Good morning. Reach you in the grace and peace of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Welcome to this funeral service in memory of this dear Saint, dear mother in the Lord and wonderful woman, Wilma Schenker. So glad that you were here today to stand with the family, to keep them in your prayers, and to celebrate the life of this wonderful woman, as well as to grieve over the Lord taking her out of this world after 96 years. Praise God for his mercies to her. It is a time of both joy and of sorrow as we come to say goodbye and remember and honor her. And before doing that, I just want to highlight the fact that we do have a time of fellowship afterwards so please stay after if you can. Thank you for all of the hands that have pitched together to bring that for us after the service today downstairs. Thank you also to Kathleen for playing today and look forward to singing some fine hymns to praise God from whom all blessings flow including the life of Wilma. Let's begin our service now with scripture. Let's stand as we ready ourselves to praise the Lord. Psalm 103 says that as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him, for he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. Timothy is told in 1 Timothy 6 that we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. but the Lord is faithful both in this life and the life to come. And that's the one that we look to in our service here today. As Psalm 124 says, our help is in none other than the mighty name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. And God is the one who is over us and over this service. Our eyes are led to weep and to be sad over the loss, but Jesus counts the 19th of the past month a precious day, because precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all of his saints. Let's join our hearts together and ask God's blessing now upon our time this morning. Our Father, we do come together here today to ask your help in our time of need to seek, Lord, your presence. we pray, Father, that You would indeed meet with us today. Help us, Lord, to know Your blessing, to know Your presence, to know Your strength in our weakness, to know, Lord, Your goodness in our sense of loss. Lord, it is You who have afflicted. Lord, we pray now that You would heal Lord, it's you who have given, and it's you who have taken away. Father, enable us to say, blessed be the name of the Lord. Lord, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift that comes down from above. And so, Father, we look to you in Jesus' name for grace to be poured out in our hearts. Help us, Lord, to lift up our thoughts, our feelings, ourselves, our lives before you. Lord, we pray that you would conduct us as we should into proper sorrow and grief and sadness over the loss of this one who you gave such a full life. Lord, help us to be reminded that the gifts that she brought were gifts that came from you. That all the love that is represented here in this room and beyond that was in her life, Lord, that ultimately came from your hand. And so, Lord, help us, we pray, to be thankful. Help us, Lord, to grieve in grace. Help us to rejoice, to count our blessings as we remember and honor this dear woman. We ask, Lord, your blessings upon each part of this service. We pray that all things would be done to the glory of our King. Lord Jesus, we pray now that you'd forgive us of our sins and cause us, Lord, to rejoice in your many gifts. We pray all these things in your mighty name. Amen. let's remain standing, we'll be singing hymn number 691, the red Trinity hymnal in your pews there. It is well with my soul. I want to be reminded we have a time of remembrance in a little while in our service, an opportunity for you to come and share some precious and important memories that brought to your heart in your relationship with Wilma. That will be a little bit later after the slide presentation and a eulogy. It's important for us to fix our minds upon God's will and word at all, in every circumstance, and especially in solemn situations like this. Romans 15 tells us that whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope There is a strong anchor that God provides for his people in his own voice, in his word. And we need to be careful and solemn and serious about receiving that word for ourselves. The family has chosen several passages to be read for us to consider and meditate upon, one from the book of Psalms, one from the gospels, and one from the letter to the Corinthians by the apostle Paul. Let me have you just hear the reading of God's word. First from Psalm 27, one through six. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread? When evil doers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, in spite of this, I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will conceal me in his tabernacle. In the secret place of his tent he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me. And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord." These were words that were read to Wilma just before she entered into glory. And truly God is our light in life, in death, and forever. And then from the gospel of John chapters 10 and 11, just a few selections of this rich passage. John 10 is the good shepherd chapter and chapter 11 deals with the resurrection of Lazarus. Just a few selections. Again, this is God's word. Jesus said, I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and we'll go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and to destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know me. Even as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it again. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. And then in the situation where his friend Lazarus had died, we read these words in chapter 11, beginning at verse 21. Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? And she said to him, yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the son of God, even he who comes into the world. And the teaching of Christ's salvation, his dying for us on the cross and rising again from the dead, especially the power of the resurrection and giving us eternal life in the kingdom, then is fleshed out more fully in what's called the resurrection chapter. First Corinthians 15, the words of Paul, beginning in verse 20 and down through 26, and then 50 to the end of the chapter. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits. After that those who are Christ's it is coming. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Precious words, these may God bless them. And you're hearing this day to rejoice in the truths, the riches that are unfolded for us in the gospel. Let us continue to give God thanks as we sing another hymn, hymn number 689. Be still my soul. We are called upon to speak to ourselves at times. Sometimes we're even to sing to ourselves. And that's what we're gonna be doing here. Be Still My Soul, 689. We'll remain seated for this hymn. I don't think I've ever sung that hymn without beginning to weep. It's a song that's supposed to make us strong. Be still, be strong. And the tune just doesn't help. Makes us gushy on the inside. We do have strength, though, and we do have a foundation to still our souls upon and to help us. And that's captured in the catechism question that we are about to recite. On the back of your hymnal is a copy of the Heidelberg Catechism Question 1 that just so brings into So great focus. The blessings that we have in Christ. Let's recite this as part of our service today. Christian, what is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has paid for all my sins with His precious blood and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ by His Holy Spirit also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. Amen. For us to live is Christ and to die is gain. Well, we have the the pleasure this morning to have a remembrance of Wilma's life. Mr. Winslow is going to come and read a biography and then we have a visual history as well. So let us proceed to that now. Like Wilma, the Westminster Church is digitally behind the times. And so when you see the screen light up and the countdown, I'm not about to disappear, but that just means that the slideshow will be ready. I'm thankful to Becky for preparing this history of her mother and for Aaron in preparing the pictures of her life. As the pastor said, it is a blessing to review these things. Ada Wilma Schenker was born a Pitsenberger, February 10th, 1923, in Perry, Ohio, to William Earl and Ada Estella Pitsenberger. She was the fourth of five children. Wilma had two older sisters, Leona, who would be known as Noni, because Wilma couldn't say her name. and Alita, who would be known as Lee, an older brother named Elwood, and a younger sister, Shirley. The family moved to LeClaire, Ohio, right along, Io, excuse me, right alongside the Mississippi River. Wilma was old enough to remember the Great Depression of the 1930s, but said they were not badly affected because they did not have much to start with. She remembered her mother leaving the back porch light on as a signal to any hungry neighbors that they could get a meal there. And that era taught Wilma valuable lessons of thriftiness and frugality, lessons she carried with her the rest of her life. Now, if you are like me and have only known Wilma for the last 35 years, you've known her as a blonde, And this is important to think about the differences. Those of you who knew her for one third of her life from her 60s on might not have imagined this, but as a teenager, Wilma was an athlete. She was a basketball player and the captain of her high school team. She led her team to the state championships And they won. True story. I tried to research my friend Becky's history. Iowa takes their basketball very seriously, including girls championships. They played six aside in those days, three forward and three on defense. And I was looking for a blonde. And I was looking in the late 30s and the early 40s. And I could not find Woma. And you will see why when you see the first picture as it comes up. During World War II, Wilma took a job in Farmall Farm Equipment. She was what we call Rosie the Riveter. There were lots of Rosie the Riveters across the country. They were keeping manufacturing going while the men were away fighting the war. And when the war was over, Wilma gave up her job to a returning soldier so that he could support his family. And she moved down the Mississippi River just a short way to the big town of Davenport, where she lived in a boarding house and held various clerical and sales clerk jobs. While living in the boarding house, she became aware of a young man who played the saxophone. She would hear him every night practicing parts of the song so as to master them. She slipped a note under his door asking, why don't you ever play the whole song? And that led to more notes. both musical and written, dates, and love. Wilma and Doris Curtis Green were married February 17, 1948. Skip, as he was known, moved his wife across the Mississippi to Moline, Illinois, and they started their family. Steve was born in 1951, and Becky was born in 1955. The 1950s brought the great migration of the Pittsburghers to California. Though Elwood was overseas, Wilma's three sisters, Noni with her husband, Lee, and Shirley moved first. Then Wilma's father was advised by his doctor to move for health reasons to the warmer, drier climate of Southern California. But they didn't want to leave the greens in Moline. Lee's husband, Henry, fixed that by offering Wilma's husband, Skip, a job at Douglas Aircraft. And with that little, almost two-year-old Becky reports, we were on our way to California. The Greens settled in a house in Westminster in 1957 where they lived for 26 years until Skip's death. Wilma was a faithful and dutiful wife and mother, keeping house, tending her children, being very involved in their daily lives. Shortly after moving into their house, there was a knock on the door. It was the Reverend Edwards Elliott inviting them to come to the Garden Grove Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Wilma was all for it, but Skip wanted to watch sports on his days off work. And their compromise was to attend Sunday school and then go home. Then, in the early 1980s, Skip became ill and Wilma reached out to the next pastor at the OPC, the Reverend Bill Warren. And Bill ministered to Skip and heard his profession of faith shortly before he died in April of 1983. God's little whisper in the ear of Wilma's conscience grew to a shout and she was drawn to be among God's people. She began attending the Garden Grove OBC faithfully. reaffirmed her faith in Christ and joined the church. It was there that she met Jim Schenker. After a whirlwind courtship, they were married on November 22nd of 1983. Wilma's lifestyle with Jim was significantly different from anything she had experienced. Jim being a salesman, she traveled and helped him entertain clients. But they were also very active in the life and worship of this church. Soon her adult children, Stephen and Becky, followed her example into church membership in this same church. When Wilma became a grandmother, she ecstatically jumped into that role. She marveled at Jim being so in love with the grandkids. He wasn't just a step-grandparent, he was grandpa. This made it easy and joyful to spend time with them. They watched Valerie and Aaron every day before and after school and during summer vacation. They took the girls on vacations with them too. These are priceless memories. Wilma prayed faithfully for Steve to find love and those prayers were answered in the mid-1990s when Steve and Gail got married and gave Wilma her first grandson, a very tiny little baby named Zachary. In her later years, age and infirmity prevented her from being as physically active, but she loved and prayed and looked forward to coming to church each Sunday. She always loved to receive visits from her family and friends from church. Upon Jim's death in March of this past year, it became clear that Wilma needed care 24-7. After six months of care provided by Jean Nash and by Mary Lou, it was decided that she would be better served in Brookdale next door to our church. She moved in August 17th, and almost exactly one month later, suffered a fall that broke her shoulder and fractured her pelvis. Wilma was placed on hospice care where her comfort was a priority over recovery. And in addition to her physical injuries, her heart remained broken over the loss of Jim. Wilma entered her eternal rest in Christ on February 19th, just a few days past her 96th birthday. She is survived by her son, Steve, with his wife, Gail, and her daughter, Rebecca, with her husband, Leif, and with five step-sons, such as Sean and his wife, Jane, who are here today. and her grandchildren, Valerie Clark and Aaron Scott and Zachary Green, as well as step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We have two of those great-grandchildren here today. One of them hasn't appeared yet, but everybody knows her name is Heidi, and she's still hiding, and our congregation is praying for Aaron that she will have a safe delivery in April. So let's look at some pictures now to remind us of the Wilma that we didn't know, but we should know, and the Wilma that we did know and love. While this is coming up, I'm just going to share briefly one of my remembrances. Don't hit that play button quite yet, Susan. One of the most precious memories to me of Wilma, who I got to know for the 36 years almost that she was a member of this church, were her final years. Christ regarded her helpless estate, even in her last years. And as Becky could tell you, there were a number of false alarms when the family thought she was going home to be with the Lord. Wilma would faint, and she would be out almost cold. And Becky would have to come rushing from work. Gene or Jim might call me and say, could you come down here quickly? We think Gene is dying. And the precious memory to me Exemplary for all of you is the fact that in her extremity, in her helplessness, when she couldn't see, she could not recognize any of us because her sight was taken during those fainting spells, she would pray to Jesus, her savior, and she would cry out to Jesus, oh, help me, Jesus. And then she would pray for those that she could remember, And honestly, the two that she could remember were Steve and Becky. She could remember those names in her extremity and to pray for them. And then she would pray more generically for the rest of her family and for her Jimmy. And that is such a wonderful memory and such a good example to see how the Lord sustained her in those last years of her life. Thankfully, when I come up here and I'm gonna talk about my grandma, I don't have to convince anybody about how much she loved her family. I'm already failing. These are funny stories, so this should be easy. When we were very young, my grandma loved my sister and I so much, this is pre-Zachary Day, probably when we were in elementary school and probably even younger, that believe it or not, on each other's birthdays, my grandma would buy us each a present. So if it was Valerie's birthday, I would get a present. And if it was my birthday, Valerie got a present. Not as much as the birthday girl, of course, but something. And my mom kind of approached my grandma and said, why are you buying gifts for the non-birthday girl? And her response to my mom was, well, how could I buy for just one of them? So that kind of puts my grandma in a nutshell right there. Another one would be report card times at the school. My grandfather, Jim Schenker, was a big proprietor. And if you do good, you succeed. And how he did that for us was that you got paid by your grades. So you got, I think, $10 for an A. You got five dollars five dollars for B and So on so forth down there now if you've known my sister and I for very long You know that my sister is very very bright and got always got straight A's And if you know me, you know that I did not. So it would be time to bring the report cards to my grandfather, and he would line us up, and Valerie would always go first, and she would get, you know, the here comes the tens, and the tens to my sister, and I'm up next, and you know, here's some fives and some ones, Erin, but Erin, please, you know, If you try really hard and you put your nose to the grindstone, you can get A's as well. I guess, grandpa, I know, I understand, yes. And I would walk away and in the corner, usually in the kitchen or in the dining room, would be my grandma and she would just be like, Come here." So I'd walk over and then she would look at my report card and she would say, well, you brought that B minus to a B plus, so here's this. And this used to be a C, but now it's a C plus, almost a B, so here's some of this. And so she would give me some extra money just for my improvements because she would know, Erin, I know you worked really hard. and you got that B minus to a B plus, and she would give me an extra cup of dollars. Thankfully, my sister was very gracious about it and didn't put up a fight, usually, when we ended up getting roughly the same amount of money. To go through all the things, I was so fortunate. My grandmother It's kind of the epitome of unconditional love. No matter where I was or what I was doing, just knowing that I could walk in the room and light someone's face up so much, you'd be like, Grandma, really, it's just me. I don't understand. But she loved us and she loved her whole family so, so much. That last picture on the slide, kind of me in the background with her smiling, was just taken last year. We were actually at her house pulling photos for my grandfather's memorial. and we were going through photos after photos, and she came into the room, and at first we were like, Grandma, you don't want to be in here. We were going through photos, but she wanted to be in there, and we would look at old photos of us and laugh, and that's the joy of her face right there, even though in her sorrow of losing her husband that she was so happy to have her family there, and we were all just kind of remembering her. all the memories that we had together. And now the straight A student. Yes. The sad thing is, she does so much better at talking than I do. And you know, when one sister does something, the other has to too. So that's why I'm up here. But you see, the whole life that she had before we were even in the picture, and I just I only knew her as Grandma. I didn't know all of the things that she went through. She didn't talk about all of that all the time. It wasn't until Erin did a project that we really learned a lot about her childhood, a lot about her history. I just knew her as Grandma. I'm just so thankful that my kids got to know her as Grandma the Great. And she adored them. We were far away, but we were connected. And every time I would talk to her, she wanted to get her hands on those grandkids. She wanted to get her hands on them. And when Chloe was first born, she wasn't a very... She was kind of slow to warm up. She liked mom and that was about it. And so when we flew out here, it was hard because they wanted to hug and hold her. And my grandma was patient. She'd try and Chloe would cry and I'd take her back. And we went to, um, went shopping and handed her off to grandma, the great. And we, one of those pictures was the picture that we took. She found a little recliner and Macy's and was rocking her and just, I peeped through the, of clothing just to see that and took that picture because she finally got her hands on her and she finally got to hold her. We had so many pictures of her with the grandkids, great grandkids, for as long as I can remember. as far away as we are, she got to see them quite often and we got to FaceTime with her, which was really wonderful and very, very different for her to experience because she at first didn't realize that I was really there and that I could talk back to her and she thought it was a recording of me and it was just wonderful. I mean, we FaceTimed the week before she died and I got to see my grandma and talk to her. So I feel like knowing her love for me just even expanded even more when she loved my kids and it just, she was love. And that's what I remember. We are looking at Psalm 23 for our lesson today. We have just sung Psalm 23. Let's hear Psalm 23, Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you for your loving kindness. Out of the depths, we can cry unto you, you who know our voice, you who know our needs, you who have the answers to all of life's complexities. We thank you, Lord, that you are a God who masters both life and death. As we have just read in Psalm 23, that though we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, your presence is with us. Lord, You care for all of Your people. You know how to bring Your people home. And Lord, that is our great hope as we celebrate this life here today. We thank You, Lord, for Your comforts and pray now that Your comfort would minister to us from this wonderful psalm. Lord, help us to to know Your blessing, to see this family greatly blessed this day. We pray, Father, for Steve and for Becky, for their spouses that You watch over and keep them. Continue to bless Aaron and Valerie and Zachary as well, Lord, who wanted to be here but could not be because of other commitments. Father, bless this covenant family. We ask to walk faithfully with you and to lean upon our good shepherd who has laid down his light for us. Father, bless her family, bless her church, bless her friends. We love you and thank you for your word. We ask now, Lord, that you would care for us through that word as we pray in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. I'm going to confess to you I had quite a difficult time with this message. I started out with another direction. based upon 1 Corinthians 15, talking about how a seed that is planted is so different from the plant that comes forth. The argument there is that we are going to be given such different bodies than we have right now to prepare us for glory. I thought that that would be a good message because to watch how weak Wilma became towards the end of her life. And you even saw that in the pictures that were presented to you, going from her youth, which many of us didn't know her at that time, to her middle age, to old age, and then very, very feeble towards the end of her life. But I wrote a whole message on that and said, I don't like that message, and set it apart. And I've decided to focus instead Upon this last verse of Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy or loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is the Good Shepherd's love behind and before us. His goodness and loving kindness follow the believer. They come up behind them. They chase after his children. And then what's before them is dwelling in God's house eternally. So we're going to take this as two parts and looking at the Lord's following us with goodness and loving kindness. It's striking how different this picture is from the picture that is in the world. Because in the world you find so many people who are chasing after goodness and loving kindness. They want the good things of this life. They want love. They pursue these matters. They chase after the good life. They want a life that is filled with love, oftentimes all centered upon themselves. I want, I want, I want. We learn it in our childhood. We don't let go of it when we get to be teenagers, and it becomes the central preoccupation to our lives. And you know, in this world, in this country in particular, there are many who achieve those things. They get many of the good things of this world. You can see many people who don't know the Lord and behind them is this whole track of the good things of life. Lots of toys, lots of material goods, lots of connections in this world. You can see that, but the text does not say that surely good things and lovely things will follow me. No, the goodness and the loving kindness that is mentioned here in verse six, the last verse of this most famous Psalm, they are not impersonal objects that pursue those who know the Lord. It's God himself. It's his own son, the Good Shepherd. It is the Holy Spirit who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, who pursues the believer. The things about God's gifts, when they are in relationship with him, there's a sense in which these gifts are never really separable from him. And so they pursue us because God is pursuing us. God follows us. God walks behind every believer and does all good and brings all love to his children. So here's this goodness of God, all of what makes God so great and wonderful sewn up in him, he shares with us. And then that word, and the old King James has mercy, but the word loving kindness is a much better word. To be honest with you, there's not one English word that captures the fullness of this Hebrew term. This term has the idea of God saying, I am going to be loyal, and faithful, and loving, and gracious, and merciful, and patient, and long-suffering with you. If you can find a word that covers all of those in the English, that's the word that we need. And here's this picture of God so enveloping us, not just going before us with these things and saying to us, hope you can keep up. But what a picture of a father behind a little child, following them wherever they go, with all of their needs and all their weaknesses and so forth. Such a wonderful God we have in the triune God, our Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Full life, eternal life, abundant life, which we read in John chapter 10, pursues and tracks down the child of God who has this good shepherd behind them. This is a sure thing. It says, surely goodness and loving kindness. Why is it sure? Because that word there surely might better be rendered only, exclusively. God so protects his children so that no true evil can beset them. No ultimate evil can make them fall. It's a sure thing because it's a pure thing. Surely should be only. God makes all things work together for good. to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Surely goodness and loving kindness, and it is a persistent thing. We have a God whose grace is stubborn. God's grace does not give up. God saves us thoroughly. We have a precious doctor. I was listening to a message this last week on eternal security and the guy was saying, I don't like the term eternal security because it gets abused. He says the biblical term is perseverance of the saints. Saints persevere. And I'm like, okay, whatever. I quibble with that. I like the term eternal security. I don't know how you don't walk away with eternal security from John chapter 10 that says, I give them eternal life and no man shall pluck them out of my hand, right? Now it translates into our pursuing. But I actually like the term instead of the perseverance of the saints, I like the term the perseverance with the saints. God perseveres with us. He puts up. He is the one who's faithful. He is long-suffering. He keeps us. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it at the day of his son, Jesus. So this is a wonderful goodness and grace and love. It's a sure thing, a pure thing, a persistent thing. Three key riches can be seen then in Christ as he follows us with these ways. If he follows you, that means that your sins do not. Your guilt that would wind you up in hell does not pursue you any longer. That has been nailed to the cross of Christ, the wrath of God Jesus took upon himself. In the Old Testament, they had these cities of refuge all throughout the land. And if you look at a map and look at those cities, they are beautifully laid out so that they are centrally located, so that you could not have the excuse if you were running away from the man-slayer, the one who would put you to death, you got into that city of refuge, you found life and hope there. Jesus is that refuge so that your sins that would slay you cannot pursue you there. If he follows you, your sins do not. If he follows you, then you are followed indeed. He has your back. In spite of you, in spite of your failures and your stumbling, in spite of your missteps, God faithfully watches over you with a love that is inalienable, a love that is inseparable. The end of Romans, who shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord? And then these are eternal. A good loving Savior follows you, brings you, leads you to glory. Verse six does not subtract verse four. If God so loves me, it doesn't mean that we're gonna be exempted from difficulties, from even death, the valley of the shadow of death. But as we've already highlighted, death is a conquered foe. And this brings us then to the second half of it. Not only is, as I look back, the Lord in his loving kindness, his goodness follows me wherever I go, and he is bringing me to his house. He is bringing me successfully to my rest. Behind us in this life, his goodness and grace pursue us. And then the second half before us in the life to come, this same savior receives us to himself. The journey ends at home. We've celebrated much home today. Grandparents, parents, To have a broken home is a very difficult thing. Heaven is likened to a home. God's house is our house, our home, our rightful place by the grace and love of God. David says, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He's not saying I will get to go to church. He is saying I will be there all of my days. That is my resting place. Our good shepherd in the New Testament, when he came, he spoke to his troubled disciples and said, don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many places, many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will receive you to myself that where I am there, you may be also. Christ has gone ahead to prepare a place for his children. So to be in God's house is more than merely visiting. To be in God's house is to be a member of his family, not merely a guest. Just like when you get to go back and visit your parents or visit your grandparents, you are at home with them. When my kids come back and they visit me, they walk right up and they open my refrigerator, they eat my food. They don't have to ask, they dig right in. Heaven is a home. You are welcomed into that very place as a child, as a member of his family, as a son and a daughter. which is what we'll be looking at tomorrow morning in Romans chapter 8. If he co-heirs with Christ, we will be glorified with him if we suffer with him. So where Wilma is now is a most welcome place, a fellowship for her, a place of great glory and love and joy inexpressible. What goodness is there? What awesome things. beyond our imagination, and it is a very holy place. And that's what kind of, I think, puts most of us off about heaven. Heaven is so holy. But secondly, it's a place which we will be prepared for. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, says 1 Corinthians 15. It is a place that is prepared for us, and we are prepared for that place. When we leave this world as believers, our spirits are made perfect so that we can enjoy the immediate presence of the God who has made heaven and earth. He gives us new souls to love purely, new bodies to endure forever at the resurrection, new eyes to see and ears to hear the wonders of that place, new robes to style with the courts of God. and new tastes, new stomachs for such a banquet, such a feast that is in store for his children. What joys meet and greet those who enter into the presence of their Lord, their Redeemer. And then thirdly, it is a place that is so far above our present world, our present thoughts. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it so much as entered the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. It's a beautiful poem that highlights if we gather together everything that we can muster here in this world, it does not compare. I think of all things at the best, in one fair thought unite, all purest joy of sense and soul, all earthly love and light. Bid hope and memory meet at length and knit their wreaths in one, and over them shed the tenderest light of fancy's inner sun. Yet bind the truth upon your brow and clasp it to your heart, and then nor grief nor gladness here shall claim two great apart. All radiance of this lower sky is to that glory dim. Far better to depart it is, for we shall be with him. So great is the glory of heaven. So great is the rest that all those who know them enter into, that nothing, everything in this life cannot compare with it. That also means that all of the afflictions and sorrows of this world pile them all up like a Mount Everest. Paul says these are not worthy to be compared. Nothing, and I mean nothing, therefore should ever be considered as remotely worthwhile for any to halt and to look this way or that. When having such a father in his open arms, welcoming us as sinners into fellowship with him, dare not let anything come between your soul and Christ. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That's the message. It's the message that was at the heart of Wilma's life and how the Lord blessed her. Kept a humble, simple woman all of those years, 96 years. God is so good. His loving kindness is with us every day. Let's give thanks. Father, we're grateful for your comforts to us. Thank you for the life that we have in Christ. Thank you that we can say goodbye to somebody that we love so very much. Committing them, Lord, to your care because we see that care on the pages of the scripture. Father, bless your church as we continue to see the church struggling here below, the church militant, the church in the fight, the church seeking to walk by faith and not by sight, joining then in due course with the church that is above, the church triumphant. We thank you, Lord, that we have great comfort, great confidence in that Wilma Schenker knew you and knows you, continues to know you now, knows you better on the first day of her life in glory than all of her knowledge that filled her 96 years. More love than she enjoyed in such a long life that is found on a day of glory. Lord, we thank you that this is our future if we know Christ. Lord, thank you for coming and revealing to us your Father and our Father, bringing us to your God and our God. Lord, we were helpless without you, and you came to our rescue. Oh, Lord, help us to flee from trusting in ourselves, trusting our own religion, our own good deeds, and come and trust in Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through him. Lord, help us to flee from the wrath to come and flee to Christ. May we be indeed pursued by your goodness and your loving kindness rather than pursued by our sins and the wrath that is sure to come. Hear our prayers, Lord, for Christ's sake. Amen. Please join us for the fellowship downstairs, the reception afterwards, following today's service. Let's close in prayer. Our Father, we do ask your grace and peace to be upon us as we go our separate ways this day. Help us, Lord, to know your healing hand in each of our lives. Help us to trust you more to love you more, to hope in our Savior more for this occasion, for this hour before your throne. We pray, Lord, that we would be encouraged by this one's life to live for you more faithfully, to live for others and not for ourselves. So, Father, we ask that you would encourage us in our pilgrimage until at last we find our way home. in your good timing. So, Lord, as we go, bless us and keep us. We pray that your face would indeed smile upon us, shine upon us, be gracious to us, lift up your countenance upon us, and give us peace now and forevermore. Through the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.