I BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH (3 OF 5)
by Tony Thomas
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
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I Believe in Life After Death (3 of 5)
Series: I Believe
Tony Thomas
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
In my forty-seven years of preaching, I have presided over hundreds of funerals. Some have been easy, some have been difficult, and some were unexpected. My most difficult funeral, however, did not involve the child who was murdered by his stepdad, or the soldier who perished in Afghanistan, or the teenager who was struck by an 18-wheeler on the last night of VBS, or the college student who took his own life.
My most difficult funeral was for a middle-aged father of three grown children. That father had two sons and one daughter. Neither one of the sons had anything good to say about their dad; the daughter, however, couldn't say enough good things.
I'll never forget sitting around the kitchen table and listening to those two sons curse their father's memory. The elders slammed his fist on the table, shook his finger in my face and said, ''Don't' you even think about saying anything good about that S.O.B.!'' Later, after the two sons left, the daughter wept in my arms. She loved her dad! She told me all the kind things he had done for her. She longed to hear some comforting words during her dad's memorial service. That was my most difficult funeral, and I can't even remember what I said.
I went to a funeral of a friend whose son died unexpectedly. The family members were all very nice, kind, and polite. But, they did not have any faith in God, they did not feel the need to pray, and they did not read from the Bible. And - they did not believe in an afterlife.
So, when they closed the lid of that casket, they believed it was the last time they'd ever see their son's face. I struggled to keep from weeping! I left thinking, ''How hopeless would I feel if I thought I'd never see my children again?''
I have closed many of my funerals reading two statements. Job once asked, ''If a man dies, will he live again?'' (Job 14:14). Several thousand years later Jesus ...
Series: I Believe
Tony Thomas
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
In my forty-seven years of preaching, I have presided over hundreds of funerals. Some have been easy, some have been difficult, and some were unexpected. My most difficult funeral, however, did not involve the child who was murdered by his stepdad, or the soldier who perished in Afghanistan, or the teenager who was struck by an 18-wheeler on the last night of VBS, or the college student who took his own life.
My most difficult funeral was for a middle-aged father of three grown children. That father had two sons and one daughter. Neither one of the sons had anything good to say about their dad; the daughter, however, couldn't say enough good things.
I'll never forget sitting around the kitchen table and listening to those two sons curse their father's memory. The elders slammed his fist on the table, shook his finger in my face and said, ''Don't' you even think about saying anything good about that S.O.B.!'' Later, after the two sons left, the daughter wept in my arms. She loved her dad! She told me all the kind things he had done for her. She longed to hear some comforting words during her dad's memorial service. That was my most difficult funeral, and I can't even remember what I said.
I went to a funeral of a friend whose son died unexpectedly. The family members were all very nice, kind, and polite. But, they did not have any faith in God, they did not feel the need to pray, and they did not read from the Bible. And - they did not believe in an afterlife.
So, when they closed the lid of that casket, they believed it was the last time they'd ever see their son's face. I struggled to keep from weeping! I left thinking, ''How hopeless would I feel if I thought I'd never see my children again?''
I have closed many of my funerals reading two statements. Job once asked, ''If a man dies, will he live again?'' (Job 14:14). Several thousand years later Jesus ...
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