Funerals or memorial services are interesting events. The person who has passed is long, long gone. They are on the other side now. But for those of us who are still living, we get to talk and reminisce about them.
Every now and then, you get to speak at a funeral. Sometimes, it can be tough. I was once asked to speak at the funeral of someone who had committed suicide. Those are never easy. Other times you speak at funerals, and you really don’t have a clue where that person is.
But every now and then, you get to speak at an “easy funeral.” I love those. They are a piece of cake. Why? You know exactly where that person is! You get to brag about Jesus and brag about them! How do they phrase that old saying? Easy peasy!
The Walls family asked me to speak at the funeral service for Sherl Walls.
One thing I loved about Sherl was that he was so mighty in the Scriptures that we could have just called him Apollos!
Acts 18:24
And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
Another thing I loved about Sherl was how he could spot false teaching a mile away. How was he able to do that? He was a mighty man who knew the Word of God! But he also wasn’t a wimp. If he heard any false teachings, he would speak up quickly and boldly against it.
There was a hymn played at his funeral that I had not heard before. It was by John Peterson, I Want To See My Saviour First Of All. That was Sherl. Even though he so missed his wife and would tell me at church how much he missed her, he wanted to see Jesus first and foremost! He loved the Saviour of the World and wanted to see him very badly. Well, as much as we miss him, his dreams came true the day he passed!
Here is a link to Sherl’s funeral service. I hope you will watch all of it. It was a joy to hear some of the stories and memories of Sherl and his life. You’ll get to hear from Jeff and Pastor David about Sherl and what he meant to them. They knew him better than I did, but they did ask me to speak for a few minutes, which starts at about the 23-minute mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIpXxCFLj-c&t=1422s
Your funeral is coming up soon. Someone will be speaking at it. Make sure you are born again, saved, and living wholeheartedly for Jesus. Make sure those who speak at your funeral can say, “What an easy funeral to speak at!”
Until the nets are full,
P.S. Since Sherl was a great, great soul-winner, let’s have some fun and encourage each other as soul-winners as well. There is something that Sherl cannot do anymore and that is talk to lost people. That is the one thing he will never do again. It is our job to pick up the baton and be bold in racing to reach the lost.
We have heard from tons of people through the years who have read One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven. They put the book down and now witness all the time. Let’s have some fun and put the book at 50% off, so you can pick some up for your friends and encourage them to be bold soul winners this fall and all the days to come!
https://markcahill.org/product-category/specials/
P.P.S. One church in Sarasota is putting their faith into action. Read what Liz had to say about their “Share your Faith” month!
Hey Mark,
We started “Share Your Faith” month at church, which includes sermons, sharing God-at-work moments during the service, Wednesday night classes, and giving out your book One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven to our congregation, so we can all read it as a church this month. Wednesday night classes are using the book and the Discussion Guide as the backbone of the class to inspire, equip, and share stories of people we were able to share with during the week. Oh, and we are putting one of your tracts in every bulletin this Sunday and encouraging/challenging people to give that tract to someone this week.
We are so excited and people seem excited about it, too. We have many who regularly share their faith, but we wanted to make a concentrated effort during the month of August to encourage, inspire, equip, and then share the testimonies! After church yesterday, someone walked up to me and said, “I’m going to go home to make the call I need to make.” Yay, God!
Thanks for all you do to inspire, encourage and challenge -and provide great resources. Blessings on you!
Liz in Sarasota