Prayer for Joy -- Advent 3

 (References the songs Joy Shall Come  and Joy to the World as well as Philippians 4:4)

Joy shall come, even to the wilderness
God we know the reality of the wilderness, we feel the empty places in life
And the parched land shall know great gladness
We look for water to bring life and growth
As the rose, so shall deserts blossom, living springs shall give cool water
We await the birth of Jesus, the Living Water, so that our joy will bloom like the rose.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!
Trusting that we are not alone, we find joy in the gift of Your presence.
Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!
We tell the old stories of faith and are reminded that You bring New Life, New Hope, New Joy.
And heaven and nature sing.
God of Grace, fill our hearts with trust and joy.
We pray in the name of Jesus, whose birth causes all Creation to sing for Joy. Amen.

Prayer For Peace -- Advent 2

PRAYER FOR PEACE
God of the promise, you speak to us through the ancient prophets.
Revealing the dream and promise of the Peaceable Kingdom,
sharing the vision of swords turned into plowshares, of the wolf lying down with the lamb
predicting the time when nations will learn war no more.
As we await the birth of Jesus, who we call the Prince of Peace,
remind us that a child, this child we await, will lead us to the future.
Help us find the path to the transformed world,
may we ascend the holy mountain, where none will hurt or destroy.
We pray in the name of Jesus, whose birth draws near. Amen

Prayer for Hope --Advent 1 2025

PRAYER FOR HOPE
God there is too much turmoil, violence, hatred, and pain in the world.
Hearing about it makes our hearts ache. It leads us to wonder...
In our wondering about the future it can be easy to fall into despair.
Help us, we pray, to find causes for hope.
God of hope, God who continues to act in our midst,
allow us to see your hand bringing light into the darkness,
awaken us to the love that drives out fear,
fill us with the hope that is stronger than despair.
We pray in the name of Jesus, whose birth we await. Amen

For Advent 2025 -- theme The Christmas Dream

OPENING PRAYER

God of _____ in this season of longer nights and twinkling lights,
It is good to dream.
As we gather to prepare our hearts and minds for the birth of a child,
help us to dream about the changes the child will bring.
Open our being that we could see ­________________ around us,
and then lead us out to share our dreams with the world.
Amen

COMMISSIONING:
In this season of preparation and planning and waiting,
we take time to dream about what the birth of a child might mean.
Go out into the world sharing your dreams for Christmas,
Line for the theme of the week
As you go, be assured that in our waking and in our dreaming we are never alone.
The God made known as Parent, Child, and Spirit’
who fills our hearts, minds and spirits with ______.
who gives us a dream and vision for life,
is with us always. Alleluia!

For November 16 -- Upside Down Power

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Compassionate God, Help us to to be compassionate,
binding up each other’s wounds, protecting the vulnerable among us.
Lead us to ‘commit’ empathy on a regular basis,
allowing other people’s pain and fear, hopes and dreams to touch our hearts,
allowing that sharing to shape our actions and attitudes.
Creating God, whose Beloved community is diverse and multi-hued,
help us build a community where of hope, one where
we may not be the same, we may often disagree, we may even fight,
but we ALWAYS act lovingly toward each other.
Gracious and Merciful God, when we miss the mark:
when compassion and empathy are lacking in our lives
when we fall prey to ‘us vs them’ language and forget the beauty of diversity
when we mistake gentleness for weakness, when we believe that might makes right
when we forget to love family, friend, neighbour and enemy as you first loved us
forgive us we pray
...time of silent prayer...
God’s power is shown in gentleness and weakness. God’s power is shown in grace and mercy. God’s power is shown in love. Through this power God reminds us that we are Beloved, that we are forgiven, that we are renewed to be God’s people
Thanks be to God. Amen.

A Communion Prayer for an Upside Down World

INVITING
A simple table, a basic meal.
But in the upside-down logic of God’s Reign also a great banquet
God invites us to this table where there is a place for Ev’ryone Born
God is the host, we are the guests,
all are welcome to share in the Banquet of faith.

THANKSGIVING
May God be with you
And also with you
Lift your hearts in praise and thanksgiving
It is good to offer thanks to God

Source of life and love we give thanks for all that you have given us.
We see the beauty of the earth and sing praise.
We remember those who came before us, the communion of saints
the ones who passed on the stories of faith and we are thankful
for their witness, their hope, their commitment to a New World.
We share again the promise that you are always with us,
turning over our expectations and assumptions,
re-creating the world into a reign of love and hope and justice
and we sings songs of hope and thanks.

STORYTELLING
In the midst of our thanksgiving we remember the core of our story.
In Jesus, child of Mary, you broke into the world in a new way,
reshaping expectations of who the Messiah could be.
Jesus challenged his friends and his enemies to see the world anew,
to turn upside down their understandings:
of blessings, of power, of leadership, of status.
Some welcomed this upending, others did not.
Jesus was arrested, tried, executed.
But then you turned the world upside down again, raising Jesus from death.
And we give thanks.

As we gather at this table we remember another table, long ago and far away
where, just before his arrest, Jesus gathered with his friends.
There he took bread, blessed it, broke it and passed it to them saying:
This is my body broken by the world, eat it and remember me.
At that same meal Jesus took a cup, blessed it and passed it to them saying:
This is the cup of the New Covenant, drink from it and remember me.
After all these years we still gather at tables to eat and drink and remember.

SPIRIT-INVOKING
God who has created and is creating, as we gather at this table here today.
Send your Spirit upon and among us.
Help us see the upside-down logic that leads to your Reign of peace, justice, hope and love.
Awaken in us a willingness to be turned head over heels
that we would participate in the mending and re-making of the world.
We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who brings us to this table.
And with full voice the people all said: AMEN!

FRACTION AND DISTRIBUTION
The Bread we break is the bread of life
The Cup we share is the cup of love.
Gifts from God for the beloved people of God.
Thanks be to God.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God who invites us to the table,
we have eaten, we have drunk, we have tasted your goodness.
May this meal and this faith-filledcommunity strengthen us in body, mind and soul,
as we continue to live into a world that is being turned upside-down.
May we have the courage to stand on our heads
as we try to see the world as you see it.   AMEN

For November's Theme of "Turning the World Upside Down"

CALL TO WORSHIP
We have been called, called to be a community of faith,
called by the God who turns the world upside down.
In response to that call we come to sing and pray and listen,
Line to go with that week’s theme
Come and worship, come and celebrate God’s transforming presence.

OPENING PRAYER
God who has created and is creating,
you have brought us together today.
God who challenges our assumptions of how the world must be with how it could be,
Line to go with that week’s theme
In this time of prayer and song and listening,
Help us catch the dream, encourage us to help turn the world upside down as we live into your Reign.
We pray in the name of Jesus, who proclaimed a new, transformed world and who taught us to pray saying...
LORD’S PRAYER

COMMISSIONING
With God, in Christ, through the winds of the Holy Spirit the world is turned upside down
The first shall be last, the greatest shall be least.
We go into the world to share a different vision, a different dream.
Line to go with that week’s theme
As we go to help upend assumptions, to help turn things upside down
we are assured that the Triune God: Parent, Child and Spirit, holds us in love.
Thanks be to God.

For October 5, 2025 --Worldwide Communion Sunday

 CALL TO WORSHIP
The table of faith is set, inviting us to gather.
We come with hungry hearts and hungry souls.
The cup of hope waits for us to come and drink.
We come thirsting for love and justice in the world.
The bread of life sits waiting to be broken and shared.
We come to worship together, gathered at the family table with the rest of the family of faith.

OPENING PRAYER
Give us this day our daily bread...
we still share the ancient prayer.
Bread of Life, we seek to be fed.
In this time together fill us with the Living Bread
show us the abundance of bread, of manna from heaven
feed our hungry hearts and souls.
And when the meal is ended,
send us back out to sing songs of thanksgiving for the feast. Amen

 Dedication Prayer
Gift-giving God, you have set the table before us, you have filled it to overflowing,
As we give thanks for the abundance in our lives we choose to share that abundance with the world around us.
We offer these gifts of treasure, we offer our time and our talent to help bring bread to those who hunger, hope to those who despair, love to those who are afraid, and a passion for justice to the world around us.
We offer them to your service, in the name of Jesus, the Bread of Life.
Amen.

COMMISSIONING
We have gathered at the table,
where there is a place for everyone born.
We have eaten together, giving thanks for the daily bread that feeds us,
now we go to share the Bread of Life with the world, helping to create justice and joy
And may God: the Baker; Jesus, the Bread of Life; and the Spirit, the Yeast that lifts us up, be with you always
Sharing delight in a world fed and renewed. Amen.

For June 22, 2025 -- Proper 7C

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Steadfast God, the world around us is a busy noisy place.
Sometimes it is overwhelming and our anxiety soars.
Caring God, there are so many demands on our time each and every day.
And in trying to meet them we sometimes forget to care care of basic needs.
Calming God, sometimes the anxiety, the noise the business lead us to melt down.
So we try to run away, to retreat into a safe place, to hide somewhere until the danger has passed.
Source of Life, God of Grace and Mercy, when we are overwhelmed, when we forget to take care of ourselves, when we want to hide away from the world,
Remind us to stop, to pause, to care for ourselves, help us to listen for your voice in the midst of the storm.
...time of silence...
In the storms and chaos of life, in the times of silence and calm, God is there. God leads us to the place we need to be to care for ourselves, to help us grow, to be the people God created us to be.
Thanks be to God. Amen

Prayer for the Centennial of the United Church of Canada

 

God who calls us to be the church,

we celebrate the many faces and guises your church has worn over the centuries

each one with its own gifts, each one with its own challenges

yet all linked together in Christ.

This year we celebrate 100 years of a particular part of the larger Body,

this experiment we call the United Church of Canada.

We give thanks for the dreamers and visionaries of over a century ago,

people who saw a possibility and then gave years of their lives

working to make the possible real,

bringing together multiple churches in the hopes “that all may be one”.

God who has whispered, and still whispers, in our ears,

pushing us forward, opening our eyes to new understandings of what it means to be faithful.

We celebrate the times when we listened.

We give thanks for those who spoke boldly both to church and nation,

for bold discipleship and leadership over the years,

calling us to daring justice work.

We pray that we can follow in their footsteps.

God who is with us in out triumphs and glory, you are also with us when we stumble.

We admit that we have not always been the church we could be.

We have hurt each other,

we remember our mixed history with our First Nations, Mètis, and Inuit siblings,

we remember the times we could have spoken louder but chose the safer route,

we acknowledge that at time people have been made to feel unwelcome or unworthy

even in this United Church of ours.

And as we remember we repent, we lament, and we pray that we can learn a better path.

God of our present, we know that all is not well with the church.

There are so many stories of faith communities struggling.

Too often anxiety and dis-ease mark the ways we describe ourselves,

making it hard to hear the continued whispering of the Holy Spirit

urging us forward, showing us Good News, giving us hope.

God of abundant life, in the midst of our dis-ease help us see the new life in our midst.

God of our future, that undiscovered country,

we don’t know where this experiment called the United Church will be in 10, 15, 20 years.

How will we be the same? How will we be changed?

As we live with the uncertainty and unknown, help us be faithful.

Open our eyes and ears that we might see and hear you leading us forward.

Give us a vision, a hope, a promise.

Help us be a church that embodies Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, and Daring Justice.

God who calls us to sing the songs of faith in a new key or with different words,

God who challenges us to grow and evolve as individuals and as a church,

we pray for this church that we love, this church that sometimes frustrates us,

sometimes infuriates us, and often holds us together as the world crumbles.

We give thanks for those who have gone before,

we celebrate with those who walk with us today,

we pledge to pass on the songs, the stories, and the hope to those who will follow us.

We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Risen Christ, the head of the Church Universal as we share words that he once shared with his closest friends:

Our Father...

Maundy Thursday Communion Prayer

Source of light, and life and love, you invite us to the table.

We gather here in the name of Jesus, the Servant King,
who challenges us to love family, friend, neighbour, and enemy,
and who reveals most fully your loving purpose while sharing your hope for what the world could be.

God who has created and is always re-creating,
you spoke and the world came into being,
in you we live and move and have our being.
As part of the world you love, as some of your Beloved children,
we reflect on the many gifts that have filled our lives.
We join our hearts with the rest of your Beloved children around the globe who sing, shout, and dance their thanks.
And we name, aloud or in silence those things for which we are thankful this evening...
For all your goodness God, we sing thanks and praise.

Ever present, ever loving God, you promise to be with us always, to the end of the age,
you are there when our hearts are heavy with pain, sorrow, grief, anxiety or fear,
you are there to carry us when our strength fails,
you share our tears and comfort us in our dis-ease.
Here, tonight, in your presence we hold in prayer all of your Beloved children who struggle
and we name them aloud or in silent prayer...
Comforting God, may all those who are in pain, who are afraid, who weep, all those who struggle
know that they are loved this night.

God of our past, our present, and our future, The One who was and is and is to come,
From the beginning of our story you have found different ways to communicate with your children.
You have sent messengers and teachers, prophets, priests and pastors.
With joy we remember them, the named and the unnamed, the famous and the unknown.
All those who have been part of our cloud of witnesses, reminding us of the Good News,
all those who have challenged us to be who you created us to be.
God of community we give thanks for all we have learned for others in our walk of faith.

God who has been and is and will be active in the world.
As followers of Jesus of Nazareth whom we name as Christ, Messiah, Word-Made-Flesh
we give thanks for his life, teachings, death and resurrection.
We remember what he taught about the Kingdom that is and is yet to come.
We remember who he modelled what living as citizens of the Kingdom of Love should look like
as he ate with the marginalized, healed the broken-ness in life, calling all to love each other
and we commit our selves to follow The Way he showed us.

Here tonight we remember a special part of the story, a special meal just before his death: (Luke 22:14-20)

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

God of Grace, as we continue to eat and drink and remember,
pour your Holy Spirit onto and into us.
Reawaken in us the dream of what the world could be, fan the fires of passion for your Kingdom.
Embolden us to give of ourselves to spread your love and hope where ever we go.
Help us follow The Way of Jesus Christ.
We pray these things in his name and memory as we join with millions of others through the centuries and across the miles to share words he once taught his friends: Our Father...

The Bread we Break is the Bread of Life
The Cup we Share is the Cup of Love.
Gifts from God for the People of God.

PAlm Sunday 2025

PRAYER FOR THE JOURNEY AHEAD
Parades are exciting, hope is exciting, we like to cheer and wave
God we are quick to join in on the exciting stuff.
But beyond the parade, in the hard work of changing the world, that is less exciting.
God help us to stay around when the cheers die down and the heat and pressure start to rise.
We follow Jesus into the city, we join the crowds along the roadside.
Give us the courage to stay committed as Jesus challenges the comfortable and familiar ways we know.
Or if the heat and pressure get too much, if our anxiety and fear win out.
Help us find the way back after we have taken time to be afraid, lead us back out of our hiding places, help us live into the love that casts out fear.
God as we walk through this week of triumph, challenge, defeat and disaster,
Open our eyes to see the new dawn that awaits, the promise of light shining over the horizon. Amen.

For March 23, 2025 -- LEnt 3C

CALL TO WORSHIP
When the days drew near for him to be taken up Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)
Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to he fellow disciples “Let us also go, that we may die with him.(John 11:16)
Throughout this Lenten season we travel with Jesus to Jerusalem, daring to face what lies ahead.
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters! Incline your ear and come, listen so that you may live
We seek God where They may be found, we call upon Them while They are near
Come to sing, to pray, to celebrate God’s presence! Let us worship together...

OPENING PRAYER
Gardening God, you have planted us in this place and time.
Help us to grow, to be fruitful, feed us with things that sustain and satisfy, help us drink deep of the water of life.
In this time together this morning,
open our ears, our hearts, our souls to receive your life-giving word, dig around us and feed our roots.
Then lead us back out in joy, let us go forth with peace,
as we join in the songs of praise of the world around us.
We pray in Jesus’ name as we remember words he once taught his friends...

For March 16, 2025 --Lent 2C

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God, you invite us to follow your Way, you offer us a whole new future.
But sometimes the promise takes so long to come true that we start to doubt
Sometimes we make back-up plans in case the promise somehow fails.
And again you come to us, calling us to be people of hope, to trust in the promise.
Help us to trust, help us to be people of hope.
God of the promise, there are days when we feel alone, surrounded by people who are out to get us,
There are days when we feel like lone voices sharing a different vision in a wilderness of opposing voices
There are days when it is easy to lose heart.
God of grace, when we lose heart, when we doubt the promise, when we fall back to our own plans,
Forgive our weakness, remove our anxiety and despair, renew us to trust and hope.
From the witness of the ancient writers we hear these words of assurance: (Psalm 27 1, 13-14)

The Lord is my light and my salvation;  whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?...
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;  be strong, and let your heart take courage;  wait for the Lord!

In that confidence we will be people of trust and hope. Thanks be to God. Amen.

For February 23, 2025 -- Epiphany 7C

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Source of life and love, you challenge us to love and serve each other.
And we commit ourselves to do that.
Source of life and love, you challenge us to go further, to love and serve those who mistreat us.
That is harder, but we commit ourselves to try our best.
Source of life and love, you challenge us to avoid judging each other.
Help us offer forgiveness, forgiveness that runs over.
Source of life and love, in your grace help us grow in faith hope and love.
Help us learn from our successes and failures, help us treat others as we would be treated, help us love and serve our friends and our enemies as we strive to follow The Way of Jesus.
God, who is our source of life and love, does challenge us to go beyond the simple, to go the extra mile in love. The same God shows us grace and mercy when that extra step feels just too much. In grace God picks us back up and helps us try again, offering forgiveness that runs over whatever measure we might use.
Thanks be to God! Hallelujah! Amen.

For January 26 2025, working with 1 Corinthians 13 (reading for Epiphany 4C)

CALL TO WORSHIP
Beloved Children of God, why are you here?
We are here to listen for God’s voice, reminding us that we are loved.
Beloved Children of God, why have you come?
We responded to God’s invitation to come together to grow in faith, hope and love.
Beloved Children of God, let us sing and pray and listen, let us celebrate God’s presence in our midst
We open ourselves to let God fill our hearts and souls as we worship together.

OPENING PRAYER
God of love, as we gather together this morning,
move in our hearts and minds, renew us, remind us of the love that fills the world.
Gift-giving God, in our time together this morning,
help us see the abiding gifts of faith hope and love in the world around us.
And when we move out of our gathering this morning,
empower us to carry the greatest gift, love, to everyone we meet.
We pray in the name of Jesus, who reminds us of the power of love, and encourages us to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Gift-giver, you call us to seek for the greater gifts in life.
Things like faith, hope, and love.
In grace you offer us these gifts in abundance, and ask that we use them for the common good.
Help us avoid the temptation to use the gifts you give only to build ourselves up.
As we continue to seek the greatest gift,
help us show that we are people shaped and guided by love,
help us put aside childish ways as we mature in faith and love.
Gracious, loving God, we thank you for the gifts you give.
Help us use them for the benefit of the world you love. Amen.

COMMISSIONING
Beloved Children of God, as you go out from this place:
Commit yourselves to be people of love,
be patient and kind, not arrogant or rude,
rejoice in the truth, hope in all things.
We go to be people of love,
we go to carrying faith hope and love, things that abide,
we go to share the greatest gift with the world.
Beloved Children of God, as you go out from this place:
Trust that God who loves the world deeply,
Christ, Love Incarnate,
and the Holy Spirit, who pushes us to act lovingly,
is with you each and every day.
Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Amen

Call To Worship For Baptism of Jesus Sunday

In the beginning, the Spirit of God moved over the primordial waters
as God spoke Creation into being
At the Jordan, as Jesus emerged from the water, the Spirit descended as a dove
as God affirmed Jesus as Beloved, as one we should listen to.
Here, in this place, God’s Spirit invites us to gather,
that we would be renewed, filled with the Holy Spirit, as God reminds us who and whose we are.
Let us sing and pray together as God moves within this community.