A Celebration of the Life of

Alexander Pinkerton Crawford

9 T H M A R C H 1 9 5 2 – 2 3 R D S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7

Morris Hall, The Anglican Church Grammar School

East Brisbane 11.30am, Friday 29 September 2017

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EntrancE Hymn Please stand

The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now; a royal diadem adorns the mighty Victor’s brow.

The highest place that heav’n affords is His, is His by right, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and heav’n’s eternal Light.

The joy of all who dwell above, the joy of all below, to whom He manifests His love, and grants His name to know.

To them the cross with all its shame, with all its grace, is giv’n, their name, an everlasting name, their joy, the joy of heav’n.

They suffer with their Lord below, they reign with Him above, their profit and their joy to know the myst’ry of His love.

The cross He bore is life and health, though shame and death to Him: His people’s Hope, is people’s Wealth, their everlasting Theme!

Thomas Kelly, 1820 Tune: St Magnus

Placing of cHristian symbols A Cross and a Bible are placed on the Coffin

The Scriptures

In life, Alex was nourished by the word of God. May Christ greet us, with Alex, saying: Come, blessed of my Father! Amen.

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A Cross

Lord Jesus Christ, you bore our sins on the cross. May this cross be a sign to us of your love for Alex, and the forgiveness of his sins. Amen.

gatHEring in god’s namE

Grace and peace from the Lord be with you. And also with you.

Please be seated. Canon Dr Murray Harvey offers some words of welcome.

I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Let us pray.

Loving God, you alone are the source of life.

May your life-giving Spirit flow through us,

and fill us with compassion, one for another.

In our sorrow give us the calm of your peace.

Kindle our hope, and let our grief give way to joy;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Hymn

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; to his feet your tribute bring. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing. Praise him, praise him

Praise him, praise him. Praise the everlasting King!

Praise him for his grace and favour to his people in distress.

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Praise him, still the same as ever, slow to chide, and swift to bless. Praise him, praise him

Praise him, praise him. Glorious in his faithfulness!

Fatherlike he tends and spares us; well our feeble frame he knows. In his hand he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Praise him, praise him

Praise him, praise him. Widely as his mercy flows!

Angels, help us to adore him; ye behold him face to face. Sun and moon, bow down before him, dwellers all in time and space. Praise him, praise him

Hallelujah! Praise with us the God of grace!

Henry Francis Lyte, 1834 Tune: Praise, My Soul

scriPturE rEadings

Psalm 91

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

John 14:1-6

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s

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house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Eulogy

James Crawford Sally Wallace Emily Crawford-Sowden

Words of HoPE

The Rev’d Adam Lowe

a timE to rEflEct and givE tHanks Some pictures and music have been prepared for our reflection.

tHE PrayErs

Led by The Rev’d Graham Stanton

The prayers conclude with the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your Kingdom come,

your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today 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 for ever.

Amen.

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Hymn

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hand hath made, I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed;

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee: how great thou art, how great thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee: how great thou art, how great thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze;

And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, that on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin;

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!

Karl Gustav Boberg. Tr Stuart Hine, 1949 Swedish Folk Melody

tHE farEWEll

Lord Jesus Christ, you gave new birth to our brother Alex by water and the Spirit. Grant that his death may recall to us your victory over death, and be an occasion for us to renew our trust in your Father’s love. Give us, we pray, the faith to follow where you have led the way, to live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.

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Let us entrust our brother Alex to the mercy of God:

Holy and loving Father, by your mighty power you gave us life,

and in your love you have given us new life in Christ Jesus.

We entrust Alex to your merciful keeping:

in the faith of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to save us,

and now lives and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit in glory for ever.

Amen.

tHE committal

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, you have given us a sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life. In your keeping are all who have departed in Christ. We here commit the body of our dear brother Alex to be cremated earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died, and was buried and rose again for us, and who shall change our mortal body that it may be like his glorious body.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

tHE blEssing

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

rEcEssional music

Make Me a Channel of Your Peace—Aled Jones Be Still, For The Presence Of The Lord—Aled Jones

CCLI 292006, CAL 6638, Broughton Publishing AUS01 10123L 33114V6Funeral Service from ‘A Prayer Book for Australia’, Copyright 1995

The Anglican Church of Australia Trust Corporation. Reproduced with permission.

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In lieu of flowers the family welcomes donations to the Mathew Hale Public Library, Brisbane

www.mathewhalepubliclibrary.com/donate

The family would like to express their sincere thanks for your love, support and prayers during this time of grief.