Beyond the personal touches to Mom's service was the spiritual messages we received from Pastor Kelly Sibley

Sorry for the delay in posting this as I wanted to check with Pastor Kelly that it was okay to post his message on my blog.  I kept forgetting to contact him......as soon as I did(this afternoon)he replied, and has agreed.

Kelly Sibley has officiated at several of our family's services, I always go away feeling comforted....thank you for your kind words, thoughtful messages.....always appreciated.

FUNERAL SERVICE OUTLINE

 

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5: 4

EVERYONE SEATED/LIGHT CANDLES (granddaughter EMILY KNAPP playing)

-       VIRGINIA LEGASPI, SHELLY LOTSBERG, ELAINE DOONANCO

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* please turn off or otherwise silence cell phones

* interment to immediately follow service @ Glendon Community Cemetery

* invitation to luncheon following interment here @ RCMP Hall

* at last respects, please refrain from consoling family until the luncheon

* open mic later on in service shortly following the slideshow

PRAYER OF INVOCATION

SPECIAL MUSIC Grace’s grandson, DAYLEN WIZNIUK

FUNERAL CARD

23^RD PSALM

EULOGY  Grace’s granddaughter, DANICA SIEWERT

VIDEO / SLIDESHOW

Note: During this slideshow presentation you will hear a poem and the voice of Grace’s husband, Jeep, as he makes reference to 4 important songs to both he and Grace: “Can I Have This Dance (For The Rest Of My Life?), “Home Is You”, “She’s An Eagle When She Flies”, and “You Are The Rose Of My Heart”.

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN “Old Rugged Cross”

OPEN MIC

SPECIAL MUSIC Grace’s granddaughter, EMILY KNAPP

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING       

SCRIPTURE READING / TEXT

FUNERAL MESSAGE

PRAYER FOR FAMILY / LORD’S PRAYER

SPECIAL MUSIC SID & SHIRLEY SMITH

BENEDICTION 2 Thessalonians 2: 16,17

Grace Elaine Smith funeral service message

Grace and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I always do, I want to begin this message by thanking Grace’s family for meeting with me. Jeep, Daryl and Donna, you were all very candid and very hospitable as you welcomed me into Grace’s home. Which, coincidentally, I learned was truly a home that Grace made with all of her character and talent. I truly appreciated the time that you took in order to tell me so much about Grace.

I thought about today’s message, and the one word that kept coming back to my mind was grace…Grace, the wonderful lady who has touched so many lives and grace, the wonderful gift of God that touches everyone’s life in so many ways.

G is for Grace the Gram who loved her grandkids. Her family meant everything to her and Grace really enjoyed watching her grandkids playing hockey and she took an interest and pride in everything they did. I also learned that G is for Grace the Gardener who loved her flowers, her garden and her trees. She did so much to beautify her home with gardening that Jeep joked it was only natural that her funeral would be directed by the Grace Gardens Funeral Chapel from St. Paul.

R, I learned, is for Grace the Recorder of family history. One of her pride and joys was the history book she worked so hard on and a dream of hers was to complete another history book on the life and times of her parents; something that sadly the Alzheimer’s robbed her of. In keeping with that desire to record every moment the family showed me the multitude of pictures Grace took. Grace firmly believed that pictures showed what you did in life and she truly was a gifted photographer. Jeep and the family wanted me to make a special note of the books here on display for all of you to look at later on.

A is for Grace the Artistic lady who had an eye for beauty and a talent for creativity. She loved to paint; whether it was the house, the fence or the granary, Grace kept it all beautiful and Jeep noted that his beloved wife had the steadiest hand and the straightest eye for decorating their home. A is also for Grace the very Able lady who was capable and well-known for her abilities to do so many things and do them well. One of the first things her family told me was that her hands could do anything. 

C stands for Grace the Cook. That passion for gardening and her other loves for picking berries and keeping chickens were put to good use in her capacity to cook. Everything she made was good and she was well known for her Poppy Chiffon Cake. And for many years, grace cooked with her many good friends in the Glendon catering Club. C also stands for Grace the collector who loved going to auctions and sales to pick up and add top her collections of records, antiques, crocks and lanterns.

And last, but not least and certainly not all there is to say about this multi-talented and lovable lady,

 E stands for Grace the easy-going friend and neighbor who had so many friends largely, I think, because she was not a gossiping lady nor was she judgmental towards others. To Grace it was important that you treat everyone the same and she often told her kids and grandkids that you can’t take back words so if you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all. And E also stands for Grace the endearing lady whom so many people deeply loved with sincerity. All you need to do is look around this Hall today to see how much she was indeed loved and how much she loved others in return.

Indeed, she was Grace, the wonderful lady who touched so many lives.

This now brings me to the other grace I mentioned earlier: and that is the grace of God that touches everyone’s life. John 1; 16 says that “from the fullness of (God’s) grace, we have all received one blessing after another”. 

Blessed is the man or woman who receives blessings from God’s hand and recognizes them for what they are. Many people go on through life blissfully ignorant of what God does for them day and daily. We owe even the breath in our lungs right now and the next beat of our hearts to the grace of God who spares us to see each consecutive second of our lives.

Isaiah 26: 10 says that though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord. How sad it is for God’s creatures, you and I, to go about ignorant of our Creator. We all love the beauty of God’s artistic flair and His handiwork in flowers and trees and in those whom we love so dearly. It is indeed by the grace of God that you all came to the experience of knowing Grace and being blessed by having her in your life.

But we are frail human beings bound up in our sinful nature and so we often disregard the One who has made us and all that is around us. We can become blinded to the things of God by looking anywhere else except to God; which is why Jonah 2: 8 says that “those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs”.

So in thinking about Grace today and about the grace of God, I simply want to illuminate to all of you that regardless of what you accept as truth, the absolute truth of God is that you receive blessings in this life from the fullness of His grace. But more importantly that God’s Word tells us that when it comes to this life and the life everlasting beyond this life, Ephesians 2; 8 & 9 boldly says that  “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Do you understand that, congregation?  I would be like the apostle Paul and urge you not ot receive the grace of God in vain. We are frail and weak people and we cannot do, think or say anything in order to be saved because it is only by God’s grace that we are redeemed. And this is why the Lord tells us in 2 Corinthians 12: 9 saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It is our most gracious God who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. (2 Timothy 1:9)

May we each and every one of us always and forever recognize His hand upon us for this life we live today by His grace and the life eternal that awaits only for those who by His grace will have true faith in His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

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GRAVESIDE SERVICE OUTLINE

SCRIPTURE READING James 4:8

PRAYER

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

16^th PSALM

SCRIPTURE READING 1Thessalonians 4: 13-18

COMMITTAL

LORD’S PRAYER

BENEDICTION: 

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH; AND IN JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD, WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY,

SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DEAD & BURIED.

HE DESCENDED INTO THE STATE OF DEATH AND WAS RAISED AGAIN ON THE 3^RD DAY. HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.FROM THERE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE QUICK AND THE DEAD.

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING – AMEN.

To Thee, O Lord, I fly
And on Thy help depend;
Thou art my Lord and King Most High;
Do Thou my soul defend.
I praise the Lord above
Whose counsel guides aright;
My heart instructs me in His love
In seasons of the night. 

I keep before me still
The Lord Whom I have proved;
At my right hand He guards from ill,
And I shall not be moved.
My heart is glad and blest,
My soul its joy shall tell;
And, lo, my flesh in hope shall rest,
And still in safety dwell. 

My soul in death's dark pit
Shall not be left by Thee;
Corruption Thou wilt not permit
Thy holy one to see.
Life's pathway Thou wilt show,
To Thy right hand wilt guide,
Where streams of pleasure ever flow,
And boundless joys abide.