you Amen. Amen. Amen. The Lord be with you. Amen. I love you. Amen. Amen. Amen. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, you I love it. It is good that we are gathered here today In Psalm 63, a portion of which we will use for our call to worship in just a few moments, the psalmist King David speaks of troubles that threaten his life. Yet with the eye of faith, David is able to exclaim, oh God, you are my God. Because of your loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise you. Psalm 63, and that thought of the kindness of God, find their fulfillment, of course, in the person of Jesus Christ. Centuries later, the Apostle Paul would write of great King David's greater son, the Lord Jesus, with these words in Titus chapter three, but with, or when, the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy. But in the midst of the trouble that brings us here today, we who have faith in Jesus Christ are to be comforted by the truth that God's kindness has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, bringing us salvation. And thus we gather together this morning as the people of God because we need to hear, we need to be reminded of, we need our God to remind us of his kindness. And so with the eye of faith we see that kindness in the person of Jesus Christ, the one who for us sinners was raised from death to life again in victory, in great victory. over death and sin and Satan. It is because of this kindness of God that we are gathered together today. Lind, Mason, Dave, and the rest of the family are grateful that we are here today and we are gathered this day that we might comfort one another as we seek the comfort of our God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We are gathered this morning to worship God as we remember and thank him for the life of David Jackson Vickrey Sr. David was born in Greenville, South Carolina to the late William H. and Emma Hale Vickrey on April the 1st, 1941. And David was one who liked to point out the fact that it was on April 1st, April Fool's Day, that he was born. He died on the Lord's Day, February 23rd, 2025. David was the beloved husband of Lind. He was the father of Mason and Dave. He was the father-in-law of Joy and the grandfather of Jack and Jillian, whom he loved dearly. You know, you can sometimes tell a lot about a man by the way he prays in public. And I believe that that was true of David Rickery. Those of you who heard David pray publicly will perhaps remember that he began, I think, maybe his every prayer with the words, dear, kind, heavenly Father. Dear, kind, heavenly Father. The kindness of God in his heavenly Father had so captured David's heart that it characterized his prayer. The kindness of God for David Vickrey appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, David's Savior. And that captured David's heart and life in many ways. Beloved, may the kindness of God in Jesus Christ so capture your heart and life. For a call to worship, I invite you, if you're able, please, to stand. Call to worship comes from Psalm 63 as I referenced a bit ago. These words, O God, you are my God. I shall seek you earnestly. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh yearns for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus, I have seen you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise you. and the insert in your bulletin is the song Morning Has Broken. We will now sing that. like the first two, praise for us all. Please be seated. Join with me in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, merciful and gracious, full of compassion, we come to you in this time of earthly sorrow. We come to bless and to praise you, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions. Remind us of the gift of your Son, who came to cleanse us of all our sins through his atoning sacrifice. the one who is the resurrection and the life, remind us of the gospel promises that through the burial of your son, you have sanctified the graves of your saints. Through the resurrection of your son, you have brought life and immortality to light and given us the sure and certain hope of our own resurrection and eternal life. We ask our God that you send forth your Holy Spirit, the comforter. Send him in power to be present with Lynn, Mason and Dave, Joy, Jack, Jillian, the remainder of the family and the friends who have gathered here. We pray that your Holy Spirit would comfort our hearts as we grieve the passing of David into glory. We ask that your Holy Spirit would also illuminate our minds with the precious and powerful truths of the gospel, that those things which we as Christians confess repeatedly, we would apply to our lives. May your spirit help us to know that death has no power over David. May he point us to the glorious truth that even now, David's soul is immediately in the presence of Christ in paradise, enraptured in endless praise and adoration. This we pray in the name of our glorious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. We have an Old Testament and a New Testament scripture reading. Our Old Testament reading comes from Psalm 23. If you want to follow along in a copy of the Bible, we have a few Bibles, and that will be on page 458, Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In our New Testament reading, which is found on page 987, from 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 to 18, the Apostle Paul writes, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Amen. Well, if you do have a copy of scriptures, you can turn with me to Hebrews Chapter six. This morning we have had to somewhat unexpectedly make our way to the house of mourning. I know gathering together this morning is not what any of us imagined this week. I certainly didn't imagine I would be in the first church that I called my home church as a young boy this morning, nor did I imagine that I would be testifying to the grace of God in the life of one of my mentors and a father. and a dear friend, David Jackson Vickery, but here we are. I wanna do things a little bit differently this morning. I want us to imagine having one last conversation with David about how we saw the grace of God in his life. I want us to imagine him in his recliner over on Belmont Avenue and perhaps imagine us pulling up our seat before him. You know, we are so often the ones most unaware of how God is at work in our lives, most unaware of how the grace of God is active in our lives. And I believe David was often too unaware. There are some people that find it easy to believe that God loves them. There are others who find it hard. David was in, I believe that latter category. I believe that based on many conversations, David was too hard on himself, too disappointed in himself, too aware of how he fell short. And my concern is not that he had low self-esteem or something like that. My concern is that he did not always see the grace of God at work in his life. So I wanna speak to him one last time and you get to be here to overhear the conversation. but I wanna speak to him on behalf of all of us. I wanna speak about the grace of God I saw in his life. And these verses from Hebrews are gonna function as our guide. So in verses 10 through 12, the author of the book of Hebrews, he says, God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have shown for his name and serving the saints as you still do. And we desire each of you to show the same earnestness, to have full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Now we must not play fast and loose with the scriptures. These verses were written to the original recipients to urge them not to grow slack or sleepy in following Jesus Christ. The author is urging them to persevere in the faith, to press on. The faith that saves, according to this book, is a faith that perseveres to the end. In order to encourage them to persevere, he reminds them of the old days. He reminds them of their first days of faith. More than that, he promises that all that they do for God, all that they do for him, God will not overlook. Unlike others who forget our kindnesses, God does not forget a single one. As our Lord said, even a cup of cold water given to another in my name will receive its reward. And so I want to apply verse 10 to Dave and verses 11 and 12 to us. A final encouragement to Dave and a vital exhortation to us. Final encouragement, I'm gonna structure it like a conversation I would have to Dave. Dave, I want you to see the grace of God in your life and creativity. The one who created the Milky Way and the Grand Canyon, the porcupine and the praying mantis formed you in his image. And one of the marks of his handiwork was your creativity. Though it has never been your vocation, you are wonderfully creative. You transform an artificial Christmas tree into a decorative display. You take all colors of duct tape to form birds and spiders, proving indeed that duct tape can fix anything and do anything. So many people, as the obituary read, talk of the way you arrange flowers, whether at church or at home, and you are committed to it. I remember pulling over on the side of a highway in Western North Carolina so that you could dig up some hostas to replant around your house at Bon Clark. And you must know your creativity is not merely a talent or a gift, it's evidence of grace. It's a way in which you reflect God, the wonderfully creative God that we serve. Dave, I must tell you, I see the presence of God, the grace of God in your compassion. You have a striking lack of pretension. And a day where there's so much charade and spin, you cut it straight. You're not afraid to say what needs to be said, even though at times it makes things complicated. Much more importantly, your lack of pretension means that no one or almost no one is invisible to you. It seems that you do not overlook or look down on anyone. Perhaps it's because you remember the way you came up. Many times you told me you were a poor linhead boy from the mill village who married way up when he married Jocelyn Phant of Anderson. Whatever the reason, I've seen your compassion again and again. You have eyes to see the needy and the marginalized, the desperate, the young, the immature. You move towards those in need. You took me in. You took many of us in. Certainly your compassion must have been one of the reasons you devoted yourself to public education for over 33 years. God is at work in you, Dave. This is what I want him to hear. God is at work in you. God is at work through you. Dave, I see God in your generosity. You and Lynn continually share what you have. I don't know how many meals I ate out with you, but I'm sure it was over 100. I think I paid once or twice, that's when I brought takeout to your house. I don't know how many nights I spent in your house, in the bedroom of David and Mason. But it wasn't just me, your compassion, meant that many people were recipients of your generosity. You gave of your time to others. You gave of your attention to others. You gave of your financial resources to others. You gave of your possessions to others. Many times, if I saw a book in Dave's house, he would say, I would comment on it or read the title. He'd say, you want it? Just take it, just go. I have a recipient. It's the grace of God. Dave, I see the power of God present in your joy. You are easy to be around. You love to talk about this or that. You love to work the crowds. My dad said when he first met Dave, he would work a party. He would talk to every single person in the room and work the whole room talking to them. He loved, you love to laugh. I will miss your laugh. Many times we laughed at old memories. I remember when I was an intern with you in the summer of 2001, I was having a bit of conflict with one of the other interns, Joe Lambert, who I grew up with. After a couple of days of being together, doing the internship, working nine to five, I guess, together, I kind of had it. I was ready to give up on the internship, and we all went to bed, and after I went to bed, Dave, I came down to you. And you said, what are you doing up? What are you doing still up? I said, I'm praying because I don't think I can keep doing the internship with Joe Lambert around. We talked for a few minutes and then Joe came down. And you said, Dave, or you said to Joe, Joe, what are you doing? He said, I'm praying because I don't think that I could do the internship with Walt around. And so then you led us in a bit of mediation down there on Belmont Avenue. You helped us resolve our conflict. Then you said, let's all pray. First, you prayed, and then I began to pray. Within a minute or so, I began hearing a faint grunting sound from you. I kept praying and pressed through, but with a few moments, it grew louder. You had begun snoring. We all erupted in laughter, Dave too, when he woke up. Many times we laughed about that story and many other stories together. Even in the last few years, throughout constant pain, perhaps most remarkably, you haven't lost your joy. Do you see the power of God in your life? Dave, I see evidence of grace in your work with young people. Charles Spurgeon once said, children are the best judges of character. Children and youth found in you someone they could trust. Everyone who enters the kingdom of God must become like a little child and you had a great childlike heart. That's what I think drew children to you, drew young people to you like a magnet. This is one of the reasons your children and grandchildren will miss you so dearly and love you so dearly. But you devoted yourself to working with other children. other young people. You did so for 33 years in public education and various schools throughout Greenville County. You did so in your church and your denomination. You led retreats and conferences, mission trips, and various camps. But it wasn't just a job for you. It wasn't organizational. It was personal. It was one of those conferences where I saw you again in the summer of 2001 after seeing you as a boy and knowing you as a boy. You began to talk with me about Christianity, about what it means to follow Christ and how my life would be different. We stayed up late. You answered many of my questions. You proclaimed the gospel to me and somewhere in the midst of those weeks around Von Clark and her Appalachia, I passed from death to life. Dave, I must thank you again. as I have many times with my children around me for being an instrument in the Redeemer's hand in my life. I hope you see the grace of God at work in your life, Dave. I hope you know how God's grace is evident in your life. Finally, Dave, I see God at work in your trust in the gospel. No one believes in God on their own. Apostle John says, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You were born again by the Spirit of God. God gave you a new everlasting life through Jesus Christ. And on Sunday morning, the Lord's Day, brothers and sisters, Dave quietly breathed his last breath. with Lend his wife of 53 years by his side. He was so quiet, so calm, so peaceful even. But the reality is that on the other side, all the trumpets sounded. All the angels rejoiced. The promise again rang true, blessed are those who die in the Lord. Dave gained eternal life, everlasting life, not because he was a good man, though he was a good man in many ways, but David gained everlasting life because he was a forgiven man. And upon entry, I believe the Lord said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. But the reality is greater still, though all of his good works, all of these things we've just been talking about, had to pass through the blood of Jesus Christ, all his work and love were remembered by the Lord himself. That's what the author's telling the people. The original recipient says, God is not so unjust to overlook any of your labor for Him in His name. And so it is the Lord who is the one who remembers all those things. Most stunningly, after giving David and all of us a salvation we do not deserve, the Lord rewards us. rewarded him for all the work and love he showed for the name of God in serving the saints that Revelation says, blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on, blessed indeed that they may rest from their labors for their deeds follow them. As the Puritan Thomas Goodwin said, other friends will forget all your kindness has done no matter how many, but God will forget all your sins and remember none of them yet not one deed in love, no not one good thought from first to last shall be forgotten. That's my word to Dave. But there's a vital exhortation for us. Much of what I've said would be that conversation I've had many times with Dave. But as you know, memorial services are not for the dead, but for the living. Ecclesiastes 7 says, the day of death is better than the day of birth. Now that's a turn we don't expect. That's a verse we don't expect to find in the scriptures. Isn't the day of death when you lose everything? Shouldn't it be the opposite way? Shouldn't it say the day of birth is better than the day of death? and yet the verse continues, the next verse continues, said, it's better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. What he's helping us see here is that we often talk about death as a curse, and it is a curse brought on by sin that entered in Genesis 3, but we also talk about death as a blessing because it brings an end to suffering. It brought an end to David's excruciating pain. But in this respect, we're supposed to see death is also a teacher. Death is a preacher. Death has a message to say. One author says the day of death is better than the day of birth, not because death is better than life, but because a coffin preaches better sermons than a crib. See, the day of birth is a wonderful day, it's a day we celebrate life, it's a day we make plans, it's a day we dream, but it's just a day of potential. We don't know if the newly born will find the cure for cancer, or will live in his mother's basement for his entire life. At birth we celebrate potential but at death we consider outcome. We consider the outcome of life. The day of death is better than the day of birth because the day of death forces the living to consider how they're spending their lives. Years ago I read a book that said there are two types of virtues in the world. Now virtues is an old word we don't use a lot, talents or something like that, but it's really deeply rooted qualities that make you who you are, shape the way you think and feel. The author argued there's two kinds of virtues in the world, the first are resume virtues. You know, resume virtues are those skills and talents that you work hard on to get a good job, to get hired, to get a promotion, to climb the ladder. But the second type of virtues are eulogy virtues. Eulogy virtues are the qualities shared about you at your funeral. Ecclesiastes 7 is asking us to consider what will they say about you when you die. What will they say? Will they find it hard to get someone to speak? Will they talk about your faith? Will they talk about the way you follow Christ? That's what's gonna immediately come to mind. Will they talk about your resume, the school you attended, the house you owned, the money you made, the adventures you pursued? If that's all they talk about, your funeral will be very boring. But people will not stop talking. if you have a sincere faith. They will not stop talking if you're selfless and kind, generous and joyful, truthful and faithful. This funeral is not boring. There's so many people here on a Wednesday morning. Why? Not for his resume, but for the virtues that follow from a sincere faith. So this day is a much needed exhortation for us. How do we measure our lives? How will the Lord measure our life? Are we still persevering? That's what this text is pushing at. Are we still following hard after the Lord, following fully and totally after Him? You know, the Christian life is like home renovation projects. They're easy to begin and hard to finish. That's the truth. Many begin the Christian life fine. The problem comes in how they end. And so the author of Hebrews is urging us in the example of David's life is urging us to take up faith and patience. A true faith perseveres. to persevere in faith. He's urging us to not let the desires of the world choke out love for God. Not allow the sufferings of this life sideline us, our service to God. Not allow the enemy of our faith to steal our assurance. We must press on. We must press on to the real prize, to the great reward. We must not lose sight of the better country. We must be like Repetchie. The little mouse in the Chronicles of Narnia that's always encouraging people to press on to Aslan's country. He says, while I can, I sail east in the dawn treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I swim east with my four paws. and when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country and shot over the edge into some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise. What's he talking about? Pressing on. What would Dave say to us now? Surely he would say, it's all wonderfully true. It's all wonderfully true. and He would urge us to set our hope fully on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. To make your calling and election sure as the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians. To make sure you're sure, to get ready to prepare to meet Him. The Bible says after death there will be judgment and all will stand before Him to hear a list of charges against them. Every deed whether good or evil, every deed whether public or private, well-known or secret, Every deed, whether in fleeting thought or harbored anger, in scream blasphemies or under the breath grumbling, and every action, there will be nowhere to hide, and there will be nothing to hide. The description of the day of judgment is a warning. If you do not turn in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ when the charges are read against you, you will receive the just judgment for our many sins. No one will stand up, no one will speak. Believe the Lord is here to help us hear this word. But if you've turned and put your faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, if you've placed your faith in him, if you've been born again, you bear the marks of a new life. When the list of charges for everything you've done are read out, Jesus will stand up and say, that one is mine. He's been washed in the blood. So may God help us, I pray, to not grow sluggish and slack, but to press on, to imitate the persevering faith of Dave Vickery, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a dear friend, and most importantly, let us press on towards the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Father in heaven, we offer ourselves to you sincerely and completely. We don't want to play fast and loose, Lord. We want to look deep into all that this day means, the reality of our sin against the holy God, the reality of the judgment, the wrath of God that stands against us, the reality of our need for a savior. But we thank you for the way you revealed your saving, the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ to Dave. We thank you that you delight to reveal and to draw all who come to you to saving faith. Lord, I pray that you come by your spirit. Let us linger on all that this day means. Lord, we thank you for the joy of considering the life of a good man. I praise you in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Very appropriate that we're gonna continue our worship by reciting the Heidelberg Catechism question one. So you should have that in your bulletin. I'll read the question and then repeat the answer with me. What is your only comfort in life and in death? set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. and please stand with us and turn to him 252 This is my Father's world, where to my listening ears, though ages, seas, and round me rings the music of the saints. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet Thank you for being here. Thank you for all the gratefulness you've shown to the grace of God and David's life. I think it honors the Lord. Thank you for the love and support you've shown to Lind and the family. Let me leave us with this word. Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast and movable. always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. May God be with you. 2A 3.30 x (-0.30?) Thank you. an an