Prelude 9:45
Song
It is Well With My Soul
Invocation texts
Psalms 33
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--
he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
Rev 7:16-17
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Today is a Celebration of Life
(Personal remarks about the deceased)
She left behind many who loved her and whose lives were richer because of her presence.
Poem: My Body
My body is a bit of dust
In which the “I” of me resides
For the time of my earthly tenantry;
When I cease to need it,
It will return to earth and be no more.
The “I” of me will return to God
Who gave me this bit of body
Through which to try my powers.
In it I have learned the lessons
Of weight, extent, direction and control;
And of suffering, sorrow, and self denial.
These skills become part of me,
The sense of them can never leave me.
They are mine for all eternity.
They enable me to enjoy my house of dust,
And through it to glorify my Creator,
Here on earth as well as in Heaven.
Thus, I have loved my body,
As if it were eternal,
Knowing well that it is not so,
I do not wish to part with my body,
Though it is old and worn and weak,
But God has promised me a new body
That will never grow tired, or sick, or old!
How wonderful! I think I will go see
What skills and lessons I can learn
Through the use of this new body.
You who know me here
Will know me there when you come,
For that spiritual body will be “like”
My earthly “bit of dust” only it will be
Free of pain, and know no Death!
- Bertha Mason Fuller
Message
Have you ever gone to a place filled with people and just watched them go by?
Airports, Malls, Parades, Office Buildings, and Train Stations. Filled with all kinds of people.
Small, tall, dark hair and toothy smiles. Broken, stooped, round shouldered and pudgy. Radiant and delightful. Bouncy, flouncy, and full of spice. Successful, confident, purposeful, quickly they pass you by, Wall Street Journel in one hand and cell phone in the other held to the ear as they conduct their important business.
Our world is filled with all kinds of people. Most of them sadly have not learned the secret of being content. Connie had learned the secret of being content.
She had knew how to be content while jumping into a pool of water. She knew how to be content while sitting in church or doing the two-step. She knew how to be content while on the back of a motorcycle clutching to it and to Ed. She was content when the surgeon said “there is a tumor”. She knew how to be content when she and Ed traveled the four corners of the earth. She was content when lying in bed, her body tired her spirit unconquerable. Connie learned the secret of being content in every circumstance.
It is not a new secret. It has been around a long time. You can’t learn it through wholistic medicines or by repeating a mantra. You won’t find it by surfing on the world wide web or looking behind the hale-bopp comet.
A man named Paul knew the secret first. He taught Connie. She learned it well. With this secret safely hidden in her soul she was undefeated in life and she remains undefeated in death. Oh, I know that she lost the battle with cancer, but she won the war with death. Because Connie understood the secret of being content in life.
Paul learned the secret in life while facing death. He was old and tired when he wrote these words. He was in prison facing a trial before the head of the greatest nation on earth. It was at this time that he penned these words in a letter to a church in Philippi.
11 …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
It is here that Paul reveals his secret…
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Paul does not speak of a philosophy or a mindless faith in a spirit less creation. Paul refers not to an attitude or a state of being. Paul talks of a person. That person is Jesus, who is the one sent from God, to show us the way to eternal life with the Creator and Father God. He is the secret that Paul reveals. He is the secret that Connie Hunter learned so very well.
It was Jesus in her spirit and heart that gave her peace while the storms of disease and the pain of mankinds medical efforts to heal did their best and their worst to her tough and fragile body. It was Jesus in her soul that strengthened her in every imaginable loss and sorrow. It was Jesus, who is God incarnate, who helped her see beyond the tears to the days bright with bermuda sun and North Carolina sand. It was Jesus who sustained her then and who sustains her now.
She learned the lesson well. I must ask the question. I would be remiss if I did not. She would want me to. Have you learned the secret of being content?
God is here.
Jesus said, "I am not alone, because the father is with me"
David said, "Where shall I go from your spirit? Or, where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in the grave you are there! If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me."
Close with Prayer
Committal Service
Psalms 23
A psalm of David.
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
1 Corinthians 15:51ff
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
According to the eternal plan,
The body returns to the earth as it was,
And the spirit to God who gave it.
Of all that is material we way,
“Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust”:
But to the spirit we cry:
“Now you are free,
Free from pain and sickness and sorrow,
Free from all physical handicaps,
Free to dream and sing and work and love.
Free to greet old friends and new
And Jesus Christ,
And to adventure with them forever.”
Therefore we say,
Goodbye, goodbye until tomorrow.”
Prayer
