The death of any of our little ones is pressing hard. We love our children, but we remember that we are only in a position to love them as we ought to because we love our Father in Heaven more than all. Whoever does not love Christ more than family cannot be a disciple, as Jesus … [Read more...]

One of the things that we learn from Scripture is the fact that it is the part of wisdom to be mindful of your own mortality. This is one of the important functions of funerals and memorial services. Not only do we honor the deceased, as has been done here today very ably, but we … [Read more...]

In one of the last conversations I had with Helen, one of the things that came out was her concerns over all her sewing. She couldn’t sew anymore. Would she be able to sew in Heaven? It would be easy to dismiss this kind of concern as a frailty, as the kind of whimsical thing … [Read more...]

It was just a few months ago that I delivered the homily at the funeral of Fred Kohl, a faithful servant of Jesus Christ for many years. And now, just a matter of weeks later, I am doing the same thing for his beloved wife Mertie. “Now there was in Joppa a disciple named … [Read more...]

It is always a privilege and honor to declare the Word of God on any occasion, but it is a particular honor to do so at the memorial service for a servant of God like Fred Kohl. As I was mulling over what to say, the passage that came to mind was from the apostle Paul’s address … [Read more...]

The hymn O Worship the King uses a striking phrase to describe the condition of man in this fallen world of ours. It describes us as “frail children of dust, and feeble as frail.” That line contains two elements of biblical truth that I want to emphasize here today. The first is … [Read more...]

In the providence of God, this memorial service is occurring the day before Good Friday. And this, of course, is just a handful of days before our celebration of Easter, the day when our Lord Jesus conquered death on behalf of all His people. He did not do this as an act of … [Read more...]

We have gathered at this memorial service for many reasons—to honor the memory of Shirley Hardaway, to comfort her loved ones, to remember our own mortality, and these reasons—together with others— are good reasons. But we have also gathered for another reason, a very simple … [Read more...]

In a time of sudden grief like this, our reactions, not surprisingly, include an oscillating range of emotions—whether sorrow, or pity, or anger at God, or unanswerable aching questions for God, and so on, down the line. Some of the questions make sense, the rest don’t, and none … [Read more...]