Saturday, 24 December 2011

The Meaning Of Funerals For Christians

By Helen Price


What goes on in a Christian funeral? The Christian funeral service is an interactive occasion, where those attending participate to commemorate the life of the person who passed away. The Christian funeral service wishes to share the feeling of hope to those left behind. It is the hope that their dearly departed is with their Creator.

Christians are staunch believers in the second coming of God's son Jesus Christ. Moreover, Christians think that at the moment of their deaths, judgment will be passed on the acts they have accomplished while they were still alive. They believe that it is through their kind deeds that they will be worthy of sitting next to God in paradise. The lessons of Jesus Christ are the guiding tenets that Christians try to live by in their day to day existence.

Christian funeral service for any devout Christian implies a celebration of the eternal journey of the soul to the life after death. It is for this exact reason that such services are so uplifting, as they strongly assert the belief that the deceased has found a permanent abode in the House of God.

Christianity considers death as an entry into new life, wherein people are freed from the world of suffering to the world of everlasting bliss. The intensity of grief caused by the death of a near and dear one is alleviated by the very thought that the dead person is enjoying a blissful afterlife in the Lord's house with God Himself. The Christian funeral ceremony is organized accordingly with the same belief.

Christian funeral ceremony is usually officiated by the pastor. The services are often conducted inside the very church that the deceased used to visit when he was alive. Generally there is no casket in the service, but there are exceptions to this, particularly when the service is conducted inside a funeral home. Viewing of the corpse is generally not found in a typical Christian funeral service.

The funeral service is more of a memorial, in which the programmes begin with singing of hymns, a soloist, and readings from the Bible. A brief message is delivered by the priest, after which a mass prayer is held.

Next comes the time of contemplation and sharing grief by family and friends, when the people assembled voice their sentiments about the deceased and tell how the person has influenced them and has left a lasting impression. Nowadays, people also put up a slideshow on the life of the deceased or play a pre-recorded video taken from his or her lifetime.

The last step in the service is that of a short fellowship reception that is held in the church itself and some refreshments are served. A graveside service is not very common, though some people do opt for that as well.




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