Sunday 08 November 2026
Remembrance Sunday
Welcome!
Welcome to excerpts from the worship held within the newly formed Westhills Church of Scotland Congregation. We know that not all members of the congregation are able to be in church on Sunday morning; offering these excerpts from the Sunday morning service might help you feel included. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you.
If this post helps you explore what happens within an act of worship then please read on…
The Psalms
Psalm 46
Live recording
Your Weekly Church Notices
Prayers
Live recording
Almighty God, we come this day to remember and learn – to remember the painful lessons of the past; the cost of war, the price of peace, the depths of human depravity and the heights of human sacrificial giving. Forgive us that we are so slow to learn.
And as we heed those lessons help us to live and work for peace, to fight only that which is evil and corrupt, to serve and not to count the cost, to give our all in the cause of a better world.
Almighty God we come to remember all that you have done – your creative acts, your mighty deeds throughout history, your dealings with your people, your gift of Christ the Son, your love experienced in our daily lives.
Forgive us that far from remembering, we so readily forget, failing to be transformed by your sovereign grace; that we cling to you in the bad times yet fail to remember you in the good times, that we fail to see you in each other’s faces or actions or hear you speaking in the words of others. Almighty God through all things you remember us – help us to remember you. Remind us of all that we owe, lest we forget.
So, hear us now as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…
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 debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.
The Act of Remembrance
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
INTRO
Shortly we shall be quiet for two minutes. It is a small time to give for those who have given their whole lives. For some the two minutes will be too short. Their thoughts will be of someone they could never forget, someone they lost. For some of us, those who died were our contemporaries and our friends. We remember their courage, their vitality, their kindness, and we always will.
But for some of us; we are too young to remember. We instead shall pray for those who are sad today, for those who were injured by the cruelty of war. All of us will pray for those who are still living in places of danger, those who are homeless or hungry due to the ravages of war. We shall all pray for peace and dedicate ourselves anew to working for the member’s of God’s family who have the right to know of God’s love and peace within their lives.
CALL TO REMEMBRANCE
Let us remember the kindness of God, and his favour to us in our time of need.
Let us remember the courage, devotion to duty and the self-sacrifice of the men and women who served in the Army, Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force; the toil, endurance, and suffering of those who were not uniformed; those who toiled on the land, guarded us at home or sailed with the Merchant Navy, the support of those who sent us help from afar, or came and stood by our side. Remember Ypres, Gallipoli, the Somme, Mons and Verdun. Remember The Western Desert, El Alamein, the Normandy beaches. Remember Coventry, remember The Blitz, remember Clydebank, Dresden, Hiroshima and the Burma Road. Remember Korea, the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, the Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Let us remember those who were wounded in the fight; those who perished in air-raids at home; those who fell in battle, and those buried at sea or in some corner of a foreign land; and especially those whom we have known and loved, whose place is for ever in our hearts.
Let us remember those who were our enemies, whose homes and hearts are as bereft as ours, whose dead lie also in everlasting remembrance.
Let us remember those whose lives bear the scars of war; those who lost sight or limbs or reason; those who lost faith in God and hope for humanity.
Let us remember the refugee fleeing the atrocities of modern day conflicts, children who have known nothing else but war and pain, children denied an education, children denied the opportunity to play in safety. Children orphaned and parents bereft.
Let us remember the continuing grace of God, whose love holds all souls in life, and to whom none is dead but all are alive forever.
Binyons Lines
THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD
AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD
AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM
NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
“we will remember them”
The Last Post and Reveille
Let us in Honesty of heart seek the lord’s renewing grace, to deepen our wisdom and our peace, and to equip us as instruments of his kindness, mercy and forgiveness.
THE WREATH IS LAID
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset’s glow
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
John McRae
PRAYER
God of goodness and truth, we offer our broken spirits for your healing; our searching for your guiding light; through Jesus Christ the Lord.
God of light and love, you desire that all people should live in your peace. Grant us the humility to seek your forgiveness and the will to practice it in our dealing with others.
Help us in days to come to seek the good of the world, to work for the increase of peace and justice, and to show tolerance and open mindedness towards those whose character and customs differ from our own.
Grant that our remembrance this day may be consecrated for practical service, and the world made better for our children’s children.
Receive our prayers for the well-being of all people, especially those who mourn and are sad, and for all in distress, both known to us and unknown.
Hear us for the peace of the world, for the wise resolution of conflicts, and the release of captive and oppressed people everywhere. Grant that the people of the world may do your will and live in your Spirit; through Jesus Christ the Lord. AMEN.
Scripture
1 Thessalonians 4: 13 – 18
Live recording
Matthew 25: 1 – 13
Live recording
Praise – Father Eternal
Address
Live recording
The parable of the Ten Girls; familiar enough in itself but maybe not an obvious passage to read on Remembrance Sunday!
What message do you see in the Parable of the Ten Girls? Is it about being wise rather than foolish? Is it about being prepared? Or is it both… that it is wise to be prepared and foolish not to be? If you cannot be entirely sure how events might play out it is wise to be prepared for all eventualities. Stock up. Take extra supplies. Be alert. Work out all the possibilities before you set out. Don’t be caught sleepwalking into disaster.
It was just a week or two ago that our own Government was suggesting we store up three days’ supply of food and water. The public didn’t take the suggestion too seriously; there wasn’t any panic buying at the shops, but Government doesn’t want us to go sleepwalking into the conflicts they see on the horizon. We have to entertain the possibility of being prepared, not so much for bombs and bullets but cyber-attacks. And then, across Europe supermarket refrigeration came under cyberattack. Someone, somewhere, sitting at a computer hacked into systems that controlled refrigeration, set them all to de-frost mode and all of a sudden, supermarket shelves are empty! Now it’s bomb threats to airlines. There may not be an actual bomb, but no one can take the chance. All of this causes disruption to services, loss of confidence for travellers, loss of income to airlines along with increased costs on security; it stresses the economy. Even Mi5 is telling us to be prepared, not as some distant, remote, possibility, but as an inevitability; it will happen within the next two years. Cyber security experts are telling us this – if it doesn’t need to be connected to the internet don’t connect it. Which makes me wonder why did we ever want or need a light bulb or a dishwasher to be connected to the internet? This huge, amazing internet infrastructure we have built is our greatest achievement and our greatest vulnerability. How long until we realise the typewriter is, and always was, more secure than email?
We pray for peace yet prepare for war; a very different kind of war to any we have known before. If we are to find peace it is going to take a long time. We will need extra oil for our lamps; it would be wise to be prepared.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has released its Humanitarian Outlook 2026 report, it may give us the truest picture of what is happening in our world right now.
Armed conflict is now a defining feature of our time. Across continents, the rules and limits that should protect civilians in war are being stretched, ignored or dismantled. Conflicts are spreading, lasting longer, and becoming more complex. Civilians – the very people international humanitarian law exists to protect – are those who suffer the most. For those, like us, who experience war only as a news headline we are finding that conflict is shaping a future that will affect everyone of us. The rules of war conceived for the battlefield are stretched to breaking point, not only because the rules are being ignored but because defining the idea of battlefield in an internet world almost defies definition.
The number of armed conflicts continues to climb. Back in 2024 around 130 conflicts were recorded – more than double the number recorded 15 years previously. More than 20 conflicts have lasted for more than two decades, leaving entire generations of children growing up knowing nothing but war.
Front lines today stretch across physical and digital worlds. The use of drones, artificial intelligence and cyber operations is accelerating and transforming the way in which war is waged, too often with devastating effects on civilians. More than 200 million people now live in areas under the full or contested control of armed groups. They are beyond the reach of state institutions and basic services.
The consequences are severe: Homes, hospitals, schools and water systems and energy systems are destroyed. Livelihoods collapse; millions of people are displaced. Families are torn apart: 284,000 people are registered as missing by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – a 70% increase in just one year.
Dehumanisation is spreading on all fronts. Across many conflicts, the shared sense of humanity that restrains violence is eroding. Dehumanising language, often echoed by political leaders or amplified through social media – fuels fear, polarises communities, and justifies violations. This shift has real consequences. When people are stripped of their dignity through words or policy, there is a correlation in the increase of violence. Civilians are misidentified as threats; detainees are denied legal protections; humanitarian workers face suspicion or hostility. Fear of each other is killing us more than the lack of food. We are dying from the fear and anxiety we feel toward each other.
Principled humanitarian action is under threat. Humanitarian and medical workers are increasingly targeted, despite protections under international law. Figures from 2024 alone record 338 attacks against humanitarian workers. Over 600 attacks struck health facilities and personnel between 2023 and 2024. 27 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and staff were killed in 2025. Neutral, impartial humanitarian action is being politicised, manipulated or obstructed. Access to people in need remains critically restricted in places such as Gaza and Al-Fashir, leaving civilians without essential assistance.
Respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) is weakening. In many conflicts, military objectives take precedence over the obligation to protect civilian lives. Hard power, brutality, is resurging, and multilateral cooperation is at risk. Global defence spending reached the equivalent of 2.7 trillion USD in 2024, while the entire humanitarian system appealed for just 50 billion USD – an amount that still went unmet. This staggering imbalance signals a world preparing for war, not peace. Victory will be won at any cost. The cost will be in human lives.
All of these factors are converging in our world today. It may be a miracle if we actually avoid war of some description and given the increase in cyber-attacks we have seen in recent times that war may have already begun.
Today is a day of Remembrance for those who ventured their all in time of war. The Great War, the war to end all wars, or so we thought, until the Second War began in 1939. Since the end of the Second war in 1945 / 46 we have enjoyed 80 years of peace in Europe due in no small part to the formation of the European Union. But the tensions in Europe, and here at home, are mounting in ways not dissimilar to that of the 1930’s. Remembrance? Despite our best efforts; it seems we have forgotten.
Praise – Eternal Father
Prayers for Others
Live recording
God our Creator and Redeemer, in every troubled time You are our Refuge.
You never give up on us even when You see us destroying ourselves; destroying each other. Today we give thanks for Your tenacious hope expressed in the work of peacekeeping and the prevention of war.
With grateful hearts we thank You for the existence of the United Nations – we honour the memory of those who established it and have worked within it. Thank You for the people who right now are serving in Peacekeeping Operations nd as military observers. Thank You for today’s UN Messengers of Peace and Goodwill Ambassadors. We pray for the United Nations to be strengthened and for an increased commitment to early intervention. Lord Jesus, hear our prayers…
With grateful hearts we thank You for the courage and dedication of all who are serving with the International Committee of the Red Cross. Protect and encourage the staff and volunteers and bring Your healing power to those in their care.
With grateful heart we thank You for the vision of integration and shared security that gave birth to the European Union. The Union may be under stress yet, we are grateful for the decades of peace it has overseen.
Thank You, Father God, for people who are skilled in teaching non-violent communication, for schoolteachers and youth leaders who by their calm presence show young people how to de-escalate tension and move from hostility to understanding. May their example spread far and wide. Lord Jesus hear our prayers for those who help others walk in pathways of peace…
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for helping us when we have been at war with ourselves; for the friend who has spoken gently or the stranger who checked if we were ok. For all the ways that peace still prevails and conflict is averted, we thank You. Help us to embody the peace You desire, carry your words of reconciliation, mercy and forgiveness for the sake of all people and in the name of Your son our Saviour Jesus. Amen
Praise – I vow to thee
The Grace
And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.