To learn more about the idea of a family funeral service see "Rethinking a Reformed Funeral".
Our Approach to God
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. Amen.
Our Hymn:
"Precious Lord, Take My Hand" Dorsey
Our Prayer of Confession
Eternal 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 Pardon
Our Hymn of Adoration:
"My Jesus, I Love Thee" Featherstone
Prayer
The 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" Adkins
We Give Testimony to Our Faith
Our world belongs to God.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus, Come
quickly.
We long for that day
when Jesus will return as triumphant
King,
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 the
moment
when God's Son will open the book
of life
and present his people to the Father;
when all who have been on the
Lord's side will be honored,
the fruit of our small acts of
obedience will be shown,
and the courage of martyrs will be
celebrated.
But the deeds of tyrants and
oppressors,
of heretics and enemies of the truth,
will be damned.
With the whole creation
we wait for the purifying fire of
judgment.
For then we will see the Father face
to 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 will
flourish,
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 Benediction
Our Doxology:
"By the Sea of Crystal" Kuipers
