Includes Sermon Audio
Weekly Church Service – Remembrance Day 11 November 2018
Today’s readings:
Ruth 3: 1 – 5, 4:13 – 17
Psalm 127
Hebrews 9: 23 – 28
Mark 12: 38 – 44
Sentence: Luke 6:38
Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
Collect of the day
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of evil and make us your children and heirs of eternal life; Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever,
Amen.
Remembrance Day symbol – The Poppy
Since 1920, the red poppy has been used as a symbol of commemoration to soldiers who have fallen in times of war. During the First World War, poppies were among the first plants to blossom on the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium. According to soldiers folklore, the vivid red of the poppy came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground. Poppies grew in profusion over the earth which had become the grave to thousands of soldiers, making the poppy an appropriate symbol to represent the sacrifice of life and the bloodshed of trench warfare.
The sight of poppies springing up amidst the ravaged battlefields of Ypres inspired Lt Col John McRae to write one of the most notable and popular poems of the period, In Flanders Fields. It is believed that the poem was written on the 3 May 1915 after McRae risk witnessed the death of his 22 year old friend, Lt Alexis Helmer the day prior.
In November 1918 a meeting was held with the YMCA secretaries from around the world providing Moina Michael with a chance to discuss the poem and her decision to wear a red poppy. This inspired the French YMCA secretary, Anna Guérun to take the idea further and begin selling poppies to raise money for those affected by the war – particularly widows, orphans, veterans and their families.
The poppy soon became widely accepted throughout the Allied nations as a symbol of remembrance which was to be worn on Armistice Day. Poppies were first sold in Australia in 1921.
Sermon Audio
The Reverend Josie Steytler preaches after the gospel reading.
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