JENNY NASH MEMORIAL SERVICE

Welcome:

Good afternoon.  My name is Richard Ball and on behalf of the family, I want to thank you for coming and supporting the family during this time.  Will you please join me in a word of prayer.

Prayer

Song - Mansion Over The Hilltop

Eulogy - Doug Green

Memories of Jenny - Nancy and others?

Song - Do Lord

Special - Chris

Message:

This morning, we are here to remember Jenny. Jenny was a quiet soul who loved people and cared. Jenny was not the type of person who was out front. I don’t think that you would be able to ever get up here and share with a group of people. That’s not how she was.

She loved her family and kids. She was proud of them. She sought to find ways of helping where she can, making costumes and and all kinds of creations of creations. She loved teaching her children, and she loved Esther.

Most importantly, she loved the Lord. My wife and I towards the end of her life went and visited her in the hospital. She was very weak, yet was able to eat, and so as we were visiting, we engaged in conversation. And her mind was on the Lord. She knew that her time was short. She said to me, “I have a question.” I said, I’ll be glad to answer the best way that I know how, and she asked me about what Heaven will be like, what will we do, and will we know each other. Would she have a job? What would she do all day?

What struck me is that, that is not what people typically ask. (Have fun with this - say “Most people when it comes to heaven, don’t plan out their stay.”) People will ask about heaven, and knowing each other, but to ask about jobs and what we will do all day is not a common thing. But that was who Jenny was. She was a planner. Jenny was ready, but she wanted to know what all was going to happen on that first day, she was planning out eternity in heaven.

There’s a passage in the Bible that is often read during a funeral. It is a passage that gives great comfort. It was one of Jenny’s favorite passage. It reveals where Jenny found his hope and his peace. Jenny was not perfect, but she sought to love the Lord and to me, her life was a reflection of the relationship that David had with the Lord.

In Psalm 23, it says

Psalm 23 KJV 1900

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

King David wrote this as a reflection between him and God. And David realized that because of God’s love for him, he lacks for nothing. That with God, there is great peace and comfort.  

I know that for many of us, when we look at Scripture or hear someone read it, we distance ourselves from it.  But the truth is, the Bible is not just a book. It is God’s living word. It guides, teaches, and convicts us. But it also brings comfort to us. This passage is that for us. If Jenny could talk with us today, she would tell us of all the wondrous things she is experiencing. How she is in no pain, he is reunited with those who have gone before him, that she is so happy to be there, and what it is like to be with Jesus.

David starts out saying “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David proclaims that his hope and his peace wee in the Lord. He knew who he belonged to. So did Jenny. She had a peace and content because the Lord was her shepherd. That gave her the strength to endure and to have peace about where she ws going becase the Lord was her shepherd.

Jenny loved to create things, to knit and make stuff. She was an amazing seamstress. When my wife and I visited her, she had this little holder that she made for her phone. It was beautiful! The last time I saw her, she had some yarn that was beside her bed, and it looked like she was working on something. She loved to create and find joy. To me, it showed it was where she found great contentment in the Lord. It reminds me of when David said in verse 2 that He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. There is such a joy found in being content with God. So many people try to complicate it, when it doesn’t need to be. They try to find contentment in other things, but often end up in more pain and discontentment. For Jenny, she learned that the only hope, the only way that we can find peace and contentment was in the Lord. While we mourn for her to not be here with us, we can rejoice that she is in Heaven with the Lord.

For us here and now, we can find comfort in who David found comfort in – in God. In God, there is peace and rest. Even in those moments of difficulty and pain. That’s why David says in verses 4 through 5: 3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou artwith me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

It is in God where we can find true rest and peace. When things don’t go the way we want them to, when life doesn’t turn out how we hoped. We can trust in God and know that it will be okay. It may not be the way we want, but we can know that it will be okay. David understood that. That with God we don’t go through life alone. That in the hardest of moments, we can lean on Him and find great comfort in Him. That when the world feels like it is against you, when people fail you, God won’t. He will be with you. That’s why David says at the end: 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

For the believer, for those of us who are followers Christ, we know death is not the end. As painful as what it is, and death is painful. It is a thief who robs us. But for the believer, we know death is temporary. And that one day, we will be reunited with those who have gone on before. Because of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, we can live. Jenny is experiencing that today. As David said in the Psalm 23, her “cup runneth over.” She is not here, she is celebrating and rejoicing in the house of the Lord forever.

So as we wrap up here, our hope and our prayer is that you are reminded to find peace and comfort in God during this time. To weep with the family. It is okay to cry, and to mourn. Run to God and lean into him, trusting him as King David wrote in Psalm 23 and as Jenny did with her life.

transition to the Gospel in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus)

If you are here this morning, you might be here and want to know how you can have the same hope that Jenny had. In the Gospel of John, we read about Jesus at the grave of his friend Lazarus. Jesus goes and comforts his family and they are mourning. Mourning the loss of their brother. And Jesus comforts them in John 11:25:

John 11:25 CSB

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.

Jesus is the resurrection and life. Jenny found Jesus and that is what as hard as what these days have been, the hope is that one day we will see her again. It is the hope that we have in which we can face uncertain days because Christ lives. You can have that hope. John 3:16 says:

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whosever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

The families hope and prayer is that you choose to follow Jesus.

Today is a sad day. And that’s okay. But as Jesus said, for the believer, death is not the end. As I encouraged you earlier, I want to encourage you to find comfort in God during this time.  Call out to him, seek him, and pray.  Bring your hurt and your struggle to him, and allow Him to comfort you through this time.  Death brings hurt and grief, but God provides comfort to the grieving. 

To friends and family: the family here is very grateful of you being here.  They need you today, but they will also need you in the coming weeks and months.  Pray for them. Love them, bring comfort and peace to them.  Thank you for coming today. May God be with you.

Let us pray

Direct people to come to the family and pay their respects.