God Bless AMERICA Land of the Free Brave Home of the
God BlessA Service for a National Holiday AMERICA Land of the Free, Home of the Brave Complete Script For Memorial Day The Opening Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune National Anthem 664 6664: God bless our native land! Firm may she ever stand Through storm and night! When the wild tempests rave, Ruler of wind and wave, do thou our country save By thy great might! So shall our prayers arise to God above the skies, On whom we wait. Thou who art ever nigh, Guarding with watchful eye, to thee aloud we cry: God save the state! The Opening Litany, Let Freedom Ring, is read responsively by the pastor and the congregation: P Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! C For freedom Christ has set us free. P May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! C For freedom Christ has set us free. P May there be an abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave. C For freedom Christ has set us free. 3
The service continues with the Confession and Absolution, Freedom From Sin, read by the pastor and responded to by the congregation: P O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; C You have been angry; oh, restore us. P You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; C Repair its breaches, for it totters. P Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, C Whose sin is covered. P Let us then confess our sins to God our Father. C In the presence of God we confess that we are sinful and weak creatures. We have taken for granted God s abundant blessing of our homeland. We have misused the freedom that Christ has won for us. Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen. (Silent payer and confession) P Almighty God in his mercy has given his Son to die for you and for his sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace for freedom Christ has set you free! The Prayer of the Day is read by the pastor: P Heavenly Father, generation after generation you have raised up Godly men and women willing to work for the greater good. Continue to raise up individuals, Godly and righteous, through whom you will preserve our nation s freedom. Give us eyes of faith to see how the freedom we now experience is but a foretaste of the greater freedom we have in Christ. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. 4
The service continues with the Responsive Psalm of Psalm 68:4-6, read responsively by the pastor and the congregation: P Sing to God, sing praises to his name; C Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; P his name is the Lord; C Exult before him! P Father of the fatherless and protector of widows C Is God in his holy habitation. P God settles the solitary in a home; C He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. The Old Testament Reading, Isaiah 25:6-9, is read by the pastor: P On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. The Epistle Reading, Romans 8:38-39, is read by the pastor: P For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 5
The Gospel Reading, Matthew 11:25-30, is read by the pastor: P At that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. The Children s Sermon for Memorial Day is delivered by the pastor or other worship leader: (Use any props that can be associated with barbequing hot dogs, hot dog buns, apron, spatula, or cooler) P Welcome boys and girls! If you look here you will notice that I ve brought some items up with me today. I ve got some hot dogs, hot dog buns, and my apron. What do you think I am planning on doing today after church? (Answer: barbeque) Exactly! I am going to barbeque. Maybe some of your families are planning on cooking out today as well. Today we are celebrating a special day called Memorial Day. It is a day to remember all the people who have served to protect our country. Maybe some of your brothers or sisters or parents and grandparents have served in the army as soldiers; today is the day that we say thank you to them! One of the ways that we say thank you to them is by having cookouts in their honor. We have a big feast and celebrate them and the freedom that we have in our land. In our Scripture reading today we heard about another cookout celebration. In the book of Isaiah it says, On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. 6
The feast or cookout that Isaiah is talking about is when Jesus Christ returns. On that day we will celebrate that freedom that we have in Jesus. We will celebrate the freedom that we have from all bad things like pain, fear, and sadness. We will celebrate being with Jesus with a cookout! So today, if you are having a cookout, do two things: Have fun and think about how much more we will have to celebrate at Jesus return! The service continues with the Hymn of the Day, sung by the congregation to the tune National Hymn 10 10 10 10: God of our fathers, whose almighty hand Leads forth in beauty all the starry band Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies: Our grateful songs before thy throne arise. Thy love divine hath led us in the past, In this free land by thee our lot is cast; Be thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay, Thy Word our law, thy paths our chosen way. Refresh thy people on their toilsome way; Lead us from night to never-ending day; Fill all our lives with love and grace divine, And glory, laud and praise be ever thine. The Sermon for Memorial Day, based on Isaiah 25:6-9, is delivered by the pastor: P Cookouts and celebrations always seem to go together. And Memorial Day is no exception! Throughout this great land of ours, millions of people will gather together today to have a barbeque. Coals will be stirred, ribs will be slathered in sauce, and brats will sizzle as millions of people gather together to celebrate the freedom that we have in this country. We use this day to honor the service men and women who have worked to maintain our freedom. On this day we do many different things: Parades, memorial services, and moments of silence. Yet, many people would agree that Memorial Day would not be 7
Memorial Day without a barbeque! A cookout of burgers and brats is used to celebrate our national freedom. God s Word makes scant mention of barbequing. However, Scripture does make a few references to outdoor cooking. One of the few references to outdoor grilling is from the words of the prophet Isaiah. There it is written: On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. Call it what you will a cookout, a barbeque, or a party but the prophet Isaiah is talking about a great feast that is to come. This is God s feast that has been planned for all of eternity. This is the Marriage Feast of the Lamb the day when Christ returns to unite heaven and earth. On that day, the freedom that we now have from sin will be blown wide open so that we have freedom from death, despair, and all decay. This is a banquet to celebrate the end of all wars and violence, aggression and anger. The feast that Isaiah is talking about is the day when we will celebrate Christ having forever ended all earthly hardship. A cookout of rich foods full of marrow and wellaged wine will be used to celebrate what God has done. Notice the parallel here: On Memorial Day, we celebrate our national freedom with a cookout. On the Last Day, we will celebrate our eternal freedom with a cookout. The joy that fills our hearts today is but a foretaste of the greater joy that will fill our hearts when Christ returns. Today we marvel at the sacrifice of the military men and women who have given their lives so that we may live in freedom. On the Last Day we will marvel at the sacrifice of our God who gave up His life so that all of creation could live in freedom. No matter how good of a cook you have manning the grill today, our Memorial Day cookouts are but a sliver of the divine cookout we will experience at Christ s return. By Rev. Trevor Sutton. Image: istockphoto.com. 2013 by for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO 63026. 1-800-325-9414. www.creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. 8