to attribute to Roger and to also comfort those who are mourning the loss of a loved one. We pray for comfort for family and friends, and we pray that Lord you will guide us as we think of Roger and think of his life and what he's done. And we ask that Lord your spirit will guide and direct every aspect of what we do tonight. We pray that we will bring glory to you.
We thank you for families and friends that are here tonight. We pray rich blessing for everyone. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.
If you don't mind, let's stand and sing together. How great is our God? If you're able to stand out, it will be good standing as you're able. The splendor of the King Ploth in majesty, let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice.
He wrapped himself in light, and thatness tries to hide, and tremble at his voice. Tremble at his voice. How great is our God? Sing with me, how great is our God, and all will see how great is our God.
H to H, he stands, and time is in his hands, beginning and the end, beginning and the end. The God, he three in one, Father's spirit's on, the lion and the lamb, the lion and the lamb. How great is our God? Sing with me, how great is our God, and all will see how great is our God.
Name above all names, worthy of all praise. My heart will sing, how great is our God. Name above all names, worthy of all praise. My heart will sing, how great is our God, how great is our God.
Sing with me, how great is our God, and all will see how great is our God. Thank you, maybe seated. Next, I'm going to ask Nicholas Hansen to come with a scripture reading from John 11. We're reading from John 11, if you have a Bible, please turn to it, and I believe we can put the text up on the screen as well.
John 11, beginning in verse 21, it says, Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside.
The teacher is here, she said, and is asking for you. When Mary reached, we're jumping to verse 32 now, when Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him?
He asked. Come and see Lord, they replied, Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, see how he loved him. This time, Roger's sister, Michelle, is going to give a tribute to her brother.
This is my song, praising my sin. This is my song, praising my sin. This is my song, praising my sin. Thank you, you may be seated.
I forgot to read my own notes and many of you are supposed to come up and leave that, but that's okay. We got through it. Now, I'm really hoping that I did not go to that pizza delight where those pizza dough fights took place. That pizza dough ended up in one of the pies that I might have eaten.
I sure hope you threw that stuff out. Funny story, but scary to think that that goes on. This evening, I want to just give a brief message to you all. I thought, what do you say?
It's a time when I looked at the dates on the note that Michelle gave me. I remember when my grandmother passed away at 97 thinking she went so young. I was in 97. We wish we had just a little bit more time with her.
Then I looked and I saw Roger was younger than me. I'm now an older person, but not old. I find myself going to the newspaper every day. I get the A section and I open it up on the front page and find out what's going on to the border and then say I don't want to read anymore.
Then I flip to the back two pages and what do I do? I read the obituaries. That's where I am in my life. I see someone I know in the obituaries.
They're too young. Some of them, I read them in their 70s. I said, that's so young. Some of them are in their 50s and sometimes they're young.
I thought, we are here really because a loved one died. A loved one has faced death. It's very difficult for all of us. Sometimes you see that and you think life is so hopeless.
I want to give you a message tonight that there is a sure hope. There is a sure hope when all seems hopeless. What do I mean by hope? People use that word hope all the time.
I hope so. I hope this. I hope that. Sometimes it's just like they mean some long shot, unrealistic dream come true sort of thing.
And I'm not talking about that. False hope is what that is. False hope drives people to buy lottery tickets. False hope gets people digging through their family tree hoping that they find a rich uncle who put the name of their beloved nephew and niece there that they might fall into some money.
That's not true hope. This evening we remember Roger, a loved one and a friend, but he has been taken in death and it faces all of us. And when you look at that you think, is there any hope? We need hope in times like this.
Jesus said, and Nick read these verses, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live. Even though he dies, he will live. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
And then he asks the very most important question that he could. Do you believe this? This was to the sister of a young man who had passed away. Do you believe this?
I want to tell you that there is hope. Not the kind of hope that is, I hope so or a long shot thing, but there is a sure hope. You see, death is a difficult thing. Death is something that we will all face.
100% of people die. A person who doesn't have a sure hope. Death is their dreaded enemy. It is, it's a dreaded enemy.
And so what do people do? They look at it and say, okay, I'm just going to avoid this at all costs. I'm going to do whatever I can. I'm going to take more recognition.
I'm going to take some guy who told me yesterday. I should be taking MSM, whatever that is. And I thought that was something on the Internet. But it's actually something that I should be taking.
Apparently this guy named Morton told me I'd never met the guy in my life. But he said, if you take MSM, you'll live forever. That's awesome. But I know how you live forever and it's not taking MSN.
I walk by a shop the other day. Hit fossils in the window. It says fossils bring longevity. I have a fossil collection.
I should live to be a gazillion years old because I have so many fossils in my basement. Those are false hopes. Jesus said, if you believe in me, you will never die. Jesus said, I am the way.
I am the truth. I am the life. I am the resurrection and the life. Death is a dreaded enemy for many people.
Something so final. Something to be feared. But you know what? For some people, death is a defeated enemy.
It is an enemy of all of us. But it's a defeated enemy. You know, lately I've got this kind of crazy thing going on where I'm watching a lot of documentaries on World War I and World War II. And what I love seeing is when you see the enemy walking through the city with their hands on top of their heads, surrendered.
They're defeated. They're good guys. One. Death is a bad guy.
But Jesus Christ defeated death. The resurrection. The one who says, 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. It's a defeated enemy. For the Christian, we have all of our hope in Jesus Christ. Death is our defeated enemy.
Death is actually a blessing. It's an entry into eternity where we will be with him forever. Now I'm going to read you a verse about how death has such a grip on our world and has such a grip on all people. Everybody fears it.
In fact, yesterday I spent the day at the hospital just for fun. And I'm in the emergency room for the whole day. And I saw people come. And I saw people go.
And I saw people that may have died since yesterday. But everybody was fearful. There was a fearful look in the eyes of people who came into that emergency room. Am I going to live?
Am I facing? This is the day I'm facing death. It has a grip on people. A person he says since the children have flesh and blood, he, Jesus, shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death.
That is the devil. And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. And I'm looking at people and I'm seeing fear of death in their eyes and I'm thinking they are slaves to death. Slaves to the fear of death.
But they can be freed. That's the hope. That's the hope I'm going to give you. So where did death come from?
That's important that we know where death came from. Why does a young man like Roger die? Why does somebody pass away from this life? Way back in the first book of the Bible we read a historical record.
It's the record of the creation of man Adam and Eve. Maybe you're looking at me saying, yeah, fairytale. Not a fairytale. And I'll tell you why it's not a fairytale.
Because when you read through the creation of man and you read this account, let me go through it first. Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden. Before them God gave them many, many trees. Many trees.
God's a generous God. God gets a bum wrap. He really does. That being a mean old ogre that just towns on people.
God plants a garden with many, many trees. I don't know how many trees. Let's say thousands. He's so generous.
He says, you can have every single tree of this garden and eat from it. Every one of them. It's a separate one. Stay away from that one.
It's the tree of the knowledge of Good Newell. So what tree do you think that they go to? They're tempted. They go to the tree.
But God said, if you eat on that tree, if you eat of all of the other trees, you will live. If you eat of that one tree, you will die. Human nature, we might call it. Simple nature is what I call it.
They decided to go and eat from the wrong tree. They went to the tree and death started from that moment. Now how do I know this account is true? Because ever since that day, men have died.
Ever since that day, women have died. Death has come to all people from that day on. And that's found in Genesis 2 over 16. They became aware of their sin.
They hid from God and man has been hiding from God ever since. As a consequence of their sin, death came to the whole human race. How do I know? Because a few short years later, they watched one of their sons murder their other son.
Death spread like a cancer through the human race. Death is still with us. You know, sin and death have been with us since that day and it continues on. We're not wrong to fear death.
That's a horrible thing. I hate death. I hate coming to funerals. I hate doing funerals.
I really wish we didn't have to do it. But people die. And it's because of our own sin. It's because we have that nature in us.
And death has been inherited along with sin. The Bible says in Romans 3, verse 23, it says, all have sinned. All of us. Every single one of us.
Me, you, everyone has sinned. And fall short of the glory of God. And then it says, and the wages of that sin is death. Because sin is in this world, men die.
Women die. Death is not an escape from the consequences of sin. What the Bible also says is that death brings judgment. Death brings people to judgment.
There's a point of the men to die once. And after this comes judgment, it says in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 27. Now, you're thinking, oh boy, this is hard. That's the bad news.
Here's the good news. There is great hope. There is great hope for every single person who faces death. God has provided a cure for the fear of death.
God has provided a cure for the consequences of death. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 55 and 56. We read these words. Paul writes this.
Paul, the great apostle, he says, oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sinned and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
You can defeat death. You will die. But you can have hope in that. You will live forever.
How is that possible? You have to go back to the Garden of Eden again. God came to Adam and Eve after all this happened. And he said, you know what?
Eve, he said, through your line, I will bring a deliverer. Through your line, I'm going to bring some of that in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. I'm going to destroy the devil who deceived you. And I'm going to bring you hope and I'm going to bring you life to the whole human race through your line.
A Savior is going to come. Time passes. A man named Abraham. He has a son Isaac and a son Jacob.
Isaac is a son Jacob. And then through all of this, there's a king named King David. And God says, I'm going to have a Savior from death come through that line. And then he's going to be Isaiah, the prophet says he'll be born of a virgin.
And then we even hear in the prophecy of Micah, he'll be born in Bethlehem. That's why Jesus came. He didn't come to be a cute little baby in a manger at Christmas time. He came to save us from death.
He came to save us from sin. He came so you could be forgiven of all of your sins and you could face death with confidence knowing that I am going to go and be with Jesus Christ forever. That's great hope. That's the hope that we are given.
Finally, we read that he was wounded for our transgressions or our sin. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed.
All we, like sheep, have gone astray. All of us, every one of us, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him, the sin of us all.
And he will bear all of their sins. John the Baptist, when he first saw Jesus Christ coming, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If you remove sin, you remove the fear of death. You remove the threat of death.
And the greatest first, you could ever hear. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life or everlasting life, life as opposed to death. Here's the end of it, the conclusion of the whole matter. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the perfect man, born without sin, never sinned in his life.
He died for my sins and he died for your sins. He did not die for any of his own sins. He didn't have any. He took the punishment that your sin deserves.
He died on a cross. He rose from the dead and proved that God was satisfied with the sacrifice of his son. It's like having the check come back saying the check is clear. That's what the resurrection is.
The payment has been made. There's two things that you have to do. First of all, agree with God, repent. Turn from your sin.
Michelle, you mentioned that word, repent. Turn from your sin. Agree with God. And secondly, trust the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is payment for your sins.
It's the only way to God. And then you will be free. You will have great hope. Yes, you will face death at some point in time, but you will face it with confidence.
Oh, death, where's your stay? You have no sting on me. I am free. We're going to sing a song about that at the end.
If you trust the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone, you will have eternal life. You will have a short hope of heaven. Not a hope that I long shot. I'll find out when I get there, but a hope right now that you will know for sure you will go to heaven.
Jesus Christ came to this earth to take away the dread of death. And you can have peace with God today. That's the message we want to give you. That's the message of hope at a hopeless time like this.
When someone has died, we need to face what it really is. They have died. Death has taken them. But you can overcome the fear of death through Jesus Christ our way.
Our Father, we thank You that You have sent Jesus Christ to die for us. We thank You that we have life through Him. And we thank You that You give hope at times when all seems hopeless. We thank You in Jesus' name.
Amen. Once again, I'm going to ask You to come and lead us in a couple of songs and a prayer in between, a closing prayer. We're going to sing boldly I approach. If you're able to stand, please, let's sing together boldly I approach.
I learn some how I stand where even angels fear to tread by dead by redeeming love. Before the throne of the hammer, he pulls me close, will nail scarnions into his everlasting arms. Grapes my hand and say to tempt me to the space that's not as feared. The great I am, the Lord is here.
O praise the one who fights for me and shields my soul eternally. O Holy I approach your throne, Lameless now I'm running old by your blood I come. Welcome as your own duty arms of majesty, raised in song, more beauty than this world has learned to face with love himself. His perfect spotless righteousness.
O at thousand years, at thousand tongues, I know enough to sing his praise. O Holy I approach your throne, Lameless now I'm running old by your blood I come. Welcome as your own into the arms of majesty. This is the act of celebration, knowing we're free from condemnation.
O praise the one, praise the one who made an end to all my sin. This is the act of celebration, knowing we're free from condemnation. O praise the one, praise the one who made an end to all my sin. O Holy I approach your throne, Lameless now I'm running old by your blood I come.
Welcome as your own into the arms of majesty. You may be seated, thank you. Let's pray. A lot of me notice is a difficult day, but we thank you for the one that gives up, Jesus Christ our Savior.
We pray that you will comfort the family and friends that came to remember, and we pray that you will strengthen them in the days ahead as they think about religious, that your spirit will comfort them, give them hope. We pray that Lord that the message of hope that they received today, someone will act on it and get hope through your Son as Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask for grace for everyone, for encouragement, for blessing and for comfort. Thank you that we can come to remember religious in this way.
Thank you Lord. In Jesus name. Amen. All right, we have a closing song.
It says finally free. If you're able to stand out, be good. If you can, you want to see that's fine too. Whatever you're able to do, it's okay.
May the sea of heaven be ready at a wedding. I'm celebrating in the dark when your heart is colored, like a never ending summer. We burn away the winter. I so cries out holy, holy is lost, oh, be His Father, see to be the Christ.
And finally free of Christ's Lord, and so do me forever. From trouble, all I water, and I'm sinking like the smell of empty oceans. The power of redemption gives me wings to soul. I so cries out holy, holy is lost, see to be the Christ.
The rusting leaves the bottom, every chance light broken. And finally we're free. My soul is lost, he is found.