We are having a funeral today for a wonderful man — Frank Braden. Frank passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 82. What makes his death significate in the life of Hope Church is that he was the first adult batism here at Hope. This was way back in 1988. Frank is a shining example of why we do what we do as a church.
My brother told this story at our staff meeting today about how Frank came to church —- Frank was your classic unchurched person. He had not been to church in years and had absolutely no desire to waste his time on a Sunday morning sitting around with strangers being bored out of his mind.
He had a woman who worked for him who kept asking him to come to Hope and he kept saying no. In desperation she said, “Just do one thing for me and I will never ask you to do anything.” He said, “What’s that?” “Just come to church with me once, and I will not bug you again.” Frank reluctantly came, and it completely changed his life. He found a group of real people how loved him and accepted him right where he was. Ultimately, he found Christ. Today at the funeral there were no family members present — he had outlived them all. But family was there — his family of faith here at Hope.
Frank, we will miss you, but know for sure that we continue to reach out to people who are just like you were some twenty years ago.
