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God's blessings are limitless
by Greg Miller Rhonda was planning the funeral services for her mother, Ramona, who had just died. Rhonda was talking to Ronnie, the funeral director, about the arrangements for the services. Rhonda told Ronnie that she wanted both a traditional hymn and a contemporary song included in the service. Rhonda asked her pastor, Ricky, to preach the funeral service. "It would be an honor and a pleasure," said Pastor Ricky. The funeral service, Rhonda thought, went very smoothly. Singers from the church provided the special music. Rhonda's dad, Roger, spoke for a few moments about the impact Ramona had on the community. "Everyone loved my wife," Roger observed. "She was always doing things for people. And she loved the Lord with all her heart." Pastor Ricky's sermon text was First Corinthians 15:51-58, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." By the end of Pastor Ricky's message, Rhonda was crying. "I'm going to miss you, Mom," she whispered. "I'm going to miss you." Rhonda had planned a special celebration to be held at her home the next day. She invited everyone who attended the funeral to her home for the celebration. Rhonda asked Raquel, the owner of a local restaurant at which Ramona ate several times each week, to provide food for the celebration. Raquel, struck up a conversation with Richard. "This is a great spread," Richard said. "It looks as if there's enough food here to feed an army." "There's actually enough food here to feed several armies," Raquel said. "I wanted to make sure I brought plenty of food. I try to operate my restaurant in the same way the Sovereign Lord blesses His children. That's why the restaurant has an all-you-can-eat buffet! God's blessings are limitless, and I want my diners to have a similar opinion of the restaurant!" To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements and/or puppet ministry, please email [email protected]. By Greg Miller 2018 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |