WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:01.800 Well, good evening, church. 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:08.859 Tonight I'd like us to turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 18. 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:12.620 That's page 987 in the Pew Bible. 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:21.699 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 18, page 987. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.500 Last Friday we got the call that our friend and our good brother in the Lord, Scott, had unexpectedly passed away. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:46.240 And as I thought about what I would share tonight, this text from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 was what came to mind. 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:53.460 This is a text that I have leaned on personally time and time again in moments like these. 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:59.320 And I think because in many ways it speaks right to our situation. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.060 This church at Thessalonica that Paul writes to had lost some of their loved ones. 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:07.400 And they were shocked. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:08.799 And they were grieving. 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:15.500 So you see, God in his great love for us speaks to us in the Bible in the most direct and relevant ways. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.400 Here's a passage written to a church living the same experience we are. 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:21.260 And it speaks to us right in our need. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.640 How do we face the loss of a loved one, of a friend? 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:30.099 And what difference does Christ make as we face the reality of death? 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:35.019 Well, let's read Paul's words here and let's find out. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:36.879 Let me read this for us. 00:01:38.219 --> 00:01:40.879 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, starting in verse 13. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:57.840 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, starting in verse 13. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:27.840 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:29.360 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, starting in verse 13. 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:30.280 Let's pray, Lord. 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:31.159 Will you pray with me? 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:37.640 God, we are grateful that in this moment, as we remember our friend, our brother, 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.300 that we can turn to your word and find encouragement, comfort, and hope. 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:46.180 God, we pray that you would speak to us tonight as we gather around your word together. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.860 God, we long to hear a word from you. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:51.620 So would you speak tonight? 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:52.080 We pray. 00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:53.680 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:59.280 So there are three things this passage is telling us to do, actually. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.360 And those three things are, in the face of loss, this passage is telling us to grieve, 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.840 and it's telling us to hope, and then it's telling us to encourage one another. 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:15.439 This passage gives us permission to grieve, gives us a ground for hope, and it gives us 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:17.420 a call, a call to encourage. 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.620 So I just want to look at each of those three things briefly tonight. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:23.460 As we come to God's word together. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:25.640 First, grieve. 00:03:26.320 --> 00:03:27.960 Look again at verse 13 with me. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:32.100 Paul says, we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are 00:03:32.100 --> 00:03:35.420 asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:38.060 Now, listen closely to what Paul is saying here. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.260 He's not saying that I don't want you to grieve at all. 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:46.640 No, he's saying, I don't want you to grieve as others do who have no hope. 00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:49.980 In other words, he's assuming that they will actually grieve. 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:52.199 And he wants to inform them. 00:03:52.699 --> 00:03:56.019 He wants to instruct them so that they can grieve with hope, so that they can grieve well. 00:03:56.280 --> 00:04:02.280 But Paul does acknowledge and affirm their sadness, their grief. 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:09.099 Because you see, friends, when we lose someone we love, it is expected, natural, and right 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:10.679 that we grieve. 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:16.480 After all, in doing so, we follow the example of Jesus himself, don't we? 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:19.860 Pastor Matt opened the service with this passage. 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:24.139 What do we find in John 11 when his friend Lazarus died? 00:04:24.340 --> 00:04:26.819 Jesus weeps at his tomb. 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:29.439 In fact, Jesus doesn't just weep there. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:30.460 He gets angry. 00:04:31.460 --> 00:04:37.939 Jesus actually rages at the ravages of sin and death that have corrupted God's good world. 00:04:37.939 --> 00:04:46.120 In fact, we Christians, when we're thinking and feeling rightly, you know, we ought to actually 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:47.860 grieve more deeply than anyone else. 00:04:49.740 --> 00:04:50.759 And here's why. 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:56.740 Because we know that death isn't the way it's supposed to be. 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:01.579 God created the world for life. 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:05.879 God created you and I in his image to live in fellowship with him forever. 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:11.639 However, it's because of sin that death has entered God's good creation. 00:05:12.159 --> 00:05:17.680 In fact, Paul, in another letter of his in 1 Corinthians, Paul actually calls death an enemy. 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:25.379 So you see, despite what the world around us might say, death is not something that's natural. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:28.860 It's not the way it's supposed to be. 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:32.680 So it's right for us to grieve. 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:36.860 Christians are not stoics, you see. 00:05:37.520 --> 00:05:42.460 We don't simply bite our upper lip and say, that's the way the world works, time to move on. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:44.480 No, we actually grieve. 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:49.560 So friends, tonight, let us grieve. 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:56.839 I, for one, am going to miss Scott showing up early, nearly every week to evening service. 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:01.220 Which only those of us maybe on the music team and the AV team realized. 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:07.139 I will miss the way that he would innocently interrupt the music team's rehearsal every week 00:06:07.139 --> 00:06:10.819 so he could tell us how much he couldn't wait to sing the songs that we were practicing. 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:13.740 Ooh, that's a good one, he would say. 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:21.960 I, for one, will miss the way that he would call me pretty much at any time of the day, except in the morning. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.300 He would never call in the morning because he was never up before 11th. 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.120 He would call me just to tell me something exciting that had happened to him that day. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:31.800 For no particular reason. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:34.939 Nick, you won't believe what I just saw. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.180 And just tell me, just to share joy. 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:43.699 I think, above all, I'm going to miss Scott's enthusiasm for the Lord. 00:06:45.400 --> 00:06:49.460 On more than one occasion, I remember having conversations with Scott on the drive home. 00:06:49.780 --> 00:06:52.240 I would often give him a ride home after the evening service. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:59.720 And he would often tell me of his hunger and his desire for God to show up, as he would often say. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.879 When is God going to come down and show up? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:12.500 Friends, oh, that we had such a hunger for God to show up. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:17.139 So let us grieve. 00:07:19.939 --> 00:07:21.920 But our text tonight presses on, doesn't it? 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:22.680 It doesn't end there. 00:07:23.159 --> 00:07:26.300 We grieve, yes, but we don't grieve as those who have no hope. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:28.319 That brings us to our second point. 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:31.500 First, we grieve, but second, we are to hope. 00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:40.500 And Paul's description of hope is found in the long central section of our passage from verse 14 all the way down to verse 17. 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:46.079 And here, Paul gives us a thumbnail sketch of the Christian hope. 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:54.620 And you see, if you look at verses 14 and 15, that hope for us Christians is not mere wishful thinking. 00:07:54.620 --> 00:08:04.300 It's not just hoping that something may happen in the future like the Red Sox will win the World Series again or that the Patriots will win the Super Bowl again. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:04.660 No. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:12.360 Hope for Christians is planted firmly in historical reality. 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:17.600 In the event of Jesus' own life, death, and resurrection. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:24.319 What God did in history through Jesus, his son, is the bedrock of our hope. 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:32.159 In fact, in Hebrews chapter 6, our hope in Jesus is described as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:37.940 So real, so firm, so weighty that it keeps us stable in the midst of the storm. 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:41.040 Look again at verse 14. 00:08:41.160 --> 00:08:47.240 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:51.900 Do you see there the deep connection that exists between Jesus and his people, those who trust in him? 00:08:52.540 --> 00:09:03.640 In his incarnation, death, and resurrection, Jesus took hold of us in our humanity and dealt with our sins so completely that our fate and his are inseparable now. 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.120 Another passage from the book of Hebrews puts it like this. 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:17.580 It says, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, that's you and me, Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:18.220 Why? 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:26.819 That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.480 What Jesus did, he did for us. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:35.639 He died our death that our death might die. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.420 He rose to life that we might live. 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:40.940 Jesus himself said, I'm the resurrection and the life. 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:45.000 Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:48.639 And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never ultimately die. 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:53.740 Friends, the Christian hope is all about him. 00:09:53.980 --> 00:09:54.940 It's all about Jesus. 00:09:54.940 --> 00:10:00.640 Jesus, I have nothing else to bring to you or to offer to you tonight than the name of Jesus Christ. 00:10:03.520 --> 00:10:06.380 And this hope that we have in him is actually sort of a twofold hope. 00:10:08.260 --> 00:10:15.420 First, we know from Scripture that all who die in Christ at the moment of death are with the Lord, as Paul will say in Philippians 1. 00:10:15.800 --> 00:10:20.000 That to depart from this life is to be with Christ, to be with him in glory. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.879 And we find Paul saying similar things in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.960 He says, to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:29.919 And that is the first stage of our Christian hope. 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:40.299 That the saints departed are with Christ in glory, with their sorrows gone and their afflictions ceased and relieved, and with their joy full. 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:46.839 As we heard tonight, Scott would often say, I can't wait to meet him. 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:49.759 I can't wait to meet that guy. 00:10:53.219 --> 00:10:55.439 And friends, the promises of God are firm. 00:10:56.919 --> 00:11:01.919 Scott is with the one who loved him best, his Lord Jesus Christ. 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:06.819 We can have certain hope in that tonight. 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:12.600 But there's an even greater climax to come. 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:14.740 That's not the end of the story. 00:11:16.020 --> 00:11:18.860 There's actually a second part to our hope. 00:11:19.020 --> 00:11:21.420 Those who die are with the Lord, but the story doesn't end there. 00:11:22.280 --> 00:11:26.240 And that's what Paul is describing here in the rest of 1 Thessalonians in our text. 00:11:27.260 --> 00:11:32.260 He's lifting our gaze up to the completion of God's promises to come. 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:37.299 There's coming a day, Paul says, when Christ will return. 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:39.480 That's the first thing Paul says. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:42.019 Our bodies will be raised. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:44.960 And there will be a great reunion. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.039 Those three things, that's our hope in full. 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:52.700 Let's look at those briefly. 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:54.960 In verse 16, we have Jesus' return. 00:11:55.419 --> 00:12:00.379 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command and the voice of an archangel into the sound of the trumpet of God. 00:12:00.379 --> 00:12:03.480 What Paul is describing here is the return of Christ. 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:08.500 It's this royal arrival of the world's true king in glory. 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:12.379 You see, friends, Jesus' first coming was a coming in humility. 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:15.919 But his second coming will be a coming in glory. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:20.860 And it will be loud, Paul says, that coming. 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:22.840 It will be unmistakable. 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:25.460 See how he piles up these images to make that point? 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:28.539 It will be a cry and a voice and the sound of a trumpet. 00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:32.939 Maybe a few electric guitars here and there with amps turned up to 11. 00:12:35.379 --> 00:12:36.419 You won't miss it. 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.120 Christ will return. 00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:43.159 And friends, that's good news of hope for us. 00:12:44.439 --> 00:12:45.519 For lots of reasons. 00:12:45.699 --> 00:12:52.480 But one in particular, because what the bodily return of Christ teaches us, even though it seems a little strange on the surface, you have to admit. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:13:00.940 What the bodily return of Christ teaches us is that the one who took hold of us in his incarnation has not let us go. 00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:04.860 That Christ will always be with us. 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:06.320 He will always be united to us. 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:07.800 That he will not abandon us. 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:11.000 And he will come and he will complete his good work. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:17.960 And upon his return, look at the rest of verse 15. 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:21.720 The dead in Christ will rise first. 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:25.139 Paul speaking here of this second part of our hope, the resurrection. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.440 Christ's return and the resurrection of the body. 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:34.940 Friends, I wonder if you've spent much time thinking about the resurrection of the body. 00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:37.160 My guess is probably not. 00:13:40.140 --> 00:13:46.920 But you have to see that the ultimate future that God has for his children is not merely one of souls in heaven. 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:53.660 But the ultimate future that God has for his children is of our bodies. 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:59.880 Our very physicality remade and perfected and transformed in glory. 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:02.740 Dwelling in a completely healed creation. 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:04.660 This is the future that God has for us. 00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:13.140 You see, just as Jesus emerged victorious over death in his body, the same will be true for all those who trust in him on that day. 00:14:18.140 --> 00:14:23.920 The French philosopher Luc Ferry, who is himself not a Christian, once made this observation talking about the resurrection of the body. 00:14:24.900 --> 00:14:34.760 He says, the Christian response to mortality, the resurrection of the body, is without question the most effective of all responses to death. 00:14:34.940 --> 00:14:45.900 It would seem to be the only version of salvation that enables us not only to transcend the fear of death, but also to beat death itself. 00:14:45.899 --> 00:14:49.419 Do you see what he's saying? 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:57.980 He's saying, what we believe as Christians, what we know to be true because of Jesus, is unlike anything else that the world has on offer. 00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:08.700 That what is held out for us in the hope that we have in Jesus isn't just sort of getting a nice consolation prize by getting to sort of go to heaven, 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:14.840 but that God will actually consume and beat and reverse death itself. 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:18.980 That death is not the last word. 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:23.740 And that God in the resurrection will give us back all that death has stolen. 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:28.740 Our regrets will be undone. 00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:32.659 And our sadness will be swallowed up. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.259 And our guilt will be cleansed. 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:43.680 Because all those things that we wish we could have done in the body and that we regret we have done in the body will be healed in the body. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:52.419 You see, our bodies by a great miracle of God will be restored and made new. 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:56.899 Because God will have the last word and not death. 00:15:59.719 --> 00:16:02.519 And that leads us right into the third part of this hope that we have. 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:03.500 The reunion. 00:16:03.839 --> 00:16:04.859 Look at verse 17 with me. 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:11.639 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.519 And so we will always be with the Lord. 00:16:14.800 --> 00:16:16.039 You see what Paul is describing here? 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:22.600 When Jesus returns and transforms our corruptible bodies into incorruptible ones, putting death behind us once and for all, 00:16:22.700 --> 00:16:29.039 on that day, the church in heaven and the church on earth will be united around Jesus as he comes to reign. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.159 In other words, there is a great reunion that awaits us. 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:46.899 When Christ comes to make all things new and all things well, then the children of God in our bodies made new will embrace one another again. 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:58.100 And every brother and every sister we have had in the Lord, not one, Paul says, will be lost or be forgotten or be left out when Jesus comes to reign. 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.779 And together we will always be with the Lord. 00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:07.919 Friends, this is our hope. 00:17:08.719 --> 00:17:11.219 The return, the resurrection, the reunion. 00:17:12.899 --> 00:17:18.079 And as we grieve Scott's passing, this is the hope that the Bible wants us to lean on. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:23.419 This is what we should have as an anchor for our soul. 00:17:24.419 --> 00:17:25.759 That Christ will return. 00:17:26.419 --> 00:17:28.039 That he will make all things new. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:31.019 And we will dwell with him as his children forever. 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:36.960 Let me ask you, do you have this hope tonight? 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:45.400 Or are you somewhat anchorless in the face of our very real mortality? 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:47.920 Are you adrift? 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:53.380 We don't often like to think about death, do we? 00:17:53.380 --> 00:17:56.340 And then we get shocking news. 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:01.680 That someone that we had always counted on being there whenever the church doors were open will not be there again. 00:18:04.780 --> 00:18:06.020 What is your hope tonight? 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:14.960 The opening of the Heidelberg Catechism, which is an old summary of what Christians believe, begins with this question. 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:19.000 What is your only comfort in life and in death, it asks. 00:18:20.139 --> 00:18:21.420 And it gives this answer. 00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:24.220 That I am not my own. 00:18:25.140 --> 00:18:30.519 But I belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:18:31.340 --> 00:18:37.600 He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:45.080 He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.420 In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:57.340 Because I belong to him, Christ by his Spirit assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:01.380 Friends, can you say that tonight? 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:14.060 Can you make those words your own and place yourself, body and soul, in life and in death into the hands of your faithful Savior, Jesus Christ? 00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:21.259 Jesus says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:28.099 And this hope stands ready for all of us tonight. 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:37.819 This hope that our friend Scott lived and cherished and practically bled in all of his imperfection. 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:42.019 This hope stands ready for each one of you. 00:19:44.419 --> 00:19:48.159 For all of us who turn and take hold of the risen Christ for ourselves. 00:19:51.679 --> 00:19:54.220 So we grieve, but we also hope. 00:19:55.919 --> 00:19:57.439 And third, we encourage one another. 00:19:58.659 --> 00:20:02.039 Verse 18, therefore, encourage one another with these words. 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:07.460 You see, friends, grieving and hoping well can't be done alone. 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:09.859 We need one another. 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:13.519 This Christian life thing is a community project. 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:16.940 God has made us as a body, as a family. 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:22.720 We need to encourage one another to grieve well, and we need to encourage one another to hope well. 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:24.899 And how do we do that? 00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:29.420 I think first just being present with one another is a good start. 00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:35.200 Just to be with one another, to spend time with one another, to be in fellowship with one another. 00:20:35.860 --> 00:20:38.660 The mere ministry of presence is an encouragement to us. 00:20:40.580 --> 00:20:41.840 Next, we can pray for one another. 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:46.400 We can take our cares and concerns to God, and we can thank and praise God for our hope in Christ. 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:51.700 We can thank and praise God for the life of Scott, for what he meant to us, and for what we'll miss. 00:20:51.700 --> 00:20:55.180 Until that great reunion when Christ returns. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:59.620 And last, we can remind each other of Jesus' love for us. 00:21:00.100 --> 00:21:03.700 We can speak of the great hope that we have in Christ to one another. 00:21:04.360 --> 00:21:08.880 With these words, Paul says, we're to encourage one another. 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:16.080 Take these words and impart life and hope and encouragement to one another. 00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:20.799 Speak to each other about the great love of Christ. 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:25.840 You know, perhaps that's the best way we can honor Scott's life. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:27.860 How do you honor someone? 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.080 I think the best way is to love what they loved. 00:21:32.299 --> 00:21:34.819 And to speak in love about what they loved. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.140 And above all, we know that Scott loved his faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.240 Because he knew that Christ first loved him. 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:47.779 So, friends, encourage one another with these words. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:51.220 That Christ has loved us despite our sin. 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:54.640 That he has conquered death and judgment on the cross. 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:56.380 And he has rose from the grave. 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:57.599 He has risen again. 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:00.480 And he will return to make all things new. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:11.200 And so, friends, as we say goodbye to Scott, let me encourage you to grieve and to hope and to encourage one another. 00:22:12.620 --> 00:22:13.180 Let's pray. 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:17.860 God, we thank you for Scott's life. 00:22:19.860 --> 00:22:22.840 God, thank you that in this service we get to pay tribute to him. 00:22:24.340 --> 00:22:29.880 Most of all, Father, that we get to pay tribute to your great son who has loved us and has loved Scott. 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:35.340 God, thank you for the grace that you've extended to our friends, Scott, in Christ in this life. 00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:50.779 God, we thank you for the grace that we don't have to cover up our failures and our faults and the ways in which we are so obviously sinful. 00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:59.439 God, thank you for the way in which Scott showed us that your grace is so real and so palpable for us in our weakness. 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:05.179 God, we pray that our memories of him will become opportunities to thank you and praise you. 00:23:06.099 --> 00:23:08.079 God, we pray that you would comfort us in our loss. 00:23:09.199 --> 00:23:11.419 God, we ask that you would be with his family and his friends. 00:23:12.639 --> 00:23:14.159 May they find comfort in you, Lord Jesus. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:18.980 And God, may we, as this text says, encourage one another in our hope. 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:22.220 May we look forward to your return, Lord Jesus. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:29.339 May we look forward to the reunion of your church, all our brothers and sisters who've gone before us. 00:23:30.419 --> 00:23:34.459 And may your sure and steadfast promise of hope be the anchor of our souls. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:37.859 We ask this, Father, in Christ's name. 00:23:38.619 --> 00:23:38.919 Amen. 00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:44.279 We're going to sing one more song together tonight. 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:46.500 So as the music team comes up, why don't we stand? 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:47.879 Why don't we sing together? 00:23:47.879 --> 00:23:47.980 Amen. 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:48.299 Amen. 00:23:48.299 --> 00:23:49.159 Amen. 00:23:49.159 --> 00:23:49.240 Amen. 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:49.579 Amen. 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:49.819 Amen. 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:49.919 Amen. 00:23:49.919 --> 00:23:49.980 Amen. 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:50.039 Amen. 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:50.980 Amen. 00:23:50.980 --> 00:23:51.039 Amen. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:52.000 Amen. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:52.039 Amen. 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:53.039 Amen. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:53.099 Amen. 00:23:53.099 --> 00:23:53.179 Amen. 00:24:05.339 --> 00:24:22.539 Amen. 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:22.639 Amen. 00:24:22.639 --> 00:24:23.019 Amen. 00:24:23.019 --> 00:24:23.039 Amen. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:23.279 Amen. 00:24:24.179 --> 00:24:24.240 Amen. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:24.679 Amen. 00:24:24.679 --> 00:24:24.839 Amen. 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:26.539 Amen. 00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:32.879 Amen. 00:24:32.879 --> 00:24:33.319 Amen. 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:39.839 Sing like never before 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.839 Oh my soul 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:49.000 I worship your holy name 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:55.439 The sun comes up 00:24:55.439 --> 00:24:59.240 It's a new day dawning 00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:04.980 It's time to sing your song again 00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:08.559 Whatever may pass 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:13.440 And whatever comes before me 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:22.240 Let me be singing when the evening comes 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:28.240 Bless the Lord of my soul 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:32.099 Oh my soul 00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:37.700 Worship your holy name 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:41.339 Sing like never before 00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:44.920 Oh my soul 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:50.380 I worship your holy name 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:57.620 You're rich in love 00:25:57.620 --> 00:26:01.340 And you're slow to anger 00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:07.619 Faith is great and your heart is kind 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:10.619 For all your goodness 00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:14.479 I will keep on singing 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:22.940 Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:26.799 Bless the Lord of my soul 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:27.659 Oh my soul 00:26:27.659 --> 00:26:30.659 Oh my soul 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:36.519 Worship your holy name 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:40.379 Sing like never before 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:44.240 Oh my soul 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:49.700 I'll worship your holy name 00:26:49.700 --> 00:26:53.559 And on my day 00:26:53.559 --> 00:26:57.419 And my strength is failing 00:26:57.420 --> 00:26:58.800 The end 00:26:58.800 --> 00:27:00.100 The end draws near 00:27:00.100 --> 00:27:04.000 And my time has come 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.620 Still my soul 00:27:06.620 --> 00:27:08.560 Will sing your praise 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:09.559 And on my day 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:10.559 And on my day 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:11.559 And on my day 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:12.419 And on my day 00:27:12.419 --> 00:27:15.079 Ten thousand years 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:16.019 And then forever 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:17.019 And forever 00:27:17.019 --> 00:27:18.019 And forever 00:27:18.019 --> 00:27:19.019 And forever 00:27:19.019 --> 00:27:49.000 Oh my soul 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:50.000 Oh my soul 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.000 Oh my soul 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:59.000 Worship your holy name 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:03.000 Sing like never before 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:07.180 Oh my soul 00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:11.180 I'll worship your holy name 00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:19.180 I'll worship your holy name 00:28:19.180 --> 00:28:25.180 Lord, I'll worship your holy name 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:33.180 Friends, thank you for coming tonight 00:28:33.180 --> 00:28:35.160 We're going to have a time of 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:37.460 Just fellowship and drinks and snacks in the back 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:38.519 Feel free to stick around 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:40.220 And just fellowship with one another 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:43.860 If you're a regular attender in the evening service 00:28:43.860 --> 00:28:45.140 We didn't take up an offering tonight 00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:46.400 But if you have an offering to give 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:47.480 There are baskets in the front 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.680 Let me end our service 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:51.140 With a benediction 00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:53.880 This is from the book of Numbers 00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:56.480 Friends, the Lord bless you and keep you 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:58.600 The Lord make his face to shine upon you 00:28:58.600 --> 00:28:59.580 And be gracious to you 00:28:59.580 --> 00:29:01.980 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you 00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:03.380 And give you peace 00:29:03.380 --> 00:29:04.700 In the name of Jesus 00:29:04.700 --> 00:29:05.680 Go in peace 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:09.019 Thanks to the Lord bless you and keep you 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:10.519 Thank you 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:11.019 Thanks to the Lord bless you andzar you 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:11.440 I will let you know 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:12.240 Thanks to the Lord bless you andstar I haven't been 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:12.759 And LG 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:13.600 Please 00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:14.340 Thank you 00:29:14.340 --> 00:29:14.460 Thank you 00:29:14.460 --> 00:29:15.220 Hi 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:16.620 Please 00:29:16.620 --> 00:29:17.039 Thank you 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.140 Thank you 00:29:18.140 --> 00:29:18.700 Please 00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:18.720 I will love to hear you 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:19.180 Thank you 00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:20.860 And really 00:29:20.860 --> 00:29:24.160 Also 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:25.220 Thank you 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:25.400 Great 00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:26.360 Stelle 00:29:26.360 --> 00:29:27.360 You 00:29:27.360 --> 00:29:29.440 The Lord bless you 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.299 And really 00:29:31.299 --> 00:29:32.000 Thanks 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.200 And really 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:34.400 And really