God Provides
Sermon
Best Funeral Meditations
for a person the minister did not know
Joe Barone
CALL TO WORSHIP
Hear these words from the Psalms: "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 9:1--2).
INVOCATION
Gracious God, we thank you for this chance to worship you and to remember the life of ____________. We come to this place knowing that you and you alone are God and so we must depend on you. You are the creator, the redeemer, the one who gives hope. Give us hope today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
OBITUARY
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON
Psalm 23
NEW TESTAMENT LESSON
Matthew 14:13--21
THE LORD'S PRAYER
BRIEF MESSAGE
"God Provides"
As we come to bury ____________ here today, we come in the presence of a loving God. That's the message that I want to bring. I didn't know ____________, and I didn't have much chance to talk with his family, but I do know that God provides.
The Scripture from Matthew is one from the regular lectionary. It might seem to be an odd Scripture to use at a funeral, but if you stop and think about it, this Scripture, too, tells us that God provides.
Jesus took just a few loaves and fishes and turned them into enough to feed 5,000 people. He cared for those people, and he was unwilling to let them go away hungry.
He took the small gift of an unnamed giver, and turned it into plenty.
He took the skepticism of his own followers - "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish," they told him - and he proved again that when human comfort and provision fail, God's comfort comes to touch us and to hold us.
This is the same Jesus who lived and died for us, the same Jesus who reflects God's everlasting love for every one of us. We may be grieving here today, but we grieve in the sure and certain knowledge that God will provide for us, even in our grief.
We come today to say good--bye to a friend and relative, but we come in the presence of God who cares for us and God's son who tells us over and over again - in both words and actions - that God does provide even beyond what we as human beings have the strength and power to understand until it happens.
"And all [of them] ate and were filled," the Scripture says of those who had been hungry. So it is with us. We can take our hopes and grief to God, and God will provide. God will provide.
Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the memories we have of ____________. We thank you that you provide for us in all the things we have to face. We thank you for the promise of the Scripture, and most of all for your love which we see most perfectly in Jesus.
As Jesus took the loaves and fed the hungry, so may you feed us with the message of your comfort and your love. And as Jesus walked with his disciples in their lives and then beyond, so may you walk with us both now and always. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
PRAYER OF COMMITTAL
Almighty God, as we commit our friend ____________ to you, we trust in your promises and we sing with the psalmist: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1).
CLOSING PRAYER
Creator, Redeemer, Spirit of Life, we leave this place trusting in you. Walk with us and bring us your peace so that we can live in you both now and always. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
BENEDICTION
As we leave this place, let us hear again the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27, RSV).
Go in peace! Amen.
Joe Barone is pastor of The First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Carrollton, Missouri.
Joe Barone
CALL TO WORSHIP
Hear these words from the Psalms: "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 9:1--2).
INVOCATION
Gracious God, we thank you for this chance to worship you and to remember the life of ____________. We come to this place knowing that you and you alone are God and so we must depend on you. You are the creator, the redeemer, the one who gives hope. Give us hope today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
OBITUARY
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON
Psalm 23
NEW TESTAMENT LESSON
Matthew 14:13--21
THE LORD'S PRAYER
BRIEF MESSAGE
"God Provides"
As we come to bury ____________ here today, we come in the presence of a loving God. That's the message that I want to bring. I didn't know ____________, and I didn't have much chance to talk with his family, but I do know that God provides.
The Scripture from Matthew is one from the regular lectionary. It might seem to be an odd Scripture to use at a funeral, but if you stop and think about it, this Scripture, too, tells us that God provides.
Jesus took just a few loaves and fishes and turned them into enough to feed 5,000 people. He cared for those people, and he was unwilling to let them go away hungry.
He took the small gift of an unnamed giver, and turned it into plenty.
He took the skepticism of his own followers - "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish," they told him - and he proved again that when human comfort and provision fail, God's comfort comes to touch us and to hold us.
This is the same Jesus who lived and died for us, the same Jesus who reflects God's everlasting love for every one of us. We may be grieving here today, but we grieve in the sure and certain knowledge that God will provide for us, even in our grief.
We come today to say good--bye to a friend and relative, but we come in the presence of God who cares for us and God's son who tells us over and over again - in both words and actions - that God does provide even beyond what we as human beings have the strength and power to understand until it happens.
"And all [of them] ate and were filled," the Scripture says of those who had been hungry. So it is with us. We can take our hopes and grief to God, and God will provide. God will provide.
Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the memories we have of ____________. We thank you that you provide for us in all the things we have to face. We thank you for the promise of the Scripture, and most of all for your love which we see most perfectly in Jesus.
As Jesus took the loaves and fed the hungry, so may you feed us with the message of your comfort and your love. And as Jesus walked with his disciples in their lives and then beyond, so may you walk with us both now and always. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
PRAYER OF COMMITTAL
Almighty God, as we commit our friend ____________ to you, we trust in your promises and we sing with the psalmist: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1).
CLOSING PRAYER
Creator, Redeemer, Spirit of Life, we leave this place trusting in you. Walk with us and bring us your peace so that we can live in you both now and always. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
BENEDICTION
As we leave this place, let us hear again the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27, RSV).
Go in peace! Amen.
Joe Barone is pastor of The First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Carrollton, Missouri.
