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.