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I SERVE

And she said: speaking to millions world-wide:

I declare before you all that my whole life,

whether it be long or short,

shall be devoted to your service.

She spoke to them as a great imperial FAMILY and address them as FRIENDS…  I wonder if you’ve ever thought of HM Queen like that?

Certainly, she is a very familiar face-

Not least because we carry her image with her very often.  HERE £1

If you’re lucky, you might see it HERE £10

* A £10 note is shown with the cathedral and Jane Austen illustration*

And whilst lots of you will have seen one of those

not many of you will have seen one of these (£50)

But one of you is going to walk away with this £50 today

because I’m going to give this away as a prize

for a very SIMPLE competition.

You can all play.

ARE YOU READY?          Here it is.

If I gave you this £50 with that picture of this great friend and servant of all of us…. I want you to tell me what you will do with it….

*Canon Andy walks around the congregation*

*Canon Andy awards the prize*

That is such a great answer because you are free to choose-

and you’ve chosen to use that money TO SERVE.

And that- friends- is the same CHOICE all of us have with our lives.

It is OUR CHOICE how we SPEND each and every day,

our energy, our talent, our spare time,

our future.

And it’s funny,  you know, because we often think of HM Queen as having a great privilege but you all have one thing that she has never had.

A CHOICE about how to spend your life.

She didn’t have a choice about being Queen and it happened to her very young.

And yet- despite this-

she has given us the finest example of Service I can think of.

Earlier this year 70 years on from her Accession to the throne on the  6^th February 1952  HM Queen said:

“As we mark this anniversary,

 it gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947

that my life will always be devoted to your service.”

Even after 70 years she hasn’t wavered in that Service.

And that’s why in a moment we’re going to give her the

biggest

proudest

loudest

grandest THREE CHEERS

in the history of HAMPSHIRE.

                                      Are you up for that???

But first- let us take a second to think and pray about our choice to serve.

The success of the future she said- is now down to us- who are brave enough to take up her Motto- I SERVE

My prayer is that we who are gathered here

will make a promise in our hearts-  NOW

A powerful lifelong promise- as she did all those years ago

to go forward in our service with

unwavering faith, a high courage, and a quiet heart

to make a future more free, more prosperous, more happy.

If you want to do that with me then let us pray silently in our hearts

in her words NOW:

God help me to make good my vow

and God bless all those who are willing to share in it.

AMEN