Service of Hope and Remembrance

+Please stand as you are able.

GATHERING

OPENING SENTENCES:
I Peter 1:3-9, 13

+GREETING

Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Come, celebrate God's gift of HOPE that ignites our hearts with praise, even in this time of sorrow and loss.
People: Come, rekindle the flame of HOPE to answer God's call to share this gift.
All: Come, join the celebration and be warmed by the Spirit that calls us to serve.

+HYMN:
Select a hymn of hope or remembrance

• "A Prayer for Our Children"
• 117, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," United Methodist Hymnal
• 533, "We Shall Overcome," United Methodist Hymnal
• 729, "O Day of Peace," United Methodist Hymnal
• 178, "Hope of the World," United Methodist Hymnal
• 140, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," United Methodist Hymnal
• 2212, "My Life Flows On," The Faith We Sing
• 2206, "Without Seeing you," The Faith We Sing

PRAYER:
Select one or more prayers of comfort and reconciliation. A time for silence and reflection may be observed between phrases or prayers.

• 461, "For Those Who Mourn," United Methodist Hymnal
• 481, "The Prayer of Saint Francis," United Methodist Hymnal
• 521, Book of Worship, "A Vision of Hope"
• 546, Book of Worship, "A Prayer for Those Who Suffer"

A CONGREGATIONAL ACT OF LIVING HOPE
(It is recommended that the music for this hymn be that of MELITTA, or THE NAVY HYMN. The hymn is available in pdf format)

"My Hope Is Built," stanza one:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Revelation 21:1-2, 23-24 (NRSV):

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. . . . And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

"My Hope Is Built," stanza two:

When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Revelation 21:3-4 (NRSV):

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is with mortals. God will dwell with them as their God; they will be God's peoples, and God will be with them; God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

"My Hope Is Built," stanza three:

His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Revelation 21:5-6; 22:20 (NRSV):

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new. . . . Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. . . .

The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

"My Hope Is Built," stanza four:

When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

SCRIPTURE
Select one Old Testament reading:

• Psalm 30 (United Methodist Hymnal, 762)
• Isaiah 59:6b-8, 15b-18
• Lamentations 3:49-59

Response: "O Lord, Hear My Prayer" (The Faith We Sing, 2195, sung several times)

Select one New Testament reading:

• Matthew 5:1-10
• Matthew 10:28-31

Response: "In the Lord I'll Be Ever Thankful" (The Faith We Sing, 2200, sung several times.)

SERMON

+RESPONSE TO THE WORD PROCLAIMED:
A Statement of Faith of the United Church of Canada, United Methodist Hymnal, 883

+HYMN:
Select a hymn of hope or remembrance

• "A Prayer for Our Children"
• 117, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," United Methodist Hymnal
• 533, "We Shall Overcome," United Methodist Hymnal
• 729, "O Day of Peace," United Methodist Hymnal
• 178, "Hope of the World," United Methodist Hymnal
• 140, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," United Methodist Hymnal
• 2212, "My Life Flows On," The Faith We Sing
• 2206, "Without Seeing you," The Faith We Sing

+THE LORD'S PRAYER

+BLESSING
United Methodist Book of Worship, 547