Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship on Christmas Sunday:
Loving Christ,
you have entered into the whole of life with us,
a newborn baby, birthed into a troubled world,
a healer, with your touch making our broken places whole,
a teacher, with wisdom for abundant life,
one who calls us friend, and listens to our prayers.
You have entered into the whole of life with us,
all the suffering, all the joy, even unto death,
loving us and leading us out into even more life.
With shepherds and choirs of angels and all creation,
we give you thanks and praise.
In this world you love,
help us listen for the heartbeat of God
in the deep need of the world,
and find our life there.
We pray for a world filled with war – peace.
We pray for an end to every system that oppresses –
particularly entrenched American racism.
Call us to account, and put us to work –
the work of dismantling, and then of repair and rebuilding.
We pray for a world we have harmed to the point of collapse.
Teach us ways of living that sustain the Earth,
as we grieve the damage we have done,
even as we are filled with gratitude for your good creation.
We pray for all who are hurting.
For those who are sick, we pray for healing.
For those who hunger, food enough and more.
For those who mourn, comfort,
For those who are unhoused, safe shelter,
For every child – a full, abundant, loving and meaningful life –
for a world where they can live and thrive,
and grow into everything you have created them to be in this world.
May your heart beat in our humanity,
and may we learn to love the world as you do.
On this Christmas morning, we join our voices
with the voices of shepherds, and angels, and all creation,
praising you – always with us, and always on the way –
with them then there,
with us here now.
With all those who have ever called your name,
we pray the prayer that Jesus taught, saying:
Our Father/Mother, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Photo Credit: Rodion Kutaeiv, used with permission via Unsplash
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