Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving for Donald D. Lawrence
Sunday, April 17, 2005
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Benediction
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Happy Memories
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The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring, Senior Minister The Rev. Melinda V. McLain, Temporary Associate Minister Bruce Saunkeah, Pastoral Associate Loris Coburn, Organist Bill Coburn, Tenor Soloist Tony Lewis, Baritone Soloist Brenda Loreman, Soprano Soloist Mary Edwards and Maryellen Lentz, Ushers Jennifer Mantle and Michael Velez, ASL Interpreters Bill DAnjou, Jr., Sexton & Photo Montage
I am not here. I do not sleep. I am the thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awake in the mornings hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft star that shines at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not here ... I did not die. Author: Mary Elizabeth Frye
Im FreeDont grieve for me, for now I am free;Im following the path God laid for me. I took his hand when I heard him call; I turned my back and left it all. I could not stay another day To laugh, to love, to work, or play. Tasks left undone must stay that way; I found that peace at the close of day. If my parting has left a void, Then fill it with remembered joy. A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss, Ah yes, these things I too will miss. Be not burdened with times of sorrow. I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow. My lifes been full, I savored much: Good friends, good times, a loved ones touch. Perhaps my time seems all too brief; Dont lengthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your heart and share with me, God wanted me now. He set me free. Author: Linda Jo Jackson
Psalm 231 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his names sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 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. Psalm 27: 1, 4, 51 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 4 One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. Psalm 139:1-181 O LORD, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night, 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mothers womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them–they are more than the sand; I come to the end–I am still with you. If I Take the Wings of the MorningIll awake with the dawning to find you still, still with me. Where shall I go from your Spirit? How can I run from you? If I ascend to the heavens or make my bed in hell, You are there, You are there as well. If I choose night for my comfort, Will I then be alone? If I say darkness will hide me, youll never find me here, I will find you are always near. If I take the wings of the morning and I fly to the ends of the earth Ill awake with the dawning to find you still, still with me. Dear God, You know all about me, Know when I rise and I fall, You know my heart and my thinking, You know the ways Ive tried, Be my guide if I live or die. If I take the wings of the morning and I fly, I fly to the ends of the earth Then Ill awake with the dawning to find you still, Ill find you still, Dear God, Youre still, Youre still with me.
Revelation 21:1-7John 14:1-3, 25-27I Was There to Hear Your Borning CryIll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you are baptized, to see your life unfold. I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit you well; Ill be there in case you wander off and find where demons dwell.
When you found the wonder of the Word,
In the middle ages of your life,
I was there to hear your borning cry,
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