Good morning.
Today is Sunday,
November 29th,
2020.
It is the end of Thanksgiving weekend here in the United States and the first Sunday in Advent,
If you're following the traditional Christian calendar.
Oh Lord,
Let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to God,
The three-in-one creator,
Redeemer,
And sustainer,
As it was in the beginning,
Is now,
And will be forever.
Amen.
Come let us bow down and worship.
Let us kneel before the Lord,
Our maker.
Remind yourself that you are in God's presence.
Notice how God may be speaking to you today.
Let yourself dwell on a word or a phrase that catches your attention and let your heart respond to God in prayer.
Please repeat these words.
I will enter your gates with Thanksgiving.
I will dance in your courts with praise.
The scripture this morning is Jeremiah 33 verses 14 through 16.
The days are surely coming,
Says the Lord,
When I will bestow on Israel and Judah all the blessings I promised them.
In those days,
And at that time,
I will raise up a righteous branch from the line of David who will bring justice and integrity to the land.
In those days,
Judah will be safe and Jerusalem will be secure.
They will call the land.
The Lord is our justice.
Please repeat these words.
I will enter your gates with Thanksgiving.
I will dance in your courts with praise.
Our prayer this morning is a blessing written by Jan Richardson.
It's called Blessing the Door.
Isaiah 64 for,
No eye has seen any God besides you whose works for those who wait for them.
First,
Let's say a blessing on all who have entered before us here.
You can see the sign of their passage by the worn place where their hand rested on the doorframe as they walked through the smooth sill of the threshold where they crossed.
Press your ear to the door for a moment before you enter and you will hear their voices murmuring words you cannot quite make out but know are full of welcome.
On the other side,
Those ones who wait for you if you do not know by now,
Understand what a blessing can do.
It appears like nothing you expected.
It arrives as a visitor,
Outrageous invitation,
Child.
It takes the form of an angel or dream.
It comes in words like how can this be and lifted up the lowly.
It sounds like the wilderness prepare the way.
Those who wait for you know how the mark of a true blessing is that it will take you where you did not think to go.
Once through this door there will be more doors,
More blessings,
More who watch and wait for you.
But here,
At this door of beginning,
The blessing cannot be said without you.
So lay your palm against the frame that those before you touched.
Place your feet where others paused in this entryway.
Say the thing that you most need and the door will open wide.
And by this word,
The door is blessed.
And by this word,
The blessing is begun from which door by door all of the rest will come.
In the name of Jesus who taught us to pray.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Eternal God,
Earth maker,
Pain bearer,
Life giver,
Source of all that is and all that shall be.
Not only Father but Mother of us all.
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe.
May the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world.
May your heavenly will be done by all created beings.
May your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today,
Feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another,
Forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
Strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure,
Spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil,
Free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love now and forever.
Amen.
And now my friends,
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you wherever he may send you today.
May he guide you through the wilderness,
Protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
Go in peace.
