December 18
Emmanuel
Year 1 ( 2022 – 2023 )
Text:
Matthew 1:18-25
Summary:
An angel speaks to Joseph in a dream, “Do not be afraid…the Child will be Emmanuel.”
Prayer of Confession
Beautiful and Baffling God,
You come to us – ordinary us –
in songs and stories, in dreams and visions.
You walk beside us, closer than our breath.
Forgive us for all the ways we dismiss you.
You ask us to carry your Love into the world –
perhaps not as vividly as you asked Mary and Joseph,
but nonetheless you ask –
that we might set our bodies and our breath to your purpose,
that we might give you our trust and our courage,
that we might let your dream come to life within us.
Forgive us when fail to awaken to your call.
Let your dream come to life
within us, through us, even in spite of us, O God.
Help us to hear your voice, even as you hear our prayers.
Congregational Song Suggestions
“A Thousand Stars”
Adam M. L. Tice
“Awake! Awake and Great the New Morn”
GTG 107
“Come Now, O God”
VT 143
“How Many Times We Start Again”
VT 553
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
O Antiphon for the day: O come, o come Emmanuel…
ELW 257, GTG 88, VT 210
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
O Antiphon for the day: O come, thou Dayspring…
ELW 257, GTG 88, VT 210
“When Hope Is Crushed”
Adam M. L. Tice, text
Mark Miller, tune
Available from Unbound at giamusic.com
“While We Are Waiting, Come”
GTG 92
Beyond the Hymnal
“Something’s Coming”
from the musical West Side Story, by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein