The undertaker was obviously pleased with the funeral service I took a fortnight ago, as he has asked me to take another. This time it will be a short committal service in a country cemetery. This is a beautiful place surrounded by pasture land with a river running through and a hill in the near distance. A young women has died suddenly, in her 50's.The relatives are simple country folk who need to know their daughter is respected at this time. I hope that the words I say will give them some comfort in their loss. As I said in my previous post this is a position of great privilege to be near a family in their extreme grief.
It is not a time for deciding how the departed stands in relation to God. God is holy and just, good and merciful, only he knows the secrets of our hearts. We are there to declare that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and leave the Spirit to apply those words to the hearts of those present.
Every time I take a few days off from my blog my ratings slump. Very rarely do people go back into my old posts and read again. This is a typical attitude of the human heart, always wanting something different. At this time of year we should not be greedily wondering want new thing we will be getting for Christmas. Instead we should be looking at the old, old story, which is ever new of a baby who amazingly was God incarnate, God's gift to those who will put there trust in this one who was to grow up to give His life for His people. Set aside the controversy over whether December 25th is the actual date of His birth.(Shepherds do not keep their sheep out at night in Israel in December.) and set aside time to think about the fact that He did come and ponder if He came to set you free and if your answer is ,"Yes," He will make you free indeed.
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