No family has done more for Ballinamallard. It would not be the place that it is but for the Fisher family. it seems doubly unfair that they have had to face such an appalling tragedy. I want to pay tribute to all the family circle for the way that they have conducted themselves over these past days. it has been a difficult time. but for me personally in a strange kind of way I would say that it has been a privilege, a humbling and deeply moving experience to stand alongside them in their time of trial. to witness the way they have met adversity of the worst kind with courage, dignity, with faith and concern for each other.

I must pay tribute to emergency and medical services, hospitals, RUC, and all the many friends for the help and support they have given. The way that the churches and the whole community have come together to make preparations for today and to pray and support the family has been amazing and a great encouragement to the family. Hundreds of messages of support have come in over these past few days – some from well known figures – others from ordinary people who don't know the family personally but whose lives have in some way been enriched by them – and just wanted to express their support and prayers.

Others have already paid eloquent tribute to Bertie, Mark and Emma. Each of them in their own way touched the lives of those who knew them. To my mind they shared 2 great things in common:1 was their humility. in spite of all their successes and achievements in life they never saw themselves as other than ordinary people, and the good they did for others was all done quietly; the second was their ability to make us all feel that we are the most special friends. And that they were really interested in our lives. We thank God for each of them.

As I read the book of Job over these few days it struck me how similar his situation was to that of this family. He was a good man who experienced undeserved suffering. in fact tragedy upon tragedy. First there was the loss of his property and livelihood. Then when his children were having a celebration together a wall fell on them and killed them all. When Job starts praying telling God that things can't get any worse that's exactly what happens. his health gives up and he is afflicted with illness. What is he to think? Where is God in all this?

He gets some advice from various people.

1. His wife. Curse God and die! Who could blame her for telling Job curse God? I wouldn't blame anyone for questioning. His own Son on the cross prayed, My God, why have you forsaken me. Thankfully Job didn't blame God. in fact, instead of cursing God he praised God. In spite of all that happened he was still able to say. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

To be able to praise God in the midst of tragedy and disaster is the mark of true Christianity. And I have seen that mark over these past few days. That determination to rise above the enormous tragedy that has hit this family and to praise God for his goodness is what will carry them through.

2. Then there are his so-called friends. their insensitive advice amounts to saying. If such a bad thing has happened you must have done something bad. Job knows that he has sinned against God. but he also has the sense to know that his God, the God who is love, would not and could not wish his child to go through what he was going through. So he responds: You are doctors who don't know what they are doing. Please be quiet. If you can't say the right thing, if you don't know what to say, and which of us has known this week? then we should be quiet.

It's at that moment that God chooses to speak to Job.

"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?" Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me." Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Has the location of the gates of death been revealed to you?"

Job felt he had every right to question God. but here God questions Job. God's questions make J realise who God is. all Job can do is lift up his hands and say, I am nothing – I lay my hand upon my mouth in silence! and he bows before the reality that is God. All his life Job had believed in God. All his life he had prayed to God. But it's only now that Job sees and knows and experiences God as the great and holy God of love and power! If you underline any verse in the book of Job make it this one. "I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you."

Job's questions haven't been answered. He still doesn't know why this happened to him. But now Job knows that God is God. that God is with him and that he still cares for him. And that he can bring something good even out of the evil that has happened. And that's enough for Job.

The book ends with Job living life to the full again. his fortunes restored. his family around him. We may think things will never be the same. our church, our community, our family. but the message of the book of Job we have a God who is able to redeem. who when we trust in him is able to bring good out of evil. We see that supremely in the cross of Calvary, where Jesus the Son of God was put to death. not for his own sin, but the sin of the world, all of us. again, a good man suffering unjustly. but God raised him in power to new life. brought hope and life and purpose out of tragedy. And when we trust in him he can do the same for us.

If Job ever wonders why God doesn't bring back the children he had lost, he doesn't ask. Maybe that's because he knows that his children could never be happier than they are in the presence of this One has had seen. God wants us to know that about our loved ones too.

I'll finish by reading from a cutting someone sent me that has helped me enormously over the past few days. It is written by a young woman whose two friends were killed in an accident in the small airplane they had been flying. She writes:

'Sometimes we question whether what we do is worthwhile, especially when we lose people we care about. The answer I keep coming back to is that while there's unquestionably a risk to flying. there's also a risk to living at all. I could stay on the ground and avoid the risks of flight. But if I did that I would never know the thrill of skimming over hilltops and watching the trees fly by underneath me, or the joy of banking my plane around in the still air of a summer morning.

We are given this wonderful, plentiful and colourful gift called life that we can drink of as much or as little as we please. But there are no promises made about how long we will have it. In the end we can't really control how long we have to live. Only how well. Life is meant to be approached with gusto, not timidity; a brief and colourful banquet to be savoured with every sense and moment we have. To drink from the full cup of lie requires a bit of courage. Sometimes things don't turn out as you had hoped and you may know as many losses as you know gains. There are risks that come with flying. But nothing worthwhile in life ever came without some kind of risk or heartache. And with the risks of flying come the rewards of learning, laughter, joy, beauty and the potential of a life lived more fully and with fewer regrets than if we'd settled to keep our feet on the ground. Don't ever let the fear of failing keep you from the joy of flight.'

That was the kind of life that Bertie, Mark and Emma lived. Each in their own way took the risk of flying, embracing the fullness of life with God. I know that in spite of all that has happened they'd still want us to do the same. And that by placing ourselves in God's hands we can!