A Service of Remembering & Working for Peace
November 11, 2012
Opening Words[i]
P: We meet in the presence of God.
We commit to workin faith for reconciliation between the nations
sothat all people may together live in freedom, justice and peace.
We pray for allwho in bereavement, disability or pain
continue to suffer the memories and consequences offighting and terror.
We remember with sorrowthose whose lives,in wars and conflicts past and present,
have been given and taken away.
Opening HymnInternational Hymn for Peace[ii]
Tune: Beethoven; Ode to Joy
Lyrics: Lorraine N. Finley (1899-1972)
1. Rise, O Nations, rise together, Work for universal peace,
When the world becomes united, War and fear of war shall cease.
Now has come the time for healing, Now the time for our rebirth;
Peace will spread its wings restoring, Our misled and troubled earth.
2. Stand, O Nations, stand together, Firm against what we abhor;
Let our riches flow toward progress, Let there be no waste of war.
Then our efforts, grown constructive, Shall build justice as they should,
Temples in our helpful spirit, Monuments to all things good.
3. Sing, O Nations, sing together, Praise of our unfailing dream,
Love of home and truth and justice, Sing the one eternal theme.
Bury deep the wrong and evil, Gone the night of blood and tears;
Let our hard won freedom triumph, Forward, friends, the dawn appears!
Prayer of the Day
P: O God, you love justice and long for peace on earth.
We bring before you the disunity of today’s world: violence, and wars which are breaking the courage of the peoples of the world;
human greed and injustice, which breed hatred and strife.
Send your Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth:
teach us to be compassionate toward the whole human family;
andgrant us the peace which the world cannot give.
Through Jesus we pray,Amen. [iii]
Pinwheels for Peace
-a time with the children-
see
Litany of Praise & Remembrance
based on Psalms 46 and 90 with Hymn #320 “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Sung: O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast
and our eternal home.
P: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
C: Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should tremble and the mountains tumble and slide into the sea,
P: though the waters foam and rage, and mountains shake at their surging.
C: The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Israel is our refuge.
Sung:Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting, thou art God,
to endless years the same.
P: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.
C: God is in its midst; it stands firm; God will help us at the break of day.
P: Even if the nations are in chaos, and kingdoms fall, God's voice resounds; the earth melts away.
C: The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Israel is our refuge.
Sung:Under the shadow of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is thy arm alone
and our defense is sure.
P: Come and see what God has done, the wonders wrought upon the earth.
C: All over the world, God makes wars to cease - breaking bows, splintering spears, burning the chariots with fire!
P: God says: "Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, exalted upon the earth.
C: The Lord of Hosts is with us: the God of Israel is our refuge.
Sung:A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone:
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while troubles last
and our eternal home.
1st Reading
Isaiah 40:1-11
Hymn: Eternal Father #467
P: Reverend William Whiting, who lived on the coast of England and once survived a terrible storm on the Mediterranean, wrote the lyrics to this hymn.
The tune is named Melita after the island the Apostle Paul reached when his boat went down, as recorded in Acts chapter 28. Today, we know the island as Malta.
This hymn is also commonly known as the Sailors or Navy hymn after it was adopted as the anthem of British Commonwealth and American navies.
It was often heard during the Falklands War of 1982 and was sung at the funerals of Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.[iv]
Over the years, additional verses have been written fordifferent branches of the military, military departments, and military families.
We sing together, Eternal Father Strong to Save
2nd Reading
Romans 8:18-25
Gospel
John 14:23-27 - Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
P: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ
Sermon
HODUnto the Hills #445
Prayers of the People[v]
P: Let us pray for all who suffer as a result ofconflict, and ask that God may give us
peace:
For the service men and women who havedied in the violence of war, each one
remembered by and known to God;God in your mercy, C: Grant peace
For those who love them in death as in life,
offering the distress of our grief and thesadness of our loss;
God in your mercy
For all members of the armed forces whoare in danger this day, remembering
family, friends and all who pray for theirsafe return;
God in your mercy
For civilian women, children and menwhose lives are disfigured by war or terror,
God in your mercy
For peace-makers and peace-keepers, whoseek to keep this world secure and free;
God in your mercy
For all who bear the burden and privilegeof leadership: political, military and
religious; grant them wisdom as they work for reconciliation andpeace
God in your mercy
Merciful God, we offer to you the fears inus that have not yet been cast out by love:
May we accept the hope you have placedin the hearts of all people,
And live lives of justice, courage and mercy;
through Jesus Christ our risen Redeemer, Amen
Sharing the Peace
Offering
Offertory
Offering Prayer
P: God of the Nations,
C: We offer back what you have first given us—our selves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love. Receive them for the sake of him who offered himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one family by the Holy Spirit, we pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…
Announcements
Benediction
P: The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and the blessing of almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
Sending Hymn
Abide with Me 272
A time to Remember[vi]
An older person says:
They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old;
age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
A younger person says:
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we will remember them.
All:We will remember them.
Two-minutes of silence
P: Ever-living God
we remember those whom you have gathered
from the storm of war into the peace of your presence;
may that same peacecalm our fears,
bring justice to all peoples
and establish harmony among the nations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Go Now in Peace
[i]
[ii]
[iii]adapted: A prayer from Zaire, Book of Common Worship (WJKP, 1993) 797-798.
[iv]
[v] Adapted:
[vi]Ibid.