Sunday 16 December 2012

Sunday - Advent 3 - Joy

Advent 3 -- Listening in the Stillness and Preparing our Hearts for Joy

Prayer:   Great God,  we sit here in Your presence and  listen in the stillness of our hearts for Your Voice.   We sit here in Your presence and prepare our hearts for Your joy.  We know that  Jesus is coming, as God’s joy for us.
The promise of God is sure: ‘Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart… The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.’
 In this season of Advent, we celebrate the coming of Jesus as God’s joy among us. A day is coming when God will gather all; even the oppressed and the outcast will come home, and we shall rejoice.
Until that day, we serve an aching world in the power of the Spirit, exchanging fear for gladness, and worry for prayer.
 As the candle of joy is lit, set anxiety aside, rejoice in the Lord, pray with thanks, and make every need known to God.
 We pray for the day when God’s salvation is fully come and the whole world rejoices.

The candle of joy is lit.

Sit in silence for a few minutes.  Repeat the word “Maranatha”.  This is a Greek word that means “Our Lord is Coming”.    Maranatha.      Mar a  na   tha.      As you sit in silence,  ask God to prepare your heart for joy.   Think how you can share the gift of joy to this world, your neighbour, your friends,  and your family.  

Lord Jesus Christ, your joy we already know and celebrate. But we long for our weary world to know the joy of a new beginning. Help us to share your joy with all who are hungry or weighed down by sorrow, both those we meet every day, and those around the globe we will never meet. Amen.



Written by Rev. Dr. W. J. Clyde Ervine
Produced by Presbyterian World Service & Development
The development and relief agency of The Presbyterian Church in Canada
50 Wynford Drive, Toronto ON M3C 1J7

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