God of hope, we pray to you when hope is scarce
as our world convulses with the horror of war.
You alone know the extent of the crimes committed in Ukraine:
the people murdered, the homes and infrastructure destroyed,
the way violence comes as a calamity,
cutting a swath through the world.
Why is power concentrated in the hands of so few?
God of hope,
as Ukraine balances on a knife edge,
we pray for peace.
Peace for Ukrainian citizens living with constant anxiety,
fearful that calamity will fall upon them today.
Peace for the Russian soldiers who are waiting for orders,
fearful for their own lives.
Peace for neighbouring countries who know
that war makes refugees that must be welcomed.
Thank you, God, for snow!
Thank you for the brilliance of a Canadian winter
and the way snow changes our landscape,
unifying it, showing us new shapes and contours.
Thank you for children who delight in snow,
embracing snowmen, digging tunnels and sliding down slopes.
Thank you for the way snow interrupts our grownup lives.
slowing us down, helping us rely on our neighbours.
The snow is an invitation to experience peace,
the peace of the world in winter.
Our call to worship is from Luke 1:78-79
“By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Merciful God:
we come together to worship longing for tenderness
because this world can be hard.
We come longing for light
because our lives are crowded with shadows
We come desperately needing direction,
because we don’t always know which way to go.
Fill us this morning with your peace:
your spirit is our peace and our path.
Three stories of peace in the midst of violence: Jehoshabeath, J.S. Woodsworth, and John Witmer. Every action for peace makes a difference.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ [NRSV]
Merciful God:
We come together to worship longing for tenderness
because this world can be hard.
We come longing for light
because our lives are crowded with shadows.
We come desperately needing direction.
Fill us this morning with your peace:
your spirit is our peace and our path.
It’s a great big world you’ve made, God,
and we are small bits upon it.
The mountains, the glaciers, the bounding oceans,
the mass of the earth beneath our feet,
the reach of the stars, and the galaxies stretching
to infinite distances, known only by you.
Give us a universal vision, to see our planet as you do.
Could there be peace on earth, could it begin with me?
There are good years and bad years,
and then there are years from hell.
Hear our prayer O God, for all who are tortured by war.
You know the anguished cries,
and the hearts that have turned to stone.
These are people who will die unless you save them.
We need a Saviour for those who sit in the shadow of death:
for children who have lost their parents,
and have no one to take care of them;
for teenagers forced to fight,
and who can’t imagine a normal life;
for all who have killed and have witnessed the killing;
for all who are fleeing the violence
Lord, you know we give thanks for fish often enough,
the ones on plates on our table, served up hot and tasty.
Today we say a prayer for the fish we will never see,
the ones who live in the streams by our home,
the ones who swim up rivers to great lakes,
and the fish in the wide and salty ocean.
Swimming in the dim light they inhabit a wilderness
of water, theirs from the beginning of time.
We see only the edges, the surfaces.
Hear our prayer for the mighty lake sturgeon,
and for the carp, the bass, the silver chub.
We pray for the salmon we will never eat,
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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