Mill Plain UMC Thursday December 15,2022t
Blue Christmas
Scripture:
Joel 2 30-32
John !! 28-37
Songs:
Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel
Lo How a Rose e’er blooming
Let there be peace on Earth
Still Still Still
give.millplainumc.org
Mill Plain UMC
Thursday December 15, 2022 6:30pm
Prelude
Call to worship
Leader: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
People: In this season of light, we come to acknowledge darkness
Leader: The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
People: In this season when many proclaim faith, we come to acknowledge doubt.
Prayer: Holy God, before whom our hearts are open and from whom no secrets are hidden. As the prophet Joel lamented for devastation to the land after a plague of locusts, we come tonight in grief for a warming planet plagued by ever intensifying storms, by fires and floods. As Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, we come tonight in grief for the dear ones we have lost in recently and in times past. Comfort us in our grief and grant us peace in our sorrow. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Song : Oh Come oh come Emanuel
Lighting of Advent Candle
Leader: On this Blue Christmas, we look now to the blue candles of our Advent wreath.
People: We bring our blue moods of grief and loss, of fear and pain.
Leader: We light the first candle to bring a glimmer of light in our grief.
People: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
(first candle lit)
Leader: We light the second candle, recognizing that we do not get over grief. We mature in it.
People: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
(second candle lit)
Leader: We light the third candle, to name that our grief may be global for concerns which impact all of God’s creation.
People: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
(Third candle lit)
Leader: We light a rose-colored candle remembering that beauty is often accompanied by thorns.
People: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
(Rose colored candle lit)
Leader: Finally, we light the white candle, the Christ candle, in faith that Christ’s light burns in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it.
People: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning
(White candle is lit)
Song: Lo How a rose e’er blooming #216
Scripture
Joel 2:30-32
I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
Hanging of the doves
Prayer for healing and hope
Creator God, confess before you today that too often we humans have failed to care for the earth as you tasked us to do; we have used it for our own benefit and not cared for it as you asked us to. Forgive us, we pray. By your grace bring a new creation to this planet. Heal the earth and move us to tenderly watch over it in humility and love. Amen.
Our Personal Grief
Scripture
John 11:28-37
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Meditation Deb Miles
Doves added to the tree
Prayer for healing and Hope
God of life and love, we lift before you tonight those whom we love and whose lives on this earth have ended. We miss them. We long to embrace them once again, to hear their voices and see their smiles. Whether our grief is fresh and raw or has scabbed over with time, it is still with us. Assure us of our loved ones’ continuing witness. Comfort us in our loneliness and grant us the courage to face the future unafraid. Lead us forth from this night into your abiding presence. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Song Let there be peace on earth
Benediction
Leader: Weeping may linger for the night,
People: But joy comes with the morning!
Leader: Go in the peace of Christ to rest and prepare for a new day.
People: Thanks be to God. Amen.
The Postlude Still Still Still
Walk out slides