Word Wednesday - Luke 22:7-23

Dear Church Family,

This week I have been surrounded by death and dying. Along with the passing of my dear friend, Cecil, I am also grieving the loss of Diana Crutcher’s mother, Peggy Dagenais. I preached a funeral yesterday for a dear friend from Boyd, Shirley Whitehead. I was also made aware while securing a night’s boondocking stay in Memphis Tennessee at Bellevue Baptist Church in that city that they are in a state of grieving as well. It is a storied church with former pastors like R.G. Lee and Adrian Rogers. Their last pastor, Steve Gaines, was another pastor of that church I deeply admired. He has fought a battle with cancer for the last two years and passed away a month ago. In addition, I found out that The staff member their Minister of Music, Mark Blair, passed away more unexpectedly last week! They both had served that church faithfully for the last 19 years and were very beloved by that church family.

I have always heard that many times death come in “3’s.” Sometimes even more! I praise God that through Christ, the “sting” of death has been removed for the Christian. I praise God that as Christians, we have victory over death and are even promised that our own bodies will one day be resurrected and will be raised “incorruptible” and “immortal.” (1 Corinthians 15:52-53)!

Billy Graham once said, “One day you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! I shall be more alive that I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

Praise God! As a popular song now puts it, “O, death, you are dead to me…I will dance on your grave with the One who buried you!” Praise God for the victory we have in Christ over death!