Psalm 90:1, "Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! 2 Before the mountains were created, before you made the earth and the world, you are God, without beginning or end. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust!" 4 For you, a thousand years are as yesterday! They are like a few hours! 5 You sweep people away like dreams that disappear or like grass that springs up in the morning. 6 In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered. 7 We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury. 8 You spread out our sins before you-- our secret sins--and you see them all. 9 We live our lives beneath your wrath. We end our lives with a groan. 10 Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone. 11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. 12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. 13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us see your miracles again; let our children see your glory at work. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
Prayer
Special Music
We are gathered here today in this service to pay our respects to ________ _______. Today for the comfort and hope we need let us turn our thoughts to the love of God. He cares for us even when we do not deserve to be cared for. For in the midst of such sorrow we must lean upon God. We must remember that what sorrow is to us, is great reward for ________. For ________ has graduated from this life with it's troubles and pains to a better life eternal with his Lord and God.
At such a time as this we need to trust in the Lord God. He is a God of sympathy and understanding. He knows are hurts and our loneliness. He knows how we feel. The Bible tells us that He knows our sorrows and records our tears. If He see the tears, He knows the reason those tears fall from our eyes. We are told that all our thoughts, ways, and words are known to Him. And that a book of remembrance is written before Him for those that fear the Lord and think upon His name.
The words that seem the most appropriate today are those of the great Apostle Paul, who said as he came to the end of his life, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Paul left this world a better place than he found it. He had been faithful to his God and now prepared to go for his reward.
These words also describe ________'s life. Especially the part about keeping the faith. ________ too left this world a better place than he found it.
1. ________ kept the faith with his wife, _______. When two people enter the marriage bond, they do so in faith. Neither one knows whether the other will always be true. But they accept each other on faith, taking their vows, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. Faith is a lovely thing at the marriage altar, but it is far more lovely after many, many wedding anniversaries have been celebrated at which one can say, Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three for the greatest of these is love. ________ and ________ were married ___ years.
2. ________ kept the faith with his children, ____________. When parents bring children into this world, that is an adventure of faith. They do not know whether the children will bring honor or shame to the family, they proceed with faith. On the other hand, the children cannot know whether the parents will keep faith with them. They may disappoint them or forsake them. One of God's greatest blessing is Godly parents. Children who have such parent need to thank God daily.
His children, _______________ enjoyed the privilege of a Christian father and his faith will remain a part of both of you. ________ kept the faith with his son, ____, and his daughter, _____, and with his grandchildren. And they all kept the faith with him. Their's was a love and concern that all could see and feel, even to the last. This love will remain with you for the rest of your lives. No one can take the memories, they are precious to you.
3. ________ kept the faith with his friends. All the cards, flowers, and people speak to that fact. Never did I hear him say a bad word about anyone. Always happy and glad to see you. Never complaining. A gentle man who no one ever saw angry or upset. This gentleness he past on to his children. What a great character he set as a example for us all. And all of us found it easy to love ________. It is a shame we can't all be like that.
4. ________ kept the faith with his church. ________ loved his church and support his church in prayers and finances. ________ was a charter member of _____________ Church and he devoted many hours to church work over the years. He serves as a deacon and treasurer over the many years. He loved serving His God thought the church. His loyalty speak loudly to us all. He was always supportive of my work and encouraged me every time he saw me. I appreciated that.
Who of us doesn't remember _______ sitting In this sanctuary on Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting and hearing him pray. It was one of the things I first missed when he had to go to the nursing home. In the last years of his life he was unable to attend church and when you talked to him about church tears came into his eyes. He loved the church that Jesus died for. We had many a good talk about God and the church. I always left _______ with a tear in my eye because of the love he had for Jesus. He will be missed by his church.
5. Most importantly however, is the fact that ________ kept the faith with his God. He loved God. There was no doubt about that. It was the realization that a greater power was behind his life that gave him courage and that kept a light in his eyes. He never lost sight of the fact that God was holding his life. ________'s faith is an example to us all. When one gives themselves to God, God puts a bit of Himself in us. He lends us reasoning powers to think more clearly, by seeing above the present to a better tomorrow. He puts love in us so we can love others with a genuine concern and compassion. He puts forgiveness in our spirits so we are not bitter at ourselves, or others, or with Him.
He never lost sight of the fact that God was holding his life. _______ is enjoying the presences of God and Jesus now. He is in that special place where eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of men the things that God has prepared for them that love Him.
He give us an example of how to meet suffering and disappointment with the power to raise above it in His strength. He gives us the assurance that He is in control of all that happens in our lives and the promise that it all has a purpose and meaning which only He may understand.
_______'s faith is an example to us all. When one gives themselves to God, God puts a bit of Himself in us. He lends us reasoning powers to think more clearly, by seeing above the present to a better tomorrow. He puts forgiveness in our spirits so we are not bitter at ourselves, others, or with Him.
He gives us an example of how sweet suffering and disappointment with the power to raise above it in His strength. He gives us the assurance that He is in control of all that happens in our lives and the promise that it all has a purpose and meaning which only He may understand.
There was something ________ had that we could all see. That something was God. You to can have that same God by asking Jesus into your hearts. When we lose a loved one and friends like _______ it leaves an emptiness that's impossible to fill. _______ cannot come back to us, now would we call him back if we could. King David said of the baby lost, He can't come to me, but I can go to him. And so it is that someday we have the promise that we will meet again. The void is great to each of us for different reasons. His faith is our example and our hope. God will bring the peace that passes all understanding to each of you as you lean on Him.
Let us pray: We lift our hearts in gratitude for the life of ________, who has now gone from among us; for all that he was to those that loved him, and for everything in his life that reflected your goodness and love. We thank you for the privilege of knowing and sharing in his life. Help each of us to lean upon you has ________ did. May we remember that those whom we speak of as dead are alive with you for evermore. May Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bless you and keep you, now and forever more. Amen.
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