A Service of Hope and Remembrance

A Service of Hope and Remembrance

 I will look to the hills...

GATHERING

We gather in silence, using this time for meditation and preparation for worship, respecting those who value this time of prayer.

INTRODUCTION

We gather as a church, as a community of faith, as family, friends and neighbors, because we need to gather. We gather because our world has been changed this week and nothing is as it was before. So we will worship differently today as well. We welcome anyone who is here as a guest or visitor and hope that you will feel comfortable enough to enter into this worship service fully and to know that you are more than welcome to join us.

There have been so many words this week, so much analysis, so many questions, so much bewilderment. But we begin our worship by remembering particularly those whose lives have been taken this week in acts of violence and terror.

SCRIPTURE – Revelation 7 (selected verses)

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal? They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

LITANY

When the world is in tumult and peace is shattered

We turn our hearts to you, O God.

When hearts are breaking and minds are confused

We turn our hearts to you, O God.

When words fail and love is frustrated

We turn our hearts to you, O God.

When anger rises and hostility surrounds us

We turn our hearts to you, O God.

When the way is unknown and the path dimly lit

We turn our hearts to you, O God.

When we turn our hearts to you, O God,

You hear the cries of your people, and answer in love.

PRAYER

Let us pray:

God of mercy,You heal the broken in heart,And bind up the wounds of the hurting.Strengthen us in our weakness,Calm our troubled spiritsAnd dispel our doubts and fears.Renew our faith; restore our joy in this life,For it is you who promises lifeAnd gives us hope for the life to come. Amen

De Profundis  (Psalm 130)

We remember

Let us pray:

Rest eternal grant unto these, O God,And let light perpetual shine upon them.May their souls, and the souls of all the departed,Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

  

HYMN O God, our Help in Ages PastLSB #733

Text:  Isaac Watts, 1674-1748, alt.  Tune:  William Croft, 1678-1727; setting:The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941.  Text and Music:  Public domain.LSB Hymn License No.  100013721.  Used with permission..

SCRIPTURE– Selections from the Psalms

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,

Be gracious to me, and answer me.

“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”

Your face, Lord, do I seek.

Do not hide your face from me. – Psalm 27

Be gracious unto me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

My eye wastes away from grief,

My soul and body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow,

And my years with sighing;

My strength fails because of my misery,

And my bones waste away. – Psalm 31

HYMN Jesus, Lead Thou On LSB #718

Text:  Nicolaus Ludwig von ZZinzendorg, 1700-60; tr. Jane L. Borthwick, 1813-97, alt.  Tune:  Adam Drese, 1620-1701; setting:  Joseph Herl, b. 1959.  Text and tune:  Public domain; Setting ©2006 Concordia Publishing House, LSB> Hymn License No. 10001372`1.  Used with permission.

SCRIPTURE– Selections from the Psalms

As a father has compassion for his children,

So you have compassion for those who fear you.

As a mother comforts her child,

So you comfort us, O God.

For you know how we were made.

You remember that we are dust.

As for mortals,their days are like grass;

They flourish like a flower of the field;

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

And its place knows it no more.  – Psalm 103 with Isaiah 66:13

The sorrows of death encompassed me

And the pains of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered in distress and anguish.

Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“O Lord, I pray, save my life!” – Psalm 116

I lift up my eyes to the hills

From whence will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

He will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out

andyour coming in

from this time on and forevermore. – Psalm 121

HYMN Praise the Almighty LSB #797

Text:  Johann danieHerrnschmidt, 1675-1723; tr. Alfred E. R. Brauer, 1866-1949, alt.; Tune:  New-vermehrteChristlicheSeelenharpf, Ansbach, 1665; setting:Christian Worship, 1993.  Text and music:  Public domain.   LSB License No. 100013721.  Used with permission.

Prayers of Intercession

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Now in the words that Jesus taught us, we pray together saying:

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 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

forever and ever. Amen.

HYMN Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise LSB #917

Text:  John Ellerton, 1826-93; Tune: Edward J. Hopkins, 1818-1901; setting:The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941.  Text and music:  Public domain.  LSB Hymn License No. 100013721.  Used with permission.

Depart in Silence

+ Soli Deo Gloria +