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 drawn us here this morning to be still and to hear your voice.
In a world that seems soaked in hate, but thirsty for love, pour out your word of love. Bind up the wounded and brokenhearted. In a world that seems heavy with anger, but light on forgiveness, pour out your word of forgiveness.
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 that seems 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 filth of a stable. Hope in the King of kings, who came to us not in the purple robes of earthly royalty, but cloaked in the fragility of flesh. Hope in the God who does not remain far away, but who’s divine footprints marked the dusty roads of His creation.
Hope in the author of love, who knows pain and wipes away our tears. Hope in the fount of joy, who knows grief and comforts the sorrowful. Hope in the friend of sinners, who sees sin yet loves the sinner so much that He took our sins as His own on the cross. Hope in the Word made flesh, who by His speaking, forgives, enlivens, and restores everyone who hears and believes.
AMEN.