Lloyd Schelhaas Memorial Service

May 03, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Love Poured from the Source

The disciples heard Jesus say, “Love one another.” But they didn’t know how until He showed them His scars. John wrote, “Love comes from God,” not from human effort. Lloyd’s steady care for his family and church wasn’t self-made—it flowed from years of receiving forgiveness. [01:09:02]

Love starts at the cross. Jesus proved God’s love by laying down His life first. When we try to love without being rooted in His mercy, we burn out. But when we receive His forgiveness daily, love becomes a spillover, not a strain.

You’ve felt the pressure to “be loving.” Stop striving. Sit with 1 John 4:7. Let God’s love for you in Christ soften your heart before you engage others. Where is your love more obligation than overflow?

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
(1 John 4:7-8, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to show you one specific way His forgiveness fuels your love today.

Challenge: Write a short note of encouragement to someone who modeled God’s love to you.

Day 2: Bricks and Bedtime Stories

Paul told fathers, “Bring [your children] up in the training of the Lord.” Lloyd mixed mortar and Scripture, building fireplaces and faith. His kids saw Ephesians 6:4 in Sunday pews and Saturday projects—a father’s love shaped by daily obedience. [01:13:56]

Faithfulness isn’t grand gestures. It’s showing up—reading Bible stories, fixing bikes, apologizing when wrong. Jesus trained disciples over meals and dusty roads. Steady love leaves fingerprints on hearts through ordinary moments.

What daily task feels too small to matter? Do it with prayerful intention today, knowing God uses routines to build legacy. When did a parent’s consistent act shape your view of God?

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
(Ephesians 6:4, NIV)

Prayer: Thank God for someone who showed you Christ through mundane faithfulness.

Challenge: Fix or clean one item in your home as an act of stewardship.

Day 3: The Wheelbarrow of Worries

Peter says, “Cast all anxiety on Him.” Lloyd’s rusted wheelbarrow bore his name and burdens—bricks, soil, and secret regrets. But his hands learned to drop both tools and troubles at the cross, trusting a Carpenter who carries more than mortar. [01:29:03]

Jesus didn’t say “Don’t feel weight.” He said, “My yoke is easy.” Lloyd’s sobriety and service came from daily unloading shame onto Christ. Anxiety shrinks when we believe God cares about details—even wheelbarrows.

What burden are you gripping? Write it on paper, then physically open your hands as you pray. What practical worry keeps you from trusting Christ’s care today?

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
(1 Peter 5:7, NIV)

Prayer: Name one anxiety aloud and say, “Jesus, I trade this for Your peace.”

Challenge: Set a timer for 5 minutes to list worries, then tear up the paper.

Day 4: Rooms in the Father’s House

Jesus told grieving friends, “My Father’s house has many rooms.” He didn’t spiritualize death. He promised real preparation—hammer on nail, measuring tape in hand. Lloyd’s 95 years ended where faith began: Christ’s finished work, not his own. [01:33:06]

Heaven isn’t abstract. It’s a place made by the same hands that healed lepers and cooked fish. Jesus builds eternities, not just earthly fireplaces. Lloyd’s hope—and ours—rests on the Builder who conquered the grave.

What doubts about eternity arise in grief? Hear Jesus say, “I am preparing a place for YOU.” Who needs you to share this concrete hope today?

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
(John 14:2, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for preparing a place specifically for you.

Challenge: Text a grieving friend: “Christ is preparing your loved one’s room.”

Day 5: Glory’s Weight in Weakness

Paul said present sufferings pale compared to future glory. Lloyd’s final years—body failing, mind clear—mirrored Paul’s paradox: weakness reveals Christ’s strength. A Marine’s discipline became a saint’s dependence, his wheelchair a throne of grace. [01:30:18]

Jesus turned crucifixion into resurrection. Our declines don’t negate His power—they showcase it. Lloyd’s legacy wasn’t diminished by age but distilled, like wine pressed from decades of abiding.

Where do you equate strength with self-sufficiency? How might Christ want to magnify His power in your current limitation?

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
(Romans 8:18, NIV)

Prayer: Confess one area of weakness and ask, “Jesus, show Your glory here.”

Challenge: Share a story of God’s faithfulness during hardship with a younger believer.

Sermon Summary

God stands as the maker and keeper who holds life and death in his hands. Scripture frames grief and memory with resurrection hope, teaching that death cannot sever the bonds that love forms in Christ. The Heidelberg Catechism anchors belonging in Jesus, declaring that body and soul belong to a faithful Savior who pays for sin, watches over his people, and assures eternal life. First John reframes human affection as an overflow from God, so steady love in a life points beyond personality to divine origin. Practical faith appears in ordinary work, disciplined service, and long obedience within family roles where patience, correction, and presence shape subsequent generations. Confession and testimony expose failure honestly, and forgiveness receives that failure into redemptive transformation rather than erasing it. Recovery and repentance become signs of grace that ground sustained faithfulness and reshape relationships. Dependence on God turns weakness into clarity; suffering and physical decline reveal what endures: love, care, and the promise of future glory. Romans and John anchor the grief of loss in a promise that present sufferings pale before coming revelation, and that Jesus prepares a place where love brought from God reaches fulfillment. The life described shows faith lived, forgiven, and given away, leaving an invitation to receive the same mercy and to let that received love form how people live with one another. The gathered prayers and singing model a church that both laments and celebrates, refusing to let memory stagnate into mere sentiment while calling listeners into a concrete practice of love that forgives, restores, and endures.

Key Takeaways

1. Love originates in God Scripture locates the source of genuine love outside human capacity, so real affection points to God breaking into ordinary lives. When love shows steadiness and cost, it functions less as personality and more as evidence of divine formation. Receiving love precedes the ability to give it, which reorients Christian life as response rather than achievement. This reframes discipleship as cultivation of receptivity to God rather than self-reliant moralism. [25:07]
2. Forgiveness reshapes the whole life Confession of past failure and experience of mercy do not merely erase guilt; they redirect trajectories and produce sustained fruit. Honest testimony about sin and recovery shows that forgiveness transforms identity, enabling a person to live dependably for others. The weight of grace makes service credible because it issues from repaired relationships rather than superficial virtue. This makes forgiveness central to long-term spiritual formation. [79:56]
3. Dependence forms steady service Entrusting anxieties and limits to God frees a life for reliable care of others rather than brittle self-sufficiency. Dependence creates endurance and discipline that carry through both productive years and seasons of decline. Where burdens land with God, presence for others becomes sustainable and not merely frantic effort. This dependence turns weakness into witness. [25:49]
4. Hope anchors grief and loss The promise of resurrection reframes present suffering as preparation for revealed glory, so grief refuses finality without becoming escapism. Hope rooted in Christ sustains lament while insisting that love persists beyond death and finds fulfillment in God’s presence. Such hope equips the community to grieve with purpose and to live differently because the future transforms the present. [27:25]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[19:39] - Opening Prayer and Gathering
[23:16] - Heidelberg Catechism Recited
[25:07] - Love Comes From God Explained
[31:52] - Family Memories and Reflections
[53:21] - Words from Family and Luncheon
[67:11] - Message: God’s Love For Everyone
[79:56] - Lloyd’s Testimony of Forgiveness
[88:09] - Dependence and Final Hope
[94:29] - Call to Live Love Today
[102:25] - Closing Prayer and Blessing

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Observation Questions

According to 1 John 4:7-8, what is the origin of genuine love, and how does this connect to knowing God?
The sermon emphasized that Lloyd’s love was not self-generated but a result of God’s work in him. What specific examples were shared about how his love impacted others? [25:07]
How does the sermon describe the relationship between forgiveness and lasting transformation in a person’s life? [01:19:56]
What promise from John 14:1-4 was highlighted as the foundation for enduring grief with hope? [27:25]

Interpretation Questions

Why does 1 John 4:7-8 insist that love is evidence of being “born of God”? How does this challenge the idea that love is merely a human virtue?
The sermon stated, “Forgiveness is only meaningful when there is something to forgive.” How does this truth deepen our understanding of grace and redemption? [23:28]
Lloyd’s later years of physical decline were described as revealing “what endures.” How do suffering and weakness clarify what truly matters in a life rooted in Christ? [30:18]
Romans 8:18 contrasts present suffering with future glory. How does this perspective reframe grief without minimizing its pain?

Application Questions

The sermon stressed that “receiving love precedes the ability to give it.” How might prioritizing receiving God’s love first change the way you serve others this week?
Lloyd’s testimony included honest confession of failure and receiving forgiveness. Is there a burden of guilt or shame you need to bring to God honestly, trusting His mercy to transform it? [01:19:56]
In seasons of weakness or limitation, how can you practice “casting your anxieties on Him” (1 Peter 5:7) instead of relying on self-sufficiency? What practical step will you take? [25:49]
The sermon urged listeners to let grief anchor hope in Christ’s promise of resurrection. How can you intentionally remind yourself of eternal glory when facing daily struggles or loss?
Lloyd’s life showed love as “steady, disciplined service over time.” What ordinary, repetitive act of care (e.g., in family, work, or community) can you commit to as a reflection of God’s love? [13:56]
The message challenged, “Are you walking away unchanged?” What one habit or relationship needs to shift to align more closely with the love described in 1 John 4:7-8?

Sermon Clips

56s

#ForgivenessThroughChrist

“Forgiveness is not something automatic. It's not something that we can just assume and and take for granted. Forgiveness comes from through Jesus Christ. And Jesus does take sin seriously enough to bear it himself. Jesus takes guilt seriously enough to carry it to the cross. Jesus takes broken lives seriously enough to redeem them. And that's what you're seeing when you look at Lloyd's life. A man who knew failure and who caused pain like we all do, who needed mercy like we all do, and who received it.”

43s

#MercyBuiltLife

“And so what he shared with us is that his life was not built on pretending that hurt and pain and failure were not there. His life was built on bringing those things before God and receiving mercy. That changes everything about how you, that changes how you understand everything that followed, everything that you know about Lloyd after that time. Because you start to see now that the steadiness that you saw and that you received as God's grace was not it wasn't self made.”

41s

#GodNeverAbandons

“We hear it so many times as we we gather together in moments like like this. But it is so much more than poetic language that softens our grief. It is a a concrete promise from Jesus to his followers. A concrete promise that that the life that God begins is never abandoned by God. The love that comes from God is not cut off by death. As a matter of fact, it is brought to its fulfillment in the presence of Jesus Christ, which is where Lloyd now is.”

63s

#GraceInWeakness

“And so I don't think those years of weakness were a contradiction of his life. I think they were a continuation of it. Yeah. Quieter and and slower, But it's a real expression of the same grace of God that has been at work in him all this time. And through all of the ups and downs, through ninety five years of work and care for a family and faithfulness, one thing remained. Scripture says that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The body of Lloyd Skelhaus gave way, but love did not disappear.”

50s

#RootedInGod

“You see what remained in Lloyd's life was not bitterness or withdrawal or or an inward turn as you do sometimes see. What remained after all of this was love. The same pattern that marked his life earlier continued even as his body weakened. That's no accident, people of God. This happens in a man's life because over time, a person has been rooted in something that's deeper than their own strength. It happens because their life has been anchored in a god who is unchanging and who is eternally strong to save.”

44s

#GraceForAll

“And I wanna be clear about something, not just about Lloyd, but about ourselves. The good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, is is not that that some people are naturally loving and that other people have to really try hard at it. The gospel of Jesus Christ says that all of us fall short, that all of us fail in love. All of us fall short of what we were made to be. All of us carry sin that we can't fix and we can't undo on our own, but God doesn't leave us there.”

34s

#LivingOutForgiveness

“And the faithfulness that you saw was not the result of human willpower. No. This was about the fruit of a man who knew that he had been forgiven by the god of the universe and a man who continued to live out of that forgiveness. So his life is not just an example to admire. It's a witness to what God does with people who come to him with an honest heart.”

31s

#LoveThroughForgiveness

“The love that you see in a loving man like Lloyd is not the absence of failure. It is the result of forgiveness. It was the work of God in a life that had been brought back. Right? The brought back by the righteous dying for the unrighteous to bring us back to God, to restore us to God and to one another.”

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