Prayer Links for Advent Narrative Lectionary Dec. 17th

Feel free to use/edit. Credit to the original author (i.e. based on prayer written by XXX) appreciated.

Dec 17^th, 2017 Prayer Resource Created by Rev. Dr. Marilyn Pagán-Banks

Isaiah 55:1-13 and John 4:13-14

Call to Worship from Psalm 126

One Voice:  Beloved, as we gather on this third Sunday of Advent, let us recall with gladness the God who has kept us thus far.

ALL:  We gather with mouths filled with laughter, and we lift our voices with shouts of joy.  Even through our tears and our struggles in these times, we rejoice for we know that we are never alone.  Today, we can boldly declare in all circumstances that the Lord has done great things for us.  Our joyful praise belongs to God. Alleluia and amen.

Call to Confession

Too often we lose sight of what is important and what is good for our souls—our bodies even! We spend our resources, our time and our energy on things that are not life-affirming or joy-inspiring—and sometimes we even fill up on things that cause harm to us, others and our planet.

Let us take a moment and reflect on the things we need to let go of? those places in our lives we need God to restore? Let us confess our sins, not out of guilt but with a desire to have our joy made complete in God. Let us pray in silence…

(Moment of Silent Prayer)

Prayer of Assurance

Sisters, brothers, siblings—God desires to be in right relationship with each and every one of us.  Just as God forgave David and promised God’s steadfast love to him—so it is for us.  Let us with joyful hearts turn back to God and as the prophet Isaiah declares “be led back in peace.” Having claimed this peace for ourselves, let us now share the sign of peace with one another.

Lighting of the Advent Candle

One Voice:  Today we light the 3^rd Advent Candle—the candle which represents joy.

ALL:  In the lighting of this candle—we invoke God’s joy into this holy season, which can be painful and lonely for so many.  We declare God’s joy in these times when the world is filled with hardness and hate.  We believe that God’s promise of joy is everlasting and burns boldly within each and every one of us.  Like the light of this flame, today we let our joy shine for all the world to see! Amen.

Dec 3rd by Rev. Johanna Rehbaum

Dec 10th by Rev. Mike Williams

Dec. 24th Christmas Morning by Rev. Kate Johnson Martin

Dec 24th Christmas Eve by Rev. Lee Ann Higgins

Author: katyandtheword

Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ. She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible. "Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal. Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times. View all posts by katyandtheword