Christmas 2002: Christmastide

SEEKERS CHURCH

A Christian Community

In the Tradition of the Church of the Saviour

Christmastide 2001

REFLECTION

Something is afoot in the universe; a result is working out which can best be compared to gestation and birth: the birth of a new spiritual reality formed by souls and the matter they draw after them.

Tielhard de Chardin

PRELUDE

CALL TO WORSHIP

Unison: Thus says the Sovereign One:

"Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

Proclaim, give praise, and say,

'God has saved the people of the Covenant,

the remnant of Israel.'"

INVOCATION

HYMN

WORD FOR THE CHILDREN

SILENCE

LITANY OF NEW BEGINNINGS

Leader: In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

People: We heard the Word as children,

when it was only sound,

before we knew that words had power to create.

Leader: The Word was in the beginning with God,

all things were made through the Word,

and without the Word was not anything made

that was made.

People: We know that words create

ideas, arguments, values and agreements.

What is this Word through which all things are made?

Leader: In the Word is life, and the life is the light of all.

People: We long for life and light …

for hope and peace for all the world.

Unison: The light shines in the deepest night,

AND THE NIGHT HAS NOT OVERCOME IT!!

SILENCE

PRAYERS

CONFESSION

Unison: Holy God,

who moves through all we know creating all that is,

we confess the smallness of our faith.

It is easy, these short, dark days,

to lose sight of hope reborn in Jesus Christ.

Our world is full of fear, and pain, and suffering.

The light that shines despite the darkness

is shrouded in fog.

We do not see the possibilities

that only You can bring to life.

Forgive us for the limits of our faith.

INDIVIDUAL CONFESSIONS

ASSURANCE

Leader: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

full of grace and truth;

we behold the glory of the Word,

glory as of the only Child of God.

And from the fullness of the Child

have we all received,

grace upon grace.

Unison: Amen.

CONTINUING PRAYERS

HYMN

THE WORD

Scripture

Sermon

Silent Reflection

OFFERING

REFLECTIONS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

BENEDICTION

Leader: God chose us before the foundation of the world,

to be God's children through Jesus Christ,

according to the purpose of God's will.

Go forth in joy to be part of God's unfolding mystery.

All: Amen.

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Additional Prayers during Christmastide

REFLECTION

Tielhard de Chardin

December 30, 2001

Prayers by Sherri Alms

Lessons: Isaiah 63:7‑9

Psalm 148

Hebrews 2:10‑18

Matthew 2:13‑23

Invocation

Rejoice, and again I say rejoice,

for God has come again.

Let all things praise the holy babe,

born when the world so needed a saviour.

Let us welcome this saviour in our hearts

and here to this holy home.

As ever, this world and all who live on it

need the promise the baby carries within,

the spirit of God, the seed of hope.

Rejoice and again I say rejoice.

Let all praise the God whose spirit

gives life to this earth,

from mountain top to the bottom of the ocean.

from green leaves to white flakes of snow.

Let animals and angels, young and old

join together to praise the God

who comes to us, who knows us,

who loves us as he teaches us to love one another.

Thanksgiving

We thank you, Spirit of love,

not for perfect lives, perfect bodies,

perfect love, or perfect families.

Today, as we reflect on a small tender baby

unable to care for himself,

born to young unsure parents in a rude shelter,

surrounded by the poor and outcast,

we give thanks for imperfection,

for the times of waiting, of not knowing,

for the times we pondered in our hearts

whether we could do what you asked of us.

It is in those times comes the Christ child to our hearts

to give us peace and courage,

to give us to know what we should do next,

how we best can care for ourselves,

for one another, and for this fragile world.

As wind howls and snowflakes dance down,

we give thanks for the knowledge that imperfection

is the ground in which God sews miracles, wholeness, growth.

We give thanks aloud and in our hearts for the ways in which we have seen those miracles of love this past week¼

Intercession

Spirit of life, you gave your child to a world in pain.

Come to us now and to the world still wounded

and in need of your healing.

As we break and are broken,

you are broken.

As we wound and are wounded,

your own wounds grow deeper.

And yet, in your deep love

for each of us and for this world,

you hold all of the broken pieces together,

patiently waiting for us to make new connections,

to find new ways of being and loving.

In our brokenness, in the pain that you share with us,

lies the promise of new life, new love, new hope.

Where we are broken, where our brothers and sisters are in pain,

where the world bleeds, show us a new way¼

We ask aloud and in our hearts for your mending power to make us whole¼

(Intercession adapted from Night Visions by Jan L. Richardson)

Closing

Ancient One,

who makes all things new,

may we receive with gentleness

and touch with hopefulness

and protect with fierceness

and love with tenderness;

and may we celebrate with gratefulness

and welcome with humbleness

and tend with gracefulness

all that you give

into our care.

In the name of the everlasting love come again to each of us,

we pray amen.

(Wrap up from Night Visions by Jan L. Richardson)