Oh God, we have come into your presence together tonight, wanting to connect with you. The season of advent is often busy and we pause tonight to thank you for the ultimate blessing when you came down and became one of us. It is hard for us to grasp that you, the God who created all that is in this world, the one to whom all good things point to, are the same God that has given us so much to be thankful for this year, the same God who has brought us joy, and brought us through despair and hurt.
Your word tells us about the coming of your son; most of us have heard the stories, God we’ve heard the facts but we’ll never fully understand the mystery. Just as the magi followed the star we’re following your spirit because without your real presence here among us, this is all just decoration. We set up models of a manger scene, even some that light up but we confess that we really have know idea what it took for your very word to become flesh, not as a mighty warrior or a benevolent king, but as a humble servant, born miraculously to a virgin in a trailer park.
God again we have come to thank you for all that you’ve done, all that you’re doing, and all that you’re going to do. God if it pleases you may you do your work through us, your people. We thank you that we have spare change to put in the red ringing buckets. We thank you for the wealth we have to wrap up signs of our love and care for another in shiny pretty paper. We thank you for your grace that fills in our misunderstandings and carries us through this advent season and into the coming year.
God as we move into this time of preparation, may you be with us in very real ways. May we see that ornaments, Christmas carols, holiday movies, home décor, real and artificial trees are all so much fun but they’re not the point. As we proclaim the Christmas season, give us the wisdom and strength to continue to proclaim the coming of your Kingdom here and to come as your very Son did. Come into our hearts, prepare us to once again receive the gift of Jesus. Amen.
1 comment:
are you alive?
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