The good news of Christ
Dear God, Creator of seasonal lights,
The Maker and Marker of human time —
We’ve limited years, our earthly lot
By land and sea and air contained.
The imagination flies beyond,
In search of your eternity;
So help us live to apprehend
The promised life we cannot see.
Father, look into my heart. You know what’s there.
You know the corners that still hide the darkness.
Sweep in with your light to cleanse and purify.
Make me pure for full possession by your Spirit.
Take full control of my being, words, and actions.
Let Jesus lead in every step along the way.
May he grow before my eyes and in the world’s sight.
Enlarge the only true hope of eternal life.
Build up our holy faith as your chosen ones.
Strengthen our hands for faithful life and service.
O Lord of earth and heaven, hear us!
Let love revive and service move us.
From quaking mountain and sea, come near us!
From grace let Satan not remove us.
Our Christ is King of kings, we praise him!
Disciples mustn’t deny or betray him.
No evil force detains or delays him!
We trust, confess and daily obey him.
Your word has life, Lord, let us read it!
Where the Holy Spirit lives, we’d know it.
Our hunger for justice, O God, come feed it!
You’re faithful and true, to the righteous show it.
There’s not a single thing that you don’t know,
But every heart is open to your eyes;
I wonder about the who and where and how,
O God, you hear the baby’s hidden cries.
In you, Almighty, there’s no place for pride,
Jehovah, Father God, you simply are,
All else is finite, subject to time and tide,
From smallest creature to the largest star.
We thank you, Lord, for love and life to share,
We seek your grace, to move beyond our plane,
To rise from earth and breathe a purer air,
Give hope to live without our tears and pain.
We trust, O God, for every promise made,
We march with certain steps, our faith is sure,
In heart, let not our final destiny fade,
But heaven’s throne increase its high allure.
See me, O Father, bowed, humble and low,
Exalt me soon to Omega — be not slow.
Gary Hampton of Mississippi shared the slides from his Christmas sermon, “Beneath the Star.” He graciously gave us permission to share them with subscribers of SermonLines.
Take from me, O Lord, my every burden.
To you, O God, I give this day’s battle.
Let this small struggle never return to me.
To you I release it, surrendered now and forever.
Give plentiful help to meet my needs this hour:
Your hand to raise me up, your sacrifice
To pull me out of self and into grace,
Your love to stir rejoicing that shatters silence.
Your Spirit’s gift of presence, give me fully,
That I might have to freely give to others;
Among the olive trees my Lord was never alone.
And I, with him, alone will never be.
Heavenly Father, praise belongs to you, and power and glory. Thank you for this fine day. Bless us as we go about our tasks. Protect our family from harm. Forgive us our empty words and senseless acts. Make us aware of your presence.
Give us peace and cause our government officials to work for the benefit of society, providing security and justice to all. Wake people up to your commandments. Bring honesty and fairness to transactions and interactions among people. Thank you for the progress made to live in a mutually beneficial society. Let civil and friendly discourse prevail. May Christians lead the way in blessing when we are cursed.
Show us how to love our family in Christ. Help us to give them priority, even above our physical families. Make our love for them sincere, earnest and intense. Give us openness, transparency, and honesty among us. Let truth prevail, and not lying, as we put on Christ and assume your image according to true knowledge.
Give us patience. Let us learn from life’s detours. Keep us from the viper’s bite! Teach us gratitude, that we be not impoverished by our blindness. Give us new eyes in Jesus Christ.
Father in heaven, the years roll on, and life accelerates, rushing toward the end. We pray for Jesus’ return, so we welcome our meeting together with him. This earth holds little for us besides the ones we love. We wish to be in heaven with them as well. But nothing can dampen our desire to be with Christ.
Support us as we live now in the present, that we might eat and work with your blessing. We seek the kingdom first and trust in your goodness to provide our needs.
The coming holidays and year’s end bring concerns, but let us see in the turning of the calendar still more evidence of your hand and your care for us. You hold this world and move it around the sun. You hold our lives in your hands as well, we rejoice in your goodness.
Let our minds continually ponder your power and mercy for your people. We rest in your shadow, we are renewed by your sun and rain and fruit of nourishment.
You, Father, have given us life and strength and purpose. We glorify you for your perfect plan and for the freedom in Christ to serve and grow. Make us complete in him.
Based on Hosea 4
Father, let us hear your word, and may it not be a word of accusation against us. Help us to live according to your commandment so that we may hear your approval.
May faithfulness and love not disappear from among us, nor the knowledge of your glory. May they flourish in our midst.
May sin not been seen, but righteousness. As your servants and holy priests, keep us from stumbling. Let us not be destroyed for lack of knowledge. Let us not reject knowledge, but help us to choose it so that we may be chosen by you.
May we not ignore your law, so that we are not ignored by you. We confess, Lord, that so many among us disparage and disdain your commands. We confess that your people are moving away from your demands. Move among us, Lord, to place us squarely in obedience to your will.
Let us refuse to exchange our glory—our knowledge of you—for shameful things. Let us not feed upon the sins of the people nor feel pleasure in their iniquities.
Feed us, so that we may be satisfied. Keep us from abandoning you. Strengthen us that we might be faithful. Let us always turn to you for answers.
We want our sacrifices to be spiritual and acceptable to you. Keep us from running after the vain worship of the religions around us. Break our rebelliousness. Feed us as the pastor feeds his sheep in the field.
May we remain grounded and protected on the day when your wind of judgment sweeps away all those who belong to false religions.