Prayer as We Gather: Finish what you started, Lord, fulfilling your gracious promise first delivered to our Hebrew forebears and made flesh in the person of Jesus: “I will raise up a righteous branch, who will do what is just and right in the land.” On this first Advent Sunday, may we see ourselves as the latest crop of righteous branches, faithfully bearing fruit in our own day and doggedly pursuing justice amidst a forlorn people desperately in need of hope. Amen.*(Mitchell Simpson, inspired by Jeremiah 33)
Call to Worship:
I offer my life to you, Lord; I trust you.
Please don’t let me be put to shame!
Make your ways known to me, Lord;
Teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, because I put my hope in you all day long.
Lord, don’t remember the sins of my youth.
The Lord is good and does the right thing.
God guides the weak to justice.
All the Lord’s paths are loving and faithful
For those who keep God’s covenant. (Psalm 25, the Common English Bible)
Morning Prayer: Lord, how can we ever thank you enough for all the joy you’ve given? Even the confusion roaring all about us bears witness to Jesus’ warning of the fear and foreboding sure to beset those who dare to follow him. Advent, with its yearning for a Messiah “coming on a cloud with power and great splendor,” summons us to take courage: “Stand up straight and raise your heads, because your redemption is near.” Help us heed Jesus’ bracing call to stay alert in just such times as these, so we might be “strong enough to escape everything that is about to happen.” Bring it on, Lord, for we pray as he taught us to pray, saying …*(Mitchell Simpson, inspired by 1 Thessalonians 3 and Luke 21)