First Rite: While Standing before the Coffin
The minister says these SCRIPTURE VERSES:
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. He who believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11: 25-26 (RSV)
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes. Job 19: 25-27
We brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out of it. 1 Timothy 6: 7
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1: 21
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33: 27
Second Rite: Dedication of body to Lord
A HYMN or A PSALM may be said or sung by all:
either
or
PSALM 23
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me,
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
PSALM 90 (verses 1-6 and 11-12)
Lord, you have been our dwelling-place
throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn men back to dust, saying,
‘Return to dust, O sons of men.’
For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning –
though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.
Who knows the power of your anger?
For your wrath is as great
as the fear that is due to you.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Third Rite : Supplication to the Lord
THE BIBLE READING follows. One of the following passages may be read:
John 14: 1-6
Jesus said: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many places of rest; 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. You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’
Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’
1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 35-38, 42-44, 50-58
Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
But someone may ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with he Lord for ever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Forth Rite: Remembering the Departed One
SHORT SERMON to be preached
[touching the point ……. “we must live a corruption free life , compassionate and benevolent, as the Holy Trinity is waiting to receive the soul which was created following the Image of God” Amen..
Fifth Rite: THE LORD’S PRAYER:
All
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today
our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
now and for ever. Amen.
The minister leads the people in PRAYER using one or more of these, or other, prayers:
Almighty God, we rejoice that the souls of those who have died trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ live with you in everlasting joy and happiness. We thank you for the life of N and for all that you have given us through him. And we thank you that in mercy you have delivered him from the miseries of this sinful life. In your great goodness, Lord, complete soon the number of your chosen children and hasten the coming of your kingdom so that, along with all who have departed trusting in Christ, we may be made perfect in body and soul in your eternal glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Heavenly Father, who gave your Son Jesus Christ to suffering and death on the cross, and raised him to life in glory, grant to us and all who mourn a patient faith in time of darkness, and strengthen our hearts with the knowledge of your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Merciful God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life: raise us from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, so that when we depart this life we may be found trusting in Christ and thus receive your eternal blessing, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
A HYMN may be sung.
Sixth Rite: THE Pre- COMMITTAL
The minister reads these verses from PSALM 103 (verses 8, 10, 13-18):
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children
Seventh Rite: Committal to the fire place
The minister says these words. Some, or all, of the words in brackets may be omitted:
It has pleased Almighty God to take from this world the soul of N here departed. We now commit his body (to the grave; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust) in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life for all who trust in Christ, who will change our frail and mortal bodies to be like his glorious resurrection body, according to his mighty power by which he is able to transform all things.
Eighth Rite: Dedication of the Body to fire
The minister reads a BIBLE VERSE:
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.
Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labour.
Revelation 14: 13
Cast all your anxiety on God because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5: 7
Ninth Rite : Post Committal
Extempore Prayer by the minister …………..add “Fire of Your Love may sanctify XYX, the Holy Spirit may smooth His/Her last journey.
May the Lord , Angels and Saints receive XYZ.
or
Deliver your servant………………, O Sovereign Lord Christ, from all evil, and set him free from every bond; that he may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collection of Ash and remaining bodypart in a Pot and cover it by a golden cloth marked with +
Tenth Rite: The Grace
The minister concludes with the GRACE:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore. Amen.
Departure
On Sunday the Pot shall be placed near the ALTER – Eucharist/MASS or General Reformed Sunday Assembly ………….. Burial of the Pot with short prayer followed by Grace
or
In alternative the pot should be dedicated to a River or Ocean with sort prayer -Lords Prayer and Grace
