Donald J. Smith Funeral
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Donald J. Smith’s Funeral
Opening Scripture and Prayer
Prayer
The Minister’s Manual for Funerals (II)
Father God, we come today as people whose lives have been abruptly changed by the death of one whom we deeply love.
This change has brought confusion, loneliness, fear, and sadness. In the midst of these varied emotions, we long for peace and for endurance. We want to feel Your presence.
As the stark reality of death is portrayed by this coffin and soon, an open grave, may we remember that Your love is the ultimate reality. May we remember that the reality of Your love is stronger than death and now sustains life on a different plane for this one we love.
Lord, may the memories of precious moments shared during this service sustain us in this time of grief. May those times of laughter and crying, joy and sorrow, energy and fatigue, conflict and peace which mark our history with our Brother Don be the foundation of hope which sends us into tomorrow.
Father, place us in Your strong resourceful hands, and do those things for us which we cannot do for ourselves.
We ask these things in Jesus’ strong Name.
Amen.
We are here to remember Donald J. Smith.
Or, as Sister Linda and other members of the family knew him, Jackie Smith.
From a very young age, Don went to church.
Riding his bicycle to nearby church in Florida where he was born and raised.
He learned to put his trust in the cross of Jesus.
And the salvation that comes through what Jesus did on the Cross.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect. 18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Hymn #460 – At The Cross
Obituary
DONALD'S OBITUARY
DONALD'S OBITUARY
Mr. Donald John Smith age 79 of V. Addington Rd. Blairsville passed away on Tuesday September 14, 2021 in the N.E. GA. Medical Center after a fall in his home. A fall that injured his neck and caused other issues.
Brother Don was born on Jan. 11, 1942 in Lakeland, FL., the son of the late Ernest William Smith and the late Julia F. Turley Smith.
Don loved working on automobiles. He told me recently that he was glad that he still had some of the tools that he used in that trade. He had figured out how to use them on projects that he had going around the house.
Don was always a kind and gentle person. He was a loving and caring husband, father, brother and grandfather.
He loved his church and loved the Lord. As a member of New Life Family Church he served as an Usher for over six years and helped in many other ways. In the foyer of our fairly new church, Brother Don took a return air grill and painted it the same color as the walls. It looks like the paint job on a brand new car. He did a great job!
Surviving Brother Don is his loving wife and best friend of nineteen years, Linda Davis Smith of Blairsville.
He is also survived by his step children, Laura Mudd of Ft. Myers, FL., Thomas B. and Jennifer Mudd of Chattanooga, TN., Sandra and John Mallinger of Lunapier, MI., two brothers, Charles H. Smith of Andrews, IN., Wallace F. Smith of Pinellas, FL., one sister and brother in law, Marcy J. and David Carouthers of Portland, IN., six grandchildren, Elizabeth, Samuel (serving in the U.S. Navy), Michaela , Joseph , Mona .
Several nieces, nephews, many other relatives and friends also survive.
Family Shares thoughts
At this time Don’s step-son is going to share some thoughts and memories.
Don trusted in Jesus to get him through life.
And God came alongside him and blessed him to not only make it in life, but to generously help many members of his family.
He walked in the fullness of God’s love.
And now he is with Jesus.
His faith has become sight.
He experienced the truth of this hymn we are about to sing.
Hymn #111 He Hideth My Soul
Pastor’s Message
Yes, Don put his trust in Jesus.
And Jesus was his rock.
The thought of being “hidden” in the cleft of the rock comes from
18 Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” 20 He further said, “You cannot see My face, for mankind shall not see Me and live!” 21 Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
For the last 2 weeks on Wednesday night, we have been studying the beatitude that Jesus spoke in:
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
It seems that one of humanity’s driving ambitions is to see their Creator. As we studied that sixth beatitude recently, we saw that the prerequisite for seeing God is purity of heart. A heart that has been changed by experiencing salvation through Jesus Christ.
By accepting God’s grace and believing on Jesus, Don had that purity of heart. He is seeing God, and not His back, but His face and He is being changed by that sight.
Many people, even those in church, don’t fully understand what the Bible teaches us about what happens when we die.
I’m not saying we know everything, but the Bible teaches us a lot.
The Bible teaches us that when a person who is NOT in right relationship with Jesus dies, they go to Hades or Sheol or what we more often say, they go to hell.
But hell is not a permanent abode for those who choose to NOT be in right relationship with Jesus.
It is an intermediate place.
Revelation 20:14 tells us that at a future point in time hell is going to thrown into the lake of fire.
BUT, for those who have made preparation, like Brother Don did many years ago, when they die their soul and spirit go to an intermediate place called heaven — the body is left behind to go back to the earth. As we often say: ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
But heaven is not the permanent destination.
Being in heaven is not our permanent state.
Yes, right now, Don is released from pain.
Thank God for that!
He had had a rough few weeks leading up to his death.
I guess this last rough time really started when he had a seizure while eating lunch at The Sawmill. He fell out of his chair onto the hard floor. I’m sure that he had pains from that fall.
He had a large kidney stone blocking things and causing infection.
His heart started having issues.
It was a rough time that included surgery to break up the stone.
Then there was the fall that led directly to his death. He had a terrible neck injury.
So much pain and difficulty that he experienced, but God was with him even then. And then, God took him to be with Him where there is no more pain. He is not an angel or a star. He is rejoicing in the presence of Jesus.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—7 for we walk by faith, not by sight—8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Don is at home with the Lord.
But again, Don is in an intermediate state and in an intermediate place — not his final state or his final destination.
First of all, Don is looking forward to having a new body — a gloried body — perfect in every way.
15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
The dead in Christ, like Brother Don, will be reunited with their body and raised to a new life.
But it won’t be the old body, but rather a new glorified body like Jesus had when He rose from the dead on the third day.
1 Corinthians 15:42–44 (ESV)
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown [or buried] is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
And then, all of us who have chosen to be in right relationship with Jesus will go to our eternal home. The new heavens, the new earth, the new Jerusalem.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Don is in a place of joyful bliss right now, but, like us he lives in anticipation of even more glorious things to come.
Like I just read in Revelation, a time when every tear is wiped away
A time when when there are no more tear-filled funeral services because death is a thing of the past.
No more grieving the hole in our lives when folks like Don are gone.
No more pain!
Different people reach the pinnacle of their physical health at different ages.
I was 22 when pain became one of my constant companions.
Thankfully I haven’t had to live in constant pain like that for the past 43 years!
I don’t know when Don peaked, but I do know that he keenly felt his age.
He couldn’t move as fast or as easy as he had when he was younger.
He had pain from the old body more often before the end.
But Revelation 21:4 says very clearly — no more pain!
Praise God!
I have only touched on a few of many exciting future events that lie ahead of us.
But let’s close with a hymn that gives glory and praise to God for what He has done.
And celebrates the the wonder and transport when Jesus we see.
Hymn #49 To God Be the Glory (Praise the Lord)
Prayer
The Minister’s Manual for Funerals (IV)
Dear God of eternity, life is so precious to each of us that all that is within us says, “NO!” to death.
We see death as the dark, mysterious enemy that destroys the good that You have created.
Help us to see death as You see it: not the end but the beginning, not a wall but a doorway, not a dark road but a path that leads to eternal light and life.
We will miss Brother Don, but we thank You, Lord, for our memory of him.
May our minds and hearts be filled with the wonderful recollections of the past. Help our sadness to wear a smile as the passing of time wipes the tears away.
Time can be a great doctor, healing the void that we now feel.
Every life is a gift from You, dear Father. Thank You for sharing this special person’s life with us. We will cherish the memory forever.
We give you these thanks as we pray in the Name of Jesus.
Amen.
Graveside:
Prayer
As we gather at this final resting place of the earthly body of Don Smith. Help us to so in hope.
Hope of eternal life.
Not an unsure doubtful hope, but a confident expectation that you WILL fulfill your promises.
Not only for our brother who has gone before us.
But for all of us who long to be with you.
Help us in these next few minutes as we remember those promises at this place that seems so dark and final.
Help us we pray in the name of our Resurrected Lord Jesus.
Amen
Scriptures:
Once again we consider:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
50 Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O death, is your victory? where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Committal
The Minister’s Manual for Funerals Service Only at Graveside
It is not by choice that we gather in this city of the dead, hallowed by the sacred memory of its inhabitants. The monuments are only symbols of the affection of surviving friends. The absence of the souls of these inhabitants is but a monument to a loving and life-giving God. As we offer the body of our deceased we are reminded that there is life immortal that shall indeed survive the grave. We now commit this one to the arms of a God who gives life that never ends.
Prayer
Lord, as this family and these friends leave this place, be with us in the coming days.
Help us to remember that YOU are our living hope.
Grant each one to be comforting by Your great love.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray.
Amen
After Service:
Meal at church for family and friends