Thanksgiving Service: Stewart William Chamberlain

Date: 03-03-2022 Stewart: 14/02/42 – 21/02/22 ECC

** Turn on PowerPoint for message etc.**

Welcome – David

We have gathered together today, to give thanks to God for the life of Stewart William Chamberlain

Good morning & welcome – I’m pastor David McAllan from Echuca Community Church & I will be leading us through this Memorial Service today. Welcome, also, to all of those who are joining us live on Zoom

Introduction

Stewart William Chamberlain fell asleep in the Lord on Monday, the 21st February, 2022 at 80 yrs of age.

Stewart is survived by his wife, Marilyn & children, Deborah, Scott, Theresa & Dean; and Marilyn’s children, Leanne (who is deceased), Dale and all of Stewarts many grandchildren & relatives; also Stewart‘s brother Neville, Gloria (deceased) and Pam

I’d like to pass on to Marilyn and her family our deepest sympathies in the loss of Stewart, but I know you are comforted by the fact that, although, he is not with us now, his citizenship is in heaven & that he awaits the coming of Jesus who will grant him a new resurrected existence

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There are so many ways to describe Stewart: a devoted, loving husband & father, hardworking esp. in the days of the butcher shop; kind-hearted & thoughtful

He loved his golf, dropping a couple of holes-in-one over his time of golfing; he loved & barracked for the Nth Melbourne footy club

As Marilyn put it & as many of you know, Stewart had a quirky sense of humour; He got up once while Stewart & Marilyn were in Ireland & started singing in an Irish pub

Stewart was involved with his Church community & was involved with our activities & was often here when any working bees were happening

Stewart is going to be greatly missed by all

Prayer – David

Our Father in heaven, you are God over all; you are the giver & the sustainer of life.

We want to thank you this day for Stewart’s life; We want to thank you for all the wonderful memories we have of him; We thank you for his life of love that we were able to share in with him

Lord, you are the God of all comfort & we pray that you might give comfort to Stewart’s family, who are grieving his loss at this time & we ask that this service might, not only honour Stewart for the person he is, but honour You, the One in whom Stewart had placed his faith & hope

We ask in Jesus’ name, Amen

Hymn – Power of Your Love

Eulogy - read by David

Family Tributes – Deborah, Scott, Terri, Dean & Marilyn

Video Presentation

Scripture Reading

Psalm 23 – One of Dale & Emma’s kids

Message – David

VIDEO - Show his baptism - Baptised 30th March 2008

That was such a great moment. It was a joy for me to baptise Stewart & typical Stewart, he started to go under the water before I could get to him

In this short message, I wish to talk about the importance of relationship – but no, not the importance of the human relationship, but the one we are meant to have with God

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The old school of the thought that I grew up with was that, if you did good, you'll be accepted by God

It is certainly good to do good, but reading the New Testament, I found this to be untrue

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Relationships are not built on doing good – it's helpful, but not the main thing

I'm sure all of us understand that a relationship is built by loyalty & love

I wouldn't get very far in my relationship with my parents if I was a person who did good things but had nothing to do with them

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The same is true of God

Doing good, whilst that is good, does not mean acceptance with God if you have nothing to do with Him

Q. Why does God need us to do good? Is the reason we love our children, in the fact that they do good?

I’m not saying that doing good has no place, but it certainly has no place when we talk about a relationship with God

The good news is, that God has given us a way to have a relationship with Him, without us having to be perfect in doing good

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Let me reinforce this further

Q. What about people who buy a lottery ticket? They get all excited saying they were only a few numbers off winning the lottery?

Q. What does it matter if you are one number off as compared with someone who is multiple numbers off?

Nothing at all – you can only either be a winner or a loser

You see, both situations show that you have lost, no matter how close or how far away from the winning numbers you are – both scenarios are in the losing camp

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My point here being, that no matter how good you are, you are not that good, ever, that you can coax God into accepting you

The reason is because, if God loves us, then God is wanting a relationship with us, not some contractual arrangement where you can score brownie points by doing a little good

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Now to some, it might sound defeatist, but it's not, because as I said before, God has provided a way for us to have a relationship with Him & to know a future – a future which Stewart has secured for himself

Jesus said these words

Mark 10:45 NASB95

45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

I remember the movie called Ransom where Mel Gibson’s son was kidnapped & held to ransom

If Mel Gibson, who played the kid’s father, paid the ransom price, he would get the kid back safe & sound

In one sense, Jesus death is presented as a ransom payment that would ultimately serve to release men & women from the hold of sin & restore them back to God

The point here is that we have a relationship with God that is based on His love for us & not our performance – making payment in the form of good deeds

- In contrast, it was God Himself who had done the good deed in sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins

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The problem, I think we have, is that we are afraid of God – if we are honest, we would admit that we know that if we were to become a Christian, then our life would change – perhaps for the worse (is this our fear)

We think that it would mean giving away our freedom & our happiness

That in becoming Christian, we would no longer be in control of our life & our destiny

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All those thoughts are true enough – but it is true because the human condition is just as God has said – all people are trapped in their sin

The root cause of sin is selfishness - to do what we like without reference to anyone else

There is sin against God too, since He is our creator - to ignore Him is sin

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We don’t want God because it means we have to give up our sin & most people struggle with that because they think sin is fun & offers happiness

That may be true, but lots of things are enticing, yet their consequences are disastrous

Affairs are exciting at the time, but who would dare say that they reap no consequences?

The destructive consequences of this are well known

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My wife, Ros, was mentioning that in the supermarket car park, she overheard a guy talking loudly about a party he went to & had a great time because he got really drunk out of his mind

When you get drunk, you do stupid things, say stupid things, feel terrible the next day & risk costing yourself money & jail if you happen to get behind the wheel when in that condition – but this is a great time

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The point is, we all make choices in life & in the end, the saying is true – you make the bed you lay in

In other words, you will bear the consequences of your choices

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The beauty that Stewart discovered was in the grace of Christ

A God who does not hold our sins against us, provided we come to Him & seek that relationship with Him

He Himself has covered all the bases for us – Easter is the event which changed the world

In the death of Christ, sins have been dealt with – the price has been paid – what remains is for people to want to accept this offer of grace from God

Grace means God’s undeserved or unmerited favour

As you saw in that video before, Stewart accepted that grace from God as he was baptised into Christ

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When a person is in a relationship with Christ, they can say that they know God

It’s a joy for me to take this memorial service for Stewart because I don’t have to go giving people false hope of where Stewart will be

He knew God because He accepted the sacrifice of Jesus & entered into a relationship with Him

Stewart knows God as heavenly Father & he could rest assured that through the power of the God who created the whole universe, that he will one day be raised from the dead to live in relationship with God, eternally

Philippians 3:20–21 NASB95

20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

One thing we are certain of about God - He is not short on power!

Congregational Song – Oh, the Mercy of God

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Our Father in heaven, we give you thanks for Stewart’s life . We thank you that he trusted in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

May Lord, the memory of his love & life, like us all, as imperfect as we all are, be an encouragement & example to others

We thank you, too, for all those who have had a positive influence in Stewart’s life; For all those who have cared for him, especially his wife Marilyn, throughout his life and indeed these last difficult days

May you bring comfort to Marilyn, his wife, & to his family

Grant them Your joy as they realise that Stewart trusted in You & right to the end

For these things we pray, in Jesus name, Amen

Committal

As we commit Stewart William Chamberlain to the Lord we are reminded from Scripture that death does not have the final word

Reading from 1 Thess. 4:13-18

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NASB95

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep 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 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 and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Words of Committal

Since it has pleased God our Father to take Stewart William Chamberlain from this life, we commit him unto You, our Father

As it is – dust to dust, ashes to ashes, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection from the dead.

Prayer of Committal

Our Father, we thank You that in this life we can have faith in You, receive Your love, Your comfort and be full of confidence in Your promise of everlasting life through Jesus Christ.

We commit Stewart’s bodily remains to the earth and his spirit into your hands, in the confidence that Stewart, having put his faith in Your Son Jesus Christ, is an heir to the promise of everlasting life.

Please receive our thanks for his life and please comfort all who grieve his passing until the joy of reunion is our experience in Christ our Lord...

Benediction – David

Jude 24–25 NASB95

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

This concludes our Service today

To all who have come today & to those of you on Zoom - THANK YOU FOR JOINING WITH US TODAY & THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF MARILYN & HER FAMILY

An afternoon tea has been provided in the adjacent building so please stay & spend some time together with the family.

NTH MELBOURNE THEME SONG