God of this day and of all days,
In a world which has so much to say and not much time for listening, you have called and drawn us here this morning to a time and place set apart for us to be still, for us to rest, and for us to hear the voice of our savior.
In a world that is soaked in hate, but thirsty for love, pour out your word of love. Bind up and heal the wounded and brokenhearted. In a world that is heavy with self righteous judgment, but light on compassion, pour out your word of mercy.
Bless and fortify, and send the peacekeepers. Speak through your church for the forgiveness and benefit and building up of all those whom, by your word, you created, made, and formed.
Lord,
In a world long on worry and fear, but short on hope, have us pause to reflect that you carry and deliver hope in the most unlikely ways and into the most undignified places. Turn us to hope in Christ.
Hope in the creator of the universe, who entered into His creation not in glory, but in the quiet obscurity of Bethlehem over the grandeur of any palace. Hope in the King of kings, who came to us not in the purple robes of earthly royalty, but cloaked in fragile flesh and humility. Hope in the God who does not remain far away, but whose divine footprints marked the dusty roads of His creation.
Hope in the author of love, who knows pain and weeps with us, but will one day wipe away every tear. Hope in the fount of joy, who knows grief and comforts the sorrowful. Hope in the friend of sinners, who loves each of us so much that He took our sins as His own on the cross. Hope in the Word made flesh, who by His speaking from the lips of His church, forgives, enlivens, and restores everyone who hears and believes.
Stir your Spirit within us that we might hear and believe.
AMEN.