Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome & Statement of Purpose

On behalf of the family, I would like to welcome you all here today, and to express their deep sense of appreciation for your presence.

We are here today to reflect upon the life of Carol, but also to seek God’s comfort for our souls and also His glory.

Prayer

Old Testament Readings

New Testament Readings

This is the Word of God.

May it continue to provide it God’s comfort and nourish our souls.

Eulogy

Carol Ann Houser was born over 74 years ago in Bethlehem, PA.

This, of course was just after World War 2, and life in Bethlehem, in many ways, at that time was centered on Bethlehem Steel.

The company was the number 2 producer of steel in the country and had been a major supplier of steel for both world wars.

Bethlehem was a working man’s town, and Carol would come to reflect this work ethic in her own life.

Carol’s children, Allen, Tracey and Terrianne can attest to the fact that while their mom’s life included a significant amount of adversity, the adversity itself would not come to be the dominant descriptor of their life as a family.

You see, Carol was a determined and hard-working mother.

Truth be told, Carol and her kids did not have and abundance of wealth.

But they got by day-to-day because Carol worked hard.

She worked 3 jobs at times to provide for her kids.

And though she did not have an abundance of wealth, she was known to be a very generous woman.

Always willing to give what she could to those who were in need.

As she was described to me, she has such a big heart and was always willing to help anyone in need if she was able.

And Carol’s generosity was felt perhaps among no one more strongly that her family.

Carol loved her family.

Of course she loves her children and her step-children Melissa and Matthew.

And as much as her own children, she regarded her in-law children as her own.

She enthusiastically welcomed her children’s spouses into the family, and had a gift of making them feel at home.

And as I am sure it will not surprise anyone to hear, Carol loved being a grandmom.

12 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren, grandmom loved you all very much.

Grndmom attended the baseball games and foot ball games and the other events in which her grandchildren were participating.

If she could, she would be there.

As I listened to Carol’s daughters share their thoughts about her, what stood out to me how family-centered she was.

When it came to family gatherings, she wanted the whole family to be there.

If someone in the family couldn’t be there, she noticed.

This was particularly evident after her son Troy passed away.

Carol was not unacquainted with loss.

In addition to the loss of her son, she also experienced the loss of her grandson, Kyle.

But in addition to her children and grandchildren, she had the loving support of her husband Jeffrey.

Carol and Jeffrey were married for over 23 years.

I’m told after Kyle’s passing, Carol and Jeffrey would go together to what became known as Kyle’s Corner.

They would spend time cleaning up and making it look nice.

They were partners and lived their lives together.

As I mentioned, Carol worked hard.

She was an office manager for auto dealerships, but more recently she was a bus aide for Bethlehem Area School District.

This particular role fits right in with who she was.

Someone who worked hard, was family oriented and generous.

She was known among those with whom she worked as a loving and caring woman.

She had a big heart, she loved people and the people who knew her loved her.

Carol spent the last week of her life in the hospital in the company of some of her family.

She was troubled.

Her daughter tells me that Carol was saying, I just keep praying”.

And what she was praying is that she would live.

She had too much to do, and she wanted to be there for her family, particularly for her grandkids.

Terrianne lovingly and wisely responded to her mom that it’s not always God’s will to get better here, but if we put our trust in Jesus you will be made new.

Now before I share what happened next, I want us to hear what God’s word says about what Terrianne was conveying to her mom.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, 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.

Therefore encourage one another with these words.

I want us to note a few things here:

It is right for us to grieve the loss of loved ones.

There is no doubt that when you and I loose someone in this life, it is difficult, and we should not pretend otherwise.

Death is difficult.

There is a difference between gospel grieving and worldly grieving, and the difference centers on hope.

Again, Paul says, about those who are asleep.... we do not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Why would the idea of hope come up in response to the death of a loved one.

Where do we find hope in our grief that comes from loss.

It’s not a feeling.

It’s not primarily an emotion.

It is a belief.

It is a conviction.

It is faith in the truth, the gospel which proclaims that

Jesus died and

Jesus rose again

Why did Jesus die?

Because God is completely holy and cannot be in the presence of sin.

And an honest look at ourselves and everyone around us leads us to conclude that we are not perfect.

We are not holy as God is holy.

We are, in other words, sinners.

And our sin prevents us from having peace with God.

And the only way for our sin to be dealt with was through sacrifice.

Blood needed to be shed in order for us to be forgiven.

And it is in the fact that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of His people’s sin that we see the dawn of hope.

This hope is real.

This hope is certain because Jesus died and His death accomplished its purpose.

The appeasement of the wrath of God and the forgiveness of His people’s sins.

And how do we know that His death accomplished all of this?

Jesus, 3 days after dying on the cross, rose from the dead.

Jesus is alive everyone!

His resurrection displayed that sin is not the victor.

Jesus defeated sin, and you know what else Jesus’ resurrection prevailed over?

Death.

A rhetorical question.

Death has no victory for those who are in Christ.

Death’s sting is not felt by those who are now in the presence of the resurrected Christ.

We feel the sting of death here.

We feel the sting of Carol’s death, but she doesn’t.