God of our side, and God of our enemies’ side,
hear our prayer:
we need your help here on planet earth.
With heavy hearts we confess
the brokenness on our beautiful blue planet.
Hear the sound of gunfire,
see the bomb craters,
taste the bitterness of people hating people,
smell the fear that permeates our lives,
touch the hearts of the wounded.
God’s glory is all around us, but we can’t always see it. I then compare that to electricity…and I use various electrical appliances to show that electricity is real. I then talk about the ways we see God’s power around us.
Go into your week
with your ears pitched
to the sound of God’s voice calling your name.
Go into your week
with your eyes peeled
for the face of Jesus in unexpected places.
Go into your week
with your soul poised
to receive the Spirit of God,
the Spirit of Peace.
Go into your week
knowing that the God of all care
will keep you safe from harm,
that the Spirit of care will fill your hearts,
and that Jesus himself
will walk by your side. Amen
To all of us a last Christmas comes.
The cycle of the year, so familiar and dear,
stops cycling for us, but not for those around us.
Some have no idea the end is near,
others look at the calendar,
and know they will not be turning more pages,
and so they enter this season with different eyes.
A last chance to put up Christmas decorations,
enjoying the memories that come with each ornament.
A last chance to taste those specific cookies,
God, let this be a fruitful day!
In this hour of worship,
open our eyes to beauty,
tune our ears to harmony.
The fragrance of your love
permeating every moment.
The touch of your hand
guiding all we do.
Together, we want to taste with delight
the joy of your presence here today.
We are waiting for your presence, God–
patient, like a lover sitting by the telephone
waiting for the voice of their beloved;
attentive as a farmer watching clouds for rain
waiting for the parched soil’s relief;
intent as a child standing by the road
waiting for the parade to appear;
empty as a satellite dish scanning the heavens
waiting for a message from the stars;
poised as the still arms of a windmill
waiting for the wind’s inspiration;
open as the wide sand beach
waiting for the tide’s embrace.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
This is a prayer we are reluctant to pray
because it is so hard to name what we fear out loud.
We go through our days trying to pretend
that life as normal will continue forever,
but that is harder and harder to sustain.
And so we need this prayer where we lay out
the disasters of climate change to you and to each other:
the loss of species never to be seen again,
the bleaching of the coral reefs,
God our Provider,
we walked into church today
needing you in different ways.
Some of us need strength
because we are facing a big challenge.
Some of us need hope,
because we are feel like giving up.
Some of us need love
because we are feeling alone.
We trust that you will provide for us,
whether through words or music,
or in a quiet moment of reflection.
You are here,
you are with us.
Bless our time together. Amen.
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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