When I was an Episcopal priest, I always urged the passages from I Cor 15 for funerals of somebody who had died "full of years" and, so to speak "well". As a pastor, of course when there was much sorrow, I might suggest more consoling passages. But it seemed to me that, ceteris paribus, we ought to just put it right out there every once in a while.
Thanks. I sometimes bring up Job 14:14 to start when I talk about life and death, in addition to many verses of the NT.
When I was an Episcopal priest, I always urged the passages from I Cor 15 for funerals of somebody who had died "full of years" and, so to speak "well". As a pastor, of course when there was much sorrow, I might suggest more consoling passages. But it seemed to me that, ceteris paribus, we ought to just put it right out there every once in a while.
Yes, there are many passages of scripture that console a person who is in mourning. Sometimes they are the hardest ones to face in a sermon, which I find should be done one-on-one in a peaceful setting - even loaning my shoulder to lean on. But for moving groups of people sitting in a pew, I find a sermon on I Cor. 15 to be very moving. After an 82 year old man I had developed as a friend, he listen to one and was moved to be baptized - something he had never experience. I never spoke to him of that; he brought it up out of the blue. God's word works in mysterious ways, and He said it would never come back without the results He desires. Anyway, I look forward to more conversations with you. God bless you as do His work here on earth.