Advent 2008 – Promises, Promises

GATHERING           

ENTRANCE

REFLECTION

[We] must be men and women of ceaseless hope, because only tomorrow can today’s human and Christian promise be realized; and every tomorrow will have its own tomorrow, world without end. Every human act, every Christian act, is an act of hope. But that means [we] must be men and women of the present, [we] must live this moment – really live it, not just endure it – because this very moment, for all its imperfection and frustration, because of its imperfection and frustration, is pregnant with all sorts of possibilities, is pregnant with the future, is pregnant with love, is pregnant with Christ.

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

Leader:    Holy Spirit of all Creation, promise maker,
            promise keeper, we come here hungry to know
            that we are in your holy presence.

People:    We come, hungry for the Good News
            that you are present here,
            in this world which you are creating.

Leader:    We come, bringing our hopes,
            our fears and our commitment to be with you.

People:    We hope that you will show us
            how to be people of this time, this place,
            this pregnant moment in history.

Leader:    Holy God, Creator of this world without end,

All:            Help us claim the promise of the Messiah,
            your promise to a frightened world.

INVOCATION

HYMN

WORD FOR THE CHILDREN

SILENCE

RESPONSIVE READING

Leader:    Ask not, doubt not.
            You have, my heart,
            already chosen the joy of Advent.

People:    It is the advent of the great God.

Leader:    Say this with faith and love,
            and your holy past
            and your life’s eternal future
            will draw together in the now.

All:            The heart comes to the one who is Advent,    
            already in the process of coming
            and who has already come to redeem us.

SILENCE

 

PRAYERS

COMMON CONFESSION

Leader:    Radiant God of comfort and hope,
            you have promised to renew creation,
            to bring forth a new heaven and new earth
            in which righteousness and steadfast love
            will embrace forever.
 
People:    We look forward to your promised coming,
            but we cling to a world
            in which privilege and power make all the rules.
 
Leader:    We yearn for peace and justice,
            but we are afraid
            of the tearing and rending that will come
            with changing the way things have always been.
 
All:            As we await the reality of your coming reign,
            we confess our unwillingness to live
            as though it has already arrived.

INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE

Leader:    In the promise of renewed creation,
            God’s love and forgiveness save us
            to heal a broken world.

All:            Amen!

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION 

UNISON PRAYER

All:            Holy One, we come today
            to claim our relationship with you.
            We pray for the commitment to grow together,
            sharing the gifts you give us with others
            here and in the wider world. 

            Give us strength and discipline
            to nurture our relationship with You;
            to care for every part of Your Creation;
            to foster justice and be in solidarity with those in need;
            to work to end all war, and violence, and discord;
            and to respond joyfully when you call,
            freely giving our selves as you have shown the way.

            We open our hearts to you and your Creation
            in the name of Jesus, who is the Christ. 
            Amen.

 

HYMN 

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE

SERMON

SILENT REFLECTION

OFFERING

SHARED REFLECTIONS

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

HYMN 

BENEDICTION

Leader:    The Holy One who feeds the flock like a shepherd,
            and who promises that they who sow in tears
            will reap with shouts of joy,
            walks with us through this pregnant time
            as we leave this place to heal and to love and to serve,
            even as we wait. Amen.

People:    Amen

WORSHIP RESOURCES

Responsive Reading by Karl Rahner in An Advent Sourcebook, Thomas J. O’Gorman, ed. © 1988.  Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago, Illinois. pg 56.