A United Methodist Pastor's Theological Reflections

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:57


Monday, December 17, 2018

Sunday Pastoral Prayer (Dec. 16/Advent) Athens First UMC



[Our Advent sermon series has focused on the traditional meaning of each candle around the Advent Wreath. The four candles that surround the middle Christ Candle represent Hope, Peace, Joy, & Love. We have a beautiful Advent Wreath as shown in the photo above. The pink candle which was our focus yesterday symbolizes the joy we can have even though we are still waiting for the birth of Christ. Joy is what gets us through the tough times in life. The pastoral prayer reflects the tension between the joy in knowing that Christmas is near while also recognizing the “blues” that we may be experiencing in life. Click here for the sermon.]


O God, on this pink candle Sunday of Advent, we name our many joys to you: encouraging Christmas cards in the mail, a renewed relationship with family members, a surprise tree ornament gift made out of bird seed by one of our pre-schoolers, small group members who help to build up our faith, a hug from a child who heard that you have a heavy heart, a Thin Place moment just when you needed it the most, a bright pink sunset on your way home from a funeral, a picture from a long time ago that brings a smile to your face.

O God, thank you for these joys and so many more that are in our hearts this day.

But O God, you also know the sadness that we carry this day. And so, we name our blues and offer them to your loving care: A friend who we feel let us down, a relationship once strong now broken, a loved one who is no longer with us, dreams that have gone unfulfilled, people who have treated us unjustly, painful memories around this time of year, worry about the future, not feeling able to forgive ourselves, challenges and adversities beyond our control, being misunderstood.

O God, we lift these blues to you and so many more that may be in our hearts this day.

Thank you for the pink candle of joy that reminds us that even though it is surround by blue candles, all of them point us to the middle Christ candle. But for now, we gather together, both blues and joys to anticipate receiving a new light in our lives on Christmas Eve. A light that isn’t just a candle, but is Christ himself who is Emmanuel, God with us.

It is in his name that we join together in saying the prayer he has taught us…

“Our Father, who art in heaven…”

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