If you want to pay respect to a close relative or loved one, you can rely on a funeral service that will help you honor the life of the individual. It will also provide assistance to the family during this difficult time. You can benefit from talking with a funeral service professional who can assist you and your family with arranging the type of service that is a good fit for your loved one’s needs and wishes.
In the black community, we take funerals very seriously. We believe that it is our duty to celebrate the lives of those who have passed, and to keep their memories alive through our words and actions. We also believe that it’s important for us to acknowledge the pain and grief of those who have lost a loved one. The loss of a loved one is always hard—but it can be particularly difficult when you’re dealing with the death of someone close to you, especially if you weren’t able to say goodbye before they died.
The first step toward healing after such a loss is often admitting that there is pain involved in losing someone close to you, and then allowing yourself to feel that pain without guilt or shame. In order for this first step to work, however, you need something that will help guide your thoughts in the right direction: a sermon for funerals delivered by an expert in black funerary traditions! I am an ordained minister with over 30 years’ experience delivering sermons at funerals—and my sermons are designed specifically with black families in mind. My sermons are designed so they can be easily adapted for any occasion where funeral services are being held.
Right here on Churchgists, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on Black Sermons For Funerals, Funeral Sermon for a Faithful Christian, Short sermons for funerals, Bright and Cloudless Morning and so much more. Take out time to surf through our catalog for more information on related topics. You don’t want to miss this!
Black Sermons For Funerals
Even though the Bible encourages us to “weep with those who weep,” it’s still difficult to know what to say when a loved one passes away. You want to comfort the grieving family, and you want the service to be meaningful, but putting those things into words can be hard. This is why so many people turn to funeral sermons. Funeral sermons typically address issues of death and loss while also encouraging mourners through the gospel message. Though it’s not Scripture itself, using a funeral sermon can help you quickly organize your thoughts as you prepare for this solemn occasion. It also gives mourners perspective on how God uses even death for His purposes and glory. Therefore, if you’ve been asked to prepare a sermon for a funeral, don’t panic! We’ve put together some sample Black sermons that might help you out during this difficult time:
Funeral Sermon for a Faithful Christian
Funeral Sermon for a Faithful Christian
My dear friends, as we gather here today to mourn the loss of our loved one, I want us to remember that, as long as we are still alive and God is still in control, then death is not the final word on life. We can be sure that our beloved friend will be reunited with those who have gone before them in Heaven. They will be comforted by their presence there beyond all earthly cares and worries; they will not know hunger or thirst; their bodies will never wear out or age.
When we bury this body into the ground it does not mean that our friend has been buried with it. Instead it means that he/she has ascended into Heaven where Christ lives forevermore (John 11:25). Therefore Christians do not need to fear death anymore than they need fear being born again (John 3:7).
The Spirit of God
God is love. God is truth. God is life. God is holiness and wisdom and glory, but this one thing we can say without fear of contradiction: The spirit of God is good, just as we are told in the Book of Genesis (1 John 4).
So when you’re looking for ways to share your message at a funeral, make sure it’s filled with these truths from the Bible! It’ll be a hit among everyone who hears it—even if it does sound a bit odd coming from someone who hasn’t been to church since Easter childhood mass or before that Christmas morning service when she was eight years old!
Children of the Heavenly Father
There are some things that have been said about the human race that I would like to disagree with. For example, one of them is this:
- We are all brothers and sisters.
I know that we are not all brothers and sisters – but we can do something about it. You see, the reason why people think that everyone is their brother or sister is because they don’t know any better. So here’s what we need to do: We need to get together and teach them! And while you’re teaching them, don’t forget to tell them that they should love one another as well because it’s important too!
The Lord is my Shepherd
Psalm 23 is often referred to as the “Shepherd Psalm”. This is because it speaks of God as our shepherd, directing us through life and leading us safely through trials.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (KJV).
Be Thou My Vision
- Lyrics:
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace is a song about God’s grace, which is an amazing gift to us.
God’s grace is for everyone, whether you are a sinner or a Christian. It does not matter if you have done bad things in your life, because God will always forgive us for those sins and welcome us into Heaven with open arms!
Short sermons for funerals
During every funeral, I remind the audience that funeral sermons are for the living, not the dead. Words spoken in the hour of death can encourage the living to remain faithful to the Lord. After the first martyr gave his life for the Lord, Luke tells us that “devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him” (Acts 8:2).
Acts 9:36 tells us of Dorcas, a woman “full of good works and charitable deeds.” While at Joppa, she grew sick and died. The disciples washed her and placed her in an upper room. When Peter entered the room “all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them” (Acts 9:39). This godly woman was remembered what she left behind. Revelation 14:13 says our works will follow us. When you die, what will you leave behind?
“We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim. 6:7). Why do so many people get all wrapped up with “possessions”? Jesus asked, “What is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
What would you gain if you had the whole world? Whatever it is, it will not endure after the Judgment is passed (2 Peter 3:10).
What would you give in exchange for your soul? Whatever it may be, this is one transaction you will eternally regret. Judas sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver (Matt. 26:14-16)—some Christians will sell out for far less. Some will sell their soul for a few more minutes sleep on Sunday morning, or another hour of TV on Sunday night. Gospel preachers have been known to exchange their hope of eternal glory for the praise of men (2 Tim. 4:3).
When you die, all that your spouse will have left of you are memories and pictures. Don’t wait till your spouse dies to express your love. Flowers at the graveside might make you feel better, but your spouse could only have enjoyed them in life.
Among the many laws in the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy 24:5 is one of the most quaint. It says, “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife, whom he has taken.” God intended for the home to be pleasant for both parties.
The Psalmist tells us our “children are a heritage from the Lord” (Psa. 127:3). How are you treating your “gift” from God?
You probably purchased life insurance so your spouse can meet the financial needs of your children in the event of your death—this is to be commended. In 1986 Christa McAuliffe died aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Some of her friends had purchased a $1 million life insurance policy for her children. But that money could not dry a single tear from her children’s eyes.
I am saddened by parents who get all wrapped up in material things so they can give their children “the best of everything.” My sons often drag me outside to play baseball (I hate baseball), but, I know they would rather spend 30 minutes with me than have a new bicycle.
What will your friends think when they read your obituary? Will they be surprised to find out you were a Christian? Will the reputation of the Lord’s church be harmed? Your death will affect them, for “none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself” (Rom. 14:7).
homegoing sermons
Of all the fears that plague the heart of man, none is greater than the fear of death. It is our greatest fear, the sum of all other fears.
We are afraid to die.
We are afraid of what happens when we die.
Death is the fundamental human problem.
Several years ago a friend sent me an email containing these lines from a poem called “Gray’s Elegy” written in a country churchyard in England:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave
Awaits alike the inevitable hour
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Life is short and so uncertain. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14b). Moses said to the Lord in Psalm 90:5-6, “You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.” It is sometimes said that nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. But that is not wholly true. A clever man with a good lawyer can find a way around most if not all of his taxes, but no one escapes death. As George Bernard Shaw remarked, “The statistics on death have not changed. One out of one person dies.”
Worldwide, there are approximately 56,600,000 deaths each year. That works out to 4.7 million per month, 155,000 per day, 6,500 per hour, 107 per minute, and 1.8 per second. The Greek playwright Sophocles said it this way: “Of all the great wonders, none is greater than man. Only for death can he find no cure.”
Does death win in the end? On this side of the grave it’s hard to tell. Left to our observations, we don’t know much beyond the familiar words of Ecclesiastes. There is “a time to be born and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Visit any cemetery and you can’t really tell much difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. Oh, you can intuit something by reading the markers, but the dead lie buried side by side, six feet underground. There they are, all grouped together, young and old, male and female, rich and poor, famous and infamous, churchgoers and nonbelievers.
Does death win in the end? On this side of the grave it’s hard to tell.
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Or so it seems.
Death is not the end of the story for those who know the Lord. The Bible tells us what lies ahead for those who know Jesus. As we come to 2 Corinthians 5, we discover wonderful truths that give us hope as we face death with all its dark fears.
This passage as a whole is one of the most difficult among all the things Paul wrote, and yet once you get past the difficulties, there is a simplicity about it that attracts the believing heart. Even if we do not understand every detail, the first impression it leaves with the reader gives hope as we look ahead to the end of our earthly journey and wonder, “What’s next?” Paul tells us in very picturesque language that we have nothing to fear, that no matter how we die or when or where, and no matter what may be our physical condition at the moment of death, we have a promise from God that death itself cannot break.
I. The Certainty of the Resurrection Body
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (verse 1).
Surely the most important part of this verse comes in the first three words. “Now we know.” Death itself confronts us with many mysteries. No one who reads these words can say with certainty how much longer they will live. In the last few days I celebrated my 58th birthday. Will I live to celebrate my 59th? The odds are in my favor, but the odds are nothing more than actuarial calculations. My father never lived to be 59. Every single breath we take is a gift from God. I’ve been breathing more or less continually for 58 years and not thinking much about it, but it’s true. Every single breath is gift from the Almighty. I am not guaranteed another day, much less another year.
As to what happens after we die, science has nothing useful to tell us. The great researchers have no certain knowledge about what happens a minute after we die. We will not get the answer from philosophy or from history. If you visit a vast cemetery, all you know for certain is it is full of dead people who once were alive. Try as you might, you cannot divine from studying the dead what happens when we die.
As to what happens after we die, science has nothing useful to tell us.
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There is speculation, and then there is revelation. Paul says there are some things we can know with certainty.
1. We live in a tent.
I am not much of a tent man myself. I spent my last night in a tent almost 30 years ago when our oldest son was 2 or 3 years old. On a visit to Yosemite National Park in California, we pitched our tent and went inside for the night. But Josh did not want to go to sleep. He fussed and cried and made so much noise that nearby campers shined their lights in our direction. We ended up vacating the tent and spending the night cramped in our Ford Pinto. That was the end of my camping career.
Our bodies are like tents. They wear out, they sag, they expand, they wrinkle, the joints get creaky, the arteries harden, gravity pulls everything downward, the heart slows down, the eyes grow dim, the teeth fall out, the back is stooped, and the arms grow weary. Our bones break, our muscles weaken. The body bulges in the wrong places. We brag about our strength but a tiny microbe can kill us. Sooner or later we grow old and our bodies begin to break down. Eventually they stop working altogether. No amount of Vitamin C or Siberian Ginseng can change that fact. At best, we can only slow down the aging process; we cannot delay it forever.
As we age, we pay more attention to things like diet and exercise. Fitness is in. We’ve got Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig and Curves, and we’ve got runners and bikers and marathoners and people who lift weights four times a week. You can do the P90X workout or the “Insanity” workout or you can do Tae Bo with Billy Blanks. You can go to Bally’s or Gold’s Gym or to one of those 24-hour gyms where you can exercise at three in the morning if you want to.
You’re falling apart even while you read this sermon.
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Now all of that is good. Exercise is good and good nutrition is even better, and it would help all of us to get in shape and stay in shape. But I have a bit of news for you. Your body won’t last forever. You can eat all the low-carb ice cream you want, but your body will still fall apart in the end. Did you know your body disintegrates all the time? The cells of your body are actually programmed to die. The scientific term for this is apoptosis. And each day the average adult loses 50-70 billion cells. That’s not a misprint. Before the sun goes down today, between 50 and 70 billion of your cells will die. That’s 350 billion cells a week. No wonder you need to lie down and take a nap. You’re falling apart even while you read this sermon.
2. We will one day trade in our tent for a building.
Think about the difference between a tent and a building. Tents are temporary and flimsy, easily torn, and meant to be replaced. A building is strong, built on a foundation, and not meant to be moved.
Someday we will give up our tent and replace it with a building made by God himself. That one fact tells us something important about death.
Death is not the end.
Death is not reincarnation.
Death is not evaporation.
Death is not annihilation.
Death is a trade-in.
One day we will trade in our broken down bodies for a new body. Look what Paul says about that new body.
It is from God.
It is not made with hands.
It is eternal.
It is heavenly, not earthly.
Death is a trade-in.
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That’s what Paul means when he says, “We know.” Lots of things we don’t know about the future, but this much is certain. We won’t have to live in tents forever. Someday our “tent” will be replaced with a “building” made by God.
II. The Nature of the Resurrection Body.
“Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (vv. 2-4).
What will the coming day of resurrection be like? We can find three answers in these verses.
1. It is like putting on an overcoat.
When Paul says we long to be clothed, he uses an unusual Greek verb that means something like “to be clothed upon.” It has the idea of putting on an overcoat, which is literally a coat put over (or upon) the body. Paul looks forward to the day when Christ returns and thinks to himself, “I can’t wait for that day to come because I will put on my new resurrection body like I put on an overcoat.”
2. It is the answer to our groaning.
We groan because of a job we hate. We groan because of unfulfilled dreams. We groan because our bodies break down. We groan because our marriages break up. We groan because our children go astray. We groan because our friends disappoint us.
We groan because we live in a fallen, mixed-up, messed-up, broken-down world, and we ourselves are broken down. So we look for a better day and a better place, and we dream of a better world where there is . . .
No more cancer.
No more abuse.
No more hatred.
No more hurricanes.
No more crime.
No more sadness.
No more night.
No more sickness.
No more death.
3. It removes our deepest fears.
Among all the fears associated with death, one of the greatest must be that we will die alone and forgotten. As sad as death seems, how much worse it must be to die in some distant place with no one around to give you comfort. How blessed we are if we can die with our loved ones gathered by our side. Oftentimes that is not possible because death comes unbidden to our door. We may end up dying in some lonely place despite our best plans.
We don’t have to worry about our loved ones who died in Christ.
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What is the current condition of believers who die before Jesus returns? The clearest thing we can say is that they are “with Christ” and “with the Lord” in heaven. Paul says as much in verses 6-8. We don’t have to worry about our loved ones who died in Christ. They have passed into the presence of the Lord Jesus himself. That, I think, is all we can know for certain, but it is enough. The commentaries discuss at length the question of the “intermediate body,” but that need not occupy our minds at this point. Paul says clearly that the dead in Christ will rise first when Christ returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). That’s the moment when those who die in Christ receive their resurrection bodies. Between now and then it is enough and more than enough to know that they are “with the Lord” and will be with him forever.
When we die, we will not die alone because we will be with Jesus forever. And if we should live to see Christ return, we will receive our resurrection body at that very moment. Either way, we have a hope that death cannot shake.
One question remains. Paul, how can you be so sure?
III. The Guarantee of the Resurrection Body.
“Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (v. 5).
1. We were made for something better than this.
Sometimes we look at the world around us and wonder, “Is that all there is?” To which Paul answers a resounding, “No!” We were made for something better than the sadness we see in this world.
We will have a new body – not the same as before.
We will have a new body – not just renovated or reconstructed.
We will have a new body – but our identity will not change.
When we die, we will not die alone because we will be with Jesus forever.
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We are made for a new life and a new body and a new existence with the Lord. God himself has made us for this very purpose. Our future does not hang on our own desires but on the eternal purpose of God who called us to be his children. We are saved by an eternal love that will not let us go. Not even death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2. God has guaranteed our future resurrection.
Here, then, is a hopeful thought for anyone who has buried a loved one who died in the Lord. How do we know that we will see them again? The answer is, it all depends on where we look. You can go to a cemetery, take a lawn chair with you, and sit there with some sweet tea and a ham sandwich. Go and wait as long as you want. You’ll see lots of death because that’s what cemeteries are all about. Lots of people being buried; not many being raised from the dead. In fact, the last resurrection took place 2000 years ago.
We are saved by an eternal love that will not let us go.
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So how do we know there is a coming day of resurrection? There are two solid answers to that question.
1. He raised his own Son.
The first answer is that God raised his own Son from the dead. This is the objective ground of our faith in the coming day of resurrection. If God would not leave his Son in the grave, he will not abandon those who trusted in his Son. Death cannot win in the end because our Lord conquered the grave.
2. He gave us the Spirit as a sacred deposit.
Paul mentions the second answer in verse 5. God gave us the Spirit as a “deposit.” Some translations say “down payment” or “earnest.” When you buy a house, you put down a sum of money called “earnest money.” It’s a small amount that legally binds you to pay the full amount later. That’s what God has done through his Holy Spirit. The Spirit who indwells us is God’s “down payment” on our future resurrection.
God signed on the dotted line and said, “I will raise from the dead all who have trusted in my Son.” And then he made the down payment through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It’s as good as done.
It’s going to happen.
You can take it to the bank.
God signed on the dotted line and said, “I will raise from the dead all who have trusted in my Son.”
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What should this truth do for us today? I think primarily it changes the way we look at death. We have it all wrong.
We think we’re going from the land of the living to the land of the dying.
But that is not true.
We’re going from the land of the dying to the land of the living.
By the way, what is required for a resurrection? You’ve got to die first! No death, no resurrection. And unless the Lord comes very soon (I think he may and I hope he does), that will be the way most of us will end our earthly journey.
Someway, somehow, someday we’ll die. And whoever is around at that moment will take us to the mortuary where the undertaker will do what he does to prepare us for our burial. We’ll be dressed up and cleaned up and made up to look semi-natural, but we’ll still be dead. Then they will take us in for the funeral service where someone will say some (hopefully) nice words, people will remark on how they miss us, they will sing a bit, say some prayers, and then the box will close and we’ll be placed in the ground.
I say that not to alarm anyone but to state the simple fact. We’re all going to do some “box time” eventually. The man who wrote this wonderful passage in 2 Corinthians 5 returned to the dust of the earth a few years later. Every Christian who has ever lived has died eventually. So far that’s the report from the cemetery.
We’re going from the land of the dying to the land of the living.
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But, thank God, it’s not the last word. If you have a loved one who died in Christ, you should go out to the grave and have a little talk. Maybe it’s your grandfather who loved the Lord and is now buried in the grave. Just go out there and say this with confidence, “Grandpa, I miss you, and I’m glad you are with the Lord right now. But I want you to know that God is not finished with you yet. He’s got some more work to do.”
Then maybe you can read this passage out loud just to remind yourself of what Christians really believe.
Bright and Cloudless Morning
In early 2009 we buried my dear friend John Sergey who was over 90 years old. It was my privilege to speak at his funeral and again at his graveside service. When I stood by the casket, I reminded the folks that besides being a mighty preacher of the gospel, John also loved to play and sing gospel songs. I quoted a verse from one of his favorite songs:
On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of his resurrection share;
When his chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.
That is our ultimate hope. We’re not looking for some hazy view of heaven where we float around on clouds all day. We’re looking and waiting and longing for that “bright and cloudless morning” when the Lord returns and the dead in Christ shall rise.
It’s going to happen.
You can bet your life on it.
God has promised it.
It is not soul salvation that we believe in but whole salvation.
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When Christ saves you, he saves all of you. Every part of you is saved and every part of you will be delivered from sin. It is not soul salvation that we believe in but whole salvation. The resurrection of the body is the final step in our salvation:
Step #1: We are saved from the penalty of sin.
Step #2: We are saved from the power of sin.
Step #3: We are saved from the presence of sin.
I ran across a wonderful phrase from the Pulpit Commentary that lifts my heart every time I read it. There will be “victory on the last battlefield.” Life is a series of battles for all of us ,and we all “take it on the chin” sooner or later. But in the last battle, the struggle with death, there is victory for the children of God.
“Death, be not proud,” wrote John Dunne. God will not let death win. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow expressed the same truth in his poem “God’s Acre.” Here are the first and last stanzas:
I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls
The burial-ground God’s-Acre! It is just;
It consecrates each grave within its walls,
And breathes a benison o’er the sleeping dust.
With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod,
And spread the furrow for the seed we sow;
This is the field and Acre of our God,
This is the place where human harvests grow.
Oh! How precious is the dust of a believer!</h6 class=”pullquote”>
What an image that is: “the place where human harvests grow.” Go to any graveyard where Christians are buried and there you will find “God’s acre.” Take off your shoes. It is holy ground. Human harvests are growing there. I close with the words of the Puritan writer Thomas Watson: “We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds. Oh! How precious is the dust of a believer!”
Death will not have the last word for Jesus has conquered the grave. Because he rose, we too shall rise. In that faith we take courage to live for Christ with reckless abandon because death is not the end of our story.
These funeral sermons can help you prepare a sermon for a funeral.
Funeral sermons are short and powerful. These funeral sermons can help you prepare a sermon for a funeral.
Funeral sermons for faithful Christians. Funeral sermons for children of the heavenly father. Funeral sermons for the spirit of god
Conclusion
We hope you have found these funeral sermons for blacks helpful. A lot of care and thought has gone into this collection to make it as comprehensive and easy to use as possible. Please let us know if we can help in any way with your sermon preparation.