First Presbyterian Church Altus OK

Service for 04/25/2021 can be viewed at this link on YouTube https://youtu.be/DhDJfjPPiIg

Good Morning The lesson for today is entitled "When Someone You Love Dies". Please read Psalm 23 for the scripture for May 2, 2021. How do we handle the heartbreaking experience of losing a loved one? How do we make it through the valley of the shadow? How do we deal with the emotional and spiritual pain that comes with a broken heart and how do the resources of faith help? What can we learn from our sorrow? Today we will discuss 3 ways to help us with sorrow.... First, it is important to keep up-to-date on our relationships. We never know what may happen, or how suddenly, so it is important to keep up-to-date with our parents, our mate, our children and family. Also with our friends and ourselves. If you need to say "I'm sorry" or "I love you" or "thank you", say it. What are you waiting for? It's best not to leave feelings unspoken. Let people know how much you love them and appreciate them. Life is fragile and we need to keep up-to-date on our relationships. Second, it is important to take up our loved one's best qualities and keep them alive. There are many ways to do this. To pay tribute to loved ones you can: participate in a memorial service send flowers pray for the family visit the family send cards take food But the best and most meaningful tribute to our loved one is to recall their best qualities and commitments and priorities and then ask God to put those qualities in us and keep those qualities alive and well in this world. Third, sorrow teaches us to trust God and move forward one step at a time. God is not the source of our pain God is the source of our strength and comfort. When someone we love dies and we walk through the dark valley, let's remember to keep up-to-date on all our relationships, to take our loved one's best qualities and keep them alive and to trust God and move forward one step at a time. Prayer: Dear God, thank you for defeating death through the resurrection of Jesus. In our times of grief, help us learn from our sorrow about life, death and everlasting love. Amen. Blessings for the coming week. Verna