Finding God in the places in between

God of perfect balance

Who created the planets to circle around the sun

Amidst our toing and our froing

May we find the in between places

Where we pause and be still

And in the stillness find you there.

God of healing and raising up

Who lifts the weary and binds the wounds of the brokenhearted

Amidst our words and our actions

May we find the in between places

Where we pause and be quiet

And in the quiet find you there.

God of sending and welcoming

Who reaches out to those who long for good news and receives us with forgiving and loving arms

Amidst our going out and coming in

May we find the in between places

Where we pause and make ourselves at home

And in our homecoming find you there.

God of call and transformation

Who sends people out who feel they have little to give

Amidst our fearful reluctance and our joyful obedience

May we find the in between places

Where we pause and look for you

And in our looking find you there.

God of all places and all times

In our toing and our froing

In our words and in our actions

In our going out and our coming in

In our reluctance and our obedience

And in all the places in between

We praise you for who you are

And we bless your name for all that you have done, are doing and will do in our world and in our lives.

Amen

Australia Day call to worship

God was here in this spot

When the earth was a formless void.

God was here in this spot when the land rose up and the mountains and rivers formed

God was here when just the indigenous people moved from place to place

God was here when the first European settlers arrived and then when people came from many different lands

And God is here now

With us

Enjoying our company

Alive and well

Still creating

still knowing

still loving

still making all things new.

Come, let’s worship our God!

Australia Day weekend prayer of thanks and confession

Loving God, we live in an amazing place

And there’s so much to be grateful for here. 

For beaches and big waves for boogy boarding

For juicy peaches and lamb chops

For everyone being able to go to school (even if we don’t always feel like that’s what we want to do.)

For being free to believe what we want to believe

For peace and feeling safe

For police and health workers and teachers

And places to go if we need help.

For electricity and clean running water

For wide open spaces and fresh air.

These things are so good.

Thank you God.

But sometimes we take good things for granted

And forget to be grateful.

We’re sorry.

Sometimes we’re no good at sharing

and want to keep all the good things to ourselves.

We’re sorry.

Sometimes we’re not good at being mates.

We’re  sorry.

Sometimes we don’t give people a fair go.

We’re sorry.

Help us to live as grateful, welcoming, fair, loving people of God.

Amen.

Prayers for Others Christmas Day

6 people are standing at the front of the church. Person 1 faces the microphone. 5 people wearing party hats stand in a line with their backs to the congregation. Before each person speaks they turn, face the congregation and remove their hat.

Person 1

Well Jesus, Christmas morning is finally here.

Tinsel is flying, presents are being opened.

We are all here to sing and celebrate the way you came into our world.

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come,” we sing.

But maybe it’s not everyone that feels like celebrating today …

Person 2

Our family is such a mess. Lunch is at Mum’s, dinner’s at Dads and no one likes talking to each other much.

Person  1

Lord Jesus, we pray for broken relationships, broken families, broken hearts. Bring reconciliation and new beginnings. Bring paths through the wilderness. May peace, hope and joy be real for these people today and in the days to come.

Person 3

This is our first Christmas without grandma.

Person 1

Lord Jesus, we pray for anyone who is missing someone today. Bring comfort. May peace, joy and hope be real for these people today and in the days to come.

Person 4

I feel so sad all the time. I don’t remember the last time I felt happy.

Person 1

Lord Jesus, we pray for people who are living with depression and other mental health conditions for whom celebration seems a difficult or forgotten idea.  And we pray for people who struggle with their health in other ways. Bring your healing. May peace, hope and joy be real for these people today and in the days to come.

Person 5

Presents? I don’t even have enough to feed my family today.

Person 1

Lord Jesus, we pray for enough for all people. We pray for just trade, good leadership, good sharing, good seasons, generous giving. May peace, hope and joy be real for these people today and in the days to come.

Person 6

My country is in a state of war. I don’t know what tomorrow might bring.

Person 1

Lord Jesus, we pray for people in battle zones, for whom survival will be a higher priority than celebration today. May peace, hope and joy be real for these people today and in the days to come.

Lord Jesus, born at Christmas, Lord of our world, you came to live among us and be a light for us in all of our beauty and all of our pain. Help us, along with you, to be peacemakers, hope bringers and joy givers today and in the days to come.

Amen

Christmas prayer of praise and confession

Jesus,

We celebrate your coming today.

We celebrate the exciting news that once we were a people living in darkness

And now we are a people living in the light.

Once we could only imagine what God was like

But you came and dwelt among us

And now we can read and hear and experience ourselves

The way you lived and live and dwell among your people.

We celebrate the way you befriend us and heal us and make us whole

We celebrate the way you promise that you will never leave us alone

We celebrate the way that because you have been here with us

our sins have been separated from us as far as the East is separated from the West.

Forgive us if, long after Christmas day

We still see you as a gentle, pink baby lying in a manger.

Forgive us if we sing the songs and decorate our homes and give and receive presents

And don’t reflect the celebration of you coming in our relationships, in our work, in our lives.

Teach us to live our lives joyfully, because you have been here and you are here and you promise to stay with us as we live our lives.

We pray this in your precious name, Jesus.

Amen.