God of hope;
hear our prayer for ______.
You know the joy with which they began their marriage,
and the love they had for each other.
You’ve seen that bright time change and gradually fade.
You know the challenges, the fights,
the slow erosion of respect,
and now the crisis of infidelity….
God, guide our country through this federal election.
Thank you for all who run for public office,
and for the variety of political parties and opinions.
Thank you that we can go to polls
without threats and intimidation,
and that we can trust the outcome of the count.
Help us choose a government that will rule wisely,
thinking to the future and learning from the past.
We need a strong economy that leaves no one behind,
Reforming Spirit,
you blew through the lives
of common folk in Switzerland in 1525.
A realization gradually dawned
that what they had been taught from childhood
about being a Christian
was not the only way to think.
Reading the Bible opened a new way.
They envisioned a church
not automatically filled with…
Our prayer this Advent is beyond words.You find it in the silence of the sleeping forest,down under the ice.It’s resting on the set table,and twinkling
n this season of spring, God,
we see your Spirit pouring through our world;
leaves unfurling with delicate beauty,
birds waking us up with their spring songs,
the good soil filled with worms and potential,
lilacs pouring forth their fragrance,
green as far as the eye can see!
The earth in all its glory—it fills us with joy!
Thank you for your Spirit
moving through us in other ways;
for the way love bubbles up,
finding a way even in hard times.
Thank you for the strength you give us
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind,and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts
God, you see us here in the northern hemisphere.
The days get shorter and the arc of the sun
creeps towards the horizon.
Winter has come
with its great swaths of darkness.
Hope hunkers down with us
as the cold north winds make us shiver.
The last geese fly across the sky heading south,
and the trees are suddenly bare.
In this emptiness you give us advent.
We reach into dark corners and pull out dusty boxes.
Hope glimmers as we string up colourful lights,
and set up nativity scenes that bring to mind
the gift of a baby in Bethlehem.
Hope is hard to find in that war torn place of your birth,
and in so many places this year.
Bombs and bullets crater communities,
God, being thankful for peace and plenty
is complicated, especially this Thanksgiving.
Whose peace and whose plenty?
So many people here and around the world
face violence every day.
And while some tables are full,
others have empty cupboards
or no cupboards at all.
In some countries homes are torn to smithereens
and grieving families are scattered to the four winds.
So teach us, Jesus, to be thankful in times like these.
Thankful for the good earth, the sun and the rain.
Thankful for farmers who labour to feed us….
Hear our cries, God!
Invasion, occupation, and terror,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Dead bodies, wounded bodies, orphans,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Prisoners, hostages, refugees,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Anguish, hopelessness, rage,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Destruction on the grandest scale,
the earth cratered with hatred.
Jesus, make it stop.
Every war ends.
Help us…
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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