Sermon Tone Analysis

Order of Service

Video – Above All

Welcome and Greeting

Song – I’ll Fly Away

Scripture/Gospel

Song – Yet Not I but Through Christ In Me

Eulogies

Michael

Song – Living Hope

Sermon – Michael Stitzel

Video – There is One Gospel

Invitation to Join for Lunch in Fellowship Hall

Video – Above All

Welcome and Greeting

Today is about worship.

Worship of OUR God.

It is about the gospel.

Today is about hope, about joy, about peace.

Today is about the great worth of our God.

Introduce myself and thank people for coming, in person and virtual.

Pray (Maybe ask Uncle Norm if he wants to)

Song – I’ll Fly Away

Scripture Reading

Romans 1:16-17.

These verses stand as a living testimony of my father’s great passion: THE GOSPEL of Jesus Christ.

When my father is thought of, I believe that resounding cry will be that he loved God, loved the gospel, loved his family, and loved people.

Combined with these words of scripture, a poem comes to mind.

A poem, that for any who knew my father for any length of time, may have heard him read it.

My Friend

My friend, I stand in judgment now,

And feel that you are to blame somehow.

On Earth I walked with you day by day,

And never did you point the way.

You knew the Lord in truth and glory,

But never did you tell the story.

My knowledge then was very dim;

You could have led me safe to Him.

Though we lived together here on Earth,

You never told me of the second birth.

And now I stand this day condemned,

Because you failed to mention Him.

You taught me many things, that true;

I called you “Friend” and trusted you.

But I learn now that It’s too late,

And you could have kept me from this fate.

We walked by day and talked by night,

And yet you showed me not the light.

You let me live, and love, and die,

You knew I’d never live on high.

Yes, I called you “friend” in life,

And trusted you through joy and strife.

And, yet, on coming to this dreadful end,

I cannot, now, call you “my friend.”

He often spoke of the time he failed to share the gospel when he felt the Spirit’s prompting.

After that moment, he sought his hardest to take every opportunity he was given to share the gospel.

Even in the hospital, he took every opportunity to speak to his nurses, doctors, and staff about his love of the gospel.

One of his greatest complaints at Select Specialty, (aside from the food), was that the staff there was not nearly as conversational and he was not able to share with them as readily and easily as the staff at Chester County.

Why?

Why do these verses and this poem resonate with my father?

Why was the gospel so central for him?

Because the gospel is our only hope.

The gospel is our only joy.

The gospel is our only peace.

There is no greater truth, no greater narrative than the gospel…..

Who else could come up with a plan like this…

God created the world – Revelation 4:11.

Given the choice, we chose to rebel against this creator God – Romans 3:10-12; Isaiah 53:6.

God, in his perfect justice and holiness, has to punish said rebellion – Heb 9:27

BUT in His great mercy, grace, and love, God found a way to satisfy his holy and just wrath WITHOUT exacting the price from us.

He sent a substitute in His son. 1 Peter 3:18; Isaiah 53:6.

What’s more, he brought him back from the dead and made him ruler of all – 1 Peter 1:3.

He then invites us to be restored to right relationship with God if we but REPENT and BELIEVE, accepting Jesus’ death as payment for OUR sin.

John 3:36.

This message, this truth NEVER gets old.

This message was the passion of my father’s life.

And so, we begin our worship of God and our remembrance of his life with this great truth!

AND an invitation…

If you have never repented from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ, there is no better time, no better remembrance of my father, no better worship of our God than to make that decision today.

And because of the gospel, our sorrow, and suffering is temporary.

Because of the gospel, our hope is assured and joy untouchable.

Because of the gospel, our peace is undisturbed.

It is in Christ that we have hope and that we endure.

Song – Yet Not I but Through Christ In Me

Eulogy

How do you condense a person’s life into but a few words or moments?

You don’t.

I guess that would be impossible.

And if you could, well…it is not much of a life.

As I reflect upon my father and his life and legacy though, several things stand out.

His love for God

His love for the Word

His love for the church

His love for his wife

His love for his family

And his love for the world

I suppose I did not always see it.

For many a year, I was angry and bitter at my father, courtesy of seeing the discrepancy between his public ministry life and his private personal one.

A chasm that I fear my children too often see in me.

As a child, I failed to reconcile this chasm.

I permitted my father’s fleshly moments to negatively impact me.