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Funeral
Speak
by Tina Laforce
When my friend asked me to speak on November 10th at her dad's
memorial service, I was lost for words.
I replied that I will pray about it and will get back
to her. I felt
privileged to be asked to do such a task.
I prayed for direction and the boldness to push through
the barriers that some of the people present were not
interested in the things of God. I received prayer from my
church. No matter
my anxiety, apprehension and my fears, I went forward and
drove through 'iffy' roads to Spruce Grove.
God was with me through it all.
The enemy tried to get me to back down but he was not
successful. I
know God used me to bring forth a powerful message and
everyone present listened! All my praise goes to Him!
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First of all I just want to say that Jesus himself experienced
grief. He
understands the feeling of
grief and sorrow.
He lost his friend Lazarus.
In
John 11:17-36
So Jesus made the trip to
Bethany
to attend the funeral.
There were friends and family present along with
Lazarus’s sisters Martha and Mary.
Martha went out to meet Jesus and she was weeping.
In verse 23, Jesus says.
“Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in
the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me,
though he may die, he shall live.
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the
Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
.........Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews
who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was
troubled. And He
said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
He cares for you.
“Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
Isaiah 53:4”
We can trust in Him to carry our pain.
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain
thee.” Psalm
55:22
We are all sinners and eternally
separated from God.
“For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God” ...Because we are
sinners, we are
condemned to death.
“For the wages of sin is death” These are found in Romans 3:23
and 6:23.
Some people think they are heaven-bound, based on a life of
compassion and good deeds.
But that’s not true.
In
Ephesians 2:9. It says ‘not
of
works, lest
anyone should boast’.
Because of our sinful nature, we have a sin debt
that we owe to God but no way to pay for it. None of our
solutions - living a moral life, being religious, or doing
more good deeds - can take care of our problem.
No church, no lodge, no good works can save you.
Yet God has provided the solution - one
that both satisfies His justice and grants us mercy. He sent
His Son to pay the penalty we owed. He willingly took our
place on
the cross
and experienced the full measure of the Lord's wrath against
our sinfulness. In dying for us, Christ secured our salvation
by paying the debt for all our past, present, and future sins.
He died in our place.
He became our
substitute.
When we trust in Jesus and surrender our life to Him,
He becomes our personal Savior and Lord.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.
John 3:16
.
. . God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ
died for us” Romans 5:8.
And in V 17 & 18
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He
who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.
In
Acts 16:30-31, the
Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: “ . . . ‘Sirs, what
must I do to be
saved?’ And they said,
‘Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved . . . .’ ”
“God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to
repent” Acts
17:30.
Since we are in a world of sin and we have
a sinful nature, we are sinners.
In
Luke 18:13, the
sinner prayed: “God be
merciful to me a sinner.”
“For
whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”
Romans 10:13.
Whosoever
includes you.
Simply believe on Him as
the one who bore your
sin, died in your place, was buried, and whom God
resurrected. His
resurrection powerfully assures that the believer can
claim everlasting life when Jesus is received as Savior.
Just take God
at His word and claim His salvation by faith.
Believe, and you will
be saved.
Remember, God does the saving. All of it!
If you believe on Him as your crucified,
buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of
your sins and His
gift of eternal salvation by faith.
Only those who have entered into a relationship with Jesus
through faith in Him will be welcomed into heaven.
If you're wondering, “How
can I have eternal life?
How do I get the assurance that I am a child of God and
that I will go to heaven?”
Those
who repent of their sins and trust Jesus will live eternally,
going to heaven when they die and enjoying the new heavens and
the new earth on the future day of their own bodily
resurrection.
Please!
Let God save you this
very moment.
Be sure you are saved.
If you lose your soul, you miss Heaven and lose all.
Apart from Christ, we will be separated from God for
all eternity. I
am asking you the most important question of life.
Your joy or your
sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer.
Are you saved?
It is not a question
of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but
are you saved?
Many say. God is
merciful, loving and how can he send anyone to hell?
Yes, God is loving and has provided the gift of His Son
to take away the sins of the world.
He is also a Holy God and sin is not allowed in Heaven.
That’s why by Jesus’s death and resurrection, we have
the forgiveness and cleansing of our sin.
As soon as I heard that Jack was in the hospital I started
praying for Him.
I asked God to send ministering angels to his room and bring
to him the message of salvation.
I claimed his soul in Jesus Name.
I don’t know if he has ever made a commitment to Christ
in his earlier years but God knows.
I prayed that Jack would have had the opportunity to
make things right with God.
MAY HIS DEATH NOT BE IN VAIN.
MAY IT GIVE HOPE AND COMFORT TO YOU.
MAY IT BRING YOU TO A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
I PRAY THAT YOU WILL SEARCH YOUR OWN HEART AND SEE IF
YOU ARE PREPARED FOR ETERNITY.
WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?
DO YOU KNOW?
Looking for the
blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ. Titus 2:13
Jesus’s Promise
In My Father’s house
are many
mansions; if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go to
prepare
a
place
for
you.
And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come
again and
receive you to
Myself; that where I
am, there you
may be also.
John 14:2 & John 14:6
Right now, wherever you are, repent, lift your heart to God in
prayer.
The Bible says that ‘if
we confess our sins,
He is
faithful
and
just to
forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
1 John 1:9
PRAY
“Oh
God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute
when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death,
burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive Him as my
Savior. I Thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift
of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful
grace. Amen.”
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