The sun slides to the horizon
and our thoughts slide to you,
God of heaven and earth.
As the shadows lengthen,
we rest our weary bodies.
Let the peace of the evening
fill us as we pray.
Thank you for all that we experienced today:
moments of energy and engagement,
moments of inactivity and quietness,
God our Hope, be our guide in all the terrains of sinfulness.
When sin is glittering, and we have eyes for nothing else
and are oblivious to consequences;
be with us then.
When sin is disguised, and we do wrong things thinking they are right
because we are entirely misguided;
be with us then.
When sin is justified, and we know something is wrong
but we find a million reasons why we can do it;
be with us then.
When sin is a category we reject, and we follow our own way
Thank you, God, for deliverance.
Thank you that ________ has given birth
and that we can hold baby __________ in our arms.
Thank you for this mysterious process of childbirth,
the way a baby is formed and nurtured
tucked away in its mother’s womb.
Thank you for the intimacy of pregnancy,
with all its joy and uncomfortableness.
Thank you for labour pains, which opened a channel
to a new life out in the world.
The disciples also knew about resurrection. They saw Jesus raise a young girl and also Lazarus from the dead. Yet when confronted with death in their lives, in front of their eyes, death in all its brutality, Jesus at Golgotha, they were overwhelmed. They were defeated. They knew that death had the last word. That’s the story they knew by heart…death always has the last word. So when they see the tomb empty, all they can think is “That’s odd.” Mary sees the man outside the tomb and thinks, “He must be the gardener.“
Mennonites are part of a peace church tradition which means we don’t believe violence is the solution. We will not use violence to kill and we stand up for the defenceless, for people who are being attacked. Will we stand up for creatures that are under attack? They are truly the most defenceless. They cannot speak for themselves. The passenger pigeon could not write articles in newspapers to defend itself,or start lawsuits about their own demise or stage public protests in big cities. All they did was disappear.
A pageant designed to be performed on Zoom, with 11 characters. Suitable for children, or for an intergenerational cast.
We launch it joyfully, confident that it will help our community find our voice.
Together we will explore the words and tunes and images,
hearing faithful voices from our own Anabaptist tradition,
and the worldwide Christian community.
As we worship, you will continue forming us into your people.
We dedicate these books to you,
and us to your service.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen
It has been a strange epiphany this year, God.
We’ve had sudden insight into how fragile democracy can be.
Many of us are disturbed and shocked by the violence and mayhem
that filled the halls of power in Washington DC this week.
Spaces sacred to government were violated by intruders
carrying weapons and symbols of racism.
We see the injustice of how government responds to protests;
when black people marched peacefully last year
they were met with a massive show of force.
We worry about a president who both refuses to concede
and fans flames of violent protest,
Our prayer this Christmas is beyond words.
You find it in the silence of the sleeping forest,
down under the ice.
You find it with the wind sweeping in cold gusts,
rattling the windows.
Our prayer is the snow that’s falling.
Inside, it’s the table being set, the preparations,
it is every twinkling light and piece of greenery.
Our prayer floats on the fragrance of food in the oven.
We pull this prayer with us
as we remember Christmases long ago,
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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