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2) Is it appropriate to use a service for a deceased person as your (the pastor) pulpit and to preach about your own supposed salvation? Is this a christian tradition?
I noticed this trend at a few funerals I've been to. It seemed to be at the services for the people who were not church goers or considered Christians. The one I went to where the man was an uber Christian, the preacher didn't preach on salvation.
I was very disappointed at the ones where they preached. One preacher talked more about himself than the deceased. The audience was audibly groaning. Since the men didn't go to the preachers' churches, the preachers didn't really know them. Maybe the preaching is all they have if they don't know the person well enough. Both of the deceased men were good men. They just weren't church goers.
IMO, the funeral is to remember the deceased not preach a warning to possible nonbelievers.