My first funeral tomorrow

[Kevin]

Hey all, I have my first funeral service tomorrow. I admit it I am a bit nervious. OK alot.

The woman is a sister of a lady that attends our church. Very few christians in the entire (huge) extended family. Out of the 200+ family members at the wake last night, only 5 or 6 are christians.

So I could use alot of prayer & some practical advice.

thanks.

 

[Mushroom]

 

[fredtgreco]

Kevin,

Here is some practical advice:

• Be concise. A funeral is not the time to preach a 45 minute sermon. I try typically to be 10-15 minutes
• Focus on comforting the grieving. Don't condemn the dead to hell, or praise to heaven.
• Don't try and do everything. Often the funeral is merely an opening for more ministry in the future
• Be simple. It is hard for people to follow complex thoughts on their best day. Keep your phrasing short, concepts simple, and points few.
• Find a point of commonality with the audience. All of them fear (or at least do not look forward to) death. All of them are going to be focused by the event.
• Think through how you will pray. Don't write out your prayers, but have a plan, so you don't wander.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks. Very helpful advice.

I just wrote out an outline for my prayers. (first time ever)

And for the first time (did it once for a class) wrote out the entire service, in order, including scripture readings so that I wont have to flip around in my bible. i also wrote a complete ms of my sermon. 12 min+/-.

This will be a large funeral with 90+% being nominal RC's or nominal Anglicans. The connections with the 2 churches are so slight that the family defered to the few christians to select the minister & to plan the service. Tomorrow afternoon I will preach to more lost people than I ordinarily would in an entire year.

 

[Berean]

Praying, Kevin...

 

[21st Century Calvinist]

Praise God for the opportunity to preach the gospel and hold forth the Word of Life. May our Lord bless you as you do. Praying.

 

[Romans922]

Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to dying people.

 

[Kevin]

It went well.

It was a big crowd, over 250 and probably 90+% non-christians. One interesting story from the day, the organist was a RC & she told me after that she found the message "very interesting, I never really thought of Jesus like that before".

Thanks for the prayers.

 

[Jack K]

That's truly encouraging news. Thanks for sharing all this with us and letting us, in some small way, be a part.

 

[Berean]

That's truly encouraging news. Thanks for sharing all this with us and letting us, in some small way, be a part.