Memorial Service

Rom. 14:7-8

For none of us lives to himself alone

and none of us dies to himself alone.

8 If we live, we live to the Lord;

and if we die, we die to the Lord.

So, whether we live or die,

we belong to the Lord.

We are gathered here today to celebrate the life,

the love,

the kind heartedness,

and the passion for life of

of Edward Culpepper

The Lord gave Ed the breath of life

The Lord watched over his life

And the Lord God watches over Ed through his death.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray....

Heavenly Father,

in whose presence live all those who die in the Lord,

you made us in your image

and you hold us in your care,

we come to you, asking you to be with us now

in strength and power.

We all join together and thank you for Edward

for all he meant to us,

for all he was,

the very presence he had.

We ask that you encircle us with your love,

wash us with you peace,

and move within our hearts.

May the presence of the Holy Spirit be upon us all...

We ask this all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord - Amen.

Scripture

1Th. 4:13-18

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep,

or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

We believe that Jesus died and rose again

and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

According to the Lord’s own word,

we tell you that we who are still alive,

who are left till the coming of the Lord,

will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,

with a loud command,

with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,

and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that,

we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together

with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Rom. 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace

in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

3 Not only so,

but we also rejoice in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

4 perseverance, character;

and character, hope.

5 And hope does not disappoint us,

because God has poured out his love into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit,

whom he has given us.

Message

Years ago Ed started out alone on a lonely road,

Not knowing what life would bring him

Not knowing where God would take him

Here he is in Anchorage Alaska, at the end of the road,

Gathered with friends, family, those he cared for…

Ed was one of those people who you just couldn’t help but like.

He loved life, loved working hard, loved his wife Naoma, loved everyone he met.

What more can you say about a man’s character.

If we could all have a little of what Ed had…..

But you know, Ed was such a real person too:

Pat & Ed

Had an old fridge they need to get rid of.

After talking about it they decided their best option was clandestine.

Using an available, and accessible dumpster….

Of course they needed to do it on the sly.

So they load this ugly thing up in the truck

And don’t tie it in…..well it falls out of the pickup!

Face down.

Ed’s a big guy. No problem.

Well they lift it up, the doors open and all the glass shelves fall out making an enormous racket. Many of us would make a change of plans right then and there. Not Ed & Pat, they persevered and got rid of the thing.

Let me remind us of this: We have one continous life, and Ed and all he is has continued on. Life doesn’t just end here. We don’t have two lives – our life now, and something completely new when we die. We have one continous life.

They say you can’t take it with you – but whoever said that is sorely mistaken. We do take it with us. Everything Ed was, all his experioences, all the joy the sorrow...all the good and all the bad; all this stuff follows us, and it has followed Ed too.

Remember those good times? Remember when Ed was there for you, when no one else was? Remember the kindness, the generousity, the hard working let’s get it done so I can go home and have a beer times you had with Ed?