Jim Gazaway Funeral Message
Notes
Transcript
On behalf of the family, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming today and showing your love and support. That means more than anything. As most of you know, the passing of a loved one is one of the most difficult things that we have to go through, but having friends and family to come alongside you and offer continued support along the way means all the world.
This is a tough day. Bro Jim was a good man, and he will be missed by all who knew him. As I though about what to speak on today, these verses from 1 Timothy came to mind:
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Bro Jim was truly a godly man. I’ve only had the privilege of knowing Bro Jim for the last 2 1/2 years, but what time I have known him, he has been such an encouragement to me.
At 90 years old, he was still attending church as faithfully as he could. He didn’t get around very well, and some weeks he simply wasn’t in good enough health to come, but when he could make it, he was there. I remember after having some health problems, he had kind of went downhill. I was told at that point, Bro Jim probably won’t be back in person because his health just isn’t good enough.
But that was not a satisfactory answer for Bro Jim. I went out to see him and he said, “As soon as I can, I’ll be back out there. Just give me a little time.” Sure enough, after a few weeks, he was back out at church.
And let me tell you, I’ll never forget that day when he came back. When he walked into the back of the sanctuary from Sunday School class, he met me at the front of the church right in front of the podium. He usually set right up there in that area anyway. He had big tears in his eyes, and he said, “I told you that I would be back. Here I am.”
And then at the start of service, or maybe at the end, he spoke to the congregation and told them how much he loved the Lord and how glad he was to be back in church with everyone. He cried the whole way through that.
He truly loved the Lord.
Every chance he got, he would tell me how wonderful of a job I was doing and encouraged me to keep up the good work.
The more I was around Bro Jim the more I realized that he had this kind of demanding presence. It wasn’t because he craved attention, or because he acted in a certain loud way, or anything like that. He was a very intelligent man, and when he chose to speak, he had something worth listening to. He spoke with such wisdom and care. It made you want to talk to him.
When I would go visit with him and Mrs. Pat, he loved talking about his years as a flight instructor. He shared with me that when he first began doing that they were still flying propeller planes. And then they started flying jet planes, which took on a whole new dynamic. He shared that some of the pilots really struggled making that transition because the planes were flown in a completely different way.
I asked him one time, “Bro Jim, didn’t you ever get nervous going up in those planes with new pilots?”
He kind of chuckled and said, “There was a few times...but I knew the Lord would take care of me.”
He didn’t strike me as a man who scared easily. He adapted well to whatever life through at him.
But the most important battle that Bro Jim ever fought was the fight of faith. I don’t know exactly when it was that he gave his life to the Lord, but I can tell you that at least in the latter years of his life, he fought that fight with everything he had.
He truly laid hold of eternal life. He knew the Lord and the Lord was so precious to him. He made that “good confession in the presence of many witnesses”, and he urged others to do the same.
Because of that, I think he would want me to do that very same thing here today. He would want me to tell you of Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
John starts by speaking about the Word of God. Remember that he is speaking to his fellow Jews. He is explaining how that their entire lives, they have been told of the stories of old.
They have handled the Word of life with their own hands, read it for themselves, seen it with their own eyes.
They know all too well the stories of Yahweh, the great I AM. They have memorized these accounts of Scriptures where God parted the waters for Moses, wrestled with Jacob at Bethel, moved the sun forwards and backwards in the sky, sent fire down from heaven for Elijah, cleansed the lepers, and raised people back to life.
They had grew up their entire lives hearing these stories, reading these stories, and studying these stories for themselves.
But now this life, this Word of life, has been revealed unto them. This eternal life, which used to be with Father has now come to this world in the flesh and they have seen it with their own eyes. They have personally bore witness to this man named Jesus.
In other words, John says, “I was there when Jesus...”
walked on the water in the midst of a storm
calmed the storm by simply speaking a few words
cast out demons from those who were possessed
healed the paralytic man who had been crippled since birth
turned water to wine
raise Lazarus from the dead, already having been dead for four days and stinking
healed the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years
healed blind Bartimaeus sitting by the city gate
took a few fish a loaf of bread and fed thousands of people
was beaten beyond recognition, forced to carry his own cross up Golgotha’s hill, and nailed to the cross
took his last breath and gave up his spirit
was taken down from the cross and placed in a borrowed tomb
appeared into the upper room three days later alive and well
showed Thomas the nail scars in his hands and feet
ascended up into glory, shrouded with the most amazing light anyone has ever seen
sent the Holy Spirit upon us at Pentecost, filling each of us with the unrivaled glory of God
I know Jesus is the Son of God. I know that He is the prophesied Messiah that we have read about all of our lives. I know because I was there and I have seen these things for myself. You will never convince me otherwise. Jesus is real, and I want you to see what I have seen. I want you to know what I have come to know. I want to experience Him as I have experienced Him.
And listen to me friends, when you experience Him as I have experienced Him, your joy will be made full. Your cup will run over. When you have tasted and seen that He is good, nothing will compare to the joy of knowing the Lord.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John now begins to give us a description of this Jesus, whom he knows to be true. He is God of light, and there is no darkness in Him at all.
He knows know evil. He is absolutely pure. He is full of love. He is absolute righteousness. He is perfect in every way.
And those who know Him dwell in that same light. They have no desire for evil. They seek to walk in the light, as He is in the light. And as we walk in the light of God, we get to experience Him, have fellowship with Him, and the blood He shed at Calvary cleanses us from all sin.
We have been made righteous through His righteousness. His blood served as the atonement of all sin for those who place their faith in Him.
Knowing this, John goes on to give a warning to his readers:
Do not try to convince yourself that you are a child of God if indeed you are living in sin. Do not lie to yourself. Instead of pretending that everything is ok, just be honest.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That is what Jim would want for you today. He would want you to confess your sins before the Lord, repent of those sins, and experience the same grace of God that he came to love so much. He would want you to know His Jesus.
He believed it so much that he devoted many years of his life to serving the Lord. From what I have been told, Bro Jim served in just about every area of the church. He taught Sunday School for every single age over his years of service.
He fought the good fight and he kept the faith....all the way up to the very end.
***May go into 1 John 2:1-2 if Spirit Leads***
