In memory of Carla A. Abendroth

For the rest of my family, I want to welcome all of you to this memorial service in honor of my mom, Karla Ebendroth.

She would have loved to have been here in one sense, although I doubt she'd like to be bothered right now.

But she always liked to be in the mix. She always liked to know what was going on and be a part of it. And since you all are the people who are so close to her, she would really like to know what was going on.

And so what we want to do today is honor her. Most of all, we want to honor her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because that was the greatest passion and desire of her life.

But in all soberness and seriousness and from the heart, we just want to say thank you.

Thank you, as I said at the graveside earlier, for loving my mother. Thank you for loving us.

And thank you for making this a priority today. We want to really have a great time together, even though we'll shed tears.

Join me as I pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity that we have to share some memories of a woman who made a great impact in our lives in so many different ways.

Thank you that she loved her family passionately. Thank you that she had so many friends who felt like family.

There was never any question whether or not she would be willing to show and express her love.

God, as a son, I feel like in so many ways we had a much bigger family because so many people felt so close to this great mom that you gave to us.

Lord, thank you for her many friends. You tell us in your Word that you are the

God of all comfort. And we love that promise today. As we grieve, we love the fact that you can give us comfort in a way that no other human being could.

And so we would ask that you would work in our hearts to bring about supernatural comfort and encouragement.

And Lord, we do thank you that you also tell us in your Word that people who know you and who have confidence in your son are people who grieve, but in a different way.

We grieve as those who have hope, the hope of eternal life.

And we're so thankful that we can have great confidence that Carla has experienced eternal life and all the blessings of it.

And yet we do grieve, and so we ask for comfort from you. God, most of all, we would pray what my mom would pray, and that is that Christ would be exalted in everything that happens here and in our lives.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, we're going to sing some songs today, but before we do that,

I just need to tell you a little bit about my mom when it came to music. Some of you know this, but some of you don't, so let me just sort of set the stage and tell you a little bit about my mom and music.

She loved to sing. She sang as a child. She sang in high school. She sang in music groups. She sang in the choir.

She loved to sing. She usually, on a Sunday morning when she was healthy, she would stand right over here in one of these places over here during singing time at this church, and she would sing loud.

She would restrain herself to a certain degree, but she wasn't afraid to show that she was into it.

She loved to sing, and she loved to sing to the glory of God, and there was no question about it if you were close to her or if you saw her, and it was just a great encouragement.

And I'm telling you these things because I know that she would want us to sing like she sang as much as we can.

She sang out of appreciation for what God has done for her. She believed that Jesus Christ not only lived a perfect life for her, but died a perfect death for her, satisfying

God's just requirements for sin, that He rose again for her, and her singing was in response to that, this great

God and Savior. She didn't believe in a little God. She believed in a great God who was transcendent and all -knowing and all -powerful and sovereign, even in control of her sickness.

She didn't believe in luck, as many of you may have heard her say at times. I don't believe in luck. God is sovereign.

He's in control. So the songs we sing today are songs that emphasize the greatness of God because she believed in a great

God. And they're songs that emphasize the fact that we should praise God and honor God in times when we're happy, in times when we're sad, because He is worthy of our praise.

And so as you hear some of the songs today and sing some of the songs, know that they're songs that she loved to sing in this church.

Know that they're songs that emphasize the greatness of God because she believed in a great God. And they're songs that emphasize the fact that He's great even amidst our suffering.

And so let's sing out of honor to Carla and let's sing to the glory of God because that's the way

Carla would sing. Just trying to sing that song,

I remember when my mom was first diagnosed with lung cancer and talking to my sister on the phone and I remember

I didn't want to be in my office and so I went and hid somewhere. I actually hid right back there behind that wall and sat on the stairs and it was just bawling.

It was about more than I could take and all of a sudden the doctor seemed to be saying things like, well, she might have a month.

Proved them wrong. Sorry to my doctor friends here.

And we're thankful for that, but I just remember thinking there's no way I could be a part of the funeral. There's just no way and it was too soon.

We hadn't said goodbye and it was all going to be done and over. And somehow my mom caught wind of me thinking about who else could speak.

And she said, and you'll appreciate this, what kind of boys did I raise anyway? Here we are.

Early last Friday morning, my mom, Carla Abendroth, because of the merits of Christ alone, went to heaven.

She was 66 years old. Carla is preceded in death by her husband,

Lee, her father and her mother. She survived by her children, Mike and Kim, Massachusetts.

Marcy and Craig of Iowa and Pat and Molly of Omaha. She's also survived by her eight grandchildren.

She counted so dear. Haley, Luke, Maddie, Gracie, Chloe, Jonathan, Natalie, and Alexandra.

She is also survived by all of you. I don't know who has more friends than my mom.

Last night it got pretty interesting. We were feeling bad as the circle. It was supposed to be a line and it became a circle.

And it was getting out of control. But I was telling people, I would say, sorry for you had to stand in line for an hour.

I've been watching you go around. We feel bad, but we don't feel bad. Because we are so glad that you came and we are so glad that you are here.

And we are so glad that you love my mom. She loved you. Many of us knew her as a sister in Christ.

Many of you knew her as a dear friend. Carla graduated from Benson High School in 1956.

She worked at Borsheim's for about the last 15 years where she loved to help people.

And she loved her friends. And a lot of you are here today. Thank you. She also loved working at Collector's Choice where her friends were equally dear.

My mom did these jobs not because she needed the money. I think it's so she got the discount. You know if you've seen her house.

But it's because she loved people. And she loved to talk to people. And she loved to be with people. And she loved to help people.

And she loved to show people the love of Christ. And we are so thankful that she was able to do that.

She was and still is a woman who loves Jesus Christ and others. Last Friday morning my mom was separated from her body.

But if the Bible says anything, it says that she was not separated from her Lord. And she was immediately with the

Lord in His presence. The Bible teaches rather clearly that nothing can separate us from Christ.

Listen to these words. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love

God and to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.

So that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom He predestined, He also called. And these whom

He called, He also justified. And these whom He justified, He also glorified. My mom experienced that last one.

She was waiting for that and that alone to be glorified. What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son but delivered

Him over for us all. How will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.

Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised.

Who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our

Lord. Nothing could separate her from Christ.

That's the kind of God she believed in and she trusted in. My brother Mike is going to come now and speak to us.

Maybe I should just get my crying done right now. A mom came to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.

And at our Thanksgiving service, everyone at the end gets to stand up and say what they're thankful for. And a grandma was there, and she was still having a hard time getting around, but she was there thankfully, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and Marcy was there as well, and Chloe.

And Luke stood up, my eight -year -old son. And Luke, crying, said,

I'm glad my grandma's still alive. I love you, buddy.

And now I'm going to echo the same things. Even though her body's dead, I'm still glad grandma's alive.

My son started to put his head down in kind of a boyish shame because somehow we're not supposed to cry.

And I said, son, you lift your head up, and we're not ashamed to cry. If you skin your knee, it's a shame to cry.

But when your grandma's dying, and you love your grandma, it's not a shame to cry. And so I'm going to cry about 50 times today, and I'm going to try to follow my own advice, and I'm going to keep my head up.

And if you've never seen Mount Vesuvius before, you will today. I'm just going to share briefly some of the things

I learned from my mother, and I hope you have learned, or you will learn today. I'm sure you've learned some things.

People always come up to me, and they say things like this. Your mom's so cool. Your mom's so awesome.

By the way, that was the last word I remember her ever saying on this earth to me. I was telling her,

Mom, why struggle anymore? I want your body to be here. I want you to be here. But it's true to live as Christ and to die as Gain.

It's true, absent from the body, present with the Lord. And it's time to disconnect some of these things now because the doctors have advised that, and we just can't keep you alive anymore, and now is the right time.

Are you ready, Mom? And you're going to see Christ soon. And she was on a lot of morphine. She couldn't really open her eyes.

And she just kind of mouthed in a very dry way, she said, you know,

John Wesley said, Christians die well. And as a pastor, I have to bury people all the time, and I don't think

I've ever got to do a funeral of someone who I knew for sure was going to be into heaven.

I'd always have to do the tap dance. Well, they went to church on one Easter 18 years ago, and I think they read a

Bible verse, you know, at the end of a football field in the end zone, some guy with a crazy clown wig on,

John 3 .16 or something. We just sure hope they're in heaven. But it is so good and thrilling to do a funeral of a woman who

I know is in heaven. Not based on her goodness, not based on her coolness, not based on her awesomeness, but because of who

Christ was. And my mom, I believe, was a real example to many. And let me read a letter to give you a little bit of flavor.

This was a letter from Teresa Pilley. And she said to Carla, just a short time ago,

Ed said something the other day that made me laugh, but it was pretty insightful. He said that you were really great at starting projects and getting other people to take over.

I immediately thought of the New Year's Eve parties, but he reminded me that VBS also got started because of you,

Carla. And then, of course, there's Women of the Word, a ministry that now has a

PM version as well, and I get to be a part of it. Thank you so much for your vision and enthusiasm.

Lives are being impacted for eternity because of what God put in your heart. Thank you for taking such genuine joy in the lives of kids and their interests.

I love the story of Ian and Andrew running up to show you their shark necklaces because they knew you'd appreciate them.

That's so cool. I'm thankful for your joy in life, your wise counsel.

But what perhaps I'm most grateful for is the testimony you have been to me in the face of this trial.

You have persevered with joy and steadfastness that could only come from God. Seeing you live out your trust in Him has made me see visible faithfulness and love of God.

You have been an awesome example. There's that word, awesome, again. Did you influence her or vice versa? And reflecting

God's glory. With much love, Teresa. And my mother didn't walk around saying,

I'm an example, everyone look at me. But she just was an example. And the testimony of my mother is not that she was so great, but God worked through her.

The God of all grace could work through a lady like my mother. Sixteen years ago, my father died of the same non -smoking lung cancer that my mom died of Friday.

I remember the night before the funeral, Pat and I were downstairs just trying to get drunk to try to handle this very issue of how do you deal with a father who's 6 '4", 240 and just is emaciated at death and dies.

What are the answers? And our answers were found in a bottle. And then now, as most of you know, 16 years later,

Carla has two fire and brimstone preaching pastors for sons. And only

God could take death and turn something and make it into something good. To turn it out for His good and for His glory.

And my hope is today, as I give you some examples of how God used my mother to teach me a lesson and hopefully teach you lessons, that God might change your life.

I said to the kids yesterday when we were looking at Grandma's body, she said, I'd like to have a clothes casket, but for the family it could be open.

And we were just looking at her body. And I said, kids, one day that's going to be you.

You're going to die and be put in one of those caskets. And you're going to stand before the creator of the universe,

Jesus Christ, and you will answer to Him. And we need to make sure when we stand before God that we are acceptable in His sight because of Christ's work.

And as my prayer today, as well as the staff here at OBC and my brother Pat, we want

Mom's death to impact for eternity. After all, the book of Ecclesiastes says, do you know where you learn more?

What would you guess? Do you learn more at a wedding or at a funeral? Solomon said you learn more at a funeral because you realize that there is eternity.

There is life. There is death. So let me give you just a few lessons I learned from my mother. Some are maybe funny and others are very serious.

The first lesson I learned from my mother, and these have no particular order, is that she loved both young people and old people.

She had little friends and she had old friends. And she had little old friends. That's what happens.

I'm 45 now. I used to be 6 '2 and I could dunk, and now I'm 6 '1 and I'm shrinking. I loved it that she cared about the young ones.

She had time for the older folks. Here's a letter. I've just been going through letters. And here's one

I believe this young man, Andrew Peck. Dwight, is Andrew Peck a Southview kid? This was written in 2000.

He was asked to write a little two -paragraph issue on an unforgettable person. Who do you think he picked?

I will never forget Carla Ebendorf. She was my junior high Sunday school teacher. She had childhood stories she would tell us in Sunday school.

She always had a smile and could make people laugh. She always wore bright clothes and wore many different types of odd reading glasses.

I am not kidding. I've been cleaning up the house a little bit and just going through things and looking for pictures. Sometimes pastors use a little hyperbole.

Sometimes it's biblical to do that. I have found about 50 to 100 pairs of reading glasses.

And I thought to myself, well, if one is like 1 .0, 1 .1, 1 .2, as she gets older she needs a different lens strength.

But no, they're just everywhere. She had a cool house in it and had lots of things.

She even had one room devoted to the outdoors and safari things. I helped her one summer in Bible school.

One theme was a safari and she went all out. She brought a kiddie swimming pool and filled it with sand and had cactus and plastic critters in the sand.

She also brought along a little tent. She made lessons very fun and interesting for the kids. One time she even had extra tickets to a

Nebraska football game and she gave them to my dad and I. She drove us and another boy that was in my

Sunday school class to Lincoln to see the game. The funny part was our seats were in one end zone and Carla's and the boys were in the other end zone.

I'll never forget Carla. That is a good testimony of the grace of God as I think about Christ with those who are older and closer to death and also even the little ones as the disciples were shooing them away, the little children, and Christ opened

His arm and says, let the little children what? Come unto Me. That's a great lesson for us. Second lesson

I learned from my mother is that she loved and was loved by not only

Christians but people that were not Christians. People become

Christians and then they don't have any friends anymore because the new Christians, the new born again

Christians become like Rambo every second of the day and everybody turns them off and my mom would preach the gospel.

If you're not a Christian here today, I'm sure she said something to you about the Bible. But when you had had enough, she still loved you anyway and you loved her back.

I've met many of my mom's friends who are dear friends who aren't Christians. What a great testimony for us who are

Christians to make sure we love people and that we are salt and light to them. I think only

God could work through my mother in such a way. Third lesson I learned. You're probably trying to figure out how many lessons

I have here. I'm not going to tell you. I thought

I'd be bawling the whole time but now once I got started, I'm alright. But as you've noticed,

I'm not looking in the front row. My family's here. The third lesson I wanted to share with you this morning is that God used my mother

Carla to teach me not to speak rashly or harshly about God in a trial.

This is what Christ did. Listen to 1 Peter 2, a New Testament book. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.

Christian, here's an example. How did Christ suffer? Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.

And while being reviled, He did not revile in return. While suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting

Himself to Him who judges righteously. For 18 months, my mom had cancer.

And it was debilitating. It was painful. And I can't remember her complaining. I can't remember her standing up and shaking her fist to God and saying,

God, how could you? Questioning God, what's going on? She might not have liked it. She might have been suffering in a way, but she never said,

God, I can't believe all the shots, all the chemo, all the baldness, all the pain, all the pain pills, all the discomfort.

I can't even stand up. I have no breath. I have no lungs. And I have a stair lift to get downstairs.

I don't remember mom saying, God, how could you? And that is a testimony of the grace of Christ Jesus working through my mom's life to make her like Christ.

Only God could do that. I meet people as a pastor, and when people die often and they get old and death is close, they are bitter, they are angry, and they are mad at their

Creator. And that's a shame. I think mom was a good lesson in what to do the right way.

The fourth lesson. Mom taught me to look up to God in trials.

Here's what mom would do. And she would have troubles. She would say, well, I do the ABCs. And she didn't mean the

A, B, C, D, E, F, G. She'd do the ABCs of the attributes of God. An attribute of God is one of His perfections, one of His characteristics, one of something that describes

Him. And she would start going through the attributes of God. Because when we look at our trials, things spiral down.

But when we look to our Savior, we look to our Helper, we get the proper focus. And so mom would say,

A. And she'd think of an attribute of God that starts with A. So she would say, Almighty. I wrote down Revelation 19 .6.

Hallelujah for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. B. What might an attribute that starts with B be?

B, B. In that day, Isaiah 28, the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown.

Oh God, You're beautiful. C. What would be an attribute that starts with C? And she'd say, Exodus 34 .6.

The Lord our God is compassionate. D. Deliver. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.

And by the way, before you get to Q, and can there be an attribute of God that starts with QRZ, you're already thinking about God and who

He is and what He's done versus your own problems. I'd ask you the question, when you are in a trouble or a trial, what do you trust in?

Money? Doctors? Friends? Friends? The Lord is the one who can be trusted.

Jonathan Edwards, a great theologian, died at 55 years old, and his wife said this. She could have done the

ABCs for all that matter. She said, what shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud.

Oh, that we may kiss the rod and lay our hands on our mouths. The Lord has done it, but my

God lives, and He is my heart. We are all given to God. I'll just do a few more, and then we'll wrap this up.

Lesson number five, God used my mom to remind me that life is short, and that it must be lived fully to the glory of God.

Life is like a vapor. If I had a little bubble, you know, the kids have those bubbles, or sometimes you get the bubbles from weddings, and you blow the bubble, and you see the bubble just float, and what happens in about three seconds?

That bubble's gone. That is what your life is. You will be in that tomb. I may bury you, or you may bury me, but it is for sure that the

Bible teaches that there is judgment one day for all of us. The Bible says in James, to those who think they've got their life all planned, for me, by the way, when

I was younger, I thought, before I die, if I'm in an elevator, I'm going to just jump before the very bottom, or if I don't jump, then

I'll just make sure I pray to God, and, you know, I like my sin now, but I'll just pray to God, please forgive me at the very end. And James warns us, we don't know if we'll have time for that.

James says, yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. By the way, we count birthdays, in the

Bible they count days. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.

We all live forever. And we either live in the presence of God, or away from His presence.

Some people go to a funeral and say this, I'm resolved now to spend more time with my family. I'm resolved to say

I love you to my family members more. I want to slow down in life and focus on the real things.

This morning I got up really early, strike that. I didn't go to sleep at all,

I just laid there, and so at 3 o 'clock I got up, and I began to read through all mom's Christmas cards, and you know you have those letters that tell you what's happened in the last year?

Some were wonderful, but most were, this was the RV we bought, this is the vacation we went to, this is how we spent our money, on and on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, over and over about all the things on earth.

And I think those are good things from God. But if that's it, can you imagine standing before God on the day we die and say, here's what

I have to offer you God, my selfish life. And I want mom's lesson to be a good example to you all, that we need to live for the glory of Christ Jesus.

Death is certain. Hebrews 9 says, it is appointed for man once to die, and after this comes what?

Judgment. Let me put it to you this way, you don't have to raise your hand, but this is the secret these days in all the

Bible, because people don't want to preach it. Do you think it's true or false, this statement? You have to be perfect to get into heaven.

You must be perfect to get into heaven. What would you say to that? You'd say, well

I sure hope God grades on the bell curve, and thank God for Osama Bin Laden and Stalin and Hitler, because I know

I'm better than they are. But God says, I base my foundation and who gets into heaven, my admittance to heaven, based on the perfection of Christ Jesus.

And even Jesus in Matthew 5 .48 says, if you want to get into heaven, you must be perfect.

And I can only think of one man who was perfect, and that was Christ Jesus. Fully man, fully God, perfect in his life.

So what are you going to do? How did Grandma Carla, how did Mom get into heaven?

She wasn't perfect. She didn't get mad at me very often. This is a side note.

When I was a kid, I used to watch Dr. Sanguinari creature feature on Sunday nights at 10 .30.

Sometimes I'd even watch the double feature. And it was this guy, you know, blood everywhere, and these really bad,

H -rated movies. They weren't even B -movies, they were just horrible. And Dr. Sanguinari was there.

And one night I watched The Bride of Frankenstein. And the lady kind of had this hair that kind of went up and was wide and kind of went up like that, kind of like a tilted beehive.

Mom came home one day, and she just came back from the beauty parlor. I wasn't a

Christian then. And she said, how do you think I look?

And I said, Pat says you look like the Bride of Frankenstein. I said,

I think you look like the Bride of Frankenstein. And yikes. We didn't get spanked on the rear by mom.

We got hit right on the thigh, right down here hard. So how could a lady like that who wasn't perfect, and as a matter of fact have offspring that weren't perfect either and still aren't perfect, how do we have the hope of heaven if God requires perfection?

God does not judge his entrance into heaven by how good you are compared to anyone else because Romans 3 says it very clearly.

There's no one good. No one. No one seeks after God. No one understands God. No one is good.

By the way, if we were good, Jesus wouldn't have to come. So by default, Christ comes to save not saints, but comes to save sinners.

Here's the great plan of God. The plan of God is we can't live a perfect life, so we fall short.

And God could have said, you know what, that's it. Put you in the Garden of Eden, and I made all these beautiful things for you, and you've all sinned, and that's it.

I wash my hands of you. But instead, in his goodness and kindness, by nature, God is a Savior and a loving

God. And he says, I'm going to send my son, and he will live a perfect life. Thought, word, and deed, never ever sinning.

And then, here's what happens. At Calvary, Jesus paid for the sins of all those who had believed, and God treated him like he was a sinner, even though he never sinned.

Then God treats my mom like she was perfect, who lived a life like Jesus Christ did, even though she didn't.

And as the Jews before Passover would have to kill a little lamb because the wages of sin is death, and without bloodshed, there's no forgiveness.

That little lamb was a substitute. That lamb died instead of, in place of, on behalf of.

Now Jesus is sent, and John the Baptist looked at Jesus and said, Behold the what? The Lamb of God, because Jesus was a substitute.

You must be perfect to get into heaven, and unless you have a substitute who's perfect in your place, you'll never make it.

God so confirmed the fact that Christ lived a perfect life, died on behalf of sinners, he said,

I'm satisfied in my justice, I'm satisfied with my wrath, and I will raise Jesus from the dead.

John 11, 25, Jesus said to Martha, I'm the resurrection life, he who believes in me, and by default knows they can't believe in themselves, that's the sin of today, self -righteousness.

I'm good enough to get into heaven on my own. Who believes in me shall live even if he dies.

And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And then he said this, and I'll say it to you. Do you believe this?

Do you believe this? Well, lastly, the last lesson is that God used my mother to teach me the lesson that it is never too late to admit you're wrong.

It's never too late to admit you're wrong. I have friends, dear friends, and they will hold on to their religion till their dying day because they don't want to offend their mother.

They don't want to offend their dead grandfather. They don't want to somehow admit that they've been wrong.

I was raised, and my view of religion was this, if I had a little water sprinkled on my head, and if I took a wafer once in a while,

God was up in heaven doing cartwheels. God was so happy that I would have a little water sprinkled on my head and I would eat a little bread or a little bit of wine.

My father died 16 years ago, and the pastor of our church then came over and said, Mike, as the oldest son, what do you want us to say at the funeral?

In the Bible about your dad. He handed the Bible over to me, and I was so ashamed because I didn't know what was in that Bible.

I had no idea what was in the Bible. I said, I don't know. You pick something. I tried to do the duck and jive thing.

I'm not sure. You take care of that. I was so ashamed. If Kim writes me, my wife, a love letter, a 10 -page love letter, and I never read it, what kind of husband do you think

I would be? A pretty bad one. And here

God gives us the Bible, His love letter to mankind, and we can't be bothered. Here was my old mindset.

Let me do the least amount of religion. Let me have a little water on my head. Let me have some sacraments, and then let me go sin.

I don't want this God to tell me what I can do and what I can't do. And there started to be a metamorphosis at my father's death with my brother and myself and my mom, where we were thinking, there has to be more than this.

God, how can we be right in your eyes? And my exhortation to you this morning as we wrap up is, will you read the

Bible and find out what God says about His standards and who God is and how He lets people into heaven?

It was hard turning our back on this idea that it's just a little water and it's just a little wine and we're in.

Jesus said in John 3, He said, you must be born again. 1

Peter 3, verse 21 says, it's not about this water that can wash away dirt, it has nothing to do about the outside, it's the inside.

People say, well, that's born -again Christianity. Friends, there's no other Christianity. Jesus says, you must be born again.

If you try to get on my good side and you want to try to be my friend, but every time

Luke comes walking by you, kick him in the leg, what do you think I'm going to think of you? Oh, yeah, come on,

Mike, and let's go do this, and let's go do that, and then here comes Luke again. What would you think? I think you'd get about one kick is what

I'd think. No, just kidding. The way to honor

God the Father is through the Son. The Father says, here's my Son. Worship Him, honor

Him. If you say you love Him, you will keep His commandments. You will trust completely in Him. It's not the cross of Christ plus what

I do and have a little water on my head. It's not the cross of Christ plus what I give the church. It's not the cross of Christ plus my church attendance.

It's the cross of Christ. That's why Jesus at Calvary said what? It's almost finished. You just need to be confirmed.

No, He said it is finished, so finished that He raised Him from the dead. And so the way you get to my favor is honoring my

Son. The way you honor God the Father is honoring the Son. And that's what my mom was all about, honoring the

Son. And she couldn't find the religion she grew up with in the Bible, and so she said, you know what?

I have to know what the Bible says. Titus chapter 3 makes it very clear.

We are not saved and have entrance into heaven by works of righteousness which we have done. But according to His mercy

He saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. I think mom gives us some important lessons to learn.

Here's one from Nicole Dufini. I just thank God for you and for the impact you've had on my life. I'm also reminded about a conversation you had with Pat shortly after receiving the news about your cancer last year.

It was about the timing of death and whether you would rather live to be 100 or die at the age you are now.

The sole focus was at which age would the most people be affected by for the gospel of Christ.

Both you and Pat agreed that although it might be more difficult, the impact would be greater now rather than at 100 years of age.

This was such a great testimony to me of the single -minded goal of bringing glory to God. He receives the glory because He has changed your life and you have sought after Him.

Your impact continues to be widely felt because of Him. Stay strong. Love, Nicole. Joshua 1 .9

Could it be that God took my mom home so that you could hear this message today? Could it be that God took my mom home now because when she would be 100, we'd all be in the grave?

I said to my mother on her deathbed, I said, Mom, it's okay to let go. To live is Christ and you have lived for Christ.

And to die is what? Gain. Because of Christ's substitutionary death in her place, on her behalf, in her stead, she could say, here's

Mike, here's Marcy, here's Pat, here's the eight grandkids, here's the in -laws, here's the outlaws, here's all the family, here's all the pleasures, here's all the travel, here's my collector's choice friends, my

Benson friends, my Borsheim friends, and put them all together in one conglomerate and she could look at Christ in the face or see all these people and she would say, this is loss.

And Philippians 1 says, this is gain. And I never have believed that in my life so much as I do now.

I've always believed it, but when I saw her dying and I was holding her hand, I just thought to myself, Mom, gain.

Gain. I asked Mom, what do you want us to sing at your funeral? She said,

I don't really care, but I want to sing one song, Victory in Jesus. And that's the song we're going to sing. Let me just tell you the part that I want you to focus on as we sing it.

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory. I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea.

About the angels singing and the old redemption story. And some sweet day I'll sing up there the song of victory.

The only thing you have to do is change the tense when you think about Mom when we sing that.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, I've asked that You would sustain me during this time and I thank

You for that. Father, I've asked that people would come today who need salvation and maybe they don't even know they need it, but I'd ask that You do a great work and open their hearts.

Father, I'd ask today that my mom might see some of her dear friends again in heaven. And only those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus Christ alone will.

And Father, may there be a great harvest today at Omaha Bible Church. Father, may people think that it's not their goodness, it's not their righteousness, but it's only found in Christ.

And Father, we know You turn their hearts, and so would You forgive them? Would You bless them? Would there be a great reunion with my mom one day in heaven?

And Father, would You bless this food too that we're going to have? And as we eat of it, we just want to say thank

You for all Your goodness and kindness poured out through us and only through Christ Jesus, our

Savior. And Father, thank You for the hope of heaven and how You saved my mom.

What a wonderful mom she was. I love her, and these dear people do too. In Jesus' name,