0102_05
January 2, 2005 – 2nd Sunday after Christmas
Revised Common Lectionary Readings
Jeremiah 31:7-14 or Sirach 24:1-12
Psalm 147:12-20 or Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Born to Become Children of God
*Call to Worship
The child of God is earthed in human life,
making real within the world
the heartbeat of God
with its endless gifts of grace.
Jesus Christ, God with us all.
The Word is found among us,
brave truth in liberating kindness
deeper and wider,
yet nearer than we have ever known.
Jesus Christ, God with us all.
We will sing praises to you this day.
We will lift up our souls in faith.
*Prayer of Invocation
Voice of love and center of our lives,
be known to us this day in Spirit and in truth.
Touch the depths of our waiting souls
with your life,
that we may become children of God.
Come, Holy Spirit, come. Amen.
*Prayer of Confession
O God, even as our longing hearts
reach out toward you,
we know that we fall far short
of our own hopes
and your holy hopes for us.
You have trusted us
with the wonder of your life among us,
and we betray that trust in ways
that are too many to name.
Silent reflection.
Be gracious to us, O God.
Remind us of our calling, Jesus Christ,
and forgive us in our human frailty,
we pray.
We grieve the times
when we have not been gracious to others
in the face of your understanding
of our stumbling journeys.
We regret the moments
when we have chosen lesser paths,
even while we have seen
the vision of your way before us.
Silent reflection.
Be gracious to us, O God.
Remind us of our calling, Jesus Christ,
and forgive us in our human frailty,
we pray.
We are sorry when we, as your church,
have failed to bring the witness of your love
for us and for all people
to a world that waits, struggles,
and loses hope.
Silent reflection.
Be gracious to us, O God.
Remind us of our calling, Jesus Christ,
and forgive us in our human frailty,
we pray. Amen.
*Words of Assurance
The word to us in Jesus Christ
is never less than grace upon grace.
This is the miracle of the hope
that Christ brings.
We are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
*Prayer of Thanksgiving
The angel songs,
singing of the coming of the Christ,
still echo in our hearts, O God.
They ring in joy
down the years and into our time.
They sound in the winds of heaven
and travel like melodies of life
into the center of our questions and doubts.
Thanks be to you, O God.
The light of Christ’s life
shines into the shadows of our loneliness,
opening warm touches of love around us,
and making clear the way for new possibilities.
Thanks be to you, O God.
In the name of Christ, the Word. Amen.
*Stewardship Thought
It is interesting to reflect on what it would mean to “become” children of God. We usually think of ourselves as being born as children of God – which may well be true. There are many helpful nuances in scripture that give us truths within truths. What would it mean to become children of God? What would we look like and how would we live? What power from this Jesus do we need as a gift? Is the church universal usually perceived as being filled with those who are the true children of God? The Word made flesh is described as being full of truth and grace. We may well confess that often Christians are perceived as those who believe they have the truth for all people but are not necessarily seen as those who offer to others grace upon grace, as Christ did.
*Offertory Sentence
Let us bring our offerings to God.
Let us do that with thought and prayer,
for this is a moment of opportunity for good.
*Offertory Prayer
We bring our gifts with glad hearts, O God,
inviting you to receive
all that we have given in faith.
Enlarge all that we have offered
with the wonder of your love,
we pray. Amen.
*Prayer of Intercession
Be made flesh within our lives, O Christ.
Be real within us,
that others may see and take heart
in a world that seems to deny hope,
and so often seems overpowered by forces
that tear away at the very fabric of justice.
We pray especially
for these people and situations today.
The people pray.
Come, gentle Jesus, come.
Come, brave Christ,
and hold us into your transforming life.
Cry out into the silences of pain, loving God.
Call to us when we walk past
without seeing what you see.
Speak into the wildernesses of hopelessness
with your voice of encouragement and truth.
Come, gentle Jesus, come.
Come, brave Christ,
and hold us into your transforming life.
Then stand among our own lives,
O God, with us.
Show us who we are and who we could be.
Lift up among us your passion for loving
and hold before us the dream
that you have for all the earth.
We pray this in humble faith, O God. Amen.
*Commissioning
Go forth into this day as the children of God.
Carry with you all that Christ brings,
all that Christ promises for the world.
*Benediction
And may Christ’s life be held within our own,
God’s creativity enlarge all that we are,
and the Spirit lift our hearts in joy. Amen.