Today I preached the funeral sermon for Janna VanKempen, the oldest member of our church, whose soul passed on to the Lord at the age of 101. The older she became the more precious her Savior and Christ-exalting sermons became to her. It was her habit to read five Psalms a day. Psalm 146 was her favorite Bible chapter so I preached on that, especially verses 7-10 which stress that the Lord delivers, enlightens, sympathizes with, loves, preserves, and reigns over His own.
She loved the Lord most of all, but she also dearly loved each one of her family members. In addition to having three children, she had 70 descendants: 21 grandchildren, 43-great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren. I had the privilege of pastoring her for 36 years, and loved every visit I ever had with her. Her husband, Pieter, was an elder and pillar in the church (and a very dear friend of mine) whose soul and conversation was full of Christ. As the old divines used to say of the passing on of robust believers: the church militant on earth is one poorer, but the church triumphant is one richer. Pray for this large family, please, that every one of them may know or come to know Jesus Christ savingly.
