| New Book now Available Here is an anthology of over 1100 brief prayers and thought-starters, for each day of the year, with almost 400 original prayers by Bruce Prewer. Included is both a subject index and an index of authors-- an ecumenical collection of about 300 different sources. |
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| Title: Brief Prayers for Busy People. Author: Bruce D Prewer ISBN 978-1-62880-090-6 Available from Australian Church Resources, web site www.acresources.com.au email service@acresources.com.au or by order from your local book shop or online on amazon. |
Matthew 24: 36-44 (Sermon 1: “Get Ready”’)
(Sermon 2: “Judgment Day”)
Romans 13: 11-14
Isaiah 2: 1-5 (Sermon 3 “An Alternative Life Style”)
Psalm 122.
PREPARATION
May the joy of the advent season with its message of mighty hope be with you all!
And also yours!
We begin Advent by celebrating the expectation that the Christ who came,
who comes again to be with us in every age and every place,
and who will come again in a glorious finality
to consummate the healing work which he began at Bethlehem.
He shall judge between
nations,
and arbitrate between many races;
they shall beat the swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
OR -
Mayday! Mayday !
Calling all Christians!
It is time to wake up,
for salvation is nearer
than when we first believed.
This is Advent, the season of great hope.
I was glad when they said to me:
let us go to the house of the Lord.
For the Lord shall teach us loving ways
and we shall walk in paths of hope.
Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
And also with you!
Wonderful are you, our God, Joy
of the Universe, for you have a plan for this earth
which is loftier than our highest ideals and more beautiful than our loveliest
dreams.
Wonderful are you, Christ Jesus,
for you have sown your life-blood in the furrows of our history and are
preparing a harvest of happiness beyond measuring.
Wonderful are you, Holy Spirit,
for you inspire us to trust Christ and his way, and to become sharers in his
work of universal reconciliation.
We trust you, we thank you, we worship you, intimate Friend and awesome Mystery!
Amen!
CONFESSION AND
ASSURANCE
My friends, in our prayers of confession we face up to our sin. But not alone…..thank God! We do it together, knowing that all have sinned and fallen short of the beauty God intended. Yet our God is one who knows us and loves us far better than we know and love ourselves. Therefore with confidence let us pray together:
God our Holy Friend, we
confess to each other and to you,
that we are creatures of both hope and gloom,
success and failure.
We are often impatient
and thin skinned.
We rush into
condemnations without understanding.
We take our family and
friends for granted.
We receive good will
from strangers with scant gratitude.
Our church leaders are
expected to mirror our biases.
Our Bible is selectively
used to buttress our opinions.
Our hope is often
centred on our personal ambitions.
Our faith is measured by
whether we get what we want.
Our loving of others is
selective and intermittent.
We constantly need a
strong, determined Saviour.
Where else can we go
but to you , loving God?
God our healing Friend, with the saving grace of Christ Jesus
please continue to have mercy on us,
save us from our many follies and our besetting sins,
and put some delight back into our believing
and some risky love back into our goals.
Loving God, we thank you
that we are not complete failures.
We thank you for the
successes, both small and large,
that have followed our efforts.
We thank you for the
faith that has sustained us,
and for courage in the hour of temptation.
We thank you for the love we have shared,
and seen growing in the lives of others
We rejoice
that your grace has not been in vain.
Through Christ Jesus our Saviour.
Amen!
FORGIVENESS
My friends, get smart ! Dare to step free of all guilt and give thanks to the Lord.
If we honestly repent our sins, God is reliable and true, forgiving our sins and cleansing us
from the contamination of evils great and small.
The peace of the Lord Jesus be with you always!
And also with you!
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
Dear God,
summer starts this week,
you know?
We are really looking forward
to sunny days,
Christmas and holidays,
swimming and lots of fun,
But we won’t forget
you, God.
Thanks for summer
and baby Jesus,
Christmas presents
and everything!
Amen!
I was ‘rapt when they said to me:
‘Let us go up to the house of God.’
Now at last we are standing
inside your gates, New Jerusalem!
The city of God is well
built,
made for peace and unity,
into which many races come
as the one family of God.
What a multitude of reasons we have
for giving thanks together
to the name of our God!
Here we find the ground
of right living,
the throne of grace is ours for free.
Pray for the peace of
this city of God
and for all of God’s houses of love.
Peace be within your walls,
and happiness within your chapels.
For the love of sisters
and brothers,
I greet you with peace.
For the love of the
house of God,
I will seek your
happiness.
© B.D. Prewer 2000
I WILL COME AGAIN
Matthew 24:36-44
Watch out then,
do not be fooled.
Though love may grow cold
and false prophets come,
only one Lord
brings you home.
Trust your doubts
when fools talk big.
Don’t fall for glitter
and grace that is cheap.
The End arrives
while many sleep.
Keep your head
when others fear.
hand on the Good News
God’s love be
your rule;
go graciously
and stay cool.
Neither fret
nor be anxious.
Not by worrying
can you see beyond now.
Our God alone
knows the hour.
Watch out then,
do not be fooled.
I will be with you;
though this earth may
die
Time has an end
but not I.
© B.D. Prewer
1996
COLLECT
Most awesome Friend, in this brief life which is has been hallowed by the humility of Christ, assist us to push back the darkness and embrace the light. Make us ready whenever he comes among us as judge of the living and the dead. Now and forever may we share his indomitable life. Through him, in the joy of the Spirit, to the praise of your name.
Amen!
* Note: 3 sermons are included below.
SERMON 1: GET READY
Matthew 24: 44
Jesus said: “Therefore
you also must be ready.
The Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.”
I have it on good authority that Christ is going to come again today.
Those who are ready and awake will greet him. Those who do not expect him, or who are waiting in the wrong places, or who look for the wrong kind of Christ, will miss the event.
Two men will be working on a farm, one will be ready for him, one will not. Today two women will be working side by side in the kitchen; one will be ready, one will not. Two people will be hear the same sermon, one will greet Christ, one will not.
Today the Son of Man is coming in glory. “Therefore you also must be ready.
The Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.”
“Be alert but not alarmed” Don’t panic. Don’t fasten your seat belts. I’m not announcing a messianic blast off.
My purpose is not to make you jittery. I would not want you to get in a state like the painfully religious, adult son of a friend of mine. For some months he slept only in a chair, fully dressed, because “you do not know the day nor the hour”.
I am not some religious scaremonger. But I am a glory monger. I want all of you to participate in the joy of the Son of Man who comes in glory today.
THE MANY COMINGS
It may seem I am speaking in riddles, it might even sound like gobbledegook, but I am serious.
With all my heart I believe in the Christ who comes among us in glory today.
Some groups are always on about the second coming. I don’t believe in anything as restricted as a mere second coming. Does Christ only come twice, the first coming as a baby and a second coming as judge? That, I reckon, is short-changing the Gospel.
I certainly believe in the awesome finale: the ultimate coming of Christ at the culmination of history. He is there at the end of all things, drawing all the threads of faith, hope and love together in one glorious consummation. But that is not a second coming, maybe it’s the millionth, or billionth, or the trillionth, or the uncountable-th coming.
In Jesus, the true Son of God came to us, and he still comes, and he will come. To focus only on the grand finale is to miss the glory of today. And to miss the glory of today is to miss a wondrous opportunity for celebrating the Presence of Christ.
There will always be some who will work themselves into a lather predicting the finale, that final coming. They may do it for many reasons, including to try and drive people by fear into the arms of their brand of religion. But to be fussing and worrying about the date and time of that ultimate event, is to deny the truth of that ultimate event. You see, that ultimate event is the consummation of the many comings that happen every day.
What is more, for those who are quietly alert to meet Spirit of Christ now, and to serve him day by day, there will be no need for fear or anxiety at all. Today can be a time when one can be wondrously relaxed, and lovingly committed, in the presence of the coming of Christ.
MANY WILL NOT SEE HIM
“Therefore you also
must be ready.
The Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Sadly, many will not even recognise his coming, or want to know about it.
Two men will be working side by side in a factory, one will discern the presence of Christ and feel uplifted into the eternal glory of things, and the other will plod through the day like a dismal slave.
Two nurses may be busy in a hospital, one will celebrate the Christ who asks for her healing skills, while the other sees nothing but a long day of dutiful service.
Two folk will be bushwalking in the hills; one will find the glory of Christ among the small wild bush orchids and the birds of the air, the other will note just bracken ferns and flowers. For one it will be a spiritual encounter. For the other her the hike will merely be a good physical work-out.
Two warders will be working in a detention centres for “boat people.” One will see a troublesome mob that have to be kept in order, fed and held in detention, while another will find Christ coming to him with a hundred desperate faces.
Two people will be sitting in the same church, singing the same hymns, hearing the same Scriptures. One will see the glory of Christ near at hand, another may satisfactorily fulfil a worthy obligation.
Today Christ comes again, just as he said he would.
He confronts us in glory among the turmoil, radical changes and crises of this exciting yet scary, twenty first century.
He visits us in the joys we experience, the tasks we do, the people we meet, the cultural experiences which delight the soul.
He calls to us in the sick, the lonely, the oppressed, the hungry, the abused, the prisoner, the neglected and the outcaste.
He meets us in our friends and families, and even in that competitive cousin who seeks to ‘go one up’ in any conversation or professional achievement.
This advent is for each of us here.
Whenever he comes in glory, no matter what time of year or day, it’s like second Springtime, swelling and eager to burst into new life. Like a crimson bottle brush, the lush abundance of renewed grape vines, or the violet glory of the jacaranda in full bloom.
Yes indeed, today Christ comes within the deeper, nobler, more beautiful part of ourselves, to
inflow our thoughts and words, to shape our goals and transform our deeds. As of old, he comes to embrace, to heal, to teach and enlist.
It is “judgment day” today. Although some will be ready to be taken up with him into the highlands of the spirit, others will be left flat footed and leaden spirited.
Which will we be?
That is largely up to each one of us.
SERMON 2: JUDGMENT
DAY
Matthew 24: 42
“Therefore you also
must be ready. The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
“He shall come again to judge the living and
the dead.” ( Apostles’ Creed)
The advent is about partly about judgement. In spite of some folk’s fears, that is very good news. Very good news for our cranky world.
Judgment is about sifting: chaff from grain. It is about choosing: growth or decay. It is about being on the scales of God, with his grace mercy and peace far outweighing the selfishness, bitterness and alienation, with which many of us seem to be loaded.
.
HE IS COMING TODAY
This very day-
Christ comes in glory to bring into the light our double standards, divided loyalties, and our elaborate self-justifications.
He comes to expose our lip service to God and our devotion to possessions, life style,
and ephemeral pleasures.
Christ comes among us to lance the painful abscesses of guilt which many people cover up with harsh criticisms of others.
He comes to locate and remove the stubborn cancer of racism and all those other malignant prejudices that ruin lives.
Christ comes with tough mercy to confront the deceit of our selective consciences and our many smug rationalisations.
He comes to challenge our slide into apathy, and to awaken us again to the neglect or abuse of minority groups in our nation.
This very day-
Christ comes in glory to uncover and reaffirm the true worth of loyal, ordinary followers, who are indeed the salt of the earth.
He comes to bless and reinforce the faith that motivates loving souls to forgive their enemies and pray for their persecutors.
Christ comes to lift up those extremely timid and self-effacing folk, who have too little faith in, or respect for, themselves.
He comes to lift up the fallen and bruised souls who have tried valiantly yet have too often stumbled or been tripped. .
Christ comes to still the storms of fear that terrify those whose course must be set across troubled waters.
Christ comes to still the stress or the panic of those who feel they are pushed or stretched to the very limit.
He comes to give a helping hand to the overburdened, and to bestow his own special peace and rest on those who are most weary.
He comes to give forgiveness to the repentant, bread to the hungry, and a cup full-and-running-over to the thirsty.
All this and more in happing today.
ADVENT, A SEASON OF LARGESS
This good news is a part of the advent message of judgment. Our judge assesses our needs, makes decisions that are rooted in saving grace, and takes typical saving initiatives.
We celebrate such a loving Judge on the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a season of largess, of ample opportunity.
There is no better news that this.
He comes in glory to judge the living and the dead.
Yet tragically, in this judgement there are those whose reactions will illustrate a fearful truth: No matter how bright the light shines, there are none so blind as those who do not wish to see. For them Advent and Christmas will be a boring routine.
Once again as we move through this season of Advent, the words of John’s Gospel will be proved sadly true: The true light shines in our darkness yet “some prefer darkness to light, because their deeds are evil.”
But such is not the only result. Thankfully, in welcoming Christ’s unique brand of judgement some of us will find again the wonder of Divine love. We will experience judgement and mercy, purging and healing. We will find ourselves again in touch with a pure spring of special happiness which nothing can exhaust or destroy.
For these people, Advent and Christmas will be a delight.
SERMON 3: AN
ALTERNATIVE LIFE STYLE
Isaiah 2:4
He shall judge between
nations,
and arbitrate between many races;
they shall beat the swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more
Beautiful stuff, huh? An alternative life style for those who believe.
It is for me all the more poignantly beautiful coming in this era of increased anxiety, when through unrepented injustices, terrorism and war, we live with much less expectation of “peace on earth and good will among men.”
Maybe the first thing we should do with this passage from Isaiah, is to let it wash over us; to allow ourselves become baptised in its beauty until we are completely saturated; until we become besotted with these beautiful hopes. Utterly besotted!
If we do that, we will find that the Bible words will meet up with a deep yearning within our own hearts for complete reconciliation. For a world where violence, injustice and war are banished forever.
We need to nurture our spirits on such wonderful Bible passages; allow them to mesh with a sacred part of our own being. If we gave as much time to dwelling on them as we do to reading the sports pages, the political goings-on, the stock market reports, or the love life (lust life?) of stars of film and television, then we would begin to live more creatively. If we gave as much time to Bible promises as we do to brooding on the injuries we have sustained, or might sustain, or how to get revenge, then maybe we would become like millionaires in the reconciliation business.
It may be partly true, as a wise guy has said, that “we are what we eat’. It is also true that we are what we read, think, talk and dream about. The “soup” of thoughts in which we spend our days will always shape us. The Bible gives us the best possible read and the best possible thoughts and dreams. If we become like these sacred passages, then we are among the most happy of people.
They shall beat the swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning
hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword
against nation,
neither
shall they learn war any more
Update it and you have:
They shall turn their bombers into flying
doctors,
and their
warships into food freighters;
nation
shall not fire rocket against nation
neither shall they train armies any more.
Ponder for a moment a world were Arab and Jew live as sisters and brothers. Where the indigenous Australians and the relatively recent arrivals live together with justice and love. Where the tribes of the Balkans and Africa and Ireland, and the Indonesian archipelago; of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China and Fiji, no longer maintain their ongoing fears, resentments or rage.
Think about a world where there is no longer need for armies or secret police, no more razor wire, prison compounds or grey jails.
Think about a world where the billions of dollars spent on armaments are diverted to feeding, clothing, housing, teaching, healing the peoples of the world.
Think long about a world where all are neighbours and every individual in treated as intrinsically precious. Where the vulnerable can leave their doors unlocked without anxiety, and ordinary people can walk on the streets at night without fear. Think about Christ and his way:
He shall judge between
nations,
and arbitrate between many races;
they shall beat the swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more
PROMISES. NOT PIPE DREAMS
This alternative life style will happen.
Isaiah’s hopes are not sentimental pipe dreams but are grounded in the Ultimate Truth. They speak of the glory that lies ahead of us. Not just a pretty impossibility but a Divine certainty! By the indomitable grace of God it is our ultimate destiny! And outside of that destiny there is nothing..
Add Jesus in. Add to such visions from the great prophets, Jesus with his sermon on the mount; Jesus and his inclusive love; Jesus and his unique ministry of reconciliation; Jesus and his death and resurrection. Add the promise that Christ shall come again to gloriously consummate that which has been launched, and sustained by his Spirit. Add the visions of Revelation:
Then I saw new
heaven and a new earth. ..Then I heard
a voice speaking from the heavenly throne: ‘“Look, now God lives among human
beings. He makes his home among them. They will be his people and he their God.
He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, or
mourning, or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone.” (Rev. 21).
IMPETUS FOR ACTION
Then maybe, in the joyful meeting between the Word of God
and our souls, there will come the impetus to live
proactively towards this holy promise. It is not enough just to dream the dream
and celebrate the hope. Actions must follow. Hope (like faith and love) without
works is dead.
The grand vision should inspire us to begin living bits of the future now! That is, loving as we are loved; fighting for the end of injustices; taking our stand with the poor, the meek, the merciful and the abused, and forgiving “those who despitefully use us”.
We are an Advent people, gathered around a glorious hope.
We come together as Christians, to share the higher vision, and be empowered to
do what we can to bring more of the new heaven and new earth into existence. Any religious vision which does not lead to willing discipline in
our own lives, is not of Christ.
One of the more disturbing moments of my ministry among young people came when I was a guest leader at a gathering of young adults. I led an ‘elective’ on the theme of social justice, at which 19 young folk presented themselves.
Early in the discussion a couple of dominant voices put the view that the world was in a hopeless mess; the only solution (in their minds) was to pray for the early return of Christ. Christian social activists were, they considered, a poor, misguided breed. They urged a chain of prayer among the young to plead for the urgent coming of the Lord. The only solution.
Either because of their vehemence, or because of my poor leadership, I could not get the group to move beyond that point. I went home distressed. Maybe I might expect to find that kind of resignation among some older folk who have tried hard to change things but have ended up battered and bruised. But it horrified me to find it among the young.
Sitting around in cosy piety, or resignation, waiting for the coming of Christ, is not the Biblical way.
There are always two prongs to our response to the Christian vision of “a new heaven and a new earth”.
There is the way of practical activity: serving Christ by loving our fellows and fighting for his values in every way possible, socially and politically. Sermon on the mount stuff! Christ and the prophets permit us to do nothing less than this.
There is also the way of evangelism: doing our best to share the good news of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Praying, working, speaking, hoping, and living the faith so that others will find the same power of Divine love in their lives. To be true to Christ, one cannot do less than this.
To be baptised with the vision of Jesus and the prophets, empowers us to proactive; to be his witnesses to the end of the world. We are among those very grace-lucky people for whom the alternative life style has already begun.
Yet to expose yourself to this Word of hope is to risk pain.
The damned do not get involved. Like those passengers on an evening train
recently, who studiously looked out the windows as an elderly man was assaulted
by 2 thugs. Or like that suburban woman who from her flat window saw a child being dragged
into parkland bushes by an assailant, yet did not call the police. Her reason
when interviewed: “I did not want to get involved.”
Maybe we have not opted out as shockingly as the people in those two situations. But we may have done it more subtly.
NOW IS THE HOUR
For the believers of the New Testament, the “latter days” have already arrived. Christ inaugurated the new era. They were living in the end-time, or the “latter days.” This is the era when hopes are to be realised, the promises are being made good.
In this Advent Season, of the year when we witnessed humanity do some vile things, let us keep that Bible vision alive: Revel in it. Throw yourself into it! The Christ who came to Bethlehem, still comes, and will come again in glory to consummate all that is promised.
He shall judge between
nations,
and arbitrate between many races;
they shall beat the swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more
I repeat the opening words of this sermon:
“Maybe the first thing we should do with this passage, is to let it wash over us; to allow ourselves become baptised in its beauty until we are completely saturated; utterly besotted with the promises of God!”
A CREED
In spite of a thousand unanswered
questions,
and in the face of pervading secular cynicism,
God of grace, we believe.
We believe that you are with us in
history,
bringing liberty to the oppressed and salvation
to the lost.
We believe that you chose nations
and people
to receive your Light and to share it.
We believe that in the face of
Messiah Jesus
your Light shines with inextinguishable grace.
We believe that all your hopes
rested in him
and that one day they will be all fulfilled.
We believe that your Christ
continues with us,
and that nothing done in his name can ever be
lost.
In spite of a thousand unanswered
questions,
in the face of pervading secular cynicism,
God of grace, we believe.
PRAYERS FOR OTHERS
Let us pray for all who have waited a long time for help,
and who are still waiting for:
the opportunity of gainful employment;
rescue from neglect or abuse;
reunion with loved ones;
adequate food and housing;
the end of war or terrorism;
a friend in whom they can confide;
the healing of mind, body or spirit;
a faith that lives and works;
a church where they can feel accepted.
Loving Lord, please continue be with each member of your human family,
that no crisis or suffering, no rejection or grief, may see them without
the support of your everlasting arms.
Holy Friend, help each of us who are committed to respecting and loving others,
to put that love efficiently and compassionately into practice during this Advent,
so that none of your suffering children may not be ignored or not be kept waiting
for the justice and compassion which is your will for them.
Through Christ Jesus our Saviour.
Amen!
FOR OURSELVES
How many times, Lord Jesus,
have you come to us unwelcomed?
How often have you
visited yet we have been too busy to notice,
spoken yet we have been too full of ourselves,
Change all our insensitive habits
and help us to do better during this Advent.
Make us so sensitive to your immediate comings
in the ups and downs of each ordinary day
that we shall be well prepared
to welcome your Final Coming
as a consummation of love and joy.
For your love’s sake.
Amen!
SENDING OUT
The time for going on alert is with us.
The hour has arrived for us to stop
sleeping and wak
e up.
Now is our full salvation nearer than when we first believed.
The night is almost over and the dawn is in the sky.
So let us throw off the trappings of darkness
and dress ourselves for the light.
Jesus, the brightest star of the morning, gives us his promise:
“Look! I am coming quickly.”
The Spirit and the church say “Come!”
Let every one who hears answer, “Come!”
Amen! Even so come, Lord Jesus!
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ.
Amen!
THREE BOOKS BY BRUCE PREWER
THAT ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
BY ORDERING ONLINE
OR FROM YOUR LOCAL CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOP
