PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 3, 2023
Greeting
Be ever watchful for the coming of the Lord.
watchful where we worship,
watchful where we dwell,
watchful where we work, study, and play.
Be ever watchful for the coming of the Lord.
Penitential Prayer
Merciful Father …
Because we have not lived by faith,
Because we have resisted Your Holy Spirit,
Because we have neglected Your Message of hope,
Because we have strayed from our appointed watch,
Because we have ignored the true signs of Your coming,
Because we have not loved one another as Jesus has loved us,
Merciful Father …
We beg Your pardon. We ask Your help so that we may
position ourselves to accept Your Advent promise of eternal
fulfillment in an attitude of joyful expectation.
Blessing
Go and watch patiently.
Go and wait, hopefully,
for the Lord is surely coming.
Stay awake!
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 10, 2023
Greeting
Come at Christ’s invitation,
all you who have sinned and need to be forgiven;
all you who hunger for life and need to be nourished;
all you who accept God’s abundance and need to give thanks;
all you who experience God’s love and need to give praise.
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, Father,
if we have blindly followed our selfish desires;
if we have transgressed against Your Sacred Law;
if we have left undone those things which ought to be done;
if we have done those things which ought not to be done;
if we have remained entrapped in our narrow prejudices;
if we have spurned the glorious freedom that comes with serving others.
Father, we confess our sins, individually and as a community.
Father, forgive us, one and all!
Blessing
“For I am certain
that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor principalities,
neither the present nor the future,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature
will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
Jesus speaks to us.
Jesus teaches us.
Jesus comforts us.
Jesus loves us.
Now, Jesus sends us to comfort and to love our neighbors.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 18, 2023
Greeting
Enter the house of the Lord for worship.
Tarry in the house of the Lord, for Light.
Penitential Prayer
Blessed are the enlightened:
they care about the human problems most people ignore,
they speak up for the poor and the oppressed who cannot speak for themselves,
they call for forgiveness when others call for blood,
they give of themselves without asking, “What’s in it for me?”
they are loyal to the Rule of God, while others sell out to the idols of pleasure and convenience.
Blessed are the enlightened! Father, forgive our refusal to see the Light!
Blessing
Go, in peace —
not the peace of complacency,
nor the peace of indifference,
nor the peace of self-delusion,
nor the peace of nostalgia for a former time.
Go, in the peace of Christ.
Go and serve your brothers and sisters in need.
Go forth from the house of the Lord to testify to the Light.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 24, 2023
Greeting
Enter, and have no fear …
His Name is “Emmanuel,”
A Name which means “God is with us.”
Have no fear …
God is with us!
Christmas is coming!
The signs are everywhere!
Penitential Prayer
We have come here on the first day of the week,
to be met by the living Christ.
Enable us, O Lord,
to know His Presence,
to know His touch,
and
to know His power.
Then inspire us, O Lord,
to share with others
His hope
His joy,
and
His life.
Forgive us, Lord, for our many failures to experience Your enabling and inspiring Presence.
Blessing
Beloved brethren —
Go in peace,
Love the brethren,
Pray without ceasing,
Be of good courage,
Keep the faith,
and
Be filled with the Spirit.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 25, 2023
Greeting
“Arise Jerusalem, and shine like the sun;
The glory of the Lord is shining on you!”
This is a day of great glory,
for Jesus, our Lord has been born!
May we,
rejoice,
receive,
and reflect the Light of the Lord!
Penitential Prayer
“The light shines on in the darkness,
a darkness that did not overcome it.”
Lord, we confess we often hide our Christian Light.
In the dark times of war,
we do not light the way of peace.
In the pitch blackness of poverty,
we do not show the light of charity.
In the shadows of prejudice,
we do not shine the light of brotherhood.
In the grey areas of society’s laws,
we do not light the flame of Christian morality.
In the colorless void of social indifference,
we do not hold up the candle of Christian
responsibility.
We are sorry, Lord,
that the light in our soul burns so dimly.
We are ashamed of our sputtering flame,
in the presence of Your brilliance.
Blessing
“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of shadows
but now the light is shining on them.”
Go now on this day of great glory
and proclaim the birth of our Lord,
for He is the Light of the World
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 31, 2023
Greeting
Blessed are You, Father in Your Son, Jesus,
who dreamed of a Kingdom that was like a family
feast, where all the members shared and all were
free and in love.
Penitential Prayer
Lord, every day, You give us a new opportunity to grow
in Your wisdom and grace through a ministry of service and,
day after day, we reject it.
Day after day, we turn down one more chance to work Your miracle of Love.
Forgive us, Father, for making light of Your
sacred wisdom and grace.
Forgive us, Father, for treating with disrespect
persons made in Your image.
Forgive us, Father, for shrugging off dreams of
a world where people do not hurt each other.
Forgive us, Father, for giving up on the dream of a
Kingdom that is like a family feast, where all the
members share, and all are free and in love.
Blessing
May you proceed from the Father’s house as Jesus did,
growing in wisdom and grace before God and men.
