Funeral in memory of Mary Helen Schleicher

Old Testament Reading: Job 19:23-27

I wish now my words were written. I wish they were inscribed on a scroll. I wish they were forever engraved on a rock with an iron stylus and lead, but I know that my defender lives, and afterwards, he will rise on the earth. Even after my skin has been stripped off my body, I will see God in my own flesh. I will see him with my own eyes, not with someone else’s. My heart fails inside me!

New Testament Reading: Revelation 21:1-4, 22-23

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone. Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “God lives with the people! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”

I did not see any temple in it, because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light because the glory of God gave it light. The lamb was its lamp.

Gospel reading: John 10:7-11, 14-15, 27-28

Jesus emphasized, “I can guarantee this truth: I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before I did were thieves or robbers. However, the sheep did not respond to them. I am the gate. Those who enter the sheep pen through me will be saved. They will go in and out of the sheep pen and find food. A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep as the Father knows me. My sheep know me as I know the Father. So I give my life for my sheep. My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me, and I give them eternal life. They will never be lost, and no one will tear them away from me.