Candle Lighting Liturgy

Reader One: The prophet Isaiah calls us to speak comfort to God’s people, because even now God is at work making peace among us, so that “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 40:4-5 NRSV). Today, we wait and work for God’s peace, for a world marked by welcome, belonging, and access for all.

Congregation: Because of God’s goodness to us in the past, we can imagine a future shaped by God’s peace, and we can cooperate with God and one another to speak peace, build peace, and flourish in peace right here and right now.

Reader Two: We light this candle of peace as a sign of God’s peace-making among us, saving us and forming us to build a world where “faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky” (Psalm 85:11 NRSV).

Light the second candle of the Advent wreath.