Samantha Martin 's Memorial Service
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· 29 viewsMemorial service for Samantha Martin - July 30, 2022
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As we gather here this morning to remember the life of Samantha Martin, we come to remember the great memories that she has left with each of us.
Samantha has left a lot behind, and with that there are a lot of great times, great memories but also a huge whole in our hearts.
There is one that we can turn to to help us with that whole in our heart, that void left in our life.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
Let’s open with a word of prayer.
Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for this is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Pray
Let me say, we are not here to say good bye but to say see you later as long as we believe as Samantha believed.
Obituary
I did not have the opportunity to know Samantha, but have had some great conversations with her mother, son, and other family members that have shared with me about Samantha’s faith.
With Samantha’s faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, she is in a better place today, and if you have that same faith, a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you can one day see Samantha again in heaven, when you leave this life.
In times like these we tend to ask the question why? You know, like why didn’t God heal her, or why did God allow her to be taken at such an early age?
I am not going to tell you that I have all the answers, but I will share with you some Scriptures that I pray will give you some comfort, and help in these times.
35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As we are told there in Romans there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ, we as people may be separated from the love of others, but there is nothing that can separate us, and nothing that we can do to separate us from the love of Jesus Christ.
Nothing in this world, nothing in our past, in our present or our future, even death will not separate us from the love of Jesus Christ when we are believers of Jesus Christ.
Again I did not have the honor to meet Samantha before she went into the hospital, but I have been told about her relationship with Jesus, and we are given some other promises in Scripture that help us in times like this, and one that can help us is 2 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
These verses tell us that we here today are in the flesh, in our earthly bodies, and we are absent from the Lord, from Jesus Christ, and we must walk by faith, we must trust in Jesus and the promises that he has given us in his word.
But Samantha, is absent from the body, the earthly body, the flesh, and the moment she took her last breath on this earth on July 10th, she immediately took her first breath in paradise or heaven in the presence of Jesus Christ.
She took her final breath here, and immediately was in the presence of Jesus Christ in heaven, seeing the glory of Jesus and of Heaven.
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” 36 You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.
Here Paul is addressing the Corinthian believers, telling them when you sow a seed it does not grow unless it first dies, and you do not sow a ear of corn, to get a ear of corn, you plant a corneal of corn, that is a corn seed, and then the corn stock grows and produces ears of corn for you to harvest.
When we die on this earth in this physical body, our flesh body is buried, and not all flesh bodies are the same, or body is not the same as a dog, or a bird, or a fish. Paul says, there are heavenly bodies and then there are earthly bodies.
See when we die, our soul leaves this earthly body which is the flesh and blood, but we will get a heavenly body that is our spiritual body that will know no pain, no sickness, no sadness.
44 sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
What we are seeing here is that if we have a physical body, that is a earthly body, what Paul is calling the natural body here, we will as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, we will receive a heavenly or spiritual body. The spiritual body did not come first, because we are not in heaven first, but on the earth first, so therefore, we have our natural or earthly body first, then we will receive our spiritual or heavenly body.
1 Corinthians 15:50–51 (CSB)
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,
Paul tells us, that we cannot inherit the kingdom of God in the flesh and blood, that is we cannot go to heaven in our earthly bodies, we must be changed first, heaven is not meant for earthly bodies, we would not be able to handle heaven in our earthly bodies, therefore, we have to be changed first.
Paul then says, I am telling you a mystery, this mystery is something that God had hidden before now, but is now going to reveal to the people through the apostle Paul. He says not all will fall asleep, now this is not talking about laying down to go to sleep tonight, but when Jesus would say this person is just asleep, the person was dead, but he was about to bring them back to life. So what Paul was meaning here is that not everyone will die before going to heaven, he is referring to what we call the rapture.
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still 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. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
When Jesus comes to rapture or catch those still alive up into the air, those who are Christians, followers of his that have died, before that point will come with him in the air, at that point their earthly bodies will come up to meet their souls in the air.
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 incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53 For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.
As the earthly bodies get ready to join the souls in the air they will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Again we cannot go into heaven in our earthly bodies as they are corruptible, we must be incorruptible to go into heaven, as heaven is a perfect place, and there we will know no sin, no pain, no sicknesses, no sadness.
And we will all be reunited together with all of our loved ones that have went on before us, we will see Jesus and worship Him in His direct presence.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.
That is God has made everything beautiful, God has made Samantha new in heaven with him.
54 When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
55 Where, death, is your victory?
Where, 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 dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
When we leave this earth as believers of Jesus Christ, and take our first breath in eternity in the presence of Jesus Christ we have shed that corruptible body, the flesh and blood, for the incorruptible, our soul, our spiritual body awaits our perfected body, our incorruptible body.
But when we step into Jesus’ presence in eternity we have seen victory over death and over sin, as Jesus has already won that victory when He died on the cross and shed his blood for our sins, and rose the third day from the dead, that we too can have that victory and eternal life with Him.
We are given a glimpse of what heaven will be like for us, and what Samantha is experiencing in Revelation 21:3-4
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
As followers of Jesus Christ we have victory over death, but we must understand that all people will live for eternity, but there is only two destination that we can live in for eternity, either in heaven with Jesus Christ as a follower of his or in Hell’s damnation if we reject Jesus, that is if we do not decided to follow Him here on earth before we leave this earth.
Jesus told us the way to get to heaven in John 14:1-6
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
I do not know your heart, only you and God knows your heart, but I do know that with out a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, as he said in John there, you cannot cometh unto the Father, that is you cannot make it to heaven, because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
From what I am told, Samantha believed that and had that relationship, and therefore, she is in heaven today, and if you want to see her again, then you need to have that relationship also.
I want to share a poem that I pray will help bring comfort to you today:
It’s called: Safe in the Arms of Jesus. By Fanny J. Crosby
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast, there by His love o’ershaded, sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! ‘tis the voice of angels, borne in a song to me, over the fields of glory, over the jasper sea.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe from corroding care, safe from the world’s temptations, sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow, free from my doubts and fears; only a few more trials, only a few more tears!
Jesus, my heart’s dear refuge, Jesus has died for me; firm on the rock of ages, ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience, wait till the night is o’er; wait till I see the morning break on the golden shore.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast, there by His love o’ershaded, sweetly my soul shall rest.
by - Fanny J. Crosby
Samantha love her family, and she has left a whole in your hearts, but she has also left memories that you can always look back and think of the great times you have had with her.
13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.
I had someone tell me not to long ago, he said, remember the F-word, and at first I was like what, but he said, remember the F-word, faith, remember to keep the faith, whenever you are going through tough times remember to keep the faith.
I thought wow, that can surely catch you off guard if you are not careful, but it makes you remember too keep the faith too.
Times like this are hard, we struggle, but keep the faith, remember the F-word, keep your eyes on Jesus.
Because with Jesus we have hope for tomorrow, see I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but I know who holds tomorrow, Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I can always put my faith and hope in Him.
Why? Because he loves me, and the greatest of these three is love, because Love is God and God is love, and God demonstrated His love when He sent Jesus to die for us even when we did not even deserve it.
A saying that I have heard a lot, and it is so true of our loved ones, when we lose them.
If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.
Samantha may not have lived forever here on this earth, but with here relationship with Jesus Christ, she will live forever in eternity with Jesus in heaven.
You also can live forever with Samantha and Jesus in heaven if you have that same relationship.
Let’s close in a word of prayer.
