Good evening, everyone.

Advent – The coming of Christ

Let’s begin our prayers this evening with a congregational hymn
which welcomes Christ into our lives.

Please click on the link below for ‘Hark the glad sound, the Saviour comes.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeBRYhG86x0

If, like me, you are just beginning to register
that Christmas really is only a few weeks away,
you may also be trying to work out what preparations you need to make.
I’m sure I’m not the only one waiting for further news
about the lifting of restrictions, or not,
before deciding whether to travel.

But we also aim,
in the midst of any practical preparations we may be making,
to find the space to be still and prepare ourselves for Christmas.

So, this evening, I thought I would focus our prayers
on some of the preparation we might make.
When we look into our hearts, we may find things we are ashamed of –
that phone call we did not make,
the harsh words we said without thinking,
the job we did not finish,
the neighbour we did not contact.
We are fortunate that for many of these things, we can still put it right.
We are so grateful, too, to know God’s forgiveness
when the opportunity has been missed
and it is too late to do anything about it.
So let us reflect on the past few days or weeks,
identify those things we are sorry for,
and bring them to God in our prayers.

Let us pray:
Loving God, we thank you that you are always there for us
to call on when we need you.
So, as the time when we will celebrate your birth fast approaches,
we want to ask for your help to ensure that we are ready to receive you –
making room in our hearts and minds
where there was no room for you in the inn.

We are truly sorry that we often fail to live up to our intentions
and live as you would wish us to.
Teach us to stop and think before we act
and to follow your guidance.

Help us to prepare our church for your coming.
Many of us will not gather together for worship,
but we can still be together in spirit.
Help us to take advantage of this time of separation
to consider whether there are things in our church life
we would like to change.
Inspire us with new ideas of how to use our building to share your love.
Guide our Ecumenical Council and our Ministers
as they consider how we can best bear witness to you
as a community of Christian people.
Give each of us the confidence to share your love with others
as we go about our daily lives.

With joy, we anticipate your coming.
We pray that we will be ready to receive you
and to recognise your coming in those
who are in need of our help and support.

Amen

Let us close our prayer time this evening by saying the Grace together:

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all, evermore.

Amen

Rosemary Kearsey