Memorial Service for Theodore B. Meldahl Friday, October 12, 2007, 4:00 p.m. Hope Lutheran Church of The Villages, FL Pastor William Corkish Presiding ORDER OF WORSHIP We gather here today to give thanks for a very special life, the life of Theodore Bernard Meldahl. We also gather to give thanks for the gift of another special life - the life of God's son, Jesus Christ, through whom we have resurrection victory. And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, love of God our Father and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of all mercy and the God of all consolation. He comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can comfort others in their sorrows with the consolation we ourselves receive from God. When we were baptized into Christ Jesus we were baptized into His death. We were buried, therefore, with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, too, might live a new life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Let us pray: O God of grace & God of glory, we remember before You today our brother - Ted Meldahl. We thank You for giving him to his family & friends to love as a companion in their pilgrimage on earth. In Your boundless compassion, console those who mourn. give them your aid, so that they may see in death the gate to eternal life. Help us who still remain to continue our course on earth in confidence until by Your call we are all reunited with those who have gone before us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. May you now find comfort in God's word: ***** PSALM 23-"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For You, God, are with me; Your rod & 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 & mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." ***** ROMANS 8-"What, then, shall we say to these things? If God is for us who could be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all; how will he not also give us all things we need? Who dares to bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies? And it is Christ Jesus who died and was raised to life who is at the right hand of God, interceding in our behalf. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, neither height nor depth, neither any powers nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." ***** JOHN 14:1-3-"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again that where I am and where Ted is, there you may be also. And where I go you know the way. Thomas answered: Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to Thomas: 'I am the Way, the Truth & the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.'" THE HOMILY: Grace be unto to you from God our Father and from our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. ***** When Ted's remains arrive here in this Memorial Garden in a couple weeks, the message will be the same: "Ted is not here." And the only reason we are here is to pay our respects to the one who meant so much to each of you. Remember Mary & Martha? They gathered in a similar garden. It was there that an angel from Heaven appeared to them & said: "Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? Jesus is not here; He has risen." Now even though Resurrection Day has not yet come for those who die, there is a very real sense in which we can hear God saying to us today: "Ted is not here. His life has been removed from his body and has returned to the God who made it." And here is what he would want me to say to you on this special occasion of his memorial service: "I am home in heaven, dear ones Oh, so happy & so bright. There is perfect joy & beauty In this everlasting light. All the pain & grief is over, Every restless tossing passed. I am now at peace forever Safely home in Heaven at last. Did you wonder I so calmly Trod the valley of the shade? Oh, but Jesus' love illumined Every dark & fearful glade. And He came himself to meet me In the way so hard to tread; And with Jesus' arm to lean on Could I have one doubt or dread? Then, you must not grieve so sorely, For I love you dearly still. Try to look beyond death's shadows; Pray to trust the Father's will. There is work still waiting for you, So you must not idly stand Do it now while life remaineth; You shall rest in Jesus' land. When your work is all completed, He will gently call you home. Oh, the rapture of that meeting; Oh, the joy to see you come." ***** Let us pray: "God of all grace, You sent Your son, our Savior Jesus Christ to bring life & immortality to light. We give You thanks that by His death Jesus destroyed death and by His resurrection Jesus has opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Make us certain that because He lives, we shall live also, and that neither death nor death, neither things present nor things to come shall be able to separate us from your love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen." * The Lord's Prayer * The commendation: "Into your hands, o merciful Savior, we commend your child, acknowledge, we humbly beseech You. A sheep of Your own fold, a lamb of Your own flock, a sinner of Your own redeeming. we thank You for receiving him into the arms of Your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Let us go forth in peace and may the God of peace go with us. Amen. *****