Advent Candle Lighting
The first candle of Advent is the candle of Hope; the second is the candle of Peace. We light this candle to remind us that our Lord, Jesus the Christ, brings peace to all who trust in him.
Light the second candle
Let’s join in prayer Loving God, you give peace that is beyond our understanding – thank you. As the light of Christ shines in our lives, may we see and follow the path of peace and reconciliation. Help us to prepare our hearts to receive you deep peace.
We ask in the name of the One born in Bethlehem. Amen.
Call to worship
Come to us, Holy Spirit,
in the quiet times of peace.
Come to us, Comforting Friend,
in the anguished eternities of grief.
Come to us, Laughing Lord,
in welling fountains of joy.
Come to us, Faithful Companion,
in cold vistas of disbelief.
Come to us, Gracious God,
in burning certainties of faith.
Emmanuel, God with us in all the journey of life, we join together now to worship you.
Catch up and check in
Bible Reading
Ruth chapter 2 (you can find the text here)
Reflection
An offering of trust.
Communion
Here in this place,
we celebrate the life that was born at Bethlehem,
the life that Jesus has shared
among his community through the centuries,
And shares with us now.
At this table we give thanks for
justice, love, peace and freedom.
At this table we give thanks for friends and strangers; at this table we welcome old and young.
Heart of love, spirit of mystery,
we silently live into this season
of expectation.
In the stillness we listen to what it means
to be a waiting, Advent people.
Holy One, source of grace, we offer our praise and rejoice
in your creation and its gifts.
We gather affirming the paradoxes of life:
days of bright fullness and of grey emptiness;
moments of knowing your love and times of sensing ourselves
isolated and alone; years of being Christian community to one another and times of separation and broken relationship.
These experiences of darkness and light call us back to seeking the grace and truth of gospel.
As we thankfully gather at the communion table, may we experience the power of your love that overcomes all obstacles and reconciles all things.
We long to touch and be touched by these symbols of brokenness and healing, death and life, community and transcendence.
Gracious spirit, during this season of outward intensity and activity,
remind us of the need for inner quiet
that requires us to explore
the places of wilderness in our lives and the life of our world.
Invite us to a deepening of our prayers that call us into the heart of humanity.
Encourage us to find grace filled, gospel ways of living into change,
of letting others change;
of seeing each other and ourselves differently;
of reconciliation and love.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Open our eyes to the mystery of Christ’s presence in these ordinary things in these, our ordinary lives. May they be for us the very essence of the living Christ in our midst.
The prayer of the Holy Spirit
Come now, disturbing Spirit of our God, breathe on us and these gifts of bread and wine make us one body in Christ, that we may know Christ present in us, present in our lives, present in the world with us and through us.
In the mystery of communion we meet Christ, we are one with Christ, we become Christ.
Prayer after communion
Loving God,
We thank you for feeding us, body, mind, heart and soul. May we live each day in the unforced rhythms of your grace. Amen
Prayers of the People
Blessing
Go in peace, go in patience, go in expectation.
Live in love, live in hope, live in anticipation.
May joy be present and warm your heart.
Be blessed in the name of God,
source of all life and inspiration.
Be blessed in the name of the Christ,
whose birth liberates our expectations.
Be blessed in the name of the Spirit,
who breathes new life upon us all. Amen
