The Lord Is My Shepherd
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. Today we celebrate the victory of ___________ who has overcome death and lives today in eternity. We remember the Lord's promises, and we receive hope and comfort for those who remain behind, waiting for the day when we, too, will be carried by the Good Shepherd to our home in heaven to be with God and all the saints where we will again see _________ face to face.
Responsive Reading from Isaiah 25:8--9
Leader: The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces. This is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
Response: This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Prayer
Leader: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you have indeed promised to dry our tears. You have given us your Son, the Good Shepherd, who has won for us the victory over death and promises us life eternal for those who believe. Heavenly Father, you have provided a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, for those who mourn. Open our hearts today to your Word, so that we may find the hope and comfort that you give us. We pray this in the name of the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Old Testament Responsive Reading
Leader: From the beginning, God has guided us like a shepherd. Listen to our Heavenly Father's words in Ezekiel 34:15--24:
Reader: I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.
Response: I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.
Reader: I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Response: I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Reader: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
New Testament Readings
Leader: What does it mean that the Lord is our Shepherd? It means he guides us to safety and willingly lays down his life for us. We read in Matthew 18:12--14:
What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety--nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety--nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Reader: Jesus, himself, tells us in John 10:11--18:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away - and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.
Meditation and Prayer
Leader: The Good Shepherd laid down his life for us. Let us have a moment of silence to mediate on words that offer us comfort and promise. (Silence) Let us pray: Father in Heaven, we thank you for the plan you laid for us in the Garden of Eden. There you prepared for us our Savior, our Good Shepherd, who leads us from sin and Satan to life eternal. We remember the words in Isaiah:
He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
We thank you and praise you for your protection and love. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Reading from the Gospel of Matthew
Reader: God, our Heavenly Father, gave us the gift of eternal life. We may ask, what have we done to deserve this? The answer is we deserve nothing but God's wrath and punishment. Yet, thanks be to God, through Christ Jesus, we are set free from sin and death. For God sent his own Son, pure and sinless, in the likeness of sinful flesh, to deal with sin. It is a free gift through the grace of our Heavenly Father. Yet as an expression of our faith and our love for God, we respond to the need of others. When the disciples asked about the end, we hear Jesus' response in Matthew 25:31--46:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Meditation
Leader: Showing our love for God, we respond to the needs and joys of others. In silence, remember the times in your life that ____________ has touched you with words of kindness, words of hope, or actions of friendship and love. (Silence) We would like to give the opportunity to any of the family or friends who would like to share with us today a memory that recounts a special way in which ______________ touched your life.
A Time for Sharing (The leader will allow time for recollections.)
Comfort for the Living
Reader: From Revelations 7 we read:
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 have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center 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" (Revelation 7:13--17).
Responsive Reading
Leader: There is comfort in knowing that in the Good Shep--herd's arms ___________ will have no pain, no sorrow, no tears, for with God there is only joy. Yet for you the living, let us find comfort in the words of Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Response: He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
Leader: He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Response: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.
Leader: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Response: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Leader: Let us pray the prayer that our Lord 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, for ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Leader: Heavenly Father, we give you thanks and praise for your loving kindness and for the gift of eternal life. We know that ___________ is safe in your keeping. We ask you to keep us all in your grace. May the Good Shepherd hold us in his arms and comfort us with the knowledge that ____________ lives with you in Heaven. Someday we too will reach our home in Heaven where we will meet again all of those we love who have gone on before us. Open our hearts and minds to your Word and fill us with the peace of your promises. We ask this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(The service is concluded.)
Service Program For Distribution
The Lord Is My Shepherd
(The participants will read from the portions of the service marked
Response and All.)
Opening Invocation
Responsive Reading from Isaiah 25:8--9
Leader: The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces. This is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
Response: This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Prayer
Old Testament Responsive Reading from Ezekiel 34:15--24
Reader: I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.
Response: I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.
Reader: I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Response: I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Reader: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
New Testament Readings
Meditation and Prayer
Reading from the Gospel of Matthew 25:31--46
Meditation
A Time for Sharing
Comfort for the Living
Psalm 23 Responsive Reading
Leader: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Response: He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
Leader: He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Response: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.
Leader: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Response: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
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, for ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Opening Invocation
Leader: We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today we celebrate the victory of ___________ who has overcome death and lives today in eternity. We remember the Lord's promises, and we receive hope and comfort for those who remain behind, waiting for the day when we, too, will be carried by the Good Shepherd to our home in heaven to be with God and all the saints where we will again see _________ face to face.
Responsive Reading from Isaiah 25:8--9
Leader: The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces. This is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
Response: This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Prayer
Leader: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you have indeed promised to dry our tears. You have given us your Son, the Good Shepherd, who has won for us the victory over death and promises us life eternal for those who believe. Heavenly Father, you have provided a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, for those who mourn. Open our hearts today to your Word, so that we may find the hope and comfort that you give us. We pray this in the name of the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Old Testament Responsive Reading
Leader: From the beginning, God has guided us like a shepherd. Listen to our Heavenly Father's words in Ezekiel 34:15--24:
Reader: I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.
Response: I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.
Reader: I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Response: I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Reader: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
New Testament Readings
Leader: What does it mean that the Lord is our Shepherd? It means he guides us to safety and willingly lays down his life for us. We read in Matthew 18:12--14:
What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety--nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety--nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Reader: Jesus, himself, tells us in John 10:11--18:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away - and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.
Meditation and Prayer
Leader: The Good Shepherd laid down his life for us. Let us have a moment of silence to mediate on words that offer us comfort and promise. (Silence) Let us pray: Father in Heaven, we thank you for the plan you laid for us in the Garden of Eden. There you prepared for us our Savior, our Good Shepherd, who leads us from sin and Satan to life eternal. We remember the words in Isaiah:
He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
We thank you and praise you for your protection and love. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Reading from the Gospel of Matthew
Reader: God, our Heavenly Father, gave us the gift of eternal life. We may ask, what have we done to deserve this? The answer is we deserve nothing but God's wrath and punishment. Yet, thanks be to God, through Christ Jesus, we are set free from sin and death. For God sent his own Son, pure and sinless, in the likeness of sinful flesh, to deal with sin. It is a free gift through the grace of our Heavenly Father. Yet as an expression of our faith and our love for God, we respond to the need of others. When the disciples asked about the end, we hear Jesus' response in Matthew 25:31--46:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Meditation
Leader: Showing our love for God, we respond to the needs and joys of others. In silence, remember the times in your life that ____________ has touched you with words of kindness, words of hope, or actions of friendship and love. (Silence) We would like to give the opportunity to any of the family or friends who would like to share with us today a memory that recounts a special way in which ______________ touched your life.
A Time for Sharing (The leader will allow time for recollections.)
Comfort for the Living
Reader: From Revelations 7 we read:
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 have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center 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" (Revelation 7:13--17).
Responsive Reading
Leader: There is comfort in knowing that in the Good Shep--herd's arms ___________ will have no pain, no sorrow, no tears, for with God there is only joy. Yet for you the living, let us find comfort in the words of Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Response: He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
Leader: He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Response: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.
Leader: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Response: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Leader: Let us pray the prayer that our Lord 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, for ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Leader: Heavenly Father, we give you thanks and praise for your loving kindness and for the gift of eternal life. We know that ___________ is safe in your keeping. We ask you to keep us all in your grace. May the Good Shepherd hold us in his arms and comfort us with the knowledge that ____________ lives with you in Heaven. Someday we too will reach our home in Heaven where we will meet again all of those we love who have gone on before us. Open our hearts and minds to your Word and fill us with the peace of your promises. We ask this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(The service is concluded.)
Service Program For Distribution
The Lord Is My Shepherd
(The participants will read from the portions of the service marked
Response and All.)
Opening Invocation
Responsive Reading from Isaiah 25:8--9
Leader: The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces. This is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
Response: This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Prayer
Old Testament Responsive Reading from Ezekiel 34:15--24
Reader: I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.
Response: I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.
Reader: I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Response: I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Reader: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
New Testament Readings
Meditation and Prayer
Reading from the Gospel of Matthew 25:31--46
Meditation
A Time for Sharing
Comfort for the Living
Psalm 23 Responsive Reading
Leader: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Response: He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
Leader: He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Response: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.
Leader: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Response: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
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, for ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
