1st Sunday of Advent - A

Texts:  Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

Call to Worship
We don't always know that time it is,
but according to Jesus, it is time to watch.
We're not always sure what we should wear,
but according to the Spirit, we should wear garments of Light.
We're not always sure what we should do,
But according to God, we should always seek good for those around us.

Prayer of the Day
Architect of the Kingdom's streets:
you teach us all
we need to know,
if we will but open our hearts,
and listen to yours.
You challenge us
to quit working the night shift
in sin's sweat shops,
and to dance in the Light
of Advent joy.

Seeker of our Good:
you sneak in
and steal our lives
out of death's tight grasp.
You wander the streets
of our world,
sweeping up our sins,
casting them into
the dustbins of our past.

Holy Spirit,
you are as close to us
as the breath in our lungs:
helping us to treat everyone
with honor and respect;
healing us with serenity
in these days of stress;
taking us by the hand
to walk us home
to the kingdom.

God in Community, Holy in One,
help us to be faithful watchers,
as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .

Call to Reconciliation
We don't know when Jesus will return, and we are not to worry about it.  But we do know when we do wrong, when we hurt people, when we disappoint God.  But God will change our sins into acts of mercy, and our failures into faith.  Join me as we pray to our God.

Unison Prayer of Confession
   In this season of sales, shopping, and stress, God of Light, we confess how easy it is to slip off your paths.  We can become so focused on having good times, we forget to take the time to do good for your people.  We slip easily into Santa suits, but find Jesus Christ an uncomfortable fit for our lives.  We find ourselves strangely jealous over the gifts others receive, yet have trouble accepting those gifts of peace and serenity you hand out so freely.
   Forgive us, Breath of Salvation.  By your mercy, we can once again walk the streets of your kingdom, being alert for the signs of your grace and hope in our midst.  Teach us your ways of peace and reconciliation, that we may truly live as the disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
This is the good news: you will be swept away in the waters of mercy, salvation carrying you home to God's heart.
Peace, serenity, healing, hope - these gifts, and more, are ours in this Advent season of watching and waiting.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the Lord of Advent be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your waiting hearts.
We lift them to the One whose heart longs for us.
People of God, give thanks to the One who draws near to us.
Let us go to God's Table to offer our thanks and praise.

It is always good and right
to stand in your house of peace
with thanksgiving on our lips,
Holy God.
When chaos threatened to rule,
you raised up creation,
validating it with your Word.
Standing within the gates of Eden,
we were bound firmly together with you,
your love and grace as close
as the breath of the Spirit.
If we had known that sin and death
would come to steal us away from you,
we could have been prepared.
But they swept us away
in the flood of their temptations,
and we didn't know how to resist.
Your prophets were sent forth
to teach us your ways,
but we clung to the fading shadows
of our rebellious lives.
Finally, you sent Jesus to remind us
that it was time to become
your children once again.

Therefore, we come to you,
our songs of thanksgiving
and our prayers for peace
mingling with those of every time and place,:

Holy, holy, holy are you, Peace of Jerusalem.
All creation flows towards to you.
Hosanna in the Highest!

Blessed is the One who will teach us to turn our weapons into instruments of healing and hope.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, God who comes to us,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Salvation.
When we seek evil
for those around us,
he takes the time
to teach us to do good.
When we went as far away
from you as we could,
he came to bring redemption
close to our hearts.
When we did not realize
how sin and death
were coming to rob us
of our relationship with you,
he knew it was time
to go to the cross,
to place our feet back on
the streets of the kingdom.

As we remember Immanuel coming to us,
we would keep awake, preparing ourselves
to live out that mystery we call faith:

Christ died, walking in God's path;
Christ rose, walking in the light of God;
Christ will return for the sake of the house of God.

In this time of anticipation,
send your Spirit upon the gifts
of the bread and of the cup,
and on those who gather
around the Table of Joy.
Besides this, send your gifts
when we least expect them:
the gift of peace,
that we might turn Humvees
into harvesters of reconciliation;
the gift of hope,
that we might transform weapons
into harps and guitars;
the gift of time,
that we might be prepared
to serve all who come to us
in their brokenness and despair.

Then, when that day and hour come,
and we are gathered with
our sisters and our brothers,
our enemies and our friends,
around the Feast in Heaven,
we will be bound firmly together
for all eternity with you,
walking in your Light,
as we sing forever of
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

(c) 2010  Thom M. Shuman