FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Worship
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series III, Cycle A
CALL TO WORSHIP
I rejoice to see you in the house of the Lord; where we come together in unity. Let us give thanks to the Lord himself, and pray for the peace of all earth's cities.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Timeless One, You always know what time it is. We become so dulled by the routine that we are often indifferent to the signs of moral decay. Too often we break the monotony by excesses of eating and drinking and sexual adventuring. We play games of one-upmanship, exulting in our superiority, or growing green with jealousy. Forgive our indifference to what such behavior does to others and to ourselves, and our unreadiness for your coming; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! You have come to the right place, to the house of the Lord, where we pray for each other's good. Friends, believe, the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Hold yourselves ready, because the Son of Man will come at the time you least expect him.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Lord of all history, You alone know all beginnings and all endings. Help us to find our place in your plan of things and to synchronize our time with yours, that we will be ready to do your thing, and prepared for your revisitation in Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Supreme Peacemaker, we rejoice in every conversion of the military to the service of the suffering; every use of an army truck to transport relief supplies, every flight ofan airforce helicopter to rescue the trapped, every naval mission to save those in peril on the sea. We are thankful for the promise of the day when nation shall not point weapons against nations, nor ever again be trained for war. We rejoice in every cooperative effort of nations, and hope for the day of universal peace. You are our peace, our peacemaker, our inspiration for peacemaking. We praise your name. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Dutiful God, you never fail us. We give thanks to you as is our bounden duty. Receive us, our prayers and our offerings, through your ever-faithful son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PSALM 122
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!"
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem--built as a city that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers."
For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, "Peace be within you."
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.
I rejoice to see you in the house of the Lord; where we come together in unity. Let us give thanks to the Lord himself, and pray for the peace of all earth's cities.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Timeless One, You always know what time it is. We become so dulled by the routine that we are often indifferent to the signs of moral decay. Too often we break the monotony by excesses of eating and drinking and sexual adventuring. We play games of one-upmanship, exulting in our superiority, or growing green with jealousy. Forgive our indifference to what such behavior does to others and to ourselves, and our unreadiness for your coming; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! You have come to the right place, to the house of the Lord, where we pray for each other's good. Friends, believe, the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Hold yourselves ready, because the Son of Man will come at the time you least expect him.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Lord of all history, You alone know all beginnings and all endings. Help us to find our place in your plan of things and to synchronize our time with yours, that we will be ready to do your thing, and prepared for your revisitation in Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Supreme Peacemaker, we rejoice in every conversion of the military to the service of the suffering; every use of an army truck to transport relief supplies, every flight ofan airforce helicopter to rescue the trapped, every naval mission to save those in peril on the sea. We are thankful for the promise of the day when nation shall not point weapons against nations, nor ever again be trained for war. We rejoice in every cooperative effort of nations, and hope for the day of universal peace. You are our peace, our peacemaker, our inspiration for peacemaking. We praise your name. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Dutiful God, you never fail us. We give thanks to you as is our bounden duty. Receive us, our prayers and our offerings, through your ever-faithful son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PSALM 122
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!"
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem--built as a city that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers."
For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, "Peace be within you."
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.
