know.

What I know is that it is always complex.

People are not robots or characters on TV shows.

They could be thinking and feeling many things that lead them to make such a decision.

Theologically, I want to tell you this:

Suicide is not the unforgivable sin and people who commit suicide are not condemned to Hell by God simply because they took their own life.

The only unforgivable sin we see in the Bible is this—to harden your heart against the Holy Spirit of God and continue rejecting Jesus.

Suicide is tragic and it is brutal on those you leave behind.

There is no way around that.

But it is not an unforgivable sin that results in some sort of automatic condemnation.

Practically, I want to say this:

Ask the people you love if they are okay

If you see them struggling, say something.

If they say they are fine, Don’t just accept their first answer

If you see someone struggling and you aren’t close enough to address it, let your loved ones know.

As a pastor, I am in a profession with a high suicide rate.

I check on the men who serve other churches regularly.

Do the same for the people around you.

Finally, if hearing Kyle’s story would motivate you to do so, please consider giving to some sort of reputable organization that specializes in suicide awareness.

Song: Word of God Speak, MercyMe

Sermon: Build Your Life on the Rock

INTRODUCTION

On days like this, it can feel like there is no floor.

It can feel like the things in this world that we have always found comfort in are suddenly not enough.

It can feel like we have no foundation.

This morning, I want to speak to you for a few minutes about just that—the foundation that our souls desperately need.

Especially on days like this.

And I want to talk to you about the foundation that the soul needs on the last day, when we will stand before God, giving an account for our lives.

This is not a passage I have ever preached at a funeral.

But as I sat with Kris and Josh, looking through Kris’ Bible and seeing the notes from the conversations she and Kyle had about Luke 5-6, we all knew this would be the perfect passage for today.

TEXT

Luke 6:46–49 ESV

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

EXPOSITION

The parable here is not hard to understand.

Sometimes Jesus’ parables can be that way, but not this one.

It begins with a question—Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you?

So we know from the start that Jesus is talking about obedience.

And for Those who hear the Word of Jesus Christ and obey them are like those who build their houses on foundation that is dug deep and made of rock.

But The one who hears the Word of Jesus Christ and does not obey are like those who build their houses right on the ground and have no foundation at all.

In the first case, a flood comes and the house with the deep foundation is not shaken because of how it had been built well.

In the second case, the flood comes and the house falls and the ruin is great.

Floods and Foundations

Now with that said, what does this have to do with us today?

What do floods and foundations have to do with us as we grieve today?

Well, I would argue everything.

See, this passage comes at the very end of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain.”

It is very similar to His most famous sermon, “The Sermon on the Mount,” in Matthew 5-7.

In fact, the Sermon on the Mount ends with a very similar parable about foundations and floods.

And in this Sermon on the Plain, Jesus has shown us how we should live.

Those who are followers of Christ should be:

humble in spirit

hungering for righteousness

mourning evil in their lives and in the world

willing to be reviled and persecuted for Jesus’ sake.

Those who are follower of Christ should be:

look for a reward in heaven and not in this world

shouldn’t be concerned with everyone speaking well of them if they are pleasing God

Those who follow Christ should be:

Loving their enemies

Merciful because God is merciful

slow to judge others

quick to forgive others

avoiding hypocrisy as much as they can

And ultimately, their lives should be producing good fruit and not bad fruit.

So with that stated, by closing the Sermon with His illustration about floods and foundations, He is saying, if you listen to everything I said and you obey, your life will have a deep foundation and it will be able to withstand the flood waters.

In other words, Jesus is saying that the FOUNDATION every one of us is desperately in need of is His Word.

He is saying if you build your life on His Word—which we demonstrate by obeying Him—the house that is our life will not fall in great ruin.

But if you do not, and you build your life on the wisdom found in the world—and a soul is determined to disobey Christ—there will be great ruin.

Let me be clear about what Jesus is talking about here.

Sometimes people read this and they think Jesus is talking about the storms and floodwaters of life.

They think the message is, “If I build my life on Christ’s words, I will be able to handle suffering and grief.”

And listen—that is certainly a fine takeaway.

If you have built your life on Christ’s Word, days like today are still hard. They still feel like a flood, but you are able to bear up under it because of the foundation you have.

But while that is a fine takeaway, it should not be THE takeaway, because Jesus is talking about a flood that is much worse grief at a funeral or even the pain of losing a child.

Jesus is talking about the flood of God’s judgment when we stand before His throne at the end of our lives.

THE GOSPEL

Now—talk of judgment might make you think of some sort of tent revival preacher.

You might think it is out of place at a funeral service where we are remembering and celebrating life.

But I would say these are indeed the days that are best to consider these things.

These are the days that we are so aware of how finite we are.

These are the days where we are confronted with the fact that there will one day be a funeral service for us, just like there is for Kyle today.

These are days to consider more than our physical bodies—but to consider the state of our souls.

So let me make a few statements about God before we listen to some more music and reflect this morning.

God is real.

We see it everyday.

We live in a complex universe, on a complex planet, with amazing miracles all around us in the environment and even in our own bodies.

Not a one of us would believe a can of coke or a shirt or a baby came about by random chance.

And yet too many are satisfied to think this is the way it is with the created world.

It makes no sense.

Our DNA alone demands that we recognize we have a Designer.

There is a world—there must be a world Maker.

This is the basic logic we have all applied to everything since we were little kids.

Life must come from life.

Complex things must have a brilliant designer.

If something moves, it must have been moved.

Don’t check logic at the door when considering the religion of the Bible.

Instead, apply logic and see the reality of God’s existence.

God made a good creation.

The world was not always the way it is now.

There wasn’t always sorrow.

There wasn’t always suicide.

There wasn’t always death.

When God created it the world, He created it good.

When God created human beings, He created them very good.

God was disobeyed.

The world did not remain good because the people in it rebelled against God.

They were given free run on all the trees of the massive, beautiful Garden God placed the first two humans inside of.

But instead of enjoying God’s blessing and resting with Him and in Him, they went and ate from the one tree that was forbidden.

They had been told they should surely die if they disobey God.

If they disregard His Word, they will receive the flood of judgment in the form of death.

Because God is gracious, He did not immediately take their lives.

He allowed them to live for many years.

But they were not perfect anymore.

Their kids were not perfect.

And so it has gone on throughout the generations.

Because of that fateful day in Eden, sin and death are present in our world.

And we are a part of that.

We are sinners who will die.

Maybe you disagree. Maybe you feel that you are not a sinner.

God has a law.

God has given us His Ten Commandments as His law, just as the state of Virginia has a law.

If we judge ourselves by God’s law, we will see why the Bible says ALL have fallen short of the glory of God. ALL have missed the mark.

Have you ever worshipped something or someone that is not God?

Have you ever used His name like a curse word?

Have you ever dishonored your parents?

Have you ever stolen?

Have you ever lied?

That is just 5 of the 10, but I think you get the point.

Most of us in this room, would have to admit that we have done all those things.

If we don’t judge ourselves by our own standards or society’s standards, we will find we are guilty.

God is a Judge.

If you break the law of the state of Virginia, you will go before a judge and they will judge you according to the law of the state.

If that didn’t happen, the Judge would not be just. He would not be upholding the Law.

If you have ever been the plaintiff in a court case, you know how important it is for our judge’s to uphold laws.

Otherwise, society would collapse.

Well similar to the earthly judge, God is a Judge.

And He is a Judge who judges according to His perfect law.

And in the same way that a judge in a VA court room will issue sentences and punishments that fit the crime, so will God in His divine courtroom.

The judge in Virginia is a temporary judge in a temporary state and he doles out temporary punishment.

In the case of God, a judgment of guilty results in eternal punishment.

The punishment fits the crime—if you break the eternal law of an eternal God, the spiritual sins would demand eternal punishment.

THIS is the flood that Jesus is talking about.

He is speaking about the flood of God’s judgment at the end of our lives, when we have to account for how we have lived.

And everyone born from two human parents is guilty in this way.

No one can claim innocence.

But...

God is a Savior.

This is where the Good News of Christianity shines.

Understanding the desperate situation for our souls, the Good News is all the more good when we hear it.

Maybe you have heard that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to save humanity, but do you really know what it all means?

Was Jesus just a nice teacher?

Was Jesus just a tragic story of a religious leader who flew too close to the sun and got Himself killed by the Romans?

What was the point of Jesus’ life?

Well Jesus is God’s one and only plan to save people from their sins. To save them from the flood of judgment.

Because God is a Savior, He sent Jesus to be born of a virgin—which means He didn’t have two human parents and wasn’t sinful in His nature like you and me.

Because God is a Savior, He sent Jesus to live a perfect life and never fail God’s law the way we have.

Because God is a Savior, He Jesus to die on the Cross.

And that is what happened.

Jesus dies on the Cross.

And when He does, all of the anger He has toward you for your sin—anger you would face on Judgment Day—it is poured out on Jesus instead.

He drank the cup of God’s wrath so that it would never touch our lips.

He took our punishment. He died our death.

And then, three days later, He rose from the grave.

It may sound impossible, but nothing is impossible for God.

Jesus is not just Jesus the Crucified.

Jesus is King Jesus the Resurrected.

His resurrection proved some things about Him:

He was who He said He was—the Son of God.

His Father was pleased with His sacrifice—otherwise He would not have resurrected His Son.

And Jesus had won the victory.

He defeated sin and death.

God has an invitation.

He invites anyone to come and repent of their sins and trust in Christ.

Repent means to turn away from.

So we are to turn away from sin, intending to do it no more with God’s help

And to trust is to believe with your heart that Jesus died for you, He rose for you and He is the only hope of your salvation.

When we turn away from sin and trust in Jesus, we will be saved from judgment, forgiven of our sin and we will be made right with God and have friendship with Him now and forever in the heaven that is to come.

THIS IS WHERE IT BEGINS

See, this is where the foundation laying begins.

If you are going to build your house on the rock, you must turn away from sin and believe in Jesus.

This salvation is nothing your deserve. It is called grace.

That means love you don’t deserve.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

There is nothing you can do to earn salvation.

You simply must trust in Christ who has earned it for you by dying for your sins.

There is nothing you can do to defeat death.

You simply must trust in Christ who defeated it for you and provides anyone who believes with eternal life.

It has to start there.

Jesus’ words in Luke 6 are not some sort of invitation to white-knuckle the wheel of your life.

Jesus is not saying, “Do good stuff and then your house will stand.”

It all starts with believing in Christ.

That is how the foundation is laid.

Once you turn from sin and believe in Him, He will give you a new heart and new desires to follow Him with.

And it will be in His power that you obey the Word of Christ and build your house on the rock.

WHEN IT FINALLY ENDS

And one day, there will be a day like this for all of us.

Our loved ones will get together and say nice things about us and maybe hear a preacher share some words and then they will put us in an urn or in the ground and they will go eat fried chicken and potato salad.

That is the day when the flood of judgment will come.

For those who build their house on faith in Christ, there will be nothing to fear.

The house of your soul will stand.

But for those who built their house on the squishy, sinking soil of this world, will find that when the flood comes, they will be washed away forever.

Kris said these words caused Kyle to stop and ponder.

In terms of understanding who Jesus is, these words made the light bulb go off for him.

Do the same today.

Stop and ponder the state of your soul.

Stop and ponder the flood to come.

Turn and trust in Christ—let Him give you a forever foundation that will not be moved.

It will comfort us on days of sorrow.

And it will carry us into the glories of heaven.

SONG: Good Good Father, Chris Tomlin

CLOSING INSTRUCTIONS

Thank you for being here today.

Again—it has meant the world to Kyle’s family.

If you are feeling led to honor Kyle in some way, the family asks in lieu of flowers, you would send a donation toward a Suicide Awareness organization, as I mentioned before.

A second option would be a donation to youth sports in some way, because Kyle was so passionate about sports and it shaped so much of who he was.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus,

You are the Resurrection and the Life.

If anyone believes in you, though they die, yet shall they live.

If anyone believes in You, death is but sleep and they never truly die.

Do we believe this Lord?

Help our unbelief.

Comfort us by true faith.

Send your Spirit to help us believe the Word and trust in Christ.

Thank You again for being with us in the valley of the shadow of death.

In Christ’s Name—Amen.