The service in PDF format is at: 02-15-2017 Nancy Imogene Raleigh funeral
or as follows:
† Nancy Imogene Raleigh †
September 12, 1940 to February 8, 2017
AS WE GATHER
Today we gather in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to remember the life of Nancy Raleigh, and to proclaim the victory of Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead. Both the Old and the New Testaments of the Holy Bible speak powerfully of the resurrection of the dead. Isaiah, Hosea, and Paul all remind us, “’Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Such is the wonder of the Christian faith. When a Christian loved one is taken from us in death, we have the assurance that he or she has won the victory! Our struggle with sin and death, pain and sorrow continues, but his victory is complete! Our sense of loss can be overwhelming, but his victory is won!
CALLING ON GOD 1 Corinthians 15:57 and Psalm 121
Pastor: In the name of the Father, the † Son, and the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
People: Thanks be to God!
Pastor: I look up toward the mountains. Where can I find help?
People: My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
Pastor: He will not let you fall. Your guardian will not fall asleep.
People: Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps.
Pastor: The Lord is your guardian. The Lord is the shade over your right hand.
People: The sun will not beat down on you during the day, nor will the moon at night.
Pastor: The Lord guards you from every evil. He guards your life.
People: The Lord guards you as you come and go, now and forever.
Pastor: Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
People: Thanks be to God!
OPENING SONG “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
Pastor: Let us pray. O God of grace and mercy, we give thanks for Your loving-kindness shown to Nancy and to all Your servants who, having finished their course in faith, now rest from their labors. Grant that we also may be faithful unto death and receive the crown of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
“Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!”
(Jesus said), “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
NANCY’S LIFE IN PICTURES (Music only)
Pastor: Heavenly Father, give to the family of Nancy and to all who mourn comfort in their grief and a sure confidence in Your loving care that, casting all their sorrow on You, they may know the consolation of Your love. Lord, in your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Give courage and faith to the bereaved, that within the communion of Your Church they may have strength to meet the days ahead in the assurance of a holy and certain hope and in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those they love who have departed in the faith. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Receive our thanks for Nancy and for all the blessings You bestowed on her in this earthly life. Bring us at last to our heavenly home that with her we may see You face to face in the joys of paradise. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: O God of all grace, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to bring life and immortality to life. We give You thanks that by His death He destroyed the power of death and by His resurrection He opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Strengthen us in the confidence that because He lives we shall live also, and that neither death nor life nor things present nor things to come will be able to separate us from Your love, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
CLOSING SONG “The Lord’s Prayer”
Immediately following the service, all are invited for the Committal at Mount Union Cemetery. A light lunch reception will take place in Peace’s Fellowship Hall when everyone returns from the Committal. If you are staying at Peace and not attending the Committal, you are invited to enter the Fellowship Hall for coffee as you wait for everyone to return and for the reception to begin.