Opening Scripture
The Scriptures provide us with a sufficient source of enlightenment and encouragement.
The can bring both correction and comfort.
The Psalms are an especial rich source of comfort as nearly every emotion and every circumstance of life can be found there.
Here are just a few passages appropriate in times of grief, sorrow and loss.
In you O Lord I have taken refuge, let me never be ashamed. Incline you ear to me, rescue me, quickly. Be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress -- you are my strength.
Be gracious to me O Lord, for I am in distress. My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also. My life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. But as for me I trust I You O Lord, I say You are my God. My times are in you hand.
How precious is your lovingkindness, O God, an the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. For with You is the fountain of life.
I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
Since I am afflicted and needy, let the Lord be mindful of me; Your are my deliverer; do not delay O my God. You are my refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me. Your righteous hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Your lovingkindness O Lord is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones and give thanks to His holy name. Weeping may last for the night but joy come in the morning.
PRAYER
I pray for those suffering the emotional storm of grief and loss, confusion, anger, fear, anxiety stirred by the death of one so loved.
I pray for your divine comfort and the encouragemtn of the Scriptures for each family member and friend of Gloria today.
Pour out your peace on all her family and friends that share such fond memories of her place in their lives.
Draw us into a deeper experience with You that we may know the wonder of relationship with the Almighty and realize the hope that comes from knowing you.
EULOGY -- (Read separate sheet)
Video of remembrance
Remembrances of family and friends
WORDS OF COMFORT AND HOPE
Solomon encouraged periodic trips to the house of mourning.
For there he says,
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting,
Because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. Eccles. 7:2
It is good to remember that none of us escape the tragedy of death and loss and pain.
It is good to take the time to contemplate the meaning of life here and hereafter.
At such times as this, a myriad of questions rise to the forefront of our thinking.
None of them simple. Most of them complex.
Through God’s help and the truths found in the Scripture, we can courageously face many of these questions.
We can mange many of the mysteries surrounding death,
We can grapple with the guilt that sometimes grabs us and takes advantage of the moment.
We can handle the emotional heaviness that comes with suffering and loss.
It is my hope to offer some help in the few moments we have together today.
I. MANAGING THE MYSTERIES SURROUNDING DEATH with UNDERSTANDING
Some of the questions that arise at time like this may be answered from Scripture.
If we wonder why everyone must face death and suffering in general -- there is written Divine revelation to enlighten us.
Death entered human history when sin entered human history.
It is the consequence of disobedience laid out by the Creator from the beginning.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - Rom 5:12
Death was not in the original, ideal plan.
God created us with free choice.
Along with that privilege of choice came a corresponding responsibility to make the right choices and consequence for not doing so.
"The day you eat you will surely die."
Not only did Adam and Eve make a wrong choice, but man has chosen to disobey God ever since.
All have sinned and come short of God’s standard.
All of the evil and suffering in our world is the result of man’s wrong choies and in order to eradicate evil, God would have to eliminate free will.
Since we are still free to choose we must live with the consequences of those choices.
Along with death comes all the pain and suffering from generation after generation of wrong choices and life lived independent of God.
From its first intrusion into history with the murder of Abel by his own brother Cain, death is gravely lodged into the experience of every family.
Genesis 5 graphically records this gruesome truth.
Death is certain, no one escapes its visit.
It is no respecter of persons
Young, old, rich poor, good, evil, wicked, righteous, GOD-FEARING, atheist, Christian, agnostic.
Yet God is a God of life and transformation.
Out of His great love God provided a means to restore what we have runined through great cost to Himself.
He sent His Son to provide the means of forgivness and new life.
"I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father except through me."
“Because I live you may live also.”
Through Christ, the terrifying prospect of death and suffering is not eliminated right now but can be managed through hope in the promise of life through Christ.
We can view death not as final but as a mere transition from mortal to life to immortal life.
Scritpure provides some answers to the where questions.
Where do we go when we die? Where is Gloria now? Where is heaven? What is it like? What is God’s plan for eternity.
God has not revelaed great detail but sufficient detail to give us hope and stir anticipation of a future life with Him.
Jesus Christ is the only one who has truly died and returned to tell about it.
He is the authority and the way to real life and relationship with God.
“Because I live you shall live also.”
Paul faced death daily and declared the reassuring truth that to be “Absent from the body is “To be present with the Lord.” “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”
What is it like?
There are many misconceptions of heaven.
We don’t have the time to adequately deal with the subject but it is important at a time like this so I am goint to try to give you a brief picture of what I believe the Bible teaches concerning the present heaven and the future new heaven and earth.
The present heaven has both spiritual and physical aspects.
Paul got a glimpse of the present heaven and saw things too glorious to describe.
God’s presence is there along with Jesus in His glorified, resurrected body, streets, buildings.
Those who trusted in God from ages past are there in temporary heavenly bodies.
They will have memories of life and loved ones, awarness of current events and perhaps even spend time praying for us left down here.
There is rest, perfect worship, peace, anticipation of the new heaven and earth, angels, probably the garden of God – Paradise with the tree of life,
There will be perfect fellowship, unity, communication, grand stories of redemption, walks through the garden of God, intimate conversations with Jesus, exhilarating times of worship, praise and thanksgiving.
We will be especially equipped to take it in.
We won’t get bored or tired.
We won’t get distracted by evil thoughts.
There won’t be jealousy or irritation or frustration.
As glorius as the present heaven is, it is not the final destination for believers.
At the end of the age God promises new heavens and a new earth.
Everythign will be restored to it original design.
There will be a renewed universe, inclouding earth and resurrected immortal bodies that function perfectly as God originally intened.
There will be growth, development, activities, great community, worship, travel, nature, perhaps animals, cities, houses, streets.
Other questions are not so readily answered
Why Gloria? Why such a grueling battle? Why now? Why so young?
These questions have no direct divine revelation other than the fact that God is faithful and trustworthy.
Sickness and death are part of life in this present fallen world.
It visits every family.
He does promise to bring about the completion of His ultimate masterpiece.
For now, life’s tragedies and suffering are but one mysterious piece of the divine puzzle, one stroke of the brush on history’s canvas.
Necessary dark threads on a divine tapestry where for now, only the back side is visible.
From this side of eternity we can only see a mass of confusing threads hanging down which defy definition or sometimes explanation.
I love the song encourages us to trust God’s heart when we can’t seem to trace His hand.
Pain and suffering serve to stir a renewed longing for the life hereafter where all pain and suffering and sin will be forever done away.
The complete answer to many of life’s questions is reserved in the halls of heaven where one day all the pieces of life’s perplexing puzzle will come together into one magnificent manifestation of the wisdom and power of God.
It is there where we will view with awe and wonder the front side of this wonderfully woven work of God.
For now we are left with the assurance of Scripture that a perfect picture will one day wonderfully emerge.
May God grant us the courage and wisdom to continually face many of these questions in an honest attempt to know and trust the Lord who promises us new life through His Son.
Those who express such faith may grieve and even have certain anxiety and momentary fears but not as those who have NO hope.
We have a hope for restored perfect community for all eternity.
Paul views his impending death like the unmooring of a ship about to set sail on a grand journey.
We stand on the shore today to wave good by to Gloria’s ship as it disappears on the horizon.
I can assure you that just as her ship has disappears from our view and we declare there she goes, it suddenly appears to a crowd of people on another shore who declare here she comes.
II. GRAPPLING WITH THE GUILT SURROUNDING DEATH through resolve
With any death comes the unrenting ruthless pangs of guilt.
"If only"
Guilt is a terrible task master that must be managed.
Don’t let Gloria’s death push you down under a cloud of guilt and regrets, or even fears.
Let it spur you to focus on life with new vigor, faith and personal resolve.
Don’t let bitterness and anger destroy the rest of your days.
May the sufferings of this life encourage you to run to God who is a very present help in times of trouble.
In God there is forgiveness.
In God there is a new start.
Through Christ we can leave the failure of the past and anticipate a new future of renewal.
III. HANDLING THE HEAVINESS SURROUNDING DEATH through hope
The Scriptures enable us to at least get a grip on grief.
It will never be eliminated until Jesus returns but it can be managed.
Scripture does not dress up death or try to deny it or eliminate the sting.
Scripture tackles the issue of death head on.
The Bible first is very clear that…
A. Death is a cruel enemy we were not created to face.
It is still an enemy.
It still brings fear and anxiety.
Death is the is the very last enemy to be destroyed by Christ at His return.
For now, death still causes pain and sorrow, grief, crying, hurt, loss
It is not a lack of faith to grieve.
Jesus himself wept at the death of Lazarus.
Paul didn’t declare that Christians don’t grieve.
He affirmed that we don’t grieve as those without hope.
Part of handling the heaviness surrounding death is releasing the emotional pain of encountering such a devastating and cruel enemy and grabbing on the the future certainty of life with God hereafter.
Grief is the pain of severed community with one we have loved.
The greater the love and intimacy the greater the pain of such a helpless separation.
Grief is one of those things that creeps up on you and grabs you unexpectedly.
Sometimes the only way to release such grief is thought the tear ducts.
Hope is the comfort of resotred commuity with Christ and all whose who hoped in Him.
As the Bible is clear that death is a cruel enemy it is equally clear that…
B. Death is a conquered enemy
Jesus must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1Co 15:26
It is then that the oft quoted passage will find its ultimate fulfillment.
When this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality (at the coming of Jesus), then (and onlythen) will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
For not death stings like crazy.
For now, eath is still victorious as it claim its daily victims.
For now however, listen to the words of Jesus.
“Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God believe also in me for in my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you and I go now to prepare a place for YOU that where I am there you man be also.”
We came here today to give honor to one who has impacted us by her life.
May her death encourage us to focus on what is of eternal importance.
May her death encourage us to look to the one who said, “I am the way the truth and the life.”
Gloria loved life.
Gloria would have you leave today with hope, not despair.
Gloria would have you rejoice in the fact that she has escaped the struggle of life in a deteriorating body and today enjoys life from the eternal perspective in the presense of her Lord and Savior.
CLOSING PRAYER
