Peter C. Hogeterp

To learn more about the idea of a family funeral service see "Rethinking a Reformed Funeral". Our Approach to GodOur help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen.Our Hymn: "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" DorseyOur Prayer of ConfessionEternal God, before whose face the generations rise and pass away, you formed us in your image and willed us to live before you in peace and love; we confess that we are not the people you created or called us to be—we have not loved you with our whole heart or our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive our sin, O God, and create in us a new and willing spirit, so that in our living we may serve you, and in our dying enter the joy of your presence, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.The Assurance of PardonOur Hymn of Adoration: "My Jesus, I Love Thee" Featherstone PrayerThe Pastor or family member offers a prayer of gratitude to God for the life of the family member after which all pray in unison:O God, you understand our grief, for you have felt our pain. Jesus wept with Mary and Martha at the death of Lazarus, and the heavens were darkened when your Son died upon the cross. Comfort us with the knowledge that Jesus raised his friend and will raise all who hear his voice, for he destroyed the darkness of deathwhen you raised him to the light of Easter morn.We give thanks in this day for your servant, who, having lived his life in faith, now lives eternally with you. Especially we thank you for Cornells, for the gift of his life, for the grace you have given him, for all in him that was kind and faithful. We thank you that for him death is past, and pain is ended, and he has entered the joy you have prepared in the company of all the saints.Give us faith to look beyond touch and sight, and in seeing that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, enable us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Bring us at last to your eternal peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.Our Hymn of Peace: "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" Palmer We Share Some Remembrances Our Hymn of Joy: "Father, We Love You" AdkinsWe Give Testimony to Our FaithOur world belongs to God. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, Come quickly.We long for that daywhen Jesus will return as triumphantKing, when the graves will be opened, the sea will give up its dead, and all people will stand before his judgment.We face that day without fear,for the Judge is our Savior.Our daily lives of service aim for themomentwhen God's Son will open the bookof life and present his people to the Father; when all who have been on theLord's side will be honored, the fruit of our small acts ofobedience will be shown, and the courage of martyrs will becelebrated.But the deeds of tyrants andoppressors, of heretics and enemies of the truth, will be damned.With the whole creationwe wait for the purifying fire ofjudgment. For then we will see the Father faceto face. He will heal our hurts, end our wars,and make the crooked straight. Then we will join in the new song to the Lamb without blemish who made us a kingdom and priests. God will be all in all, righteousness and peace willflourish, everything will be made new, and each eye will see at last that our world belongs to God! Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus,come quickly![From Our World Belongs to God, adapted.]The BenedictionOur Doxology: "By the Sea of Crystal" Kuipers

In her book Stilling the Storm (2006, The Alban Institute. Available at www.FaithAliveResources.org), Kathleen Smith sings the praises of the “intentional interim pastor.” This person can greatly assist a church that is transitioning from a long pastorate that has ended well, recovering from a ministry that has ended poorly, or regrouping after the senior pastor of a multi-staff church leaves.

We Gather, Watching Time Prelude and Personal Meditation Welcome and Announcements Our Hymn of Trust: "Like a River Glorious" [PsH 560,TH 699]

Beginning in Praise Organ Prelude and Personal Meditation Welcome and Announcements Our First Thoughts at the New Year: "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven" [PsH 475, PH 478, RL 144, TH 76-77] Our Testimony of Praise I will exalt you, my God and King! I will praise your name for ever and ever!

Praise to Our Risen Lord Prelude and Personal Meditation Choral Call to Worship: "Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!" Our Easter Shout of Praise: Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Glory and honor, dominion and power, be to our God for ever and ever! Christ is risen! Alleluia! Our Easter Song of Praise: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" [PsH 388, PH 113, RL 325, TH 277]

I am writing these words on the first anniversary of my father's death. Before he died, he suffered for nearly three months with bowel cancer. He had a tumor removed a year earlier, but the cancer reappeared. He was eighty-two, and he did not want further surgery; he was eager to go home to be with his Lord.

If you've ever waited for something important to happen, then you understand the significant feelings surrounding the Advent season. Advent is like an expectant mother waiting to give birth. She and her husband have spent months, perhaps even years, talking about and planning for this child. Advent is the last stretch of the planning. The time is coming close now. Is everything ready? Suitcase packed? Doctor and hospital phone numbers close at hand? Is it time? Now?