Call to Worship

Beloved, we gather to rejoice in God who does wondrous things, who promises that someday all manner of things shall be well.

We rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.

We worship with joy now, confident that God will not stop until all creation is at peace.

We rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.

We lift up our voices in song and story, in prayer and praise, as we remember and rejoice in all that God has done and will do among us.

We rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.

Come! Let us worship God with joy as we work with God toward the day when all of creation lives in everlasting joy.

Come! Let us rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2025.

Prayer for the Day

Holy God of Joy,
We rejoice in the reality of who you are.
We live within the joy of your love for us.
Our contentment comes and goes.
Our happiness ebbs and flows.
Our feelings depend upon our circumstances,
our physical health, our brain chemistry.
But our joy is deeply rooted
in our identity as your beloved children.
And we give you thanks. Amen.

Written by Joanna Harader and posted on Spacious Faith, http://spaciousfaith.com/. Reposted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2015/12/call-to-worship-prayer-for-advent.html.

Prayer of Confession

We gather together in this season of Advent
anticipating hope, praying for peace, attempting to cultivate joy and share love
amidst commotion, grief, despair and uncertainty.

Moment of silence

God, we confess that we have often placed our hope in
people and things that can’t fulfill our every need.
We have searched for peace in shallow places.
We have mistaken joy for temporal pleasure and artificial exhilaration.
We have put limits on the ways we love,
excluding those who need our loving kindness the most.
God, when we have lost our way, show us yours.
Guide us to the hope in you that will renew our strength.
Lead us to your peace that transcends all understanding.
Fill us with a joy we can only experience in your presence.
Remind us that you have always loved us with an everlasting love,
so that we may share that love with others. Amen.

Words of Assurance

In this season of desolation and uncertainty, it is good to know that
God’s love for us is sure—that God’s commitment to us is definite—that God is guiding us as the compassionate companions that we are called to be for each other.
Let us live into this gift.
Amen.

Written by Rev. Mia M. McClain, senior pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in Washington D.C. Posted on the Worship Ways website at https://www.ucc.org/worship-way/advent-3a-december-11/.

Benediction

Advent people, go now in the blessing of God’s joy, confident that the day we await is close at hand and ready to cooperate with God in building the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2025.