[0:00] The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble, and he cares for those who trust in him. And we found that to be true for all of the trials of the past year, and we are trusting in him for whatever lies ahead.
[0:19] Welcome. Welcome to our Thanksgiving service for Joanne Lynn Heaney. Perhaps you knew her better as Josie, whom the Lord gave to us and then took to himself this past Wednesday evening.
[0:34] We're here to remember her and to give thanks to God for the way that she enriched our lives. I'm here, and my family is here to receive from God his own comfort that he is bringing to us tonight through your presence with us.
[0:52] So thank you for being here. Just to see your faces is to drink in the comfort of your sympathy and love for us all.
[1:03] Thank you, too, for your many kindnesses to us over the past year. Too many to mention. We're humbled to be loved by so many and to be on the receiving end of so much from you.
[1:21] But most of all, let me thank you for all the times that you have mentioned our names before the throne of God. The throne of God that rules the universe and that reigns over cancer and heartache and loss.
[1:37] And the throne from which we have received much mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. And it is our privilege even now to come before that throne of grace together.
[1:48] So let's pray. Almighty, Almighty, infinite Father. Wonderful, merciful Savior and Son.
[2:02] Comforter, Counselor, Holy Spirit. Everlasting, three in one. There is no God like you. And there is no God but you.
[2:14] And we worship you. You are good and all that you do is good. And we thank you. We come into your presence with thanksgiving that for everything that you are to us as our God.
[2:29] And that we poor sinners would ever become the people of your pasture, the flock under your care. What precious blood.
[2:40] What merit is there in Jesus' blood and righteousness. To redeem us to God. To reconcile us and to make us your children. And we thank you that you are too strong to ever have your purposes thwarted.
[2:58] That all the days ordained for Jose were written in your book before one of them came to be. And you have fulfilled your purpose for her in this life. We thank you that you are too wise to ever be mistaken.
[3:13] That as for God, his way is perfect. Unimprovable. Unimprovable. Unimprovable. We thank you that you are too loving to ever be unkind. And we are finding out the greatness of your loving heart.
[3:28] Come and shed abroad that love in our hearts tonight. You are familiar with all of our ways. And so you know exactly what we are doing here tonight.
[3:39] And you see how needy we are. So come and meet us in our need. Give us to see those unseen realities that your word sets before us.
[3:50] Strengthen our faith, our hope, and our love. And in all that is said and done, may Jesus Christ, Joseph's Redeemer, receive the glory. We pray in his name.
[4:01] Amen. Amen. Well, this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. This is love.
[4:13] Not that we love God, for we didn't. But that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. One to propitiate God's wrath.
[4:25] To turn it aside by taking it upon himself. Joseph was amazed at that kind of love that God had for her in Christ. She spoke of it in her testimony that's there in your program.
[4:39] I quote her words. The miracle is that he set his love on me. Sought me out and put a new heart within me. Bore the wrath of God for my damning sins.
[4:52] And she's even more amazed today than she's ever been. As she's now experiencing that love without a veil between. And so it will go through the endless ages to sing of his love for her.
[5:06] Let's sing together of that wonderful, amazing love. Stan will come and lead us. We'll use the words on the overhead.
[5:17] Will you all stand with me, please? I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.
[5:39] How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be.
[6:00] How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me.
[6:12] For he was in the garden. He prayed not my will but mine.
[6:23] He had no tears for his own breath. But sweat drops of blood for mine.
[6:33] How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be.
[6:45] How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me.
[6:56] He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own.
[7:08] He bore the burden to now bring, and suffered in thine alone.
[7:19] How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be.
[7:31] How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me.
[7:43] When with the ransoming glory, his ways I at last shall see.
[7:54] He'll be my joy, and my song shall ever be.
[8:05] How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be.
[8:18] How marvelous, how marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me.
[8:31] Thank you. You may be seated. At this time, Joseph's brother, Doug Rassy, will read the scriptures for us. But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope.
[8:53] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who are asleep.
[9:11] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
[9:27] And so we shall be forever with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.
[9:42] The eager expectation of the creation waits for the appearance of the sons of God. And the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but the will of him who subjected it.
[9:55] In hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
[10:11] Not only that, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves while eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
[10:22] For we are saved through hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does a man still hope for what he sees?
[10:33] But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea.
[10:48] I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, look, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.
[11:06] They shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death.
[11:17] There shall not be any more sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, look, I am making all things new.
[11:32] Then he said to me, write, for these words are faithful and true. He said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and I will give the spring of the water of life to him who thirsts.
[11:47] He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Joseph's biggest battle was not with cancer.
[12:03] Her biggest battle was not one of her many decorating deadlines or a wedding deadline that she helped with so many to prepare for. Nor was it how she could fit 65 Heenies in her home every Thanksgiving and Christmas.
[12:21] No, her biggest battle was with sin. And it's the battle of every true Christian. But her Savior won that battle for her.
[12:33] If you have a hymnal accessible, turn to hymn number 580. We'll also put the words on the overhead. And we sing of our Savior's wonderful work.
[12:48] 580. 580. 580. 580. 580. 580. 580.
[13:01] 780.
[13:23] Thou hast taught me to say It is well, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul Though Satan should love him Though trials should come That his blessed assurance control
[14:25] That Christ has regarded my helpless estate And has shed his own blood for my soul It is well, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul I sin, O the bliss of his glorious love I sin not in part, but the whole
[15:33] Is nailed to the cross And I bear it no more Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Lord, O my soul It is well, it is well with my soul It is well with my soul O Lord, haste the day When the place shall be signed The clouds we roll back
[16:36] As a scroll The drums shall resound And the Lord shall be signed And the Lord shall be signed Even so It is well with my soul It is well, it is well It is well with my soul With my soul It is well, it is well It is well with my soul That's a foretaste of heaven itself, isn't it?
[17:39] Best of all, those words are true. Tell me what a person loves and I will have a good understanding of them. Could I tell you something of Josie's love?
[17:53] Something of her loves As one who's lived for 41 years with her Not in any particular order And I don't have time for them all But here are some of the things that Josie loved Number one, Josie loved to win By which I mean she was one tough competitor And it didn't matter what she was doing Maybe she had to be tough Just to survive in a home with three brothers on a farm In tennis She loved to win in tennis She played earlier in life More than later But social tennis did not exist in Josie's vocabulary You know where the ladies in their fine tennis wear Go to the court for a good time And chatting between the points And laughing and carrying on And being sure not to rough up their nails
[18:55] Josie was on the court to win And watch out She'll do anything she needs to do To get that ball back one more time than you She loved to win at ping pong I was dating her And at her home one evening She beat me She had a fierce left hand chop shot That I'm not sure what happened that night But she beat me fair and square And she let me know it And was rubbing it in And she always loved to recount that story How I drove out of the driveway With stones flying out from my tires Yes, she was more humble than I And no doubt was testing the character Of this poor loser But she played to win And Scrabble If you like to win Find someone else to play She had no mercy What so ever She regularly beat Maven
[19:58] The online Scrabble computer And I think she knew every two and three letter word In five languages I gave up playing her over 30 years ago It simply was not good for our marriage Nor for my ego But to win was in her DNA And she approached life with that same spirit Not playing at life as if it were a game Something to be fiddled around with Now, don't get me wrong No one enjoyed fun and laughter And lightheartedness like Jost And anybody that knew her knows that Her joyful spirit was the sunshine of our home And lifted the atmosphere But when it came to the most important things in life She was dead serious There was an eternal hell to shun And there was an eternal heaven to gain
[21:00] Her relationship with Jesus Christ Was first And uncontested Her obedience to God's commands were not optional And her to the death battle with her own sin Was serious She was not shadow boxing She was not beating the air But by the Holy Spirit But by the Holy Spirit landing Real intentional blows To see her sins put to death She loved to win And my, how she fought cancer to win too And more on that later Josie loved beauty She was beautiful herself But she She had an appreciation for God's beauty And creation And music And in the arts And especially in the area of interior design And decorating And she had the practical talent Along with that To work with a sewing machine A hammer
[22:01] And wood And to create the look We're meeting tonight And one of her decorating projects And it's not the only church That enshrines something of her love As she just finished the missionary church And has done several others as well In fact, I would like to ask you To raise your hand If Jos ever did work for you Or gave you counsel on decorating your home Hold it up And just look around a little bit Okay?
[22:34] Thank you That's what I mean Jos loved beauty And decorating She loved to come into a scene That looked like an interior desecrator Now this wouldn't be any of you Who held up your hands But she would come in And she would look it over And she would envision What it could look like With that gone And with this new And with that changed And then She loved to get the opportunity After she had sold the idea To a client And then to See it all come together As she had envisioned it That's something she thrived on She also beautified our home But I was glad to see She had also had other places You know To practice her trade But what she loved most Was seeing others joy In the end product
[23:35] And seeing them enjoying God's beauty And that's why Those she worked with Became more than clients But most often friends And some of you are here tonight And that brings me to the next thing She surprised me She surprised me We didn't know where we were going to put you all But this This itself says All kinds of people And your presence is proof of that fact I think it's correct to say Some of us have to work at people And being that kind of thing But she was just born that way And that was A gift of God Three months ago A couple hours from here At a church And a lady told me That about 20 years ago She had met Joseph For the first time And she went away Changed by that one conversation About 80 or 90% Was me answering
[24:37] Her questions about me And I wanted to be like that Because I sensed that She cared about me And what was going on In my life And I've never forgotten That lesson She said Joseph loved to draw people out To understand What made them tick And no doubt Many of you were on the receiving end Of her love In that way She expressed her love for people Not only in conversation But in hospitality She opened her home to missionaries And pastors And their wives And visitors And anyone who needed a place And for the time That they were with us She loved to treat them As kings and queens To kill the fatted calf To spread the table To decorate the place That they might Have a moment of enjoyment While they were with us One of my favorite pictures of her Is with a serving tray At a shower
[25:39] And that pictures her That she thrived When she was serving She loved to go the extra mile For people's enjoyment In the home Just one example Napkin holders I'm not sure why Napkins need holders But you can buy them You can buy them And we must have One of the largest collection Of napkin holders In Indiana She'd always snoop To find that That bargain rack Somewhere in the back Of some store For 95% off And for a few bucks She'd bring home A whole new set of them And one time She brought home A set of birds Life size Feathered birds Yellow birds And we had pastors And they came down They came down For breakfast one morning And there were the birds On the table And they're rubbing the Sleet from their eyes And pretty soon
[26:41] One of them's got it On their shoulder Another one on his head And they're taking a group photo And they're laughing And enjoying themselves Before we've even started And no one enjoyed that More than Josie Just to see the guests Enjoying each other Feeling at home And the spreads of food That followed Would bring grown men To the table With the excitement Of a child To see what was being Served next meal To delight their palate She loved her family Mom and Dad Rassy She loved you She always spoke highly of you Always honored you In her words to me About you And she thanked God For you in our prayers And some of the few tears That Josie cried When she learned Of the seriousness Of her condition Were over the fact That she may not be here To take care of you In your time of need She was looking forward
[27:43] To that with great love And honor For you Thank you for giving me Your daughter And for raising her up In the ways of God Giving her an example That She took and ran with By the grace of God She loved you Three brothers Clark, Clay, and Doug!
[28:11] Clay, you came along so late She was a senior in high school When you were born She missed growing up with you And it didn't change the fact That you were her baby brother And she loved you Doug, you were five years younger Than her And she felt like her relationship With you took some time To blossom And yet blossom it did As she worked for you For several years And then even more recently All the special ways Of caring for her And her illness She always came home Refreshed from your house Clark, you were just About a year older than her So the two of you From the get-go And you've continued To be that way With her All those rides To Walwasee High School In the morning Out the door The latest possible Second to get there Without being tardy Banana in one hand Hot curling iron In the other Makeup kit And working herself over
[29:15] Getting in show shape For another day At Walwasee High School And she told me How you put up With that year after year Every year And when you moved To Dallas You kept in touch And we never needed to know Who was on the phone When you called Didn't matter where she was In the house You drew out that Special laugh That she had And we knew Oh, it's Clark It's Clark She loves you guys And thank God for you She loved her kids Carrie, Julie, Johnny, and Grant I don't need to tell you Your mother loved you You lived it Didn't you?
[30:05] And though she was a woman Of many talents She gave herself first To her family She embraced her God-given Priority and calling In life as a wife And a mother And when she felt Her interior design business Was draining her time And energy And pulling her away From us In a costly move She closed up shop For many years To homeschool you And to pour her life Into us all And what we owe to God For that decision Will only be unpacked In eternity She was always Ten times better than me At drawing you out In conversation You knew she loved you And you felt secure In that love Don't know what that says About me You knew that her love Was fiercer than a bear Robbed of her cubs!
[30:58] And when you were swimming The whole place The whole place Knew who your mother was She had a scream That just Overpowered all others She was your best fan In all that you did It's precious to see a mother With her children And her love for you Carried her off Into the mercy seat Where it was my privilege To hear her hearty cries For your salvation And for God's blessing In your life Is it not her faithful love For you That causes you To rise up And call her blessed And to praise her And to praise her As the God-fearing woman That she was She loved you She loved you And yes She loved me too We first liked one another At age 12 Sitting across from each other In a Sunday school class Exchanging shy glances
[32:01] Across the way I spent the next 10 years Chasing her There were many times During that decade I seriously doubted I'd ever win her The competition for her Was fierce And I feared I had no chance She kept me guessing Pursuing Hoping And finally In a moment of Temporary insanity She said yes But I want to tell you this Once she said I do before God Though she had had many guys I never had the slightest provocation To jealousy Or suspicion Of any other guy For 41 years She was clearly a faithful One man woman And I was divinely blessed To be that one man In her heart And she's brought me good All the days Of our 41 years together It's not easy
[33:03] Being a pastor's wife You know Somehow people think Sometimes that preacher's kids Somehow opted out Of original sin But she lived the role well And dependence upon the Lord Many years ago An older minister's wife Told her that Her reward each week Was to see her husband In the pulpit again And to know that Under God She had had a huge part In getting him there And keeping him there And Jost took that on board Lock, stock, and barrel I can't tell the debt I owe to her In her gracious effect Upon my life and ministry John Watson Of the 19th century Advised students Studying for the gospel Ministry That of all men They ought to be most careful In the choice of a wife For she may be either A help or a hindrance Not merely to his comfort But to his work For a good wife Advises her husband And often restrains him
[34:04] From hasty speech Receives him weary Discouraged and irritable And sends him out again Strong, hopeful, and sweet-tempered The woman is in the shadow The man stands in the open And it's not until The woman dies And the man is left alone That the people Or he himself Knows what she has been She was all that to me And more And I bear witness That many women Do noble things But you surpass them all Charm is deceptive And beauty is fleeting But a woman who fears the Lord She shall be praised She is worth more than rubies She loved us But most of all She loved her Lord and Savior I say most of all We weren't even in the same class And that love for her Savior Moved her to trust
[35:05] And obey and serve him She loved his voice In the scriptures She loved his church His church His worship His presence But you'll not understand Her life Unless you understand That her love for Jesus Was but the answer Of his prior love for her That it was the effect Of the greater cause Of her His love for her She loved because He first loved her And it was His love for her That amazed her And compelled her To no longer live for him For herself But for him who died for her And rose again And it was his love Laying down his life for her Even though as she wrote In her testimony I was born an enemy of God And walked after The father of lies My heart was wicked And bound in sin Cheating Disobedient To parents And all this As a young girl But she knew Those were damning things With a holy God
[36:07] And so with a sense With a sense of her sin When she asked the Lord To forgive her He did not damn her He didn't treat her As her sins deserve Or repay her According to what she had coming But freely loved her And forgave her All of her damning sins And she never got over that And so now she loved him And so she loved him In health She loved him She loved him in sickness And yes she loved him Finally in death And she loves him still And he loves her For from everlasting To everlasting The Lord's love Is upon those Who fear him Her testimony to the end Echoes that of Psalm 103 Where the psalmist Is stirring himself up To praise the Lord And he says to himself Praise the Lord Oh my soul All my inmost being Praise his holy name Praise the Lord Oh my soul And forget not All his benefits
[37:08] Now the rest of the psalm Is going to list All his benefits And listen where it begins Who forgives All your sins And heals All your diseases Let's consider those two things For a moment this evening Who forgives all her sins And heals All her diseases Which of these Is being valued Most today I can say as we've moved In and out of hospitals Over the past year That many are seeking The healing of all Their diseases But it's also true That so few are concerned At all about seeking The forgiveness Of their sins Of their sins And don't get me wrong We too were seeking A healing From Josie's disease Surgery Chemotherapy Traveling To see specialists And physicians Crying many times a day
[38:11] For healing From the great physician Himself But my point is That many people Of their diseases While precious few Seem concerned About seeking forgiveness From their sins For forgiveness No sense of sin No sense of need Of forgiveness No awareness Of the offensiveness Of their sins To a holy God No awareness Of the eternal punishment For sin That awaits them No the important thing Is to be healed Of this physical Malady Here and now And yet notice Where the psalmist Is to be healed Of the evil Benefit number one Forgiveness Of sins Who forgives All your sins It's the first thing Out of his mouth It's what opened his mouth In praise Forgiveness of all our sins Is a far greater blessing Of all our diseases Let me give you Two reasons why First Dying of a disease
[39:12] Will not send you to hell But dying without Your sins forgiven Will Number two Consider what it takes To forgive sins And what it takes To heal diseases Josie had a rare And aggressive cancer MMMT Mixed Malarian tumor Carcino Sarcoma And there's no human cure No human cure Yet to heal my wife All the Lord of glory Needed to do Was speak a word And it would be done MMMT Notwithstanding How often he did this When he was on the earth Proving that he was The king of God's kingdom Demonstrating the glory Of this coming kingdom That wherever he reigns Blessings abound Giving foretastes of his kingdom Appetizers To make us long
[40:13] And pray for this kingdom To come In consummation To this world So to the paralyzed man He just spoke Take up your mat and walk And he did To the leper He just said Be clean And he was clean The centurion With the dying servant At home Knew this Was all it took And said to Jesus I'm not worthy To have you come Under my roof Just say the word And my servant Will be clean Will be whole Will be healed Will be healed And even so Just one word From Jesus And my wife Would have been healed But hear me No mere word From Jesus Could ever Forgive her sins No that would cost The son of God His own life blood For there was divine justice To satisfy For her sins There was a punishment Of God's wrath To be suffered There was a hell
[41:14] To pay for her sins And wonder of wonders Though she had rebelled Against her maker And his laws And offended heaven With her sins The Lord Jesus said Father Lay your sins on me Lay them all on me And then he bore them To the place of punishment The middle cross On Golgotha Two thousand years ago He said Now give to me All that Jost deserves I'll drink the cup For her And hell came to Calvary That day As Christ suffered In her place What she would have been Suffering for all eternity Infinite wrath Forsaken by God Agony of body and soul Why Why did he do it?
[41:59] So that All her sins Might be forgiven Blotted out Remembered no more Paid in full By the blood of Christ Her sin Not in part But the whole Was nailed to his cross And she bears it no more Praise the Lord Praise the Lord Praise the Lord Oh my soul That's what it cost To forgive Jost Her sins Jesus taking her place On the cross Jesus being made sin for her Becoming a curse for her And that's why Jost was still Praising the Lord Even as cancer filled her body And drained her life away Because she had received from him Something far more valuable Than the healing of her disease The forgiveness Of all All her sins Hallelujah What a savior What a friend for sinners Do you know him?
[42:59] Is he your savior? Are your sins under the blood? Have you repented And put faith in him? I commend to you Joseph's savior He turns none away He turns none away That's why she loved him so And served him And this is why I praise him Through my tears tonight And will again tomorrow I don't have my dearest on earth anymore I don't have the desire of my eyes But all my sins Are forgiven That's the greatest Benefit Of all To be made right with God Through a crucified savior!
[43:46] But the verse does go on to say Who forgives all your sins And Heals all your diseases Now someone will say But Joseph He didn't heal Joseph Of all her diseases She died from complications Of her cancer We must not judge things prematurely Or we'll come to a wrong conclusion Just as they did about Our savior Who was dead in the grave And supposedly gone for good But three days later Up from the grave He arose The mighty victor Death and hell Was alive and well And so yes In this life The Lord did not heal Joseph Of all her diseases But he's not done with her yet That's the glory of the gospel He will yet prove that he is the Lord Who heals her from all her diseases For the Lord himself
[44:47] Will come down from heaven with a shout With a voice of the archangel And the trumpet call of God And the dead in Christ Will rise first And when Josie rises from the dead That selfsame body That we held in her hands That was wracked with cancer Will come forth Without a trace of cancer In the glorious likeness Of her Lord Jesus Christ Resurrection body And then it will be seen by one and all That Jesus is indeed the Lord Who forgives all her sins And heals all her diseases Yes there is physical healing In the atonement of Christ For he did take up our infirmities And carried our sorrows Our diseases But the ultimate fulfillment of this benefit Awaits the return of Christ
[45:49] For his own In a new world A new heaven And earth In new bodies Where he makes everything new With no more curse No more death Or disease And that's why Romans 8 That was read for us Says that We ourselves Who have the first fruits of the spirit Are inwardly groaning And we're not alone The whole creation Is groaning too Because it has been subjected To decay And frustration And what is it that we're groaning for?
[46:22] What is it that we are eagerly longing for? The redemption of our bodies Jesus didn't just die to save our souls The redemption of our body is coming as well When Jesus comes He will wipe away every tear from our eyes And there will be no more death Or mourning Or pain For the old order of things Has passed away He who is seated on the throne Will say Behold I am making all things new We're living now Still under the old order of things With disease And death With groaning for all things new The redemption of our bodies All praise due to the lamb that was slain To purchase us for God With him is full redemption A redemption that includes the redemption Of our bodies and souls
[47:24] Now that future healing of all our diseases Will be far more glorious Than any healing he might have given Joss here and now For a few more years Let me ask you Which is greater?
[47:37] Jesus raising Lazarus From his sick bed? Or waiting until he was four days Rotting in the grave And raising him from the dead?
[47:49] Well it's obvious The latter is far more glorious Then would it not be Even more glorious Than raising Lazarus From the dead for four days To raise him when he's been in the grave For two thousand years As he's been right now And counting on Until the Lord comes But when he comes What a healing What resurrection power What glory to the redeemer When he raises the bodies Of his redeemed To newness Of life Even so the raising of Joss's body From the dead at Christ's coming And so healing her Of all of her diseases Will be far more glorious Than if he had healed her body From cancer last week He is the Lord Who forgives All her sins And who heals her
[48:52] Of all her diseases And that's why He's worthy of our praise tonight Our love And our trust Now earlier I said That Josie loved to win And she fought hard against cancer And she fought to win What blows she took And gave And I suppose some will say Well she lost her fight And in a certain sense I understand But will some Think that she's the loser for it Blessed loser That by her loss to cancer Her spirit has now entered Into the presence of Jesus Which is better by far Better by far Where there's fullness of joy And uninterrupted pleasures At his right hand When death is but the entrance Into glory with Christ So she would argue
[49:55] She would argue with you today And she has won And I'm not going to argue with her You might want to do that But I'm not arguing with her I'm not arguing with her Yes she lost the first round To cancer The first round But don't count her out Disease will not have the last word With the redeemed For through faith She's been forever joined And so she shares His win over death She's more than conquerors Through Christ Who loved her For the one who raised The Lord Jesus From the dead Will also raise her With Jesus And give life to her Mortal body Jesus lives And so shall she And it's her union With Christ In his death Burial And resurrection That enabled The family By faith On Saturday
[50:56] To just stare Into that dark grave And to lay our loved one Into the ground With a certain hope Of the resurrection From that grave What a sight Will be When Jesus returns And gives such a shout That raises the dead And so we were enabled To sing through our tears Into the darkness Of the grave And to say Where death is your sting Where oh grave Is your victory I thought about that You know It's like Paul's rubbing it Into the grave Just like Just rubbed in My loss to her In ping pong Where's your victory?
[51:40] And that's what Paul We can do At the grave Where oh grave Is this win Of yours? Oh mighty death Where is your victory? The sting of death Is sin And the power of sin But Jesus died For her sins And he obeyed And kept the law So thanks be to God He gives us the victory He gives us the win Through our Lord Jesus Christ So we say of Josie What Job said Of his great loss Of his ten children The Lord gave And the Lord has taken away And may the name of the Lord Forever be praised He's no less deserving Of praise for taking Josie from us Than he is for giving her to us When we think of what He has taken her to Himself Eternal pleasures!
[52:35] At his right hand To forever be with the Lord To be waiting for all those Who know Jesus Christ Through faith and repentance Let's comfort one another With these words Amen It was Josie's testimony 35 years ago You can read it there Right up to the end as well That I am trusting On the work of Christ alone So we're going to conclude this service By singing in Christ alone From the overhead And commending Jesus Christ To one and all But first please pray with me Our kind Father in Heaven What a blessing to To have known Josie And to have had her as my wife To many To my children To have had her as their mother To many others Jesus' daughter And sister
[53:37] Sister Sister in the Lord Cousin Niece Lord we give you thanks For what we have enjoyed We thank you for That indescribable gift Of your son And what he has done for Jos In forgiving her all her sins Oh thank you Lord Jesus For dying for her And thank you That you are the one Who will heal her Of all her disease Thank you that in you And in you alone We can have Strength for today And bright hope for tomorrow So teach us all To number our days aright That we may gain a heart of wisdom A heart that is wise For salvation through faith In Jesus Christ Make us all To be clinging to him That we might be found in him So that when it comes our time to die We might have nothing to do But die
[54:40] And to fall into The kind arms of our Lord Jesus We pray in his name Stand with me please In Christ alone My hope is found He is my life, my strength, my soul This cornerstone, this solid ground Firm to the fiercest crowd and strong What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are still and strivings cease
[55:42] My comfort, my all in all Here in the love of Christ I stand In Christ alone, who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless faith His gift of love and righteousness Sporned by the ones He came to stay Till on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live There in the ground His body lay
[56:48] Light of the world by darkness slain And mercy forth in glorious day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Since birth has lost His grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ No guilt in life No fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From life's first cry From life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny
[57:52] No power of hell, no scheme of man Can ever pluck me from His hand Till He returns or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I'll stand Here in the power of Christ I'll stand Here in the power of Christ I'll stand