September 11, 2022
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Give us hearts to live into your risky miracles. (Walter Brueggemann) Gathering Announcements Sunday, September 18 10:30 AM All-Church worship with Lake Sunapee UMC and Grantham At the gazebo in Sunapee Harbor Bring a chair and picnic lunch. Monday, September 19 6:30 PM SPRC at Sunapee Saturday, September 24 9:00 – 3:00 Newport Church Vendor Fair Sunday, October 30 4:00 PM SPRC meet with D.S. (Zoom) 5:00 PM Church Conference (Zoom) Gathering Song How Firm a Foundation Fernando Ortega https://youtu.be/Prb4C_PEwWM Opening Prayer Almighty God, in your keeping there is shelter from the storm, and in your mercy there is comfort for the sorrows of life. Hear now our prayer for those who mourn and are heavy laden; for those who have suffered the loss of loved ones; and for all who have died in the conflict with terrorism. Give to them strength for this time of grieving. Lighten their darkness with your love. Enable them to see beyond the things of this mortal world the promise of the eternal. Help them to know that your care enfolds all your people, that you are our refuge and strength, and that underneath are your everlasting arms. Amen. Hearing the Word Scripture Psalm 103:1-18 (NRSV) Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits – who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we are made; he remembers that we are dust. As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. Sermon The Importance of Remembering Ever since Queen Elizabeth passed away on Thursday, we have been remembering her 70-year reign, along with the rest of the world. The people of Great Britain are mourning the loss of this remarkable woman, who began her leadership and ser-vice as a young woman during World War II, ascended to the throne through incredible circumstances, and led her country through the Cold War, years of peace and prosperity, and years of troubles and turmoil. With Prince Philip by her side for 73 years, she demonstrated strength in the midst of crisis and almost always seemed to do exactly the right thing. We saw her sense of humor most recently displayed in her “tea party” with Paddington Bear during the Jubilee. And we know that she will be missed especially by her family members. Remembering is important. Remembering people, remembering events, remembering personal growth and triumph, as well as personal faults and failures. We remember significant moments in our lives and in the lives of others. We think back on relationships and how they shaped our existence. We commemorate special occasions, like anniversaries and births. We set aside days as holy days and holidays in order to remember their importance and meaning. And we remember, at least partly, so that we can learn from the past and try to create a better future. The call to remember comes often in the Bible. There are many occasions on which the people of Israel are admonished to “remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord God brought you out of there …” (Deuteronomy 5:15). When the time came for them to be set free from the Egyptians, and God’s last plague came on the land, the death of the firstborn, God spared the Hebrews from this fate by having them mark their doors with lamb’s blood, so that he passed over their houses. The Passover was something that they were told to remember always. God told the people, “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance … Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought [you] out of Egypt … When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” One of the central Christian observances is based on remembering: it is the sacrament of Communion, when we are to remember the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples on the night before he was put to death. During that meal, Jesus instructed them to remember him when they shared the bread and cup again. “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is [given] for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” Remembering is at the core of who we are as the children of God and followers of Jesus Christ. Remembering helps remind us of who we are, and of whose we are. It helps us to be aware of all that God has done for us. Memories anchor us to our history and our heritage, and in sharing the importance of our faith with our children and grandchildren, we are giving them what they will remember in developing a faith of their own. Most of us are part of a church because our parents or grandparents brought us to church as children. Many of my earliest memories are of events or experiences that took place in church, and they are good memories. And those good memories have only increased in number and significance over the course of my life. Today, we are invited to remember the events of September 11, 2001. The things I saw and heard and felt on that day – and the days following – are things that I could never forget. The planes flying into the buildings. The people leaping to their deaths from the top of the towers. The Twin Towers crumbling to the ground in a matter of seconds, killing thousands of people, including many first responders who ran into the buildings when everyone else was running out. The sight of the plane crash in Pennsylvania. The Pentagon with a hole torn in its side. The face of the President when he was given the news of what had happened. The days of searching through the rubble for survivors, or for bodies. The papers posted on fences near Ground Zero with the faces of the missing, families hoping desperately to find their loved ones alive. When we remember, we honor those who gave their lives to save others on that beautiful autumn day. We give respect to those innocent people who died because they happened to work in certain locations in the Towers or Pentagon, or who happened to board a particular plane on a particular day. We acknowledge that there are people – perhaps many people – around the world who hate America enough to plot such a horrible attack. We are grateful for the outpouring of support that came from so many nations and leaders around the globe. And we are prodded to continue to discern ways to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. I will never forget where I was or what I was doing when I heard about the at-tacks. I immediately turned on my TV, and it hardly got turned off for the better part of a week. I watched in horror and shock, unable to turn away from the images on the screen. And then I watched with diminishing hope that anyone would be found in the ashes and dust that used to be skyscrapers filled with offices and workers. My congregation quickly decided to open the church for a prayer service on the evening of September 11th. I was serving a small parish in a small town in South Carolina. And yet, even there I found that one of my members had a connection who worked in one of the Twin Towers. The events of that day touched every American in some way. And our memories of it continue to shape who we are and how we connect with the world. I hope that in remembering, we don’t get stuck in the grief, anger, or desire for revenge that consumed some of us for so long. Instead, I hope that our remembering will be a way of choosing to remember instead the way that our country seemed to come together as one in the days following the attack. For at least a little while, partisan politics took a backseat to honest patriotism and a national time for mourning. In some ways, we expressed our best selves for some time after 9/11. I hope and pray that, in these troubled times we live in now, we will find some way to once again live our best lives together, with partisan politics taking a back seat to creative cooperation in solving the big problems that face our nation. Litany of Remembrance We gather twenty-one years after the day when politics, religion, and culture clashed in a tragic way. On this anniversary day, we gather to remember the events of September 11, 2001. Let us not forget that we are God’s people journeying toward God’s kingdom. On this day, violence created chaos, destroyed lives, and generated fear. We remember the suffering born in pain. We remember the media images of frightening scenes and of human terror that are forever burned into our consciousness. We remember with confidence born of faith that this is not God’s way. On this day, lives were lost, peace was shattered, and hope was endangered. We remember the cries of the people caught amid fire and dust, the families whose loved ones never returned home after that day, the shared mourning of a frightened nation. We remember the day when the skies were no longer peaceful, but rather threatened with a vision of fear. We remember with confidence that hope is still God’s way. On this day, strangers became friends, and ordinary people became heroic. We remember courageous men and women who worked tirelessly to save lives, seek the lost, and heal the wounded. On this day, we pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We remember that God’s kingdom is where the last are first, the lost are found, and the weak are made strong. We remember that we are required to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. We remember that we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. On this day, we work for the kingdom of God on earth. We remember that love comes from the very heart of God, embracing all humanity. We remember that true power is born of humility, obedience, and justice. We remember that God’s grace is a gift that gives life to the world. We remember and journey together to build God’s kingdom. Song It is Well With My Soul Audrey Assad https://youtu.be/zY5o9mP22V0 Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer God of history and remembrance, we remember, we remember. We remember when the towers fell and the lives were lost; we remember the dust and the smoke, the despair, and the grief. We remember that sense of vulnerability and shock. We remember the numbness that overwhelmed us as we watched our screens for hours and hours, waiting for an explanation and understanding that never came. We remember. God of hope and presence, we remember, we remember. We remember the heroes, those who rushed to help, who guided the wounded down innumerable flights of stairs, who rose to overwhelm those who held death in their hands. We remember the hours and the days of binding wounds and healing hurts, giving comfort, drying tears. We remember words of support and compassion from nations far and wide. We remember. We remember in part because we see the ripples of that tragic day continue to impact our world twenty-one years later. We grieve with allies today as our allies grieved with us twenty-one years ago. And together we wonder if there will ever be an end … to violence, to war, to hatred, to death. We remember and we grieve our world’s inability to learn the things that lead to peace. We call to you now in our remembrance, God of justice and peace. Give us a will to truly pray that your kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. On this day of solemn remembrance, may we honor the lives that were lost in this tragic act; may we give thanks for those who served and saved, rendered aid and assistance. May we give comfort to those who live with loss. May we seek justice and peace where it is within our ability, and rely on you when the ability escapes us. On this day of solemn remembrance, may we build what has been torn down, may we mend what has been broken, may your love live when hate seems to reign, and may we bear witness to the cause of peace. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples to pray: The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. Song Let There Be Peace on Earth Voices of Hope Children’s Choir https://youtu.be/bgL1v8FZaNM Benediction May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
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