Lord, we humbly bow before you and are thankful for this precious time of worship and praise. As we enter the Advent Season, we reflect on your hope. We reflect on the light ahead of us in the darkness. 2020 has been a challenging year. It’s been a time of being in transitional wilderness – a whole year has almost gone by. Dealing with uncertainty and much change in our lives has fatigued us all. Even though we may seem to be coping, it can be hard to express or articulate feelings of pain. We have burdens weighing down our hearts and stopping us from truly living and being connected to You and with each other. We remember your faithfulness and ask for your intercedence. You remind us of the Good News that through this brokenness, we are able to experience the power of your grace. We see your hand in our lives through our journey of faith. You have blessed us richly with this community, our family and our friends. Our theme this year was “Becoming Together” and through the pandemic, you led us to support each other and stay connected even when we couldn’t do it in person. You encouraged us to open our eyes to those around us and seek out those in need. We see much hope ahead with the news of a vaccine. We see hope in moving ahead much stronger and resilient than before, through this experience. Prepare us for a new year when we will be able to rejoice together and come together in person without fear…to a new year where we can continue to build stronger relationships with each other and truly be thankful for the grace and beauty around us.
We thank you for our staff: our ministers and pastors, who carry a heavy burden for our community. Lift them up. Renew them daily. We pray for the families that welcomed new babies this year. We pray for the many families coping with young toddlers. We miss not being able to see everyone grow, but our thoughts and prayers are with them during this unique challenging time. We pray for our students in Hi-C and university as they seek your plan for their lives. Be with them in their studies. Help them cope with the frustrations and restrictions they may feel during this lockdown. We pray for the health of our older members and for the health of aging parents that many are taking care of.
We lift these burdens to you and are hopeful as we begin our Advent Season that you will help us see the light ahead and remember your faithfulness and promise to us. Be with Rev Kim as he delivers your message and helps us reflect upon what it means to “break open”. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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