Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Good Morning.

For those of you I haven’t had the chance to greet personally today my name is Kevin Adams.

To most of you I’m a stranger, officiating at a memorial service for a man you loved, a man that influenced you in deep ways.

And so, I simply want to say thank you for this brief opportunity to meet some of you for the first time and to reflect for a few moments on why we can be thankful for the time God gave to know and spend time with Ed.

Let’s begin with a word of prayer.

Father in Heaven we thank you this morning for the life of Ed Arch.

We thank you for each person he impacted in some way during the 75 years of life you gave him.

We thank you for each person here today and most of all we thank you for Jesus - who lived on earth, laughed and loved but also felt grief, pain and sadness.

Because you understand grief, we can ask you to comfort us in our grief.

Prayer

Father in Heaven we thank you this morning for the life of Ed Arch.

We thank you for each person he impacted in some way during the 75 years of life you gave him.

We thank you for each person here today and most of all we thank you for Jesus - who lived on earth, laughed and loved but also felt grief, pain and sadness.

Because you understand grief, we can ask you to comfort us in our grief.

We ask this morning that you would minister individually to each person here today, in their specific need.

Thank you for loving us, Amen.

Scripture Verse/Transition

In the book of Ecclesiastes (), King Solomon, one of the wisest and wealthiest men to ever live is quoted as saying

there is a time for everything

a time to give birth

a time to die

a time to plant

a time to uproot

a time to mourn

a time to love

a time to remember

a time to rejoice

Today, we embody this passage of Scripture as we both mourn and remember, rejoice and love - regarding the birth and death of Henry Edward “Ed” Arch.

Obituary

Whether you knew him as Henry, Ed, or both, you know, as I quickly learned from Carolyn, that Ed loved the open waters - fishing and boats, boats and fishing.

That made up a large part of Ed’s 75 years of life.

From his time on the water Ed understood that this beautiful creation didn’t just happen but realized there must be a God.

But the love of the water, fish and boats wasn’t the only thing Ed left with those he loved.

Read actual obituary.

Brief Comment/Transition

Whether you knew him as Henry, Ed, or both, you know, as I quickly learned from Carolyn, that Ed loved the open waters - fishing and boats, boats and fishing.

That made up a large part of Ed’s 75 years of life.

From his time on the water Ed understood that this beautiful creation didn’t just happen but realized there must be a God.

But the love of the water, fish and boats wasn’t the only thing Ed left with those he loved.

how God used Ed to help shape who you are today.

I believe with all my heart that there are no accidents in life and that Ed was used in a special way to

Ed was also a caregiver, especially in the latter years of his life.

Ed was a care giver for his dad, his mom, his Aunt and a friend.

In their last days, Ed was there for them.

Ed cared for people.

Ed cared for family.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Ed’s pride and joy were his children and grandchildren.

He was so proud of Michael and Sandra for pursuing and finishing their doctorates.

He loved his grandchildren and he loved his nephews, even to playing the spontaneous Santa for Greg and Jeff, Sheryl’s sons.

It is no accident that Ed was part of your life.

This was but one reflection of the grace of God in your life.

As an image bearer of God, with creativity and energy to be directed as we choose, God saw fit to allow Ed to be a blessing in your life in various ways.

Ed’s creativity, a reflection of God’s creativity, is seen at least as far back as his high school days when he made, by hand, a violin and bow, going on to win one of the top awards for his handiwork.

Ed was creative, loved creation, loved his children and grandchildren, and cared for others.

At this point we will take a few moments to hear from the family; first from Sandra, Ed’s daughter, then Michael, Ed’s son, and lastly from Richard, Ed’s brother-in-law.

Comments From Family (15 minutes)

Comments From Family

Sandra (daughter of Ed)

Michael (son of Ed)

Richard (brother-in-law to Ed)

Thank you for sharing these moments with us.

Sermon

The ability to experience the great open waters, to experience the love of another person, to be mentored by another person - these things are all graces - gifts - specifically, gifts from God.

His gifts are far more numerous than we often realize - even time is a gift - a precious gift that can only be used once, but that can be used for so many things, good or bad.

God’s greatest gift came in the form of a man - the only man to have lived in heaven before living on earth!

The only one to have fished on the very waters He created.

Jesus, God in the flesh, who became a man, experienced life on earth, never sinned yet was tempted in all ways that you and I are, watched his friends die and cried, saw broken humanity and healed many, saw hunger and fed many, was killed on a cross and then came back from the dead three days later.

This Jesus, both carpenter and fisherman extraordinaire came here to this broken earth for just one reason - to show you and me what grace looked like.

Like Ed, Jesus spent quite a bit of time on the water as well.

In fact, at least 7 of Jesus’ first followers were fishermen.

The imagery of fish and fishing has punctuated Christianity ever since, with the fish or ichthus being one of, if the not the earliest sign of being a Christian.

On one of Jesus’ early encounters Peter, Jesus told him to throw his nets over the side of the boat - this was after Peter, an experienced fisherman had been fishing all night () without success.

Exhausted and probably a little irritated (I know I would be), Peter throws the net out and the catch is so great they can barely haul it in.

On another occasion, the miracle working God-Man turns a boys lunchable into a Golden Corral feeding 5,000 with just a couple fish.

Jesus even had Peter get money from a fish’s mouth to pay some taxes.

Water, Fish, and Jesus - they go together quite well.

In fact, fishing is such a big deal it became a metaphor for proclaiming the Good News of God’s Grace to the world.

Jesus told his first followers he would make them fishers of men and the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a dragnet - a huge fishing net bringing the fish home.

The intrusion of death into our lives is distasteful and often disturbing.

Jesus didn’t laugh at it, rather he cried with his friends Mary and Martha over their brother’s death.

He didn’t just cry though, He committed himself, despite the torture it would cause him, to put an end to this thing called death - and turn it into a door to a renewed life with relationships that last forever with the God who gives us all the good that’s in our lives.

The gross distortion and destruction that humanity imposed on God’s very good creation, a result of both rebellion and failure to be responsible for what we’ve been given brought such sorry to God that He entered our story, our lives, knowing that we would reject him - at least initially - to build a bridge back to the Father for us.

It’s like the two brothers who shared adjoining farms.

We all know, simply by looking around, that things are not right in this world.

Nothing lasts, even if you remember the good old days when a toaster lasted a lifetime, it still broke down eventually.

Pollution, Politics and Pundits abound

The gross distortion and destruction that humanity imposed on God’s very good creation, a result of both rebellion and failure to be responsible for what we’ve been given brought such sorry to God that He entered our story, our lives, knowing that we would reject him - at least initially - to build a bridge back to the Father for us.

It’s like the two brothers who shared adjoining farms.

Building Bridges

For over 40 years they worked side by side, sharing equipment and helping each other out whenever needed.

Then one day a rift developed.

It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by months of angry silence.

One day a man showed up at the elder brother’s door carrying a carpenter’s toolbox.

“I’m looking for a few days work” he said.

“Perhaps you would have a few small jobs I could do for you?”

“Well, yes I do,” the elder brother said.

“See that creek down there, it’s the border between my brother’s farm and mine.

Me brother keeps it nice and deep to stop me from setting one foot on his beloved farm.

Well I’ll oblige him.