Council Grove Christian Church

8/26/26

Servants of God,
“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
-1 Corinthians 15:25,26
Life and death are bigger and more important than we normally realize. They are easy to take for granted. We must not. Because death comes to us all, there is a tendency to think of it as just part of a normal life. It is much bigger than that. Death is abnormal. Death is a distortion and a tragic witness to the disaster in the garden of Eden. Death is the proof of the horrible consequences of Adam, the original representative of the human race, doubting God’s goodness and wisdom. Death is a vicious enemy but death’s days are numbered. The Lord Jesus Christ will, in his own time, destroy death.
Sadly, we have been in a season when death has been thinning the ranks of our congregation. Several dear saints who were real soldiers in the battle for truth have graduated to glory over the last year or so. It is hard to part with them. Our dear sweet sister Joan Price died a few days ago. Joan was a genuine Christian soldier. This Saturday (11 A.M. August 29, 2026) we will gather to worship God and to honor Joan. As the body of Christ we will both grieve and celebrate. We have suffered a catastrophic loss. Because we are resurrection people, we grieve but we do not despair.
If you knew Joan, you know she was much more than a quiet, little old lady. Because for many years she suffered from a serious heart condition, she had to carefully shepherd her physical strength. Her physical movements became slower, but her love for the Lord was robust and growing until her last earthly breath. Underneath the quiet and calm demeaner was a firecracker of a woman. She was feisty and funny and talented brimming with true faith in Christ. She well knew that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Joan was blessed to have Christian parents. Her early Christian training was foundational for her. Like many of us, her path was not always easy. Her adult life was a patchwork of ups and downs. She often had to scramble to provide for her children. Because she was entrepreneurial and worked hard, she found a way.
Joan was a trophy of grace. She found her stride as a Christian. She exhibited the truth that even if physical strength wanes, zeal for Christ need not. She was hungry to study the Bible and to contribute to the work of the church any way she could to the end.
She was an Operation Christmas Child warrior. During the early years of our Operation Christmas Child ministry Joan spent several months each year wrapping shoe boxes with Christmas wrapping paper. She carefully and lovingly wrapped thousands of boxes. Only God and the children who received the boxes will ever know just how much joy and gospel hope she helped bring all around the world. She also spent hours making book marks bearing Bible verses. Thousands of those book marks have gone to far flung lands bearing gospel hope.
Joan held a special place in my heart. She and I shared the same birth month and day. She was a bit my senior but we both enjoyed the fact that we were “birthday buddies.” I remember clearly meeting her for the first time. I was trying to learn the names of folks at church. She told me with a wry smile that if I could remember that her first name was Joan, then the key would be to remember that “the price is right.” That little device was a great help. It brings joy to me every time I remember that initial encounter.
The last few months Joan’s health was in steady decline. She was blessed to have a biological family and a church family that loved her. We watched the dear sisters of our congregation place their collective arms around Joan. We saw her daughter Marla lovingly walk with her mother through some very hard circumstances. It was a blessing to the congregation at large to see one of our senior saints die well. Joan was not afraid to talk about her impending death. She was joyful in her assurance that she was in Jesus’ strong grip and would soon be in his loving presence.
Joan Price will be missed. She lived to the glory of Christ and she died in the hope of the resurrection. A talented and faithful saint has gone marching in. This gives us all joy in the midst of our grief and sorrow. Death has won no victory. Joan’s life was steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because she knew—as we do—that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.
Blessings,
Pastor John
Coram Deo