Christmas Prayer (2019)

Story-telling God, tonight we gathered together to tell the old old story.

Tonight we listen for angels and shepherds and a baby’s cry.

Tonight we look to the old story and ask that you would be born in us again this year.

Tonight, this year, God, we listen for the story of PEACE

Peace in a world so given to conflict.

All year we have heard the stories of the ways things go badly.

This night, and in the year to come, open our ears to the other stories,

the stories of the kind and good things people have done and are doing for each other.

And in hearing those stories may we be re-committed to our own acts of kindness,

the small ways we can make “Peace on earth, Goodwill to all” a reality.

Tonight, this year, God, we listen for the story of HOPE

Hope in a world that gives us so many reasons to despair.

Tell us, we pray, the stories that lie beyond the despair.

When the world falls apart at the seams,

remind us that you are there as we stand in the wreckage,

helping us to pick up the broken pieces.

Open our hearts to feel your presence,

open our souls to the possibility of new hope, new life.

Tonight, this year, God, we listen for the story of JOY

Joy in a world where so many struggle and grieve.

Life does not always go as we had planned,

some days it feels like life never goes as we had planned.

Help us find the possibility of joy both on the good days and the bad.

When the bad news makes us depressed, show us the Good News hiding in the shadows,

and let that Good News fill our heart with joy again.

Tonight, this year, God, we listen for the story of LOVE

Love in a world so full of fear and hatred.

You would have us act lovingly to friend and family and enemy.

In a world where love is so sorely needed, help us all take the risk to live.

Show us the drama of love enacted in our community.

Help us bear the wounds and scars that may come with being vulnerable, open and loving.

And when love seems too hard,

help us remember that we can love others because we are loved with a love that will not let us go.

As we gaze at the baby in the manger,

may we see Your amazing love for the world shining across the miles and centuries.

And may that love fill our own hearts to overflowing.

This year, this night, God, we listen for the story of CHRIST

The story of You coming to share our lives.

The story of You coming to change our world.

The story of love and hope, of peace and joy.

A story that happened a long time ago in a place far away,

a story that happens in this very place this very day.

Help us, God, to hear the story, help us, God, to welcome the baby,

Help us, God, to live into the new world that Christmas brings.

We pray in the name of the Baby who lies in the manger.

Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!

So Be It! AMEN

For December 22, Advent 4, Love

Opening PRAYER

God of love, we can hardly wait!

Soon the Babe will be born, soon it will be Christmas!

As we remember the story, help us remember the core of the story:

that we are loved, that we are to love each other

In this hour together speak to our hearts,

help us know how to be people of love, and then help us do it.

We pray in the name of the Baby whose birth draws nigh, who will later teach his friends to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God you don’t ask us to be perfect,

and for that we give thanks.

But God you do ask that we offer of ourselves for the good of others,

living lives of love for those who cross our past.

When we share we get changed, the love leaves a, scar, a mark we carry for ever after.

And sometimes we are afraid of that change, and so we keep to ourselves, trying to avoid the scars

But then we open up, we let others in, we take the risk.

And find that we are blessed in ways we never expected.

God of love, you don’t ask us to be perfect.

You ask us to be loving, you help us to be loving. And there we see your face and grace. Amen.

Christ Candle Responses for Epiphany and the Sundays following

LIGHTING THE CHRIST CANDLE

The Magi followed a star leading them to the Light of the World

The candle flame reminds us that the Light of the World is in our midst

Gathered as people who are drawn to the light, we centre ourselves for worship.

Resources for Advent (Seasonal theme Stories of the Season)

CALL TO WORSHIP
We are all part of a story, or a number of stories.

And so we come to remember the stories. 
As children we listened to stories read by adults. 
As adults we tell stories to each other to help find meaning in the world. 
In this place we are reminded how our stories intersect with The Story. 
And we trust that the story will push us to be people of ________ 
Gathered together for worship, we greet our neighbours with words and signs of peace.

COMMISSIONING:

Here today we have heard a story

Maybe a new one, maybe one we heard before.

Now we go out to live as people who are a part of The Story of faith

Sharing the ______ of the season with those we meet.

Go out trusting that God The Source of the Story, Christ the Storyteller, and The Spirit who inspires us to spin our own stories is with you as the story of faith and life continues to unfold.

Amen.

For November 3, 2019 -- Proper 26C

CALL TO WORSHIP

May the Peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you.

What has brought us here today

We come in search of the One they call Messiah

Jesus is here, waiting to eat with us, wanting to be both host and guest in our lives

We gather with Jesus at the table, we open our hearts to his love and wisdom.

As we gather for worship we greet our neighbour with words and signs of Christ’s peace...

Opening PRAYER

God, like Zacchaeus we want to meet Jesus

and so we come together in worship.

God, here we open ourselves to be transformed by meeting Jesus,

and then live our lives as changed people with new priorities.

God as we worship, move in our hearts,

sending us back out as people of hope and faith, committed to live as citizens of the Kingdom.

Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Zacchaeus climbed a tree so he could see...and so he was seen.

With the result that he was changed.

We have come to see Jesus, we have been seen by the God active in Jesus

As we go out may we also be ready to be changed by seeing and by being seen.

The God who invited us to the table, the Christ who proclaims the Kingdom, the Spirit who sustains us along the way,

is with us as we live and serve and grow and love. Amen.

Opening Prayer for a FUneral

God, you give us so many gifts. And so we say thank you.

One of the greatest gifts you give us is life, life in abundance.

In our lives you bless us with joy and laughter,

In our lives you comfort us when we are sad or when we hurt, or when we are afraid. And again we say thank you.

Today we come to say good-bye to NAME.

And as we say good-bye we celebrate everything that made her who she was, and we say thank-you for the gift of her.

God you are always with us. You are wonderful and compassionate and mysterious.

You protect us like a father with a new baby.

You watch over us like a mother on the playground.

You comfort us like a warm hug from a grandparent.

Today, as we come to share our sadness and our grief,

be with us, strengthen us, hear our tears.

As we say good-bye, as we say thank you, as we share our tears,

remind us that we are not alone, that you are with us.

Amen.

REsources for October 20, 2019 -- Proper 24C

Opening PRAYER

God who writes on our hearts,

we open ourselves to let your pen do its work.

God who bangs incessantly on our doors,

we open our ears that we would hear your plea for justice.

God who calls us to follow the truth

strengthen us that we would persist in the quest for love’s truth.

We pray in Jesus’ name, as we share the words he taught his closest friends...

PRAYER FOR PERSISTANCE

God you continue to whisper in our ears

Calling us to make the world a place of justice.

God you ask us to whisper in the ears of others,

Speaking on behalf of those whose voices have been silenced.

God you share with us a vision of a world where all have abundant life.

Help us to see the vision, to hear the whispers.

God you write the covenant of love on our hearts

Help us read those words with our whole soul

...time of silence...

God whispers, God shouts, God pleads for justice. God moves in us, transforming us and, through us, the world.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

REsources for September 8, 2019 -- A Baptism Service using Psalm 139

Opening PRAYER

God who is always present,

we open our hearts and souls to your presence.

God who would be with us at the ends of the earth,

we give thanks for your presence.

God who made and knows us, in this time of worship,

renew us, refresh us, remind us what it means to be your children.

We pray in the name of Jesus, who taught about your love, who showed us the Way to live, and who encouraged his friends to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

Search me, O God, and now my heart; test me and know my thoughts.

You know us more deeply than we know ourselves.

See if there is any wicked way in me.

You know our capacity for love. You know our capacity for indifference.

You know our ability to serve each other. You know our ability to serve ourselves.

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Keep us, we pray, on the path of wisdom. Help us be who we were made to be.

...time of silent prayer...

The God who watched us grow in the womb is the God who is with us every day of our lives. God is there to love and to guide and to correct. God will continue to lead us in the Way everlasting.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Here today we have worshipped.

We have prayed, we have celebrated a new life,

we have been reminded that we are made and known by the God who loves us.

Now today we go out to a world hungering for Good News.

May we help everyone we meet know that they too are wonderfully made, wonderfully known, wonderfully loved.

Go with God, who watched us grow in our mother’s womb, who is in every breath we take, who walks with us wherever life may lead.

We go with joy and thanksgiving.

Call to Worship and Commissioning for a series on the Fruits of the Spirit

CALL TO WORSHIP

May the Peace of Christ be with you

And also with you

We gather as branches growing from the vine.

We gather as people who seek to bear spiritual fruit.

L:

God who gives the growth has called us here for renewal, let us worship together.

As followers of the Risen Christ we open our worship by greeting our neighbours with words and signs of Christ`s peace.

COMMISSIONING:

Jesus Christ, the True Vine, reaches out around the world.

As branches grafted to, and growing from, the vine we grow vibrant and bear fruit.

L:

P:

Go with God: the Creator and Parent, the Risen Christ, the Spirit filling our lungs.

Blessed be God who gives us Growth. Hallelujah! Amen.

A Good FRiday Service

WE APPROACH OUR GRACIOUS GOD

PRELUDE

CALL TO WORSHIP

We have reached the central weekend of our faith

We gather to tell the story and remember.

Today we walk with Jesus on that final walk to a cross on a hill.

God challenges us to see the horror of the story and remember.

God is here

and so we worship and remember.

LIGHTING THE CANDLES

As the darkness deepens, as the story gives us chills, we light candles to bring light and heat to a world that is too often dark and cold.

May their light remind us of the hope that lies beyond the shadow

Opening PRAYER

God, today our hearts are challenged.

Today we remember the capacity of humanity to work against your hopes for the world.

God we know that the world is a place where sinfulness and power can work against love and life.

God we know that we are a part of that equation, and not always on the best side

Today as we pause to remember the story,

open our eyes to see the crosses in our world today, awaken in us a burning desire to turn from sinfulness and live as people of love.

And when we go from this place to wait and watch and reflect,

keep the spark of hope and love alive in our souls, keep us aware that the powers of the world will not have the final say.

God of love and life,

make us people of love and life, even in the face of the cross. Amen.

Gathering Hymn

WE HEAR AND REFLECT ON THE STORY

7 Words From the Cross

Word #1 Luke 23:33-35

Reflection

Prayer

A Candle is Extinguished

Word #2 Luke 23:39-43

Reflection

Prayer

A Candle is Extinguished

Word #3 John 19:25-27

Reflection

Prayer

A Candle is Extinguished

Hymn

Word #4 Mark 15:33-35

Reflection

Prayer

A Candle is Extinguished

Word #5 John 19:28-29

Reflection

Prayer

A Candle is Extinguished

Word #6 John 19:30-34

Reflection

Prayer

A Candle is Extinguished

Ministry of Music 

Word #7 Luke 23:44-46

Reflection

Prayer

THE CHRIST CANDLE IS PUT OUT

The deed is done, it is completed, the mourning has come.

And so we blow out the last candle, hoping against hope that it will once again burst into flame.

WE GO OUT TO MOURN AND WAIT

Hymn

The Story Concludes

Luke 23:50-56

COMMISSIONING:

The Shadow has fallen, the powers and principalities have won the day

Can this really be the end?

We go out with heavy hearts, the Messiah of God has been laid in a stone cold tomb.

This can’t really be the end. Can it?

In the darkness of mourning we wait and we watch.

Trusting and hoping that Dawn will come again.

Go with God.

MArch 24, 2019 -- Lent 3 -- MArriage/Relationships

Opening PRAYER

Companion God, made known in relationship,

we come here to build our relationship with the family of faith.

God made known in Jesus, who calls us to friendship,

in this time together deepen our love for God and neighbour.

Spirit God, always present in our lives,

move in and around us, renewing our hearts and souls.

As friends and followers of Jesus we pray in his name, sharing the words he taught his closest friends...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God of relationship, you challenge us to live in relationship with you and each other.

And we know that we grow from our relationships but sometimes it is just too hard.

God of relationship, you challenge us to be vulnerable with you and each other.

And we will, to a limit, because sometimes vulnerability terrifies us.

God of relationship, help us to be people in relationships

Give us the courage to be open and vulnerable, to forgive and be forgiven, to risk and to protect together.

God of Grace, god of love, God of relationship, through your grace help us grow together in love and in hope. Help us enter into all our relationships, with you and each other, as fully as you enter into relatioship with us.

Amen.

March 17, 2019 -- Lent 2 -- Prayer

Opening PRAYER

Source of life and love, Creator God;

we open our hearts and minds and lives to your presence.

Teacher and Guide, God in human form, known in Christ;

we come as those who try to follow the path you set for us.

Always present with us, giving hope, Spirit God;

we come to be filled with You, refreshed to live out our faith every day.

As those who bear Christ’s name we pray together the words he taught his friends...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God of relationship, you call us to share our lives with you.

And we do. Or we want to, when we aren’t too busy to pray.

God of relationship, you ask us to listen for your voice.

Which sounds great, but we like to talk.

God of relationship, you encourage us to trust that you answer.

And we often wonder what our prayers accomplish, or we don’t like the answer, or we want to stay in control,

God of Grace, help us know that you are there, give us the confidence to trust in you, hear our prayers when they are wordy and when they are silent.

...time of silence...

We offer up our prayers.. When they are selfless and when they are selfish, when we listen and when we only talk, when we see results and when we wonder if it was all worth it we offer up our prayers.. And always God is there, hearing, loving, responding.

Thanks be to God. Amen.