O God. You did it! You really did it! You gave each one of us the greatest gift that we can ever receive! You gave us your Son, Jesus. And in him, you brought joy to the world! On this last Sunday of the year, we continue to celebrate the good news of Christ’s birth.
Remind us in our time of worship this morning that Christmas is just the 1st chapter of the incredible Jesus story. There is so much more to come and there is so much more for us to experience as we will soon leave the manger and watch him grow and live out the purpose for which you sent him, to usher in your glorious kingdom here on earth.
Next Sunday, we are invited to join the Wise Men in offering Jesus our very best gifts that include our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. As we prepare to celebrate a New Year, help us to see how our gifts might contribute to your mission in living out our faith through word and deed.
Even in this moment, we offer to you our gift of prayer as we lift up to you those who are on our church’s prayer list as well as many other joys and concerns that are on our hearts. We offer all these prayers to you because your name is Emmanuel, God with us, God with each one of us.
We also praise you in advance for the many blessings that are to come in the New Year: the blessings which our Advent candles represented of hope, peace, joy, and love.
We pray all of this in the name of Emmanuel who has taught us to pray together saying…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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