Would make a great response to the Advent Candle Lighting (one verse per week).
Submitted by Rev. Stephen Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY. Permission is given for use in worship. Please do not remove copyright information.
communion: thankful
As thankful people we approach this table. As invited people we come to share in the feast that is prepared for us but does not belong to us. We come as Christ’s own at his invitation, for this table is not for the worthy but for the hungry.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, we give you thanks for all your blessings,
but even in this season of thankfulness we struggle to be thankful people
We are thankful that the angel of death passed over our ancestors in Egypt,
but we quickly forget your blessings when we become fearful in our own desert.
We are thankful for clean water to drink and healthy food to eat,
but we forget that you will provide and we demand more than manna.
We are grateful for strong leaders like Moses and the judges,
but we forget to follow them and wander our own ways.
We are thankful for the voices of the prophets, then and now, calling us to be better, to repent, to pray, and to follow your commands –
but we wonder in our thankfulness, do they have to be SOO persistent?
We are thankful for Jesus. Who wouldn’t be thankful for a cute little baby savior?
But we forget that we don’t get to create him in our image.
We are grateful for the teachings of Jesus.
Except for the ones that are confusing, frustrating, or hard to follow.
We are thankful for the night that Jesus shared a meal with his friends and how he took the bread, blessed, and broke it and gave it to them telling them to “take and eat and do this in remembrance of me.”
And we are thankful that Jesus took a cup and poured wine into it saying, “this is the cup of my covenant, poured out in my blood for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink of it, remember me.”
Yes, we are thankful. But did he really have to die?
It is hard to be thankful for death.
But we are grateful that death is not the end. With the women we stare open-mouthed at the empty tomb.
With confused understanding we are grateful for resurrection.
Lord, send your Spirit to lift us above our lukewarm thankfulness. Turn our desire to be grateful into true gratitude. Take these simple gifts of bread and wine and use them to transform us. Mold us into people who are truly thankful for your blessings as we participate in your very body and blood.
With Christ, in Christ, through Christ, in communion with the Creator and the Spirit we are thankful. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Nikki Cooley, First Presbyterian Church, Liberty, MO
confession: justice is too hard
O God, You are faithful to all generations—from the beginning of time, you have called all kinds of characters to be your people. When we forget that their story is our story, forgive us. When we admire them from afar while insisting that kind of faith isn’t practical for us, forgive us. We confess that your justice is too hard for us to do, and we prefer to create our own. We confess that we do not often bear the fruit you expect of your vineyard, resisting your kingdom’s way when it conflicts with our desires. Forgive us yet again, and plant your word of justice deep in our hearts and lives. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, The Presbyterian Church of Palatine, IL
CTW: a new world
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed; it starts out as a small thing, but it grows and grows until it gives a home to the birds of the air.
Can we believe a new day is coming? As surely as the sun rises over the horizon God is creating a new world.
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like that someone who casts seed on the ground, and then sleeps and wakes, day after day, while the earth produces the fruit from the seed that was cast.
We do not know how God works out the fullness of redemption. But we know we are partners in that work.
Praise the name of the Lord who still cares for the world!
Praise the name of the Lord who leads with power and grace.
Submitted by Rev. Lisa Lopez, Christ Presbyterian Church, Hanover Park IL
CTW: welcome to the house
We gather this morning to sing and pray as the family of God.
Welcome to the house of the Lord!
We gather to hear God’s Word and to share in God’s Meal.
Welcome to the house of the Lord!
We gather as unique individuals, carrying joys and burdens we don’t know how to share.
Welcome to the house of the Lord!
We gather, young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, tired and full of energy.
Welcome to the house of the Lord!
We gather, not to stay here, but to be sent with inspiration to serve all of God’s world!
Welcome to the house of the Lord!
Submitted by Rev. Katya Ouchakof, Lake Edge Lutheran Church, Madison WI
recent comments