Untitled Sermon (23)

Introduction

Opening Prayer: Cory

Announcement: Cory

At the end of the service there will be a time when anyone who may have memories or stories about Mrs. Anna will be able to come up front and share them.

Obituary: Andy Vendetti

: Wesley Cooper

How Great Thou Art: Granddaughters

Come Ye Disconsolate: Steve Moore

Message: Doug Cooper

Message: Cory

Pray

Over the course of the last several months I had the great joy of getting to know Mrs. Anna.

I learned much about her both from stories she had told me and from the stories that were told about her.

Mrs. Anna lived her life in such a way that she was able to take every moment captive for what it was.

And that was a time of getting to rejoice around her family.

Whether it was sons and daughter in laws or grandchildren or great grandchildren.

Mrs. Anna rejoiced in being with her family.

She rejoiced in the time that the Lord had given her upon this earth to spend her family.

I know that as of late I had personally spoken with many of you who shared a great deal of concern for her.

Not that Mrs. Anna didn’t know the Lord but that you had concerns

And its because of that concern that I want to share with you today something that was found after her passing.

This is a notebook that Mrs. Anna kept where she made many personal notes concerning her walk with her Lord.

And for a moment I would like to share with you some of what she had written so that it may bring some comfort to you.

On the very first page Mrs. Anna wrote this:

The only way we can have salvation is through faith in Christ.

Salvation is a gift which is accepted.

Faith alone saves us, but the faith that saves is not alone.

Mrs. Anna had a good understanding here when she wrote this down.

She understood that what she wrote down was the answer to man-kinds greatest problem.

You see there is no denying that at this very moment, each and every one of us is bearing witness to something that is not natural.

Something that is and should be very foreign to us.

This is not how we were designed to be.

We were not designed to live a life that would end at the age of 93.

Instead we were created to live a life of abundance that would span through all of eternity.

A life where we could walk hand in hand with the children of our great great grandchildren and never tire.

We were created to be in the presence of God with nothing separating us from Him.

But instead when sin entered the world it impacted every aspect of the world that we live in.

And with sins entrance into the world, came the stain of death that has corrupted all of creation.

You see this morning as you mourn the passing of your mother, grandmother, aunt or friend.

I want you to understand why this all feels unnatural.

The tears that we shed.

The way that our hearts ache in the moment when thoughts of her enter our minds.

That patch of emptiness thats left behind where now only a memory fills.

This whole process seems unnatural because it is unnatural.

This is not who we were designed to be.

God created mankind to be a reflection of who He is.

We as human beings are created in the image of God.

Fearfully and wonderfully made.

Knit together in our mothers womb with the purpose and glory of God in mind.

All of these are the most beautiful parts to celebrate in God’s plan for our lives.

But death was never part of the Lord’s intention.

God did not create mankind that we may have only a few years here on earth but that it could be spent with Him for all of eternity.

But sins violent and corrupted nature entered into the world and by its entrance it brought along death.

And that death was not merely the physical death that we now see before us.

But it brought into the world a spiritual death where mankind would be numb to things of God in this life.

Not only in this life but it would also separate mankind from God in the life to come.

It would separate mankind and leave them with no hope of being restored.

But God being rich in mercy and full of Grace knew that we needed to be rescued.

It would leave them with no hope of being rescued.

He knew that we needed to be brought back to a place where we could stand before Him again.

Where we could walk hand in hand with Him without any separation.

And that is precisely what Mrs. Anna wrote about.

She knew that all of mankind was left in this place where apart from God doing something, we would all be without hope.

And that’s what she wrote.

The only way that any person is to have any hope is to have salvation in Christ.

To be saved by the work that Jesus did upon the cross of Calvary.

That place where God showed His love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Death does not have to mean that a person is without hope.

In the death of Christ, the saving of mankind is now real.

Not only is it real but it is effective.

It is effective for all who would call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For all who would repent of their sin and accept this gift which the Lord has given.

Better said by Mrs. Anna:

Salvation is a gift which is accepted.

It must be accepted and it must be in Christ Alone.

Beloved I want you to hear me when I tell you this.

There will come a time when someone will be standing in the same place saying the same things at each and everyone of our funerals.

And if we have never sought after this gift of being saved by Christ, then we are a people who are left without hope.

We are a people who will be left to be separated from the grace of our Creator for all of eternity.

Beloved it doesn’t have to be this way.

God has given us the miraculous gift of forgiveness.

He has given us the ability to be saved.

tells us that Christ was pierced for our sins.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon Him was the punishment that brought us peace.

And by His wounds we are healed.

One only has a need to be healed when there is an impairment.

Beloved, because of Christ we are healed from the depths of our separation from God.

We are brought back into a right standing before the Lord and He is faithful and just to forgive.

That gift of healing is available to all those who would call upon Him.

I pray that you will not let this day pass without knowing that you have been healed.

For those of you here this morning who know the Lord, I want to offer you a word of hope.

The last week of Mrs. Anna’s life I along with many others had the joy of getting to read Scripture to her.

One passage of Scripture that I shared with her several times over the course of the last week comes from .

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

As Christians it is often very easy for us to lose sight of the purpose.

And because of that, I want to remind you for a moment that although on the surface there seems to be no hope.

We are not a people who grieve without hope.

This time is but a momentary season and in comparison to what is to come, this time is miniscule.

What awaits those who have been redeemed by Christ is far more spectacular than what words can even express.

Although this moment may seem to continue on for days, weeks, months and even years.

In the timeframe of eternity, it is only but a moment.

The times of this life when we suffer, whether it be physical or emotional, they cannot compare to what lies ahead.

Though the passing of your mother, grandmother or great grandmother has brought unbearable pain, this is but only for the moment when compared to all of eternity.

This moment in comparison with the coming weight of glory cannot even begin to compare.

And because of this, do not lose heart.

Don’t lose heart because of the moment which for the time is filled with brokenness and sorrow.

But instead be reminded of Christ Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

And our eternal hope which with Him.

Pray

But do not forget of the

I Gave My Life for Thee: Congregational

When the Storm Passes By: Congregational

Memories

Closing Prayer: Cory

Dismissal