Funeral

Mrs ___________ __________

We don’t face this life or death alone. Psalm 23

1) MY shepherd

2) He RESTORES my soul---From a state of emptiness to a state of fullness.

Our trials empty us emotionally. We are numb and empty with a pain that penetrates this flesh and strikes to the depth of our soul. We have the opportunity as children of God to go to Him and find restoration:

1. That comes through communication and relationship with God.

2. That comes through working through the grief process.

We don’t face this life or death without promises.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:7

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28

This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it .Psa 132:14

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7

I don’t give these scriptures today as a bandaid to your pain. I simply want to express to you the reality of what a relationship with God will offer you. For the child of God, trials and tribulations are still present. The difference is that we have the hand of our Savior to hold while we go through them.

This world is not all there is. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4

Thomas A. Dorsey knew what it meant to find God’s presence even in the worst of times. Dorsey is the composer of the world’s best-known Gospel song --just one week after he experienced two personal tragedies.

In August 1932, Dorsey was scheduled to be the feature soloist at religious services in St. Louis. Because his wife Nettie was pregnant, Dorsey had reservations about leaving her behind. "Something was strongly telling me to stay," he recalls. Yet, commitments had been made and he knew people in St. Louis would be disappointed if he canceled. So Tom Dorsey left for the revival service. During the performance the next night in the steaming St. Louis heat, a messenger from Western Union approached Dorsey on the stage with a telegram. Puzzled, Dorsey opened the envelope and read the four devastating words: "Your wife just died." He rushed to a phone and called home, only to hear it confirmed: "Nettie is dead."

Dorsey quickly returned to Chicago. There he learned that just before his wife died she had given birth to a boy. Later that night, the baby died. Dorsey now had to deal with two losses, two funerals. "I buried Nettie and our boy in the same casket," he says. "Then I fell apart."

During this painful time, one of Dorsey’s friends made arrangements for him to use a local music school’s piano. There, alone with his thoughts and a piano, Dorsey describes what happened: "I sat down at the piano and my hands began to browse over the keys. Then something happened. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I’d never heard or played before, and words came into my head -- they just seemed to fall into place: ’Precious Lord, take my hand,/Lead me on, let me stand,/I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,/ Through the storm, through the night/Lead me on to the light,/Take my hand, precious Lord,/Lead me home.’"