Sermon: “When God Wipes Our Tears Away”
Posted by Chris Barber on Thursday Oct 16, 2008 Under General, HeavenIt has been a great honor to preach the Sunday evening service at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church since the disability of Dr. D. James Kennedy in December, 2006. Of course, Dr. Kennedy has since gone to be with the Lord. But back in 2006, after his cardiac event, it became clear over time that the great preacher would no longer be able to carry on his pastoral duties. The church nonetheless prayed earnestly for his recovery. Many in the congregation were not yet ready to face the fact that Dr. Kennedy almost certainly would never return to the pulpit at Coral Ridge.
In January of 2007, I was asked to fill the pulpit for the morning service. It was time, many of us on the pastoral staff believed, to begin to prepare the church for the ultimate loss of our beloved pastor. Consequently, I chose to preach about the Christian’s sure hope of heaven. Just before Dr. Kennedy’s illness in December, I had lost my Christian mother, at age 95, in November. I decided to use my experience with the death of my mother to encourage Coral Ridge in our hope of heaven.
My mother had requested that the hymn “Amazing Grace” be sung at her funeral, but she outlived so many of her family and friends that there were only a very few of us at her funeral. At her little country memorial there were only a handful (nine, to be exact) to sing as best we could. It was pretty grim, to be frank.
So when I was asked to preach at Coral Ridge on that Sunday morning I requested “Amazing Grace.” In the event, although no one else knew it, I was thinking of my mother and how thrilled she would have been to hear the Sanctuary Choir and 2,500 congregants sing her favorite hymn so beautifully. My mom had her request honored in such a beautiful manner–a way she could never have dreamed would be possible. God is truly amazing in His grace, isn’t He?
This sermon, titled “When God Wipes Our Tears Away,” was preached in the morning service at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church on January 28, 2007. May the Lord use it to encourage all of us as we persevere through the sorrows of this life on our way to the Promised Land!
Listen to this message here:
December 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Hi Warren,
I have had a copy of your book on the Gospel in Genesis for years and cherished the things learned. I appreciate you putting me on to characteristics of Hebrew narrative years ago.
And then a couple of years ago, Jon Zens passed on to me your work on the John-Revelation project. Great stuff.
I’m not nearly as conservative theologically as yourself, though I once was. But I am an evangelical Christian who holds a high view of Scripture without the inerrancy position.
I was recently intriqued by an article by J. Richard Middleton: http://sibboleth.blogspot.com/ and particularly his explanation of John 14:3 in light of Revelation 21:1-3. Though the verbal parallels are not exact by any means, the basic conception seems to dovetail. I would encourage you to read this entire article by Middleton as it might have some additional usefullness for your own theological perception. I’d be interested in your response.
I am a great fan of N. T. Wright and basically persuaded by his New Testament theological package. I don’t know if you have read him, but would like to know.
Sincerely and thanks,
Rance Darity
Kinzers (Lancaster County), PA
Anabaptist
January 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Dr. Gage,
I was greatly moved by just the few minutes that were posted here from your sermon “When God Wipes Our Tears Away.” I’m curious … is there a full recording that will be uploaded to your site at some point? Hope you’re well.
In His Joy,
Jeremy