Funeral: Bill Guy
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Obituary
Obituary
William O' Flinn Guy, Jr., age 84 passed away June 12, 2022 at home after a long illness.
He is preceded in death by his Dad William O' Flinn Guy, Sr. and Mother Maude Lee Boutwell Guy.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years Pearl Warren Guy;
3 sons: Warren (Suzanne) Norman (Tami), Scott; and one daughter : Leann Coleman.
Five Grandsons: Robert (Kim), Jadon (Kelsey), Kristopher (Stacy), Derrick (Brittany) and Hunter (Deanna).
Eight Great Grandchildren: Summer, Riley, Madison, Trent, Ava, Kealy, Jace, and Lane. Three brothers: James Patrick Guy, Joseph Robert (Bubba) Guy, Walter Toliver Guy.
Two sister-in-laws: Mildred Henderson and Mary Ann Willis.
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where 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.
[PRAYER]
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Introduction
Introduction
We live in a world that is devoid of peace.
There are wars and rumors of wars.
There are protests and riots.
There is anxiety over increases in crime and corruption.
There are knots in the stomach over spouses, children, finances and a hundred other things.
And of course many of us worry about death.
When will I die?
How will I die?
What happens when I die?
When live in a world that is devoid of peace.
Maybe that lack of peace comes to the forefront at a time like this.
Into this world of wars, riots, and anxieties, God sent His Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to provide peace to all who would call on Him for salvation.
And it’s in this that world of wars, riots, and anxieties that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, said in Matthew 5:9…
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
[BILL] During one of our last visits, Bill told me about a girl with a handicap that made her walk with a severe limp. One day Bill saw someone making fun of that girl by mocking her walk. Bill got angry and defended the girl by trading punches with her mocker.
Bill boxed a little, so I’m sure he got the better end of that quarrel.
I told Bill that I though he was right to defend that girl, but he said he wasn’t so sure because Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Bill said the world didn’t need more boxers.
He said it needs more peacemakers.
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Peacemakers have found peace with God.
Peacemakers have found peace with God.
We cannot be peacemakers until we have peace with God.
We need peace with God because He is holy, He is Creator, and He is God.
He is the authority.
We need peace with God because we are sinful, we are creatures, and we are not God.
We answer to Him.
God gives us life. We, however, forfeit that life by disobeying Him.
His justice demands our death as the payment for that disobedience—that sin.
We stand condemned before God.
If peace isn’t worked out between us and God, then we will die for all eternity in hell where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth.
But here’s the good news!
God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sin!
Jesus took our terrible sinfulness upon Himself, and He gave us His perfect righteousness!
But this is true for us only if we turn from sin and give our lives to Jesus as our Savior and as our Lord.
Some refuse to turn from sin. Some refuse to trust in Jesus. Some refuse to believe the truths of the gospel.
They believe there is no God.
They have no peace with God.
They believe that God is not holy.
They have no peace with God.
They believe that God is not creator.
They have no peace with God.
They believe that they themselves are not sinners.
They have no peace with God.
They believe that they do not stand condemned before God.
They have no peace with God.
They believe they have no need for Jesus, for a Savior, and they reject Jesus as Lord.
They have no peace with God.
To have peace with God, we must come to him repenting of our sin and trusting in His Son. That’s the only way we can become peacemakers and be called sons and daughters of God.
If we do have peace with God, then we become peacemakers.
If we do have peace with God, then we become peacemakers.
As peacemakers, we help others make peace with God.
As peacemakers, we help others make peace with God.
Our world is full of people who loathe God.
This isn’t what God desires.
God wants to use us to tear down the walls people have built between themselves and God.
He wants to use us in that way, so that people will see God for who He truly is and love Him rather than loathe Him.
As peacemakers, we help others make peace with themselves.
As peacemakers, we help others make peace with themselves.
Our world is full of people who loathe themselves.
This isn’t what God desires.
God intends for us to help everyone to understand themselves in light of who He is and what He has done for us in His Son.
If God loves us and sent His Son to die for us, why would we hate ourselves?
As peacemakers, we help others make peace with others.
As peacemakers, we help others make peace with others.
Our world is full of people who loathe other people. They hate other people.
This isn’t what God desires.
God intends everyone to see and serve others the way Jesus did.
[BILL] Bill reminded me of a way we do that. In Ephesians 2:10, the word of God says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Bill once told me about a poor black man he met who had lived without a water heater for a long time.
The man took cold showers year round.
In the Summer maybe that wouldn’t have been so bad.
In the Winter, though, it would have surely been miserable.
Bill picked up a water heater and installed it without charging the man anything.
The man was astonished.
He couldn’t believe someone would be so kind.
He couldn’t believe that Bill, an Irish white man, would be so kind to a poor black man.
We need more of that in the world today—more of that kind of peacemaking between ethnicities, between enemies, between friends and relatives in conflict.
We need the good news of Jesus Christ to transform more hell-raisers into peacemakers.
Maybe by the end of his life that’s what happened to Bill, maybe that’s why he kept telling me, Ms. Pearl, and others, “Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God.”
You see, peacemaking is a characteristic of the sons and daughters of God.
You see, peacemaking is a characteristic of the sons and daughters of God.
First John 3:9 says…
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
If we’ve been born of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we cannot continue in sin. We cannot continue to live in conflict with God, in conflict with others, and in conflict ourselves.
The sons and daughters of God are peacemakers because, thanks to our peace with God, we look more and more like Him.
We look like peacemakers.
And peacemakers are blessed.
And peacemakers are blessed.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
[BILL] I cannot say I knew Bill as well as some of you. The few years I knew him were interrupted by COVID and all the isolation that came with it.
But from the little I knew Bill, I knew that Bill knew Bill was blessed.
He was blessed with Ms. Pearl.
He said, “I found a pearl in Pearl.”
He was blessed by his children.
In the last few visits I had with Bill, he always mentioned his children and how fine they are.
He was blessed with his home.
He loved to be home with Pearl.
In his final days, he loved to think of sitting with Pearl in their living room listening to music or watching Gun Smoke.
I told him about a friend who described Gun Smoke as “good wholesome killing.”
Bill said, “Yeah, but we don’t need anymore of that. We need to be peacemakers. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.’”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Bill would want you all to have peace with God.
He would want you to have peace with one another.
He would want you to have peace with yourself.
He would want you to know that the only way to have that peace is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus died for you so that there could be peace between you and God.
Jesus died for you to make you a son or daughter of God.
Jesus died for you to make you a peacemaker.