Saints Triumphant Prayer

Almighty God, in whose glorious presence live all who depart in the Lord and before whom all the souls of the faithful who are delivered of the burden of the flesh are in joy and contentment, we give You hearty thanks for Your loving-kindness to all Your servants who have finished their course in faith and now rest from their labors. After each name is read, the date that saint was called home to heaven and an accompanying Bible verse, there will be a ringing of a chime and a moment of silence to thank God for allowing these faithful servants to be among us at Epiphany for such a short time and becoming a blessing to our lives.
 
Name:  Lorraine Mielke             Called to heaven: February 24, 2012
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.             (Job 19:25-26)
 
Name:  Ethel Korntved                          Called to heaven: August 1, 2012
For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.  If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  (Romans 14:7-8)
 
Name:  Christ Johnson               Called to heaven: August 4, 2012
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom… I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.  (Luke 23:42-43)
 
Name:  Nadine Decker              Called to heaven: August 8, 2012
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; He has crossed over from death to life.  (John 5:24)
 
Name: Lois Miner                    Called to heaven: November 10, 2012
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
 
Name: Vernice Laduron           Called to heaven: November 12, 2012
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
           
Rejoicing in the faithful confession of those who have gone before us and are at peace, we give thanks to you Lord. We pray that Christ’s defeat of death by His sacrificial death and resurrection may bring true and lasting comfort and the hope of a joyful reunion at the heavenly feast to those who mourn. Heavenly Father, as we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, set our minds on things above, rejoicing in our citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem. Open our lips that our mouths may confess the salvation for all won by Your only-begotten Son, who with You and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Justified in Jesus

Image
Matthew 27:27–31 27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spit on him, took the staff, and hit him repeatedly on his head. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. 1) Jesus on cross picture. We are still in the five hundredth anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. With the Reformation, the Lord of the Church allowed His truth to be retold through the writings of Martin Luther. But, God also used artists to visually portray this gospel to the minds of His people. If we wanted to “picture” the Reformation in our mind’s eye, there is no better “picture” than The Weimar Altarpiece . In thi
Read more

Water into blood and water into wine

Image
Here are some thoughts that didn’t make it into Sunday’s sermon. The Old Testament lesson for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany is the account of Moses turning the water of the Nile River into blood. The first of the ten plagues God used to get the Israelites out of Egypt. Exodus 7:14-24 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not
Read more

Jesus has prepared a place for you - A funeral sermon for Jim Hermann

Image
John 14:1-4 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  2  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  4  You know the way to the place where I am going.” “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Did you catch the difference between what I read just now and what I read in the Gospel lesson? The Gospel lesson was from the NIV. The second verse I read was from the King James Version. If you’re older than 50, that’s the version of the Bible that you heard in church and learned in catechism class. But, even if you’re older younger than 50, you know about the mansions. “The mansions of heaven” is a term Christians use pretty often. Preachers say it, poets write it, people
Read more