Christians, may wish to use this free estate plan on eternal matters as a model to write their own writing to be read at their memorial service:

Eternal Estate Plan 

Harold R. Mayberry, Jr.

--I ask my sons Scott and Tim to read this out load to those who attend my memorial service; after which I wish my remains to be interned in a plain pine box, in a cometary plot with my wife Carol-- 

Dear Carol, Scott, Tim and my Family and Friends,

God loves us, and wants us to live in peace with Him and receive eternal life. He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  

I pray for God’s grace in your lives so that we may be with Him, together in heaven.

I believe the Scriptures were given God and are the only infallible rule and practice.

I believe Jesus Christ is both God and Man, that he was born of a virgin, that he lived a sinless life on earth and performed mighty miracles.  

Christ suffered and died on the cross for us, making fully acceptable atonement to God, that our sins might be forgiven.  

He physically rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right of God.  

He intercedes for His people, and he will personally come again in power and glory, to judge the living and the dead. 

I believe we all have sinned, fallen short of God’s glory, and are lost.  In his love, God offers us salvation through his only son Jesus Christ.  Those who truly believe in Jesus and love him are saved, reconciled to God, and will be with him in eternity.

I believe there is a God, Creator of all things, who exists eternally in three persons:  Father, Son, Holy Sprint.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, who indwelling in me and you provides power and fullness so that I have been enabled to live a godly life. 

 My Prayer

May my family and friends at my memorial service pray out loud, or to yourself, the prayer that brought me salvation:

I am a sinner and do not have peace with God. 

I repent, and pray for your forgiveness, and to turn from my sin.

I believe that there is one God, self-existent, eternal, infinite, perfect, and glorious; unchangeable in His being and perfection; the Creator of all things, and the Sovereign of the Universe;

I believe that Jesus Christ died for me on the cross, rose from the grave, and is alive, sitting at the right hand of God in Heaven.

You died to pay the penalty for my sin. I want to turn from my sin and follow You dear Lord instead.

Come into my heart and life, and take charge, as Savior and Lord of my life.   Amen.

 Forgive My Sin

Regrettably, like Adam, I  disobeyed you to go my own selfish ways in much of my life (Genesis chapters 2-3), and know this to be outright sin, and it separated me from you God for "For all have sinned and fall short of the  glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

I sought your grace for my sins so that they are forgiven, that I have eternal life, and beat peace with God, in Heaven.  May all my family and friends know that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord  will be saved [from their sins]." (Romans 10:13) and "He who has the Son [Jesus Christ] has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:12-13) "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1b)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

I know that prosperity is not the temporal accumulation of wealth  on earth but the eternal. Life on this earth is but a cup of water in comparison to the ocean of eternity, and the transfer of soul which is eternal, and at the moment of my death it will either be at peace with God or in fear of God.

Life on this earth is but a second of time, a  touch of sand in all the beaches of the world, a drop of water in the ocean in comparison to life hereafter in eternity.

 To My Wife

I thank you for the joys of our relationship and look forward to seeing you all again in our life hereafter, where we will all live with our Lord and Savior.

To My Children, My Daughter In Laws, and GrandChildren

I ask you each, whom I have loved so dearly to share God’s word with everyone and to always remember how much you were loved. 

I commend you to the precious arms of God, knowing He will provide for you and I encourage you to place your faith in him alone, and never trust the world for your comfort.  I look forward to seeing you all again in our life hereafter, where we will meet grandpa and grandma and all live with our Lord and Savior.

***

I want all who read this to know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that upon death I will enter into heaven.  I will do so, not by my own worthiness for I am unworthy, but through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and his death on the cross.

I want my family and friends to know I  place all my hope of life hereafter in Jesus Christ, the Son of God whose death and resurrection have given my life meaning and make my death a peaceful passage to eternal life in heaven. 

                                        In Peace, 

                         HAROLD R. MAYBERRY JR.

Confession of Faith[2]

I believe:

 That there is one God, self-existent, eternal, infinite, perfect, and glorious; unchangeable in His being and perfection; the Creator of all things, and the Sovereign of the Universe;

 That this one God subsists in a manner mysterious  to us as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons in one God;

 That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are given by inspiration from God and are the only infallible rule of faith and practice;

 That God created our first parents in His own image, holy, and happy, and that they voluntarily sinned, and that by their choice and willful act, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned;

 That God by His sovereign grace has defined a plan of redemption by which the exercise of mercy is made consistent with the maintenance of justice, and with the honor of His government;

 That the Son of God in the incarnation became fully human, without sin, was obedient to the Father, suffered, and died upon the cross, thus making a true and proper atonement for sin, an atonement of infinite value, because He who made it is, was, and ever shall be divine.

 That He arose bodily from the dead, ascended to heaven, and sits at the right hand of God; that He ever lives to make intercession for His people, and will come a second time to climax and culminate world history;

 That all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is offered in the gospel, truly believing in and loving Him, are pardoned and accepted for the sake of His righteousness, which is imputed to them, and that this righteousness is through grace by faith alone;

 That all such who believe, having within their souls the principle of eternal life, are kept according to God’s promise and by His power, through faith unto salvation, the work of sanctification being completed in death.

 That God, in a free, self-moved, and sovereign manner, bestows grace on mankind, having mercy on whom He will have mercy;

 That the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances in the Church of Christ, appointed by is Himself;

 That it is the office of the Holy Ghost, the third person in the Trinity, to convince of sin, to renew and sanctify the soul, to give gifts to the Church, and by His holy influence to produce spiritual revival and a turning of man to God;

 That there is appointd a day of judgment, unknown to angels and to men, but known to God, when Jesus Christ, having raised the dead, will pronounce righteous judgment on all, welcoming His followers to share in His eternal Kingdom in heaven, and condemning the wicked to Hell.

End Notes attribution to  Confession of Faith Affirmed by the Session of the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Bethesda, Maryland at its stated meeting of May 22,1984. Affirmed by the Session of the Fourth Presbyterianm Church of Bethesda, Maryland, at its stated meeting of May 22,1984. Based upon the Heidelberg Confession.