Oak Hill Church of Christ 7-2-23 Message: "What Do You Say At A Funeral"

Oak Hill Church of Christ preaching minister, Randy Sterling, delivers a message on the importance of remembering that God has true power over life and death.

Loss is something almost everyone has experienced. Whether it was denied victory in a tournament, a failed test, a lost job, or an ended relationship, we know what it feels like to have something, and then to have it taken away.

Perhaps the worst loss of all is the loss of a close family member. Especially one who was older than we. To us, they had always existed, and must always exist. Their presence gives us assurances about what the world is made of, and their absence gives us the disheartening feeling that some of what the world is made of is unfairness, cruelty, and darkness.

God shows us through His Son, Jesus, that what we see as loss or an end is not so for Him. What we see as a loss, Jesus sees as an opportunity for victory. God, throughout the Bible, often shows His power only when man has assured himself that there is no power left to save what was lost.

Jesus reassures his beloved family, including today's believers, that his power is not only over temporary things, but over eternal ones. Jesus proves, through the resurrection of Lazarus, dead for three days, that in him rests the power over life itself.

Christians struggling with loss can find comfort in Jesus' gentle concern for his beloved family, and in his promise that he will come again, and with him will come the promise of eternal life, the victory that undoes all loss.