Rite of Confession: 2nd Advent (B)

"The four Sundays of Advent find us exploring the four themes of the lectionary texts that have emerged in our prayerful reflection: remembrance, waiting, imagination, and hope. Each Sunday attempts to bear these themes in mind cumulatively (i.e., First Sunday: remember; Second Sunday: remember, wait; etc.). The confessional rites of each Sunday will be shaped in part around these themes, specifically in the ways that we fail to remember God's promises; wait expectantly for God to do a new thing; imagine the world as God might and our part in it, and; hope for the life of the world that is on its way, especially in the Advent (both the first and second) of the Christ. I hope this helps in some small way."


Call to Reconciliation

In the gift of God’s word, there is at once a power, a patience, and a graciousness that characterize this God for whose promises we find the call and the courage to wait. And today we hear Advent’s invitation to remember God’s promise to come again and make us new, and to await its fulfillment with eager longing. We wait for God because God first waits for us. And a life turned toward repentance is the proper response to God’s gracious patience. So let us in our waiting confess, repent, and let go of all that would threaten to undo us. And let us listen again for the word that brings healing: forgiveness.

Prayer of Confession

Silence

Merciful God, we find ourselves headlong now in this Advent journey, where through remembering and waiting, we posture ourselves to experience your renewing grace. We speak of yearning, of listening, of watchfulness, and light. We speak of the joy of rediscovering you amidst all of our distractions and delight. The waiting-road is long and winding; is nothing if not torturous at times. We find that to be largely due to ourselves. We are an impatient people, O God; we want what we want, and we want it now. We fail to imagine that you, in your infinite patience, have desires, too. You invite us to make straight the path for your coming, to give care to those in need, to listen to those who are troubled, to extend the compassion of Christ to those who hurt. To be messengers of hope to the world. This is patient work for us, a people who despise waiting. Forgive us. Renew us. Grant us your holy patience, that in our waiting we may be found alert to your coming among us, again and again. Through Christ. Amen.

Pouring of the Baptismal Waters
Remember your baptism and be thankful!

Declaration of the Promise of Forgiveness

God waits patiently for us, giving us time and space enough to be made ready for the coming of the Promised One into our lives and - through us - into the life of the world again. Hear the glad tidings of the gospel of God: In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Thanks be to God.

Amen!

Amen.

Gloria Patri

Passing of the Peace

Thank you - and happy thanksgiving

Friends,
Thanks to those of you who have posted new work! I apologize for not being more attentive. Sometime soon we'll talk about how to respond to one another's (one anothers'?) work. If you expert bloggers (you know who you are) have any suggestions about the best way to comment/edit on line, go for it!

In the meantime, I pray you all have a happy Thanksgiving and a blessed beginning to the Advent season.

Grace and peace,
Kim

Rite of Confession: 1st Advent (B)

"The four Sundays of Advent find us exploring the four themes of the lectionary texts that have emerged in our prayerful reflection: remembrance, waiting, imagination, and hope. Each Sunday attempts to bear these themes in mind cumulatively (i.e., First Sunday: remember; Second Sunday: remember, wait; etc.). The confessional rites of each Sunday will be shaped in part around these themes, specifically in the ways that we fail to remember God's promises; wait expectantly for God to do a new thing; imagine the world as God might and our part in it, and; hope for the life of the world that is on its way, especially in the Advent (both the first and second) of the Christ. I hope this helps in some small way.

Call to Reconciliation

"Advent has come again, and together we go fully into it. It is a time of remembrance, of waiting, of imagination, and hope. It is a season of watchfulness, yearning, bliss. For in it, we see light at the end of our darkness. And yet, shadows of that darkness remain. Let us confess our sin - first alone, then together - that in our confession we may see the ways we allow that darkness to remain, doing so in the good hope that the Light might shine once again to overcome it. Let us pray together..."

Prayer of Confession

Silence

Merciful God, you have invited us to enter again into a new time, a new  season, where - with watchful waiting and hopeful imagination - we might remember your promise to make of this old world a new one by the coming of the Christ. We are not alert, though, to your coming. We are pinned down instead by other pressures, preparations, and plans. You promise to do something new, but your "newness" requires the kind of change that we have been told be wary of, and we had just begun to be comfortable. Forgive us, we pray. Restore in us a sense of awe in who you are, a sense of wonder in what you are doing, and a sense of pleasure in our playing a part in your life-giving Advent story of God-with-us, again and again. Through Christ. Amen.

The Pouring of the Waters of Baptism

Remember your baptism and be thankful!

The Declaration of the Promise of Forgiveness

Hear the good news - the gospel of God! In Jesus Christ, God remembers our sin no more, and says instead: You are forgiven!

Thanks be to God!

Amen!

Amen!

Gloria Patri

The Passing of the Peace

I think I'm on!

Just testing to see if I actually made it on.

Eucharistic Prayers for Advent

I'm submitting three sets of eucharistic prayers for Advent (Years A, B, and C). You'll see that the structure and some of the text comes from the BCW, I've just provided variable parts related to the lectionary scriptures for Advent in each of the major sections of the prayer. (You may have seen the Year B version already, as I posted this to the blog when we were together in Decatur; in fact, you probably saw the Year A one in Call to Worship, too.)

I think this is what I volunteered to work on, but I'm sorry to say I can't remember. Margaret, I know we were working together on Great Thanksgivings ... does this sound right?

Eucharistic Prayers for Advent, Year A
Eucharistic Prayers for Advent, Year B
Eucharistic Prayers for Advent, Year C

Prayers for Illumination

Prayers for Illumination
Advent, Year B



The First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 13:24-37

Holy One,

If you were to tear open the heavens and come down,
surely we would tremble at your presence.
Yet in this Advent season, we remember the night
you were born among us—how most of the world slept, unaware.
So open our eyes and ears, we pray, in this and every hour,
that we may receive the Word you give.
Help us to be alert and ready,
for you come to those who wait.
Amen.

Or:

God of power and glory,

Though we can never take hold of you,
make us the work of your hands, as a potter shapes the clay.
May we be vessels ever ready to receive your Word,
early or late.
By the power of your Holy Spirit,
may we gladly do what is right;
remember your ways;
and make your name known among the nations.
Amen.








The Second Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

Holy Spirit of God,

You prepare the way of the Lord
through the eloquence of Isaiah and the asceticism of John.
Though our own words wither set next to theirs,
the Word of our God will stand forever.
Help us to hear the tender good tidings
of God’s comfort and might;
how God feeds the flock, carries the lambs, and forgives sins.
Though unworthy, make us heralds, too,
sharing the good news
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Amen.

Or:

Holy Comforter,

The good news of Jesus Christ begins in the waters of baptism.
We still come from many places to hear the Word proclaimed.
Prepare our hearts, as you once prepared the wilderness:
lift up our valleys,
make low the high mountain before us,
and make rough places plain,
that we may see your glory revealed.
Then, Spirit-sent, may we proclaim the good news
of the One who is coming.
Amen.










The Third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; John 1:6-8, 19-28

Light of the World,
Shine on the oppressed,
the brokenhearted,
the captives,
and those whose spirits are faint.
Wind the garland of your Word around us
and we will be your witnesses;
we will testify to your glory
before all the powers of this world.
Amen.


The Fourth Sunday of Advent: 2 Samuel 7:1-11; Luke 1:26-38

Most High God of David,
God in the doorway of Mary,

Your Word is not as impossible as we imagine.
You, who will not be confined by the temples we build,
once grew in the contours of a womb.
Now let your word grow in us,
that by the power of your Holy Spirit,
we may respond unafraid according to your will.
Amen.














Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20

Wonderful Counselor,

We come to this night
with deep memories
and fresh hope.
After all these centuries,
we still walk in too much darkness.
So we pray this night to hear your heavenly promise
of peace on earth;
and to see your glory shine in our night.
There is so much for our hearts to ponder,
Emmanuel,
God-With-Us.
Amen.

Feeling ahead of the game

Dear y'all,
Unbelievably I have finished an Advent Candle Litany to share.
Sadly, though, I can't figure out how to post it to this blog.
(It has an image -- a sung response my colleague Doug Brown composed to go with it.)
So I'll be emailing it in a minute. If one of you smart bloggers can figure out how to post it for me, I'd be grateful.
Otherwise, please accept a WORD document from me!
Carla