Perspectives Upon Seeing the Death of the Saints

[Music] i need someone who will never let you die oh [Music] they show it [Music] i need a friend oh [Music] [Music] [Music] someone [Music] someone who will [Music] and [Music] good morning everyone good morning and welcome to the shredder lane church of christ and we are happy to see you and have you in our presence and we want to welcome all of you who are out there uh worshiping with us virtually and worshiping with us in person and we have several visitors among us and you are our honored guest and we are glad that you chose us to worship with us this morning before we move forward we'll have a few announcements and and uh a few housekeeping rules as well as as uh you all probably know we are dealing with this pandemic and trying to keep us all safe and well and as you all go about your day and about your way we just want to encourage you to stay safe and protect yourselves as you as we end the service this morning we just want to remind you of our exit protocol the outer aisles will exit first and then following that the inner house and we want to especially give due time when you exit expeditiously to exit according to our protocol and give time for our staff to sanitize the auditorium following the service in preparation for the next service so we we do that regularly and often and just because we're trying to keep everyone safe and thank you again for being with us we have sympathy and condolences that we want to get out to you we and please bear with me as i read these off several of our members have had deaths death in their families recently and stand in need of our prayer and support sister amikia gibson in the loss of her father purvis gibson his funeral was this past wednesday and the services were held in west columbia south carolina just please remember the gibson family and amakia who was one of our lipscomb students and is now a doctor she was working on her doctorate here while she was with us and she now resides in in the houston texas area but um just remember her brother wesley rouse in the loss of his brother bobby rouse who passed on saturday september the 18th those services will be on october the 9th in milwaukee wisconsin brother william thomas in the loss of his uncle called earl carl eugene henderson excuse me on tuesday september 21st he passed away in paducah kentucky and a memorial service will be held today in paducah at the pettus rowland funeral home visitation is at noon and the memorial service is at 1. brother brother and elder randy washington in the loss of his sister-in-law monica washington and her arrangements are incomplete we want to ask your prayers upon his brother thomas who is uh in the hospital um and uh for the washingtons as they prepare to travel uh to uh support their uh their their brother and their family in the loss of his sister-in-law also we learned of the passing of the brother-in-law of brother herbert hamilton his name was don drew and he was a resident of saint petersburg florida he's requesting our prayers and traveling grace as he goes down to prepare to lay his brother-in-law to rest and we learned on yesterday evening the passing of the sister-in-law of janet stewart and the honor of rachel stewart her name was lynn smith please be with the steward family this time as they mourn the loss of janet sister-in-law and rachel's aunt and most of you know that we are mourning the death of our dear brother walter steele our elder we just want to um pray for the steele family sister early and the rest of the family and robert will be coming to us later to give further details and more comments but just pray for the steele family this time they they need our prayers there are others among us who are sick and shut in and who are bereaved who don't have their information in front of me but let's please remember them remember their hearts are tender and our members who on our sick list need our prayers let us now go to god in prayer heavenly father we come before you thanking you for another beautiful day you've given us and provided us thank you for allowing us to be here to worship you in spirit and in truth we ask dear god that you bless this worship and help us lord as we move forward and it's in your son jesus name we pray amen good morning all god has indeed blessed us each and every one of us to be in the land of the living amen let us not take that for uh granted take that lightly for it is truly a blessing and we give him glory and honor just for not just for that but for all that he has done amen all of our songs this morning are geared toward knowing who god is who he has been and who he said he will be what god has done what he is doing and what he promised that he will do in support of those who are going through some difficult times let us encourage them and encourage ourselves amen nobody like you i'm going to ask you to stand if you can and then on the second psalm you have the opportunity to go ahead and sit if you desire nobody like you lord oh lord is your name your name is strength your name is lord is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] nobody like you lord nobody [Applause] nobody like you lord how excellent your name is [Applause] we so there's say like you lord nobody like you love nobody like you lord [Applause] for all the things you've done for us the next one says you are my glory lord and you are you are my glory lord i find my glory in you you are oh [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] makes me sad nobody nobody [Music] nobody [Music] he's wonderful and awesome that song said he's a strong tower amen hold on to his unchanging hand time is filled with swift transitions [Applause] [Music] we are hopes all things [Applause] [Music] everybody your hopes for trust in him who will never ever [Music] even though they bring difficult times [Music] everybody [Music] [Music] and [Music] [Applause] are changing [Music] of your [Music] [Applause] all to god's unchanging land good morning good morning when we consider the offering the bible teaches us that we should give as we prosper consider what luke says in luke 6 38 give and it will be given to you they will pour into your lap at good measure press down shaken together and running over for by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return we give because we love god but we also give because we trust him amen let us pray father god in heaven we are grateful for this privilege to worship you openly we thank you for the resources you've provided to us to live and we give back to you a portion of that because we trust you we love you and we know you will continue to provide for us we pray that the resources that are used are used in a manner that is pleasing and acceptable to you it's in your son's name we pray and give thanks amen we offer several means for you to give you may continue to mail in your offering to the p.o box drop your offering off at the church or use one of the electronic options outlined on the website this information is also posted on the screen with the communion the focus is to remember the death burial and resurrection of our lord and savior jesus christ we do not deserve what we were given and we show we don't deserve it because we mess up every single day but the interesting thing is he went to the cross anyway knowing what we were going to do knowing how we were going to live but he loved us anyhow as you take the bread remember how his body was broken and beaten remember how his blood was shed for you and for me let us pray father god we're so grateful to be your children we're grateful for a love that even as humans we still don't understand but yet we accept it we thank you for jesus and the sacrifice he made on our behalf we thank you for him going to the cross in obedience and suffering on our behalf as we take these two elements the bread that represents his body and the cup that represents his blood and we take them in a manner that is pleasing and acceptable to you remembering the suffering he did for us it's in his name that we pray and give thanks amen we pray that as we remember and memorialize again our savior and lord i love you lord [Music] really love you lord [Music] you're always there always [Music] i know you care and i really love you lord [Applause] always [Applause] [Applause] [Music] lord i love you lord [Music] love you lord i really love you lord oh i really love you lord yes i really love you lord [Music] morning church our scripture lesson this morning be taken from the 11th chapter of john starting at verse 38 we're going to read down to verse 44. starting at verse 38. jesus therefore again groaning in himself coming to the grave it was a cave and a stone lay upon it jesus said take you away the stone martha the sister of him that was dead saith unto him lord by this time he stinketh but he has been dead four days jesus said unto her said i not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe thou should have see the glory of god then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid and jesus lifted up his eyes and said father i thank thee that thou hears me and i knew that thou hears me always but because of the people which stand by i said it that they may believe that thou has sent me and when he had thus had spoken he cried with a loud voice lazarus come forth and he said and he that was dead came forth bound hands and foot with grave clothes and his face was bound about with a napkin jesus said unto them loosen him and let him go may the lord have a blessing to the hearers and doers of his word thank you jesus is coming soon even though trolls sometimes are here right now we have something to look forward to amen and i'm looking for my pitch pipe [Laughter] this is one of those songs that if you don't pitch it right it don't go right maybe a little bit lower than that i'm going to ask you to stand if you can and i pray that god will engraft these words on your heart to give you hope as we prepare for the word from our own minister brother robert garden hire troublesome times i hear silly men's hearts and and died about [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] know [Music] we'll be [Applause] [Music] okay oh [Music] [Applause] oh and my jesus is [Music] and the trumpets will sign oh will foreign [Applause] rising up [Applause] will finally make it to that promised land glory to share sharing [Music] [Music] will [Music] heavenward is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] when [Music] no one dies [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] okay thank you you know you i'm glad you know me know me we praise our god we're one big family family we lift our hands to reach the sky [Music] you gave i'm [Music] i'm glad you know me know me we praise our god family family we lift [Music] to reach the sky [Music] you gave i am so glad you are [Music] [Music] the booker thank you twice maybe three times appreciate and thank you all for being here this morning and for your understanding for your presence not only in body but in spirit we've come today to worship god and we know as john 4 24 says that god is a spirit and they who worship him worship him in spirit and in truth so i pray today thankfully that you have come as i have to worship god and to do so in spirit and in truth we welcome those of you who are visiting with us today you are our guest and i'd like to ask all of our guests just to stand right where you are all of our guests please stand right where you are amen amen thank you thank you delighted that you are here and i'm not always able behind the mask to know who i'm seeing but i know i'm glad to see you i see that benjamin hayes is visiting with us cornelius latham is visiting with us armand wine is visiting with us eric garner is visiting with us you all will remember eric who preached our gospel meeting here about four years ago happy to have eric with us today and the others of you whom i've not named happy to see you and i'm delighted to see those of you who are among our newest members here with us today i see a whole row over here i see shanette and michael and rita happy to have you all here and yes amen and you all uh may not be aware that just on monday two weeks ago we had the baptism of sister kiosha cantrell and what a joy it is to be in the lord so kyosha we want to encourage you and we're thankful for all of those who are our new members thank you brother etheridge our elder for getting us started this morning for brother pie for that heartfelt reading of the scripture and brother mccleskey tim jr for leading us to our thoughtful place in the great sacrifice that christ has given on our behalf in the 11th chapter of john as i joined with brother etheridge and our elders in our our empathy and condolences you heard him read a long litany of people in this church who are grieving who are mourning who are experiencing the loss of loved ones this comes to all of us at times in the passage from the 11th chapter of john preceeding the portion read by brother pi we see what transpired when death came to the family of mary and martha their beloved brother john was sick near death let's begin seeing what took place now certain man was sick named lazarus of bethany the town of mary and her sister martha it was mary which anointed the lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother lazarus was sick and you'll read about mary wiping jesus feet with her hair over in chapter 12. therefore his sisters sent unto him saying lord behold he whom thou lovest is sick and i want you to just underline the portion that says he whom thou lovest when jesus heard that he said this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of god that the son of god might be glorified thereby now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus underline that again jesus loved mary martha and lazarus when he had heard therefore that he was sick he about two days still in the same place where he was then after that said he to his disciples let us go to judea again i'm going to fast forward to verse 11. these things said he and after that he said unto them our friend lazarus sleepeth but i go that i may awake him out of sleep ben said his disciples lord if he sleep he shall do well you see their understanding their thought their lack of comprehension was he's resting he's sleeping he must be doing better and that being the case lord i believe we believe he's doing well then jesus said it to them plainly verse 14 lazarus is dead what and alarming yet intriguing statement lazarus jesus says is dead then the bible tells us in verse 13 and i am glad for your sakes that i was not there to the intent ye may believe nevertheless let us go unto him you see when i read this i see very clearly that even in the death of lazarus even in the death of one whom christ loved dearly he had a plan he saw beyond the current circumstances he saw beyond their fears he saw beyond their tears he saw beyond their misunderstanding and their perceptions that were skewed and flawed jesus saw beyond their wants for consolation and saw their need for confirmation jesus had a plan when we get to reading this passage i say and i was saying as i was preparing the lesson heaven help us you see that's what christ was doing he was helping his disciples and throughout what we read in this passage it is heaven helping us heaven help us regarding our perspectives upon seeing the death of saints saints quite simply are not those who have been deemed to have achieved sainthood by some religious body saints are not those who stand on a religious pedestal higher than others saints are children of god perspectives on seeing the death of saints in this 11th chapter i submit to you that martha had a faith-focused perspective and as we look at these you may identify with some or all of them verse 17 then when jesus came he found that he had lain in the grave four days already now bethany was nigh unto jerusalem about 15 furlongs off and many of the jews came to martha and mary to comfort them concerning their brother i want you to see visualize what's taking place these two beloved sisters have lost their dear brother they had asked for the presence of jesus jesus did not appear for four days and may i say those of you who are present here physically and those of you who are viewing with us present virtually god is sovereign god knows what's best and if you have prayed for your loved one yet they did not survive i'm here to tell you that god knows best don't lose faith he knows best if you have been praying for god's intervention in your life regarding matters of money matters of relationship matters of strength and conviction health whatever the cause may be recognize that god knows best as the old folks say he may not come when you want him to but he's right on time and many of the jews came to martha and married to comfort them concerning their brother then martha as soon as she heard that jesus was coming went and met him she didn't allow him to get all the way to bed she went and met him and the bible says mary still sad in the house note that ben said martha unto jesus lord if thou has been here my brother had not died imagine that kind of statement and i want to just say to us that martha's perspective was a faith-focused perspective when we look at life when we look at the circumstances when we look at our very own realities when we see ourselves in the mirror as it was we have to have faith and we don't always understand the ways and the wisdom of god but we must have faith her perspective even on the death of her dear brother was a faith focus she said lord if you had been here he would not have died but that's not all but i know verse 22 that even now whatsoever thou will ask of god god will give it thee thank god for that kind of faith you see that's the kind of faith that says i don't know what's going to happen brother mccleskey brother holland i can't say what the end will be i can't say what tomorrow will be i can't even say what now is but i know that i can ask for god's will to be done james addresses this in chapter 4 of his writing verse 15. james says some of you will say i'm going to go here and i'm going to go there and i'm going to buy and sell and get gain and james points out in his fourth chapter that some of us will argue and bicker and have strife one against another and he points out that it's because of our anxiety for earthly things and earthly matters and james says what you ought to say rather than saying i'm going to do this or i'm going to do that sister tina you ought to say if god wills and here's martha in her perspective while her brother is now four days in the grave stinking according to her she says but lord whatever your will is that'll be all right that's a perspective that you and i need to have today not only do we have a faith-focused perspective but there should be also a future perspective you notice when we read this passage and allow me beginning with verse 25 well verse 24 martha said unto him i know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day wherever your hearts are right now regardless of how deeply we sorrow when a loved one passes away children of god must learn to have a future focused perspective martha said this is tragic my brother has died christ didn't come when i wanted him to but i know that one day there's a resurrection it's the resurrection that christ talks about in our expectations we know that as paul wrote in second corinthians chapter 5 if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of god a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens there's going to be a resurrection paul when he wrote to the christians at thessalonica said you who are troubled rest with us for when the lord jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not god and who obey not the gospel of our lord jesus christ and he goes on to write about the fact that the dead in christ would rise a future perspective on the death of the saints is that there's a resurrection you see this stated in verse 24 and you can read more about that in first thessalonians 4 beginning with verse 13. so i say to us today whenever we face the fears and the seemingly beyond comprehension circumstances of death have a perspective that says but one day one day just hold to god's unchanging hand because one day there's going to be a resurrection that's a future focused perspective and then sometimes as we see the circumstances of death we inevitably have a self-focused perspective and i think mark martha's perspective and and mary's even more could not help but be self-focused in verse 25 jesus said unto her i am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die believeth thou this he asked her that question she said unto him yes lord i believe that thou art the son of christ the son of god which should come into the world and when she had said so she went her way and called mary i want you to see mary's response as we talk about a self-focused perspective you notice that both of these sisters as was martha's so was mary's response lord if you had been here our brother would not have died you see when when we have that focus yes it is because of our feelings for ourselves it hurts to lose a loved one our dear sister steele and our beloved brother still walk together in marriage for 57 years it hurts to lose a companion those of you who right now are suffering the loss of siblings aged parents friends uncles we recognize that it hurts to lose a loved one a self-focus is part of the process it's the human reality even jesus when we read from john chapter 11 the bible says that when jesus heard of the death of lazarus he groaned in his spirit he was not without feelings even as you are and as i am and the bible tells us that jesus when he went to the place and you can see this in verses such as 33 34 and 35 and he saw those who were weeping jesus groaned again in his spirit out of his empathy his being like them we sorrow when we lose loved ones there is a self-focus you're experiencing that so be it but when we see mary as she came verse 29 28 and when she said so she went called mary her sister secretly saying the master is come and he calls for you i notice here that christ was not content just to have shown up nor to have talked with mary but he said or was martha but he said send mary secretly he called for her as soon as she heard that she arose quickly and came to him and jesus was not yet come unto the town but was in that place where martha met him mary when she saw him verse 32 fell down at his feet saying unto him lord if thou has been here my brother had not died and that brings me to the focus on the deceased inherently one of our perspectives on the death of the saints is a perspective of focus on the deceased we cannot help but think about them and the fact that they are gone it's not about me anymore it's about my loved ones now i want to say to you as you focus on the deceased know that those who die in the lord are in good hands i i love the passage from the 14th chapter of john verses 7 and 8 which say no man lives to himself and no man dies to himself but whether we live we live unto the lord but whether we die we die unto the lord therefore whether we live or die we are the lords yes there is a focus on the deceased i i grieve this morning i sorrow when i think about the passing of our loved ones i can't think about the death of an elder in this church without sorrow and neither can you i can't think about these men who served with him along with elders who although they had retired from the eldership others who have come before most recently brother walker for example who passed away you can't think about that without a focus on them as well but i say to you all as well these men who have served are in the hands of a mighty good god and then there's perspective all of these things that i've said are our perspective but there's heaven's perspective excuse me rude but excuse me psalm 116 verse 15 says it better than i could ever say it precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints you want to know what heaven's perspective is right now when a saint passes away god is looking down heaven is looking down and heaven is looking down with understanding with feeling with love with empathy because it is precious in the sight of the lord how is that you may say well heaven is burdened for the bereaved heaven is burdened for us right now for you who suffer just as christ demonstrated in verses 33 through 35 and verse 35 the same one that my parents taught me as a child two words jesus wept say those two words with me jesus wept those two words say far more than the ink on the paper those two words say precious and the sight of the lord is the death of his saints jesus wept heaven is burdened for the bereaved precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints god loves the saints who die i've already asked you to underline and you have noted multiple times that jesus loved lazarus heaven loves god loves his saints not only is that true but precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints is demonstrated by god's divine involvement which i cited to you from romans chapter 14 whether we live or die we are the lords he doesn't forget about his saints just because we stop breathing in these bodies we're the lords and god blesses the dead it's revelation 13 4 that says blessed are the dead who die in the lord brother phillips what a comfort that is this is heaven's perspective you and i may grieve we may suffer we may sorrow we may rightfully shed tears but heaven is looking down with a perspective that says precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints and then there's that comforting perspective and the church you and i must always have that comforting perspective and i thank god for brothers and sisters who are comforting we saw this in john chapter 11 verse 19 the bible says that some of the jews had come to mary and martha and were comforting them because of the loss of their brother can you imagine that can you picture that i think you surely can because we see that played out here time after time after time when you right now in this coveted circumstance call someone up send them a card go by send them something that says i know you i love you i feel with you i weep as you weep i cry as you cry sometimes when you come by and someone doesn't have a word to say they just put their arm around you thank you brother gill for coming putting your arm around me sometimes we have to understand that the church's greatest effort and ministry in edifying one another is to comfort to comfort and there are folks right now in the church who are hurting not only because of death but because of the trials and circumstances of life uncertainties prevail we are troubled on every hand as the scriptures say so i say to you today the church's perspective is that and i'll say as minister of this church this well-connected church that we stand ready to comfort if you are viewing with us today and you have not yet decided whether it makes sense for you to leave the bounds of your individualistic relationship with god and find yourself in the fellowship of the lord's people the church i'm saying the day comes when you need comfort you need comfort right now you need to be among the people of god and understand me well i am not saying that because you are worshiping virtually today that you are not among the people of god i'm saying that those of you who are virtual in your relationship you're not with the people of god you're not a tomb you're not associated with the church you just view from the distance you need the comfort of the fellowship of the church it makes all the difference the church is grateful for the life of the saints acts chapter 9 verse 36 gives an example for example in in litter you would see that it was a great example dorcas was beautifully appreciated by the brothers and sisters of the church the church is comforting to the bereaved according to john 11 19 according to second corinthians chapter one verses 2 through 7 the scripture there admonishes us to comfort with the comfort that we receive the only way i'm going to be able to comfort anybody is because i have experienced the comfort of somebody not only the comfort of god but the comfort of the saints that's what the church does that's what makes us better that's what enables us to comfort someone else the church comforts those and we share the burden of those who are bereaved as well the last thing the last thing i want to note today from these perspectives is not heaven's focus we've already done that but i want to share with us a perspective ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters that you and i must have a heavenly focus we must be able to see beyond the fog that arose this morning when i looked out my window this morning and saw the fog i could only see just a little way brother holland but i believed in fact i knew that someday and it only took about an hour that fog would clear and i knew that beyond that fog there was a way there was a place beyond the fog and the circumstances and the failures of our lives is a heaven focus in philippians chapter 1 verse 21 paul said for me to live is christ but to die is gain did you hear that he said for me to live is christ but to die is gain some of us must be careful lest we become so earth bound that we are heaven-blind think about what it's going to be like we're not here forever a heavenly focus we will have eternal bodies as i've noted from second corinthians chapter five if our earthly house of this body if our earthly tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of god not made with hands it's not going to be as it is now you and i the children of god are going to have different bodies and they will be eternal bodies they will be heavenly bodies can anybody say amen a heaven focus not only is that true but we will have a prepared home oh he talks about this in second corinthians chapter 5 verse 6 as well but i love the way that jesus said it in the 14th chapter of john he says let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house there are many mansions i'm talking about a heaven focus there's a prepared place in my father's house there are many mantras if it were not so i would not have told you he says i go to what prepare a place for you and when i go i will come again and receive you to myself that where i am there ye may be also we have to have a perspective even in the death of saints that is a heavenworth focus not only will we have eternal bodies in a prepared place but the greatest joy of all is that we'll be with christ we'll be with christ will be with god in philippians chapter one he says that paul does to to to to live with christ but to die is gain and then in verse 23 says we'll be with the lord in revelation chapter 21 and the verse is for and i shall conclude when the bible tells us that it's blessed for those who die in the lord the bible says this let me read this and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away it's going to be different we'll be with the lord and if that were not enough those of you who who hadn't yet graduated to the desire to be with the lord in this prepared place according to verse 18 there will be walls of jasper in verse 21 there will be gates of pearl and streets of gold don't you want to go there heaven-focused perspective heaven help us to have perspectives on the death of the saints because precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints there are those of you who may not have the hope of heaven because you have not obeyed the gospel of christ we're going to afford you that opportunity today you've heard the gospel of christ the fact that he came to this earth to die for our sins to allow us a right relationship with god believe that gospel repent of your sins confess your belief in jesus and be baptized for the remission of your sins and there are those of you who desire the prayers of the church stand if you will where you are and those of you who would let us know that you need prayers you see the guidance on the screen yet we're going to stand here and there may be some of you who who would come even this morning to have the elders pray for you we would only ask you to come and socially distance on these first piece stand as we sing trials dark on every hand and we cannot understand all the ways that god will lead us to that blessed promised land but he'll guide us with his eye and we'll follow till we die we will understand it better by in mind singing by and you know all the sins of god's gathering home and we will tell us just how we've overcome and we will understand it by high and by temptations hidden snares often take us unawares and our hearts are made to bleed for each sort of singing [Music] let's see the second verse and we are often destined for the things that life demands want of shelter and the food [Music] and according to his word and according to his precious word we and you know the saints of god are gathering heavy we will tell the story of how we've overcome [Music] [Music] how i [Music] really love the lord [Music] you don't know what he's done for me [Music] him i really the lord [Music] you don't know what he's done [Music] [Applause] i really love [Music] thank you so very much we want to thank you again for being in our presence this morning whether you are here physically or virtually um and thank brother robbie gardenheim for just an outstanding lesson one to put things in perspective and we we needed that brother we needed that thank you so much i just want to remind everyone um the steele family has asked it in lieu of flowers that the family is requesting donations to the david jones junior assisted living facility or the american cancer society on behalf of brother walter steele and please remember all our members in your prayers as we prepare to go into a new week we've mentioned several who have passed away and others to be mentioned uh that i did not uh mention was rolithia pillow ashley pillow and dia chandling clendening brother in the loss of their grandmother and great-grandmother on september the 13th her services were wednesday september the 22nd in louisville kentucky so let's remember that family um as you prepare to exit just remember to the the outer owls exit first to my left to my right and if you have any contributions please drop them off as you leave there will be ushers with the baskets and just please exit expeditiously and keep in mind uh we are preparing for another service at 11 30. um let us go to god in prayer and let us all love one another and comfort one another as we as we go our way let us bow gracious heavenly father we thank you once again for this privilege that we've had to worship you in spirit and in truth and thank you for the messenger this morning brother gardener and the powerful message he delivered lord to comfort us and strengthen us and keep us and keep us focused on you and the things that we need lord and and we ask lord that you will continue to watch over us and our families our health and wellness this church family as it moves forward lord and and comfort those who are sick and those who are bereaved at this time now as we go our separate ways lord guide us back again to the next point of time until we meet again in jesus name we pray amen thank you just let me say for clarity on behalf of sister steele and family as you heard if you have uh the inclination to send flowers please in lieu of those either the american cancer society or the david jones junior assisted living center which is a wholly owned operation of the straighter lane church of christ according to the wishes of brother steele there will not be a funeral service so your your prayers are appreciated and coveted amen be with you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] until until we [Music] [Applause] be with you until we [Music] until we meet again again isn't god awesome isn't he wonderful isn't he amazing remember how good he is [Music] uh [Music] as i journey through this land singing as i go hello i'm robert gardenhire minister of the schroeder lane church of christ thanking you for joining in to today's live-streamed worship service i'm also elated to tell you that we have resumed in person worship services on sundays at 9

Channel: Schrader Lane Church of Christ

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Id: 7gYR_UofgZo

Length: 107min 3sec (6423 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021