leadinginworship

In the Name of Christ Litany

1.          In the name of Christ, First Born of all Creation,
2.          in the name of Jesus, the Second Adam, born of Mary,
3.          in the name of Immanuel, the Nazarene, who lived among us, 
1.          in the name of Christ, the Baptized One, first in obedience,
2.          in the name of Jesus, Wilderness Dweller, tried and tested,
3.          in the name of Immanuel, Word of Love for all people,
1.          in the name of Christ, Healer of our Every Ill,
2.          in the name of Jesus, Welcomer of Children,
3.          in the name of Immanuel, Beloved Teacher,
1.          in the name of Christ, Transfigured Son of God,
2.          in the name of Jesus, Bread of Life for the whole word,
3.          in the name of Immanuel, Bearer of our Sins, even unto death,
1.          in the name of Christ, the Resurrected One,
2.         in the name of Jesus, First Born from the Dead,
3.         in the name of Immanuel, the Morning Star,
                    seated at the right hand of God,
All:      in the power of these holy names we stand.
1.         Lies be gone, you cannot stay, Christ reigns here.
2.        Shame be gone, you cannot stay, Jesus reigns here.
3.        Hate be gone, you cannot stay, Immanuel reigns here.
1.        Where Christ reigns, there is on earth peace.
2.        Where Jesus reigns, there is on earth love.
3.        Where Immanuel reigns, there is on earth hope.
All:     Christ reigns here!
1.         Amen!
2.        Amen!
3.        Amen!

Congregational Prayer for the Little Things

God of grace,
thank you for the little things.
For the gift of this one little day in the great span of time.
For the little beauties;
the sunlight on blankets in the morning,
the fragrance of coffee,
the smile of someone who cares for us,
the texture of the day unfolding as it should.
Thank you for the gift of normal days,
peaceful, pleasant, ordinary.
Open our eyes to the little blessings we so often take for granted.
Thank you for sending a Saviour 
who knew the pleasures of everyday life,
who grew up in a family,
and saw the sky every day just like we do.
Help us learn from the little things he did:
stopping to talk to children,
even when he was being hurried to more important things.
Jesus noticing the woman giving two pennies to God,
or making a barbecue on the beach for his friends.
Presentness, thankfulness, hospitality:
we need these in our lives, in our community.
Thank you for this community,
the simple act of coming together to praise you,
the little offerings we give,
the small ways we try to show we care.
We do care, and we want to care more.
We want a love as deep and rich as someone who died for our sins:
Jesus, you were true to us even in the face of cruelty,
even to your last breath.
Fill us with that spirit of love so much
that it comes out of us in a thousand little ways this week.
Returning kind words for harsh words.
Giving freely when we see a need.
Forgiving easily and daily, and not holding grudges.
There are big needs and big problems in the world,
we trust that you will take our offerings,
our little actions for peace,
and multiply them the way only you can.
We trust in you, together, as your people,
and so we pray together, the prayer you taught us to pray: 

[The Lord's Prayer]

Praying Through A Divorce

What God has joined together now lies in pieces.
What began with delight and tenderness,
reeks now with bitterness and festering pain.
What began with soft words of love,
grates now with harsh words of blaming.
Jesus, we look for you in this relationship’s slow crucifixion
as each to each say, “Why have you forsaken me?”
As we stand on this barren Golgotha
we are desperate to repair this relationship,
which is not in our power to fix.
We urgently want to end this bleeding,
for which there is no quick remedy.
In the face of suffering we cannot fathom,
and stories which haven’t yet found a voice,
as a community we surround this family.
Holy Spirit, as we watch and wait,
empower us not to turn away.
As people of peace,
the deaths in this small war leave us
pleading for resurrection.
With humble hearts and empty hands we pray,
“Father, into your hands we give this family.”

Advent Angel Prayer

God, the message of the angels of Bethlehem was true.
Good news of great joy came with Jesus’ birth,
with his life, with his sacrifice for us,
and with his glorious resurrection, also announced by angels.
We wait so hopefully for great joy.
Open our eyes to the angels who walk among us,
caring for the sick, comforting the brokenhearted,
standing up for those whose voices are silenced,
doing the hard and holy work of bringing your peace on earth.
Thank you that you have never stopped sending angels.
Help us to be angels, heralds of love,
believing in your power to bring down the mighty,
believing that truth will triumph over lies,
and that hated will never have the last word.
Help us this week to resist the power of lies,
the ones we tell ourselves, 
and especially the ones we tell our loved ones.
Lying is so easy and simple to do, and so devastating.
We pray especially today for the peace of Jerusalem.
A holy city for so many, it is torn by tension,
and just as when Jesus was born,
giant empires dictate its rise and fall.
Raise up peacemakers who can speak truth to power,
and unmask violence of every type.
Thank you for the way you are entering into our world
every day, being born again in the humblest of places,
wherever love shines.
Come, Lord Jesus. 

Emmaus Road Call to Worship

Our call to worship is from Matt 18:20
For where two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.       

Let’s pray together:          
We need your presence on the long road, Lord.
The road between fear and hope,
the road between the place where all is lost
and the place of resurrection.
Like the disciples walking the road to Emmaus,
we are in need of your company!
Jesus, stand among us, in your risen power,
let this time of worship, be a hallowed hour.

Holding the Baby

The night God took a deep breath

for all that must be saved,

even the stars outshone themselves

and hillsides gloried with angelic music,

the good, good, good news bouncing down

like boulders, shaking the foundations royally,

announcing the advent of a ruler born

for all who must be saved.

It was the bloody same way

we all arrive on the scene

through the mother of all labour and sweat,

the pain stretching out like tidal waves

for all that must be made flesh.

Love is now newborn, if not exactly

recognizable except to those who know

all must be saved from ourselves and evil

occupying armies whose tramping boots

are aimed exactly here by the bouncing baby news

that will throw even kings from their thrones.

Mary and Joseph and all of us are left

holding the baby,

Is this sensible God?

Jesus doesn’t answer.

He just suckles and sleeps

and wakes to a new day.

 

Message from the Manger

We love you in the manger, Jesus.

Your little hands and feet,

your soft breathing,

your eyes closed in sleep.

You may be a revolutionary,

but we like our revolutionaries in diapers.

Forgive us, Lord,

for preferring a Saviour that doesn’t talk;

a Saviour that has no words of judgement

for our callousness to the suffering of others,

whose arms aren’t tossing over tables,

whose feet aren’t leading us to Jerusalem.

 

In this advent season,

where the world around us

is convulsing with violence and bigotry,

give us ears to hear

the unspoken message from the manger.

A Middle Eastern baby with dark skin

is threatened with violence

and becomes a refugee.

God with us,

now and forevermore.

Peace Prayer for Imprisoned Sexual Offenders

Great God, hear my prayer for every person in prison
convicted of a sexual offence.
These are the people I count as enemy,
that our society counts as enemy;
rapists, abusers, child molesters.
Jesus, you are the key of David,
you walk through every locked prison door,
you look with love into the heart of each one.
You know the history of aggression,
and that when the unspeakable is done to us,
blind pain can cause us to lash out.
You see how violence leaves deep scars on the violators.
And so we pray—
for those who have no hope of parole,
show them that you can open the prison of their heart;
for those who are stuck in webs of lies and denial,
open their eyes to the value of repentance;
for those who are in desperate need of therapy,
change our systems that deny treatment;
for those who have been abandoned by friends and family,
bring visitors and helpers to comfort them;
for those who have internalized hateful labels
like “scum of the earth”, and “garbage”,
open their ears to hear you whisper the word “beloved”.
Unsettle us with improbable and unexpected incarnations
as you are born again in the cages we call prisons.
Right in the midst of broken dreams and wasted lives
there you are: Immanuel, Christ the Lord,
God with us.  Amen.

Bread of life Communion Service

I invite you to this table
in the name of the One who said, “I am the bread of life.”
This is the table of our Lord Jesus Christ;
it is here that we remember
how he gave his body and his blood to save us.

On the night he was handed over,
our Lord Jesus Christ took bread
and after giving thanks to God
broke it and gave it to his disciples
He said, “Take, eat;
this is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

Let’s pray together:
Thank you Jesus, for loving us, even unto death.
Send your Spirit upon us so that we may know
that all who eat and drink at your table
in our congregation and around the world
are one body, one holy people.

[The bread is distributed]
The bread of life, Jesus’ body, broken for you.

After supper Jesus took the cup of wine;
and after giving thanks,
gave it to them and said,
“Drink this, all of you;
this is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it,
remember me.

Lets pray together:
Lord, give us clean hearts, forgiving hearts, praising hearts.
As we drink this, we join with our brothers in sisters in heaven and on earth,
giving thanks to you in an endless song of praise. Amen.

[the juice is distributed]
The blood of Christ was shed for you.

Concluding words:
We have come to the Lord’s table,
we have eaten the bread of heaven.
The Holy Spirit will transform us from within
so that we can see with Jesus’ eyes,
hear with Jesus’ ears,
speak with Jesus’ mouth,
feel the world as Jesus feels;
to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Go into your week,
nourished by the Bread of Life.

*I have put this service together, but it is not original, it draws from the many communion services from different traditions that I have participated in.

Guesthouse

My life is a guesthouse
and each day brings its visitors.
Years of regular customers,
rational and sensible,
ordered and predictable—
they cause no trouble.
Steady Contentment, calm Happiness,
busy Industry, pleasant Enjoyment.
Every once in a while Temper checks in,
turning the whole house upside down for a while,
but he doesn’t stay long.
Green-eyed Jealousy is a sly guest
who no one likes,
but she rarely lingers.
Take it from me,
running a guesthouse is a good life,
you wake up each day with a smile.

Then one day it all changes.
The doctor phones, results are in
and suddenly Fear is banging on my door.
He barges in uninvited
and claims the best chair
planting his muddy boots on the table.
Every other guest flees from his presence.
He’s not going anywhere fast,
and worse than that,
he invites his unpleasant friends—
Despair, Bitterness, Anger.
They’re loud and obnoxious
and they fill every room.
As they turn on the NO VACANCY sign,
I realize with a sinking feeling
that these are not visitors.
This is an occupation.

Tonight they are all talking at once,
and I can’t hear myself think.
I crouch down in a corner of what was once my life,
huddling in the tiniest outbuilding,
on the edge of everything
and it’s precisely at that moment
that I hear the insistent knocking.

It’s a hugely pregnant woman and her husband
who obviously have not read the sign.
That’s all we need right now,
some baby crying in this wilderness. 

 

*with thanks to Rumi, for his wonderful poem "Guesthouse"

A Manger Scene

A manger scene,
our manger scene,
a tiny little manger scene.
Everywhere we go, we see them.
Mary kneeling, Joseph standing
shepherds with their trailing sheep watching,
wise men with their robes and gifts adoring.
Everyone’s eyes pointing to the baby Jesus,
lying on a bed of hay in a manger.
The wooden beams of the stable sheltering,
the golden angel heralding
and a star shining.

Everywhere we go we see them;
manger scenes made of wood
or clay or glass or cloth or plastic,
on living room tables, Sunday school platforms,
people’s lawns, department store windows.
The manger scene freezeframes the moment of contact,
God made flesh, dwelling among us,
a baby, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

You came to dwell among us, Lord,
on that long ago Christmas day,
yet this year I want to dwell with you.
I want to find myself in the manger scene,
I want to lose myself in the manger scene,
wrapped up in the story,
the story wrapped up in me.
And so, God of all the Hosts in Heaven,
hear my prayer.

Give me strong legs like Joseph,
standing at Mary’s side, supporting, protecting.
He walked on those legs to Bethlehem,
those legs will take him to Egypt, carrying a baby,
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me eyes to see like the animals,
eyes like the cow, the sheep, the donkey,
patiently watching, simply being,
waiting to see what will happen next to
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me hands like the wise men,
always filled with rich gifts
that are carried over long distances,
hands that fold in prayer when they meet
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a voice like the angels,
so that I can share good news,
of peace on earth, good will to all people,
telling everyone how to meet
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me feet like the shepherds,
racing down from the mountains,
feet that seek good news
and will bear good news of
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a belly like Mary’s
receptive to love growing inside me,
sheltering that love, nurturing that love,
no barriers between my body, and the body of
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a heart that shines
like a bright star twinkling on a dark night,
like a north star over a fathomless sea,
pointing, always pointing truly to
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a mind like this stable,
holding this community of faith,
embracing this company of worshipers
whose centre is always, only Jesus,
Immanuel, God with us,
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give us a body like Jesus,
that grows in wisdom
and speaks the truth
and feeds the hungry
and loves the rejected
and heals the wounded
and comforts the brokenhearted
and gives freely, as freely as the one who is
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

It’s all right here.
In a manger scene,
our manger scene,
a tiny little manger scene.
Everywhere we go, we see them.

[For a reader's theatre, a narrator would read the first three stanzas and the last one,
with nine other people reading the parts of the manger scene.
If you have a manger scene with movable parts,
each person could pick up the figure they are speaking about.
The narrator would gesture towards the manger scene at the beginning and ending.]

The Church United

For centuries and millennia
the church divided.
In fragments,
polarized, incensed
and with bees in their bonnets,
Christian denounced Christian,
sending one another to hell,
or to their graves,
quoting scripture or creed
as the occasion demanded.
Or not.

For centuries and millennia,
churches worked in silos
of their own theological making,
ignoring each other completely,
repeating, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening,”
as songs of praise to God
drifted in through windows
that someone forgot to close.
Or not.

This year, to everyone’s surprise,
the Spirit rolls down Church Street
like an ice cream truck
playing its good news song.
Jesus, like a holy pied piper
who cannot be resisted,
pulls the children of God outside.
With no walls between them,
they meet one another’s eyes,
all lined up smiling,
waiting for God.

Beginner Call to Worship

Our call to worship is from Colossians 1:18-20:
Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have first place in everything. 
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  
and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Let’s pray:  

Jesus, we come to worship today
beginners in the school of beginning.
You are the firstborn of the dead,
harbinger of hope in despair,
bringer of light after a long season of darkness.
Begin a new thing in us today,
new ways of thinking,
new ways of living,
new ways of being a reconciling community.
We pray this together
as people of peace,
as a people longing for peace, your peace,
peace that passes understanding. Amen.

Living for Christ Call to Worship

We come to worship
because for us to live is Christ.
We live for Christ,
we live by Christ,
we live with Christ,
we live through Christ,
we live in Christ.
God of grace,
let Christ be praised
in all we say and do,
in all we think and speak,
in this hour of worship
and in every moment of our lives. Amen.

A Confessional Prayer

Gracious God,
we confess before you our complicity in the sins of this world,
sins which Jesus felt in his own body and soul.
Our hands are not clean.
We confess that we have desired power and status,
and have neglected our duty as your servants.
We have allowed ourselves to become preoccupied
with things we own or want to own,
freely putting on the chains of consumerism.
Open our eyes to the way our lifestyles
affect and shape the suffering of those here and far away.
We confess that we have turned away
from the hungry and the homeless in our own cities and towns,
thinking that they were someone else’s problem.
We fail even in our most intimate relationships with those we love,
showing our worst side to those who care for us most.
Forgive us for sour faces, for cold shoulders,
for clenched fists, and icy stares. 
Forgive us for the sins we know and remember,
and which weigh heavily upon us,
as well as the sins which we have forgotten,
which meant almost nothing to us,
but which have resulted in pain for others.
You called us to carry a cross,
and yet we complain as soon as the way is hard,
forgetting how much we have received,
and how little we have sacrificed.
Take away our hearts of stone,
and give us hearts of flesh,
which beat to the rhythm of love,
of faith, of hope,
and love, always love.
Amen.

Pay Attention Call to Worship -- Responsive

Listen up, all you people!  Pay attention!
Everyone…from highest to lowest,
the proud and humble together,
tune your ears to hear good news!
Christ is revealed in worship!

We come with hope and open ears
to meet the One who is our all in all.
Come Lord Jesus!

No taking sides prayer

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.
Hear the sound of children being hurt,
see people running away from their homes,
taste the hopelessness of shattered communities,
smell the despair of refugee camps,
touch the inconsolable on both sides.
Feel our pain as we spin through space.

God of our side, and God of our enemies’ side,
you are the God of no sides at all.
You call us to a new place,
to step with faith outside this world of taking sides.
You lead us to an inside out world,
an upside down kingdom,
where our enemy is our brother,
where our foe can be our  fondest friend.
You call us from the sidelines to centre stage,
to be a community of global resurrection,
firm believers in love that cannot die,
love that cannot be killed,
love that never lets us go.
You call us to be firm believers
in the one who crossed heaven and earth
to show us that even between God and human beings
there are no sides.
It is in the name of Jesus Christ,
whose arms embrace us all,
that we pray for peace today.
Amen.

The Inn Crowd: A Poem about Jesus

Jesus never fit into the Inn crowd
there was just no room.
From the very start those in-power people
had very little use for Jesus.
Moreover, they were increasingly offended
by his accusation that they lacked insight.
In the end, they were incensed
and looked for any way to do him in.
Even the Romans had no use for Jesus,
although Pilate’s wife believed he was innocent.
It was inevitable, he was in for it.
In the final hours a cross, and then interred in a tomb.

But Jesus could not be kept in,
he burst out of the grave on the third day!
Without a doubt,
no locked door could keep him out.
He knew what he was about,
with his ministry to the outcast,
the outlaws, the out of luck.
He knew the outcome;
he would not be outdone
by the clout of the politically powerful.
His disciples never forgot the mountaintop
where he stood outblazing the sun.
On that final outing on the beach
he outdid himself, making breakfast and speaking of love,
and then he was lifted out of sight.
This was before the outpouring of the Spirit.

Those are the ins and outs of the story,
and the bottom line is,
Jesus calls with a question
which cannot be ignored:
“Will you come in?”

The Best Christmas Gift

Christ comes as a gift into your life,

but he doesn’t come

wrapped in shiny paper and ribbons

and you can’t say

“Isn’t that nice,”

as you quickly slide him under the bed

or store him in a dark closet

thinking that someday you’ll find a place to put him.

 

Christ is a gift that you can’t

pack away neatly in a box,

bringing him out for special holidays

like Christmas or Easter.

There isn’t a place in the house

where you can put him and leave him;

this gift is always at your side.

 

The gift of Christ

is one of those noisy Christmas gifts,

whispering in the night,

crying out during the day at unexpected times.

“Do you love me?” he whispers

“Feed my sheep!”  he cries.

 

Where do you put this gift?

In your heart. In your mind. In your soul.

Pretty soon this gift has taken over your life.

“I had no idea how time consuming this gift would be,” you’ll say,

and sometimes you’ll wonder
about the “No return” policy.

 

But mostly, you will fall in love with the gift of Christ.

You will lose yourself in this gift.

You will find yourself in this gift.

About this gift, you will say,

from the deepest part of your soul,

“Thank you…this is just what I always wanted.”

Call to Worship: Come!

And Jesus said, “Come!”

To the light-hearted and the heavy-hearted:  he said, “Come!”

To the well-off and the cast-off:  he said, “Come!”

To the youngsters and the oldsters:  he said, “Come!”

To the faithful and the faithless:  he said, “Come!”

“Come unto me all ye who labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

Lord Jesus, let this hour of worship 

find us resting in you.