Simple Funeral

Basic Funeral

Prelude Welcome & Greeting Scripture & Prayer & Song #1 Obituary Reading Family Sharing Time Song # 2 Funeral Message

As I was praying about what to share today, God put the story of Lazarus in my heartSee, Scripture tells us in : we see that Jesus had some freinds. Mary Martha and their brother LazarusLazarus for some reason we don’t know… diedJesus went on his way to the town in which Lazarus sisters still livedREAD -26Now there are a couple things here that are worth mentioningOne is that death is a cause for pauseNow later in the passage, if you were to read on, you would see the shortest verse in the BibleJohn 11:35 Jesus WeptEven Jesus, who was fully God was also fully man and he took the moment. He didn’t attempt to rush through the grieving process but he allowed the weight of the loss of his good friend Lazarus to hit himNo matter who you are, you must take the time to grieveJesus did it… and we need to do itNow we as believers don’t grieve as those without hope… we have hope, but we still must grieve the loss of SparkyIf you don’t have someone to reach out to, to lean on, don’t go another day without finding someone that you can just weep with.The second thing that comes to mind in this passage is that God understandsSee the beautiful thing about Jesus Christ is that he is not on some high mountain somewhere looking down at us… but he actually stepped into our sinful and broken worldBecause he put on humanity he has the compassion to be able to look at those of us mourning today and relateScripture promises that God is near the brokenhearted and that’s because Jesus, who is God, has been brokenhearted. He knows what you’re going throughAnd everything that you go through matters to Jesus. Death that is the natural end to this life wasn’t the plan from the beginning. And because God in Christ Jesus loves us and has had to experience love ones dying … he went to the cross to defeat the power of sin and deathThe last thing the story of Lazarus brings to mind is that Jesus is the God of the living and the deadJesus was able to command Lazurus out of that tomb because all authority in heaven and on earth was given to him and so he is God of both the living and the deadWith that being said, Jesus will call every name on that last day. We will rise again, because Jesus rose again and he tells us that he is the resurrectionHe tells us that whoever believes in Him though he die, he livesI want to leave you all with a hope todayThat all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be savedJesus cares about your loss, he cares about your grieving, he cares about every detail of your life. He wants you to bring those cares to him and allow him to be the Lord of your life now and forever

Video Tribute / Slide Show Song # 3 Benediction, (invite to Graveside & Funeral Dinner at The Church)

Graveside Welcome Greeting & Prayer Scripture Family Sharing Time Meditation Message (brief) Closing Prayer Prayer of Committal - Body to this grave - Spirit into your hands - Memory into our hearts - Our hearts to you Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me for my sins, come into my heart, fill me with your Spirit and help me live for you from this day forward.  And now Lord we pray that prayer that you taught us to pray: Lords Prayer

Handprint on casket

Dismissal & Invitation to funeral dinner.