Brian Croft - Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals: Applying the Gospel at the Unique Challenges of Death

Praise forConduct Gospel-Centered Funerals

Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals is packed with wise and sane advice, ranging from how to relate to the funeral director to how to counsel a grieving family. Most importantly, the authors remind us that the gospel must be front and center at funerals. But they do not only instruct us to proclaim the gospel; they also illustrate it by including funeral sermons. This is a must-read for busy pastors, and I suspect most pastors will turn to it often.

Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

I needed this book thirty-five years ago! In an age where funerals and weddings are likely to be the only occasions when the gospel is heard, the need to view a funeral service as an occasion for the evangel is paramount. Every gospel-centered minister needs to read this book.

Derek W. H. Thomas, John E. Richards professor of systematic and practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary

Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals is wonderfully practical and helpful. The authors have performed hundreds of God-honoring funerals and here share lessons learned in the trenches. If you are called on to perform funerals, you will find this resource invaluable. I know I will consult it often.

Mike McKinley, senior pastor at Sterling Park Baptist Church, Sterling, Virginia, and author of Church Planting Is for Wimps

Funerals are one of the greatest opportunities for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed because they are reminders to everyone that death is indeed the end of all men. Brian Croft and Phil Newton know the gospel well, and in this book they share their seasoned pastoral wisdom.

Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida, and executive director of Founders Ministries

This theologically grounded guide is commendable for the way it leads readers to understand the central role that the gospel should have in funeral sermons, eulogies, and musical selections. It is worthy of careful and reflective reading by pastors, church leaders, and ministerial students.

David S. Dockery, president of Union University

Brian Croft and Phil Newton are faithful, reliable guides helping the pastor with everything from prefuneral planning to postfuneral pastoral care. Particularly helpful is , which guides the pastor in crafting gospel-centered messages for various types of funerals. In short, this is the first book pastors should consult for planning and preaching funerals.

Bruce Ashford, dean of The College at Southeastern and associate professor of philosophy and intercultural studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

This is an outstanding book that I wish had been available decades ago! Every pastor, elder, and man preparing for the ministry should read and apply its counsel.

Paul Tautges, pastor-teacher at Immanuel Bible Church, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and author of Comfort Those Who Grieve

Not everything in Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals will fit every pastoral situation or cultural context, but every pastor will find much-needed guidance on what to say and do as they tread carefully and prayerfully through the minefields of bereavement, mourning, and funeral arrangements.

David Murray, professor of Old Testament and practical theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

Brian Croft and Phil Newton write out of a passion for Christ and a yearning to see the lost saved and believers edified in the conduct of gospel-based funerals. New pastors will especially benefit from their practical insights in planning, preparing, preaching, and practicing funerals. And veteran pastors will be challenged to make sure mourners are comforted with the pure word of God, with a clear vision of Christ in the words and actions of the pastor.

Andrew Davis, senior pastor at First Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina

Other Books in the Practical Shepherding Series

Prepare Them to Shepherd Visit the Sick

ZONDERVAN

Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals

Copyright 2014 by Brian Croft and Phil Newton

Previously published in 2011 by Day One Publications under the same title.

ePub Edition March 2014: ISBN 978 0 310 51719 1

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Croft, Brian.

Conduct gospel-centered funerals : applying the gospel at the unique challenges of death / Brian Croft and Phil A. Newton.

p. cm. (Practical shepherding series)

ISBN 978 0 310 51718 4 (softcover)

1. Funeral service. I. Newton, Phil A. II. Title.

BV199.F8C76 2014

265'.85 dc23 2013041223

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design and illustrations: Jay Smith-Juicebox Designs

Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren

Printed in the United States of America

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To our fathers, Bill Croft and Joe E. Newton

CONTENTS

by Daniel Akin

(PHIL NEWTON)

(BRIAN CROFT)

(PHIL NEWTON)

(BRIAN CROFT)

(Phil Newton)

(Brian Croft)

(Phil Newton with Jim Carnes)

(Brian Croft)

SOMETIMES BIG THINGS come in small packages. This book is, without question, one of those occasions. Ministers have two unique opportunities to share the gospel when there is a wedding, and when there is a funeral. The former is almost always a happy gathering of family and friends. The latter, on the other hand, is one of mixed emotions and feelings. Sorrow, of course, is always present. The gospel has its proper place at both, but it is especially needed when we are confronted with death and our mortality. People need to hear that there is hope in Christ, that death is not the end, that sin does not have the final word. With wisdom and careful preparation, the faithful minister must point those who are before him to the salvation that is found only in Jesus Christ. He must take them to a bloody cross and an empty tomb. He must preach the good news of the gospel.

How this can be done well is the goal of this book, and Brian Croft and Phil Newton have met that challenge. This short work is pastorally rich, theologically faithful, and practically useful. It is a book that should be used in Bible colleges and seminaries, and it should be on the shelf of every minister who, as John Baxter said, preaches as a dying man to dying men. Brian and Phil show us how we can minister to the hurting as we point them to the victory we have in Christ. During times of grief and sorrow people need to hear from God. They need to hear the gospel.