Evangelism in the closing days of life

We had the funeral for Don Cherry yesterday. He was 76, led a full life, and died after a long illness. The funeral was more of a memorial service, where we were intentional about NOT ending the service with the benediction, but continuing in a time of fellowship after. That was really neat-- to see so many people come from all over, long distances, to pay respects and love on the grieving family.

During the homily, I mentioned how in the last few times I visited him, talk turned to eternal matters, and I was able to share with him that we can indeed have assurance of salvation, knowing that God saves us by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

His daughter-in-law came up to me afterwards and said how thankful they were to hear that,and to thank me for sharing the Gospel with him.

What else is there to do? What else can we say? It was so simple. It often is. When a person is dying, their thoughts are on the heavy things in life. If they do not say it, you can ask about it. Trust me, it's there, just below the surface.

And then you share simply our simple faith:

Saved by grace. It is a gift. Not earned. Not a reward for good deeds or hard work, even if done in the name of the Lord! We turn to faith in Jesus, that when He died on the Cross, He died in our place, for our sins. If we believe this, we have forgiveness of sins. And He was resurrected that we, too, might have with Him a new and eternal life. If we believe that, we will be in Heaven with Him.

Don't complicate it.