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November 5, 2017
RETURNING to GOD
We are born in exile and die there too.
As soon as we set sail on the great voyage of life,
we begin our return.
We spend our lives dreaming
of a homeland we have never seen.
Like homing birds
that are released in a strange country,
and know no rest untilthey return
home,
so it is with us.
When we die,
we do not so much go to God
as return to Him.
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PRAYER OF COMMENDATION:
Into your hands, Father of Mercies, we commend our brothers and sisters in the sure and certain hope that, together with all who have died in Christ, they will rise with Him on the last day.
We give you thanks for the blessings which you have bestowed upon them in this life;
they are signs to us of your goodness and of our fellowship with the saints in Christ.
Merciful Lord, turn towards us and listen to our prayers: open the gates of Paradise
to your servants and help us who remain to comfort one another with assurances
of faith, until we all meet in Christ and are with you and with our brothers and sisters
for ever. Amen
I GO TO THE FATHER
PRAYER OF FAREWELL
I know that my Redeemer lives,
And on that final day of days,
His voice shall bid me rise again:
Unending joy, unceasing praise!
This hope I cherish in my heart:
To stand on earth, my flesh restored,
and, not as a stranger but a friend,
Behold my Saviour and my Lord.