Notes From Jon

This is the last sermon in my Lenten series (now shortened), Living With Death. The first sermon was about coming to terms with our own death. The second sermon was about dealing with death around us, and looking at our own grief and the grief of others who have experienced loss.

Two weeks ago, we talked about a lot of the details of grief – what happens, who experiences it, what we can do. For that sermon/lecture go here.

Again, I want to emphasize why it’s important for us to talk about so difficult a thing right now. Our church has experienced loss and grief these past few weeks – we’ve lost several church members and family members. Grief is something that can be addressed by faith, and among people of faith. Grief is also something that can destroy our relationships with God and with others.

In other words, dealing with grief properly is as important a matter of health as watching and dealing with your cholesterol!

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I’ve been doing an “ambitious” series during Lent. I call it “ambitious,” because once my church folks caught on to where I was going, they might have decided to skip church during Lent.

The series is “Living With Death” – coming to terms with our own deaths, the deaths of those we love, and other things we typically don’t like to think about (but that are important to think about anyway). This is the second sermon in the series, on losing those we love and on comforting those who have experienced a loss. I was concerned to discuss some of the psycho-emotional aspects of the grief process, alongside our theology and how it makes a difference to people of faith. Read the rest of this entry »