Last Friday I was able to speak at the funeral of my step
father, Walker. I appreciate everyone's prayers for my mom and me, Monica and
the rest of our family. The funeral was a great celebration of the life Walker
lived. The church was packed and four pastors plus myself got to share. My part
of the service was called "Words of Encouragement", which I would
like to share with you(see below).
Sadly, I didn't get the privilege and honor of getting to
know Walker over most of his life like so many of you have. I have only known
Walker for a little over 4 years. But this is what I have learned about Walker
over those four plus years.
I saw a Godly righteous man who loved Jesus Christ,
I saw a man who loved to pray, I saw a man who was humble in
spirit, I saw a man with a powerful faith, I saw a man who loved our mom ...and
I heard about how much Walker loved this church and how he loved to serve this
body of Christ.
The first time I met Walker in person was at my ordination
as a pastor in October of 2009. He and mom came down to Tulsa together for the
service. There were two other men that were ordained that evening along with
me. Walker came up front and prayed for each one of us individually ....and he
had never met any of us before that night. I knew at that moment this was a man
who loved to pray ....and who knew the power of prayer.
What does it say about a man who genuinely loved to pray?
Walker knew who Jesus Christ was, because he had a personal
relationship with Him. In order to have a relationship with someone, you need
to communicate with them ....and The more you communicate in a relationship
....the more you get to know that person. You deepen your relationship,.. your
understanding of one another. Walker knew Jesus ....and Jesus knew Walker. They
spoke to each other frequently.
Mom told me that Walker and her prayed together every
morning and every night. Walker loved our mom .....and Walker loved Jesus
because he had a personal, daily, relationship with Him.
Walker showed our family the importance of prayer and the
importance of having a daily relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Walker
didn't just talk about Jesus, he lived out his faith in front of us and modeled
who Jesus was to us.
You see Walker knew what it meant to truly be a follower of
Christ. He understood that his life should imitate that of Jesus.
Ephesians 5:1-2 says
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2
and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Romans 12:1says,
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to
offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your
spiritual act of worship.
Mark 10:45 says, "For even the Son of Man(Jesus) did
not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for
many."
A couple of summers ago, a friend of ours, whose husband had
recently passed away, wanted to take her two middle school sons on a vacation.
They were going to spend a few days in Chicago on their way to some other
locations. So I got in contact with mom to see if her and Walker were going to be
in town when they were passing through and they were and so they helped to show
them a little of Chicago.
Here is what our friend said on a Facebook post when she
heard about Walker passing away: "Thank you so much for introducing me to
Walker and your mom. The time The boys and I spent with them was priceless.
Walker impressed me with his love for God ....and I felt so blessed to have him
pray over our UNOs pizza. He was such a great example of a man for my boys. Our
time together was God ordained .....and I will forever remember our
conversations. He was incredibly inspiring....We will truly miss this man of
God.
Who wouldn't want to hear those kind words spoken about them
at the hearing of their passing?
Walker didn't just talk about Jesus, he lived out his faith
in front of our friend....who was still grieving the loss of her husband and
her two middle school sons ...still grieving the loss of their father. She
could see in Walker the kind of Godly man she would want for her boys to be
like.
John 3:16-18 says
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
not believe stands condemned already ....because he has not believed in the
name of God’s one and only Son.
Walkers love for Jesus Christ was evident in the way he
prayed.
Walkers love for Jesus Christ was evident in the way he
served.
Walkers love for Jesus Christ was evident in the way he
sought to model his own life around that of Jesus.
And Because of his belief, his personal relationship, we are
comforted and have peace knowing that Walker is with his Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, the one he loved, because Jesus first loved him.
No comments:
Post a Comment