Rise within me like the star
And make me restless
Till I journey on
To seek my peace in you
Song “Holy Spirit”
A candle is lit.
I light a candle for light, sending
prayers high into the inky heavens and
dreams deep into our human soul.
We light a candle for light. May it light our way.
The Lord’s Prayer in our own language
Psalm 74
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their own signs as signs.
5 It seems like one bringing up
His axe into a forest of trees.
6 And now they break down all its carved work
With axe and hammers.
7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They said in their heart, “Let’s completely subdue them.”
We pray for people and situations that are on our heart today ...
For Nigeria, Syria, Belarus, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Taiwan, for teaching staff, for hospital staff dealing with Covid, for people who are lonely, for people who are hungry, for staff in care homes, for people suffering from war, for people imprisoned for, for people suffering from climate change, for the vulnerable and those sick and dying, for the homeless, for asylum seekers and refugees, for our government to make the right decisions, and finally for the children who we must give a better future.
May we not fail you though we face great dangers.
Give me your peace, your wisdom and your strength. Amen
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry and release the prisoner. Amen
© Janet Morley adapted
