Celebration of Life - Brent Vassay

With the family

I’m honored to get to celebrate the life of Brent today

I wanted to encourage you all with this passage — a passage that Gayle mentioned to me when we met:

Isaiah 40:30–31 ESV

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Our tendency when it comes to hardship, tragedies, and loss is to try and do it all on our own

We want to be the ones to be strong, show no weakness, and tough it out

But here is what Isaiah tells us — you can’t do it on your own

Youths shall faint — those who are in impeccable shape — physical, mental, emotional, spiritual

They will faint

However, Isaiah tells us that if we wait on the Lord he will give us new strength

And notice what he said:

When we wait on the Lord he will be with us in every moment

He will give us wings to get through it, he will give us strength to run, and when we feel like passing out because of pain and grief he is with us

Family this isn’t going to be easy — but lets wait on the Lord and allow Him to give us strength to get through it

Pray

Lord I pray that you give the family the courage to run to you

Our tendency will be to do it on our own — pull ourselves up by our bootstraps

Lord let the family instead lean on You

Father I pray that they feel your super natural strength and peace wash over them

Welcome

On behalf of the family thank you for coming to the celebration of life for Brent Vassay

My names Jamie Spry, I’m one of the Pastors at REVO Church and it’s an honor and privilege to get to preach Brent’s celebration of life

I was asked to lead because I am the student pastor for Zane and Sage

It’s amazing to see so many people coming to celebrate Brent’s life and legacy

But your job isnt to just celebrate Brents life

if you came today that means you know the famiy and are close

That means you are also called to support the family through this time

Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:2

Galatians 6:2 ESV

2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

This is the task of everyone who is in this room now — to bear the burdens of Jerry and Gayle, Ethan, Zane, Sage and Brian

To be there for them during te time now, and into the future

Let us pray:

Father I pray you would be with every single family member and friend that is here

I pray that they would take the challenge that Paul gives in Gal 6 seriously

That they seek to help bear burdens for the family

First song plays

Remembering Brent

Brent went by many names

Legally he went by James Brent Vassey

For some of you he was Brent

But he also went by son

And Dad

But maybe my favorite name that Brent went by was “Batman”

He got that name from his brother Brian who effectively went by “Joker”

Gayle shared with me how it always bugged Brent that Brian had Green hair

He said it would embarrass him

But it was something that always bonded them

Just like going to see the newest Marvel movie, or watching football together where Brent would pull for his Dolphins

Brent inherited his mothers knack for being a comedian

Which he used to great effect towards her when she got a Bowflex Treadmill

Gayle asked Jerry and Brent to move the treadmill into the bedroom and have it face the TV so she could watch it while walking

To move the treadmill they had to completely disassemble the treadmill, no easy task

This led Brent to tell his mom that he gave it 3 months and she would start using it as a clothes hanger

Then every single time he talked to her he asked if she used it

Which Gayle would say she did use it, she walked past it!

Brent inherited his fathers ability to use his hands

Every car repair, home repair, and lawn care project was something that Brent inherited from his father

He was also generous, being willing to help anyone who needed help

Jerry shared with me how Brent helped his neighbor plant a rose bush and take care of the maintenance on her apartment

They also shared how Brent was adventurous loving to ride rollercoasters

However he didn’t start that way — he actually hated rollercoasters when he was young

That is until he went to the fair and wanted to impress some girls

A quality that no doubt can be seen in both Zane and Sage

Zane shared with me how Brent took them to the Charlotte motor speedway for the Christmas lights

The Christmas lights were good, but the part Zane said he’ll never forget is Brent taking his work truck up the bank of the speedway to the point where it felt like they were about to flip

Sage told me about how his dad would always have them watch the craziest movies, stuff you’ve probably never heard of

They shared with me how he had an almost endless mask collection that he would use to scare them

Zane and Sage also shared how Brent loved his RX-8 — Sharing how he would often take them for drives and one time pulled behind a Toys-R-Us and did donuts behind the store!

One quality that Brent instilled into both of his boys was a competitive nature

And that comes out in almost every aspect of their life, but especially sports — where Brent would spend hours with them teaching them how to shoot basketball, play soccer, and how to Golf

He loved to go to the boys games and tournaments and cheer them on, but he loved even more so to compete with them

You can find Brent’s witty comebacks anytime you speak to Zane

As for his humor, you simply need to speak to Sage

His personality will live on through his boys

You see one thing I leaned about Brent is that he strived for greatness in everything he did

But for everything that Brent achieved, his greatest success is no doubt his kids

Letters and stories

But its not enough for me to share it

Listen to what those closest to Brent had to say

Read letters

Song 2

Remembering death

Oftentimes at funeral services, in a gathering of all of the closest family and friends, I wonder what last piece of advice would be shared if the opportunity was given.

Speaking with Gayle and Jerry there was a Bible passage that Gayle mentioned that is perfect for today:

2 Corinthians 5:1–5 ESV

1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

The apostle Paul wrote to believers and he tells us two fundamental truths:

Earthly life is finite

Eternal life is forever

One day our earthly life will end

But our eternal life will never end

Earthly life is finite.

One of the metaphors the Bible uses to describe our life here is that we’re all living in tents.

The Apostle Paul knew a lot about tents because he was a tentmaker.

I’d like to suggest three ways that living in this world is like living in a tent.

Life is temporary.

A tent is not meant to be permanent.

Tents are designed to be used for a short time.

Unfortunately, many of us act is if there is no eternity; that this life is all that there is.

However, this is but a dress rehearsal for the real event. 

James 4:14 says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” 

Proverbs 27:1 reminds us to “not boast about tomorrow because we don’t know what a day will bring forth.”

Life here is insecure.

A tent is not very secure because it’s made out of canvas and is not good at keeping out wild animals or the elements.

Friends, life is too unpredictable and too brief to live it without God at the center.

We count our lives in years, but God tells us in Psalm 90:12 to number our days.

In 1 Samuel 20:3, David said, “Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

Our lives are here one minute and gone the next.

Life here is uncomfortable.

I can remember going on family vacations where we stayed in tents.

There was never a good nights rest and we were constantly tossing and turning.

Paul is telling us that life makes us groan and is uncomfortable

Our tents are taken down at the time of our death.

Our bodies are disposable because they run down and wear out.

Eternal life is forever.

Life is temporary, insecure, and uncomfortable, but Paul says born again believers have a “building from God.”

We move from a tattered temporary tent here to a house in heaven, which is permanent.

In 2 Timothy 4:6, Paul says that the time had come for his “departure.”

The word departure literally means, “An unloosing” and was used when throwing off a ship’s cables, pulling up anchor and setting sail.

It was also used in a military sense of striking camp, when taking down the tents and of removing the bonds of a prisoner.

When Brent died, the cables that bound him to this life were loosened. When we die, this earthly tent is taken down

The question then becomes — where is your eternal house founded? Is it founded with Jesus?

We know that the earthly life we live is temporary — no one can escape death

But we also know that we eternal life — but where will you be spending it?

Jesus tells us that:

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

No one can come to the Father — no one can come to heaven and be with the Lord without Jesus

The beauty?

Jesus came with one goal — to bring those who are far from God in close and prepare a house for us!

Just listen to what He said:

John 3:16–17 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus came to save us from sin and bring us close to God!

Jesus came so that we can have life — eternal life with the Lord

And all it takes? Faith and trust in the Lord:

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

We are saved and made right trusting in Jesus with our eternity

I cannot think of a better way to end tonight than to look at Jesus!

Jesus came to seek and save the Lost

To bring us back to the Lord and forgive our sins!

So when your earthly tent is taken down, will you be with the Lord in glory?

Let me pray:

Lord I pray that if there is someone in this room right now questioning where their eternal residence resides, allow them to come to you today

Your word says that all we have to do is call on you and you come — so Father I pray that if anyone is unsure that they would call on you