love is revealed to us in Jesus Christ,
Son of God and Son of David.
Help us in preparing to celebrate his birth
to make our hearts ready for your Holy Spirit
to make his home among us.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
the light who is coming into the world. Amen.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons
Heavenly Father, you have created a universe of light:
forgive us when we return to darkness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world:
cleanse and heal our blinded sight.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit, you give us light in our hearts:
renew us in faith and love.
Lord, have mercy.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons
You keep us waiting.
You, the God of all time,
want us to wait
for the right time in which to discover
who we are, where we must go,
who will be with us, and what we must do.
So thank you . . . for the waiting time.
Iona Community Worship Book
Lord,
I turn my thoughts
to you.
Within the whirlwind of my day
I stop
and think of you.
It’s far too easy to forget you
in the busyness and bustle
of the day,
as other pressures crowd and fill my mind.
And when I pause
I find myself
astonished
that whilst your closeness has been crowded out
yet still
you have been there,
your steady love surrounding me.
Hello again, Lord.
Pat Marsh
THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
God our Father,
you spoke to the prophets of old
of a Saviour who would bring peace.
You helped them to spread the joyful message
of his coming kingdom.
Help us, as we prepare to celebrate his birth,
to share with those around us
the good news of your power and love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
the light who is coming into the world. Amen.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons
We are brighter than a thousand suns,
cleverer than two thousand years,
all power belongs to us,
except the power to make peace:
except that there is an ancient darkness of our hearts
and a rage that steals our sanity.
God forgive us
and let true light shine on us
and your world.
Bob Warwicker
With love and compassion,
come, Lord Jesus.
With judgement and mercy,
come, Lord Jesus.
In power and glory,
come, Lord Jesus.
In wisdom and truth,
come, Lord Jesus.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons
For the darkness of waiting
of not knowing what is to come
of staying ready and quiet and attentive,
we praise you O God:
For the darkness and the light
are both alike to you.
For the darkness of staying silent
for the terror of having nothing to say
and for the greater terror
of needing to say nothing,
we praise you O God:
For the darkness and the light
are both alike to you.
For the darkness of loving
in which it is safe to surrender
to let go of our self-protection
and to stop holding back our desire,
we praise you O God:
For the darkness and the light
are both alike to you.
For the darkness of choosing
