PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP December 6, 2015
Greeting
As we enter this Holy Place …
We renounce the
selfish attitudes
warped values
and hypocritical actions
of our lives.
We come to
seek the straight path
find the narrow road
and travel the level way
of our Lord.
We enter this Holy Place
to prepare for the Way of the Lord!
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, Lord, for placing obstacles on Your path of Love. We are sorry …
–that we have put up roadblocks of economic
excuses to the poor
–that we have built brick walls of isolation around our senior citizens
–that we have erected blockades of intense
nationalism before the peacemakers.
Forgive us, Lord, for making Your Path crooked instead of straight.
Forgive us for placing barriers of indifference on Your Path of Love.
Blessing
Go now on the salvation road
heading toward the Father
guided by the Son
and strengthened by the Spirit.
Go now on the service road
on the straight path of selflessness
the narrow road of justice
and the level way of brotherhood.
Go now on the Lord’s road
in joy
peace
and love.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP December 13, 2015
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 tunics give to him who has none. The man who has food should do the same.”
Forgive us Father,
for our failure to be caring and 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 20, 2015
Greeting
Have your come here
with little or great faith?
In search or in affirmation of your faith?
To question or to proclaim your faith!
Be at ease, for you are all welcome here
in this House of Faith.
Penitential Prayer
Although we say we believe in You Lord,
our faith is sadly lacking.
We should be praying for a Christmas of peace
but are too discouraged by cultural and religious wars.
We should be experiencing a Christmas of Love
but are too distracted by today’s headlines.
Lord, we are sorry we are so easily turned off from You. Forgive us for our feeble faith.
Blessing
Go now and give praise to the Lord!
Blow your trumpets!
Beat your drums!
Stomp your feet!
Clap your hands!
Snap your fingers!
Sing your songs!
Do all these things for Our Lord
who is all things to all people always.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP December 25, 2015
Greeting
Praise God this Christmas day.
Praise God who has brought us great joy.
Praise God who has shared with us His Beloved Son.
Penitential Prayer
For refusing Christ’s invitation to New Life,
Father forgive us.
For turning away from Christ’s Light,
Father forgive us.
For rejecting Christ’s Grace,
Father forgive us.
For abandoning hope in Christ’s promise.
Father forgive us.
For disobeying Christ’s command to love one another as He has loved us,
Father forgive us.
Blessing
Return to your homes this Christmas Day.
United in the spirit of sharing.
United in a fellowship of service.
United in the bond of love.
United in the brotherhood of Christ.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP December 27, 2015
Greeting
Blessed are You Father in Your Son, Jesus,
who dreamed 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 did Jesus, “progressing steadily in wisdom and grace, before God and men.”
