Hope is the anchor - Rom 15:13

 

Introduction

- As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982.
- Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow.
- She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. 
- There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong.
- She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband. 
- When faced by death, people hope that there is a better life beyond
- Today is the second week of advent, and we are going to talk about hope – the hope that Jesus brought to the world

1. The hope of the gospel

- The hope of the gospel is referring to the good news of the kingdom of God
- Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (yoo-en-gelion)
- The gospel is the good news that our sins can be forgiven, and we can be restored to a relationship with God
- This is refered to in the Bible as salvation
- It comes from the greek word “sozo”
- 1 Thes 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation
- This same word sozo, is also used for healing
- Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
- Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

2. The hope of eternal life

- We hope that this life is not all there is
- We have hope in eternal life
- John 3:16
- Titus 3:5-7
- Mankind has always sought to know about eternal life
- Greeks talked about man having an immortal soul
- The Druids believed in the transmigration of souls
- People want to believe in reincarnation e.g. hindus
- Satan started it all off by telling eve, you shall not surely die
- God says, he gives us eternal life
- But man has an emptiness inside, and knows when something is missing
- That element that is missing is God, he is the giver of life
3. The hope of the resurrection

- We look forward and hope for a day when we will meet Jesus and all our loved ones who have preceded us in death
- 1 Thes 4:13
- This will be a glorious reunion!
- It will be the greatest family gathering of all time
- Paul says, if we don't believe in the hope of the resurrection, we are to be pitied
- 1 Cor 15:12-21
- Jesus died for our sins, but then he was raised to glory to be with the father
- Each of us too, has thois same hope within us, looking forward to the resurrection when the body of this death will be clothed with glory
- Without the resurrectrion we cannot inherrit the kingdom of God
- 1 Cor 15:50-54

Invitation

Communion

Funeral service - Eunice Clark - 1 Cor 15:12-26

Eulogy

- We are assembled here together to pay our respects to Mrs. Eunice Doshia Clark
- Eunice slipped away into Jesus arms this last Tuesday November 30, at the age of 92, with her granddaughter Vicky by her side
- Eunice had accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior, and this is a great comfort.
- Eunice was born the daughter of Thomas Redmond and Effie Smith, on Nov 8, 1918 on the old Roberts place in Grant County New Mexico
- She was the youngest of 2 brothers and 7 sisters, and grew up mainly in Separ NM
- She met and fell in love with Jack Lester Clark II (whom she knew as Tex) at the age of 13 in her dad and mom's store.
- They eloped and married in Las Cruces in 1934, and were married for 61 years. Tex passed away in 1995
- Their door was alays open to anyone in need
- Visitors often stayed a while, and while sitting on the porch, Eunice would strum the guitar, and they would sing together.
- Tex and Eunice had 6 children – Leona Elizabeth, Jack Lester, Joseph Alfred, Daniel Carol, Eunice Lenora, and Jimmy Thomas
- They had 19 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 34 great-great-grandchildren. Plus many nephews and nieces living from California to Texas.
- Eunice had many accomplishments, among which were composing a song, writing 2 books about the family history of the Smith and Clark familes
- She drew a map of the little town of Separ where she grew up, which is now in the Lordburg NM museum.
- Because it was a railroad station, this map is also in the Southern Pacific Railroad Museum, in Washington DC
- She also put Separ on the internet, as a ghost town, with pictures of the old school house where she and her siblings went to school
- Eunice lived in Lassen County off and on since 1943 – which is before I was born!
- Her family and friends loved her dearly and have been praying for her during her illness, even when she herself was no longer able to do so.
- But she is now in a better place, with Jesus and many of her family around her
- Eunice loved Jesus, she would often say, Jesus belongs just to me
- When she got worried she would say to God, Now you promised to take care of the widows and orphans – I am a widow, so I am claiming your promise that you are taking care of me.
- Eunice that believed God always keeps his word
- We have a lot of family here today, would any of you like to say a few words about your memories of Eunice?

Testimonies
Message
- John 14:1-3 – Jesus preparing a place for us in heaven
- It will be a beautiful place, which is perfect for us
- We may be attached to our earthly home and possessions, heaven will be infinitely more wonderful
- In heaven, people who died having a relationship with their Savior, are now in the presence of Jesus.
- Revelation decribes a little bit about their state.
- It describes them as being in the presence of God, that they are speaking, that they are wearing white robes, and that they are waiting for a special day
- Paul talks about this day, in 1 Cor 15:12-23
- If there be no resurrection, Jesus himself was not resurrected, and so we would have no basis for our Christiuan faith
- But Jesus is alive, and we see this in the changed lives of Christians
- The Christian life is a changed life
- When a Christian dies, his spirit or his soul goes to be with God, until the day of the resurrection of our bodies to glorious life for all eternity
- This day is described in 1 Thes 4:13-18
- One more event will happen later on, when God moves heaven to be on this earth
- Rev 21:1-5
- And as Eunice said, God always keeps his word
- These words are a great comfort at this time

Invitation

- Jesus came to this earth as a baby in a manger, and grew up to be a man, both human and divine, who died on a cross so that our sinful ways might be forgiven
- If we would like to have a relationship with Jesus it will require that we surrender the rest of our lives to Him
- The way to do this is to quietly tell Jesus that you are sorry for the way you have lived your life, you ask him to forgive you, and to be a part of your life, from this day onwards.
- If you do this, you are now a part of a family relationship with God as our father and all other Christians as our brothers and sisters.
- At the close of this service, you will be able to surrender your life to Jesus

SONG – 23rd PSALM