Funeral Janice Altermeier, January 19, 2016 at Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, IA

Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa
Photo by Pastor Roy Karlen, 2015

Below please find the 'Order of Service' and script for the funeral for Janice Altemeier which we had here at Woodlawn last Tuesday.  May the Lord continue to bless and comfort the family as they work through this time of sorrow and loss.

God's Blessings & Grace to you all,

Roy

Order of Service – Funeral for Janice Altemeier – January 2016

Call to Worship:

Gathered in Christ's name, let us praise God,

Who is our certain hope in all life's varied circumstances,

In the face of death believe the good news the scriptures proclaim:

As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.

(Isaiah 66:13)

Greeting:

We have come together within the strengthening fellowship of friends and family:

to praise God for the life of Janice Elaine Deuel Altemeier;

to share our grief with God and with one another;

to reaffirm our faith in God's unfailing goodness;

to hear again God's promise of resurrection;

and to commend Janice to God's everlasting care.

Opening Music:  “Going Home” - solo by Kia Deuel    

Opening Prayer:

Gracious God, your love endures forever.  Your faithfulness is unfailing and all your promises are true.  The movement of your Spirit is evident even in our darkest moments.  Attend to us now in our grief as we trust you will.  

Speak words of comfort to our hearts.  Open us up to receive your hope.

O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day our sister Janice.

We thank you for giving her to us, her family and friends,

to know and to love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage.

In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn.

Give us faith to see death as the gate of eternal life,

so that in quiet confidence we may continue our course on earth,

until by your call, we are reunited with those who have gone before;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Hymn:        How Great Thou Art          No. 33

A reading from the Old Testament:

Psalm 23 King James Version (KJV)

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

A reading from the New Testament:

Philippians 4: 4-9

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Special Music:  Amazing Grace (recording)

Message:  Pastor Roy Karlen – Woodlawn Christian Church

Good morning, on behalf of the family I would like to thank you all for coming here today on this very cold Iowa morning.  Coming here to Lake City, to remember and celebrate a life, the life of Janice Elaine Deuel Altemeier.

Janice was born and raised here in Lake City and attended the Woodlawn Church while growing up.  She was born on July 23, 1943 to Irving and Evelyn Deuel.  And though I found no record of her infant dedication, we can rest assured that the Reverend Roy B. Weakland stood beside this very pulpit and along with her parents dedicated her to God here in this sanctuary.  On April 25, of 1954 Janice was baptized by the Reverend Howard Prather in the baptistery that you see behind me here today.  And on August 23, 1964 standing here upon these steps, Janice was joined in marriage to Norman Altemeier by the Reverend John Stemple. And here today, January 19, 2016 we gather to celebrate her life and to commit her soul to our ever-loving and ever merciful God.

In visiting with Kent yesterday, I asked what he really wanted to make sure was said about his mother.  He told me about her extraordinary faith, that she was such an incredibly strong person and that she was the spiritual leader of her family.  She loved to study her Bible and was a prolific writer concerning her studies.  Janice liked to write out notes analyzing sermons that she heard as well as about the books of the Bible that she studied and read so thoroughly.  

Kent told me how in her notes, she had referenced some passages in the 2nd Chapter of the Gospel of Mark.  In the second Chapter of Mark we find the story of the men who have brought their friend on a stretcher to see Jesus, in hopes that Jesus might heal the man.  Finding the door to the home where Jesus was located blocked by the throng of people who had come out to see Jesus, to hear him speak and to ask for healings, the men cleverly resorted to going up onto the roof and pulling some of the roofing material aside, then lowering their friend's stretcher down on ropes toward Jesus. Jesus upon seeing their faith first forgave the man of his sins and then healed him of his afflictions.

The thing that we all too often miss about this bit of Mark's Gospel is that the man is healed by Jesus as a result of his friend’s zeal and their determination to bring him to Christ.  The Gospel doesn't tell us that Jesus healed the man because he witnessed the man's great faith, but that he did so because of the faith of his friends.

Certainly, the man had faith in Christ as this faith allowed him to be healed and blessed, but without his friends having been so very determined... they weren't about to let anything get in the way of bringing this friend of theirs to Christ... without these zealous and devoted friends and their great faith, the man may never have been healed.  He literally needed these friends to 'bring him to Christ'.

It's so very often the case with each of us as well.  Without the zeal and the dedication of men and women of faith, wanting to bring others to faith, many of us would never know the love and grace of our eternal God.  Praise God, that there are people like this in our midst, people like Janice.  People with unshakable faith who no matter what life throws at them live their lives in full knowledge that their God loves them and cares for them.  People that know that no matter what circumstances they find themselves in... That, through faith and prayer, God will use their lives to reveal His glory to others.  People that know that no matter where they are, God is right there beside them the entire way.  Such is the message we find in the 139th Psalm, as translated in the New King James Version:

Psalm 139 - New King James Version

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

5 You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

Janice's life was a wonderful life of faith, a testimony to those that knew her.  It was not a perfect life, for none are...  But, through it all, she clung tightly to her belief and faith in her God.  That wonderful faith that she had all her life-long was nurtured and cultivated right here in Lake City, right here in this very room.  Here, where these bricks, mortar, wood, glass and stone have silently witnessed so many milestones in Janice's life.  Her infant dedication, her baptism, her wedding and now a celebration of her life, if these walls could only talk.... but perhaps, if you close your eyes and just imagine... if you open your heart... maybe, just maybe... you can still sense the joy of a young couple as they dedicate their newborn child to the God they love and cherish.  Perhaps if you strain your ears you can yet hear the echoes in the far corners of this sanctuary... of congratulations to a very young girl who has come forward to publicly proclaim her faith and to be baptized in the name of Christ.  Maybe... just maybe you can smell the flowers in the bouquet that a young bride carries down this aisle toward this altar as she dreams and wonders what life holds before her.  But what I am certain of... is that if you open your eyes now... and look around you in this sanctuary, this room where all these events took place in Janice's life, that you'll see the faces and the souls that her life touched.  Those that were touched... by her unwavering faith in her Savior…  

Praise God....

Eulogies and Reflections:

At this time if any family members or friends would like to speak a few words, you are invited to come forward to the microphone here in the center aisle.  Or if you are unable to come forward please motion and we'll bring a wireless microphone to you.

Closing Prayer:

The family invites you all to join them in further celebration of Janice's life and a time of shared remembrances and closure, by joining with them in a luncheon in the Church's fellowship hall immediately following this service.

Let us pray:

O God, our Strength and our Redeemer, Giver of life, and Conqueror of death, we open our hearts to you just as we are.  We celebrate your gift of life freely given, but are grieved by a sense of loss in the face of death.  The love which binds us to one another leaves us aching as ties are broken.  Accept our tears as emblems of devotion, and transform them into waters of life to nourish us in the days ahead.

We trust you.  We love you.  We know in Christ that your love is everlasting.  Nothing can separate any of us from your abiding care.  With you is eternal life.

With confidence, we now entrust Janice to your unfailing love and overflowing goodness.  Through the power that raised Christ from the dead to live eternally with you, lift up this, your servant, to life fulfilled beyond our imagining.  We give you but your own, enfold her in your everlasting arms, hold her for she is your child.

Now strengthen us, through the gift of your Spirit, to face into the future with confidence that you stand with us.  Grant that the changes of life may leave us stronger as we journey through life.

Reassured of your abiding presence, help us to knit more firmly the ties that bind us one to another.  Renewed by your love, help us to love in ever larger circles so as to embrace your people everywhere till at last we are all united eternally through Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Benediction:

Hymn:      Great Is Thy Faithfulness                            No. 86