Remembrance celebration prepared by Nancy Campbell, with

REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE

November 10 2013   

PRELUDE:      Chenaniah 

PROCESSIONAL:      Presentation of Colours

                               O Canada/The Queen

                               Depositing Colours

                               “In Flanders Fields”  - Norval Blair

                                Minute of Silence 

CALL & RESPONSE:

  ONE: He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you,

  ALL:   but to do justice, and to have kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 

WELCOME: 
 
HYMN:       #801    “From Ocean Unto Ocean”  

PRAYER: Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict, and ask that God may give us peace: for the service men and women who have died in the violence of war, each one remembered by and known to God; may God give peace.

    For those who love them in death as in life, offering the distress of our grief and the sadness of our loss; may God give peace.

    For all members of the armed forces who are in danger this day, remembering family, friends and all who pray for their return; may God give peace.

    For civilian women, children and men whose lives are disfigured by war or terror, calling to mind in penitence the anger and hatred of humanity; may God give peace.

    For peacemakers and peacekeepers, who seek to keep this world secure and free; may God give peace.

    For all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership, political, military or religious; asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve in the search for reconciliation and peace; may God give peace.

    O God of truth and justice, we hold before you those whose memory we cherish, and those whose names we will never know. Help us to lift our eyes above the torment od this broken world, and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm.

    As we honour the past, may we put our faith in Your future; for You are the source of life and hope, now and forever.

    Let us pray the words our Lord taught us: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

     Offertory Hymn:   # 79  (blue hymn book)

     Offertory Prayer:  Heavenly Father, we give thanks for all that You have done for us and continue to do for us through the gift of Your Spirit. You welcome us as part of Your family, and as members of Your household. Awaken us to the claims of Your will, O God, and stir us with a passion for Your kingdom, that we may respond at this time not only with our gifts but also with our lives. Amen.
 

HYMN:      #647      “Lead Us, Heavenly Father, Lead Us”

 

SCRIPTURE READINGS:    I Chronicles 12:23-38, Revelation 11:15-18

 

ANTHEM:          “We’ve A Story To Tell The Nations”      (#765)

 

PRAYER:  O God, our ruler and guide, in whose hands are the destinies of this and every nation, we give You thanks for the freedoms we enjoy in this land and for those who laid down their lives to defend them. We pray that we and all the people of Canada, gratefully remembering their courage and their sacrifice, may have the grace to live in a spirit of justice, of generosity, and of peace.

    We bring our thanks today for the peace and security we enjoy. Make us a people zealous for peace, and hasten that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither learn war any more.

    This we pray in the name of the One who gave His life for the sake of the world, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

 

HYMN:      #438      “When Morning Gilds The Skies”

 

RESPONSIVE READING:

    ONE: Today we bow our heads.

    ALL:  It’s not an easy day, for today we remember.

    ONE:  We focus our memory on those who served our great nation. Today we set aside our differences and remember those who gave their lives for freedom.

    ALL:  And they will rise up as if they had eagles wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.

    ONE:  We remember the brothers and sisters who fought on our behalf.

    ALL:  While their brothers and sisters prayed for their safe return.

    ONE:  We remember the sons and daughters who carried the flag of democracy,

    ALL:  While their parents placed flags on their lapels and front porches.

    ONE:  We remember the moms and dads who stood watch at the front door of war,

    ALL:  While their children stood watch at home.

    ONE:  We remember that they paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

    ALL:  Today we remember with compassion and love and we turn our memory to the lives of those who served on our behalf.

    ONE:  We honour those who have fallen in service,

     ALL:  And we hold tight to Jesus’ words: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” 

HYMN:      #794      “Abide With Me”     (Laying of poppies) 

MEDITATION

HYMN:      #315      “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” 

BENEDICTION:    O God, eternal and forever blessed, order what is disordered in our lives; bring our minds to Your truth; our conscience to Your law; and our hearts to Your love. When you leave here, leave with justice, leave with mercy and with God’s humble care.

SCRIPTURE READING: 

I would like to read a couple of passages from the scriptures

today: The first from  1 Chronicles 12: 23-38

The second reading is the Book of Revelation in the 11th

Chapter and concerns the coming of the Kingdom of God  ....

REVELATION 11:15-18

 

This Meditation was written by Rev. Richard J. Fairchild 

son of a comrade of arms who served in World War 1.

It really touched me when I read it and I thought I’d share it with you today…

 

 

So imagine me as Richard Fairchild speaking ….

Here today to remember and honour those who fought in the great wars, to remember what it was like, who was with us, and who did not come back.

We have some things to Remember too Today --- that is what the day is about.    

My Father was in the Navy during the last war - he served on

the HMCS Athabaskan. He was the youngest man aboard one Christmas so he was made Captain of the day, later - the ship was sunk in a major action off France and my Dad ended up in a POW camp for airmen.

I am 38 years old now, and that is almost all I know about my Father's service during the War, Some things are hard to talk about it - even when you remember them.  I think most of you may well be the same.

When planning this service down at the Legion in Aylmer the men I was with did talk a bit about their experiences during the war... what they talked about was the cow that had been stolen from an officer and eaten by the enlisted men, they talked about the food that they had to eat and how it was different from what the Americans had, they talked about the practical joke that had been pulled on a man.

Aside from these things - little was said about the war.    

What they really remembered best - they did not speak of.

My father remembered and talked about being captain for a day, and he remembered and talked about writing letters on the toilet paper that came in the Red Cross packages, but he has only ever talked once or twice about how the forward gun on his ship was blown away - a gun he had manned until a few short days before when his buddy on the stern gun asked to change stations with him...

He has only ever talked once that I can recall about how his ship sank and how a third of the men perished in the water which could not put out the fire of their burns.

It is hard to really talk about the details of what happened, the real costs:     how your comrades died, how your parents, your brothers or sisters, your   friends paid the costs of war, and how your own minds and hearts were      affected and never again quite the same.

Our most important memories for the most part are silent ones, ones that we do not talk about because of the pain in them... and because they are almost impossible to share with anyone who has not been there with you.

But the memories are there,  and you do remember, mostly in silence,           and sometimes aloud - when the mood is right....

It is not necessary that you share the memories you have aloud with us, but it is important that we who were not there understand just what was done for us.

It is important too that you who were there, those of you who fought, and those of you who served here while friends died across the seas feel that all that happened was worth while, that it made a difference, and that those who sacrificed so much, are honoured and rewarded.

It is ever the way that in times of peace soldiers and sailors and airmen are not well appreciated, but this day we who have no comprehension of just what it was like all those years ago, do know what happened, we realize that a great tyranny was ended, that as the book of revelation puts it, the time for destroying those who destroy the earth had come.

We know that there was cost, and we do honour today those who served, 
and those who died, for us and for the country we live in.          

The scriptures call us all to look at the examples of the faithful, to honour them by remembering them and what they did, and to be more like them - to keep faith with them to hold high the torch they carried.

The scriptures we heard today call us all to remember that the good will be rewarded, that those who have made the ultimate sacrifice will be repaid.

We are here to remember,  and it is hard to talk about what we remember     but remember we do, both those of you who were there, and those of us who were not.

Let us pray that our dead will continue to be honoured and that we, and all people, may be able to hold high the torch that they can no longer carry.

LET US PRAY

     - We remember Lord, we remember: we remember ships tossed in the air by explosions, we remember men, our friends, falling beside us.... we remember telegrams coming to the doors of our neighbours, husbands taken from our arms never to return; sons whom we feared for every day.  We remember a lot, we remember....
     - Loving Father - help us in our memories - ease us in he pain of them, without causing us to forget.

     - Lord God - we remember the costs, remind us too of the victory - of what was won by our comrades and by fellow countrymen;

     - And finally Lord God - be with all those who are facing war this day - our men and woman at sea and on land and in the air in the mid-east; and be with the rulers of  this world and all the world's citizens, that we may
learn and live the way of peace with justice, we ask it in Jesus' name - AMEN