Ronald C. Griffith Funeral Service

Cornerstone Church

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Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in Him. It is a day of mourning, and the

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Lord Himself teaches us to grieve and to mourn, but not as those who have no hope.

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We are those who know that Christ has conquered death and that, as we remember Ron, we know that he lives on with the

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Lord Jesus, and he is enjoying every minute of it. Thank the Lord for this beautiful music that was provided.

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Jay and Kathy, thank you for that beautiful intro, and we're just so thankful that everybody is here today.

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It is a special thing that we can gather in the name of Jesus Christ to remember a life well -lived.

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So this morning, if you will join us, we are going to begin with a hymn,

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Great is Thy Faithfulness. If you're comfortable standing, you can stand with me.

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♪ Great is Thy faithfulness,

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O God my Father ♪ ♪ There is no shadow of turning with Thee ♪ ♪

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Angels know Thy compassions, they fail not ♪ ♪

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As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, great is

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Thy faithfulness ♪ ♪

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New mercies I see, all

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I have need, I have provided ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me ♪ ♪

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Summer and winter and springtime and harvest ♪ ♪

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Summer and stars in their courses above ♪ ♪

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Joined with all nature in manifold witness ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, mercy and love ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, great is

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Thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning, new mercies

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I see ♪ ♪ All I have need,

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I have provided ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me ♪ ♪

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Pardon for sin and the peace that endureth ♪ ♪

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Blessings to cheer and to guide ♪ ♪

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Strength for today and might for tomorrow ♪ ♪

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Blessings all one with 10 ,000 beside ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, great is

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Thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning, new mercies

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I see ♪ ♪ All I have need,

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I have provided ♪ ♪

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Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me ♪

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Amen, you may be seated. And let us pray.

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Our good and gracious God, we thank you for creating Ron Griffith. We know from Psalm 139 that you fashioned him together in his mother's womb.

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You created him for the life that he lived. You drew the boundaries of his habitation and the time that he had on this earth.

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Lord, you are the creator of all of this. We also know that you extended grace to him by sending the outward call of the gospel, that he heard the news about Jesus Christ, the one who died and rose from the dead for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life to those who will believe.

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And Ron believed by the inward calling of your Holy Spirit. You drew him to yourself.

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You were gracious to Ron. We thank you for that, Lord. We thank you for saving his soul and granting him eternal life.

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And Lord, as we are here to remember him, we know the thing that he would want most from this time of worship and remembrance is that all who would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ would come.

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So Lord, that is our prayer this morning, that you would draw those who do not yet know you to saving faith.

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And for those of us who do know you and walk with you and love you, Lord Jesus, we pray that you would renew our faith, remind us of the things that we have known, draw us closer to you.

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We pray that this would be not only a memorial service of Ron, but supremely a worship service of you, the living

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God. For Jesus, you are our living hope. You live.

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And so, Lord, we ask that you would now consecrate this service to yourself. We dedicate it to you,

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Lord. We ask that you would fill this place with your glory. Like the cloud that filled the temple when

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Solomon dedicated the temple, Lord, we pray that a cloud of your presence would come and fill this place, that we could feel your presence and know that you are near.

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And we know that your word promises that, that you are near to the brokenhearted. So, God of all comfort, we pray that you would comfort those who are grieving.

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Remind us of your love and draw near to us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. At this time, we're going to do a reading of Psalm 23 in unison.

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So what you'll want to do is find this in your bulletin. This is one of Ron's favorites, the 23rd

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Psalm. So it's printed in the bulletin. Some of you probably know it by heart.

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Let's read this together. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

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He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

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He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.

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Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

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You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the

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Lord forever. Amen. Let us stand and sing what I think is

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Ron's favorite hymn, Trust and Obey. Let's sing.

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I believe in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our trouble he doth richly repay.

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I believe in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our trouble he doth richly repay.

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I believe in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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Next we're going to sing How Great Thou Art. Consider all men,

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I see the star. I say unto thee, my soul,

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I say goodnight. I shall groan sweetly in the trees.

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I say unto thee, my soul,

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I say send him to die.

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I say unto thee, my soul,

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I say send him to die. I say unto thee, my soul,

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I say With shouts of atonement

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I'll fill my heart. I say unto thee, my soul,

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I say begotten me. How great thou art, how great thou art.

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At this time we are going to have scripture readings from the grandson. So Danny, Tommy, JD, and then from the youth group,

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Doug. So we'll do that now. This is

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John 11, 25, 27. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

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The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

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Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied. I believe that you are the Messiah, the

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Son of God, who is to come into the world. This is

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John 14, 1 through 6. Do not let your hearts be troubled.

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You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms.

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If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you,

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I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.

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You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?

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Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the

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Father except through me. I have

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John 14, 18, 19, and 25 to 27. I will not leave you as orphans,

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I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.

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Because I live, you also will live. All this I have spoken while still with you, but the

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Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything

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I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

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Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. One point of clarification,

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Carol and Ron were our youth leaders in high school. That was the youth that just went.

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I need glasses. This is from 1 Corinthians 15, 50 through 58.

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I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

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Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

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For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

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When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true.

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Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

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The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.

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Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the

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Lord is not in vain. And Carol and Ron, your work was not in vain. Doug, you just look so young.

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I thought you were still in the youth group. So at this time, we are going to have words of remembrance from family and friends.

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You're welcome to come up here. Hi again, everyone.

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This is on behalf of my sister. She's a little too pregnant to come up here and read this. My pop -up was one of the most important people in my life, and one of my favorite.

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There was even a time when I couldn't go to sleep before calling and talking with him and my mom each night. I could tell so many stories about the memories we shared, and he could tell even more about the memories of his life.

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Even though he struggled with Lewy body dementia over the past several years, his long -term memory was amazing.

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I loved sitting and talking with him during our visits, which we tried to do weekly. He especially loved talking about the travel experiences he had, the trouble he got into as a kid—nothing serious, though— and how fortunate he felt to have lived such a fulfilling life.

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A few things come to mind when thinking about my pop -up. There's his optical shop where he spent his time working, with the neon blue spectacles hanging in the window.

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There's the classic car he loved working on and showing off, a silver 1939 Cadillac Coupe.

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There's chocolate chip cookies, which I loved making and he loved eating. He was the biggest fan of my baking.

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There's the volumes of family genealogical information, which he loved compiling. There's watching the

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Eagles through the good times and the bad, at our house with my dad and brothers. I can attest to that one.

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That definitely happened. And there's an image of seeing him and my mum -um in their regular pew on Sunday mornings at church.

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This next part's a story in my sister's perspective, but it talks about me, so it'll sound kind of weird.

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One of my favorite memories is when I moved into my first off -campus house in college, and my mom and Sharon, mum -um and pop -up, decided to drive up to the

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College of New Jersey and help me put my bed together. The bed was from Ikea, so naturally it came with a large booklet of instructions, and naturally my pop -up refused to read them.

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He was always a handy person and trusted he could figure out the construction himself. This is also something my mom and myself would totally do, and a trait we inherited from him.

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I did not share this trait, however, and insisted my pop -up just read the instructions. So when we got about halfway through and things weren't coming together,

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I was more than happy to let him know that I was right all along. And with the combination of my mother and Aunt Sharon in the room for this process, you know they were thoroughly enjoying the entire situation.

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So just imagine my pop -up hard at work putting together his granddaughter's bed while she tells him he's doing it wrong, and his two adult daughters are laughing in the background.

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My pop -up continued to do things his way, and eventually we did get it put together, but I still think we should have been following the directions all along.

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Above all these things, though, my pop -up was a man of faith. We selfishly wished he could be here with us for many more years, but we know he is now rejoicing in his heavenly home.

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I'd like to say a few words about Ron. I'll try to get through it, all right? Mary Jane and I met

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Ron and Carol, I don't know what's the matter, met Ron and Carol in the 1980s at the

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First United Methodist Church, and we became friends. And over the years we became more friendly, we became family.

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And Ron, over the years, I saw that he was loving the

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Lord, and he loved to listen to the directions God gave him.

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And I'd like to share a couple of those experiences. They're really fun. The first is the lay witness mission at our church.

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Ron was instrumental in developing and putting on that weekend of mission witnesses.

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He invited ten or twelve Christians from around the country, from Michigan, from Virginia, all over the place, who came in on their own expenses to our church and witnessed about how

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God took over specific events in their life and changed it into a blessing.

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And you listened, and your heart would touch, because you've had some experiences just like that.

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And it was very good. And then they would end, each one of them, with these words,

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God loves you, and so do I. And that's the way they ended. And then the sermon that afternoon, or that Sunday, was by the leader of the lay witness group.

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And he said, you know, God is going to give you a sheet of paper, and on it is what you're going to do for God, and in turn, what

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God's going to do for you. And he wants you to sign it as you're committed to him, and then give it back to him.

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And imagine, God gives it to you, and you look at it, and it's blank.

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There's nothing there. And you say, does God want me to sign a blank piece of paper as my commitment?

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And then the Lord put in my head, Lord, he said, go ahead,

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Jim, sign it. I'll fill it in later. And that's what the

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Lord said. Then I looked at what the witnesses said, and they said, they,

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God, went into their lives, took over events, changed it to blessings. You know, at that point,

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I says, I can trust the Lord. I will sign my paper blank and pass it back.

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And that's what happened at that lay witness. And then we found out there was 40 -plus other people, of our members of our church, that gave their life to the

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Lord that Sunday also. That changed our church for years. But why did all this happen?

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Ron's desire to follow the instructions of God. He put that on.

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God bless him. Then I want to go to another one. A Colorado visit.

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Ron, for years, felt like the Lord says, hey, you're in the East Coast here.

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I want you to go and see other parts of my creation. So Carol and Ron flew out to Oregon, visited some friends.

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And then after they finished that visit, as planned, they rented a car, and they called us, because we have a cabin in Colorado.

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My wife's dad built it and passed it on to us. And it's a beautiful cabin out in the high mountains.

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But anyway, Ron called and said, hey, listen, we're on our way. We'll be there in two days. And so the second day,

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I sat out on the porch in the cabin, waiting for a car to come up the road. But nothing happened, and I got a call.

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I said, hello, and it was Ron. He says, hey, Ron, this is Ron. Jim, he says, we're not going to be able to make it tonight.

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Because we just drove up Monarch Pass. Stop. Monarch Pass, in my opinion, is one of the most challenging roads to go up and down a mountain pass.

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There are hairpin roads all over the place.

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And you look down, and you can't see the bottom of that galley, that crest of chipping down below.

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And it's just beautiful. But it's very high. Now, it is 13 ,000 feet high.

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And that road, it just goes up, and it's a real challenge. Well, anyway, back to Ron. He says,

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Ron said, you know, I was going through all those hairpin roads and so on.

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Jim, do you know there's no guardrail on that road? And that falloff is right next to the side of the road.

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If I don't watch out, I could go off the road, and I'd be climbing down thousands of feet.

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Well, maybe a few trees would stop me, but it's awful. They said, I finally got up to the top of Monarch Pass.

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And I looked at my watch, and gosh, it's late. I'll never get down the other side before it starts.

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I have gone as far as I'm going. I'm not driving another inch. I'm going to find a place where I can pull off at safe, and we're going to sleep in the car.

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And then he looked up, and there was a motel just right there on top of the mountain almost.

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And they drove in, and they got the last room. And his comment was, you know, we were not the only ones that looked for a place to pull over and sleep in our car.

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Because that motel was there. But anyway, that was a time of time.

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And they finally got to our cabin, and we had a week of just wonderful looking at the mountains, the

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Rocky Mountains, and just seeing all of the creation God had made out there. And then the one thing

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God, you know, likes to have, he loves animals. And we sat on our porch, and he walked different types of deer, just mosey through our lawn.

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And he saw birds. He loves birds, you know. There were hummers, all sorts of birds that are different from the

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East Coast, you know. And he loves the animal. And he saw buffaloes also. And then we decided to take one day, and we would drive back to Monarch Pass, where they could see it in a more relaxed fashion.

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You know, it's only about a 20 -minute drive. So we went back to the Monarch Pass, and beautiful, a place to see, you know.

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And then as we started driving back, we were in a place on a hairpin road, and it was like a seven -degree slope down.

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And I kept the gear, the car in the lower gear, so I didn't have to use the brakes and burn out the brakes, you know.

01:40:05

And I thought I'd kid around a little. And I said, you know, there's cars behind me. I think I'll pull over a little to let them pass.

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And this voice in the back of the car, I think it was Carol, says, don't you do that, stay on the road.

01:40:21

But anyway, that was the time that Ron said, you know,

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God's creation in this place is just awesome. Then about a year ago, we were sitting and visiting.

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And Ron says, Jeremy says, you know, the Lord has taken away some of my brain, and I don't really can do a lot of stuff

01:40:44

I used to do. But there's one thing I'm still expecting and I'm looking forward to that God wants me to do.

01:40:53

And I said, well, what's that? He says, go to heaven. He says, I've seen a lot of the creation that's here on earth, and it's awesome and beautiful.

01:41:05

But I bet the creation of heaven is a magnitude greater. So he says,

01:41:11

I'm ready to go when the Lord asks me. Now he says, I'm going to miss Carol. But you know, the time's going to be short when you compare years with eternity.

01:41:22

But he says, when God is ready, I'll go. And, you know, as I wonder, what would

01:41:31

Ron have said to all of us as he was preparing to go his last moments to heaven?

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And I believe it's probably something like this. God loves you, and so do

01:41:46

I. How do you follow that?

01:41:59

That was so beautiful. Losing a loved one and a friend is painful.

01:42:06

And I offer much love to the Griffith family for your loss. Mr. G, as I called him over all the years that I know him, was a godly man, a man of great integrity, generosity, and kindness.

01:42:23

I have so many favorite memories of Mr. G. It all started way back in 1991 when

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I met the Griffith family. Whenever we stopped at church to chat, he always placed his one hand on my shoulder.

01:42:38

He'd tell me, Elmin, you're mighty tall today, because I wore very high heels.

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But he tried to look me straight in the eye and gave all his attention just to me.

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And he was always letting me know that he valued our friendship. When I addressed him as Mr.

01:42:59

Griffith or Mr. G, he would say, that was my father's name. I'm Ron.

01:43:06

He liked to tease me about my toe ring, saying, you are wearing your ring in all the wrong places.

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It's supposed to go on your hands. Guess what, Mr. G? In your memory today,

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I have my toe ring on. To me, Mr.

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G was a pillar of faith. A man always in the word of God.

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Hungry to learn and to teach the truth. To Mrs. Griffith and her beautiful family, from my family to yours, may

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God be with you and give you comfort. May he wrap his arms around you and give you peace and hope.

01:43:48

May he fill you with strength and may you feel his love. We love you.

01:43:54

Good morning.

01:44:09

My name is Steve Whiteman. And unlike Jim, I'm reading mine, okay? You have a great memory, buddy,

01:44:16

I'll tell you. I wanted to share some thoughts with my buddy, Ron. Not many people go through life with a person they can call a special best friend.

01:44:27

I had the privilege of just such a friend. I've been blessed with many friends during my lifetime.

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But Ron was one of the very few I could call a best friend. We met when

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I was in my mid -20s. That's a long time ago. We lived in the same neighborhood.

01:44:46

There's going to be some commonality with your talk there, Jim. Ron and Carol attended the

01:44:52

Morristown United Methodist Church. And they had many friends at the church. One weekend, the church was having a special lay witness mission.

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And they needed someone to watch their girls, Brenda and Sharon. Sharon's ill today, so there's

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Brenda. Who each just happened to be about the same age as our girls, just one year older each.

01:45:15

At the end of that weekend, Ron and Carol picked up the girls with tears in their eyes, expressing how they were deeply affected by the challenges of the weekend and were very thankful for us watching their girls.

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They said they would like to get together in the near future to tell us about that weekend.

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We did meet with them shortly thereafter and heard about how God had convicted them to recommit their lives to Him and to raise their girls in a

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Christian home. That was really the beginning of a lifelong friendship that centered around our common faith in God and a desire to live for Him.

01:45:56

Ron and I and Carol and Linda developed a very strong friendship and got together regularly to play cards, go to Southern Gospel Quartet concerts, go out to eat and travel together.

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In addition, Ron started to play golf. And that brought us even closer together because I had started playing golf when

01:46:14

I was 10 years old. We both joined the Morristown Field Club and met virtually every Friday night to play nine holes and then meet

01:46:21

Carol and Linda at a restaurant for dinner. After that, we would go to one of our homes and play hand and foot for a couple of hours.

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Of course, the men usually always won. Believe that one, I'll tell you another one.

01:46:36

Much of our dialogue was about what God was doing in our lives and the lives of our girls and just giving

01:46:43

Him praise for all that He was doing in our families. Ron had a successful eyewear business for which

01:46:50

Ron gave God the glory for his provisions for him and his family. I had started a part -time computer business and did some work for Ron to help with some mailings and reduce paperwork.

01:47:01

A highlight of Ron's life was when his girls were married and started having children of their own. And they're really tall, except for that one over there.

01:47:11

Oh, my. Most of our conversations after that included updates on everything the grandkids were doing, from playing baseball, swimming, and playing tennis.

01:47:20

When Amy graduated from college with a nursing degree, that made Ron especially proud.

01:47:26

It was always Ron's desire that each of his grandchildren would become a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

01:47:35

Linda and I started to go to Florida in the winter, February, for a couple of weeks to stay with and mooch off of,

01:47:42

I should say, her parents. It wasn't long before Ron and Carol would rent a place right nearby so that we could enjoy that time with them as well.

01:47:51

Mom and Dad, we used to call Linda's dad Anhinga Bob, loved

01:47:58

Ron and Carol like their own kids. We have wonderful memories of those days. We even got to the point where we looked for a separate place to stay for a month and then for three months.

01:48:10

After we did that for several years, we then decided to purchase a place in the

01:48:15

Plantation Golf and Country Club in the Augusta Villas section. People thought we were crazy and that it would bring a quick end to our friendship.

01:48:26

However, looking back, we did not argue over one single thing and enjoying our time immensely.

01:48:33

One of the things that Ron and I thoroughly enjoyed was flying back and forth to the villa.

01:48:39

We would have Carol and Linda drive down with the necessary things for our stay and Ron and I would fly.

01:48:45

Since I was still working and doing a fair amount of traveling for the company, I had accumulated many miles and the perks on U .S.

01:48:53

Air. I would often have free upgrades to business or first class, free drinks and stuff.

01:48:59

Ron got the biggest kick out of that. He didn't mind not driving and having the girls pick us up in Tampa.

01:49:07

Since we had a lot of our own clothes at the villa, we usually just needed an overnight bag, so traveling was pretty easy on us.

01:49:15

Toward the end of the 90s, Ron's business was not doing as well as he had hoped and I was laid off from my job at Cygnus, so we decided to sell the

01:49:24

Florida Villa. We were in total agreement and the sale went through without a hitch. When Linda and I retired to Florida in 2005, we left behind family and friends, including

01:49:35

Ron and Carol. We kept in touch on a regular basis, but I never made another friend like Ron.

01:49:42

That is a once -in -a -lifetime occurrence. One day, about 10 years after we moved, we got a call from Ron and Carol asking about any houses for sale in our community.

01:49:53

We were shocked that they would even consider moving down, but were extremely pleased.

01:49:59

Sure enough, they found a house within walking distance and enjoyed three to four years of renewing our friendship before they moved back to New Jersey.

01:50:09

Before they moved, Ron contracted Lewy Body Dementia, as has already been mentioned, and we thought we were going to lose him then.

01:50:18

It was a very difficult disease and left Carol with dealing with the majority of the household responsibilities.

01:50:27

She had to take the keys to the car away because he went off by himself, and if he went off by himself, he would have no way of knowing how to get back.

01:50:35

God bless Carol for handling those responsibilities with such grace, because he really wanted to drive, didn't he,

01:50:43

Carol? Oh, my word. That was a big conversation. In August of 2017, we had an unexpected surprise when our daughter

01:50:51

Cindy, Theo, and family moved to Florida. By the way, they have nine children, one of which didn't come.

01:51:00

Since this was a sudden thing, we had them move in with us. Well, needless to say, having an additional ten people move in, we had to move out.

01:51:12

But during that time, the kids got to go and see, grandkids, that is, to go and see

01:51:17

Uncle Ron and Aunt Carol. They would walk over, spend some time with them, and walk back. Ron would refer to them as the bouncers.

01:51:26

He just got the biggest kick out of them. Whenever we spoke on the phone, he would always ask, how are the bouncers doing, and ask us to make sure we told them hi.

01:51:35

We again kept in touch with Ron and Carol through the pandemic. They were able to move into a wonderful assistant living community, and Ron loved it there.

01:51:46

But that was like Ron. He seemed to adjust to his surroundings, even if at first he may not have cared for it.

01:51:54

Our conversations would invariably get on the things of the Lord. He was so pleased with their new church up there, and they often watched services from the church they went to down in Florida.

01:52:06

Every time we spoke, he would talk about being ready to see his Savior, and was looking forward to that day with great anticipation.

01:52:15

A couple of months ago, when I called Ron, he actually didn't know who I was.

01:52:21

That's when I realized that I had actually lost Ron. A similar thing happened with my own father.

01:52:27

About two years before his passing, he did not recognize me or Linda. He was quite friendly and even happy when we visited him, but he just couldn't recollect who we were.

01:52:39

So when this happened to Ron, I realized I had lost him right then, and that's when my grieving started.

01:52:46

Although this was not easy for me, it did allow me to process his departure before his actual physical departure.

01:52:54

I will miss my buddy, but I know we will meet again in the home God has prepared for those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.

01:53:03

Hopefully there's a golf course in heaven where Ron and me can hit him long and hit him straight. God bless you,

01:53:10

Carol. All right, time to open

01:53:24

God's Word for about an hour. Is that right? Just kidding.

01:53:34

Ron, every Sunday morning after listening to the sermon, would always find me on the way out and shake my hand, but the thing that always stuck in my mind is that it wouldn't just be a quick handshake.

01:53:46

He would hang on, and he wouldn't let go, and he would demand my attention until I was looking him in the eyes, and then he would say something encouraging about the

01:53:56

Word of God, and that to me spoke volumes. You know, I have a mother who's also suffering dementia, so watching that process is difficult, but one thing that remained, both in my mom and in Ron, is that love for God's Word.

01:54:11

He just wanted to hear God's Word. So today we're going to look into God's Word, just two verses today.

01:54:19

Ecclesiastes 7, 1 and 2. It is an interesting passage, and I think in this day of mourning the loss of Ron, but also remembering his life, the key thing to remember is that a good name is life -giving.

01:54:38

Ecclesiastes 7, verse 1 and 2 says, A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

01:54:50

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

01:55:01

So we're first told that a good name is more valuable than the things of this earth. A good name is better than precious ointment.

01:55:10

All of you have heard the expression, His name is Mud. His name is Mud refers to Samuel Mud, who was a doctor at the time when

01:55:20

Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, and Dr. Mud nursed him back to health, and so from then on his name was

01:55:28

Mud. That's where the expression comes from. Our name, our legacy is important.

01:55:37

It identifies who we were in the land of the living, and even now as each of us are here alive, our name matters.

01:55:45

Who are we? What is our identity? For Ron, his favorite hymn was

01:55:52

Trust and Obey. At a Billy Graham crusade, when he was a young man, he trusted, and then he continued to obey.

01:56:02

I heard from Carol that he was part of building a parsonage for a Methodist church in Pensacola, and then he was a youth leader for a

01:56:11

Methodist church in Morristown. He worked to renovate a house. He worked as an optician.

01:56:17

He worked and served well in all that he did, and so as we gather here today, that is a testament that he has a good name, a good legacy, but there is a legacy and a name without which no one can be good, and that name is

01:56:38

Jesus Christ. A good name is better than precious ointment. The name of Jesus is utterly unique.

01:56:46

When John and Peter were walking in the temple and saw a crippled man, they prayed for this man in the name of Jesus, and his legs were healed.

01:56:57

The crippled man was walking and leaping and praising God, and so the Pharisees and Sadducees, being jealous of this miracle, commanded them never to speak in this name, to never speak in the name of Jesus, but the response came from the apostles.

01:57:15

Salvation is found in no other name, for there is no other way for man to be saved.

01:57:26

The one name of Jesus is the name that's saved. Now, read on here. It says a good name is better than precious ointment.

01:57:35

In the context here of the book of Ecclesiastes, precious ointment is pointed out as something extremely valuable.

01:57:43

In fact, in the Gospels, we learn that a bottle of this precious ointment was as valuable as 300 days of hired labor for a workman, 300 denarii, so it was very valuable, and yet there was an event in the life of Jesus where Mary came to Jesus and emptied an entire bottle of precious ointment on his feet, showing that she valued him more than anything else, giving out that much wealth in one moment, pouring her praise and her valuing upon Jesus, but there was something more significant to the meaning of that ointment.

01:58:33

You see, Jesus rebuked the one who tried to stop her, and you'll know who this was,

01:58:39

Judas Iscariot. He said, you shouldn't waste that. It should be given to the poor, and Jesus rebuked

01:58:47

Judas, saying, no, she has done right. She has anointed me for death.

01:58:53

Now, normally, a body will be anointed after dying, but Jesus was anointed before his death to indicate that no one takes his life.

01:59:04

He gives it willingly. He was anointed for that death by Mary because his death was utterly unique.

01:59:14

Even as his name is above every other name, his death is above every other death. His is a unique death.

01:59:21

He died a death that he didn't deserve. The reason that all of us die is because we sin.

01:59:30

Sin is in the world, and each of us are infected by that. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but Jesus never sinned, so why did he die?

01:59:39

He died the death that we deserve. He stood in for us and took the place of sinners who deserve to die, dying on the cross in our place, a substitute sacrifice.

01:59:51

It's a meaning of his death. He was anointed for that death. So third of four points, the day of death is only better than the day of birth if the cause of death is rectified.

02:00:06

It says in Ecclesiastes 7 .2, it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.

02:00:15

Why? For this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

02:00:22

Why would it be good to go to a house of mourning? Well, it is to be reminded that all must die, and yet that's not good news if this life is all there is.

02:00:37

It's only good news if the cause of death has been rectified, and it has.

02:00:46

In the death of Jesus, death was defeated. Ron was born with clubbed feet, and until he entered elementary school, he wore braces on his legs.

02:00:59

This affliction was no doing of his, and by no sin of his or his parents,

02:01:05

Jesus answered that question, but because sin is in the world, there is brokenness in this world, and all manner of suffering.

02:01:13

There was a paralytic brought to Jesus, but when his friends got him there, they found that the house was full of people, and they could not press through the crowd to get this paralytic man to Jesus to be healed.

02:01:27

So, you know the story. They climbed on top of the roof and opened the tiles of the roof, and using ropes, they lowered a paralytic into the midst of the assembly to the feet of Jesus.

02:01:40

When Jesus saw that man, he did not at first heal him. Rather, he said to him, your sins are forgiven.

02:01:53

And many objected to such a thing. Well, who can forgive sin but God alone?

02:02:00

Jesus, hearing the objection, mostly in their own thoughts, reading their thoughts, he answered them and said, but that you may know that the

02:02:09

Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin, stand up and walk.

02:02:15

And the paralyzed man stood and walked in order to demonstrate that Jesus alone has authority to forgive sin.

02:02:24

A house of mourning like this can become a house of rejoicing to those who have this forgiveness of sin.

02:02:33

The death of Jesus was explicitly for this purpose, that in his dying, those who look to him in faith will be credited with his righteousness.

02:02:45

There is one way to remove sin, and that is through the death of Jesus. Jesus died a death that we deserve.

02:02:53

Those who look to him in faith are credited with the righteousness of Christ. Our sins no longer remembered, no longer counted against us.

02:03:01

We are forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ. That is how it can be said that it's better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.

02:03:13

In a house of feasting, you can numb your pain. You can ignore the reality of death.

02:03:20

But the last point is that to lay to heart the end of mankind is only mourning until faith is placed in Jesus.

02:03:31

This is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. When we go to a memorial service, we are reminded of death.

02:03:42

That's a painful thing. But to lay such a thing to heart is to be called to Jesus Christ.

02:03:51

For there is no other way to have resurrection in life. One of the grandsons read John 11.

02:03:58

This is the story of where Jesus was called to go rescue Lazarus. He was so sick.

02:04:03

Lazarus was so sick, he was dying. But the Bible tells us when Jesus heard that, he stayed where he was.

02:04:13

Surprising, right? For two days, intentionally not responding to the call to go.

02:04:22

Why did he do that? So that when he finally arrived, four days later, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.

02:04:33

This was to demonstrate what he had to say to Mary, who would later anoint his feet with pure oil.

02:04:41

He said to them, Mary, I am the resurrection and the life.

02:04:51

The house of mourning turns into a house of praise. The dead come to life.

02:04:59

There is a resurrection of the dead proven by Jesus Christ.

02:05:05

He claimed to be the resurrection and the life. And so he went to that tomb where Lazarus was now behind a stone.

02:05:11

And he said, roll the stone away. And the people said, but Lord, there will be a stench.

02:05:17

Or as the King James says, behold, he stinketh. And yet Jesus had them roll the stone away.

02:05:26

And then said, Lazarus, come forth. And wrapped up like a mummy, Lazarus came out with bandages.

02:05:33

They unwrapped him and he lived to tell the tale. The true story of how

02:05:40

Jesus conquers death. All of this was to point forward to the death of Jesus on the cross and his conquering death himself.

02:05:50

Oh, death, where is your sting? A good name is better than precious ointment.

02:05:59

And the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.

02:06:05

For this is the end of all mankind. And the living will lay it to heart.

02:06:13

So in closing, this is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

02:06:20

When Jesus went to the house of mourning, he wept. John 11, 35 says, at Lazarus' tomb, although he knew what he was going to do, he wept.

02:06:31

He was compassionate. He loved. And the pain of loss is real.

02:06:37

Jesus feels that, knows that. But he alone is the one that conquers death. He alone conquers death by his name.

02:06:47

There is no other name by which men can be saved. Are you here this morning in the house of mourning? Not thinking about death?

02:06:59

Maybe you've put that thought out of your mind. But there is this morning a call to hope, a call to life.

02:07:07

Jesus is called the living hope because he lives. If you will put your faith in him, and what morning better than this,

02:07:18

Ron's remembrance, you too will live. Looking to him, you will be saved.

02:07:25

So at this time we're going to ask everyone to stand, and we're going to read in unison the

02:07:31

Lord's Prayer. There is a line in Jesus' Prayer where he says, forgive us our debts.

02:07:40

We will read the words, but it's possible to just read words and not mean them from our heart.

02:07:46

If this is your prayer, if you know yourself to be a sinner, you know that your sins need to be forgiven.

02:07:53

Pray to the Father in heaven, through Jesus the Son, for the forgiveness of sin.

02:07:59

Let's read these words together. It's on your bulletin. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

02:08:10

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

02:08:22

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

02:08:28

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

02:08:34

Let's remain standing and sing Because He Lives. God sent his

02:08:50

Son. They called him

02:08:55

Jesus. He came to them.

02:09:24

My Savior lives. Because he lives,

02:09:33

I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.

02:09:49

Because I know he holds the future.

02:09:59

And life is worth the living just because he lives.

02:10:09

How sweet to hold a newborn baby and feel the pride.

02:10:31

Still the calm assures this child can face uncertainties.

02:10:45

Because he lives. Because he lives,

02:10:54

I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.

02:11:09

Because I know he holds the future.

02:11:19

And life is worth the living just because he lives.

02:11:30

And then I'll cross the river

02:11:40

I'll find my son. Instead of giving his way to victory,

02:12:00

I'll see the light of glory and I'll know he lives.

02:12:10

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.

02:12:20

Because he lives, all fear is gone.

02:12:30

Because I know he holds the future.

02:12:40

And life is worth the living just because he lives.

02:12:55

Let's pray. So God, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the life of Ron Griffith.

02:13:03

For his good name. Thank you God for his example to all of us.

02:13:09

His example of a warm evangelistic heart. A love for your word.

02:13:15

A trust in what you say. And obedience to the things that you command.

02:13:21

Thank you God for him. Thank you especially what

02:13:26

Ron would want us to remember. Thank you for the name that is above every name.

02:13:33

The name of Jesus. Thank you for forgiveness of sin in his name. Thank you that he conquers death.

02:13:41

He was anointed for that death that we deserve and then rose on the third day. Thank you for this indescribable gift.

02:13:51

Thank you for this time we've had together. It was very special, Lord. A gift from a loving father.

02:13:59

Every good and perfect gift comes from the father of lights who does not change like shifting shadows.

02:14:06

We thank you for this service. Praise you in Jesus' name.

02:14:12

Amen. So we are going to sit and we will hear the singing of Amazing Grace and then when that is over we will progress.

02:14:21

I'll lead down the front. We will ask for the remains of Ron's body to be taken and for Carol to follow and then we can greet out front.

02:14:30

And you're welcome to linger in here as well. So thank you. Hold this.

02:14:47

Amazing grace How sweet the sound

02:14:56

That saved a wretch like me

02:15:05

I once was lost

02:15:10

But now am found T 'was blind but now

02:15:20

I see T 'was grace that taught my heart

02:15:32

To fear And grace my fears relieved

02:15:43

How precious did that grace appear

02:15:52

The hour I first believed

02:16:00

When we've been there

02:16:07

Ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun

02:16:19

We've no less days

02:16:24

To sing God's praise Than when we'd first begun

02:16:38

We've no less days To sing