Sunday message: for absent loved ones.

In Mark 5, Jesus comes to the home of the synagogue leader Jairus only to find his daughter already dead.  But He raises her with the words, "Talitha, cumi," which we are told are Aramaic for, Little girl, get up.  If you look in the concordance, this is the Greek translation of the Aramaic, which itself goes back to the OT Hebrew for a simpler phrase- "Lamb, rise."

"...I know my sheep, and my sheep know me..."

We all know the verse from Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil..."  Ever wonder why David called it that?

I listened to a pastor last night telling the story of a man driving home from his wife's funeral with his two small children.  They were inconsolable and wondering why Mommy couldn't come back, why she had to go.  Suddenly, on that bright sunny day on that two-lane road, they were passed by a semi, whose shadow washed over them for a brief moment.  And he said, "You see, death is like passing that semi,"  he told them.  "If you don't know Jesus, it's like that truck hits you head on... but if you KNOW Jesus, only the shadow goes over you."

"...Oh death, where is your victory?  Where is your sting?..."

Another story I heard in that sermon was about a little boy in a car with his Dad when a bee began buzzing through the vehicle.  The child was frightened, knowing how painful a bee sting could be.  The father grabbed the insect in one hand... after a moment, he let it loose.  It resumed its buzzing, and the boy resumed being scared.  But the Father said, "Look, no need to be afraid of the bee- the stinger's right here, in my hand."  He showed the boy his hand, and sure enough, his father had taken the sting for him.  "Now, all the bee can do is make noise,"  he said.

Now there will be those people who refused faith.  And one day they will wake up to an angel gruffly ordering, "You there, get up!"  But for those of us who die in faith, we will hear the sweet voice of Jesus saying, "Lamb, rise."

The Lord is MY shepherd, I shall not want...