This was the summary that appeared on our service sheet.
Where do animals go when they die?
Back at the
beginning of January we asked people at church to jot down the questions they
had always wanted to ask at church – people did just that from the youngest to
the oldest in our church family. And since then we have been taking a look at
the questions they asked.
It was one of
the younger members of the church family who asked this question and it seemed
a good one to come to in today’s service as we welcome families from Scouting
and Guiding at church.
We’ll start
with a celebration of the animals around us in the world of God’s creation … and especially of the
animals around us in our homes. There
are lots of people who have pets and today we are going to celebrate those pets
we look after.
We’ll delight
in the world of God’s celebration. We
humans are part of that animal kingdom but given a special responsibility of
care for the world we live in as part of the Bible’s celebration of creation in
Genesis 1. It’s man’s inhumanity against
man that leads to the disaster of the flood: it’s not just people who are given
a chance to start all over again, it’s animals too. The animals of God’s creation are celebrated
wonderfully in Psalm 104, a Psalm that is the inspiration of two of the hymns
we are going to sing this morning. The
age old favourite about ‘all creatures
great and small’ and the other by an American campaigner for the care of
animals and for the environment, Carolyn Wynfrey Gillette.
And this was the even briefer note:
To all things … new life
So many things you’ve
made
How wisely you’ve
made them all
The earth is full
of your creatures.
All of them depend
on you
You give them food
and they eat
When you take away
your breath,
They die and go
back to the dust from which they came.
But when you give
them breath,
They are created;
You give new life
to the earth …
And in Jesus bring
all things
On earth and in
heaven
Back to yourself.
Psalm 104 and Colossians 1:15-20
And this is a set of rough notes that takes you through the all-age service.
Welcome and entrance of the Scouts and
Guides
Call to Worship
Lord
you have made so many things,
How
wisely you made them all
The
earth is filled with your creatures.
A time of praise and worship with
Hy-Spirit
Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
As
our service begins with praise and worship and we share in prayer – it’s good
to give thanks to God and praise him for the world around us
Think
through the slides first –
The
world of God’s creation – the beautiful world –
Plants
and water
Soil
and seeds
Rocks
and air and erosion
All
animals – big and small and little and large
We
need to take care – to be care- takers of this wonderful world of God’s
creation
The
world is in our hands
So
let’s put those pictures together and join in a prayer of thanks to God for the
gift of creation
Share
together in the prayer
We thank you, Lord, for the gift of your
creation.
We
thank you for plants AND for water,
We thank you, Lord, for the gift of your
creation
We
thank you for soil and seeds,
We thank you, Lord, for the gift of your
creation
We
thank you for rocks and air,
We thank you, Lord, for the gift of your
creation
We
thank you for all animals.
We thank you, Lord, for the gift of your
creation
We
thank you for all these gifts
and ask you to help us be good and wise
caretakers of this beautiful earth.
Now
let’s think of the animals in our lives – pets other animals that you keep –
get some people to tell us about the pets they have, the animals they keep
What
are they?
How
do you look after them?
What
do you do to care for them?
Let’s
share a prayer for the animals in our lives and for all the wonderful gift of
animals in our lives.
Think
through the slides first.
We thank you Lord, for the gift of your
creation
We
thank you, Lord, for the gift of animals in our lives.
We
thank you for animals that comfort us, delight us and give us companionship.
We
thank you for dogs and cats, birds and hamsters, guinea pigs and fish.
We
thank you, Lord, for the gift of animals.
We
also thank you, Lord, for animals that give us wool and feathers to keep us
warm. We thank you for animals that give us milk, cheese and eggs to help us
grow and to keep us healthy.
We thank you, Lord for the gift of animals
We
thank you for horses, donkeys and oxen that work hard on farms around the
world.
We
thank you, Lord, for the gift of animals.
We
thank you, Lord, for animals that eat plants and fertilize the soil, making it
richer and more fertile for new growth and new life. We thank you, Lord, for
the gift of insects, and especially bees, to pollinate fruit and vegetable
plants for us to eat and flowers to give us joy.
We
thank you, Lord, for the gift of animals.
We
thank you, Lord, for being our Good Shepherd, for seeking us when we are lost,
for showing us water to quench our thirst, and for leading us to green
pastures.
Help us to share our blessings with others
and to help others have clean water and green pastures to feed and nourish
their families, too.
In Christ’s name, Amen.
There’s
a wonderful Psalm that celebrates all the wonders of God’s creation – all the
creatures of God’s world too – all creatures great and small
One
of my favourite Psalms
Psalm
104
Praise the LORD, my soul!
O LORD, my God, how great you are!
You are
clothed with majesty and glory;
You created
the moon to mark the months;
the sun
knows the time to set.
You made the
night, and in the darkness
all the wild
animals come out.
The young
lions roar while they hunt,
looking for
the food that God provides.
When the sun
rises, they go back
and lie down
in their dens.
Then people
go out to do their work
and keep
working until evening.
LORD, you have made so many things!
How wisely
you made them all!
The earth is
filled with your creatures.
That’s a
lovely verse – the one we started the service with
LORD, you have made so many things!
How wisely
you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures
A Hy-Spirit Song
Today
is St David’s Day – he had a love of the beauty of God’s creation – the wonder
of God’s world.
The
story is told of that moment when he was preaching and a dove landed on him –
the care and the gentleness, the love and the tenderness, the beauty of the
world of God’s creation.
There’s
another Saint that’s linked with the wonderful world of God’s creation and the wonderful world of
animals – St Francis – the dove that he holds in his hand.
Holding
a bird – the tenderness, the gentleness, but you have to have a strength, a
courage too.
Someone
who ‘listened to God, who took care of creation, and who ministered to animals.
‘St.
Francis grew up in a wealthy household, and as a young man, he decided to give
up all his riches – even his nice clothes – to serve God and others. He treated
all animals with respect and, it is said, once preached to a flock of birds.
‘Animals
are indeed important in our lives. We live with them. We play with them. They
give us comfort and joy. But animals also help to nourish us. Today it’s good
to honour both our pets and those animals who give us food, work on our farms,
and are part of the cycle of life on our earth.
‘As
the son of a wealthy merchant in Assisi, in Italy, Francis could have lived a
life of great pleasure. Instead, he lived a life of great service and great
sharing.
‘Eight
hundred years later, we are asked to share, just as Francis of Assisi was asked
to share and serve. We are all asked to be the hands and feet of Christ
whenever we see “the least” of our human family in hunger or in thirst.
In
many countries of the world, animals are an important part of people’s lives.
Animals pull ploughs, provide eggs and milk, pollinate plants and fertilize
soil. Animals are truly a gift and a vital part of creation.
As
we honour our own animals this day, we also honour the role of animals in
feeding the hungry, all over the world.
We
pray to seek out people in need, wherever they might be. We pray to serve them
with our gifts, our blessings and ourselves
We
are going to sing a grand hymn of St Francis –
13 All creatures of our God and king 1,2,3
and 7
Back
at the beginning of January we asked people at church to jot down the questions
they had always wanted to ask at church – people did just that from the
youngest to the oldest in our church family. And since then we have been taking
a look at the questions they asked.
It
was one of the younger members of the church family who asked this question “Where
do animals go when they die?”
Has
that ever happened? What did you do?
We
thought it was nice to have a little ceremony – and do a burial in the garden.
With
my dog when I was little – the dog was taken away.
It’s
good to celebrate the wonder of God’s creation – and the animals s around us in
the world of God’s creation … and
especially the animals around us in our homes.
There are lots of people who have pets and today it’s good to celebrate
those pets we look after.
In
the Bible story it’s fascinating the way it unfolds – we humans are part of the
animal kingdom but given a special responsibility of care for the world we live
in as part of the Bible’s celebration of creation in Genesis 1.
It’s
man’s inhumanity against man that leads to the disaster of the flood: it’s not
just people who are given a chance to start all over again, it’s animals
too.
In
the ten commandments it’s not just people who are to have a day of rest each
week – the animls that work on a farm are to
be given a day of rest that day too.
The
animals of God’s creation are celebrated wonderfully in so many of the Psalms –
Jesus
tells of the care God has even for the tiniest of birds … and he speaks of the
care he has for people as a shepherd cares for his sheep.
But
what of this question?
I
love to come back to Psalm 104
That
wonderful verse
LORD,
you have made so many things!
How
wisely you made them all!
The
earth is filled with your creatures
Let’s
read on in this Psalm
LORD,
you have made so many things!
How
wisely you made them all!
The
earth is filled with your creatures.
There
is the ocean, large and wide,
where
countless creatures live,
large
and small alike.
The
ships sail on it, and in it plays Leviathan,
that
sea monster which you made.
All
of them depend on you
to
give them food when they need it.
You
give it to them, and they eat it;
you
provide food, and they are satisfied.
When
you turn away, they are afraid;
When
you take away your breath, they die
and
go back to the dust from which they came.
But
when you give them breath, they are created;
you
give new life to the earth.
May
the glory of the LORD last for ever!
May
the LORD be happy with what he has made!
I
love that thought.
It’s
Psalm 104 that suggests that animals like humans return to the dust they came
from – wonderful echoes of the thought that in modern science that we are all
made of star dust!
Then
it goes on with that hope of life that comes again …
But
when you give them breath, they are created;
you
give new life to the earth.
May
the glory of the LORD last for ever!
May
the LORD be happy with what he has made!
Through our faith in Jesus just as humans have
that wonderful hope of resurrection celebrated throughout the New Testament so
the whole of God’s creation, animals included, come in the fullness of time to
be part of the new heaven and the new earth of God’s creation, a conviction
expressed wonderfully in an ancient hymn to Christ in Colossians 1:15-20
Christ
is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the firstborn Son, superior
to all created things.
16
For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the
unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God
created the whole universe through him and for him.
17
Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their
proper place.
18
He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He
is the firstborn Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might
have the first place in all things.
19
For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of
God.
20
Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself.
God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to
himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.
In
the fullness of time God brings the whole universe, the whole of his creation
back to himself – God makes peace through Jesus Christ, through his death and
resurrection, and so bring back to himself all things, both on earth and in
heaven.
That’s
the wonderful thought I would celebrate – that the whole of God’s creation is
brought back to God in the fullness of time.
And
now, in the present, our task is to look after that creation – and to care for
the animals God has given us to look after.
We
are going to sing a hymn by Carolyn Wynfey Gillette –
O
God, your creatures fill the earth with wonder and delight,
When
I wanted to use this hymn I had to write for permission and got a lovely letter
back –
Not
only do they have a dog called Molly that they treasure, but Carolyn and Bruce
also have been fostering a little boy … in the letter they ask for our prayers
for him
We
appreciate your prayers for a wonderful five-year old boy who recently left our
home after being our foster son for the past 19 months, for those caring for
him now and our concerned family.
Sing
to the Lord a new song!
Blessings
on you and your ministry!
Grace
and peace
Prayers of Concern
Finish with an age-old favourite
All things bright
and beautiful
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