Due to snowy weather,
we had to miss the candlelit Blue Christmas Service at CHPC this year. Though
it doesn’t make up for the beauty of community in a glowing sanctuary with
contemplative music, here is a prayer service you may use at home. For many,
the Christmas season may bring memories of loss as well as love, grief as well
as joy. As a community, whether together or far apart, we affirm God’s presence
in the midst of all our experiences and emotions, especially in this season of
hope.
Opening Words from
2 Corinthians 1:4-5
God consoles us in all
our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any
affliction. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also
our consolation is abundant through Christ.
First Reading: Psalm 23
1 The
LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He
makes me lie down in green pastures;
he
leads me beside still waters;
3 he
restores my soul.
He
leads me in right paths
for
his name’s sake.
4 Even
though I walk through the darkest valley,
I
fear no evil;
for
you are with me;
your
rod and your staff—
they
comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in
the presence of my enemies;
you
anoint my head with oil;
my
cup overflows.
6 Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me
all
the days of my life,
and
I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my
whole life long.
Prayer
Covenant God, we come to
you this day with a deepening anticipation for your birth among us. We pray for
all who are in need: for the sick, the destitute, and the dying; for strangers
in our land, for those who feel invisible; for those who sleep without shelter
tonight, for the cold and vulnerable; for those lacking enough food to sustain
them; for those who are overworked and for those who have no work. Hear us, O
God, for your mercy is great. O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
Second Reading: Psalm
130
1 Out
of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2 Lord,
hear my voice!
Let
your ears be attentive
to
the voice of my supplications!
3 If
you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
Lord,
who could stand?
4 But
there is forgiveness with you,
so
that you may be revered.
5 I
wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and
in his word I hope;
6 my
soul waits for the Lord
more
than those who watch for the morning,
more
than those who watch for the morning.
7
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For
with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and
with him is great power to redeem.
8 It
is he who will redeem Israel
from
all its iniquities.
Prayer
God our hope, you come
to us in the depths of our darkest despair. You hear our prayers before we name
them. In this season that we celebrate your incarnation, give us new light to
guide us. Grant a sense of your constant presence with us, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, Amen.
Third Reading: Psalm 121
1 I
lift up my eyes to the hills—
from
where will my help come?
2 My
help comes from the LORD,
who
made heaven and earth.
3 He
will not let your foot be moved;
he
who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He
who keeps Israel
will
neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The
LORD is your keeper;
the
LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The
sun shall not strike you by day,
nor
the moon by night.
7
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he
will keep your life.
8 The
LORD will keep
your
going out and your coming in
from
this time on and forevermore.
Prayer
God our refuge, you are
strength greater than the mountains; you pay attention to our needs and stay
with us through the night. Teach us to hold confidently to your grace, so that
in times of fear we may know you are near. Amen.
Silence
Fourth Reading: Psalm
80:1-7, 17-19
1 Give
ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you
who lead Joseph like a flock!
You
who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2 before
Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir
up your might,
and
come to save us!
3
Restore us, O God;
let
your face shine, that we may be saved.
4
O LORD God of hosts,
how
long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You
have fed them with the bread of tears,
and
given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You
make us the scorn of our neighbors;
our
enemies laugh among themselves.
7
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let
your face shine, that we may be saved.
8
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you
drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You
cleared the ground for it;
it
took deep root and filled the land.
17 But
let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the
one whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then
we will never turn back from you;
give
us life, and we will call on your name.
19
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
let
your face shine, that we may be saved.
Prayer
God our redeemer, we
pray because we know you are faithful. In times of trouble, set us in places of
safety. When we grow weary, feed us with your living word. Through Christ our
Lord, Amen.
Fifth Reading: Romans
8:31-39
31
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against
us? 32 He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also
give us everything else? 33
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is
Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us. 35
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For
your sake we are being killed all day long;
we
are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us. 38 For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, 39
nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer
God our steadfast
companion, we give you thanks that nothing can separate us from your love in
Jesus Christ. Send your Spirit to all who grieve, to all who are sick, and to
all who feel alone this season. May we remember that we belong to you, in Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Silence
Sixth Reading:
Revelation 22:1-5
1
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of
the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with
its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of
the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But
the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship
him; 4 they will see his
face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light
of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign
forever and ever.
Prayer
God our light, shine
like a candle in the darkness, lighting the way for all who feel abandoned,
forgotten, or hopeless. Mark our lives with your love, through Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Silence
Closing Prayer and the
Lord’s Prayer
We thank you, God our
maker, for the reminder that you have named us by your grace. Bring us closer,
O God, to your vision for all of humanity. Be the goal of our pilgrimage and
our rest by the way, a companion in heartbreak and joy. Hear us now as we pray
the prayer Jesus taught us: (the Lord’s Prayer)
Benediction and Blessing
The Glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all the peoples shall see it together.
May the God of hope fill
us with all joy and peace through the Holy Spirit,
In the name of Christ,
our Savior, Amen.
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