Daily Prayers for December 20

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you

as the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

Song “Sing and Rejoice”

Christ is coming. Christ has come : Christ will come again.

Psalm 104:32 – 37

May the glory of the Lord endure for ever : may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

He looks at the earth and it trembles : he touches the mountains and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live : I will praise my God while I have my being.

May these words of mine please him : I will rejoice in the Lord.

Let sinners be consumed out of the earth : and the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul : Hallelujah!

Christ is coming. Christ has come : Christ will come again.

Isaiah 10:20 – 27 Luke 1:26 – 38

Christ is coming. Christ has come : Christ will come again.

Bishop N. T. Wright of Durham has written, “The whole point of what -Jesus was up to was that he was doing close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term in the future. And what he was promising for that future and doing in the present was not saving souls for a disembodied eternity but rescuing -people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose — ​and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that large project.”

Prayers for Others

Our Father

Thank you, Lord, that your promises are not for some distant future but are to be claimed right now, today. Teach us what we must do and say in our local communities and in our larger world to participate in your promise. Amen.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;

may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;

may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;

may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.