Please pray for the Ogaard and Proctor families. Is there anything worse than losing a child?
Pray that they might be drawn near to the Lord through His Love and the Word that was shared today.
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Welcome
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who to Jesus for refuge have fled.We come to Jesus today. We come to Jesus who promises that one day all tears will be gone and we who trust him will be given total joy. But it’s hard to trust God. This world is such a battlefield, a painful place where terrible things happen. Still, we come to Jesus because Jesus came to this world to save us from sin, from the devil, and from death itself.
Fear not, I am with you, oh be not dismayed, for I am your God and will still give you aid. I'll rescue you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand.
Because Jesus suffered and died for us, and because Jesus rose from the dead, we can trust him for Kaden, and for ourselves. And there is nothing we can do to gain Jesus’ love. He already loves us with a love that will not stop.
Greeting
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of all mercy and the God of all consolation. He comforts us in all our sorrows so we can comfort others in their sorrows with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Thanks be to God.
Hymn #532 “How Great Thou Art”
Prayer
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray. . . . O God our Father, your beloved Son took children into his arms and blessed them. Give us grace, we pray, that we may entrust Kaden to your never-failing care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Special Music . . . . . I Will Remember You . . . . . Sara McLaughlin
Scripture Readings
First Peter 2Sharing of Remembrances
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to the Lord, a living stone. Though that stone was rejected by men, it is chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
First Peter 4
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For
“Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; 11 let us turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil...
18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God…
Kaden Jonathon Ogaard was born on July 8, 2009, at Litchfield, Minnesota to Heather Ogaard and Andrew Proctor. His life ended on October 29, 2009, at Litchfield. He had reached the age of 3 months and 21 days.
Kaden is survived by his parents, brother Tanner and sister Kylee. By grandparents Kory Heller of Maple Lake, Jeff Proctor of Ogilvie, Anne Peterson of Ogilvie, John and Lisa Janiak of Cokato, Goffery and Susan Ogaard of Litchfield.
He was preceded in death by great-great-grandparents Maurice and Doris Ogaard, Shirley Benson and Clarence Wiler.
We then offered an opportunity for friends and family to share words of comfort and care. Quite a few spoke. It was a sweet, bitter, loving, painful time.Special Music . . . . In the Arms of the Angels . . . . Sara McLaughlin
Scripture Readings
Mark 5Pastor’s Message
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly,
“My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”
24 So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Then Jesus stops to heal a sick woman… in the meantime...
35 … some people came from Jairus’ house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house […], he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them,
“Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
40 And they laughed at him.
Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about […] At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
John 20 (this is when Mary is at the empty grave of our Lord Jesus)
11 Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
The gospel of the Lord
Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus has been raised from the dead. And because he lives, and because he died to take away our sin, and because he defeated the power of death, we can know God’s love and we can trust all our loved ones to Jesus’ amazing grace.
There is nothing we can ever do that will make God love us less. That’s the promise we have because of Jesus. He didn’t wait for us to get things ready for him, he didn’t come only to the religious people or the righteous people. If he had done that, I would be lost.
No, Jesus comes to us when we are at our weakest, when our faith is gone and we are weeping. That’s when he comes to save us and to help us to trust, even just a little bit.
In John 14 Jesus says:
18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you”
As long as we live in this world we will have our doubts and our questions and our pain. This world is a very painful place to live in. This world is a battleground between good and evil… our own lives are caught here—none of us is good enough—all of us suffer from sin.
But a champion fighter has come—his name is Jesus Christ and he has everything to save Kaden and to save us from all the pain and trouble of this world, and to bring us to himself in the Kingdom of God.
And nothing you can ever do will make God love you less. God has decided how he feels about you when he came to this pain filled world in Jesus Christ—to rescue us. Though the suffering goes on, and the grief goes on until Jesus comes again, we have a wonderful word of hope.
In Romans 8 it says:
18 …the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. …
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Sometimes not so much patience...., but someday, trusting in God, we will see Kaden with a new body—rescued from the trouble of this world. This death is a terrible thing—don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—but we do have the promise of Jesus to bring us through… even in these hardest times…
Romans 8 goes on…26 The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit prays for us with sighs too deep for words…
Heather, A.J., Tanner & Kylie… all you grandparents… let me encourage you not to keep your pain and sorrow to yourselves.
Bring it to Jesus in prayer.
Come to him.
Let him carry you.
Pray with each other and for each other.
Read and trust his wonderful Word.
You are not abandoned and you are not lost.
Jesus loves you and he will carry you through when you let him… when you are weak He is strong for you… and he will carry you through to his kingdom—to heaven—to the kingdom of God.
Confession of Faith
I believe in God, the Father almighty,The Prayers
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Let us pray…Lord’s Prayer
Almighty God, you bring us together today to hear your wonderful promises. Help us to trust you. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You see, heavenly Father, that we are so torn apart by this terrible thing that has happened. Come to us and help us. Especially be close to Heather and Andrew and this family. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Help us to trust your promises for Kaden and for ourselves. Help us to rest him, and ourselves, into your merciful and immortal care, trusting that you care for him and for us. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of all grace, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to bring life and immortality to light. We give you thanks because by his death Jesus destroyed the power of death and by his resurrection 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 life, nor things present nor things to come shall 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.
Amen
Our Father in heaven, holy be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. AmenHymn #448 “Amazing Grace”
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Again, I would ask your prayers for this family and for all who are going through the valley of the shadow of death and/or loss. Let us trust the Lord and his promises no matter what.
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