Here’s a responsive call to worship and opening prayer, written by Rev. Penny L. Lowes.
Call to Worship
(based on Psalm 126)
We gather to worship with expectations:
God revealed in new and astonishing ways.
God comes to us in real time.
God comes to us in dreams.
Sometimes God’s presence is hard to take in—
difficult to believe.
O God, we long to believe.
Help our unbelief!
God is present here.
God is working in our midst.
Then our mouths are filled with laughter,
Our tongues shout out with joy!
God revealed in new and astonishing ways.
God comes to us in real time.
God comes to us in dreams.
Sometimes God’s presence is hard to take in—
difficult to believe.
O God, we long to believe.
Help our unbelief!
God is present here.
God is working in our midst.
Then our mouths are filled with laughter,
Our tongues shout out with joy!
Opening Prayer
(based on Psalm 126)
Holy God,
the world in which we live is as terrifying as it is wonderful.
We need Jesus as much today as in times of old.
Many sow in tears, and go out weeping.
Replenish our lands,
fill our hearts with gladness,
restore our faith in you and each other,
wipe away the tears of despair.
As we worship today,
we tilt an ear to listen close.
Let the voice of your angel fill our minds with new understandings.
We are waiting for you. Speak to us today. Amen.
— written by Rev. Penny L. Lowes, a minister in the United Church of Christ (serving as Senior Pastor at the Congregational Church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. These resources are part of a larger collection called From Tears to Rejoicing: Service Prayers for the Third Sunday of Advent. They were posted on the Worship Ways website of the United Church of Christ.
