Assembly: 14th September 2001 Fernhurst Junior School, UK
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Introduction
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The Lord be with you
And also with you
It has been a difficult week, and many of us, many of you will have been shocked by the pictures on the TV and the news of the terrible things that took place in America, last Tuesday.
America sometimes seems such a long way away, pictures of that skyline of New York with its huge skyscraping buildings, crowded streets, yellow taxis; and yet it is through events like these that touch all of us, that we realise that it is not so far away.
Last night, I received an email from a friend called Richard who lives in New York, and who goes to a Church not too far from the World Trade Centre. He described to me in that email how he was sent by a policeman from that church into a nearby hospital, where he spent all of Tuesday helping people brought in: praying with them, comforting them, extending
the hand of friendship and the love of God to people in pain and distress. This one email made it very close for me.
People sometimes ask me, when the world witnesses another great tragedy, they ask me where was God in all of this? What did God do to prevent the aeroplanes from crashing into the towers, or to prevent the towers from falling down?
That email showed to me, and I hope it showed to you that God was there, with the hurt and with the injured – providing comfort and providing healing. God is there for all of them, and for all of us, for the
injured, for the dying and for those who have lost someone very close to them. And I am very sure that God himself has gathered up all those who have died, in the aeroplanes, in the Buildings, in the rubble underneath the buildings, God has taken all those people and brought them to be with Him.
Reading
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St Paul said:
“We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him. In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, then who can be against us? Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all. I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, nothing in the world above nor the world below – there is
nothing in all creation that will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 8:28-39 edited)
Whilst the death of so many, many people is a real sadness, we need to recognise that for them, and for us, it is not the end, but a change. They have been taken from this life but into a new life with God, and as St Paul said when he wrote his letter the Romans all those years ago, there is nothing which separates us from the love of God, whether in this world or the next.
Prayer
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Let us just remain quiet for a moment while we ask God in our hearts to care for those affected by these events. Please respond with: Raise us up Lord
Let us Pray
We bring those in need to God
For those who suffer in this present tragedy
Raise us up Lord
For the relatives and friends of those involved
Raise us up Lord
For those who wait anxiously for news of those still missing
Raise us up Lord
For those who are helping and comforting those affected
Raise us up Lord
For those who did this terrible thing, may they turn away from violence
and hatred, and learn to love their enemies
Raise us up Lord
For the many other people throughout the world who are in need and suffering at this time
Raise us up Lord
For ourselves, that our hearts may be generous to those in need
Raise us up Lord
Blessing
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The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Numbers 6.24-26) and may the blessing of God
Almighty, +Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you, and remain with you always.
Dismissal
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Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord
Thanks be to God. Amen.
