Chaplains Corner December 2016

For those of your who may have missed the memorial service for Chapter member Vernon "Vern" Walden, this is the Liturgy for Vern's Memorial Service:

Dear family and friends of Vern Walden, we are here today in the name of Jesus Christ, to worship God, our Father in Heaven, and to give Him thanks for our time with Vern whom God has called to His eternal home in heaven.

We are gathered at this time in the name of Jesus Christ, to draw comfort and hope from the words of Jesus, who said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in Me, even though they were dead, they shall live; and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” and to experience the comforting joy of Your presence and peace, as we mourn the death of Vern Walden.

Join with me in prayer: O God, our heavenly Father, we come to You in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior and Lord, to experience the comforting joy of Your presence and peace as we worship You. We thank You for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, so that we could receive forgiveness and cleansing for our sins; to receive the gift of faith to take the place of our fears, and to receive the Biblical knowledge about eternal life with you in heaven. We pray that you would open our minds to focus our attention on You, Your gifts, and Your Word and be filled with Your comfort and peace as we mourn Vern’s death. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Listen to the Word of God from the Holy Bible when Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." We thank you, O God for the hope and comfort we have received from Your Word at this time.

O holy and awesome God, we especially thank You for our precious memories of our times with Vern that will keep him present to during the days ahead. We thank You for Vern’s goodness, wisdom, and faith which passed from his life into our own lives, and made our world a safer and better place to live. The Vern we all knew was a loving father and dear kindhearted friend. And we all feel a heavy sadness caused by his departure from our midst. We ask You to comfort and strengthen Vern’s loving and supportive family and us, lead us all to a new or renewed faith in You through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, and to fill us with the hope of eternal life with You in Heaven.

And now, we sincerely ask You, our Holy Father in heaven, to help us to go forward from this moment to fulfill Your purpose and plan for our lives, and help us to joyfully anticipate being with you in heaven forever. Until the day of our home-going or the second coming of Jesus Christ, give us courage and the strength to serve You in this world as we live our faith in obedience to You. We ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen

Love you all,

Chaplain Szilvasy