Worship at Home - 8th November 2020 - Remembrance Sunday

 

Worship at Home – 8^th November 2020 – Remembrance Sunday

 

Introduction

I am grateful that this morning's service is a service of hymns, reflections and prayers for Remembrance Sunday prepared for Local Worship at Sharnbrook.

 

Please remember that there is a National Service of Remembrance taking place at the Cenotaph in London which is being broadcast by BBC Television.

 

The Biggleswade Chronicle also reports that a local service from HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire Helen Nellis will be available from her webpage at https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/lord-lieutenant on Sunday morning.

 

GATHERING FOR WORSHIP

We begin our service by singing our praise to God as we come together to worship.

 

God is love, let heaven adore him (MHON 248;StF103)

https://youtu.be/ffHLZfU90ZM

  

Reading Mark 12:28-34

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

29 ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’

32 ‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

 

Hymn  As man and woman we were made (MHON49) https://youtu.be/9PTn_vsENWg

We join together in prayer

Prayers of Remembrance for those who have died (from Cof E)

Almighty and eternal God,
from whose love in Christ we cannot be parted, either by death or life:
hear our prayers and thanksgivings for all whom we remember this day;
fulfil in them the purpose of your love; and bring us all, with them, to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Prayer of petition for those affected by war (Roots)

God of justice and peace,
we pray for those who have been injured or disabled through war.
For those who have lost homes and security through conflict;
for those who have lost loved relatives in wars;
for those who face danger and take risks for peace;
for all those, especially children, caught up in current conflicts;
for refugees and all those in need of aid and other help.
God of encouragement and Saviour of the despairing,
comfort those who remember past sacrifices
and guide us in building a just and peaceful community for all.
Amen.



we say together The Lord's Prayer



Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be they 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 trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory
For ever and ever Amen

Reflective Reading - Remember

 Remember Ypres, the Somme, Mons and Verdun,

Remember the western Desert, El Alamein, the Normandy beaches.

Remember Dresden, Hiroshima, and the Burma Road.

Remember Korea, the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland.

 

Remember the courage, the comradeship, the ingenuity

the spirit of working together for a common cause,

the planning together for a better world that would come with peace.

 

Remember the call to arms, the patriotic songs, the posters

the partings which were such sweet sorrow,

the sound of the drum, the skirl of the pipe,

the prayer that God would be on our side.

 

Remember the carnage; the colossal stinking bloody horror;

the ripped bodies on the wire,

the platoons of which only three out of forty lived.

Remember the widows of sixty years and more,

the old men and women living now who never knew their fathers.

Remember the love that was lost, the wisdom wasted,

the minds that were twisted , and the limbs distorted.

 

Remember the wealth of nations being fired from guns, dropped as bombs;

smashing schools, homes, factories, churches and hospitals;

ruining crops, destroying trees.

Remember the hope of a whole generation

left to evaporate in the sands of a desert

or sink forever in the oceans of the world.

 

Remember this day the children who will die while the world spends its wealth on arms;

the young who have no work while others in their generation are trained to fight;

the ambulance that will not come while we argue about how many troop carriers we need;

the research into disease left neglected while brilliant minds are used to study more effective destruction.

 

Remember the one who asked us to remember him.

 

 

 

Reflection                 

read the words as you listen to the YouTube clip
https://youtu.be/jccNoxn1HoU

To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more weeping,
no more fight,
no friends bleeding through the night,
Just Divine embrace,

Eternal light,
In the Mansions of the Lord
Where no mothers cry
and no children weep,

We will stand and guard
Though the angels sleep,
Oh, through the ages let us keep

The Mansions of the Lord

 

Let us pray 

Father,

you know our hearts and share our sorrows.

We are hurt by our parting from those whom we loved:

when we are angry at the loss we have sustained,

when we long for words of comfort,

yet find them hard to hear,

turn our grief to truer living,

our affliction to firmer hope

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Lord, have mercy

on those who mourn

who feel numb and crushed

and are filled with the pain of grief,

whose strength has given up

You know all our sighing and longings:

be near to us and teach us to fix our hope on you

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Hymn: Thy Kingdom Come O god (MHON757 )

https://youtu.be/Oe-Vy5LkYEs

  

ACT OF REMEMBRANCE

A prayer for Remembrance Sunday

God, it's difficult to see the point of wearing a poppy, or what difference two minutes' silence will make when we could be shouting protests.
But we can recognise a broken life being valued, a gift being given,
and taking two minutes to reflect on how much we have. 
We look to the future, not to the past.
We cannot change what has been but do not need to repeat its mistakes.
So as old and young come together before you, take the very best of our lives;
bind us into one people of faith and help us to share our common values,
love of Jesus and care for each other; to build dreams,
and, with your Holy Spirit, turn them into reality.
Amen.

 

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 of this broken world, and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm.

 

2 minute silence

  

Prayers of Intercession for Remembrance Sunday

 

Lord God

We remember again the awful cost of war;

the millions who gave their lives for the cause of Freedom;

the courage, pain, and grief of so many.

We remember all of this and much more besides…

People who still mourn the loved ones they lost,

people whose lives even now are blighted by war.

people scarred in body, mind, or spirit,

for whom warfare has meant that their

lives will never be the same again.

We also remember people who work to establish and maintain peace –

governments and world leaders, pressure groups and ordinary people,

all who in different ways strive to promote harmony between nations

giving victims of war the opportunity to live a normal life once more.

Today we remember the cost of war and the price of peace

Help us to go on remembering, tomorrow and every day,

And to do all in our power to work for peace here on earth.

In the name of Christ. Amen

Hymn: Make me a channel of your peace (MHON 500; StF 707)

https://youtu.be/2svZhZT6Pro

We pray together using some familiar words as we bring this service of Remembrance to a close

We pray for peace, and not the evil peace, defending unjust laws

and nursing prejudice, but for the real peace of justice, mercy, truth and love.

We pray for peace, and for the sake of peace, look to the risen Christ

who gives the grace we need, to serve the cause of peace and make our own self-sacrifice.

We conclude our service by saying The Grace

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God,

and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,

be with each one of us now and for evermore,

AMEN