PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 1, 2024
Greeting
Today, as we begin our symbolic journey on the
Advent Road …
let us prepare for Christmas not as a day or a season but as a condition of our hearts and minds;
let us prepare to experience in the Christmas Event the fullness of God’s revelation of our life’s meaning and purpose.
Penitential Prayer
Lord,
it is we who have secularized Christmas;
it is we who have rationalized the gross
commercialization of this most Sacred Season;
it is we who have substituted the Santa Claus figure for the Christ figure;
it is we who have drowned out the angel choruses with reindeer and chipmunk ditties;
Forgive us, Lord and, as we traverse the Advent Road, give us an openness of heart which makes room for the Savior and proclaims Him as the King of our lives.
Blessing
Journey in peace,
anticipating Christ’s coming above all else,
loving Christ more than all else,
loving Christ more than self.
Journey in peace,
forsaking all else but the Living Christ,
continuing in His Word,
loving others.
Journey in peace,
bearing much fruit
along the way!
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 8, 2024
Greeting
“The Son of Man comes in power and glory …
Our deliverance is at hand!”
God does not do things “half-way.”
God does not create us to abandon us.
God does not withdraw His promise of
fulfillment.
God has begun a good work in us,
and He will finish it in the Day of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Come, let us celebrate: our deliverance is at hand!
Penitential Prayer
“Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” The Christmas Message is not meant to take us out of this world; it is meant to equip us better for life in this world.
The Christmas Message does not offer us immunity from problems; it offers us a way to deal with our problems.
The Christmas Message is not an excuse for abandoning the world; it is the reason for the desire to win the world.
The Christmas Message is not a pious legend with a moral attached; it is a miracle of Faith.
Forgive us, Lord, for not getting the Message!
Blessing
Go now and make the crooked ways straight and the rough ways smooth so that mankind may “see the salvation of God.”
Go therefore, and witness to your belief in the
Christmas miracle of Love.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 15, 2024
Greeting
It is almost time.
As always, there has been so much to do.
But now, before it is too late, before this
hallowed hour slips away,
we must pause.
We must be with God.
Penitential Prayer
The Apostle John has written: “Let the man with two coats give to him who has none. The man who has food should do the same.”
Forgive us Father,
for our failure to be caring, sharing brothers and sisters;
for our failure to place our hope in Your Son’s Holy Gospel;
for our failure to change and to accept change graciously;
for our failure to be a sign of peace and hope for all the world.
Blessing
May the Spirit of the Lord Jesus be in your head
and in your understanding.
May the Spirit of the Lord Jesus be in your eyes
and in your looking.
May the Spirit of the Lord Jesus be in your mouth and in your speaking.
May the Spirit of the Lord Jesus be in your heart and in your feeling.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 22, 2024
Greeting
We assemble as a community at prayer
to test the truth of our involvement in mankind,
to embrace the spirit of repentance,
to renew our awareness of who we are,
to consider with new earnestness what we ought to do —
All in the light of the Christmas Message of peace … and brotherhood.
Penitential Prayer
For our lack of hope in your Christmas Promise!
For our lack of trust that Your Word will be fulfilled!
For our divisions!
For our jealousies!
For our hatred!
For our lies!
For not being peacemakers!
For not being brothers and sisters to one another!
Lord, have mercy!
Blessing
Let us go forth in peace!
Let us go forth in confidence
that the Lord is with us
until all things are fulfilled,
in Jesus Christ,
Amen!
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 25, 2024
Greeting
The whole creation groans,
The whole creation waits,
The whole creation struggles,
The whole creation hopes,
for God to reveal His Son!
Our hope is not without a firm foundation that makes the groan, the struggle all worthwhile.
Jesus is His Name, Resurrection His promise.
Penitential Prayer
If our holiday preparations have overshadowed our holyday preparations …
If our Santa Claus songs have drowned out the Carols of the Christ Child …
If the shopping mall hustle has distracted us from the way of genuine peace …
If we have tuned in the hucksters’ cries and tuned out the angels’ voices …
If we have paid more attention to commercial
announcements than to the announcement of the Angel of the Lord …
If we have endorsed the secular retelling of the Christmas Story …
Father, we ask Your Divine forgiveness!
Blessing
Commitment to Jesus means relinquishing everything that stands in the way of His coming.
Commitment to Jesus means accepting Him on His terms, following in His footsteps.
Commitment to Jesus means going forth as apostles of peace, and forgiveness, and healing, and loving service.
Let us go forth, therefore, as committed Christians, proclaiming the Christmas Message of Love.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP
December 29, 2024
Greeting
We come together each of us as a piece of God’s unfinished business.
We have come together in the hope of growing in wisdom and maturity.
Be still now God is speaking to us with words of True Wisdom.
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 did Jesus, “progressing steadily in wisdom and grace, before God and men.”
