Funeral Sermon

Welcome - On behalf of the family of Edith Swearingen – I would like to thank each one of you being here today to celebrate her life. Though today is a sad day and a difficult day – we are not without hope. The faith of a Christian is based on hope and The Word of God gives us this promise on which we have our hope

asks this question

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is this great love of our God that is found in Christ Jesus that enables us to celebrate the life of Edith today.

Will you pray with me

Opening Prayer - Our Father, we gather here today to remember the precious life of Edith. We gather to say goodbye one last time and celebrate the life that she enjoyed here on earth and thank you for each precious moment and memory that we have had with her. We praise you rejoicing that Edith had put her faith and trust in you. We pray that your peace and presence will be upon us during this time and we pray this in the name of your Son Jesus, Amen.

Message - Introduction: As we gather here today to celebrate Edith’s life, I know that many of you are dealing with mixed emotions. On the one hand, there are emotions of great sadness and loss. - But on the other hand, there is great joy knowing that because of the relationship that Edith had with the Lord Jesus Christ that she is already in His presence. For the scriptures say in:

 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

It is this hope that we have to be at home with the Lord and we walk in this hope by faith. And for the Christian there is no greater joy than to be in the presence of the One that loves us like no one else can.

- You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

So today is a day of grieving as we mourn the loss of Edith but it is also a day of celebration. It’s not a day of regret but truly a day of rejoicing in the life of Edith Swearingen.

Will you pray with me?

Our Father we come together celebrating the life and faith of Edith. More importantly we celebrate and worship you the object of Edith’s faith and the salvation you give us through the sacrifice of your Son Jesus Christ. We ask for comfort and peace to be known in this time of grieving and remembrance for Edith’s family and friends. We ask this in Jesus Name, Amen

It is my hope to encourage you this day in your grieving to see the goodness and the glory of God. But as we mourn this day - It is important that we understand the origin of death.

If we read the beginning of the Bible in Genesis we will find the origin of death. God created the world in all perfection, but we will find that Adam and Eve sinned against God in the garden and that in Adam all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the wages for sin is death. The Bible teaches in Hebrews that - It is appointed unto man once to die and then we will face God.

It is for this reason that Jesus came to this earth to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. It is through this sacrifice that we know the great love of our God. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is what I hope to encourage you with today.

And this is the truth that Edith had put her hope in.

I would like to look briefly at the words of Jesus in

 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I would like to consider 4 promises that Jesus gives to his people

The First Promise to Christians is that We Don’t have to  Fear Death. Jesus said "Don’t let your hearts be troubled" 

I see 2 observations about why we would fear 1) We are troubled when we don’t know what is going to happen when we die, but Jesus has taken the fear away from dying to those who believe.

He has conquered the grave and death so there no longer needs to be fear for our eternal future.

It is in 25 Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

"Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. 2) We are Troubled when we view death as an end instead of a beginning.

"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." a) Edith’s life is not over, as a matter of fact, it has just begun. - She has shed the temporary for the eternal, the broken for the perfect and the seen for the unseen.

The Second Promise is Jesus Prepares a Place for Believers in Heaven. What has He Prepared? 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." 1) Heaven is a place with no more pain, sorrow or death. a) Heaven is a place where the hurts of this world have no more sting. b) It’s a place Where the frustrations of life are replaced with unspeakable joys. c) It’s a place Where the pains of life are turned to grace and the failures of life control us no longer.

The Third Promise found in  is that He Personally Receives Us. - That where I am you may be also 1) Now I want you to imagine this, the moment that Edith took her last breath on earth she would have entered the presence of the Lord.

2) The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord

3) Paul speaks of the inheritance that we have in Christ - that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

The Fourth Promise is that Heaven is reached through Jesus and that He is the only way to Enter Heaven.  1) Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life." no man comes to the father but by me a) Edith understood this. She understood that without a relationship with the Savior there was no hope of heaven - for that is what heaven is - to be eternally in the presence of our Creator and Saviour b) She understood that Christ came to pay the debt for our sin

Edith had proclaimed in Jesus Christ alone to cover her sin

 "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. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The proper response to this good news is to believe! to put your hope in Christ

Edith expressed her belief in Christ as the saviour of her soul

She expressed the priority of prayer in her walk with the Lord as she always expressed prayer for her family that she loved.

I encourage you in the Lord today to look to Christ to put all your hope in Him for the salvation of your soul. In prayer God hears us through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.

two things we must know in order to understand this good news

1) We must realize that our sin separates us from God. We must ask God to forgive us and turn from our sins. Life in Christ is truly the deepest joy for our souls. That only through Christ will we find life – the only life that will last for eternity and give us the abundance of joy that all of us seek. 2) Jesus is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved - it’s only through a personal relationship with Jesus. It doesn’t have to do with your religion, denomination or church. Being a good person does not save us. It is knowing Jesus personally. This is only done by becoming a new creation.

As Jesus says in - You must be born again. You must be born of the Spirit and be born a New Creation by the power of God. It is after this statement that Jesus says whosoever will believe will be saved.

And so we rejoice in Edith’s faith in Christ and I invite you to put your hope and faith in Christ

Jesus says this - Come to me, all who weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let us pray - Our heavenly Father we once again thank you for the life of Edith. We thank you that she put her faith in you - and as you have promised with Edith being now absent from her earthly body she is now in your presence awaiting her new body at Christ’s return to this earth, and now Father, we ask that you comfort the family members and friends that have gathered here to celebrate her life - For it’s in Jesus name we pray, Amen.