f. Worship through funerals. Pastors should take advantage of funeral services to share the Gospel, to
give tribute to the deceased, and to comfort the brokenhearted. Funerals present an opportunity to share the hope of eternal life in Christ to those who might otherwise never hear this message. After the death of a loved one, a nonbeliever maybe trying to understand what happens at physical death. He may ask questions like, Is there life after death Does the spirit go to be with God
when one dies If God exists, why does he allow death A pastor can use scripture to answer such questions, and lead some to salvation in Christ. A pastor shows his love for non-Christians by inviting them to receive the greatest gift available-—eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We give tribute to the deceased because every human life is valuable. Scripture teaches that we are created in the image of God (
Gen. 1:26-27). At a funeral we can recognize how God has used the deceased to love his or her family,
to serve others, to achieve, to set an example,
to protect, to nurture, or to do any good thing. Such recognition helps those at the funeral to understand that in the midst of sadness, there is satisfaction in knowing of the contribution of the deceased. If
the deceased was a Christian, a pastor can comfort the brokenhearted by sharing scriptural promises that the body goes to the earth, but the spirit goes to live with God (
2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; John 11:25,26). So the one who has departed to be with Christ has received perfect peace and joy. Those who grieve need only grieve for their temporary loss of the companionship of the one departed. If those grieving trust in Christ,
they too will someday be with Christ—and will again be with the one who has departed from this world. It is helpful to prepare a variety of funeral messages in advance. When someone dies, you maybe too busy to develop a sermon for the funeral. But if you prepare ahead of time, you
can prepare abetter message, and you can adapt the message to the particular funeral service. Following are suggested scriptures for funeral messages. If the deceased was not a Christian
Share with your friends: 
