Remeberance Sunday

​War is not good – people get hurt and die, people forced away from homes and family but, many people
feel, it is sometimes necessary. And those involved need to be brave.

Eternal God,
in whose perfect realm
no sword is drawn but the sword of justice,
and no strength known but the strength of love:
guide and inspire all who seek your kingdom,
that peoples and nations may find their security
in the love which casts out fear;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen.

StF 693 Beauty for brokeness.

​Prayer: Praise
Loving & marvellous God, we focus our thoughts on you.
We recall with awe and wonder all you have been and all you are, your loving influence in the lives of us all.
Today We Remember
 You are the God of Creation – positive power, loving initiation
 You are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – of promise
Today We Remember
 You are the God of David – imperfect and loved
 You are the God of Jeremiah – love in our hearts
Today We Remember
 You are the God of Amos – justice
 You are the God of John the Baptist – forgiveness
Today We Remember
 You are the God of Jesus – our loving Lord God
 You are the God of the disciples – power of holy spirit
Today We Remember
 You are our God – with us each day.
Today We Remember
Amen.

Search for the hero inside yourself - VIDEO

All Age Address: Poppies
Most people are wearing them
 Do you know what they are for?
War is not good – people get hurt and die, people forced away from homes and family but, many people
feel, it is sometimes necessary. And those involved need to be brave.
Sometimes we also need to be brave as we follow Jesus.
 To do things we don;t find easy.
 To stand up for people in trouble.
 To help those in need – even when it is difficult.
Sometimes we need to search for, and find, the hero inside us.
 Be a hero – be brave in our lives for God.

Stf 563 O Jesus I have promised 

​Prayer – Confession & Declaration of Forgiveness
Loving Father as we recall all you have been and all you are, we also reflect on what we are, what we
have been and what we have done.
Today We Remember
 We have been slow to learn of you
 We have been reluctant to follow the Way of Jesus
 We have been afraid to accept the pain of taking up the cross
Today We Remember
 We have been formal and selfish in our prayers
 We have neglected the fellowship of others
 We have been hesitating in our witness
Today We Remember
 We have misused your gifts and evaded our responsibilities
 We have failed to be good stewards of your creation
Today We Remember
 We have been tolerant of injustice and quick to condemn
 We have fallen short in love and let down those in need
 We have been angry and ready to fight for what we desire
Today We Remember

Have mercy on us, loving God, in your constant love.
 In the fullness of your mercy wash away our guilt and cleanse us from sin.
 In the power of your love heal us from our hurt.
 Create in each of us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us.
 Give us joy to live with your loving support and strengthen us with a willing spirit.
If we confess our sins God is faithful and just. He will forgive us and renew us.
Therefore as we turn to him and repent, hear his gracious word
& Our sins are forgiven & Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Introduction.

15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Are we ready to be a hero? A hero for God.
 Can we find the hero inside ourselves?
 To love God and people – despite our imperfections.

Are we ready for action?
 To fight injustice,
 To protect those who need it,
 To help those who suffer?
Today we have two readings & two talks.

Reading: John 15: 9-17
9 ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands,
you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is
this: love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does
not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my
Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit
that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command:
love each other.

​Talk 1

Are you perfect?? Are you a hero??
Remember the heros of past – heros of war &; peace.
Heros of the bible: Moses, David, Jeremiah, Amos, John the Baptist, Jesus, the disciples, Paul.

Help me accept frailties & find the best inside myself.
David was a flawed hero. He lusted after Bathsheba and had her husband killed so he could be with her.
Very flawed, but he still tried to follow God, and was loved by God.
We are all limited frail human beings BUT the image of God is in us.
God is within us and is part of us. Therefore search for God within. God wants best for us – to be ;our
own hero;.

Call to love & be loved.
John 15:13
“ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
The reading from John is a call to love & be loved.
You have all heard of the butterfly effect – where a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan can cause a
hurricane in England.

 There is a butterfly effect of kindness and compassion.
 Not every butterfly, but it happens. And the butterfly does;t know.
 We don;t know the full impact of our actions [good and/or bad].
 So hold the intention to be a force for good. To serve others for Jesus.

How fantastic can we be?
What does God want for each of us?
Life of fulfillment, joy, freedom. (Fully, wholey, freely) harmony &; balance.
Jesus the pacemaker

 A few years ago I was not well: Low energy, life grey, plan what can do, struggle.

 I saw the doctor, and was sent to hospital. I had 2 to 1 heart block. A pacemaker
was fitted.
 After (with pacemaker): I realised I had been shuffling around, now I walked with a
bounce, I had energy to do things, to enjoy life.
 Jesus the pacemaker

Our normal life like pre-pacemaker life. Jesus promises us wider, fuller life.
Love is making us new.

Prayer
Accept me O Lord, just as I am, in my fraily and inadequacy, contradictions, confusions and complexities,
with all those discordant currents that pull me in so many directions.
Accept all of this and help me so to live with what I am that what I am may become my way to God.
Accept the tensions and help me hold them together, so that I may learn to live fully, freely, wholly, not
torn apart but finding that balance and harmony that will allow me to discover my point of inner
equilibrium. Amen
Grain in Winter P41 Donald Eadie

StF 499 Great God, your love has called us here.

​Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
The parable of the ten virgins
1 ‘At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet
the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but
did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The
bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 ‘At midnight the cry rang out: “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”
7 ‘Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us
some of your oil; our lamps are going out.”
9 ‘“No,” they replied, “there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and
buy some for yourselves.”
10 ‘But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready
went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 ‘Later the others also came. “Lord, Lord,” they said, “open the door for us!”
12 ‘But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.”
13 ‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Talk 2
Stand by for action – anything can happen in the next half hour!
Do you remember that? It was the start of Stingray every week.

Stand By For Action
● Are we prepared?
● What do we need to be prepared for?
● We cannot know what God will call us to do.
● One, but only one, message from the parable of 10 bridesmaids is Be prepared; – Boy Scouts motto!
Today we remember all those who have given their lives to maintain our society and protect and assure
our safety from any who would take it away.
● They were ready to act when the call came.
● Like Christ they sacrificed themselves for others.

Not everyone is happy with how easy it can be to go to war. We live in a far from perfect world.
● In my view there are situations when it is right to fight – to protect the weak, to stop invaders
and bullies. But this mustn;t be the first response.
● As I said we don;t live in a perect world. If we did there would be no need for the military like it
is now.
● As it is the military stands ready to protect us if needed.
That is a key point - the military stands ready. Ready to move quickly into action as soon as it is needed.
● It participates in humanitarian efforts all over the world and is able to respond quickly to
support people caught in disaster areas, and the training its members are given means they can
deal with these things effectively.
● It supports the emergency services with search and rescue efforts.
● It steps in to defend people who are unable to defend themselves.
● In an ideal world the military would become far more like another of Gerry Anderson’s
creations - International Rescue [from Thunderbirds] - a humanitarian organisation achieving
remarkable things, risking themselves against the odds for the good of other people.
What does this mean for us?
 Are we ready for action?
 Like some of the bridemaids.
 Like our military.

Our actions build (or destroy) God’s community of love.

We have privilege of working as partners with God.

A writer, Richard Bach, has a test:
Has God still got work for you to do?
Here is the test. Are you still alive?

What I am asking today, or rather asking you to ask yourselves, is how ready are each of us to step in
and help out when God needs us to?
 How often do we challenge our lives and lifestyles to reassess what we are each capable of doing
for God in faith?
 Are we ready to work for and with others like us, called to follow Jesus.
 Are we ready to join God's army to fight injustice, protect those who need it and bring help to all
who struggle and suffer?
Are we ready for action?
Amen.

706 Longing for light.

​Prayers for people and situations.
Loving God we bring our prayers for others, for your church, your world.
You are our God,
and in you we put our trust.
Lord, we pray for all those who are going to church today:
 for those worshipping in large numbers;
 for those gathered together in twos and threes;
 for other churches in this area;
 for service personnel meeting in temporary chapels,
 fnd for the chaplains who serve them;
 for groups who are meeting at war memorials today.
May your church always be a place
where peace is celebrated,
and your ways are taught.
You are our God,
and in you we put our trust.

Lord, we pray for the world’s nations.
We know that peace can be a very fragile thing,
violence can easily break out,
people who should be friends and neighbours turn upon one another,
and those who try to keep the peace get caught up in fighting.
We thank you for peace-makers;
for those who sit around conference tables
and try to make agreements;
for those who work amongst people,
trying to build good relations.
Protect them, and help their work to bear fruit.
Show us how we can be peace-makers
in our homes, at work or school,
and in our churches.
You are our God,
and in you we put our trust.

As we think of that promise that one day there will be no more war,
we think about those whose work takes them into danger.
Lord, we pray for our own servicemen and women,
and for their families waiting anxiously at home;
for the Royal British Legion,
and charities such as Hope for Heroes.
We pray for doctors and nurses working on the front line,
and for those at home,
dealing with terrible injuries.
Give them courage, patience and compassion.
You are our God,
and in you we put our trust.

As we remember the promise that no one shall make your people afraid,
we think of those caught up in violence,
whose life is one of fear.
Lord, we pray for those for whom violence has become a fact of life.
For children, taken from their homes at a young age
and forced to be soldiers.
We pray for those who suffer violence at home behind closed doors,
at the hands of friends or family.
Be with them all,
and bless the efforts of those who seek to transform their situations.
You are our God,
and in you we put our trust.
Lord, we are your people.
Each one of us is known to you by name
and we all have a part to play.
Show us what you want us to do
so that we may play our part
in changing your world.
You are our God,
and in you we put our trust.

Out of the Fathers glorious riches may he strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner
being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.
And I pray that, being rooted and established in love, we may have power to grasp how wide and long
and high and deep is the love of Christ. And to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that we may
be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for
ever and ever!
Amen.
Ephesians 3: 16-21.

Today we remember all those who have died bringing us freedom. WW1 &; WW2. But also the
Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan.
And over 110 armed conflicts across the world today inc. :
 Over 45 in the Middle east and North Africa inc.
1. Israel/Hamas-Gaza
 Over 35 in Africa inc.
1. Democratic Repubuplic of Congo
2. Sudan
3. Mali
 Asia: 21 inc.
1. Pakistan
2. Myanmar
 Latin America: Mexico & Colombia.
 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We share the pain of those who died & their relatives. The pain of those wounded. Those displaced
from their homes, fleeing as refugees, leaving behind their homes, jobs, belongings and, in many cases,
relatives.

​                        They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
                        Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
                        At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
                        We will remember them.

                                           Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Lords Prayer - Modern
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

StF 645 Will your anchor hold.

​Prayer of Offering, Dedication & Thanks
Loving God, Father & Mother of all that is.
Thank you for the many good gifts you grant us, especially your love shown in Jesus.
Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us day by day.
Thank you that we are called to be your children - to grow more like you every day.
We bring our offerings to you and ask that you bless them.
We bring our gifts and talents to you and ask that you bless them.
We bring our lives to you and ask that you bless them.
Thank you for your grace today and every day.
Amen.
​
Blessing

May the peace of God go with us,
wherever he may send us,
May he guide us through the wilderness,
protect us through the storm
May he bring us home rejoicing
at the wonders he has shown us,
May he bring us home rejoicing
once again into our doors.