Morning Prayer: Advent - Joy
The Call to Prayer
Sing to YHWH, you who love God! Praise God’s holy name!
...There may be tears during the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:4-5b
The Request for Presence
For in you our hearts find joy; we trust in your holy name.
Psalm 33:21
The Greeting
You changed my despair into a dance—you stripped me of my death shroud and clothed me with joy. That’s why my heart sings to you, that’s why I can’t keep silent—YHWH, you are my God, and I will thank you forever.
Psalm 30:11-12
The Hymn
Good Christians all rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
now give heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today,
ox and ass before him bow, and he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today; Christ is born today.
Good Christians all rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
now you hear of endless bliss: Jesus Christ was born for this.
He has opened heaven’s door, and we are blest forevermore.
Christ was born for this; Christ was born for this.
Good Christians all rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
now you need not fear the grave: Jesus Christ was born to save,
calls you one and calls you all to gain the everlasting hall.
Christ was born to save; Christ was born to save.
John Mason Neale (English translation from Latin)
PCC Hymn #141 Good Christians, all rejoice
The Refrain
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
First Psalm
O God, keep me safe—you are my refuge!
I said to YHWH, “You are my God; there is nothing good for me apart from you.”
The holy people of my land are wonderful! My greatest pleasure is to be with them.
But those who rush after other gods will bring many troubles upon themselves.
I will not take part in their sacrifices; I won’t even speak the names of their gods.
You, YHWH, are all that I have, you are my food and drink. My life is safe in your hands.
Within the boundaries you set for me there are nothing but pleasure places! What a delightful inheritance I have!
I praise YHWH, who guides me; even at night my heart teaches me.
I am always aware of your presence; you are right by my side, and nothing can shake me.
My heart is happy and my tongue sings for joy; I feel completely safe with you,
because you won’t abandon me to the Grave; you won’t let your loved one see decay.
You show me the path to Life; your presence fills me with joy, and by your side I find enduring pleasure.
Psalm 16
The Refrain
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
A Reading
Joy. Joy is both exciting and elusive. We all want joy because we yearn to feel happy, to feel good. But, often joy seems just out of reach as we grasp for it. We yearn nostalgically for days past when we remember feeling joy at Christmas. We remember the colourful lights, the sweet cookies, the shiny presents. But none of that is where the joy we remember came from. All of those things came and went, but that’s not joy’s nature. Joy grows from a deep foundation, a rootedness. It lasts the tests of time because even when everything above ground is destroyed, the roots remain, biding their time, growing unseen. Joy is planted by a sense of belonging, a sense of coming home, a sense of being seen. Some of us experience this with our human families. All of us can experience this through Jesus. When Jesus was born, God dwelled among us and made a home with us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in Jesus brings us the foundations of joy—with God we are seen, with God we belong, with God we are home. From this foundation, joy grows in many forms for each of us. No matter what comes to pass, the deep rooted foundation of joy in Jesus remains. Sometimes we don’t see it, but it is always there. This is why, in Christ, we are often surprised by joy.
Rev. Sarina Odden Meyer
The Refrain
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
Second Psalm
When YHWH brought us captives back to Zion, we thought we were dreaming!
Our mouths were filled with laughter then, our tongues with songs of joy.
And from the nations we heard, “Their God has done great things for them.”
Yes—YHWH has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Now set our captive hearts free, YHWH! Make them like streams in the driest desert!
Then those who now sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy;
those who go out weeping as they carry their seeds for sowing
will come back with shouts of joy as they carry their harvest home.
Psalm 126
The Refrain
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
The Gloria
All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
whose advent sets thy people free,
whom, with the Father, we adore,
and Holy Spirit, evermore.
Charles Coffin (Latin), John Chandler (English translation)
PCC Hymn #126 On Jordan’s bank
The Lord’s Prayer
The Prayer Appointed for the Day
God is soaked
in our world.
God's Spirit
lives and breathes
in and through
all that is.
We are lost
only when we
do not understand
that God
is already with
and in
each one of us.
Our task is recognition
of God's initiative
to be at home in us—
acceptance
of God-With-Us.
Then we cannot but
be glad.
Edwina Gateley in There Was No Path So I Trod One (1996, 2013)
The Concluding Prayer of the Church
God be in my head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and at my departing.
R. Pynson (1514)
Scripture translations taken from either the NRSV or The Inclusive Bible.