[0:00] Thank you Amen.
[1:00] Amen. Amen.
[2:00] Amen. Amen.
[3:00] Amen. Amen.
[4:00] Amen. Good afternoon and welcome to Whitby Evangelical Church. On behalf of the family, can I thank you for making the time to be here today.
[4:37] We are met for the purpose of giving thanks to God for the life of Edna Foster. And it's because of Edna's faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ that we come together with a mixture of sadness, but also of joy. Sadness that someone dear to us is now gone from our sight.
[5:03] But joy, knowing certainly that she is with Christ, which the Bible says is far, far better. For Jesus himself made this promise to all those who have faith in him. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. And because Jesus' words are so faithful and true, and because they meant so much to Edna and to every Christian, the name of Jesus is a name which is indeed sweet and wonderful. And our first hymn is the hymn in your order of service, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds. So we're going to stand as the music plays and sing our first hymn.
[6:08] How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.
[6:38] Tambor's So JEREMY He takes the wounded spirit home and comes to troubled rest.
[7:01] His banner to the hungry soul and to the weary rest. In the rock on which I filled my shield and hiding place, my ever-failing treasure filled in boundless doors of grace.
[7:33] Jesus Christ, slain and shepherd friend, my prophet, priest and king.
[7:44] My Lord, my life, my way, my end, and sent the praise I bring.
[7:55] He is the effort of my heart and cold my warmest thought.
[8:06] But when I see Thee as Thou art, I praise Thee as Thou art.
[8:17] Till then I will Thine own proclaim With every fleeting breath And may the music of Thy name Refresh my soul in death Jesus Christ came into the world to bring us into a right relationship with God.
[8:52] And one of the wonderful things that we can do is through Jesus come to God in prayer. So let us pray together now. Our most amazing and wonderful God, we come to you again this afternoon.
[9:08] On this day which is a beautiful day. A day which you have given to us. A day, O Lord, in which we have life and health and strength. But a day in which, O Lord, we come to face the mystery which is death.
[9:24] A day for many of us which is a day mixed with sadness and joy. A day of tears as well as a day of happy memories.
[9:35] And Lord, we come to you because we know that you are the God who has given us life And you are the God who has our lives in your hands. And you are the God who takes life as and when you see fit.
[9:49] For you have allotted to us our days. You have given us a certain measure of time in this world. Before we must leave this world and stand before you.
[10:01] And meet with you our maker. And Lord, we thank you again that in your goodness you have given us this life That we might prepare for that day. That we might be ready for that day.
[10:12] And look forward to meeting you and being with you. And O Lord, we thank you that you sent your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to make it possible. Lord, for us to meet with you and to know you.
[10:26] Not just only in death, but in life as well. We thank you again that, Lord Jesus, in your death and resurrection, in your life, We can have life.
[10:37] Life to the full. Life to the max. Life, O Lord, which is beyond anything else that the things that we see and touch and hear can give us.
[10:48] Life with God. We want to thank you again, O Lord, that that life that begins in this world with you Continues through death into life everlasting with you.
[11:00] Thank you. We thank you that this is true for everyone who puts their faith in Jesus. Thank you that it is true for Edna. We thank you again that we come to celebrate the life of one who knows Jesus And even now sees him face to face and is in his presence.
[11:21] O Lord, we ask that you would help us. Help us, O Lord, as we face the struggles and the doubts and the fears that arise in our minds and hearts.
[11:32] Help us, O Lord, as we spend these few moments thinking about her and about you. Help us, O Lord, to know your help, your comfort, your strength, to know your truth, and, Lord, to know faith in our hearts.
[11:53] For we need it, Lord, and you're the only one who can give it. We pray that this time may be a time in which you minister to us and help us to face the weeks, months, and years ahead without Edna.
[12:09] Help us, O Lord, to have that same faith that she had, which sustained her through her life. And we ask that you'd receive our thanks for her and thanks for our lives too.
[12:23] And that, Lord, you'd give to us that sense of your presence, your Holy Spirit. And we ask that all things in this time may glorify your name and bless us.
[12:38] For we ask them in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'm going to ask Alan now if he'd come and read from the Bible, reading for us.
[12:50] Thank you. The last time I stood here was to read Psalm 46 at the funeral service of our sister Maureen.
[13:08] Today I will read a psalm which is probably the most loved and has brought comfort to millions of people. Psalm 23. This is a very personal throughout.
[13:21] It uses the words, my, I, and me. The Lord is my shepherd. Both Mum and Maureen knew this shepherd personally in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[13:36] He is known as the Good Shepherd. This psalm ends with, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And I truly believe that this is where Mum, Maureen, and her little sister, none of us new, are now.
[13:58] Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want.
[14:11] He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
[14:25] 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. My enemies.
[14:40] You anoint my head in oil. My cup will flow. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.
[14:52] And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Alan. Well done.
[15:04] We're going to take up our service sheet again and then sing our second hymn. Our second hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear.
[15:16] Again, we'll stand and sing this hymn as the music begins to play. What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear.
[15:47] What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear. What a Friend We Have in Jesus.
[15:58] What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear.
[16:09] What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear. What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear. What a Friend We Have in Jesus, All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear. He must pain be bare Oh, because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer Are we trials and temptations?
[16:39] Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged Take it to the Lord in prayer And we find the grace so faithful Who will all our sorrows share?
[17:07] Jesus knows our every weakness Take it to the Lord in prayer Are we weak and dead in Aden?
[17:26] Come, I give the Lord of care Precious Savior, steal our refuge Take it to the Lord in prayer Do thy Francis rise for safety Take it to the Lord in prayer In his arms he'll take and shield thee Thou will find the solace there Please sit down I'm going to ask John Winter now to come and please bring a tribute for Edna Thank you, John It's my privilege as part of the family
[18:32] To bring a tribute to Edna A dear woman And we mourn her loss But share her faith in many respects And with gladness commend her to the grace of God Edna was the wife of Arnold Loving mother of Maureen, Norman, Arnie, Ian, Alan, Pauline and Richard Mother-in-law to Peter, Glenys, Grace, Leslie, Deidre and Sid It gets to be more, believe me Grandmother of Mark, Sue, Gary, Maria, Neil, Julie, Teresa, Paul, Lisa, John John, Christine, Kelly, Andrew, Lee, Nicky, Kim, Stevie Or Steve, Sean, Claire, John, Liam, Heidi, Tracy and John Three Johns, 25 grandchildren Great-grandmother, hope I didn't leave anybody out
[19:34] Great-grandmother or little gran Of Jamie, Adam, Diego, Jodie, Jade, Zoe, Faith, Kyle, Grace, Sam, Joshua, Sophie, Eve, Charlie, Holly, Olivia, Indy, Chelsea, Mitch, Ryan, Brodie and Sally Hope I didn't leave any out 22 great-grandchildren And I feel like saying, didn't she do well What a family And one she was very proud of Proud of you all And grateful for you all Edna has passed from this world Age 94 She lived a long and full life And at the end was a little frail old lady Worn out and tired And ready to go home to heaven To be with her saviour, Jesus Christ In our conversations in the hospital She regularly said to me I'm tired, John I'm tired And she was Whenever I think of Edna
[20:37] I think of a very small But incredibly strong and resilient woman Who combined the qualities of physical Mental and moral toughness I think one of our sons says She could cut you dead with a look With a loving heart And a cheery smile As one of her friends here at church Simply described her in a card She was a lovely little lady Edna was great company to be around When we as a family visited her In a little bungalow at St. Peter's Court We loved to hear her stories Of life at Sunnyside Cottage In Robin Hood's Bay And the simplicity of her life As she raised her children On a meagre income Here was a woman who cared for her family And if there was any left over And there wasn't much She would help provide for others Less fortunate than herself This was a woman who would talk of Walking from Robin Hood's Bay To Whitby in 15 minutes A miracle I think that would be I suspect it was more like half an hour
[21:37] But she could do it A woman who first went to Australia To see her son Norman Affectionately referred to as Fuzzy And his family in 1976 And then again in 2009 Aged 89 years Though she'd never even been to slights She was full of life And willing to venture further afield In her later years of life Including family holidays To Northumberland and Ireland Climbing hills And even dancing a jig Edna raised her children well In tough circumstances Ensuring that they were provided for Brought up in a disciplined way With good manners and values Ensuring that they appreciated The value of hard work Honest labour And sticking to their commitments Her children made her feel proud And as we've noted She became the matriarch Of a very large extended family It was also a real blessing
[22:37] For her to have Norman and Ian Visit from Australia Just before she died And though they were not here At the time of her passing And cannot be here today Our thoughts were with them And their families At this sad time We know they shall be able To listen to this service As a result of a DVD That will be sent But all of you as family Were there for her at the end When she needed you most And that's what counts And she will be grateful Forever grateful for that Someone has said That when someone you love dies You don't lose them all at once You lose them in pieces over time Today you will have Your memories of Edna And these will be very vivid And real to you So much so that they may sting And cause much bitterness and anguish Those feelings of loss however Will be tempered with thankfulness That you shared a life With someone so special And believed by you
[23:38] That the memories of Edna Bring a smile And produce a tenderness That in the end Will replace the stinging pain Of grief Yes we have lost Edna Whom we loved And there will be times When something will trigger A memory that once again Will bring tears But there will come a time When even those memories Might fade Yet I hope That you will have the comfort Of knowing that Edna Is not lost She has gone from this world To another world A world where her saviour The Lord Jesus Christ Is present And she is now present With him Edna Walker was born 10th of June 1920 At two marketplace Whitby Weighing only two pounds And having to be wrapped And placed in a drawer For warmth That explains her littleness You see The Walkers were an old Whitby family Who had helped fund The voyages of Captain Cook
[24:38] She worked as a shop assistant And married Arnold Foster Aged 19 At the Methodist Chapel Church Street 24th of January 1940 They were married For 62 years They moved into Two Elbow Yard Church Street Where First Mooring Was born And a few years later Another little girl Who only lived for one day Was born These were tough years For Edna Arnold was a seaman During the war And two of his ships Were torpedoed And Arnold was twice Missing in action Once for six weeks When unbeknown to Edna Arnold had been picked up By an American ship But she was not notified Of his rescue All the while Not knowing Whether she was now Widowed And left to be A single parent She had to get on With it And act normally Or at least As normally as possible In the circumstances This helped build Her emotional character
[25:38] And resilience And prepared her For the tragedies That came into her life I've mentioned Maureen Who died In September 11th 2008 And also Her second child Who died a day old Those who are parents Can't imagine What the loss Of a child is like To lose two As Edna did Must have been A tremendously Difficult thing For her to bear Yes it broke her heart But what I want you To appreciate Is that Particularly in the loss Of Maureen This tragedy Led her not away From God But toward him She embraced God In her faith And found comfort From him Through personal Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ She heard Yes and lamented Her daughter's loss But throughout this She never complained She never accused God of wrongdoing Though like every parent She commented On the unnaturalness Of it all And her wish That she could have Gone first She bore her grief
[26:39] With dignity And resilience In the hope Of seeing her beloved Daughters again In heaven Edna had the spirit Of Job of old The Lord gave And the Lord Has taken away Blessed be the name Of the Lord On one visit To the hospital To see Edna I reminded her Of John 14 1-6 Which we had read At the start Jesus says Do not let your hearts Be troubled Trust in God And trust in me There are many rooms In my father's house If there were not I would have told you I am going now To prepare a place For you And after I have gone And prepared you a place I shall return To take you to be with me So that where I am You may be too You know the way To the place Where I am going Thomas said to him Lord we don't know Where you are going So how can we know The way Jesus answered And at this point Edna repeated Clearly and confidently
[27:39] I am the way And the truth And the life No one comes To the father Except through me That was her testimony That's what she knew And that was her hope Just after we prayed She said to me And Richard was present At the time I'm just half a woman John And I said to her Soon Edna You will be a poor woman You will go to heaven To be with Jesus And have the joy Of being with Maureen again Yes she said There is nothing more Important to know Nothing more important To know There is nothing more joyful Than listening to a believer On her deathbed Saying that She knew where she was going Sorry to believe In her family Behind But glad to be Going home
[28:40] To Jesus Jesus said In my father's house Are many rooms I have all prepared A case for you And I will come again To take you to be with me That where I am There will be also The last person Edna saw On her deathbed Was Jesus Those present with her Saw her dead body But she was absent From the body And immediately Her soul Went to be present With the Lord For the believer That's the best way To die As I think about it I think of that Word of scripture All that I might die The death Of the righteous And all that my end Might be As death Blessed are the dead Who die in the world Edna leaves her legacy In Whitby If you walk up The 199 steps And stop at number 55 That's Edna's step Try it Do it one day Number 55 At the top of the 199 steps
[29:43] There is a plaque Which lists the step As Lorraine's Foster Preston The old written is And when you pause At number 55 There think of the words That Edna left in her will There wasn't much meaning She never did have much In this life But this is what she had Love one another She said God bless you all Thank you John For that very touching And tribute I'm going to ask Edna's son-in-law Sid To come And going to lead us In the singing Of a song It's in the sheet If you want to sing along As well With Sid It's the old rugged cross We'll remain seated While Sid sings to us And then join in As you feel
[30:43] Happy to do so I'll just put the guitar Out of Jones Like much as me This is one Of a favourite song That I like And Mam Foster Used to like it And she was a very Very special person That touched my life On a hill Far away Did an old rugged cross The emblem of suffering And shame
[31:44] And I love that old cross For the world of lost sinners Were slain All together And I'll cherish the old rugged cross Till my children At last I lay down I will take you To the old rugged cross And I'll shake it Someday For a crown To the old rugged cross I will ever be true His shame and reproach His shame and reproach Gladly bear And he'll call me someday
[32:48] To my home To my home Far away Where his glory Forever Forever I'll share And I'll cling To the old rugged cross Till my trophies At last I lay down I will cling I will cling To the old rugged cross And exchange it someday For a crown I will cling To the old rugged cross And exchange it someday And exchange it someday For a crown Thank you Well done Sid
[33:54] I take it all back That I said about your singing Thank you Well let's quietly gather our thoughts Together again And in prayer Come to God As we've been reminded of Edna And her faith And her family Let's come to God in prayer It's impossible oh Lord For us truly to measure A human life But we thank you for the Evidence of Edna's life Even here In her children And grandchildren And great-grandchildren We thank you again Oh Lord For The Great gifts That you gave her To be such a mother And grandmother And great-grandmother
[34:54] And more than that To be a mother-in-law And friend A neighbor A work colleague We thank you again Oh Lord For those Parts of her life Which mean so very much To us And we just take a moment In our own minds And hearts To remember That very specialness Or that special event That means particularly A lot to us Personally The sense of loss That we feel Oh Lord Is very real There is a hole In the family A hole that no one else
[35:56] Shall ever be able to fill Or ever could fill But we're so grateful again That Edna filled that hole For so many years And was And will always be So much To each one Who knew her And loved her And was loved by her We thank you especially Oh Lord For the wonderful love That you had towards her In bringing her To that faith And trust in Jesus For all the family And all the loved ones And all the children And grandchildren And great-grandchildren In the world Cannot equal The joy And the peace That you give And gave to her Because of Jesus' Death on that old rugged cross
[36:58] And his resurrection From the grave We thank you Oh Lord For the truth That she would have Readily acknowledged That she was not perfect But that she was Someone who had faults As well as great gifts Someone who got it wrong As well as Did a lot that was right Someone who was a sinner Like every one of us But was forgiven And washed And accepted In Jesus We thank you again Oh Lord For that certain hope That she had Which has become Real for her Of going home To be with Christ And we do again Rejoice
[38:00] Oh Lord In the midst Of our sorrow Because we know That there is No longer Any pain In her body Any sadness In her heart Any anxieties In her mind For now She is in the perfection And the fullness Of life With God We thank you We thank you too Oh Lord Because we know That There is coming A day When we shall See her Once more And everyone Who has put And trusted Christ Will see Edna And all those Who have died In Christ But our greater Joy Will be Not That we see Her But that we See you And Lord Like her We long
[39:00] That we too Might be welcomed Into your Eternal rest And that we Might enjoy And delight In All the Treasures And the good Things That you Have purchased For us And give To us Freely In the gift Of your Grace Lord Comfort Those who Mourn For you Are the God of All comfort Lord Dry the Eyes Of those That weep For you Are the God Who In Jesus Knew What it Was To weep Oh Lord Strengthen Those who Doubt And give Faith Where there Is Unbelief Oh Lord We thank You That whatever Our need Whatever Our struggle Whatever Our circumstances You are
[40:01] Enough For us More than Enough And we Ask Oh Lord That we Might turn To you And receive From you Of your Love Your care And your Power For we Ask these Things as we Give you Such thanks For all Your gifts In the name Of Jesus Christ Our Lord Amen I want To turn Our thoughts For a few Moments To part Of the New Testament Part of The Bible That has Much to Say About death And life And faith It's found In a letter To the Thessalonian Christians 1 Thessalonians And chapter 4 And it's Written by The Apostle Paul Writing to Believers Christians Who had Lost Loved Ones Members Of their
[41:01] Church Members Of their Family And were Struggling Like we All do With facing Death And I'm Going to Read from Just part Of the Letter That speaks To us Particularly Today It's in Verse 17 Brothers We do not Want you To be Ignorant About those Who fall Asleep Now when Paul writes The words Fall asleep He's referring To physical Death But for The Christian Physical Death Is as Harmful As falling Asleep And that's Why he uses That language We do not Want you to Be ignorant About those Who fall Asleep Or to Grieve like The rest Of people Who have No hope We believe That Jesus Died and Rose again And so we Believe that God will Bring with Jesus Those Those Who have Fallen Asleep In him According To the Lord's Own word We tell You That we
[42:01] Who are Still alive Who are Left until The coming Of the Lord Will certainly Not precede Those Who have Fallen Asleep For the Lord himself Will come Down from Heaven With a Loud command With the Voice of the Archangel And with the Trumpet call Of God And the Dead in Christ Will rise First After that We who Are still Alive And are Left Will be Caught up Together With them In the Clouds To meet The Lord In the Air And so We will Be with The Lord Forever Therefore Encourage Each other With these Words There's a Familiar Saying to Each one Of us That goes Something like This Where there's Life There's Hope But actually In reality We should Say Where there Is hope There is Life Because no One can Live without Hope It's essential
[43:02] For life It's as Essential For us As air That we Breathe And food That we Eat Without Hope Life Becomes Nothing More Than Mere Existence Drudgery Passing The Days Hope Hope Gives Life Reason Hope Gives Life Purpose And people Put their Hope Into all Sorts Of Different Things Hoping And believing That those Things Will give Them The Meaning And the Purpose For their Lives And so People put Their hope In money And the Attainment Of it Or in Possessions The accumulation Of them They put They put Their hope In enjoying Themselves And pleasure Or in Their Family Their Children They hope In their Health That as Long as They're Well Or in Their Career And so Many Other Things As Well You see All of These Things Are at Best Temporary They're
[44:03] Passing They're Just Here Today And perhaps Tomorrow But very Soon They're Gone Inevitably They cannot Last Forever These Hopes Because They all Must be Taken From us When we Die Hope Is essential For life But if It's essential For life How much More important Is it to Have hope In facing Death Sadly Very few People have Any hope Of life Beyond death They view Death as A hopeless End As having Nothing To offer And many Others Who look For life After death Have just A vague Dreamy Sort of A hope A hope Which is Not built On anything Solid and Dependable But a Maybe And a Might And using The word I hope So in The sense Of something Dreamy And cloud Like But for
[45:04] Christians Like Edna That's not The case They face Death With a Hope Which is Certain Definite Sure That's why Paul when he Writes to these Christians who Are lost Loved ones Says we Do not Grieve like The rest Of men Who have No hope Yes we do Grieve As Christians And it's Right and Proper that We do It's not Unmanly To cry It's not Unmanly To shed Tears over Those that We love Jesus did That himself And he Was the Most manly Man who Ever Lived That the Christian Has a Real hope Not a Dreamy Hope Not a Vague Hazy Notion That there Might be A God And there Might be A heaven And there Might be Life After death When the Bible Uses the Word hope It's talking About something That is Absolutely Certain Not seen Yet But definitely Real
[46:05] Not touched Yet But solid A bit like That holiday That we've Been longing For We've Booked The holiday We've Paid for Everything In full We have The tickets In our Hands We have Our bags Packed And now We're Expecting To leave On that Holiday At any Moment Except for The Christian Their hope Is far More certain Than that For the Christian No French Air controllers Strike Is going to Stop them Getting to Their destination No volcanic Eruption In Iceland Will prevent Them from Getting there They have A certain Sure Definite Hope Of heaven Something real But yet Yet Here Now you Might think That's a little Bit arrogant Of Christians To say Such a Thing That they Can say For certain That they Are going To heaven For certain That they Shall be In life Everlasting How can A Christian Be so Sure Is it
[47:06] Because they Think they're Better than Everybody else Is it Because they Think they've Lived such A good Life That makes Them Somewhere More deserving Of a place In heaven Than anybody Else Or maybe They think By being Religious Going to Church And doing All those Things They've Received the Rights To get Into heaven Definitely Not Any of Those things Christians Hope of Heaven The Christian Hope of Eternal Life Which is Certain And sure Does not Depend In any Way Upon the Christian Themself Upon what They've Done Or could Do Or ever Could Do Their Hope Is not Grounded In Themselves But in Somebody Else The Certainty Of their Faith And their Hope Is Centred Upon the Person And the Accomplishments Of jesus Christ That's That's why When paul Writes To these Christians Who are Grieving And sorrowing Over loved Ones He says We are Those who Have hope Why
[48:06] Because we Believe That jesus Christ What is it That the Christian Believes That gives Them hope In the Face of a Hopeless Death What is it That gives Them unshakable Certainty In the Face of That which Is so Uncertain And mysterious And dark To us Well paul Says here First of All we Believe that Jesus Died Surprisingly Perhaps The basis For the Christian Hope The certainty For the Christian Hope Is found In the Death Of jesus Christ His Death Was Unique Because he Himself Was and Is so Unique He is The Everlasting God Who came Into Our World The Eternal God Who took On Humanity And became A true Man 100% Man 100%
[49:07] God Living And walking In this World He entered Into the Whole Spectrum Of human Experience He felt He felt Weakness And frailty Sorrow And grief And pain And yes Particularly He suffered And died A real Physical Death And the Death Of jesus Christ Gives us Hope Because The death Of jesus Christ Is the Demonstration Of the Love of God For us What brought Him from Heaven To earth What took Him to The cross What made Him sacrifice Himself Willingly To die It was Because of His love For us Here's paul As he writes Elsewhere In the new Testament God Demonstrates Broadcasts His own Love for Us In this Way While we Were still Sinners Christ Died For us But the Death of Jesus Christ Was not Only a Demonstration
[50:07] Of love Or an Example for Us to Follow Of sacrificial Love No it Had a Far greater Purpose Than that And a Far greater Accomplishment Than that Christ died As our Substitute He died In our Place He died The death That we Deserve So that we Should not Have to Die it Why Why should He have To die For us Why should He be Our substitute And pay That price With his Own life Because we Are sinners Every single One of us Every single One of us Has broken God's Perfect and Good laws Every single One of us Is proud And selfish And greedy And thoughtless And sensitive Not just to One another But to God Himself To whom We owe A debt Of our Love And worship
[51:07] Those sins That we have Committed Those criminal Acts that we Have done In our lives In thought And word of Deed Have not only Separated us From God Because he is Good and Holy But they have Also placed us Under God's Judgment We believe In justice How many Times do we Cry if There is Any justice In this World Well there Is But it's Us who Are under The justice Of God It's God Who looks On us And sees Our hearts Yes we Put a mask On and we Pretend that All is Okay and We're nice People but You and I Know that in Our heart of Hearts there is All sorts of Things going on That we're Shamed of God has made It very clear That unless Something is Done about Our sin Then we Shall face God's Judgment And God's Judgment upon Each one of Us will be Everlasting Hell Everlasting
[52:08] Separation Everlasting Sorrow Unless somebody Can be found To pay the Sentence for Us Unless somebody Can be found To take our Place And bear the Punishment that We deserve From a just And holy God Then that is The end For every One of us This life And then Judgment And then Hell But Jesus Is the one Who took Upon himself The full Sentence for Our sin That's why He had to Be God Who came Into the World That's why He had to Be truly Human To represent Us He came And he Died Upon the Cross Why Again The Bible Again And again Repeatedly Says This For Christ Died for Sins Once for All The good For the Bad To bring Us to God That's the Christian hope Full forgiveness For all of Our sins Eternal life Paid for by Jesus' Death On our
[53:09] Behalf The way To God Open To enter Into And be Reconciled To him It's a Lovely Verse In one Of the Old Hymns I'm Sure Edna Would Have Sung It It's A hymn That Goes There Is A Green Hill Far Away The end Of The Verse It says There Was No Other Good Enough To pay The price Of sin He Only Could Unlock The Gate Of Heaven And Let Us In So We Believe Jesus Died For Us To Make Us Right With God That's Where Our Hope Is Grounded But Paul Says This We Believe That Jesus Died And Rose Again His Death Wasn't The End The Tomb In Which He Was Buried Was Not The Finished Story Jesus Wasn't Finished With Then Four Historians Wrote About The Life Of Jesus Matthew Mark Luke And John Those Four Writers And Every Single One Of Them Describe Not Only The Death Of Jesus And The Life Of Jesus But The Astonishing Facts Of His Resurrection That
[54:09] On The Third Day He Was Alive Was Seen Again And Again Over Forty Days He Spoke With Had Meals With Conversations With Walks With Up To Five Hundred People How Many Witnesses Do You Want To The Resurrection Of Jesus Any Court Of Law Would Have To Acknowledge That Those Things Declare That Something Has Happened He Told His Disciples Many Times Leading Up To His Death That That Was Going To Happen They Doubted Him They Didn't Understand Him They Thought It Wasn't Possible That He Should Come Back From Dead But He Did It Was The Inevitable Consequence Of Him Being God That Death Couldn't Keep Its Hold Upon Him It Was Through His Resurrection That We Have The Proof Solid That He Is God And He Is The One Who Can Bring Us To God And He Has The Power Over Death His Resurrection From The Dead Is The Proof Positive That When
[55:09] You And I Die That Is Not The End We Don't Just Become Something In The Ground We Have Life Beyond That These Physical Bodies Are Only Containers If I Can Put It Of That Spirit That Soul That God Has Given Us Jesus Made Some Extraordinary Promises And Claims During His Life When Standing By The Graveside Of His Friend Lazarus Who Had Been Dead For Four Days He Turned To Martha A Grieving Sister Full Of Tears With Tears Even Welling Up In His Own Eyes Jesus Says To Her I Am The Resurrection And The Life He Who Believes In Me Will Live Even Though He Dies And Whoever Lives And Believes In Me Will Never Die Then He Asked Her The Question Do You Believe This
[56:09] The N And and so for Edna like all Christians her hope is in Jesus's power over death that he's conquered it he's beaten it it's not the enemy that we have to fear anymore and he's promised to each who put their faith in him that same power over death that same life there's one last thing here for Paul speaks about the fact that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because he died faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because he rose again but we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because he's going to come again he's going to return this world is not going to carry on in the endless cycle of war and self-destruction this world is not going to continue until eventually the sun burns out in 50 million years or the greenhouse effect warms the earth so hot so we can't live in it this world is only going to continue until the day when Jesus
[57:32] Christ comes again he is Paul for the Lord himself will come down from heaven this world and all of history is heading towards a finishing point that finishing point is the return of Jesus Christ just as he genuinely came first of all so he definitely will come again not as a baby to be born in a stable not to be cooed over not to be thought of gentle Jesus meek and mild not to suffer and to die again for sins but rather to come as the judge of the living and the dead to come as the king of the universe to come as the Lord of all and when he comes he will execute justice against wickedness and evil we see evil going on punished in the world today we see men and women carrying out atrocities and getting away with it we say where is the justice in this life well there is justice God will come in Christ Jesus and those who seemingly have got away with it will be called to answer before him but so will you and I but that's not the only reason that Jesus Christ is coming again he's coming again that he might replace pain with wholeness death with life sorrow with joy for again the very last book in the Bible writes and says this he will wipe every tear from their eyes there'll be no more death or mourning or crying or pain this isn't all that there is to life just hard grafts until we die
[59:05] Jesus is coming again to take every Christian to be with him just as he promised as we keep referring to John 14 I go to repair a place for you and I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am it's exactly what Paul is saying to the Christians here Jesus is coming if we're still alive when he comes we'll be taken up to be with him and even if we've passed into death we shall be with him with such a clear with such a real hope death is powerless it has no sting it has nothing to worry us has nothing to fear what is death if it's only the passing from this into something better people like Edna it's the reality it's the comfort it's the peace to feel for hearts and minds it's the light that shines in the darkest of days and the vital question I must ask you this afternoon dear friends is this do you have such a hope like Edna's hope do you have such a hope in the face of your death do you have such a hope to give you meaning in life now it's not beyond our reach it's not only for the select few for those who are good enough it's not for whether you're good enough it's whether you're bad enough certainly many of us think we're good enough without Jesus so we don't need him but if you know that you're bad to the bone then you know you need him the question is simply this am I willing to put my trust in Jesus am I willing to entrust my life to him and my death to him am I willing to trust in his love for me that took him to the cross am I willing to trust in his power that raised him from the dead am I willing to trust in his authority as God himself who is coming again see his promises never fail no one who's ever put their faith in him has ever been rejected or turned away you cannot be too bad he will welcome and receive and forgive and accept and transform everyone who wants to be his let me urge you to seriously seriously consider whether you have this faith in Jesus because nothing other than faith in him matters today or any day come to him and you will find that when you come to him that you could not have believed how wonderful it was doesn't matter if I preach for another hour I'm not going to don't worry doesn't matter how many words are spoken in all the languages in all the world they can never begin to convey the absolute joy the absolute blessing the absolute good or what it means to know Christ here's Paul 1 Corinthians 2 9 no eye has seen no ear has heard no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him he's a God worth loving and worth trusting let's sing our final hymn oh lord my god and i in awesome wonder consider all the works your hand has made the blessing and then for the exit of the family and the coffee oh lord my god oh lord my god
[63:10] oh lord my god oh lord my god i see the stars oh lord oh lord oh lord oh oh oh oh oh How great thou art, how great thou art, then sings my soul, my Savior, come to thee.
[63:58] How great thou art, how great thou art, then through the woods and forest ways I wander, and hear the birds sing singly in the trees.
[64:23] When I look down from lofty mountain grand here, and hear the roar, and hear the gentle breeze, then sings my soul, my Savior, come to thee.
[64:44] How great thou art, how great thou art, then sings my soul, my Savior, come to thee.
[64:59] How great thou art, how great thou art. How great thou art, how great thou art, theCLESA 5 сообщions, your soul, my Savior, come to thee.
[65:23] And on the cross our blood and blood be bearing, He bled and died to take away our sin.
[65:37] Then sings my soul, my Saviour, Lord to me, how great thou art, how great thou art.
[66:07] Then Christ shall come, we shall to acclamation, and take me home, for joy shall fill my heart.
[66:22] Then shall I bow in humble adoration, and then proclaim, my God, our reign of heart.
[66:35] Then sings my soul, my Saviour, Lord to me, how great thou art, how great thou art.
[66:49] Then sings my soul, my Saviour, Lord to me, how great thou art, how great thou art.
[67:04] Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[67:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[67:46] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.