Prelude Music Selections:

Congregational Song: "What A Friend We Have in Jesus"

Opening Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that we can come before You this day with such great confidence in your grace and mercy offered through Jesus Christ. You know we are here to remember the earthly life of one we love, yet we also want to contemplate that his life has now become a part of eternity with You. We ask that You might help us in whatever way You deem right to be vividly aware of your presence and the great privilege that it is to be your children. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

We are here today to remember and celebrate the life of _______________. ____ was born on May 20, 1918 in Green River, Wyoming, the son of __________________________. He lived with his family there until they moved to Bailey, Colorado where he graduated from high school in 1937. After high school ____ worked in Bailey for a local businessman. It was during that time that he met a new school teacher from Oklahoma, _________________. On May 5, 1940 he made _______ Mrs. ____________, a marriage that proved to go the distance as the couple recently celebrated their 64^th anniversary.

World War II entered _____'s and _________s life not long after their wedding vows. _____ served in the Army Intelligence Corps for 3 years. Half of his tour of duty placed him in Korea, separated from his __________ and their newborn son.

After his return, _____ and his family remained in Colorado until November, 1952 when they moved briefly to Auburn, Washington, then to Vancouver, Washington where they would spend the next 30 years.

______ retired from full-time work in 1980 and he and ________ moved to Sweet Home to help their son run ________________ Thrift Store. These proved to be good years as _____, very much a "people person," thoroughly enjoyed meeting and assisting the customers who came into the store.

______ retired a second time in 1987 – this time from the store. But he never retired from his faithful work for God as an active and diligent Christian – serving others whenever he saw a need. It might have been by sending a card he made by hand or through an invitation to drop by and have a bite to eat with him and _________ at their home, served up with a genuine helping of encouragement from God’s Word. Rarely did anyone receive a phone call from _____ that didn’t end with his offer to pray for them and any need they might have. Serving God by loving people was ______’s ministry for the Lord and his highest priority.

_____ and _______ moved to Quail Run, the assisted living portion of Mennonite Village in Albany, Oregon in March of 1998 where he and __________ continued their love for and service to God. In August of 2003, _____ became a resident of the Mennonite Nursing Home due to a serious illness. He made his exit from this life, 86 years long, and entrance into Glory, for eternity, on June 11^th, 2004.

_______ is survived by…. (Names deleted) His body was laid to rest and to await the resurrection at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Vancouver, Washington, this past Friday. He is already missed and will be for some time to come among his friends and family.

_________________ is going to sing a song to remind us all of the need to turn our eyes upon Jesus in times when we’ve realized our need for more than what this life has to offer. At the conclusion of the song we’ll take a few moments to share our personal tributes and memories of _____.

Solo Selection: "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"

Sharing Time: A life of 86 years contains many and varied experiences and relationships. We’ll take a few moments now to share any memories you might have that are special to you that include _____. A tribute to his life will also be appropriate. If you are a family member, a friend, or an acquaintance, please feel free to put up your hand. I’ll recognize you and you may speak up right from the place where you are sitting. I also have a few written tributes to read that were passed to me ahead of time.

Several items were given to me ahead of time by _____’s four children. I’ll read them at this time.

In the folder you received when you came in you will find a responsive reading from the Scriptures. It comes from the book of Revelation . I will read the italicized parts. The congregation will read the bold parts.

John’s words that we just read tell us of that great company of the redeemed that will stand before the throne of God one day to praise Him and His Lamb because of the remarkable work of redemption that bought them back from ruin. There amid that vast congregation will stand every person who has made the choice to submit to the Lordship of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. On that day, nothing else will matter except that one is a part of that great company of souls who have chosen Him so that they could be chosen.

It is quite typical for those of us still living on this earth to be so focused on the here and now that we neglect to prepare for eternity. Homes, families, careers, hobbies, pursuits of pleasure, and a multitude of other concerns demand our time and our attention. This, plus our natural aversion for the subject of death combine to just about eliminate spiritual consideration from the lives of many.

Hearing what you have said about _____ today, along with the testimonies of his children, lets me see that he did not allow the normal business of living to eclipse his consideration of and preparation for eternity. He lived well so that he could die well.

How does one live well so that the hour of death and what follows thereafter can be anticipated with joy and not dread? Jesus made it clear in Matthew 6:33: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you."

Notice that Jesus did not condemn or forbid the common pursuits in life. That was what He meant by "all these things." He simply put them into perspective. The pursuit of the things of God must come first. That’s because the things of God are permanent and the things of this earth are temporary. Once the right priorities are established and maintained, the rest of the concerns of life – called by Jesus, "all these things" - are added. In fact, He seems to imply that God will help us add these things to our lives – that is, that we will have heaven’s help when our priorities are right.

I see evidence that _____ established and maintained this priority. But what about you and me? We, too, will come to the end of our lives one day. The memorial will be for us. All opportunities for mind changes and fresh starts will be gone. The way we have lived will have determined our eternal destiny.

But that will be then and this is now. And "now" is when we can still can make adjustments, minor or major, that will alter our course if that is what we need. I’m sure that if _____ were here with us, he would admonish us to make things right with our Maker while there is time.

Where does it start? It starts when we commit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. We obey the gospel. We turn away from the old way and start out fresh. We "bury" the old person in a watery grave and start off new. Then, with a clean slate, we order our lives to reflect God’s priorities – an order of things that must continue throughout our lives.

I hope that you will use this occasion of _____’s passing to take stock of the direction you are heading. I’m sure that he, as a Christian, would want you to do so.

*********

Let’s sing together once again. Page number _________.

As you find the page, let me take the opportunity to invite you to join us in the adjacent building for some food and refreshments that the ladies of this congregation have prepared.

Also, on the back of the folder you received when you came in, you’ll find a request by the family to pick up an "I Remember ____" sheet and envelope from the table at the back of this room so that you can write out your favorite memories of _____ and return them to his wife.

Congregational Song: "It is Well with My Soul"

Closing Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful to you for sharing with us the life of our dear Brother _____. From our limited perspective here we grieve for our loss. But in our faith we know that from your perspective there is no loss. Your Son died to assure that. Please help us to realize the real issues of life as we go from this place. May we put our trust in you through your Son, Jesus Christ. In His Name we pray. Amen.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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