a community creating for the relentless return of Sunday
Holy God, your Son Jesus Christ grew in wisdom as a child.
Send your Spirit to this place that, in the reading of this scripture,
we may, too, grow in wisdom by the proclamation of your Word. Amen.
Call to Confession
Christ has been born and has come before us.
Now let us come before him and confess that which we have done
that is contrary to his peaceful kingdom on earth.
Prayer of Confession
We are told by your holy word to clothe ourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
But too often we clothe ourselves with hurtful garments;
we clothe ourselves instead with stubbornness, selfishness,
impatience, rudeness, and apathy.
Help us to clothe ourselves with love
that the peace of your son might rule in our hearts.
This we pray in your merciful and forgiving name. Amen.
Hear the Good News of the Gospel:
God has broken into our broken world
and saved us from ourselves.
With God’s help,
we are now able to put on clothes of righteousness and justice.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Alleluia! Amen!
Submitted by Rev. Stephen M Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY.
God of our fulfillment,
as we gather on the other side of Christmas Day,
we rejoice that we have just scratched the surface
in understanding the good news that is before us!
How great you are that you have chosen us as your dwelling place!
Bless our worship this day that we might hear it with fresh ears and open hearts. Amen.
You have heard the stories of old, the stories of God’s salvation.
With Mary, we have pondered these things in our hearts.
Go out into the world to love and do as Christ would have you do.
With Joseph, we realize that our work has just begun.
As you depart, know that the love of God goes with you wherever you go.
We are strengthened by Christ’s presence with us. Alleluia!
God of our Salvation,
we come to you on this wondrous night to gather in praise,
to lift up your name with friend, family, and stranger.
In the beginning, your creative work began with a word,
and tonight, your creation continues with the Word made flesh.
On this holiest of nights, we join the everlasting chorus saying:
Glory to God on highest! Great is your name in all the earth!
Like Mary, we ponder these things in our hearts,
and wonder how you could love us so much
as to actually become one of us, one with us.
We remember these stories this evening
that remind us of your steadfast love,
that affirm that you have never, and will never, give up on your children.
Thank you for your steadfast presence in our lives!
And yet, even on this night on which we celebrate the fulfillment of love,
we recognize that there are many who are still waiting for fulfillment:
the fulfillment of adequate food and shelter…
the fulfillment of peace and the end of violence…
the fulfillment of reprieve from the fierce grip of grief…
the fulfillment of a restoration of a broken relationship…
the fulfillment of a renewing of heart, mind, or body…
the fulfillment of healing from a chronic illness…
the fulfillment of an end to substance abuse…
Giving God,
give us the courage to do your work in the world
and to share the peace coming to us in the manger this evening.
We pray this night especially for those who have traveled to be here…
for those who have lost loved ones in the past year…
for those who struggle with mental illness…
for those who fight alcoholism’s onslaught…
for those who will be traveling in the coming days and weeks…
for those who work on Christmas:
especially medical workers, police, and emergency personnel…
for those who cannot make it home for Christmas…
hear us we pray, O God,
Restore us and make your face to shine that we might be saved.
In all that we do and in all that we are,
send your Spirit to send us forward with the majesty of this night
and to share the grace we find with everyone we encounter.
This we pray in the name of your Son, who taught us to pray 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 and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
recent comments