04/07/2026
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.
In 2023, Bella Montoya in Ecuador had already been declared dead, placed in a coffin, and taken to her wake. During the service, her family heard knocking. They opened the coffin—and she was alive, gasping for air. She was rushed back to the hospital.
In 2014, Walter Williams, a man from Mississippi, was pronounced dead by a coroner and placed in a body bag at a funeral home. Later, workers noticed the bag moving. He was still alive.
Williams had a pacemaker, and some speculated it may have restarted his heart.
These stories (and others like them) are accidents or mistakes.
- Doctors were wrong
- Circumstances were unclear
- Death was misdiagnosed
But Easter is different. Jesus doesn’t “wake up early.”He doesn’t “almost die.” He doesn’t “slip through the cracks.” He goes all the way into death—and then walks back out on purpose.
So you might say: “Every now and then, a funeral gets interrupted because someone wasn’t really dead. But on Easter…the funeral is interrupted because death itself has been defeated.”
That’s the good news. That’s the culmination of a longer sermon series on the various ways we have understood how we were reconciled with God through Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus wasn’t resuscitated—he was resurrected and because he was we can and will be as well.
Thanks be to God!
Archived Posts
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.