Gordie Westfield

I - Gordie Praying for me

We come together today to worship God and celebrate the life and the promise of resurrection for Gordie Westfield. Though we mourn his loss we are first and foremost here to celebrate what God did in and through him. We celebrate the person he made him to be and the way he was faithful to him throughout his life.

Today we have already shared stories, laughed together and cried together and as this service concludes we will continue that around tables at lunch as we share stories of Gordie and who he is to us.

Something light

Stories of his easy smile.

his heartfelt care for people.

Sitting in his room at the Kinnik Rehab Clinic he prayed that my wife, son, and I would have a safe trip. He prayed for our church and the people in it. He prayed for my health, my happiness, and my family.

I would of been suprised that someone facing what he was facing would want to pray for me and my small challenges. But Gordie prayed for me just about every time I saw him.

The last time I saw Gordie he prayed for me.

Sitting in his room at the Kinnik Rehab Clinic he prayed that my wife, son, and I would have a safe trip. He prayed for our church and the people in it. He prayed for my health, my happiness, and my family.

I would of been suprised that someone facing what he was facing would want to pray for me and my small challenges. But Gordie prayed for me just about every time I saw him.

The last time I saw Gordie he prayed for me.

Sitting in his room at the Kinnik Rehab Clinic he prayed that my wife, son, and I would have a safe trip. He prayed for our church and the people in it. He prayed for my health, my happiness, and my family.

I would of been surprised that someone facing what he was facing would want to pray for me and my small challenges. But Gordie prayed for me just about every time I saw him...

I don't think anyone in a hospital bed, waiting room, or ICU has prayed for me and my family more than Gordie Westfield.

W - Everybody has a story like that, where did that come from?

Trans: And whenever I share that with someone they just nod their heads, just as unsuprised as me. Then they share their story.

Of a time Gordie’s smile changed their mood.

a time he laughed with them.

a time he cheered them up. Even though they were trying to cheer him up

a time he reached our to see how you were doing.

When he drove b

During his retirement he spent his time working at Ellsworth Schools caring for students and staff with his patient unflappability or his easygoing demeanor.

Here at Church he served in so many ways. From leading bible studies to serving as a leader on our council. Showing God’s love to everyone who had the privileged of getting to know him.

During his retirement he spent his time working at Ellsworth Schools caring for students and staff with his patient unflappability or his easygoing demeanor.

Gordie like all of us of course was human and far from perfect, but it didn’t seem to matter what was happening in his life. Weather through challenges and setbacks or blessings he was always looking to pray for others, listen to others, and pour out care for others.

In a time when it feels like we are all so busy trying to deal with our own problems. Gordie was shockingly others oriented.

It makes me wonder just how he did it. What makes a person generous with their smile, their time, or their prayers? What makes a person generous with their life in that way?

G - Gordies relationship, unshakable connection to God

G - Gordies relationship, unshakable connection to God

Trans: And to be honest I’m not sure Gordie would be to happy with me for sharing there stories about him without talking about the place he drew that spirit of generosity and care from.

At church he did that s

Today we heard from three passages of scripture and I think they to that source. That well of care Gordie drew on and so often shared with others.

is a testimony of someone who patiently relies on God’s abundant grace and love. Someone who trust’s God and looks for his care even in the darkest valleys and most difficult trials. Someone who looks to God like a sheep looks to a shepherd, someone who relies on him for his care and present in everything.

Focuses on the everlasting strength and faithfulness of God. The unknowable depth of his power and his care for those who put their hope in him.

reminds says that no matter what we face in this life. No matter how high the challenges or how deep the sorrows nothing has the power to separate us from God’s love if we embrace it.

Y - Put your hope in the Lord and he wont let you down.

is about the certainty that the right foundation gives us. Its about living life counting on God for today and tomorrow yes, but even beyond the grave.

All of these passages have one promise in common and I think it is the same thing that makes it possible to show love for others even in the middle of the challenges of life.

The idea is so simple it seems trite, but its this.

God loves you and if you embrace him, if you accept him, he wont let you go, not now, and not ever.

It doesn't mean tragedy wont come. But it does mean that God offers to be there with you through it. It means in the middle of whatever it is you encounter, whatever you are facing He will be right there with you. Not snapping his fingers and solving the problem, but giving you what you need to make it through. Allowing you to draw on God’s resources of love for others, and strength to carry on. And promising that he will hold on to you not only today, but tomorrow, and the next day.

Promising that he will hold onto you even beyond the grave.

Gordie lived life relying on that God and trusting in those promises. And he lives on those promises still.

They to him Clinging to God and not growing bitter in the face of many challenges always blessing those around him. He lived like his cup was always overflowing, because it was. Not with things, but with love, love that comes from God.

And the results of that life fill this room. The results continue to be felt by this whole community. The evidence of God’s work through Gordie, his legacy is felt by all of us.

Y - Put your hope in the Lord and he wont let you down. Gordie wouldn’t want us to put all this attention on him

Some of us see God as mostly an impatient authority figure, heaping obligation on us. Attend this, say that, give this percentage. Do this, don't do that, and not much else.

W - Imagine a life with an overflowing cup

Because of that feeling it isn't surprising that many of us have grown tired of feeling guilty, of being obligated in that way and it didn't take much to push us away from that kind of faith.

Others of us look at God as some kind of genie that we thank when good things happen but ignore or curse when trouble comes our way. It is again not surprising when that kind of faith when it comes in contact with tragedy melts away quickly as well.

But I think the kind of God we read about today and the kind of God that was Gordie’s foundation. The God that gave him renewed strength. The one that walked with him through the darkest valleys. The whose love could never be cut off from Gordies life no matter the circumstances.

And the one who holds onto him still now.

I think that kind of God is worth considering. Especially on days like today.

W - Imagine a life with an overflowing cup

So today as we celebrate what God gave us in Gordie.

May we cling to the God who Gordie clung to.

Point: Gordie lived life relying on God it led to him Clinging to God and not growing bitter in the face of many challenges always blessing those around him. He lived like his cup was always overflowing, because it was. Not with things, but with love, love that comes from God.

why?

And claim the same promise Gordie did, that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That is the life we are offered, if we embrace it.

So as we laugh, as we cry, as we remember Don today. As we remember his patient faithfulness and his love lived out for others. Let us cling to the promise of scripture and remember the faithfulness of a God who saves, the God who restores, and the God who raises the dead. May we remember and rejoice.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Let us pray,

Lord God, you are our shepherd and our father. Thank you for the gift you have given us, thank you for the promises that you are our shepherd, we are your children, and that you are faithful in life and death. Meet us today as we grieve loss but also as we celebrate the life you gave us in Gordie. In your name amen.