Don't Let Our Hope Be Futile - Advent Calls and Prayers

This is a set of Calls to Worship and Prayers for Advent. I wrote them in 2018 (RCL Year C), but aren't tied particularly to the lectionary. Rather they are tied to a theme of waiting in honest expectation for God to arrive, to make good on what God promised.

Theme Song
“Who Will Set Us Free” (follow link for lyrics and teaching video)
Each week we sang this song call and response style, once as written, then a second time with “Who can give us hope/peace/joy/love” according to the week of Advent.
Note: if you don’t use this song, you might want to remove the last line of the prayers, as it won’t make much sense.

Lyrics (because they're just so good, I want you to read them even if you never click on the song link)
Who will set us free?
Who else will set us free? 
Jesus.
Jesus.
We're waiting. 
We're waiting for you. 
You said you'd be coming. 
Don't let our hope be futile.

Who can give us hope?
Who else can give us hope? 
etc….

HOPE Week - Call to Worship

​Leader: Come, all of you, in heart and body and soul, for something is about to happen

All: We’re waiting

L: On the frayed edges of our worn-out lives, we’re waiting in anxious hope

A: We’re waiting

L: Afraid every day of what the news will hold, we’re waiting for good news of justice

A: We’re waiting

L: Caught in the snare of all that keeps us down, we’re waiting to be made free

A: We’re waiting

L: Come, all of you, in heart and body and soul, for something is about to happen
​

PEACE Week - Call to Worship

​Leader: Come, all of you, with everything you have, for something is about to happen 

All: We’re waiting

L: On the frayed edges of our worn-out lives, we are waiting for peace

A: We’re waiting

L: Hemmed in by violence and fear, we’re waiting for peace that passes understanding

A: We’re waiting

L: Caught in the snare of all that keeps us down, we’re waiting for good news of justice

A: We’re waiting
​
L: Come, all of you, with everything you have, for something is about to happen

JOY Week - Call to Worship

Leader: Come, all of you, longing for joy, for something is about to happen 

All: We’re waiting

L: On the frayed edges of our worn-out lives, we are waiting for our joy to be made complete

A: We’re waiting

L: Hemmed in by violence and fear, we are waiting in dance, swaying and leaping, waiting in the joy of our bodies

A: We’re waiting

L: Caught in the snare of all that keeps us down, we’re waiting with singing, shouting and laughing, waiting in the joy of our voices

A: We’re waiting

L: Come, all of you, longing for joy, for something is about to happen

LOVE Week - Call to Worship

Leader: Come, all of you, hearts filled to bursting, for something is about to happen

All: We’re waiting

L: On the frayed edges of our worn-out lives, we are waiting in tired love that wakes us in the night with spinning thoughts

A: We’re waiting

L: Hemmed in by violence and fear, we are waiting in God's fierce love that hugs us tight and will never let us go

A: We’re waiting

L: Caught in the snare of all that keeps us down, we’re waiting with open hands that let love spill out

A: We’re waiting
​
L: Come, all of you, hearts filled to bursting, for something is about to happen

HOPE Week - Prayer

​Immanuel, God with us,

you fill the space
​between our heartbeats and the stars.
You are right here, 
and at the same time far beyond us.

We're waiting for you to draw near.
We’re waiting for you to make all things new.
We're waiting for you to set us free.
 
We’re waiting in hope, 
surrounded and held by each other. 
We are grateful for this community of hope, 
for the ways we hold each other tight, 
and hold each other up.

Immanuel, God with us,
in our heartbeats, come to us. 
In the stars in the sky, come to us. 
Don't let our hope be futile.
​

PEACE Week - Prayer

​God of light,

you reveal yourself in magnificent fire:
in the sun
beaming down on the new creation;
in a pillar of flame
guarding us through the long nights;
in a star
mapping out our path.

You reveal yourself in everyday moments of comfort and light:
in the fireplace flames 
on a cold winter night;
in the burning of our hearts 
for what is right;
in the warm body of a beloved, 
held tight in sleep.

God of light,
as we wait through this Advent season, 
visit us as transforming fire.
Cleanse what is corrupt 
to make room for peace 
and kindle in us a fire 
that smolders and flares, 
yearning to enact your peace.

Don’t let our hope be futile.
​

JOY Week - Prayer

​God of revolution,

we are so often shaken up 
by the turnings of this world.
Overwhelmed, 
we wonder which way is up, 
wonder if we will land on our feet.

Yet even as we wonder
we are eager for repentance,
for this world to turn around. 

We wait in joy for things to change.
We wait with 
singing
dancing
hugs 
and laughter.
We wait, with full-bodied joy
that can never be put down,
for the lowly 
to be lifted up, 
for the mighty 
to be cast down,
for everyone
to have exactly what they need.

God of joyful revolution,
hold us tight as the world turns. 
Don’t let our hope be futile.

LOVE Week - Prayer

​God of love,
who is love,
who loves us,
and this good Earth,

you imagined this world 
in the pattern of your love 
and you loved it into being. 

You sent us your child, 
your heart, 
Immanuel,
to remind us
again and again
of the deep power of your abundant love woven into our lives.

Keep drawing us back
again and again
to the path of love
you traced on our hearts. 
Keep teaching us
again and again
What it means to love each other well.

God of love,
hold us tight this Christmas,
as we mark this time of new light.
We know our hope will not be futile.