02A - Advent 2A — 04A - Advent 4A
 
PSALM 146:5-10 
How complete are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them;
who is faithful to those treated unjustly;
who carries out justice to the oppressed;
who gives bread to the hungry:
the LORD sets prisoners free.
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind,
and raises up those bowed by oppression
the LORD loves the godly,
and watches out for the alien,
the LORD comes to the help of the orphan and the widow,
but he sabotages the domination of the wicked.
The LORD will reign for ever;
your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
        Hallelujah!!

PRAYER OF ADORATION (PSALM 146)
Praise the LORD.
With the very core of my being and every part of my life
I want to bless you, LORD God.
I want to celebrate my God with music and song while I live.
There is nothing to be gained
by putting all my trust in the powerful people:
when their breath leaves them, they return to the dust,
and their clever plans crumble with them.
But the person who looks to the God of Jacob for help,
ah, how fortunate.
Like this person I want to put my hope in the LORD,
the God who made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and everything in them;
who maintains a kindness that endures for ever;
who brings about justice for those trampled by society,
and gives food to those hungry for dignity, love and self-worth;
who breaks the shackles
of those imprisoned by hopelessness, circumstance or habit;
who enables the blind to see again, to see life in its fullness;
who raises up those bent over by the burden of life;
who loves the upright;
who cares for those separated from their home culture;
who helps the fatherless and the widow,
but who brings ruin to the way of the wicked.
The LORD shall reign for ever;
our God, generation after generation.
Hallelujah!!

For the Third Sunday in Advent – Year A
Liberating God,
break into the prison which we build
around the life you give us.
We are busy and expectant,
preparing to celebrate;
too busy to heed the cry of the Share Appeal,
the Smith Family, the homeless young
and others we would push aside.
We are busy and expectant,
preparing to celebrate again the birth
of the one who would bring good news
to the blind, the lame and the poor;
preparing to celebrate again the birth
of one pushed aside,
into a cowshed, out of the way.
We too, are blind and lame and poor . . .
Restore us, healing God.

A CREATIVE MOMENT - Matthew 11:2-11
(a) The blue cloth symbolising the Flood, baptism and John the Baptist over the past two weeks, this week symbolises healing, blessing and birth, and the one for who the messenger prepares the way. Again, the stones used last week could be used again to symbolise the wilderness

Click here for some ideas for worship in Advent and Christmas gleaned from the pages of “On the Move” (now out of print) originally published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, Australia.

Looking for contemporary music and song resources?
Try David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate
Or metrical psalms? Try Dale A. Schoening’s Sing the Psalms