I Am The Resurrection
Worship
On Eagles' Wings
Thematic Prayer, Meditation, And Services Of The Word For Christian Burial
(Family and friends are called to silence for the opening of the prayer service.)
Opening Invocation
Leader: We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3--5).
Today we celebrate the death and new life of ______________ who was taken home to heaven. God has given us the promise of salvation and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Through the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we, too, will rise to live with God and all those we love in heaven.
Responsive Reading from Psalm 17:5--8; 18:1--3
Reader: My steps have held fast to your paths;
Response: My feet have not slipped.
Reader: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
Response: Incline your ear to me, hear my words.
Reader: Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
Response: Guard me as the apple of the eye;
Reader: Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
Response: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Reader: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Response: I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.
Prayer
Leader: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, our rock and fortress, you have given us the greatest gift of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, whose death gives us life. We thank and praise your for your loving care. Open our hearts to your Word and the hope and comfort we have in our salvation. Amen.
Old Testament Responsive Reading
Leader: We find comfort in God's word. In steadfast love, God's promise gives us life. We read in Psalm 119 selected verses:
Reader: Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
Response: This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.
Reader: The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.
Response: You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
Reader: Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Response: Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
Reader: I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.
Response: Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.
New Testament Readings
Leader: God's plan for our salvation was revealed to us in the Garden of Eden, when God said to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." In their humanity, Adam and Eve sinned, bringing to the world human death, but God promised us his Son, Jesus Christ, who by his death and resurrection brings us eternal life. Listen to the message in 1 Corinthians:
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:20--26).
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life--giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven (1 Corinthians 15:42--49).
Meditation and Prayer
Leader: Our resurrection is assured as we recall the words, "For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." In silence, let us meditate on these Words of God. (Silence) Let us pray. Lord, you have cared for us before the earth was made. In the Garden of Eden, you gave us the greatest of gifts forgiveness of sin and eternal life. You have said, "What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable." We give you thanks and praise. In the name of the Resurrected Christ. Amen.
Reading from the Gospel of John
Reader: Jesus received a message from the sisters of Lazarus, one of Jesus' best friends, telling Jesus that Lazarus was near death. Jesus went to Bethany, knowing that Lazarus had died and lay four days in the tomb. Jesus said to the disciples, "For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe." Lazarus' death and resurrection was to explain and mirror to the world the resurrection of Christ. We read in John 11:17--26:
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."
Meditation
Leader: Friends of Mary and Martha gathered together in Bethany to offer consolation to them in their grief. Today family and friends gather here to give consolation to one another, as we ponder the loss of ____________. Our support for one another, in part, is the sharing of memories, recalling the way ____________ touched our lives. Let us recall those memories during this moment of silence. (Silence) In your recollections, you may have special memories that you would like to share at this time, ways in which ____________ touched your life.
A Time for Sharing (The leader will allow time for recollections.)
Comfort for the Living
Reader: Even in our sorrow, we remember that as Jesus was present to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead, so he has raised ______________ to the newness of life in heaven. The story of Lazarus is to serve as an assurance for us that we and all believers will be raised up to live again. At the raising of Lazarus, Jesus said,
"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him (John 11:40--45).
Reading from Romans 8:10--11, 13--17
Leader: In the raising of Lazarus, Jesus' message unbinds us from the fear of death and offers us the reassurance of salvation. This does not mean we will feel no pain or sorrow. Listen to the words in Romans 8 beginning with the tenth verse:
But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Responsive Reading
Leader: As children of God, we are heirs of the kingdom. As Christ suffered and rose from the dead, we, too, will suffer and rise from the dead. The promise in the Garden of Eden has been fulfilled. Death is conquered for us. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:54--57:
Reader: When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality,
Response: Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
Reader: "Where, O death, is your victory?"
Response: "Where, O death, is your sting?"
Reader: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Response: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Leader: Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
All: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Leader: Abba Father, you have assured us of our salvation and resurrection. We can boldly say, "Death has been swallowed up in victory." Today, we gather in celebratation, for __________ has obtained victory over death. We ask you to keep us all in your grace. Grant comfort to those who mourn. Your words ring in our ears, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). We await that day, when we, too, are raised up to live with you and our loved ones in your heavenly kingdom. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." We thank you for those words of hope and comfort. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
(The service is concluded.)
Service Program For Distribution
I Am The Resurrection
(The participants will read the portions of the service marked Response and All.)
Opening Invocation
Responsive Reading from Psalm 17:5--8, 18:1--2
Reader: My steps have held fast to your paths;
Response: My feet have not slipped.
Reader: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
Response: Incline your ear to me, hear my words.
Reader: Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
Response: Guard me as the apple of the eye;
Reader: Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
Response: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Reader: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Response: I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.
Prayer
Old Testament Responsive Reading from Psalm 119, selected verses
Reader: Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
Response: This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.
Reader: The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.
Response: You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
Reader: Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Response: Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
Reader: I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.
Response: Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.
New Testament Readings
Meditation and Prayer
Reading from the Gospel of John
Meditation
A Time for Sharing
Comfort for the Living
Reading from Romans
Responsive Reading from 1 Corinthians 15:54--57
Reader: When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality,
Response: Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
Reader: "Where, O death, is your victory?"
Response: "Where, O death, is your sting?"
Reader: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Response: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord's Prayer
All: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Opening Invocation
Leader: We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3--5).
Today we celebrate the death and new life of ______________ who was taken home to heaven. God has given us the promise of salvation and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Through the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we, too, will rise to live with God and all those we love in heaven.
Responsive Reading from Psalm 17:5--8; 18:1--3
Reader: My steps have held fast to your paths;
Response: My feet have not slipped.
Reader: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
Response: Incline your ear to me, hear my words.
Reader: Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
Response: Guard me as the apple of the eye;
Reader: Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
Response: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Reader: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Response: I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.
Prayer
Leader: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, our rock and fortress, you have given us the greatest gift of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, whose death gives us life. We thank and praise your for your loving care. Open our hearts to your Word and the hope and comfort we have in our salvation. Amen.
Old Testament Responsive Reading
Leader: We find comfort in God's word. In steadfast love, God's promise gives us life. We read in Psalm 119 selected verses:
Reader: Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
Response: This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.
Reader: The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.
Response: You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
Reader: Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Response: Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
Reader: I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.
Response: Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.
New Testament Readings
Leader: God's plan for our salvation was revealed to us in the Garden of Eden, when God said to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." In their humanity, Adam and Eve sinned, bringing to the world human death, but God promised us his Son, Jesus Christ, who by his death and resurrection brings us eternal life. Listen to the message in 1 Corinthians:
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:20--26).
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life--giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven (1 Corinthians 15:42--49).
Meditation and Prayer
Leader: Our resurrection is assured as we recall the words, "For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." In silence, let us meditate on these Words of God. (Silence) Let us pray. Lord, you have cared for us before the earth was made. In the Garden of Eden, you gave us the greatest of gifts forgiveness of sin and eternal life. You have said, "What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable." We give you thanks and praise. In the name of the Resurrected Christ. Amen.
Reading from the Gospel of John
Reader: Jesus received a message from the sisters of Lazarus, one of Jesus' best friends, telling Jesus that Lazarus was near death. Jesus went to Bethany, knowing that Lazarus had died and lay four days in the tomb. Jesus said to the disciples, "For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe." Lazarus' death and resurrection was to explain and mirror to the world the resurrection of Christ. We read in John 11:17--26:
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."
Meditation
Leader: Friends of Mary and Martha gathered together in Bethany to offer consolation to them in their grief. Today family and friends gather here to give consolation to one another, as we ponder the loss of ____________. Our support for one another, in part, is the sharing of memories, recalling the way ____________ touched our lives. Let us recall those memories during this moment of silence. (Silence) In your recollections, you may have special memories that you would like to share at this time, ways in which ____________ touched your life.
A Time for Sharing (The leader will allow time for recollections.)
Comfort for the Living
Reader: Even in our sorrow, we remember that as Jesus was present to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead, so he has raised ______________ to the newness of life in heaven. The story of Lazarus is to serve as an assurance for us that we and all believers will be raised up to live again. At the raising of Lazarus, Jesus said,
"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him (John 11:40--45).
Reading from Romans 8:10--11, 13--17
Leader: In the raising of Lazarus, Jesus' message unbinds us from the fear of death and offers us the reassurance of salvation. This does not mean we will feel no pain or sorrow. Listen to the words in Romans 8 beginning with the tenth verse:
But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Responsive Reading
Leader: As children of God, we are heirs of the kingdom. As Christ suffered and rose from the dead, we, too, will suffer and rise from the dead. The promise in the Garden of Eden has been fulfilled. Death is conquered for us. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:54--57:
Reader: When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality,
Response: Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
Reader: "Where, O death, is your victory?"
Response: "Where, O death, is your sting?"
Reader: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Response: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Leader: Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
All: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Leader: Abba Father, you have assured us of our salvation and resurrection. We can boldly say, "Death has been swallowed up in victory." Today, we gather in celebratation, for __________ has obtained victory over death. We ask you to keep us all in your grace. Grant comfort to those who mourn. Your words ring in our ears, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). We await that day, when we, too, are raised up to live with you and our loved ones in your heavenly kingdom. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." We thank you for those words of hope and comfort. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
(The service is concluded.)
Service Program For Distribution
I Am The Resurrection
(The participants will read the portions of the service marked Response and All.)
Opening Invocation
Responsive Reading from Psalm 17:5--8, 18:1--2
Reader: My steps have held fast to your paths;
Response: My feet have not slipped.
Reader: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
Response: Incline your ear to me, hear my words.
Reader: Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
Response: Guard me as the apple of the eye;
Reader: Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
Response: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Reader: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Response: I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.
Prayer
Old Testament Responsive Reading from Psalm 119, selected verses
Reader: Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
Response: This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.
Reader: The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.
Response: You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
Reader: Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Response: Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
Reader: I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.
Response: Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.
New Testament Readings
Meditation and Prayer
Reading from the Gospel of John
Meditation
A Time for Sharing
Comfort for the Living
Reading from Romans
Responsive Reading from 1 Corinthians 15:54--57
Reader: When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality,
Response: Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
Reader: "Where, O death, is your victory?"
Response: "Where, O death, is your sting?"
Reader: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Response: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord's Prayer
All: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
