7/8/25 - Herman Leon Rhodes Funeral

Prelude

WELCOME AND PRAYER - Michael Rhodes

Opening Song - Christina

Eulogy - Michael Rhodes

Song - Eva Goins

Comments - Darrin Powers

Song - Eva Goins

MESSAGE

There is some things that I believe Mr. Herman would want us to know today.

#1 - He is just fine where he is

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 CSB

13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Here’s the second thing I believe he would want us to know.

I came across some valuable information the other day

· You can help me to confirm if it’s true or not

· I read that there are three things that people long for in their life

· The first is peace

· The second is prosperity

· And the third is purpose

· Let me define each one to make sure we are hearing the same thing

Peace is easily defined as the absence of anxiety

· It would be awesome to not have any stress in our life

· Most all of us long for a peaceful existence.

· We want restful weekends

· We want  to have no conflict with each other

· We work hard to eliminate anxiety and have worry free minds

· Having peace answers what we long for.

The second is prosperity

· This is more than just having a ton of money

· Prosperity can be defined as having security

· For some people that means financial wealth

· For others it could mean something else

· In reality prosperity means that there is a safe place to live

· Enough food to feed the family

· And enough money to pay the bills.

· People will migrate thousands of miles to reach a safe-haven in America

· And risk their lives to be aprt of this system

· To be prosperous answers what we care about

The last longing is purpose

· This is the deep longing to make a difference

· People all over the world as kthe same questions

· “Why am I here?”

· “What is my purpose?”

· So, “purpose” answers the question of why we are here.

If you’ve ever asked any of those questions about your life

· You are not alone.

· These questions get asked over and over again

· And people will try anything to answer those questions in their own power

· In their own strength

· With their own answers

Can I tell you something?

· That never works out.

· In a perfect world, meaning all things are in perfect alignment with each other

· And that there is no such thing as evil

· Pain, suffering, disease, natural disasters

· Even in that perfect world

· Those questions cannot be answered

· I know that because at one point

· According to the Bible

· There was a perfect world

Did you ever wonder where these longings in every human being come from?

That perfect world had all the answers

· The Bible gives the answer to peace

· There  was peace because there wasn’t destruction

· There wasn’t anxiety

· There wasn’t shame

There was prosperity

· The Bible speaks about Adam and Eve in the garden

· And they had everything they needed

· All they cared about was each other

· And walking with God every day

There was purpose

· God told them to take care of the garden

· That was their sole purpose in life

These people had all three of the human longings

· And they were tricked into being discontented with life

· They were told that if they disobeyed the command of God

· They would have everything that God had

· In essence, they could become like God

They were so shortsighted about their discontentment

· They gave up all three longings

· For something more

Since that time, the world has been broken

· Our relationship with our Creator is broken

· The very lifeline we had

· All three things of peace, prosperity, and purpose

· These are now longings are in every human heart

· Because we were disconnected from the very one who created us

In creation

· It says in Genesis 1:11 that God created all the plants from the earth, the dirt, the soil

· In Genesis 1:12 that the earth brought forth all these things

· If you remove a plant from the soil, what happens?

· It dies

It says in Genesis 1:20 God created all the fish of the sea from the water

· If you take a fish out of the water, what happens?

· It dies

In Genesis God created mankind in His image

· He used the dust of the ground

· But He breathed life into the man in Genesis 2:7

· So what happens if you take God out of man?

· Same thing that happens to the fish without water

· And the plants without soil

Ever since the first man and the first woman

· Chose to be disobedient to God

· We’ve lost that connection with God

· Now we work against the world

· And the world works against us.

God was our provider

· God was our prosperity

· God gave us our purpose

· And when He removed us from the Garden

· We no longer had a purpose

· We were no longer prosperous or secure

· We were no longer provided for

· We had to work for our own

But God made a promise to us

· God promised that He would provide a way

· To return to the paradise He created

· Just as God created the perfect place in the beginning

· He would provide a perfect place for us in the end

God’s promise, the new creation

· Would take place through His Son Jesus

· Jesus came to earth, as a human to show us the way

· He would be born of the same line of Adam and Eve

· He would live a life of a human

· And He would die to pay the penalties for the brokenness in our life

· All so that we could have the promise of God

· The promise of peace, prosperity, and purpose

Let me ask you

· If you are experiencing a lack of peace

· A lack of prosperity or security

· A lack of purpose

· It could be you have never accepted the promise of God

The Bible says in Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 CSB

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Why do we need to know this account?

Here’s why I think Mr Herman would want all of us to know this particular account from the Bible

#1 - Sin is not what we do, but who we are

The Bible says everyone was created for a purpose

We were created for a relationship with God in the garden of Eden,

The Bible in the Book of Genesis describes this relationship

The Bible in Genesis also says that the world is broken

No one has to convince anyone that this is a broken world

It is broken because of sin.

Sin is a word that leaves a bad taste in your mouth

It’s something we as humans don’t want to hear about

Sin’s literal meaning is missing the mark

meaning we are aimed in the complete opposite direction of what we should be aiming at

in this case we should be aiming at God

and instead we are shooting in the exact opposite direction

Back in Genesis in that garden the first sin was committed

God wanted a relationship with Adam and Eve

and Adam and Eve decided to break God’s commands

and aim at serving themselves

That sin is passed down through the bloodline of Adam and Eve to every human being

because they were the first humans

and pass that along to everyone

so now in turn we aim in the wrong direction naturally by default.

- Romans 3:10-12 which quotes Psalm 14:1-3 and Ecclesiastes 7:20-

Romans 3:10–12 CSB

10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

#2 God knew that and fixed the world’s brokenness through His Son Jesus Christ

Romans 5:6–10 CSB

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

Notice all the ways we are against God

We were helpless, weak

and Christ died for us

We were sinners and aimed in the wrong direction

and Christ still died for us

We were enemies

and Christ still died for us

John 3:16 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

#3 God has given us a choice

Romans 6:23 CSB

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This choice we have is simple

God offers the choice to be saved from the sin

that has us facing the wrong direction

or to pay for that sin on your own.

The thing is we can’t pay for the sin on our own

unless we were sinless and could pay for it

there is nothing we can do to pay for our own sin in the end

#4 God has shown us how to fix the brokenness in our lives

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

If there is one thing that Mr. Herman would want you to know

is how to be saved.

Saved is another big word

God offers the choice to be saved from the sin that has us facing the wrong direction

or to pay for that sin on your own.

CLOSING PRAYER

This concludes this part of the service

We will move to Greenlawn memorial park for the benediction and dismissal.

Please stand

GRAVESIDE SERVICE

We gather here to claim memories which are forever sacred as they are a gift of God.

We are supported by a faith stronger than death sustained by the hope of a life that extends eternally beyond this place.

Within that confidence, we gather here to commit all that is mortal of our loved ones to this resting place,

surrounded by the handiwork of God in nature,

yet aware that we have a resting place not made with hands but by God eternal.

SCRIPTURE READING

Psalm 46 (CSB)

1 God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.

2 Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas,

3 though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah

11 The Lord of Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

SCRIPTURE

Revelation 21:1–7 CSB

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

Normally the graveside is a place of closure on this side of life

It is a place to close the lives of those we’ve experienced life with

and a place to remember fond memories of those lives we’ve had to share

In this case it is also a place to close out this year

You’ve experienced three deaths of people that you love

and although the memories will live on

this is a time to close the chapter on this life

and carry the memories of these loved ones into the rest of this year

Death is not final

it is a pause on the eternal life that God has given to us

for those that were believers in Jesus Christ

they will live on in eternity with Him

until one day when Jesus comes back to get the rest of His followers

The new heaven and the new Earth will have been created

and we can live together for eternity

without sin, without death, without grieving

John in Revelation gives us a glimpse of what the new Heaven and earth will look like

Revelation 22:1–5 (CSB)

1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,

3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

This is the hope that every follower of Jesus has to look forward to

and so as we place the remains of those we love here

God reminds us through the Apostle Paul

who was sharing this hope

with a church that had lost many

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (CSB)

13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Although a purpose of these verses is to provide comfort for those that have lost loved ones

I believe there is another purpose as well

the last verse that shares to encourage and comfort one another with these words

That means that we have a job to do

for all that have lost someone

we have the responsibility to use our circumstances

to help those that will go, are going, or have gone through something similar

We are to share the hope with those that need to hear it

The parting desires of all that have been placed in this cemetery

is for everyone to know the hope that is in Christ alone

and the best way to honor those that we place here

is to honor the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus

to introduce people to His Father

mentor people into the faith of Jesus

and to multiply His followers to the best of our ability

I believe that as we close out the chapters of Mr Herman,

the best way to move on and honor them is to

remember the great times

and to be obedient to the encouragement that we can give others