A prayer offered in 1993, my first year at a new pastorate, as part of a lovely service of lessons and carols led by Mrs. Marlene Taylor and the choir.

Beloved in Christ,

Advent invites our hearts and imaginations to 

          bring us again to the angels’ song,

To lead us to sleepy Bethlehem where we behold again

          the wonder of the Babe, lying in a manger.

Therefore let us re-enter the Holy Scriptures and trace again

          the trail of God’s loving purposes

          that leads from God’s own eternal creative and loving heart

          through our first days of disobedience to the

          wonder of God’s own gift of the Incarnation,

          the Salvation of us all!

But first, let us pray for the needs of the whole world;

          for peace on earth and goodwill among all His people;

          for unity and kinship within the church He came to make as One,

                     And especially for this fellowship which we know so well.

And because our concern is God’s joy,

          let us remember, in His name, the poor and helpless,

                     the cold, the hungry, and the oppressed;

                     the sick and all those broken by grief;

                     the lonely and the unloved;

                     those bent low by many years and the little children;

                     all those who do not know the love of the Lord Jesus

                     or who do not know Him by the love of His followers

                     or who by sin have grieved His love by their failures.

We give thanks for those who, though they do not yet know Him, yet seek after Him

                    In their longing for truth, their hunger for righteousness,

                     And their quest for justice, all of which is His way.

Finally,

          let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us

          in distant lands and other tongues

          and also those whose multitude no person can number,

          the saints of all ages whose hope also was in the Word made flesh,

          and with whom we are ever one in the Lord Jesus.   

These prayers and praises let us humbly offer up to the Throne of Heaven, in the words which Christ himself has taught us, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

The Blessing

Now may the God who by His Incarnation gathered into one all things on heaven and earth,  fill you with the sweet inward peace and goodwill of Christmas; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be upon you and abide with you always.  Amen.