Second Sunday of Advent

Michael Parker

Come, Sweet Jesus, Come!

A Call to Worship for the Second Sunday of Advent

Leader: Can you hear it? A voice cries out!

People: We’ve gotta get things together! Jesus is coming!

Leader: Jesus is coming for those who are broken and have been beat up by life.

People: He’s coming for those whose week couldn’t get any better
And for those whose week was long and draining.
He’s coming for those who embrace their next steps
And for those who have no idea what’s next.

Leader: He’s coming for those who live right and those just struggling to live.
He’s coming for those who anticipate a bright tomorrow
And for those who are already over today.

All: Come, sweet Jesus, come!
We’re here waiting for you, and while we wait, we will worship!

He Is Coming

A Call to Worship for the Second Sunday of Advent

Leader: He is coming! Yes, Christ is coming!

People: We wait for him patiently but with expectation!

Leader: He is coming! Yes, Christ is coming
To meet our expectations and beat our expectations.
He is coming to blow our minds!

People: Without Christ, we can do nothing.
We need him more than the next breath we breathe.
So, come on, Jesus! You know we’re here and we’re waiting!
Come, fill us again until we are overflowing!

Fill Us in This Place

A Prayer of Invocation for the Second Sunday of Advent

Come on, Jesus! We’ve been waiting on you. We need you. We’re here because of you. Come in our midst today. Work out for my brothers and sisters what has been working on them. Fill us in this place. Change us in this moment. Come and change us again and again. We don’t mind waiting, but we really can’t wait to see you! This is your day. This is your house. We are your children. Father, we’re waiting for you. We pray this in the Name of the one who is to come. Amen!

He Came, Wrapped in Flesh like Ours

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent

Holy One, into mess you sent Perfection. Wrapped in flesh like ours, flesh that is weak, flesh that makes mistakes, flesh that has a liking for wrong even more than it does for right, you sent Jesus for your people. However, he never messed up! He never went the wrong way! He never broke your heart! May we, those whom you love more than we know how to love ourselves, strive to be more like him. We pray, God, that our lives make room for you to appear. Powerful God, we are unworthy of even unlacing your shoes, but let all we do bring you glory! In Christ’s precious name, we pray. Amen!

God, You’ve Been Better than Good

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent

God, what can we say? You’ve been some kind of good to us! In fact, you’ve been better than good! When we deserved your wrath, you gave us your mercy. When you should have hated us, you loved us even harder. When we gave you reason to turn and walk away, you drew even closer and held us even tighter! You are a great God! You’ve clothed us with your favor, set us up for victory after victory, and turned down the temperature of your wrath so that all we feel is your Spirit like the cool breeze. We’re listening to you. We’re listening for you. Speak to us, God. Our hands are ready to receive all the good things—grace, mercy, love, favor, overflow, peace, joy, belly laughs, and hope, just to name a few—that you have prepared for us! We’re ready, God! We’re ready! All this we pray in that great Name, the Name of Jesus Christ! Amen!

Nothing Could Stop You!

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent

Father, here we are! We are your children! We are those for whom you were willing to hang upon a tree. We’re not perfect. We have made mistakes. We have broken your heart. We’ve gone totally opposite what you’ve asked and required of us. However, none of this has stopped your love. None of this has stopped your grace. None of this has stopped your mercy. Why are you so good to us, God? Why do you make ways for us like you do? Why do you care for us like you do? You are extremely patient with us, God. You gave us time to get it together so that we could one day be together. Rub some of your patience on us, God. We could use it. Help us be more like you. Help us live more like you. Help us smell more like you. Help us look more like you. Restore in us your image so that when that great day comes and you crack the sky, we are found spotless in your sight. We wait for you, Loving God. We wait patiently upon your arrival. Come, Lord Jesus. Come. In his name, we pray. Amen!

Tell Somebody!

A Sending for the Second Sunday of Advent

Now, go, people of God! Go, and make sure the path is clear for Jesus, your Jesus, my Jesus, our Jesus, to get through! Go, and make your voice heard! Shout it from your cubicle, from your classroom, from your delivery truck, from your living room, from your heart! Tell somebody, anybody, everybody, that Jesus is coming! He’s coming to make us better and coming to make us whole! Go forth, knowing that you’ve got work to do! He who is to come is already with you, endowing you with good Holy Ghost power to do what he needs you to do! Go, people, go!

God Has Been Patient; You Be Faithful

A Sending for the Second Sunday of Advent

You, with whom God has been patient
You, to whom God has been faithful
You, for whom God has come
Leave this place different than you came
Leave this place changed for the better
Leave this place convicted to live holy
Leave this place waiting for God to show up for you this week.
Go! Go forth happy!
Go forth filled!
Go forth in peace!

Loose us, But Don’t Let Us Go!

A Sending for the Second Sunday of Advent

God, loose us, but don’t let us go!
God, send us, but don’t let us go!
God, lead us, but don’t let us go!
We’re following you every step of the way!
Now, may the grace of God that keeps following you around,
May the mercy of God that keeps jumping on you,
May the love of God that keeps wooing you
Loose you, send you, and lead you every step of the way!
Leave this place in grace and leave this place in peace!