Before you, O God,
we remember today the ones who went before us.
Not held back by the awesomeness of the task
they followed you with tenacity and joy.
Full of courage and trust they went to new places,
ready to stand and suffer with you.
Like a cloud of many witnesses
they stand around us.
Before you, O God,
we remember the saints of our day,
who do not live by the rigid letter of the law
but by the wild demands of faith,
always prepared to give more,
always ready to be turned inside out,
knowing that new ways can only be found
through risk and pain.
Like a cloud of many witnesses
they stand around us.
Eternal God,
we thank you for the witnesses of all times and all places.
May the stories of their lives show us the richness of your grace.
May they inspire us to look deep within our souls.
May they encourage us to take the risk of faith
and to serve you in new ways.
Francis Brienen, United Reformed Church, UK
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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself,
so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
prayer & verse 
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