AI Generated Funeral Sermon

Funeral Sermon: “A Life Well-Lived, a Hope Well-Founded”

(Reformed Evangelical, 15–18 minutes; ~2,400 words at 135 wpm)Opening (1 minute)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

We do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13). The chair is empty, the voice is stilled, yet the same sovereign Lord who numbered [Name]’s days before one of them came to be (Ps 139:16) now holds him in everlasting arms. Scripture Reading (30 seconds)

John 11:25–26: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’” I. The Question That Echoes (3 minutes)

Martha stood at the edge of her brother’s tomb and asked the same question that haunts us today: “Lord, if you had been here…” (John 11:21).

If you had been here, the diagnosis would have changed.

If you had been here, the accident would never have happened.

If you had been here, the goodbye would have waited. But Jesus does not scold Martha for her “if.” He meets her in it. And then He does something astonishing: He weeps. The Eternal Word, who spoke galaxies into being, stands at a grave and cries. Why? Because death is not the way things were meant to be. It is an intruder in God’s good world, and every tear we shed is a protest against its tyranny. [Name] knew this protest. I remember when he told me, in his own blunt way, “Preacher, I believe in Jesus. I just don’t live like it every day.” That honesty is rare. Many hide behind church attendance or family tradition. [Name] didn’t pretend. He knew the gap between what he professed and how he lived. And that gap is the very place where the gospel does its deepest work.II. The Reality of Sin (3 minutes)

The Bible does not flatter us. Romans 3:23 is blunt: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

[Name] sinned. So have I. So have you. Sin is not just the big mistakes we regret; it is the quiet rebellion that says, “My way, not God’s.” It is the pride that keeps us from repenting, the selfishness that wounds those we love, the indifference that lets eternity slip through our fingers. Sin’s wage is death (Rom 6:23). That is why we are here. Not because [Name] was worse than others, but because he was human—like us. The cancer, the heart attack, the sudden crash—whatever form death took—it is the universal sentence on a rebel race. Yet the same verse does not end with wages. It continues: “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The gospel is not that we were good enough, but that Christ was good enough for us.III. The Exclusivity of Christ (3 minutes)

Jesus does not say, “I am a way, a truth, a life.” He says, “I am THE way, THE truth, THE life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

There is no back door to heaven. Good intentions do not cancel sin. Religious rituals do not erase guilt. Ancestry does not confer salvation. Only the blood of the Lamb, shed once for all on a Roman cross, atones for sinners. [Name] professed faith in that Lamb. He said, more than once, “Jesus died for me.” He may not have lived every day in the light of that truth, but he never denied it. And the Bible is clear: salvation is not by works, lest anyone boast (Eph 2:8–9). It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We do not stand here presuming to know the secret counsels of God. But we do stand on the plain promises of God: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13). [Name] called. Imperfectly, inconsistently—but he called. And the God who justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5) is faithful even when we are faithless (2 Tim 2:13).IV. Comfort for the Family (3 minutes)

Dear family, your grief is real because your love was real. You remember the fishing trips, the bad jokes, the stubborn silences, the times he showed up when it mattered. You also remember the regrets—the words unsaid, the years misspent. But hear this: the same Christ who wept at Lazarus’ tomb now intercedes for you at the Father’s right hand (Rom 8:34). He is not ashamed to call you brothers and sisters (Heb 2:11). Your father, husband, brother, friend—he is not lost. He is absent from the body, but present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8), because Jesus is the resurrection and the life. V. Hope for All Who Remain (3 minutes)

The question Jesus asked Martha is now asked of us: “Do you believe this?”

Not “Were you good enough?” Not “Did you attend enough services?” But “Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life?” If [Name] could speak today, I think he would say what he said to me the last time we talked: “Tell them not to wait. Tell them Jesus is enough.” So I tell you: repent of your sins—today. Trust in Christ—today. Live for Him—today. Because tomorrow is promised to no one. Closing Prayer (1 minute)

Let us pray.

Father, we confess that we are sinners saved by grace alone. Thank You for the gift of [Name]—his laughter, his flaws, his faltering faith that still clung to Christ. Comfort these dear ones with the certainty that nothing can separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus—not death, nor life, nor anything else in all creation. Give them grace to grieve with hope, and hope to live with urgency. In the name of the risen Lord Jesus, amen.Benediction (30 seconds)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.