Once again Christians everywhere celebrate the season of Advent, when we prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. Advent and Christmas are a special time of the year, and they bring an excitement to young and old. This is a time to focus of the promises of God given to us through the birth of a baby who came among us as one of us. By the grace of Jesus we have been drawn into the family of God, and it is to God we now turn in adoration and praise for His greatest gift to the human race. Let us worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
We come to Thee, O loving God, in thanksgiving for Thy Son Jesus, whose entry into the world we celebrate during this time of year. We praise Thee for the transformation Jesus has brought, especially as regards those of us who were born Gentiles. We are grateful that through Jesus we too have been engrafted into Thy family, and that with the people of Israel we have been included in Thy plan for the salvation of the entire human race. We pray for missionaries, evangelists, and preachers who go to people who still have not heard the Christian Gospel. Grant to those who are called to this mission the perseverance and tenacity necessary for their work. May Thy light and the light of Jesus of Nazareth shine into the dark corners where historical circumstances or political repression have attempted to extinguish Thy divine intervention.
We remember all those who face this Christmas season not with joy but with sorrow or sadness or foreboding. Uphold those who have recently lost one who was much loved, and whose death brings heavy spiritual or psychological burdens. Uphold the sick, and especially those who are experiencing constant pain. Strengthen those who have lost physical abilities which have turned their lives into something more difficult than anything they have ever known. Be with people who, for most of their lives, were happy and contented, and now are without an anchor and feel continually depressed. We are so weak, but Thou art so strong. May Thy strength enter into those who feel that they have become powerless, and may Thy presence with them and in them give them new hope and optimism for whatever obstacles they face.
We pray for the world, and for every nation and every person in it. Give wisdom to world leaders, insight to those who formulate national and international policy, and understanding to those who are called upon to make decisions regarding people whose manner of living is very different from their own. Unite us as one enormous human community, and in our union, may we feel for and care about one another, thus reflecting the teachings of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is in his name that we pray, as now we join together in the prayer he taught us, saying, Our Father….