the terrors of dying without Christ, calling him to repent and return to the fold.”38 Walter’s story may be extreme, but our goal in funeral preaching is to point listeners to the promise of the gospel. Some may suggest that the family is too upset to be able to hear a sermon. “Just pray and read a few Scriptures,” they say. Some service books provide the possibility of a sermon but do not require it.39 But preaching at funerals provides occasions for the Word to encourage believers and to take root