| 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. |
YEAR
C, CHRISTMAS DAY
December 25
Luke 2: 1-20. (Word
2: “Space for the Unwashed’)
Tittups 3: 1-7.
Isaiah 62: 6-12.
Psalm 97
or—
John 1:1-14.
(Word
1: “Not a Sermon”)
Hebrews 1:1-4.
Isaiah 52: 7-10.
Psalm 98
GREETING AND PREPARATION
Merry Christmas: The irrepressible joy of the
birthday of Christ Jesus be with you all!
And also with
you!
The nations now see God’s saving justice,
all kings shall look upon God’s
beauty.
You are given us a new name to treasure,
spoken from the very mouth of God.
As bride and bridegroom rejoice together,
so God rejoices with us this
day.
OR —
Unto you is born this day a
Saviour who is Christ the Lord.
Break out into
singing, you waste places of Jerusalem
for the Lord has comforted and
redeemed his people!
You shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger.
The hand of
the Lord God now uncovered
before the eyes of all the
nations,
and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our
God!
PRAYER
Little Child of God, laid in a manger, we adore your
coming! Now God is of our image, God is of our flesh and blood. Now there is no
difference at all between your body and ours. You are our Saviour and our
brother lying in a cot. You join our human frailty, share our needs, and assure
us of utter glory. Halleluiah!
AMEN!
(From Martin Luther)
CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE
Let us affirm Christ as our Saviour, Let us pray.
Most Loving God, because you knew how twisted and
corrupted our humanity had become, you sent us your Holy Son —
We name him
Jesus, our Saviour, for he has saved his sisters and brothers from their sins.
Because you have stood in our shoes and understand
how difficult it is to live by the rule of law in an often cold, unfeeling, and
ruthless world —
We name him
Jesus, our Saviour, for he is this very day saving us from all our sins.
Because you have given us a gracious spirit,
forgiving those who sin against us, and you call us to a ministry of reconciliation in a
fractured world —
We proclaim
him Jesus, our Saviour, for he will save our world from its many sins
God of Christmas, God of unspeakable grace, please
forgive and renew us all, that our lives may declare the wonders of that Holy
Love that has called us out of darkness into glorious light.
Amen!
FORGIVENESS
My friends in Christ, Christ did not come to rub our
noses in our sins, but to liberate us from guilt and despair. Be cheerful, lift
up your hearts, for you are a remarkably loved and forgiven people! You are set
free to forgive one another and to be agents of peace and joy!
Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace to all people of goodwill..
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
Today, God I
want everything to be happy!
Let
the kangaroo leap,
the kookaburra laugh,
the platypus turn somersaults
and the brolga dance!
Today I want
the gum trees to wave their arms,
the flowers to give big smiles,
the mountains to kiss the clouds,
and the sea to sing and roar with joy!
Have a happy birthday Jesus!
Amen!
Ó B D Prewer
PSALM 98
Come, sing a new song to our God,
who does amazing things!
Now a human hand holds God’s strength,
authority rests in a Baby’s arm.
The gentle power of God is openly displayed,
gracious justice is shown to the nations.
Jewish people are not forgotten,
they witness God’s faithfulness.
Every place on the face of the earth
now sees God’s indomitable love.
Join the celebrations, everyone,
break out into joyful applause!
Praise God with guitar and keyboard,
with flute, fiddle and organ.
Join in with trumpet and drums,
to acclaim the Presence of Christ.
Let all the seas and oceans roar,
the land and living thing on it.
Come on rivers, clap your hands,
and mountains shout together for joy,
as God comes to govern our
planet
with a justice that heals the nations.
© B.D. Prewer 2000
(Another version, see: Australian Psalms p 33)
BUSH CHRISTMAS?
(In the style of “I saw three
ships”)
I saw three drovers* riding by,
come riding by,
come riding by.
I saw the hope-light in each eye,
on Christmas Day
in the morning.
They left their cattle by the creek,
down by the creek,
down by the creek.
They rode but not a word did speak,
on Christmas Day
in the morning.
They drew rein at a bushman’s tent,
a bushman’s tent,
a bushman’s tent.
Stooping down, inside they went,
on Christmas Day
in the morning.
They knelt beside an old camp bed,
an old camp bed,
an old camp bed.
Each one bowed down his dusty head,
on Christmas Day
in the morning.
The knew the blessing of the meek,
of all the meek,
of all the meek.
They rode full-filled back to the creek,
on Christmas Day
in the morning.
* drover= Aus. for a herdsman on the move
. with large mobs of cattle
© B Prewer & Open Book Publishers:
COLLECT
Most Holy Friend, today you have given us a Child
who is like all human children, yet at the same time unlike all others. Born of
Mary, he is the hope of the earth and the joy of heaven. As we celebrate this
day with carols and prayers, gifts and feasting, may we open our hearts to
receive your Christ. Come Incarnate Love, and rejuvenate
us in body, mind and spirit, until Christmas optimism spills over into every
thought, action and prayer. To your praise and glory!
Amen!
NOT A SERMON
John 1: 14
“The word
became flesh and lived among us.”
On the subject of Christmas I become almost tongue
tied.
I cannot speak about it with an adequacy rate of
even 1%.
In fact, framing words can seem like a
contradiction.
Isn’t Christmas about God’s Word becoming flesh?
How can I then try to turn the Sacred Flesh back
into words?
If God could have communicated the essence of
Christmas in words, surely it would have been done long before Christ Jesus.
But what God had to say could only be said by
actions. God among us, as one of us; now that communicates!
Embodied, bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, the incarnate God with loving deeds that will stand as long as
the earth endures.
As I see (and feel it!) this morning, if people
cannot get the message from the coming of God in the beautiful life and death
of Jesus, then no wordiness will achieve it.
HOWEVER......
Yet words may have some validity. Words at their
best and purest can celebrate and adorn the happening.
Let us then continue to celebrate.
Let us feast with joy,
exchange presents with delight,
let us sing our carols and lift
up our prayers.
And by all means adorn this unique event to
the best of human ability.
Let those who can dance, dance it.
Let those who can paint, paint it.
Let those who are playwrights create drama around
it.
Let all with love in their hearts, share that love
freely
in honour of the God of
Christmas.
This is no time for long sermons. It is time for
love and adoration..
SERMON 2:
SPACE FOR THE UNWASHED.
Luke 2: 16
The shepherds
came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, lying in a manger.
The birth of Christ was for everyone,
especially for those folk who, like
shepherds, respectable people shun, or make jokes about, or despise. Even
today, people still makes jokes about shepherds; some of these jokes are, to
say the least, uncouth.
Yet shepherds are the first recorded visitors to the
new born Christ.
I’m not sure if those same shepherds visited us this
morning, and sat beside you in the pew, that you would be at ease. I’m also not
certain you would eagerly invite them to share your Christmas dinner. Our
fastidious, well laundered noses might complain mightily.
Shepherds were not renowned for their personal
hygiene.
Lets face it, by day and night
they lived with their sheep and smelt like their sheep. It was a basic kind of
existence. It was a harsh life, week after week in wind and rain, hot sunshine
or winter frost.
On one hand these sheep herders have been
romanticised in poetry and folk stories. Even God was called the good Shepherd,
and King David was idealised as the Shepherd King.
On the other hand they were despised by legalistic
rabbis as no hopers; their job not only prevented them from attending the
worship in the synagogue, they were on duty 24/7 and thereby broke the holy
Sabbath law.
They were just the kind of “the great unwashed” for
whom Christ Jesus came.
Luke glories in this in his very inclusive
Gospel. He makes sure the story of the shepherds is not left out of his
account of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the shepherds get pride of place, there
at the very front, adoring the infant Christ.
I’m glad. Delighted in fact.
It makes the Gospel wide open to the likes of you and me. I’m not suggesting
that your personal hygiene is at fault, and I hope you think mine is okay!
Perhaps in our case it is not our bodiliness but our
personal godliness that is smelly? Blessedly, that does not put God off at all!
We are embraced. One of the joys that we are celebrating on this wonderful day
is that we too are among the “great unwashed” are welcomed by the grace of God
in Jesus Christ.
We are not here today celebrating because we are
cleaner than others, nor smarter than other, nor holier than others, nor better
prayer-ers than others, nor better at good works than
others. We are here because of the unmerited, free grace of God in Jesus
Christ. We celebrate the birth of that saving initiative in Mray’s son, Jesus
We come like the shepherds rapt in wonder at this
new thing God has done.
Wonder! Yes wonder-full! Joy! Yes, joy-full!
If any of us should have no room left for such
wonder and joy , then may God have mercy on our
benighted souls!
THANKS AND PRAISE
Yours is the glory:
Light
in the word
Word
in the silence
Warmth
in the cold
Life
in the cell
Love
at the threshold.
Yours is the
glory
Beginning and
end.
Yours is the glory:
Light
over Bethlehem
Mother
in labour
A
baby’s first cry
Shepherds
at the door
God in the straw.
Yours is the
glory
Beginning and
end.
an excerpt from ‘Australian
Prayers’
© B Prewer &
Open Book Publishers
INTERCESSIONS
We who have so much to enjoy this day, turn now to
God with prayers for those who have much less. Let us pray¾
For those who will spend this holy day in hospital, and especially for any who know it will be their
last Christmas on this earth.
For children who will spend
this day hungry or in poverty, and for parents who experience the pain of not
being able to provide.
For those who must work today while we relax; police
and ambulance officers, nurses and doctors, chefs and waiters, members of fire
brigades, and those who maintain public transport.
For those who once believed in Christ, and who knew
the meaning of Christmas joy, but who have now edged away into cynicism and
darkness.
For those who have never believed, but who on this
day are finding their hearts stirred by the Holy Spirit and challenged to take
the leap of faith.
For any among our family or friends who are facing
personal crisis, or trying to deal with a tragedy, at this Christmas season.
Lord of the
universe,
through
your true Child
born of a
young woman
you came to
share our humanity.
Renew us by
your holy coming
and make us
children of love
that we may
embody your Word
and be
agents of mercy and peace.
(From Brief Prayers Vol 3)
© B D Prewer & Open Book Publishers
SENDING OUT
Merry Christmas, my friends!
God has spoken his most joyful word of grace, mercy
and peace!
Mary gave
birth to her first-born son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger.
Go out into this day delighting in your kinship with
God’s Son.
Glory to God in the highest, and earth peace and goodwill.
The grace of............
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