Funeral Service for Virginia Wadel

On behalf of the Wadle family, I welcome you to our service here. Thank you all for coming and supporting the family and taking part in this time of honoring Sister Virginia for her life, for the impact she had on her family, her church, and also her community.

We're here to grieve her passing and the end of her earthly relationships, but we're also here to rejoice in Sister Virginia's new beginning, a beginning of being in the presence of her Savior that will never, ever end. The order of the service is as follows.

After I'm done, Brother Conrad Sollenberger will come forward and lead us in three songs. These songs are very special that we're going to be singing today to the family because they were the songs that they sang around Virginia's bed in the final days of her life.

After the songs, I will give a short devotional and lead in prayer. Following the prayer, we will look to Brother Harvey for a message.

When Brother Harvey is done, Brother Conrad will lead us in two more songs, after which I will read the obituary. Following the obituary, some of the children will share some of their memories of their mother, and the grandchildren also have a song that they are going to share with us.

After the song, we're going to have a brief time where I'm going to open it up to the audience for a chance to share any memories that you would like to share with the family. We are not going to pass a microphone or anything around. You will just have to stand to your feet and share from where you are.

After that, I will come forward and give the instructions for the dismissal and the graveside service. Brother Conrad.

Let me turn in the hymn book to 984.

984. God is the giver and taker of life.

984.

Shall we gather at the river where bright angels beat their drums with this crystal tide forever flowing by the throne of God? Yes, we'll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river. Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.

On the margin of the river, washing up its silver spray, we will walk in worship ever, all the happy golden days.

Yes, we'll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river. Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.

There we reach the shining river, play we at reverted down. Grace our spirits will deliver and provide a robe and crown.

Yes, we'll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river. Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.

Soon we'll gather at the river, soon our pilgrimage.

Here

we are left alone, but over yonder hearts will grow fonder, and separation will never come.

Never come. Yonder yesterday we know hard day no, no, no, may days. No, no, no. Days up there will ever come. There'll be no crying.

We're all soon begowing to see my Savior upon his throne, and hear a welcome ring out through heaven. O weary pilgrim, this is your home. This is your home and sober yonder. Yesterday we know hard day no, no, no, may days. No, no, no. Days up there will ever come.

There'll be no crying. There'll be no dying. Oh, what rejoicing when we get over home.

476.

476.

This is a familiar tune. The words might be different. I would like everyone to sing unison on verse 1, and then we can sing parts on verse 2, 3, and 4.

Domine, I look to thee in every need and never look in vain. I feel thy strong and tender love and all is well again.

The thoughts of thee is mightier far than sin and pain and sorrow.

Miscourage did the work of light, his heart and by its love.

Chained by its failures or its fears, I sink beside the rope. But let me only think of thee, and then new heart springs up in me.

Thy calmness then searing above my restlessness to stay.

Around me falls thy quaking light to serve my faltering will. Thy presence fills my solitude, thy providence turns all to good.

In bosom deep in thy dear love, felt in thy love I stand.

Thy hand in all things I behold, and all things in thy hand. Now needest me, my arms are tight, and turns my mourning into grace.

The family has asked me to share from John chapter 14. If you have your Bibles, you're welcome to turn there. In the previous, this is Jesus speaking to his disciples. And in the previous chapter, he has told his disciples some troubling things.

He told them that one of them was a traitor. He also told them that they would all deny him. And most troubling of all, he told them that he was going to leave. But after he says these troubling things, he follows it up with verse 1 of chapter 14 with this statement, "Let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me.

Let not your heart be troubled."

And this morning, we are facing what is trouble. But Jesus is speaking the same thing to us this morning, "Let not your heart be troubled." He follows this command with the why and the how. He says, "You believe in God, believe also in me."

If it were no, excuse me. Verse 2, "In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." This word mansions has the idea some people say should be translated dwelling place. And he says, "I go to prepare this dwelling place for you."

And here's the promise in verse 3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am, there you may be also."

This is a promise that he was giving to his disciples as he was about to leave. This is also a promise that was there for Sister Virginia. And it's also a promise for us here today. He has gone to prepare a place for us. And the whole reason behind that is that he may be with us and that we can be with him.

The created with the creator, the child with the father, the bride with the bridegroom. For Sister Virginia, this is not just a promise, but it is also a reality that she is experiencing.

In verse 5, Thomas has a question. He says, "I don't know the way." He says, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?"

And Jesus gives the how. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Sister Virginia took these instructions to heart and is experiencing the reward of her choice.

And we can do the same. We must do the same if we want to dwell with God. I'm going to invite you all to stand for prayer.

Dear God in heaven, we request your presence here with us this morning. Lord, we praise you and we thank you for the work that you did on the cross that enables us to grieve but also experience that living hope that there is life beyond death.

Lord, I pray you be with each person here today. And Lord, I pray that they would find you to be their comfort and their strength during this time. Lord, I pray especially for the family, especially for Marvin. God, I pray that you would stand with them and give them a sturdy faith and a confidence in you today and the days that follow.

Be with Brother Harvey as he shares the message with us, and be with the remainder of the service. In your name we pray. Amen.

Thank you, Brother Anthony, for those comforting words from God's word.

And a few things I want to say to the family in the start here. All I know to say is I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry, and I'm sorry for this loss.

I also want to tell you that I've been truly blessed and challenged by your response to this loss so far. God bless you. God give you the grace to go on forward from here.

And I guess a reminder to myself and all of us as we've seen the family get close and drawn together, standing together through this valley of death of a loved one. It just reminded me again the importance of cultivating good relationships while life is good. And then when we come to tough times like this, we're sort of equipped to go through it and to support one another together.

And I guess to the extended family, to the grandchildren, to even the children, most of you are going to go back home, and you're going to get busy with your own families and your own life. And you're going to sort of forget, in a sense.

Brother Marvin and Sister Kara are going to go home to an empty house. One of the most important parts of that home is not going to be there. And Brother Marvin and Kara, they have some tough days ahead.

I mean, that's just the reality of this thing called death. And let's remember that. And this goes out to all of us. That gives us an obligation. The Bible tells us clearly that pure religion before the Lord is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. So that brings to us a new obligation, doesn't it, right in our community? And let's not see it just as an obligation but also a privilege.

May God bless us. Let's do our duty as we can in upholding them in the tough days ahead.

And we see as we look at the audience, we see her life has touched many of you in many different ways, and she will be missed by many. But there's, I don't believe, any of us, including the family, that would wish her back again.

We believe, based on the promises of God's word and based on the testimony of her life, that we can entrust her into a safe place and always will. And based on that promise of God's word, gives us a sure hope. And it's backed up in Hebrews by a God that cannot lie.

He just doesn't know how to. He doesn't know how to tell a lie. He told us that our foundation of hope is sure and steadfast and unmovable. And we entrust our sister into that strong promise. Brother Marvin asked me to share in this message on the subject of the assurance of salvation.

This was a struggle that Sister Virginia had over the years at times. I don't think Sister Virginia ever doubted the reality and the existence of God. I don't know that she doubted the promises of God. But there were times in testimony meetings and so on she would share that she just was a little bit insecure, maybe. I don't know what word or term to use, but just the assurance that always well in her relationship with her maker. She sort of struggled with that at times, even up to close to those last days.

And I'm pleased to say this morning, I believe Brother Marvin and the family and others have helped her through that. And she came to the place where she could rest it over into the hands of God, and she died in peace, just believing that all will be well. She was a very sensitive person. And the subject of the assurance of salvation, I believe at one time or the other, maybe in our life, we all struggle with this at times.

And so I want to talk about this subject in several ways. I want to talk about the foundation. I don't know what other word to use, but the assurance of salvation, to me, makes me think of whether we're secure or insecure. Some call it the security of the believer or the insecurities that we face in life. Let's talk about that subject, the basis of an insecurity. And I want to talk about a healthy insecurity, and I want to talk about an unhealthy insecurity and the roots of that. So if we go back, if you know your Bible, we don't need to turn to it. We'll refer to many of these scriptures for the sake of time.

We go clear back in the beginning when God first created man. And we see Genesis chapter 2, he created man to be like God after the image of God. And then we see the relationship. And at the end of the chapter, it says that Adam and Eve, the first two humans, they were naked and they were not ashamed.

That is a loaded verse. That doesn't just mean that there was a man and a woman with no clothing on. It goes much deeper than that. There was something about their entire life that was completely an open book before heaven, before God, before the creation and all of that. They just had free reign in that garden, and there was no mistrust there. There was no misunderstanding. It was a relationship that was as wholesome as we can understand it as humans. And I just try to imagine how that might have been. So they were there to tend the garden.

Picture these little gods, if you please, walking around in that free range of trees and fruit. And I'd just like to imagine how that might have been and what the job of tending maybe God said, "Hey, Adam." I mean, we get there was an open communication and God's involvement there in the garden. "Adam, what do you think? Eve, what do you think? That new variety of peaches out there, did you try them yet?" And Eve says, "Oh, yes, they're delicious. Where did you find that variety?" Or things like that, just freely and openly discussing like a family that had a relationship that was completely pure, no deceit, no deception, no dishonesty. Beautiful.

And then we come to Genesis chapter 3. Also, as God created Adam and Eve, he gave them the gift of free will to choose. And here comes a strange voice. It was a different voice. It was an unfamiliar voice.

They never heard this voice before. And this voice had a flavor in it. It had an appeal to them. This voice also had a lie in it, a huge, big, fat lie. And Adam and Eve were like, "You know what?" And they started second-guessing that beautiful and that pure relationship. And they listened to that strange voice, the story, and what happened.

The first thing they started to do was covering their nakedness.

Let's think about that a little bit. So all of a sudden, for the first time in history, they became guilty.

And they go out, and they try to sew together leaves, fig leaves, to cover themselves. And then they heard a familiar voice in the distance. It was the voice of God. They heard the voice before they saw him. And it says, "When they heard the voice, now they were not only covering with fig leaves, but they went to the trees, and they began to hide themselves."

There's a problem. This is the root problem of every security, insecurity that ever came into existence. It has its roots right here.

They were guilty before man, before God, before creation, before everything. And if we could just make a list of everything that went wrong from thereforth, had its roots right here.

And then the second thing we want to notice, where did that insecurity come from? It seemed the insecurity had a direct connection with the voice of God. So I'm going to call that insecurity a healthy insecurity because something was wrong.

And folks, today, when there's something wrong in our life, we need to be insecure because we want to go to this box, this coffin, knowing for sure that always well. And when there's things that are not well, and that voice that we need to answer - and I'm going to call that voice the voice of God - a call to the cure.

So let's think of three words here. They all start with C. Maybe we can remember them. The cause of the insecurity. And then when they hear God's voice, there was a call in it. He said, "Adam, where are you?"

Do you think God knew where Adam was? I bet he did. I bet Adam I bet God said, "I know exactly which tree you're hiding under." What God was saying, he put out that call to Adam for a response from Adam saying, "I'm here back under tree number 13."

The next thing the voice asks, "Why are you ashamed?" Well, Adam said, "I'm afraid now." First, he's ashamed. He's embarrassed. Now he says, "I was afraid, and I began to hide." And God wanted Adam to say, "This is why I'm afraid." And there's that call to a remedy.

And I just wonder already when Adam and Eve, if he would have come out from under that tree blessed and met God right there and said, "Look, God, I'm so sorry. This is what we did." God was calling for that. "Adam, where are you? What have you done?

Are you going to take personal responsibility for this broken relationship?"

The healthy insecurity that we as human beings face. And then the voice of God that says, "I'm not going to give up on this relationship." He could have. Actually, he should have. From his standpoint, he should have. He could have. Said, "Oh, yeah, you guys just blew it. I'm out of here. See you. I have better things to do." But no, that's the Bible story. From thereforth, God went on a journey. We look down through the ages, through the Old Testament sacrifices, all the bloodshed, all the animals that gave their life. It all had to do to that call to the cure.

There's a medical term that says something like this. I think an old term we used to use, it says, "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." There's some things that Adam and Eve have done that we can't prevent. They have brought in with their disobedience and their rebellion, the Bible says, they have brought into the world all this brokenness and all this death and all this trouble came in with that. We can't remedy that. That is done. We can't help it. We were born into this world with their nature to sin and disobey and rebel.

But we all have the privilege and the opportunity to say yes to the call to the cure. And that call to the cure is very loud. Well, fast forward a little bit down through history. We go into Isaiah. My wife and I have been reading through Isaiah, and there's things that really stand out. It gives a lot of the history of the people of God that did answer that call to the cure. And they had a very good experience for years walking with their God. And then some of them turned away, and they started listening to the same voice that Adam and Eve listened to. And for that, I want to turn we can turn our Bibles for a couple of scriptures if you have them.

Read Isaiah 50, Isaiah 59.

Just two verses there. Just getting a little bit of a picture here.

Verse 1 and verse 2 of Isaiah 59 says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear."

A couple of things we want to glean from these verses, get the setting a little bit. So the prophet is talking about the waywardness of a people that have once known the relationship of probably as close as humans could know, again, the relationship of Genesis chapter 2. They were hearing the voice of God. They were responding to that. They were following their leader, Moses and so on. They had a communication, at least distantly, to their God. There was a response. There was an obedience. There was all that.

And now he says, "Something happened again that is very similar to Genesis chapter 3." And I say this to say, this is for all of us. And it's especially for those of you in our midst that have not yet said yes to Jesus.

Or maybe you have once said yes. Maybe you've been baptized. You've joined the church. You made a Christian commitment, and you've backslidden and you fell back into some old sins. I want us to understand that the sins that we commit today by rejecting Jesus, by saying no to His voice, by walking the other way, those sins are just as destructive. They're just as damaging. They have the same results as Adam and Eve's sins did.

And here we have a group of people that did just that. And now, if you notice in these passages that God goes and hides Himself, now He's taking Adam and Eve's place. And so to speak, He's hiding under the tree, and He puts the full responsibility. He said, "It's because of your sins. It's because of your iniquities." And folks, that makes it very personal to us.

It really does because all of us come into this world as a baby, and our little babies are guiltless. Somehow, through the work of God and His call, He made our babies come into this world with a clean slate. They are guiltless before God. They come naked.

We had this mini family gathering some time ago, and one of our grandsons was in another room being dressed for the night, I believe. And somehow, he took a little loop away from Mama, and he took his little detour right out through the living room streaking naked.

And he was not embarrassed. And we're there like, "Oh, dear. Oh, dear." You know what? My mind goes back. He was living in Genesis chapter 2 completely free. He's not guilty. He's completely innocent. And we all come to this world that way.

It doesn't matter it does matter, but I'm saying if our parents are mean to us, if we're abused as a child, that's very unfortunate. But we're not responsible for what Adam and Eve did. We're not responsible for what our parents did. We're not even responsible for what our abusive neighbor has done. We're not responsible for that person that has constantly been harassing us through life.

We're not responsible for that. God is so big that He knows all of those troubles. And He's going to come down. And He told these folks here in Isaiah. He said, "My hand is not short. I can't reach you." It was your sin, not your brother. Our brother John Martin from this congregation often reminds us what sin is. Sometimes we get this big sin word all confused with some theological word that's way out there. John brings it home. He says, "It's just simply selfishness."

And every way I look at it in the garden there at Genesis 3, every choice that those choices Adam and Eve made all went back to self again. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, they said, "I think we'll go for it." You see, it has its roots. Sin has its roots in selfishness.

And Isaiah is telling us he's telling the folks there, "It's because of your selfishness that has made God go away. And He hid His face from you, and He chose to not hear you until you answered the call to the cure." And in that case, the call to the cure, he said, "I have a hand. I have an arm that is very long." I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but they tell me it's really deep. It doesn't matter how deep it is.

If I'm stuck in the bottom of the Grand Canyon and I make an answer to the call, His hand is going to reach down there, and He's going to pick us up.

That is our God. But He wants us to take the responsibility for this broken relationship. We see good relationships go two ways.

Genesis 2, Adam and Eve, we're hiding. Isaiah, God is hiding. What are you going to do about this?

And then He says, "My ear is not heavy." So He has a long arm, and He has an ear that is clear to hear. What about those coal miners a number of years ago that were stuck, I believe, in Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania, for how many days? Oh, I put myself there, and I'm like, "Oh, I pray for those people." I mean, I would just go wild underneath there. When there's I don't know how many feet of dirt between them and any kind of help from humans, and you're stuck in there, God says, "I have an ear that can reach even through that."

He's waiting on us. Those of you that are not right with God, and you know it, you need to be very jumpy this morning. You don't want to go there without answering the call to the cure. We don't want to go into that box without a clear promise that is backed up by a life behind it.

Now, to another group of people here this morning, those of us that claim to be God's people, we made a commitment 20 years ago, maybe 30 years ago, and the ordinary Christian life just sets in. We've been baptized.

We've joined the church. We're just being a pretty good person. Is there a place for a little bit of insecurity in a good way for us? Let's think of a couple of scriptures. First Peter chapter 1, I'll again refer to it. First Peter no, I'm sorry. I think it's Second Peter 1. Peter is talking to Christians. He's talking to believers.

And he's giving a whole list of virtuous things like brotherly love and kindness, virtuous things. And then he makes an interesting comment. He says that if you do these things, you shall abound and be fruitful. But if you forget these things, there's two things that happen.

If you lack these things, he says, you have forgotten that your old sins have been purged away. And another thing happens.

You become shortsighted. You can't see afar off. And then he comes back up, and he says, "Therefore, take diligence." Now, this is to the Christians, to the church. "Take diligence to make your calling an election sure."

How do we do that without being just a little bit insecure?

Be diligent to make your calling an election sure. We see in Acts chapter 5 that there were a man and his wife. Now, this is after the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection, and the church is established. And there's a man and his wife there. I believe ordinary church life is settling in, and they become sort of used to this. And they had a business deal, Ann and I's and Sapphira. We know the story.

And you know what? They started listening to the same voice that Adam and Eve listened to. It was a lie. And they sort of dishonestly made a choice. You remember the story? You remember what happened? Boom.

The man dies. The men carry him to the burial. And I think it was just several hours later, or was it three days or three hours, whatever it was. The wife didn't even have a chance to be at the burial. She didn't even know what happened.

Boom. She's down dead. You remember what happened to the church? This was a church that was operating under the Holy Spirit. And all of a sudden, the church says, "Wow." They were filled with great fear. And I'm going to call that a healthy fear because I think that church stood up, and they just watched that and said, "I think God means what He says.

And we better sit up straight. And we better listen to His word. And we better be honest people." You see that? We are to take diligence. And we are to sit up with a reverent fear that God is not mocked.

And we need to live our Christian life in a way that has just a little bit of healthy insecurity in it, if that makes sense. Jesus' way of saying it is, "Watch and pray." If we stay up all night, yes, that has that idea that we're alert even at night.

First John 3:3 says, "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself." Finish the verse.

As He is pure. So we live our Christian life with a little bit of a jumpiness about how my life measures up to the purity of Jesus. He's our measuring stick. It's not our neighbor. It's not our neighboring church. But it's God. How do I measure up with Him? That thing I just said to my wife, did that really measure up with loving her as Christ loved the church? If it didn't, I need to be insecure before I sleep tonight, and I need to go to her and say, "I'm sorry." Okay? That's answering the call to the cure if we keep responding and living our life with a good, healthy insecurity about it. And I hope I'm understood on this subject.

I think I am as we go on. David said it this way, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me." The heart is that that's just who we are. And David invited the God of creation to come down and visit his heart. And then he says he invited God even to just bring a trial in his life. And we know what trials can do to us. It really tells on us, doesn't it? David said, "Just try me, God, and then you'll know my thoughts."

We will know our thoughts as well when we have that kind of a relationship with our God, do we not? We learn who we are in light of Him.

I say this not to be misunderstood and say the Christian life is always half on edge. I believe there is a real joy and a peace that goes with the Christian life. But I say this part to the Christians because I believe there's way too much loose living in the church today, just sort of a casual, "Doesn't matter. I'm a Christian, and I just sort of relax." I don't know that there's a place to really relax in our Christian life.

And then to the third group of people here, I want to talk I say the third group of people. This would be also to the church, to those that call ourselves Christians. Maybe we're very sensitive. Maybe we're living our life sort of on the edge and half insecure. And I think this is a little bit what our sisters struggled with.

I want to think about the securities, the eternal security of the believer. We believe in that. We believe there is an eternal security that already begins in this life.

I thought of an example many years ago, many years ago, quite a number of years ago. My wife and I got woken up one night with both being frightened to the bones. There were a couple of spooky men outside our house snooping around. And what really scared us for sure was that we had a habit every night we'd go to bed without locking our doors.

And we're like, "These men are right outside our door. They're making noises and whatever else. And I know my doors are all unlocked."

From I won't go into detail from there, but I'm saying from thereforth and my wife could back me up on this, I don't know that a night went past that I don't go to that door and I lock it. Oh, before that, we never locked the doors. We just go to bed and sleep like babies.

After that experience, I make sure all three doors are locked, and I'll check them a couple of times before I go to bed. So if you come at 3 o'clock this night to visit me, you'll find all three doors are locked.

That's just how I live. Now, you might say you're a big chicken. Well, maybe I am. But I want to go to bed with a certain security that I did this small thing that I could do to secure my house. And I get a certain amount of security. When I hear noises outside now, I'm like more or less, "Well, the doors are locked."

You see, I have the key to all three doors. But there's another key that is held by a great God. There's a second set of keys. I can go to bed at night, and I hear noises out there. There's 100 things that could happen to me even with my doors locked that are completely out of my control.

And I want to take this as an example of our Christian life. We have been given a set of keys. The Bible talks about two sets of keys. Remember when it was, I believe it, yes, Peter, when Jesus was coming along, and he said, "Who do men say that I well, who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered it right. He said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus was so pleased with that. He said, "Peter, upon this rock, I'm going to build my church." And he gave Peter a set of keys. You remember that?

People have done a lot with those keys already and what all that means.

He said, "It's the keys to the kingdom of heaven, I believe." Peter's been given a set of keys, and people have built on that and saying somehow the foundation of the church is built on Peter. That's not what I take of that.

Because he went on to say, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Who holds the key to the gates of hell? Is it Peter or Jesus? Revelations tells us that Jesus holds the key to death and to hell.

And Revelations also tells us to the church at Philadelphia that this same Jesus holds the key to a door that was opened by Jesus. And no man that means not Peter, not you or me, no one of us has the authority to open or close that door.

You see the two sets of keys that we have. And I would like to think of the set of keys that Peter was given. Peter's dead and gone. But you and I are still here. And I'm just simple enough to believe that Jesus also gave every one of us on the basis of our testimony that, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He gave us a set of keys, and we use those keys to access the gift of repentance. We use those keys to access the throne of grace. We use those keys to those keys that Peter had. Jesus said, "Have a direct connection to what happens in heaven." We use those keys to make our covenant in our marriages.

We make those keys to make our covenant in our relationships. On our day of baptism, we use those keys, do we not? We make a covenant to Him. And Jesus told Peter, "What is bound on earth is bound in heaven." So we have access with our key. But let's not forget there's a key that overrides.

And that is the key to eternal life. Jesus, in His prayer in John 17:3, He said in His prayer to God, "This is life eternal, that they may know the one true eternal God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

That is where the foundation of the true promises of Jesus and life eternal come from. If it's not rooted and grounded in Jesus, then it's a lie, and it's a false hope. And we want to give no one a false hope in this life, no one. We deserve to have a hope that is built in, that is eternal, that we can go to our grave knowing that it has a basis and a life and a response to our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then we go to the story in John 10. And Jesus expounds on that very thought, what it means to knowing God and knowing Jesus. There's three main things He brings out. John 10, a familiar story about the shepherd and the sheep. And He says, "My sheep, hear my voice." First of all, He says, "The sheep have responded to the call to the cure." They said yes to Jesus. And then the strange voice comes. Remember that story? It tells us a stranger, "They will not hear." And that's for us today. It's the same voice that we see in Genesis 3. We're bombarded with that voice. That voice might come on the internet. Maybe you're looking up something legit on the internet, and there's a voice that pops on that appeals to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

John 10 calls us a strange voice. He said, "My sheep don't hear that voice. They just ignore it. They walk away. They take the defeat route, if you will." And another interesting thing He says, "My sheep obey me. They follow me. Where I say, 'You come,' you gum."

How do we do that? I don't never heard Jesus audibly yet.

The Word of God, maybe through the voice of the church, maybe through the voice of our wife or husband if you're married. Somehow the clear voice, the call to the cure goes out in many ways. But it has one voice. It's a distinctive voice.

It just resonates with our true heart that is right. Those sheep in John 10 kept saying yes to that. They kept saying yes. And then Jesus goes on in that story, and He says, "That other voice had a purpose: kill, steal, and destroy.

But the purpose of my voice is to come and give life abundantly." I love that word, abundantly. The Christian life is not a deprived, sluggish, purposeless life. As they listen, they move forward. We as God's people have the upper hand to life. If we're experiencing the abundant life, He doesn't stop there. He takes them on and later tells the Pharisees, I believe, that those sheep, it's not only an abundant life, but He said, "I came to give them eternal life."

I love that. So we have the abundant life starting here, the fulfilled life, the rewarding life, and then the eternal life. And then He finishes that by telling the Pharisees, "You know what? I have these folks, these sheep in my hand.

And there's nothing, no man is going to take them away. They're locked in." He takes it a step farther, and He says, "My Father is bigger than me. If you think my hand isn't strong enough, I have a hand up here."

We got them locked in. And I like to think of that as the Trinity. Those men are listening to the voice of God. We have the Holy Spirit. We have His Word. And then we have the Son, and we have the Father. And there's that doesn't is it Solomon that says that threefold cord is not easily broken? We have that right here. We are safe and secure. And if you're here today, and you are living, and you're using that key that Jesus gave you, and you're using it wisely, these promises are for you. And you can hang on to these promises.

You are safe. You're protected. And then you can repeat with David the 23rd Psalm. And you can repeat with Paul, Romans 8, the end of the chapter, neither life nor death. Principalities, powers can separate us because we're locked in. Praise God. We believe our sister got locked in, and we entrust her to God where she's safe and secure. May God bless you all.

In your hymn books, 390, 390, "Blessed Assurance."

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, virtuous of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending, bring from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story.

This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I eat my Savior, am happy and blessed.

Watching and waiting, looking above. Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long.

You should have a song sheet. My latest son is sinking fast.

We will omit all the bird's eyes, except for the last time through the chorus. We will observe that last bird's eye above wings and sing the rest of that phrase a little slower.

My latest son is sinking fast.

My latest son is sinking fast. My race is nearly run. My strongest trials now are past. My trial is begun.

Oh, come angel bed, come and around me stand. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home. I know and hear the holy ranks of friends and kindred dear.

For Russia too's on Jordan's banks. The crossing must be near.

Oh, come angel bed, come and around me stand. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home.

My home must gain my heavenly home. My spirit loudly sings. Thy holy ones behold, they come. I hear the noise of wings. Oh, come angel bed, come and around me stand. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home.

Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home.

Oh, bear my longing heart to Him who led and died for me. Whose blood now cleanses from all sin and gives me victory.

Oh, come angel bed, come and around me stand. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home. Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings to my immortal home.

Virginia Lee Miller Wadle, age 73 of Orstown, passed away May 20th, 2025, at home, surrounded by her family after a brief illness. She was born February 15th, 1952, in McConnellsburg to the late William C. and Mae M. Kesslow Miller.

Virginia was a dedicated child of God and faithfully served Him as a member of Shippensburg Christian Fellowship. She loved homemaking, gardening, baking, and sewing, and perfected these arts as a beloved and devoted wife, mother, and grandma. Virginia served alongside her husband in the church and in the community for many years and is remembered for her hospitality and the multitude of meals she organized and prepared.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years and 11 months, Marvin J. Wadle, children Marla, Martin, Darian Wadle, Christa Thrush, Justin Wadle, Joanna Hendricks, Linden Wadle, and Kara Wadle, 30 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, sisters Wilma Runk, Helen Banzoff, and brother Charles Miller.

Virginia is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Virginia was preceded in death by 11 siblings. I'll now turn the timer over to the family.

For my mother, home was always the most wonderful place to be. Home was where her reading glasses could be found on the side table, where her shoes sat by the door, where her favorite mint tea was in the cabinet.

Home was where she planted herbs, hung laundry on the line outside the back door, and fed Cowboy the Cat. Home was the place to bake sourdough bread, to experiment with new recipes, and to set meals on a table covered in a tablecloth.

Home was a place where Mom both received and gave comfort, security, and rest. Over the course of Mom's life, she moved six times. Born and raised in a house on Strawberry Ridge in McConnellsburg, her first move was when she married Dad at age 19 and carried her bags over the mountain to set up housekeeping in a house rented from Alice Martin.

It was there that she became a mother when Marla entered the scene a year later. The next move was to the White House in the heart of Pinola, and from there to the first house that she and Dad owned, which was in Green Village.

At this house, the family of three grew to a family of five with the arrivals of Darian and Christa. The next house was in Cheestown, where some of the children set up homes of their own in the Pig Pen.