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Intercessions for Advent 3 – 13 December 2015 – Year C – series 2

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Image ID:112933981 Copyright: Dirk Ercken

The Collect

O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Zephaniah 3.14-20

Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” “The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honour in every land where they were put to shame. At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honour and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.

[Psalm] Canticle: Isaiah 12.2-6

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say on that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

 

Second Reading: Philippians 4.4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Gospel Reading: Luke 3.7-18

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” Tax collectors also came to be baptised. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.” The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, “I baptise you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.

Jane Williams writes:

Augustine wrote, ‘Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee’, but the problem is that that is often not true, or at least that we don’t know that it is true. We may know that they are restless, but until they do find their home, they don’t know what they are looking for. The final verse of one of G K Chesterton’s Christmas poems goes like this:

To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

It is God’s willingness to be homeless to bring us home that we celebrate at Christmas, and that we spend Advent trying to imagine and prepare ourselves for. But the passage from Luke, like Zephaniah, warns us that dispossession is the only preparation for possession.

Prayers of Intercession

Let us pray to the Lord, our deliverer, who is ever in our midst and bringing us home.

 ¶The Church of Christ

Lord, may the Church rejoice in the challenge that is set before us. As we set about the task of spreading your word afresh to a new generation, inspire us, we pray, with your Holy Spirit so that we may have fire in our hearts, be grounded in the earth of reality, refreshed by the water of life, and set free to take wings in the skies above.

Lord, as we rejoice in you through both peaks and troughs of our earthly life, in your mercy: hear our prayer

 

¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

Lord of truth and justice, inspire the hearts of all those in positions of power over others. May they remain true to the ideals of their professions and vocations, and not be diverted through greed and the desire to repay favours. Above all, may truth and the desire to be of use to those whom they serve remain uppermost in their hearts.

Lord, as we rejoice in you through both peaks and troughs of our earthly life, in your mercy: hear our prayer

 

¶The local community

Lord, make us just in all our own dealings, both to those with whom we work and those amongst whom we live. Grant that we remain true to, and honour in each other, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are pure and whatsoever things are of good report. Have mercy, Lord, on refugees who have been torn from their homes to seek shelter amongst us, that they may find renewed hope.

Lord, as we rejoice in you through both peaks and troughs of our earthly life, in your mercy: hear our prayer

 

¶Those who suffer

Lord, we pray for all those who suffer, in body, mind or spirit. Be with those who have hardened their hearts against the possibility of hope, for whom it seems too distant a dream. Bring them in from the cold and the dark, from the bleakness of mid-winter. Offer them a seat at your fireside, at the table of life, as we all continue our journey in the labyrinth towards our heavenly home.

Lord, as we rejoice in you through both peaks and troughs of our earthly life, in your mercy: hear our prayer

 

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we rejoice and give you thanks for the life you offer to the departed. We commend to you all whom we remember in love. May they rest in peace and rise in glory. 

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your son, our saviour, Jesus Christ.

Prayer after Communion

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.


Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above): Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Pub. Hodder & Stoughton Invitation to Confession (1st Sun. of Advent to Christmas Eve) © 1988 Continuum (Mowbray) (Adapted) Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2002 Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Crown/Cambridge University Press: The Book of Common Prayer (1662) Post Communion (3rd of Advent) © Westcott House, Cambridge

2 comments on this post:

Jim said...
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Keep up the great work

Lay Anglicana said...
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Many thanks, Jim 🙂

12 December 2015 14:45
12 December 2015 13:36

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