Reflections on a Life Well Lived

Song- Amazing Grace

Thank you for gathering to honor Amanda Konkel on this day that we are mourning her passing.

Let us pray:

Father in Heaven, we are blessed to be in Your presence this day as we gather to honor Amanda Konkel and the life that she lived. May we truly experience a comfort and a peace in our time of sorrow that could only come from You. May you work in our hearts to help us grieve, heal, and then go on inspired by the life and legacy that You’ve allowed Amanda to leave upon these loved ones. May this service bring You honor as You’ve shown Yourself to be a faithful God to Amanda and her family. We pray in Jesus Name. Amen.

Reading:

(NLT)

God Offers Comfort to All

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

Song- Faith of Our Fathers

Song- The Lord’s Prayer

Message- Reflections on a Life Well Lived

As we think and look back on Amanda’s life, we see a dear wife that she was to John, a loving mother she was to Karen, Lee, and Ronda, and what a fun grandmother and great grandmother she was to so many loved ones. And yet, our reading from today speaks to the heart of who Amanda was and is in our memories. Although she experienced much trouble and physical challenge, she was always one to share joy and God’s love with others. Though she herself, suffered through polio, arthritis, the death of a child, and other ailments, she was a comfort to others. As we were looking through family photos yesterday, we saw many snapshots of her life enjoying others. Especially children. Her times of taking the grandkids on their annual strawberry picking trip or memories of potato pancakes shared around the table. The relationships were what made those times special. BTW, I never heard about who would win most of the time when you gathered around the table to play King’s Corners or other card games.

We know that her faith in God was strong and she attended Berea Lutheran Church for years and loved Rev. Larry Hauser.

Amazing Grace

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

But, one thing that stands out is her ability to bring that smile into any environment. Whether it is a family gathering, a motorcycle outing, or a pleasant afternoon in her garden. That smile is what breaks our sadness in this moment. If even just for a moment- to think of the love that lies deep in her heart behind that smile. That brings us comfort to our tears- peace to our grieving.

There are three types of comfort that I believe Amanda’s story proclaims loudly to us…

1. The Comfort that God gives us. Colossians says that “Christ was before all things, and In Him all things are held together.” God gives us comfort in knowing that He is in control of all things.

2. The Comfort that Heaven gives us. (NIV84)

11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

In his book on heaven, evangelist D. L. Moody quotes a friend as saying: “When I was a boy, I thought of heaven as a great, shining city, with vast walls and domes and spires, and with nobody in it except white-robed angels, who were strangers to me. By and by my little brother died; and I thought of a great city with walls and domes and spires, and one little fellow that I was acquainted with. He was the only one I knew at that time. Then another brother died; and there were two that I knew. Then my acquaintances began to die; and the flock continually grew. But it was not till I had sent one of my little children to his Heavenly Parent—God—that I began to think I had a little in myself. A second went, a third went; a fourth went; and by that time I had so many acquaintances in heaven, that I did not see any more walls and domes and spires. I began to think of the residents of the celestial city as my friends. And now so many of my acquaintances have gone there, that it sometimes seems to me that I know more people in heaven than I do on earth.”

Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2004 Edition. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), 394–395.

3. The Comfort that the memories of loved ones bring us. When we’ve had time to grieve, we will look back on the fond memories and the joyous times experienced with Amanda and those memories will give us a sense of comfort too. In Jesus says that He came that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Amanda sure lived a full life. And, its today that we commit her to her Heavenly Father to give her a new body- whole and healed as she experiences the Heavenly City and the Presence of God and loved ones that have gone before her.

May God Bless each one of you as you honor the life of Amanda Konkel.

Prayer

Closing Song: How Great Thou Art