Fourth Sunday Of Advent
Worship
Lectionary Worship Aids
Series VI, Cycle A
Object:
Words Of Assurance
We celebrate the promise of the Christmas carol: "How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in."
Pastoral Prayer
Dear God, "lowly in the manger laid," we are haunted that there was "no room in the inn" for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus the night Jesus was born. What an inhospitable world he entered! Might we have made it different had we been there?
We remind ourselves that we are all innkeepers of our hearts. We really want them to be inns where ultimate happiness is found. Instead, we are poor innkeepers who have allowed all sorts of guests to stay. We have given our best accommodations to the creators of sensate pleasure and feeling, those who abuse power and position, those who hide evil hearts under garments of elegance, those who cover their emptiness with sophisticated manners. Something is missing, for our hearts are not inns of ultimate happiness.
We need a baby in our midst, a baby fresh from the womb of your creation, a baby unblemished by selfishness, a baby freed to trust and love, a baby who excites hope in our weary hearts, and stirs recollections of childhood dreams and a lost innocence. Yet, where might we house such a baby?
Make room we must! Some old guests will have to go: the boastful who flaunt their power and position, the vendors of sensate pleasure who promise much and deliver little, those who lead us to compromise our ethical standards, who practice evil, and smell of death. We need your power to help us expel them all, for we truly want those guests who will bring us ultimate happiness. We know that not until we have cleansed the debris of bad thoughts and ill tempers from our hearts will we find a suitable place for the Christ Child.
And so we sing, "Cast out our sin and enter in: be born in us today." Then rejoicing will resound through the courts of heaven, for the Son of God will have found a suitable dwelling place. He will preside in our inn of ultimate happiness. Then we can say, "Christ is our life. Christ is our hope of glory."
All this we pray in the name of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Man of Galilee, the Prince of Peace, and the Savior of the World -- even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
May the awe of Mary, the joy of the shepherds, and the wonder of the Wise Men be yours now and forevermore. The blessing of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you. Amen.
We celebrate the promise of the Christmas carol: "How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in."
Pastoral Prayer
Dear God, "lowly in the manger laid," we are haunted that there was "no room in the inn" for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus the night Jesus was born. What an inhospitable world he entered! Might we have made it different had we been there?
We remind ourselves that we are all innkeepers of our hearts. We really want them to be inns where ultimate happiness is found. Instead, we are poor innkeepers who have allowed all sorts of guests to stay. We have given our best accommodations to the creators of sensate pleasure and feeling, those who abuse power and position, those who hide evil hearts under garments of elegance, those who cover their emptiness with sophisticated manners. Something is missing, for our hearts are not inns of ultimate happiness.
We need a baby in our midst, a baby fresh from the womb of your creation, a baby unblemished by selfishness, a baby freed to trust and love, a baby who excites hope in our weary hearts, and stirs recollections of childhood dreams and a lost innocence. Yet, where might we house such a baby?
Make room we must! Some old guests will have to go: the boastful who flaunt their power and position, the vendors of sensate pleasure who promise much and deliver little, those who lead us to compromise our ethical standards, who practice evil, and smell of death. We need your power to help us expel them all, for we truly want those guests who will bring us ultimate happiness. We know that not until we have cleansed the debris of bad thoughts and ill tempers from our hearts will we find a suitable place for the Christ Child.
And so we sing, "Cast out our sin and enter in: be born in us today." Then rejoicing will resound through the courts of heaven, for the Son of God will have found a suitable dwelling place. He will preside in our inn of ultimate happiness. Then we can say, "Christ is our life. Christ is our hope of glory."
All this we pray in the name of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Man of Galilee, the Prince of Peace, and the Savior of the World -- even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
May the awe of Mary, the joy of the shepherds, and the wonder of the Wise Men be yours now and forevermore. The blessing of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you. Amen.
