December 24, 2006 ~ 10:30 a.m. ~ Bidding Prayer

Bidding For Christmas Eve Morning

God of longing and waiting, we celebrate the gift of this day and ask for you to help us, from start to finish, beginning to end, morning to night, to celebrate it as the final coming together of preparations for the birth of the Christ Child into our lives and hearts once again.

O God, be stillness and reflection to those who have allowed the frantic pace of the holiday to confuse priorities and blur vision. Like Mary, help us to ponder the things in our hearts such as the persistent ways of your love and the wideness of your mercy.

O God, be justice and righteousness to those whose hearts have been hardened by the unfairness or confusion of the world. Like Joseph, help us to see that change is possible, that every single one of us is human, and that you call us all to right relationship.

O God, be healing and wholeness to those who are ill or who feel broken or incomplete. Like the shepherds, help us to hear your good news to all, regardless of place or situation, and then to live that good news to those around us.

O God, be enthusiasm and joy to those who are in touch with the amazing and life-changing nature of this celebration. Like the angels, help us to sing to our hearts content, proclaiming to all who would hear, “Be not afraid – Joy to the world!”

O God, be wisdom and empowerment to those who have gifts to give and callings to follow. Like the magi, help us to risk following the stars in our lives, to give extravagantly from the depths of our lives, and to always know that we just might have to go home by another way.

Finally, O God, be new birth to us this day. Like the Christ Child, help us to find fresh and ever more wondrous ways of bringing life anew into our world, and may this act of nativity inspire renewal in each and every one of us, likewise. Amen.




Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2006 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096