In our watching and in our waiting
Come Lord Jesus
In our hopes and our fears
Come Lord Jesus
In our homes and in our world
Come Lord Jesus
Come Lord Jesus, when least expected.
When hope hangs low in the human
heart, you, loving creator, kindle
compassion, breathing life into the
early embers of change and empathy.
A candle is lit.
We light a candle for hope, sending
prayers high into the inky heavens and
dreams deep into our human soul.
We light a candle for hope. May it light our way.
Song “Coventry Carol”
Confession
God has come very near to us, so let us change our ways and believe in the good news, and prepare ourselves for Gods coming again to renew us
Silence time of reflection
Help us Loving God to sort out our lives and be ready to receive you again and to be made ready for the task we have to do. Amen
The Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “Advent”
Reading Mark 1v1-6
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
2 just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Behold, I am sending My messenger [a]before You,
Who will prepare Your way;
3 The voice of one calling [b]out in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.
Reflection-John the Baptist
The Old Testament prophets spoke of a return to God. When God’s people wander away from their true calling, and forget the plight of others, they become aimless and empty, and their souls are not fed. Only God can satisfy the hungry soul, and so Gods prophets cry in the emptiness and chaos, because in their hearts is a dream which refuses to die.
The message of hope runs like a golden thread through the story of Gods people like a drama, Gods drama. Hope after a storm, hope of deliverance. The hope of the rainbow and the ark; the hope of the Israelites in Egypt; the hope for a king, the hope of deliverance from Babylon and finally the hope of the Messiah, the one who will come to deliver the people. Deliverance is a sub-text, the hidden agenda. Malachi speaks of a messenger who will prepare for the coming of the Christ, a prophet who will deliver the people, make the way straight.
John the Baptist is "the voice of one crying out in the wilderness."
The prologue in Mark begins in a transcendent, offstage setting, then narrates what transpires in the wilderness with an extraordinary cast including God and John the Baptizer. The desert is the place where a voice sounds. (Isaiah 40:3) Johns call is to prepare, repent, change direction.
So we turn in the journey of our own lives this Advent to embrace
that call to change, to encounter Christ and hope rises, for this is the true meaning of Christmas. Amen
Our prayers for our world, our situations, our friends, our families and ourselves
Song “Long ago prophets knew”
Blessing
Come to us Holy one
shatter our coldness
Whisper through our lives
Scatter the darkness
Be born in us today.
