Remeberance

CALL TO WORSHIP

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

LEAD US HEAVENLY FATHER LEAD US (238)

GATHERING PRAYER

We are gathered here to worship Almighty God, whose purposes are good

Whose power sustains the world he has made,

who loves us, though we have failed in his service

who gave Jesus Christ for the life of the world who

by his Holy Spirit leads us in his way.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Let us confess to God the sins of the world; its pride, its selfishness, its greed; its evil divisions and hatreds.

Let us confess our share in what is wrong, and our failure to seek and establish the peace that God wills for creation.

When we have not welcomed, the stranger or offering peace to those that need comfort.

Where we fail to show the love that you offer to us.

Merciful God, we pray for our rulers and those in authority under them, that they may order all things in wisdom, righteousness and peace, to the honour of your holy name, and the good of your church and people

God, you have taught us, through your Son, that we should love one another; that no one has greater love than to lay down their life for their friends.

We remember with gratitude those who have done this, and those who continue to risk their lives for the good of others.

May their decision and sacrifice never be in vain. Let us pray for all those who suffer as a result of war; for the injured and the disabled, the mentally distressed, and for those whose faith in God and in humanity has been weakened or destroyed.

Almighty God, infinite in wisdom, love and power, have compassion on those for whom we pray; help us to learn from all the suffering of humanity, through him who gave himself for us on the cross – Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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 trespasses,

As we forgive those that trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

Forever and ever Amen.

And can it be 345

Isaiah 52: 7-12

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rearguard.

Mathew 5: 43-48

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

By a monument of marble 131

Offering

Poem

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

On this Remembrance Sunday, we remember past wars: those who fought in them; those who lived through them; those who died in them. Silence

We pray for the victims of past wars, remembering before you, loving God, those who died in battle, or from the consequences of injury or disease, and those who mourned or still mourn them. We remember those permanently maimed or disabled, and those psychologically scarred or disturbed. We pray for an end to the suffering of war. Silence

We pray for the victims of current conflicts, remembering before you, loving God, children trained to hate and fight, families turned into homeless refugees, and lands laid waste and made barren. We remember those blinded or crippled and those driven insane by nightmare experiences. We pray for an end to the destructive hatred of war. Silence

We pray for the peace of the world remembering before you, loving God, areas where there is armed conflict ... and all those who are working for peace. We remember that you have called us to strive together for the coming of your kingdom of love and peace. We pray that you will equip us for the task with the faith that knows that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

In the name of Jesus, Prince of Peace. Amen.

VIDEO

2 min silence

Dear Lord and Father of mankind 495

SERMON

A young girl wrote a letter to her father, who served overseas, describing her dreams of peace and joy. In her letter, she included a drawing of a dove, the universal symbol of peace. Her words echoed the familiar promise found in John 14:27, where Jesus said He gives peace not as the world gives. This innocent longing for peace amid global turmoil reminds us that God's peace can touch our hearts, no matter the storm we face, bringing hope and comfort even in the darkest nights.

Both our readings today speak of a time of peace Isaiah tells the people back then, and to us today that there will be a time of peace.

Jesus turns this on its head saying its for us to change our attitude, us who need to change the world, acting as God’s hands and feet to bring about real change. By firstly changing our attitude to our neighbour, to the stranger we meet.

There hasn’t been one day in over two hundred years without some kind of war on earth. Political, tribal, religious, territorial, civil, regional and global wars.

We’ve had a “seven day,” war, a “thousand day” war and wars that have lasted a “thousand years” or more.

Some wars have cost the lives of a handful of people while others have taken the lives of tens of millions. Overall, it appears the very nature of mankind is to wage war.

At the end of World War I, the hopeful phrase “War to End All Wars” was very short lived.

My Grandfather went into the war at the age of sixteen, he never really spoke about his experiences, he was wounded in the arm and lost his elbow. And whilst wounded he was gassed. But on his return was a real gentleman he came back and brought up his family.

1918 marked not only the end of World War I, but the end of at least three other wars that had been raging: The Southern China Revolt, The Second Sino-Tibetan War and the Finnish Civil War.

Not a breath had been taken before three new wars emerged in 1919; The Third Anglo-Afghan war, The Hungarian Romanian war and the Spartacist Rising in Germany, wars few of us had any idea existed.

In 1920, there were ten concurrent wars raging, some of which started well before World War I and some that ended well after. That’s how it’s been for the past two hundred years or more. Back-to-back battles overlapping each other as though it were a race to end the existence of mankind.

Remembrance Sunday falls on the Sunday nearest the 11th of November when the first world war ended in 1918.

Today we try to remember. We remember the victims of war and all those who have died to help bring freedom and to help make the world a better place to live in.

But today is also a stark reminder that our world is deeply broken and divided because of human violence.

For the Christian, Remembrance Day also presents a unique opportunity for us to meditate on the way of peace. God calls us to look to Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace.

In the life and teachings of Jesus we see that God establishes peace in his world in an unconventional way.

Jesus does not come to fight a physical battle to defeat the enemies of God. Instead, Jesus chooses the way of non-violence.

Jesus lays down his life and dies at the hand of God’s enemies in to defeat evil.

Then God raised Jesus from the dead in the victory over sin and death.

In the person of Jesus, we see the perfect example of humble obedience, sacrificial love, and life-giving peace.

Jesus words in John 20.21 come into sharp focus: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

We are God’s sent ones, ambassadors for Christ, commissioned by the Holy Spirit to announce the good news of God’s peaceable kingdom. But what is more, we are called to embody God’s peace in the world. God is leading us to be his peacemakers.

So, on this day of “remembrance” let us seize the opportunity and prayerfully take to heart the radical message of the Prince of Peace and follow his way of reconciling love. Let us discern together the ways in which God is calling us to be peacemakers in his world.

Martin Luther King Jr.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”

Today we especially ‘remember’ those who have given their lives through war in service of our country. They have left home and family often to foreign lands in the search of justice, freedom and peace; the effects of which we feel in our society today. The world could have been a very different place for us without their sacrifice, which cannot and should not be forgotten.

The memories we recall this Remembrance Sunday should spur us forward in the search for true harmony and peace throughout the world. As the Lord commanded the apostles to “Do this in memory of me” we gather this day praying for the graces of the great sacrifice of Calvary to engulf the whole world that we may live in the harmony for which Christ prayed; and to our fallen we say, “We will remember them”.

HYMN

BLESSING

Let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service.

Will you strive for all that makes for peace? We will.

Will you seek to heal the wounds of war? We will.

Will you work for a just future for all humanity? We will.

Merciful God, we offer to you the fears in us that have not yet been cast out by love: May we accept the hope you have placed in the hearts of all people, And live lives of justice, courage and mercy; through Jesus Christ our risen Redeemer. Amen.