[The 4 Advent candles should be lit before the service]
During the Advent season, we have waited like expectant parents for God to deliver – to show up like Amazon with the promised gifts of hope, peace, joy and love. We wait in a world that has never needed those gifts more. And God hides our gifts in plain sight, in Bethlehem, right where the prophets told us they would be. And like every year, we’re surprised, still not convinced that God’s Messiah should be born in a barn.
Tonight our waiting is rewarded, as we celebrate again the gift of unconditional love, and the marvelous ways God breaks through the darkness, and leads us to the Light of the World. God showed the shepherds and the magi the way to Bethlehem. And tonight God is showing us the Way again.
[Light the Christ candle as the next paragraph is read]
We light the Christ Candle on this holy night to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. He has led us here and calls us to follow him on a marvelous journey of seeking, finding, waiting, hoping, and spreading His Holy light.
Prayer: (Please join me in the prayer on the screen)
O eternal God, forgive us when we doubt that a peasant boy of low estate could possibly heal our fearful and divided world. When our skepticism threatens to overwhelm us, wrap us in the warm swaddling cloths of hope, peace, joy and love. We have waited and prayed for your Messiah. Now it’s time for us to receive the most precious gift ever. May Christ be born in us this night. Set us aglow with the light of Christ, to warm and heal broken lives and light our darkened world. In the holy name of the one we celebrate this night, Amen.
Northwest UMC, Columbus, Ohio
Peacefully Harsh 