The Church of Christ the Cornerstone
Baptist Union / Church of England / Methodist Church / Roman Catholic Church / United Reformed Church
Lord, we thank you for the gift of your scriptures;
for the people whose stories we read within them.
We thank you for Joseph, whose care and obedience
ensured the safety and wellbeing of our Lord
the son of God and changed the world
and through whom we are adopted into God’s family.
Amen
Now we know it’s all about trust:
Joseph trusted God and kept his word to Mary.
A seed planted in hope can bring down a fortress.
O Lord, strengthen our trust in your promise
of a new made world, a life unending ever after,
all through the act of power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Amen
If you have ever been jailed or locked up by the police, perhaps you can appreciate how different things must have looked for John behind those prison walls. The denial of freedom and confinement to a limited space can quash one’s spirit. For, if ever the phrase ‘free spirit’ applied to anyone, it was John. As we mentioned last week, he lived in the dessert, dressed outrageously and said what he wanted to say without holding back, until Herod Antipas locked him up.
We don’t know much about John, so we don’t know if he was able to keep his ego in check when multitudes gathered from Jerusalem and the surrounding villages to hear him preach. Perhaps it is safe to say that John felt a kind of excitement with so much religious energy in the air. There was some expectation at the beginning of John’s ministry that something was about to happen, and John’s mission was to prepare the people because someone was coming whose sandals he was not worthy to untie.
John was sure that when this powerful person arrived, things would change. He expected the righteous to be vindicated and the evil and corrupt to be confronted. He therefore could not understand why he was in prison for speaking the truth while the Messiah who sets people free was around and had not sent the cavalries to rescue him. Was he frustrated, angry, bitter? We don’t know; but I am almost certain he was very disappointed! John had once made the multitude tremble with his words. Now he had to pass through his disciples to ask Jesus a question; and his question was this: Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?
We are well along the Pilgrim way, but where is this blooming desert?
We are still weary, trudging slowly towards gladness.
O Lord, keep us curious with a purpose:
Help us follow the Baptist’s call – ‘Are you The One?’ – with that confident answer in Mary’s song.
Amen
We believe the rule of justice will come,
but what is the witness of people who hope?
O Lord, give us power to live our Baptism,
to demonstrate forgiveness by the fruit we bear:
defend the humble, help the needy, crush oppression,
testify to peace and love each other in Christ
because we are the keepers of the coming Kingdom.
Amen
The year rushes on to its end; the days are very short.
The city prepares for feasting with useless tinsel and fairy lights.
O Lord, we feel so unready – you could arrive in the sleepy dark.
Jesus, be our Advent Guide – surround us with your armour of light.
Amen
Almighty and everlasting God,
whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords:
mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin,
may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Creator God, thank you for the opportunity of being together as your people.
As we look forward to the week to come,
we pray for an awareness of your love and support in all we do.
We are sorry that we only seem to turn to you
in the down times of our lives, and forget to thank you for the good times.
There is so much in your world for which we should be grateful and we offer our thanks now.
Be with us, and all who need your loving touch at this time.
Amen
Living God, you call us into a deeper relationship with you.
You hear the cry of the weak and you value each of us, whatever our circumstances.
We praise you for your abundant generosity, for your astonishing grace
and we give thanks that we are called to reflect those qualities in our own lives.
Remember us Lord as we remember those who have fought the good fight
and now rest in your love and peace.
Amen
Loving God, we praise you for your presence in our lives and for your faithfulness to us.
We gather together in our weakness and in our strength,
celebrating each other’s faith and sharing our struggles.
We gather to hear your message of hope in a very divided world
and we pray for ears to listen in Jesus’ name.
Amen
Before the radiance of God, we are dim creatures indeed.
We shine only by his reflected light, and it is dimmed by our efforts to shine brighter than others.
We come before you, Lord, casting off the false mantles we have assumed for ourselves.
Humbled, we pay homage to you and not to our false images of ourselves.
Amen
Shine your light in us, through us, and over us.
May we make a difference in this world for your glory, so that your purposes would stand.
Set you way before us. May all your plans succeed.
May we reflect your peace and hope to a world that so desperately needs your presence and healing.
Amen
Compassionate God,
be with those who need you:
the unloved, the friendless, the oppressed, the sick, the dying, the bereaved.
Take your love where we can’t, or won’t, reach.
Make your Spirit known in the worst places and times,
so that all may benefit from the sacrifice
that Jesus made for humankind.
It is in his name we pray.
Amen
God of creation, whose glory is all around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders, that we may serve you with reverence and know your peace.
You crown the year with your goodness, and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season:
grant that we may use them to your glory and for the relief of those in need.
May we cherish and respect this planet and all your creation in it through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Lord Jesus, be with those whose week never seems to start,
because there is no difference for them in the days. Every day is the same.
Lord, we pray for those who have no joy in being able to do something new;
for those whose routine is so rigid that anything out of the ordinary is challenging, frightening.
In their routine may they find you. In the care provided by others, may they find your love.
In the work done for them may they find your healing hands.
For you are our carer, our healer and our sustainer, and in your name we pray.
Amen
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