Aum. I pray the congregation to please rise. Amen. Please be seated. Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here before God to reflect on the life and death of Courtney Gruninger. She was a beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, and friend. She will be deeply missed It is agonizing to be here for the funeral of a caring, cheerful young woman like Courtney. That's why we need to bring our loss to the Lord because he alone has the words of eternal life, and he alone can give a comfort that is big enough to endure in life and in death. Cam, Connie, Brayden, Kelly, Josh, our church family longs to surround you with all our love and care. We promise you, with all your other loved ones, we will walk with you in this valley, the deepest, darkest, most painful valley you've ever been in. And in that light, we begin with Lord's Day 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism that summarizes what the life and death of every believer in Christ is like in one sentence. And those listening who have not yet been saved by Christ may hear in this all that God promises to those who truly repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ. What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ, who with his precious blood is fully satisfied for all my sins and delivered me from all the power of the devil, and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly father, not a hair can fall from my head. Yes, that all things must serve my salvation. And therefore by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life and makes me sincerely willing and ready from now on to live for him. It's this hope of the gospel for all who take refuge from their sins. with God through Christ that is real, real enough that we may sing in the face of death. We may express our grief and tears in song and reach for God by faith in song. And God himself reaches for us by giving us these songs to sing. Whoever you are here today, whether you are in church often or never, you're welcome and we're so appreciative of your being here to share our grief. Let us sing the two songs listed in the program, Psalter 150. The Psalter is the blue book, the blue songbook in front of you. And then the words to What a Friend We Have in Jesus are on the inside leaf of your program. O come, Thou Heavenly King, to my need, and hide Thyself from my prayer. ♪ And sing for the rest that I love ♪ ♪ And travel the far-fetched stream ♪ ♪ This, O my God, what a day ♪ ♪ And he thy protection will give ♪ ♪ I am worthy and blest of the Lord ♪ ♪ And he shall my weakness sustain ♪ ♪ The righteous to trust in him ♪ Our will shall forever be. you. All the people sing with me. Praise shall never be disparaged. Take it to the morning bread. Then we find our friends so faithful. Bless you, Savior, still my refuge. Let us cry out to God in prayer. Lord Almighty Living God, God of eternal life, God of salvation, but also God who shares and knows all our troubles and all our sorrows. We think of some of the words of the psalmist, given to us also for hours like this, When gloom and sorrow surround me, the path I take is known to Thee. To God my voice imploring praise, before His face my grief I show, and tell my trouble and my woe. We are bowed down, Lord, with anguish this morning. With the pain of great loss, we feel like another psalm that talks about mourning prisoners and those bowed down with anguish. Oh, the weight of our grief and our pain and our loss. And therefore we fly for refuge to the Lord Jesus Christ, the able and willing and all-sufficient Savior. Beneath the shadow of thy wings we may a refuge find. The fountain of eternal life is found alone with thee, and in the brightness of thy light we clearly light shall see. Drive away, Lord, the darkness and the pain and the heaviness. with the grace and truth and comfort and words of life that are found in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life and who is able to comfort us in our sorrows. So many of us, all of us in many ways this week have just sat silent. What can we say? And we would even now be still. As the psalmist says, be still and know that I am God. And so we take our refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection, who gives a hope big enough to help the hopeless, a help solid enough to help the helpless, a refuge and the morning, the God of salvation and light. Lord Jesus who wept at the grave of Lazarus and who weeps still when we stand before a grave, may the power of that almighty sympathy and comfort fill our hearts now. We feel our frailty, we sense in death the weight of sin, And therefore, we look to the eternal God to be our home, our refuge, and our help. Lord Jesus, who has made the Word of God to have such healing power, grant that through the work of the Holy Spirit, during this hour, the Word of God may go open in an unforgettable way, that it may pierce our hearts, that it may secure our feet from falling and dry our tears, and give us tears of joy. May we feel the everlasting arms of the living God around us and underneath us. All of us need it, but oh, especially Cam and Connie, Brayden and Kelly, Josh, grandparents, and all the others who were nearest and dearest to Courtney. We pray for those listening, Lord, who don't yet know the only comfort in their own hearts who are without God and therefore without hope in the world. We pray that through the opening of the scriptures in this hour, their hearts and eyes might be opened for the hope and the life that are found in Jesus Christ. And for the words of life that have something powerful to say when all human words die out into silence. May the glory of the Lord appear and be our food and our drink. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen. I would like to invite you to turn to Psalm 90 in the scriptures, which is the black Bible and the pew Bible in front of you. And at least on my pulpit copy here, that's page 500, Psalm 90, the book of Psalms is in the middle of the Bible. We feel our frailty, but there's no frailty to the word of God. A prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, forever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction and sayest, return ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night. Thou carryest them away as with a flood, they are as asleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes and grows up and in the evening it is cut down and withers. For we are consumed by thy anger and by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are 60 years and 10, or if by reason of strength, they'd be 80 years, yet is there strength, labor, and sorrow? For it is soon cut off and we fly away. Who knows the power of Thy anger? Even according to Thy fear, so is Thy wrath. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands upon us. Yes, the work of our hands, establish thou it. Let us sing Psalter 278 that's in the blue book in the pew 278. ♪ The tender love of Father Hess ♪ ♪ For all his children dear ♪ ♪ Such love the Lord bestows upon them ♪ ♪ Who worship Him in fear ♪ ♪ The Lord remembers we are lost and are found ♪ before the house of death. Unchanging is the love of God, you Dear Cam, Connie, Kelly, Braden, Josh, PCS students, university, companions of Courtney, friends, the fact that so many of us are here today shows how many of us knew Courtney and valued her. None of us would have imagined that we would be here today to bring her body to the grave and to pay our last respects, Monday, She was so full of life. Monday night, that all came to a devastating end. We can speculate about all the human activities and causes behind this, but ultimately it's God's hand that we need to focus on today. God took her, and that's his right. Courtney belonged to us in many ways and yet her life was completely God's to take and to give. And don't think that's harsh because Psalm 90 will prove to us that it's not harsh. It's painful, it's humbling, it's overwhelming, but it's not harsh. Now I'm not going to stand up here today and pretend I have all the answers, I don't. I feel just as overwhelmed as you all do. And Psalm 90 drips in the middle section with those feelings and those burdens. But we do have God's word, which does tell us some of the answers. And more importantly, God in his word gives us promises that are big enough and precious enough and real enough in Jesus Christ to give a healing to our broken can do. Who would have thought we'd be here today? But God did tell us of that possibility. Those of you who are in church here New Year's Eve heard a sermon about Hezekiah which included these solemn words, every life has a ticking clock that's counting down to zero and God alone knows how much is left on the clock of your life. For Courtney, Monday night meant her clock hit zero. Yours will too. So will mine. God alone knows when. And God himself was the after preacher of that sermon this week. And he is calling us to stand still and consider what he has to say to us. God himself is the only one big enough to be our refuge today, big enough and secure enough to give us comfort, hope, and help. And let's look at this psalm, and I'll focus especially in the first couple verses and the last verses, but we'll look at it with this heading or theme. The Lord, our only refuge from death and sin. We see that his powerful hand shocks us, his greatness can anchor us, his wisdom can teach us, and his work can satisfy us. The funeral sermon is the proclamation of the word of the living God to those who are alive. And yet it is very fitting as we bring our grief before the Lord to remember also with joy and gratitude what the Lord gave us in Courtney. Courtney is remembered by all her peers as a caring young woman who would do anything for anyone without a thought of what she might get back. She was always ready to help others and wanted to express that by becoming a nurse, caring for those who are most desperate. Her dream was to go to mercy ships and to help in the third world those who don't have the medical care we've been blessed with here in Canada. She loved kids, the kids loved her. Her big smile, her cheerful personality lit up every room she was in. If Courtney was in the room, you knew it. She could be a bit scatterbrained. Her family's probably lost track of the times her keys and wallet were missing. She could be a bit of a tease in her valedictorian speech, which I'll quote a couple times today. She apologized to her teachers for giving them a run for their money by hiding and forcing them to play hide and seek during school hours. That was Courtney. And when we suffer such a loss, We need a strong place of refuge for our hearts to find rest. But having said all this in light of the word of God, no one enters heaven by being a likable person. As sinners we've all declared ourselves the enemies of God, and death is a graphic reminder of this sobering reality. God says based on his standards, and his standards are the only ones that matter, there is none righteous, no not one. We all deserve condemnation because of our sins, me too. That's why we all die sooner or later. Death is not natural, in spite of the fact that it happens to everyone. Death is not defined by what people do or experience. Verse three of this psalm says it's God who turns us as humanity to destruction. He says to our bodies, go back to the dust out of which I made you. God says the wages of sin is death. And even for believers in Christ who enter eternal life through physical death, That physical death is a sobering reminder of the wages of sin. It's still called in the Bible, the last enemy. You know, one of the challenges of service like this is that it's not always easy for us to know the spiritual condition of young people who die. When an older person dies, After a long life of professing faith in Christ and showing over time the necessary fruits of godliness that follow, it can be very easy to thank God and to rejoice in the hope of eternal life. But with teenagers, it's not always so easy, is it? You know how it can go. As a parent, you stress the importance of living for God, and you tell your teens that you have to show by your lifestyle that God's smiles and frowns matter to you more than anyone else's? And you know how they answer, for those of you who have teenagers. I know, Mom. Yes, Dad. What does that mean? We can't always figure it out, can we? Does that mean don't bug me because this is too close to home and I don't want to give up my sins, or does it mean I know my Redeemer lives but I'm shy about saying it? Who can tell? God knew Courtney's heart and life. There certainly were times where Courtney had good spiritual conversations with others and spoke of Christ. Young people, even if it doesn't come easy or natural to you, it's so vital that you open up spiritually to your loved ones, especially your parents, to ask your personal questions. to look for godly advice from seasoned and mature believers. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. That's all the proof you need. In a fallen, broken world of sin and death, it is not safe for anyone listening to put off the urgency of faith in Christ and to exercise real, serious repentance of your sins. And if you're not sure, then get sure. There's clarity to be found in God's word. There's grace and hope to be found in Jesus Christ for you. Young people can and do come to a clear and assured faith in Christ, to holiness of life, and to beautiful gospel living. But what can we do today with our grief and pain, with our questions and the devastating finality of death? Well, we need a refuge, a shelter, a shelter big enough, secure enough, comforting enough to feel safe in today. And that's our second point. God's greatness can anchor us. This psalm is sobering in its middle section, but beautifully it begins and ends full of light and comfort. In the face of our frailty and sinfulness, God towers above us. He is eternal. He doesn't have a beginning. He is the holy judge of the living and the dead. And those opposites are not meant to make us run away from God. On the contrary, verse one, Lord, thou has been our dwelling place in all generations. To say it simply, Lord, you've been our home in all generations. Who God is, that's the answer for people shocked and broken and grieving and upset. Notice how Moses says it. He calls God Lord here. He stresses God's sovereignty and control over his creation. But he also very beautifully describes God for believers like this, our home. We'll sing it later as the last song of this service. Oh God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home. Beneath the shadow of thy wings, thy saints have dwelt secure. Sufficient is thy arm alone, and our defense is sure. God proclaims himself in this psalm as the eternal home of humanity. What's home? Well, you know what home is, or what it should be. A place of shelter and love and safety. When I was by the Groninger's the other day, I noticed the sign you have there about the picture of your children about love and about family. That's home, isn't it? Home is where you want to be when you're upset and broken and weary. And home is where you go when you fail because you can find grace and forgiveness and wise advice about what to do next. I think in the weeks that follow, home's not gonna feel the same, is it? There's gonna be an empty place. Courtney's not gonna walk in the door. You're gonna have your moments when you wonder, where is home? And Moses cries out, God is my home. And Moses isn't saying this because everything's running smoothly. He's saying this in the face of death. That's why I picked Psalm 90 today. How much death he saw in the wilderness, young and old, in the wanderings of Israel. And Moses turns to God, who's the ruler over life and death, and he says, God, you're Israel's real home. One commentator says it like this, this mighty, sovereign, holy, eternal God is our sovereign and our shelter. We are his to command and he is ours to enjoy. Yes, God's presence can be enjoyed even in crisis and loss. He can be your home in the middle of your heartache. Cam, Connie, every parent listening is trying to imagine what you're going through right now and you're feeling that bittersweet mixture of grief. A shared chuckle at things you remember from Courtney. And agonizing, raw heartache. One moment you might find yourself able to pray and able to cry out to God and trust it. In another moment, you might say, I can't pray, my heart is numb, it's raw. I quote to you now the word of God, as Courtney put it in her grad speech, Isaiah 43, verse two. God says this to those who trust in him. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. We can feel drowned and on fire when it comes to grief. But God says this, He'll make the difference for His people. He will put out the flames. He can keep your head above water, and oh, the waters of grief are deep waters. Connie and mother's heart and love are deep, but God's love and heart are deeper still. Cam, a father's love for his daughters is a special thing. And only the love of God, the Heavenly Father, can comfort you and can give you energy to go on. Go to Him. Draw near to Him. Run into that shelter. Rest in that home. You know the same. Maybe you've even used it with Courtney before. We'll leave the light on for you. So you can walk in and be home no matter when. God is saying in this psalm, His eternal power and glory are revealed to you here in the scripture so that you would be able to go to Him as your home and your refuge. He in this psalm leaves the light on for you so that you can go to Him for comfort and relief and help and you don't even have to say anything to Him. Silence is golden before God too. God delights in holding on to those who run to him. Oh, the raw grief can savagely grab you at unexpected moments. You've cried more this week than in the last 10 years combined. You've cried when you thought you had no tears left to cry. But God delights to hold those in his almighty arms who go to him. His almighty power is welded to perfect care. Brayden, Kelly, when your heart breaks, because your sister's not gonna be around anymore, then run to God who leaves the light on for you in this soul. In fact, God does more than leave the light on. He comes looking for people with his light when you don't even know where to go or where to find it. We don't know all the answers, but we can know the God who does. We won't receive all the answers, but we do receive promises from the God who does. Promises that can supply a help and a hope and an energy and a strength and a grace and a courage you never knew were possible. Who God is, that's the anchor that never slips or lets go to those anchored to him. Once you realize that you want God's wisdom to be your guide, our third point, the middle section of Psalm 90 is raw. It needs to be raw because death is raw. And it drips with two unavoidable realities. First, in verses three to six, human frailty. The examples used here are graphic. We're as helpless in the face of death as a wood chip on the old man river in flood. Our lives are as fragile as a dream. You wake up, the soap bubble of the dream pops, and that's it. We're like the grass, and here in Hay Country, you've seen it, the Timothy Hay, looking magnificent and green and rippling in the sun. But you go over it with your mower, and it's withered by the end of the day. When you take that reality to heart, it changes how you think and live about life. Courtney wrote a valedictorian speech last June. that illustrates her character and the psalm, and I quote now from it. As of this moment, we seem to think we have our lives pretty planned out. But I can tell you right now that things aren't going to be the same for the rest of our lives. Our lives are going to change. There's going to be challenges and struggles. And then a bit later she adds, life is full of twists and turns. Oh, Courtney, is it ever more than you ever imagined? But also we're faced with this raw middle section with our sinfulness. We're told in verse seven that death reveals the wrath of God, that we're consumed and overwhelmed, unable to cope. Verse eight, this wrath is justice. It leaves us with no complaint and appeal to our own rights because none of our imagined rights cancel out God's. Death isn't natural. We were not designed to die. We're designed to live forever and that's why deep down death bothers all of us so much. You can tell yourself for a while that life's all about you and that you can live your life your way and you can ignore God and you can brush him off, but when you see death it strips you of that delusion. It rubs raw and takes off the calluses and it makes you tremble before God. And what's the cure? How does the eternal God who has every right and reason to judge all of us, myself included, solve this problem in such a way that he can become your eternal home? Well, if all you had is verse seven and eight in the psalm, you'd be desperate and lost indeed. Some of you are that desperate and some of you are that lost. But Moses says all this not to leave us hanging, but to point us to the only refuge and home that sinners have, the living God. God? Yes, God. God has supplied the grace and the forgiveness and the change of life needed to turn death inside out and upside down. God has supplied Jesus Christ as the savior of sinners. Jesus Christ, who has always been the eternal God of verses one and two, took our frailty upon himself. He added our humanity to who he's always been as God. He went to the cross for sinners and the guilty. He was run over by the wrath of God there. He suffered. One of the very comforting things is that Courtney didn't suffer. She was gone in a moment. But Christ faced death fully aware. He chose death. He saw it coming. His eyes were wide open to it. The sinless judge got off the throne and faced the death that we as sinners deserve so he can set sinners free and make his enemies his children. Once you realize that the judge took the place of the condemned, In order to give eternal life, that changes how you look at the judge. Yes, death reveals how sinful sin is, but Christ's death reveals how gracious God is to sinners. Once you realize this about God, you run towards him. You run to him to be your home, your security, your help, your hope, and your strength. This is the good news that shines brightly and nowhere as brightly in the face of death. The raw realities of this song are the backdrop for the bright realities of the good news. And this good news can transform how we face the horrible news of Courtney's death. In order for that to do you any good, you need to become wise. That's why you find the agonizing prayer in verse 12. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. None of us are born with biblical wisdom. It's something you need to gain, to be given by God. The wisdom of the scriptures is not something you can master yourself. You need to learn to count your days and gain wisdom by an act of the Holy Spirit, changing your heart and your life to see life God's way and live accordingly. How can you know you who are listening if you have the wise heart of the soul? Well, first, do you see sin like God sees it? Do you excuse sin as just being young and having fun and just being a little wild and, oh, they'll settle down someday? Or do you see sin as something to hate and fear and run from? Sin is the deadliest danger you'll ever be in, far greater than unsafe roads. And if you don't think this, you don't have a wise heart yet. Without a wise heart, you're not saved. Second, what do you think of Jesus Christ? You don't become wise by doing your best and smartening up. Your best as a sinner is not good enough. You need Christ to be your hope. Do you long for him? Trust in him and love him. And third, what's the goal of your life? Is it to love, serve, honor, and glorify Christ? Or is it to love and glorify you? Your choices in life are what reveal what you really believe, not your words, your choices. Jesus in Matthew 7 speaks of people who say, you have great theology, they call him Lord, but he says to them, depart from me, I never knew you. You who do not do what I said. Titus says this, they profess him with their lips, but in their words, they deny him. Are you wise? Are these three things true of you? Young people, I'm particularly burdened for you as young people today, but not just young people, older ones too if this applies to you and you're not serious about living for God. If there's one thing I've prayed for this week, it's that God would bless Courtney's shocking death so that you as young people would all have a wise heart. The night Courtney died, some of you young people were gathering together and you're asking each other, where would I be right now if I'd been in that car? In heaven or in hell? That's what a wise heart does. A foolish heart fluffs it off. A foolish heart says, yeah, well, all church people in Christian schools, students go to heaven when they die. No, they don't. The wisdom you need from God is more than the impression of the moment. This isn't the first time our community in Southern Alberta here has been faced with the death of a young person. Do you know what usually happens? You know. For a couple of weeks, everything stops in its tracks and everyone is tenderhearted and everything changes. And you examine your priorities and your choices and your lifestyles, and then life goes on. and it slips back into the rut of old sins and getting serious about repenting of your sin and calling each other as friends to deal with sin in your life, it melts, fades. And that is what will happen now too, unless the Holy Spirit gives you this heart of wisdom. Young people and older ones too, Anyone listening who's unrepentant, my heart breaks for you. I know that some of you want to live a life pleasing to God, but others of you are on the fence. You can say all the right things, but you put off living like you believe it. You think that sin is more exciting. And that settling down is for later. And you egg each other on to sin and you laugh about holiness. A toxic reality of the youth culture in our area, including sometimes in the churches, is drunkenness, promiscuity, pornography, and vulgar language. If that's your lifestyle, you are not a Christian. It doesn't matter what you say. Your actions deny your words, and your actions are your real beliefs. And if that's you, and you know if it is or isn't, what can those sins offer you now today as you sit here? You choose such things because you have a blind, foolish, rebellious, evil heart. And I pray, oh I plead, that God would use the death of Courtney like a jackhammer to break through the hardness and the crust and the deafness and the deadness of your heart, some of you young people, all the way you live. I quote Courtney's speech again. With God's direction, we must seize these opportunities while we have the chance. You go after a wise heart like Courtney went after a rebound on the basketball court. Well, young people, if you feel stuck, you know you need to change, but you don't know how. If you desperately want to be free from sins enslaving power, but you can't break free on your own, then you need the wisdom of God in Jesus Christ. And nothing makes a pastor happier than to be asked personal questions. But how to be free? I know my God, I know his glory and power and grace and truth and love and tenderness are big enough to overcome your sins. And I would gladly teach you with God's help wisdom. I would love to set up a special Bible study, especially for those young people who realize today that their life means they're not ready to meet God, but who feel stuck and don't know where to go and what to do. I guarantee you I've heard it all. Pastors are like family doctors. We have heard everything after 10 years in the ministry. And I know that God's love and grace and truth are big enough to overcome your sins. Don't think you have time to settle down in a few years, because the longer you wait, the thicker the callous and crust and layer gets on your heart. You're not guaranteed that time. God can end your opportunities to embrace the good news in a moment. Be wise now, before it's too late. Cry out to God for his wisdom in Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And believing with his help, get rid of old sins. And in order to attract you to the wisdom of God, We see lastly and briefly from Psalm 90 that his work can satisfy us. There's nothing you can do or say that erases the raw realities of death. That's why most of us just sit silent in a week like this. Verse 14, oh, satisfy us early with thy mercy that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the years in which we've seen trouble. Is there something big enough to make up for the losses and tears and agonies of life in a dying world? Yes, there is. God's work, God's work through Christ's resurrection will make all things new. It'll make this whole world new so that suffering and death and tears are gone, never to come back. He can take the greatest sinner and turn him or her into the greatest saint. Many of you know people whose lives are marked by God's beauty. There's a wisdom there. There's a love there. There's a devotion to God that's just attractive. What is it you see in them? You see God's beauty. Nobody's born like that. God does that. That's the beauty of God. Parents, do you tremble to raise children in a fragile world where human wisdom fails and runs stuck? You need God. You need God to establish the work of your hands, to put his hands over yours, and to work through and along with you as you raise your children, so that those kids would learn to see and receive the saving beauty and grace of eternal life in Jesus Christ. And you can pray such prayers in hope, even in a world of the raw realities of death. Speak God's wisdom, parents, but trust God's word and work, not your words and work. Perhaps the most beautiful words of the psalm in some ways are verse 14. Oh, satisfy us. God can satisfy you with his promises, his presence, and his grace so richly that it makes up for losses and griefs. No, that doesn't happen perfectly and completely in this present world, but it is real. And this God is proclaimed to you today. I don't proclaim to you a 10-step self-help program to get your life on track. I proclaim the living God, the Savior of sinners, the God who satisfies. This eternal God promises through Christ that whosoever listening believes in Him, and having believed in the strength of His grace, runs away from sin, shall have eternal life. Surrender to this God and trust in Him and embrace Him as your home and good news going forward. Amen. Let us sing the words of In Christ Alone. That's also found on the inside of your program. Satsang with Mooji He is my light, my strength, my song. His Lord and Son is all around, and with His exalted song. The depths of love, the depths of peace, are still their shining streets. I love the church, I love it all. Here in the love of Christ, I stand. In Christ alone, who took our flesh, For this our God in helpless day, His guilt, our love, and righteousness, Soar like the ones He needs to save. Jesus died, for the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin, how it was made, here in the death of Christ I live. ♪ But from the grave he rose again ♪ ♪ And as he stepped in victory ♪ ♪ Sin's curse has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ For I am his, and he is mine ♪ This is the power of Christ in me. From light first bright to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. The Lord our help, the King of men, In heaven or on earth. Let us pray. Almighty God, whose word is painful and yet life-giving, whose word reveals to us a home that will always be home, unchangeably so for all those who learn to trust in and follow Jesus Christ. And so we pray, Lord, May the fullness of the comfort of this eternal home and refuge be what makes home home again for the Gruninger family. That whenever the pang of loss and pain hits, grant, Lord, look for them with this light. Find them, grant that they would experience and know the power and comfort and hope and help of the Lord Jesus Christ with his arms around them, his grace sufficient for them, his word, their shield, their strength, and their song. Fill them with his grace day by day and moment by moment. We pray, Lord, for all those who heard the word of God and who don't yet have a Savior, for whatever the reason is, maybe never having heard of Him or taken Him seriously or having parroted His words but not done what He said. We pray especially for those listening, young and old, who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Oh God, we plead, oh we plead, Let not the shocking effect of death wear off, but use this to give them a heart of wisdom, to transform lives by the glory of Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. Oh God, have mercy on those who are stuck and trapped and ensnared in the bondage of sin. and set them free into the liberty of the children of God. We pray, help us to rest in Christ alone, where hope can be found no matter what the grief and heartache and pain and questions are that live in our hearts. We pray, Lord, strengthen us to go to the cemetery to deliver the body of our beloved Courtney to the ground and to thy care. And help us, Lord, for thy name's sake, for Jesus' sake. Amen. We sing Psalter 247, 1 and 2, which is the first couple verses of this psalm. And then afterwards, I believe someone will come up to say some things on behalf of the family. O God, how gracious hast thou known for years to come! us and our return. Patient is thy arm, O Lord, and our dear friend. Cam and Connie and family have asked me to read this on their behalf. We remember Courtney as a wonderful young woman with a beautiful smile. She lit up the room with her energy, humour and sparkle in her eye. She was such a blessing to us as a family, to her friends and so many others with her warm and caring spirit. She never liked anyone left out and took special care for those with extra needs. Courtney was a tomboy and a daddy's girl. She much preferred the outside animals over doing things inside. She always did whatever was put in front of her, determined to do it right. Courtney adored kids and they were always drawn to her in return. As a young child, Courtney had some health challenges and spent some time in hospitals and around doctors and nurses. No matter how many times she was poked and prodded, she never shed a tear. After she spent some time in the Children's Hospital at age six, she said, that's what I want to do when I grow up and has never wavered from that. She was so looking forward to becoming a nurse and was planning to travel to some places where health care is limited. She was planning for a trip later this spring and more down the road after she did some more schooling. She loved her brother and sister, Braden and Kelly, with all her heart. And she found someone else special in her life which made that light in her eyes shine just a little bit brighter yet. Many conversations were had with mom about everything and anything, especially at night after coming home, no matter the time. Those times will always be treasured. We would like to thank everyone for the many prayers and messages. We have felt surrounded by love from so many. We thank you all for the many ways you showed your care towards us and for Courtney. Many of you stopped in to support us and to pray with us and for us. We thank the first responders and the police. What a difficult task you have. Pastor Mordyke and Erwin Vanee, thank you for coming over right away on Monday night when we received the devastating news of Courtney's passing. For your support and for your prayers, God has shown us how much he cares for us by giving us the gift of so much love from family and friends. Irma and Martin, Karina and Case, you have done so much for us this past week. You never left us and took over whatever needed doing. Thank you, Martin, for the precious pictures. Many tears were shed in the process. Bernita and Harvey, we don't know how we'd have gotten through these last few days without your friendship and support. So many young people have stayed over or visited our house this past week to support Brayden, Kelly and Josh, and in turn supported us. Bianca, Nico, Jeffrey and Corneille, as well as so many others, we cannot thank you enough and hope you continue to come over and share your memories with us. Clint, your visits meant so much to us and the sharing memories of Courtney. She loved going over to you guys' house and held a special place in her heart for Aiden, Sarah, and Aspen. Thank you, Pastor, for your message today, and Martin Brothers, for the care you have given us and Courtney. Sandy, you were so compassionate and walked alongside us, and we truly appreciate that. We thank God for the precious gift of Courtney and the years he gave us with her, even though in our eyes the time was far too short. Throughout the immense hurt and pain, peace has been given in our hearts that she is now with him. Courtney never left anywhere without saying, I love you, to those she cared about. Now we get to say it last. We love you, Courtney, and we'll always hold you close in our hearts. Would you please rise? you you Om. you you. and and and Om. Amen.