Sermon Tone Analysis

Song – Precious Lord Take My Hand

Phyllis Marie Sisk, 85, of West Frankfort, Illinois, passed away Friday November 5, 2021 in Memorial Hospital of Carbondale at 1:19p.m.

Phyllis was born July 25, 1936 in West Frankfort, Illinois to Madison and Dorothy (Morgan) Miller.

She attended Southern Illinois Worship Center (SIWC) in Herrin, Illinois.

Phyllis married Will Sisk, Sr. on December 5, 2014 and he survives.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Natalie Sisk; son, Greg Sisk; parents; brother, Bob Miller; grandson, Coleton.

Phyllis is survived by her husband, Will Sisk, Sr.; step-sons: Will Jr. (Carri) Sisk; Dale (Kelly) Sisk, and Brad (Carol) Young; step-daughters, Carolyn Young and Martha McLaskey; sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and George Denton; several step-grandchildren and great grandchildren; niece, Penny Miller; nephew, David Holloman.

Phyliss was a tremendous giver of herself and of her resources.

When Phyliss would work at Frankfort Manor, it was her mission to ensure that the residents there had what they needed.

Clothing, shoes, supplies, were given by Phyliss.

She never wanted them to be without.

This mission was helped along by her son David, who’d list the needs of the individuals including their sizes.

Sure enough Phyliss would go thrifting and shopping to ensure that the individual in need would receive what they needed.

Phyliss understood that it is far better to give than to receive.

Phyliss said, God always provided the means to supply the needs.

On Friday Night, Will you learned that as you gave and as painful as it was to watch her go, Phyliss was received up into glory.

And the God who had always provided, and kept his eye upon her, brought her the rest of the way home.

May we pray.

Would you take a moment with me and bow your head and let me pray for those of you that remain to mourn and grieve for Phyliss.

More than ever, God, this family needs You in this time of sorrow and loss.

I am asking you today that you would be the God of all comfort and peace to them in this hour.

God, I’m asking that You grant them your peace that surpasses understanding.

You are the only source of comfort and strength.

Lord, hold them in Your arms and comfort them.

Assure them, that they are not walking this path alone.

That even in the valley of the shadow of death that you are with them, you guard them and comfort them.

May they trust you now more than ever and lean on you in this moment and during the season of grief and loss.

For you are the God of all comfort.

We ask all this in your name, Jesus.

Amen!

Song – His Eye is one the Sparrow.

What we have gathered here to do has biblical principle.

Taking the time to remember and in remembering mourning.

When Stephen came to an untimely death in the bible, the scripture records that “devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him" (Acts 8:2)

Later on, the bible speaks of a woman by the name of Dorcas, it described her as a woman full of good works and charitable deeds.

She became sick and ultimately passed away before her time.

The disciples of Jesus washed her and placed her in an upper room and grieved over her.

When the Apostle Peter came into the room, the people who were gathered to mourn showed Peter the items that Dorcas had made for them, they were remembering her by what she had left behind.

Phyliss was a modern-day Dorcas, caring for and supplying needs of others.

A heart that was loving, charitable, and graceful.

Dorcas was remembered by what she left behind.

As they showed the items to Peter, they were remembering, mourning, and being thankful for the life of Dorcas and showing the impact that her life had upon them.

We all are remembered for what we leave behind –

Phyliss will be remembered by you, what she was left behind.

All we have today is what is left behind.

Memories, gifts, and moments, love, dances, music, and life together.

As hard as it may be, we should be thankful today - for the life the memories and moments and the things that you shared with Phyliss.

You are what she has left behind, and she will be remembered by what she left behind.

We should never forget, for the moment that we forget, that is when death wins.

Even though it appears at this moment that death was victorious, the reality is that Phyliss has won.

She has finished this course.

This race that she ran with patience, endurance, faith, and love has ended.

She crossed the finish line, and as she crossed the finish line from your hand she grasped the hand of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Long before July 25, 1936, God knew Phyliss, God knew her, and God knew the number of the days for her.

Every moment was laid out even before a single day of his life had passed.

Undoubtedly, just as God knew Phyliss before the day she was born, God also knew the moments of Friday.

When she slipped from this world into eternity.

God was there and He is here with you today as well.

Phyliss’s struggle is over, and she is at rest with God!

She has fought the good fight, she finished her course, and now there is a treasure for her.

However, as a family your struggle continues.

You’ve had a few struggles and the season that you find yourselves in, you will need each other more than ever to pass through this.

Many emotions and thoughts will come.

There will be questions, grief, anger, sorrow, and then there will be moments of joy for the life that you lived had with Phyliss.

Sometimes we mourn over what we have lost…

Sometimes we mourn over what we never had…

Sometimes we mourn over the fact that we have to carry on…

Sometimes we mourn over the fact that we are left…

We mourn over what should’ve happened…

We mourn over what has happened….

Make no mistake in all of that you will grieve… grief shouldn’t catch you by surprise… it a natural emotional state, that we all go through.

Regardless of the age of the person, death carries with it a sting, and the grave appears to have won a victory, we were never built as humans to accept this… we were all created for eternity.

However, because of the choices that Phyliss made throughout her life, we don’t grieve as others do.

For we know concerning those who have fallen asleep, we don’t sorrow as others who have no hope.

14 For 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 asleep.

What a glorious day that will be, when we all see Jesus.

As a family...

The Next few days will be filled with many emotions you will mourn, laugh, weep, reflect, and pass memories along.

You will cry and we will laugh, then we will laugh because we are crying and then cry because we are laughing!

It is good to be together.

More than anything else you need one another right now.

Each of us grieves.

And when we grieve together, the healing begins.

Just by being here each of us gives comfort to everyone else.

At times like this, words frequently fall short of what we really want to say.

Yet we find ourselves trying to express not just our grief, but also our thankful feelings for her.

My prayers are with you as you move through this, and the many decisions and moments of life you will lead without Phyliss here with you.

My heart goes out to you.

The faith that we express is most beautiful in the loss of a loved one.

All that we believe and profess is a part of this moment.

We declare that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

We profess that God is the God of all comfort, and that He is an ever-present help in time of need.

He is. and I want you to know that God is with you.

My prayer for you as a family, is that the God of all comfort would be with, that He would guide you, and bring peace to you, in this time of loss and of sorrow.

It would be so wonderful if God would simply promise to us that we would never go through difficult times.

But we do go through great and terrible difficulties.

The Bible constantly tells us that there will be difficult times in life, and Psalm 23 voices such a warning.

It does not say, “God will keep you from danger,“ but rather it describes that there will come times, and they come for all of us, when we feel like we are walking through a dark, dangerous valley -- a “valley of the shadow of death.“

One translation states when I am walking through my darkest valley.