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April 15, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Preaching Your Own Funeral, by Tim Archer
There were two brothers who were the richest men in that small town.
They were also the meanest and most immoral of men. When one of them
died, the other went to the preacher of the local church and asked him
to do the funeral. He said that he would give the church $25,000 if the
preacher would say that his brother was a saint. "But I can't do that!"
said the preacher, "Everyone knows what kind of man your brother was."
But the more he thought about it, he realized that the church really
needed that money. So on the day of the funeral he got up and said,
"This man was a lying, cheating, stealing, wicked old man. But next to
his brother, he was a saint."
Someday, when we're gone, somebody is going to have to stand up and say
a few words about our lives. When they stand up to talk about us, will
it be an easy task or a hard one? Will they struggle to find something
good to say or will they struggle to choose between all of the
uplifting stories told of your life?
I remember when I was a student at Abilene Christian University, Jim
Dotson, the preacher at Brookwood Way Church of Christ in Mansfield,
Ohio, preached a funeral sermon that became famous. His sermon was
videotaped and can still be viewed in the ACU library. Dotson's sermon
did not become famous because of its content nor because of the
outstanding delivery. Dotson's funeral sermon became famous because he
preached his own funeral. Dying of cancer, he videotaped the funeral
sermon. He spoke about the Christian's victory over death.
It's a remarkable thing to preach your own funeral. That is, it's
remarkable to videotape yourself speaking so that everyone hears the
exact words that you wanted them to hear. But the fact is, we all do
our own funeral sermons. By the way we live. No matter what the
minister says at the service itself, our lives will leave behind their
own testimony, for good or for bad.
We're writing our own funeral sermon, day by day
So what does your sermon sound like so far? Is it full of jokes and
stories, but little substance? Is it a shining example of what everyone
would like their life to be? Or, to borrow a phrase from a calendar I
saw, is the main purpose of your life to serve as a warning for others?
Make someone's job a little easier! Don't make them hunt and scrounge
for something good to say. Don't make it hard for them to find words of
comfort for those left behind. Live such a life that your funeral will
be a celebration of triumph, a joyous remembrance of a life well lived.
To know more about how to do that, write to me at tim@hopeforlife.org
or leave a comment on our HopeforLife.org blog.
(Expressed written consent must be obtained prior to republishing,
retransmitting or otherwise reusing the content of this article.
Contact us at info@hopeforlife.org)
Are you presently experiencing a new life? God's word says, "if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!"
This new life is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. If
you want to know more about this life that only Jesus can give you,
sign up for one of our Bible courses. Wherever you are in life,
whatever you've done, you can begin again.
You may also contact us at info@hopeforlife.org if you have questions
about becoming a new creation.
---------
(c) 2009 Herald of Truth
RELATED LINKS:
* Promoted To Heaven
http://hopeforlife.org/blog/entry.asp?ENTRY_ID=81
* Famous People Die Too
http://hopeforlife.org/blog/entry.asp?ENTRY_ID=23
* Just A Second
http://hopeforlife.org/blog/entry.asp?ENTRY_ID=73
* HopeForLife
http://www.hopeforlife.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200904/20090415_funeral.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
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