I have been to hundreds of funerals, preached many, and hear a myriad of sermons. However, the best sermon I have ever heard that presented the Gospel in a clear and convincing manner with an invitation to give one's heart to Jesus was given by the Rev. Mr. Jim Wood, a former pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Sandy Creek, GA, on Friday, October 21, 2010. (See archives from October for the coverage of the memorial service).
Melvine, Greg, and I were there to honor David and Patricia Rex Carnes, Lonnie and Betty Rex, and their son Royce, Norman and LaDonna Scott, Rebeca Scott Rice, and show our love and respect for their son, grandson, and nephew. Christopher Carnes, who had died at the age of 26, and was being memorialized. You see, it was David and Patricia Rex Carnes' son, Christopher, who had died. Not only did we want to offer comfort and support to David and Patricia, but to their youngest son, Patrick. Of course, Chris was the grandson of Lonnie and Betty Rex, a nephew of Royce and LaDonna, and a cousin of Rebecca Scott Rice. We wanted to let them know we cared and loved them in their time of grief and sadness.
Over 700 people were in attendance in this large Baptist church. There was a 100-voice adult choir that sang with an orchestra to accompany them. The music was awe-inspiring, and so heavenly. I felt like I had been to church; but most of all I experienced the presence of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
I had met Jim Wood, the preacher for the service, prior to the memorial service. That's just my nature to meet and greet people no matter where I am. Jim's sermon was so powerful that I knew I must get a copy of the manuscript. Jim did not write one. He spoke out of the overflow of his heart and his disciplined mind that captured the truth of the Gospel. However, his dear wife graciously listened to the CD recording of the service, and composed the message in a Word document. What a labor of love.
So, I want you to read it, and I hope you can hear and feel the pathos in the voice of Jim Wood as you read and listen with your spirit. He reminded me so much of Charles E. Fuller who used to have a radio broadcast called "the Old Fashioned Revival Hour." He was able to see the vast possibilities of radio in his day, and resigned his church to be a full-time radio evangelist. His voice was distinctive with pathos and compassion for lost souls. Jim has that quality too. When God called me to preach, I wanted to preach like Charles E. Fuller. But no one can duplicate the gift of evangelism God gave him. I can do it the way God has created me.
It is very interesting that the pianist for those great radio broadcasts was Rudy Atwood. Lonnie Rex told me on Thursday, January 6, 2010, when I talked with him by phone that Rudy Atwood taught him to play piano. Lonnie listened to the Old Fashioned Revival Hour too, and he would get his hymn books out as he listened to the broadcasts and especially the singing and piano playing. Lonnie would mark his hymnals with notations when Rudy Atwood would go up, or change keys, or play chords or progressions he was not familiar with. His teacher only knew classical music. Lonnie did not have a piano in his home, but after the broadcast on radio, he would go immediately to the church and play what he had just learned. With the sharp ear, a keen mind and an exceptional musical talent Lonnie developed and mastered the Gospel Piano Playing Style.
It is little wonder that Lonnie Rex is so talented in music. Of course, we know, also, that what Lonnie and Betty Rex have in playing the piano is a gift, and David Carnes their son-in-law has that gift as well.
The occasion was a Memorial Service for Chris Carnes.
Memorial Service for Chris Carnes
Mt. Vernon Baptist Church
October 22, 2010
Reverend Jim Wood
When I came to pastor Mt. Vernon Baptist Church back in 1985, David and Tricia Carnes were young. And Patrick had not arrived yet and Chris was just a toddler, just a little guy. But he was a brilliant little fellow and very, very quickly decided that he wanted to have his hair combed just like mine. That was one of the first real struggles he had in life. Because his hair didn’t grow naturally in the direction that mine was combed, and so it required a great deal of hairspray. And what Chris had not yet realized is that so does mine. Because mine doesn’t grow this way either. I am still freeze-dried in the 1980s and I’ve not ever changed the style. But I told David in the corridor before the service that I was grateful that at last Chris now has his hair like mine. David didn’t laugh. He just said, “You don’t really think so do you?” I don’t think so. But I’ll tell you something, he’s not really worried about hairstyles today.
I remember David telling me one day that he was concerned that Chris might be developing some of my hypochondriac tendencies because he had told his dad that morning that he thought he might have nose cancer. He had a stuffy nose. But because he had been sitting under my ministry for several years at that point, he realized, “Hey, why just have a stuffy nose? This could be cancer!” Turns out, it wasn’t just hypochondria. Chris really had real serious challenges. But he never let those challenges rob him of his faith.
Chris didn’t always feel good about the institutional church. But, hey, any of us who have spent time in the institutional church can relate. He knew. He knew that God is real and that his faith was in a risen Savior who saved him. You see, I remember when Chris and his dad sat in my study and we talked about what it means to be a Christian. We talked about the fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every single one of us. It’s not just some of us who have. All of us have blown it. There is a God who made everything and we have defied Him and broken His rules time and again. Rules that were designed for our good. Rules that were because of God’s love for us. Rules that teach us how to live an abundant life. All of us broke those rules. And yet it turns out the Law still serves a wonderful purpose because it is a teacher showing us our need for a Savior. God’s law doesn’t just tell us how we ought to live. God’s law shows us our inability to live the way we are supposed to.
What Brian said was true. You’re not perfect, but you’ve been faithful. Even faithful people need a Savior. Chris, in his perseverance and his courage, was indeed heroic, but that won’t get him into Heaven. He was a good guy. He was a lovable, loving guy. But that’s not enough to atone for sin. And Chris was a sinner. I’m not going to elaborate, but I’ll just say that. He was a sinner. Like you. Like me. We have all sinned and we need a Savior and the Gospel is not that if you try hard enough and for long enough and your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds then you can get in because God grades on the curve. That’s not the Gospel. That’s a lie from the pit of Hell. And unfortunately it’s what most people are counting on.
The Gospel, the Good News, is that God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever trusts in Him isn’t going to perish, but instead will have everlasting life. Because God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn us, but rather so that through Him the world might be saved. The Good News that Chris believed, the Good News that is the reason why in the midst of sorrow and pain and grief, we celebrate. The Good News is that God saves us.
Did Chris do enough to be saved? No. Nor can we. Paul writes in Titus chapter 3, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7, NIV)
You see, that’s the Gospel. He saved us. That’s the reason we have confidence today. I remember that precious, sincere trust, that profession of faith, believing indeed that Jesus is the Christ, that God had raised Him from the dead. That trust that Chris exhibited is wonderful, it’s beautiful. But again folks, he wasn’t saved because he prayed a prayer. He wasn’t saved because he raised his hand at a Christmas musical. He wasn’t saved because he walked an aisle or stood in front of people or got baptized in the baptistery the way that real Christians do. He was saved because God sent His Son to save him. That’s why he was saved. He was saved because God’s Spirit gave him new life. He was born not just of flesh; he was born of the spirit, born from above, saved by a God who came to save. That is the basis of our confidence.
And Chris would want me to tell you, as his family wants me to tell you, that if you’re here today and you’re trusting in anything other than God’s grace through Jesus Christ, you need to get saved.
You say, “What do I have to do?”
You need to realize you can’t save yourself, because if you try, you’re going to fail. And if you try harder, you’re going to fail more spectacularly. But if you come to the end of yourself and you say, “Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Then God in His mercy will save you. That’s good news. That’s good news.
Chris is in Heaven because of God’s grace. Not because of his courage. Not because he was brave and loved, smiled, persevered. Those are things we treasure. But that’s not why he was saved. He was saved by Grace. That’s the only hope we’ve got. And that’s hope enough for all of us.
I’m going to ask you to join me in just a moment of prayer. And as we bow together, if you have never really cried out to God to have mercy on you, please do it. I’m not going to ask you to walk an aisle today. I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand. I’m going to ask you to cry out to God from the depths of your being to have mercy on you, to forgive your sins, and to take control of your life.
You may be a deeply religious person who has desperately tried year after year, decade after decade to be good enough. Give it up. Ask God to save you. He alone can save.
You may be somebody who’s really not comfortable going to church and you’re only here today because you want to honor Chris’ memory. If you don’t know Jesus in a personal way, on behalf of Chris and his family I plead with you, on behalf of the God who saves, I implore you, cry out to God. Ask Him to save you. Put your trust in the only One Who can save you. Jesus, Jesus the Christ.
You say, “I don’t know what to say.” Don’t worry about it. Just honestly ask Him to save you. He knows your heart. You don’t have to make a speech. Just ask Him to save you. And then I’m going to ask you to do something else. In the days to come, get in touch with somebody who you know knows Jesus and let them know that you’ve asked the Lord to save you and that you want to learn how to grow. It may be one of the pastors here at this church. It may be David or Tricia or Patrick. You just find somebody who you know knows Jesus and say I want to learn how to follow Jesus. Because folks, it’s not just about going to Heaven, it’s about day by day walking with Him. But you can’t start until you quit trying to do it on your own.
Father, you know the heart’s cry of everyone here. We ask you to please comfort your grieving, beloved children. And we ask you to save. Have mercy, Lord. Have mercy on us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
[Editor's Comment: It is my prayer that every Pentecostal Holiness preacher, pastor, evangelist and missionary will study this sermon to see how Jim Wood explains the Gospel and how none of us can save ourselves. It is important to note the role of the Law of God to show us our inability to live up to the demands of God. The Law is our teacher to bring us to Christ, to the foot of the Cross where we there cry out for mercy and ask God to save us. Repentance is a big part of it. Jesus still saves today, and I am so glad I know Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord of my life.
I sense that I need to share the words (lyrics) to a great Gospel Song that I learned many years ago:
ROOM AT THE CROSS FOR YOU
(Ira F. Stanphill, 1946)
The cross upon which Jesus died,
Is a shelter in which we can hide;
And its grace so free is sufficient for me,
And deep is its fountain as wide as the sea
There's room at the cross for you,
There's room at the cross for you,
Tho millions have come, There's still room for one
Yes, there's room at the cross for you.
Tho millions have found Him a friend,
And have turned from the sins they have sinned,
The Savior still waits to open the gates
And welcomes a sinner before it's too late.
There's room at the cross for you,
There's room at the cross for you,
Tho millions have come, There's still room for one
Yes, there's room at the cross for you.
The hand of my Savior is strong,
And the love of my Savior is long;
Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain,
The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain.
There's room at the cross for you,
There's room at the cross for you,
Tho millions have come, There's still room for one
Yes, there's room at the cross for you.
If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart and life, please let me know by writing me. My e-mail is: hugh@hughsnews.com. I would like to acknowledge your decision for Christ and pray for you. Welcome to the family of God.
John tells us in his prologue to the Gospel of John that . . .
He (the Word) came unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority or right to become children of God, even to them who believe on His Name" (John 1:11-1).
The use of the Word here is the pre-existent Christ Who has always existed, and the One Who has made everything that has been made. He is God, and the second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is Jesus who came into the world to save sinners. The Cross is the greatest expression of God's love for all of mankind. He will save all who call upon Him. Call upon Him today.
It is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, Who is speaking to your spirit to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Obey the Spirit's call upon your heart just now. You will be glad you did. Now is the hour and time to be saved.]