Below is my script for the ANZAC service at Verrierdale Hall. Wherever you are on ANZAC Day, why not take time to pray the Lord's Prayer.
This morning, you’ll find the Our Father printed out for those who wish to read or pray aloud. This is the prayer Jesus taught his followers, everyday men and women. In the early hours of the morning of his arrest, Jesus faced his greatest challenge, one that would lead to his sacrificial death.
As the servicemen and women approached ANZAC Cove, they awaited the dawn. As the day flickered to life, whatever fear they harboured grew as first light revealed not sandy beaches, but rocky ones. Not flat land, but cliffs. They knew this was their challenge, one that would lead many to their own sacrificial death. When we feel inclined to give up in the face of great challenges, many of us instinctively take time to look up, to pray.
In fields, beaches and hollows long ago, some prayed this prayer for the first time, and some for the last. Today, I invite you to pray along with those who’ve prayed before us: Christ and his followers, saints and sinners, the heroes and the fallen.
The Lord’s DAWN [12pm - 2am] Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Dan's Prayer
God, we join our prayers to those of long ago. Teach us to mirror their courage in our lives. May your presence in our lives bring us peace. May we work for peace on earth for all who seek it. Amen