Lena Hickman Funeral

LENAHICKMAN                                                                             5/5/07

We are gathered here today to show our respects, to bring closure, and renew our hope.

Sister Lena was a kind and good person.

She knew the Lord as her savior and placed her faith and trust in Him for eternal life.

She lived a long life, a life like the most of us have lived; a life with good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, ups and downs.

The last several years were hard ones for Lena as she dealt with a crippling disease.

A disease that caused her considerable pain, took away her mobility, made her dependant on others for the everyday things of life.

At the end she was only able to move her head and speak a few words.

The question that is often asked is “why”, to answer that we need to start in the beginning.

In the beginning God made everything very good;

     Gen. 1:31   Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very

                                     good.

But then man sinned and disobeyed God bringing on himself sickness, disease, and trouble of all kinds;

Gen.2:15-17 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil  you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it  you 6shall surely  die.”

                                                                                        dying you shall die

Therefore man’s life is short and full of trouble.

        Job 14:1  “Man who is born of woman

                                                Is of few days and full of trouble.

With the result of physical death

       Heb. 9:27   And as it is appointed for men to die once,

 Rom. 6:23   For the wages of sin is death,

But the death of the body isn’t the final result

       Eccles. 3:11    He has put eternity in their hearts,

       Rom. 6:23   For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ

                            Jesus our Lord.

        Eph. 2:8  8  For by grace you have been saved  through faith, and that not of

                         yourselves;  it is the gift of God, 9 not of  works, lest anyone should boast.

John3:16-17  16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

So to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

2Cor. 5:6,8  6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  8 We are confident, yes,  well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

In the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy.

                   Ps. 16:11   In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

There is no more pain, death, suffering, crying, tears, sickness, disease

       Rev. 21:4    And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death,  nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

We gathered here today to show our respects;

                        We share in your grief, sorrow, & pain

To bring closure;

                        To acknowledge that Sister Lena has finished her course

And renew our hope;

                        To remind ourselves that she in the presence of the LORD

                        That she is happier than she has ever been—joy unspeakable

                        That she is no longer sick or in pain

                        That someday, if we are saved, we will see & be with her again

For that which is written is true;

Ecc. 12:5     For man goes to  his eternal home,

                                                And the mourners go about the streets.

The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen 2asleep, lest you sorrow as others  who have no hope. 14 For  if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him  those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you  by the word of the Lord, that  we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are 4asleep. 16 For  the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with  the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them  in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus  we shall always be with the Lord. 18  Therefore comfort one another with these words.              1Thess. 4:13-18



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6 Lit. dying you shall die

2 Died

4 Dead