Tag Archives: liturgy

Advent 2025: ALL THE REST

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The HOPE candle reading for this year can be found here: https://homespunresources.com/2025/11/26/advent-2025-hope/

Here are all the rest…

Nativity Scene at Oak Lawn UMC in Texas

PEACE

Leader: As another year ends and begins

People: We light candles as a sign of our persistent prayers for true peace

Not the illusion of calm or the intimidated silence

Not the immobility of the deer in the headlights

Letting others’ reflexes decide her fate

Not misplaced trust in the false promise that things will get easier next week

But peace that is confidence in the creator of the universe

Who knows our names and has a plan and enough grace to get us there

Peace of the early morning birds who know the sun will rise

Peace of the soaking rain and the summer coast

Peace that moves us out of the weeds and out among the trees

Peace that puts down the phone and does the thing

Peace of the low grey clouds of witnesses surrounding us with care

Peace to all in conflicts and transitions small, constant, and ultimate

Peace along every shifting border

The deep peace of Grandma’s home-cooking for all

God, help us find and make peace in the wide world

As we do in the great outdoors and the big dark

Help us be present and savor the moment

And step boldly into a future neither calm nor bright

Help us hear Your voice when you tell us:

Do not be afraid to reach out for me and each other

Do not be afraid to be who you are right now

or who you are becoming in Christ.

Amen, may it be so.

JOY

Leader: As another year ends and begins

People: We light candles as a sign of our commitment to joy

In the face of the fragility of youth and the frailty of age

In the face of divisive and questionable sources

We watch for God’s joy at work in God’s good creation

Joy that jumps to its collective feet

When our trailing team gets back in the game

Joy that whoops and hollers and high fives strangers

Joy like the audience transported by a story

Joy like the music itself unifying a choir

Joy like blankets and soup and a cozy fire on a cold day

Joy like lemonade and boba when it’s hot

The joy of good conversation when we dare

To talk about what we’re afraid to talk about

God of joy, renew in us ice cream wishes

and cotton candy dreams

Help us trust You enough to say, “Surprise me.”

Help us hear Your voice when You tell us:

Do not be afraid to speak up and move forward

Do not be afraid to change the world

God, You come close when we cry out for You, saying

“Do not be afraid. You are a people formed and favored.”

We’re on a mission from God.

May all your holy-laughter plans for us and our world come to pass.

Amen, may it be so.

LOVE

Leader: As another year ends and begins

People: We light candles as a sign of Love’s ultimate reign

In the face of death and loss and loneliness

We remain sure of God’s love at work in God’s good creation

Love as promise more than command

Love as balm for the wounds love opened

Love like a well-stocked food bank

with everyone’s favorites on the shelves

Love like an exquisitely crafted menu

Each course balancing the last and complementing the next

A meal that multiplies in the sharing

Love that converts our anxious energy into concern for others

Love like fresh air transforming a closed room

Love that can sit in companionable silence

Love that listens.

God of perfect love, disrupt our callous systems

Change our dismissive hearts

Make us radically respectful and unafraid to feel

Help us to pitch in, work together, and never tire of caring

Help us hear Your voice when you tell us:

Do not be afraid to get involved and be vulnerable

Do not be afraid to make room in your heart for someone new

God, You come close when we cry out for You, saying

“When you are afraid to reach out, I am already holding your hand.”

Amen, may it be so.

CHRIST CANDLE

Leader: As another year ends and begins, we light candles

as an insistence on God’s hope…

People: that hoists colors cheering on the maligned

and isn’t afraid to keep going

Leader: as a prayer for true peace

People: that moves us out of the weeds and out among the trees

and sings like the early morning birds who know the sun will rise

Leader: as a commitment to joy

People: that whoops and hollers and high fives strangers

and isn’t afraid to change the world

Leader: and as a sign of Love’s ultimate reign

People: that converts our anxious energy into concern for others

Love like a meal that multiplies in the sharing

Leader: Tonight, we light the Christ candle as a reminder

of God come close, God with us, and God still at work

People: Child of Hope, help us practice kindness, levity, and gratitude

Leader: Bring peace along every shifting border

People: May all your holy-laughter plans for us and our world come to pass

Leader: Open our hearts like fresh air transforming a closed room

People: Amen, may it be so

This year’s Advent candle readings composed with the input of the candle lighters at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Seattle

Advent 2025: HOPE

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Leader: As another year ends and begins

People: We light candles as a sign of our insistence on hope

In the face of the hustle and grind of work and school

In the face of political and financial uncertainties

We insist on God’s hope at work in God’s good creation

Hope that hoists colors cheering on the maligned

Hope that shows up for others in the hard times

Hope like morning coffee and good advice

And pancakes on the griddle

Hope for all who fear and grieve and run for their lives

Hope for those doing their best in broken systems

God of hope, help us to turn our attention

From our screens full of bad news

To the people journeying with us

Help us practice kindness, levity, and gratitude

Help us hear Your voice when you tell us:

Do not be afraid to trust, to cry, to put yourself out there

Do not be afraid to keep going

God, You come close when we cry out for You, saying

“Do not be afraid, for your prayer has been heard.”

Amen, may it be so.

Advent Peace: A Candle-lighting Liturgy

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..

Open the heavens and come down, O God of peace.

Bring Your peace so near we can feel it

like floating weightless,

effortlessly buoyed by still waters.

..

We have seen glimpses of Your peace

when we reach the point in our quarrels

where we can remember again that we’re on the same side.

When we can admit our faults and hug it out, 

we know Your presence.

Teach us to be still before You and with You

in every situation—even the least serene.

.. 

We have heard Your promises:

That you offer respite from our burdens

and that Your peace prevails in chaos and uncertainty.

Every person will be valued as the work of Your hand.

Wars will cease.

Anxiety will no longer consume our thoughts and bodies.

.

..

Jesus, Prince of Peace, violence wastes our lands

and precious lives, and no end is in sight.

Give us peace with justice and imagination

for a world beyond tooth and nail and suppressed hostilities.

..

Anoint us with Your Spirit so we may be

makers of a peace on earth that begins with You, not us. 

Re-create us as we rest in You

beneath starry skies. 

.

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of God’s peace,

that bids us lay our grievances down

and quiet our sharp tongues and elbows

to trust a Savior so right and reliable

we have no need to jostle for power.

.

O come, Immanuel. 

.

This year’s liturgies written with collaborative input from parishioners of Bethany Presbyterian, Seattle

Advent Joy: A Candle-lighting Liturgy

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Open the heavens and come down, O God of joy.

Bring Your joy so near we can taste it—

like eating French fries!

in Mexico!

on Christmas!

. 

We have seen glimpses of Your joy

not only when we visit our favorite places and people

but in some wildly unexpected places and people as well.

Whenever a child is born to us, 

we know Your presence.

Where our pleasures now are partial and fleeting,

give us energy to keep up with a joy that endures.

. 

We have heard Your promises:

that You came to bring the great joy of reconciliation

to absolutely everyone

and that none of our faults can separate us from God.

When we bring you our grief, you collect our tears

to water orchards producing perfect fruit.

Forgiveness flowers wherever You walk.

. 

Jesus, You come to make our joy chock-full,

complete, whole, limit-bursting, and exuberant.

Enlarge our capacity for unbounded delight

in Your world and in each other.

. 

Anoint us with your dancing Spirit

to bring good news of your continued favor

to everyone muddling through the rough places.

Reconnect us to the Source of all joy.

. 

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of God’s joy,

that calls us out of our corners to play along,

harmonizing with an ecstatic angel chorus

jamming to the music of the spheres.

.

O come, Immanuel. 

.

This year’s liturgies composed with contributions from the wreath-lighters of Bethany Presbyterian, Seattle. There may or may not have been a five-year-old involved this week.

Advent Love: A Candle-lighting Liturgy

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Open the heavens and come down, O God of love.

Bring Your love so near we can feel it

not just in our hearts, but on our skin,

like the sun on our upturned faces.

.

We have seen glimpses of Your love in communities 

that surrounded us with care, stood by our sides, and had our backs.

When we heard confidence and optimism in our children’s voices, 

we knew Your presence.

Give us eyes keen enough to catch Your love in action,

and spirits quick enough to reflect Your grace,

as water catches and reflects the light.

.

We have heard Your promises:

that You love us no matter what,

with a love greater even than faith and hope.

Where Your love rules, everything changes.

The stranger will be met with a smile.

The hurt will find a healer.

.

Jesus, lover of our souls, come soothe where hate burns. 

Help us to love one another as You have loved us,

with an untamed love that is not safe, but it is good—

a love that spends its life for others.

.

Anoint us with your Spirit to bring good news

to all in need of Your healing touch.

Restore what has been broken in rage.

Make us crafters of beauty from ashes.

.

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of God’s love

that sets up camp among us,

tending the displaced and the wounded,

then sends us out to do the same.

O come, Immanuel. 

.

(This year’s Advent candle-lighting liturgies are crafted around the 2023 lectionary texts and input from congregants of Bethany Presbyterian Church of Seattle)

Advent Hope 2023: A Candle-lighting Liturgy

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Open the heavens and come down, O God of hope.

Bring your hope so near we can taste it—

Crisp and refreshing as apples,

Warm and tingly as a spiked hot chocolate.

.

We have seen glimpses of your hope in communities of solidarity and recovery

and in rich conversations with our brothers and sisters in the faith.

When the local whale watchers protected the humpback calf from harm,

we knew your presence.

Give us hope to trust you are at work in ways we cannot see,

like an ambient melody

that elevates and alters a space.

.

We have heard your promises:

that you have good plans for each of us

and that you will be with us wherever we go,

in heaven, on earth, and in every place they meet in You.

Every child shall have vision for a future beyond politicking and conflict.

The young shall teach us to build one another up in mutual respect.

.

Christ, our hope, make a way through the desert of despair.

Lead us to campsites in lush meadows by hidden pools.

Comfort us and give us hope,

that we may comfort others in your name.

“Hope” by Sliman Mansour

Anoint us with your Spirit to bring good news

to those sleeping outside and suffering in war zones.

Inspire our leaders.

Restore our humanity.

.

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of God’s hope

that brightens grey skies

like the rosy brushstrokes of dawn

and the glow of the turning leaves

O come, Immanuel.

.

(This year’s Advent candle-lighting liturgies are crafted around the 2023 lectionary texts and input from congregants of Bethany Presbyterian Church of Seattle)

Advent Wreath-Lighting Liturgy: PEACE

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Jesus, as we enter again
into the odd story of your unusual arrival,
we pray for your peace
that is sometimes loud and sometimes quiet
that quells conflict between people and nations
and calmly putters around fixing the unfixable

We find your peace
when we let others go ahead of us
and when we let our broken bits
of anger, anxiety, and frustration
flow through our fingers like sand
into your caring hands

We find your peace in creative mode
and in the nuzzles of the family dog,
in the lap of waves along the shore
and in the scents of vanilla and lilac,
a peace like a long drink of water
after a walk through the tall grass

Donostia, photo by Jenn Cavanaugh

Awaken us to our role
as astonished agents of your astonishing peace
in our homes, streets, and schools
at such unlikely times
as when we ourselves are in pain
or caring for another’s pain

We are God’s people.
We light this candle
as a sign of the peace of Christ
who comes to us as a deep breath of fresh air
and makes a home among us.
O come, Immanuel

Advent Wreath-Lighting Liturgy: JOY

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Jesus, as we enter again
into the odd story of your unusual arrival,
we find your joy where we’d least expect it–
in hard conversations, in hard lessons learned,
in hard circumstances, and in the hard angles
of a feeding trough in the West Bank

Yours is a joy unforced,
an unconditioned calm only you can create,
discovered with delight in the simple things
and in openness to the complex and novel–
a joy found in stillness and in running,
in random observations and chance encounters

We find your joy
in the flow of our projects regardless of outcome,
in the unanticipated win and the inexplicable
closeness of other cheering fans,
in the unforeseen camaraderie of co-workers,
fellow students, and other players in survival mode

Volunteer usher passing around homemade cookies

Awaken us to our role
as astonished agents of your astonishing joy.
Open our hands and hearts
so your promised future may unfurl
for the unsafe, the unfed, and the unfulfilled
with and without our agency

We are God’s people.
We light this candle
as a sign of God’s joy
who comes to us as dappled sunlight
and makes a home among us.
O come, Immanuel

Advent Wreath-Lighting Liturgy: LOVE

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Jesus, as we enter again
into the odd story of your unusual arrival,
we feel your love in the extravagant provision
and minute detail of your gifts,
crafted and tailored so we may know
that not only are we loved,
but we are known and loved 

We see your love in action
in the practice of forgiveness,
channeled through an over-the-top
care package from a friend,
in an unanticipated vantage from which
to love our adopted hometown,
and in that most intense form of grace
that visits us at our most unlovely

Yours is a love that reflects
off of objects and others
to brighten a room,
that makes itself heard
in the rustling of the leaves,
a love tasted in cinnamon rolls
and ice cream

Awaken us to our role
as astonished agents
of your astonishing love
in such unlikely places
as our political divisions
and complex relationships
including our relationships with ourselves

We are God’s people.
We light this candle
as a sign of the love of God,
who comes to walk in our shoes
and makes a home among us.
O come, Immanuel

Advent Wreath-Lighting Liturgy: Hope

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Jesus, as we enter again
into the odd story of your unusual arrival,
we find hope in the unprecedented.

We find hope
in the ambivalence and complexity
of words like restructuring and remission—
such open-future words
that could mean anything,
that mean anything could happen.

We find hope
in the mixed blessings
where our faithlessness and your faithfulness meet,
like our failure to care for your creation
leading to the unmerited favor
of this disconcertingly gorgeous fall.

detail from “The New Normal: Everyday Extremes and Disaster Disparities” by Roger Feldman
photo by Jenn Cavanaugh

You set the lonely in families
and the rootless in neighborhoods.
You bring the wanderers
into communities of faith
built and stewarded by generations
in the hope of our coming and yours.

Awaken us to our role
as astonished agents of hope
in such unlikely places
as our own gutted organizations,
our own unsettled families,
and our own anxious minds.

We are God’s people.
We light this candle
as a sign of our hope in the God
who comes to us in our darkest hour
and makes a home among us.
O come, Immanuel