Call to Worship

Children of God, Jesus Christ is born!
God has come to make a home among us!

Yet the story is not over. After birth comes the ordinary and mundane growing, maturing, and discovering, even for the Christ Child.
In the ordinary and mundane, God has come to make a home among us.

And sometimes, in the midst of the everyday, something surprising happens, and we discover anew just what God is up to in our midst.
In the surprising and spectacular, God has come to make a home among us.

Children of God, let us worship the God who dwells with us in all things and all seasons.
We come to make our home with God who makes a home among us. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2024.

Pastoral Prayer

Loving God
may we be found
and may we find
a place called home,
a place where faith holds us
and grace renews us
where forgiveness longs for us
to be who you will us to be

may we find a place called home
where we are accepted as we are
where we are taken in
and loved unconditionally

a place called home
where we belong
and our souls fit
and our questions are allowed
and our anger is heard
and our needs are recognised
and our pain is held
and our names are known
and may this
be that place, O God,
this community
this group of travellers and doubters
and companions on the way

this home
where your place
is our place
and place isn’t a building
but a way of being together
in relationship
held together
by love

Loving God
Homecoming God
may we make this a home
to all who still yet seek
a place of grace-filled sanctuary
and gracious welcome

So be it
Amen

Written by Roddy Hamilton and posted on Mucky Paws. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2019/03/prayer-reflection-place-called-home.html.

Prayer of Confession

Most Loving God,
because you knew how twisted
and corrupted our humanity had become,
you sent us your Holy Son—
We name him Jesus, our Savior,
for he has saved us from our sins.

Because you have stood in our shoes
and understand how difficult it is to live
by the rule of law in an often cold,
unfeeling, and ruthless world—
We name him Jesus, our Savior,
for he is this very day saving us from all our sins.

Because you have given us a gracious spirit,
forgiving those who sin against us,
and you call us to a ministry of reconciliation
in a fractured world—
We proclaim him Jesus, our Savior,
for he will save our world from its many sins

Assurance

God of Christmas, God of unspeakable grace,
forgive and renew us all,
that our lives may declare
the wonders of that Holy Love
that has called us out of darkness
into glorious light.
Amen!

Adapted from Bruce Prewer, http://www.bruceprewer.com/DocC/C06xmasd.htm.

Benediction

Beloved, may God bless you with transformation, because together we have encountered the incarnate Christ who makes a home among us and sends us home never to be the same again. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2024.