This poem takes approx. 7.5 minutes to present…it was presented in a worship service preceded by the gospel hymn “God is Love”. Reader One should be a mother.]
One: It was a love story from the beginning.
Two: Come let us all unite to sing, God is love!
Three: Love of Creator for day-by-day creation,
One: love of Adam for Eve,
God of grace:
Thank you for Alberta, our beautiful province,
land of prairie and boreal forest, rolling hills and towering mountains.
Thank you for our connection to this land,
our favourite spots and places, where we seek out beauty and peace.
Thank you for Alberta’s connection to the rest of Canada,
its connection to our continent, its oceans,
for the atmosphere we share with the whole world,
for the deep heat of the earth’s core
that is the base of every country on earth.
Thank you for the unity of the world,
even as we love certain parts of it,
God of grace, today we pray for peace for the city of Bethlehem.
It has had more than its share of conflict,
as it changed from a little town
to a bustling city visited by millions each year.
You know the walls that separate people in Bethlehem;
walls of concrete, walls of prejudice, walls of hatred,
walls between Israeli and Palestinian,
walls between Jew and Christian and Muslim,
walls between cultures and languages.
We can hardly think of another place on earth
with such high walls and such deep hostility.
Yet this is where you were born:
Jesus is born into darkness,
a darkness that’s over the deep:
the deep sorrowing of our world,
the mourning over murdered children,
the soft sobbing of the hungry,
the wailing over bombed cities,
the despairing over a polluted earth,
the crying over our own sad stories.
On our darkest Christmas eve,
when we’ve forgotten what light looks like,
a baby is born. …
We give thanks to you God,
for the body of a tiny baby,
life and breath in a tiny ribcage.
Immanuel, God with us,
a promise of salvation.
We give thanks
for loving parents,
for the light of a star,
for the radiance of angels,
for the running feet of shepherds,…
May the God who gave us this year
and the Saviour who walked at our side each day
and the Spirit who filled us with life abundant,
grace the coming year with peace and hope and joy,
Amen.
he baby emerges
like every baby:
wet, naked and wrinkled,
mouth opening for breath,
lungs expanding like a wet butterfly,
fingers stretching, eyes blinking.
The first wailing cry.
Arms cradle,
hands touch each limb,
smoothing, cleaning, swaddling.
Two adults weak with relief,
ing a joyful song to the Lord,
sing carols for the birth of a saviour!
Raise your voices in praise to the Lord of hosts,
and give thanks with all your hearts!
Welcome to worship this morning,
it’s a delight to be in the house of God with you this morning!
Let’s pray together;
Thank you, God, for melodies and harmonies,
for voices of every pitch.
Thank you for composers and poets,
for instruments and musicians.
Thank you for ears to hear
and minds to comprehend
God of darkness, God of light,
God of stars and angels,
God of weary travellers and stables,
God of hard labour and new birth,
we come today to worship you.
Open our eyes to your glory,
open our ears to your wisdom
open our hearts to your love
as we come to worship
Jesus, our newborn Saviour.
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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