Call to Worship/Lighting Advent Candles
The Advent journey has begun.
We have started getting ready for Christmas.
The light of one candle has guided us this little way.
The hope we have for something new is not enough to show us the way.
We need more light for the journey
if we are to find our way to God’s holy mountain,
the place where beloved community becomes real,
where all creation can dwell together without fear.
As we light this second Advent candle and continue on the journey to this holy place,
we remember that God’s light shows us that things can and will be different.
When things are at their most broken,
God can and will make all things new.
Friends, let us share our hope for this journey together:
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Prayer of Confession
God of hope,
you promise a new and different way of life,
and you invite us to join you on the path to get there.
Yet we usually prefer to stay on our own path.
We put ourselves before others
and so destroy the gift of life in each of us.
We fill our days with human pessimism,
assuming that nothing will ever get better
rather than welcoming your deep divine hope.
Forgive us, Lord.
Show us your hope anew in Jesus this Advent,
that we might see your branch sprouting anew in our midst
and fill our lives and the whole earth with our embrace of you.
submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, New York
part of The Path to the Holy Mountain series
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