BC CULTURE

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Pastor of Misfit Toys
@emmykegler 4 years, 4 months ago 477 views

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A Christmas Eve Confession & Absolution

Holy God, as Christmas Eve dawns
we find little joy in our hearts.
We have lost so many things
and given up so much
in trying to protect the world around us
and the loved ones we hold so dear
but cannot hold.

None of us are at our best.
We are frustrated with ourselves,
with our family, with all our fellow children of God.
Our spirits are faint and fraying.
Yet still, you are on your way.
Just as you came at Christmas,
you will now not leave us
without mercy and comfort.

We cry out:
Come, O come, Immanuel!

Holy God,
Our holiday meals are made with tears
and our gifts wrapped with tired hands.
We are struggling to stay connected
in this time when the safety of all
requires distance from each other.
All around your beloved world, too many tables
will have empty seats at Christmas.

What should be a time of celebration
only feels like mourning.
Yet still, you are on your way.
Just as you were born and laid in a manger,
you will find us not where we think we should be
but right where we are.

We cry out:
Come, O come, Immanuel!

Healing God,
All our hearts are weary and worn-down.
As we recognize our own griefs
over this strange and painful year,
we especially lift up to you
those who are sick or suffering...

...especially the 326,000+ families without a loved one
due to COVID-19,
and the hundreds of thousands of others living in physical, emotional, and economic distress because of it.

Sickness and sadness feels all around us.
Yet still, you are on your way.
Just as long ago
you healed the sick and
proclaimed the year of the Lord's favor,
proclaim it for us now.

We cry out:
Come, O come, Immanuel!

Hear the promise of long ago: when the shadows are longest, when the day is shortest, when the cold has chilled us and it seems that nothing will be right again -- that is when God arrives.

This Christmas season, may you know that Jesus has not come looking for tradition, for perfection, for everything to be as it always was.

Jesus has come looking for you.

Amen.

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