This is the words and prayers from our final advent service which follow the seven advent cries. Happy Christmas!
Cry 1: O come Wisdom
Reader 1:
Where can wisdom be found?
And where does understanding live?
People do not where it is,
It cannot be found among those who are alive.
The deep ocean says, ‘It’s not in me.’
The seas says, ‘It’s not in me.’
Wisdom cannot be bought with cash,
And it cannot be paid for with credit cards …
So where does wisdom come from,
And where does understanding live?
It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
Even from the birds of the air.
If you asked among the dead, they would say, ‘we have only heard rumours.’
Only God understands the way to wisdom
And he alone knows where it lives …
Wisdom is like a woman shouting in the street. She cries out:
Reader 2:
You fools how long will you be foolish?
How long will you make fun of wisdom and hate knowledge?
My friends listen to what I say:
Listen carefully to wisdom
Set your mind on understanding.
Cry out for wisdom
And beg for understanding
Search for it like a lost child
And hunt for it like hidden treasure.
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord
And find the knowledge of God
For God gives wisdom
He gives knowledge and understanding
Reader 1:
Wisdom calls to you like someone shouting.
From the rooftop along the road
and at the crossroads, she stands calling.
Beside the shopping centre, at the entrance to Tescos, she calls out:
Reader 2:
Listen everyone, I’m talking to all of you!
Listen, you fools – learn good sense!
You who are unwise – get understanding!
Don’t miss a word of this – I’m telling you how to live well,
I’m telling you how to live at your best.
You’ll only hear true and right words from my mouth;
Reader 1:
I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who hurt you …
I say to you, do not store up treasures on earth …
I say to you, ‘do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or what you will wear; instead seek first the kingdom of God …
I say to you, ‘do not judge … because how can you point out a speck of dust in your friend’s eye, when there’s a big piece of wood in your own eye …
I say to you, ‘ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you.
I say to you, ‘Love God with everything you are and love your neighbour as yourself.
Reader 2:
Nothing I say is crooked or false
Choose my teachings instead of chasing after money
And my knowledge rather than the lure of fame
For wisdom is more precious than anything
Nothing you could want is equal to it.
Reader 1:
Where is the one who is wise?
Where is the one with the PhD?
Where is the one with all the answers?
Has not God show all the wisdom of the world to be nonsense?
Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb – the good news of Jesus – to save those who trust in him.
While some look for miracles and others look for philosophy,
God chose Christ crucified.
This does not look like a miracle, to those who love miracles
and makes no obvious sense to the philosophers,
but to us whom God has called,
it is the wisdom of God.
For Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God,
and in his coming
puts us right with God,
makes us holy
and frees us from sin.
Where is wisdom to be found?
It is to be found in Jesus, born of Mary.
Prayer
O come wisdom of God
Breath of God’s power
Wiser than our foolishness
Come grant us
Eyes to see truthfully
Ears to hear clearly
Hearts to love openly
For we desire to know God
Song meekness and majesty
Cry 2: O come Ruler of Israel
He was a long-awaited
and long-hoped for Ruler
who would come
And be Israel’s king and judge
The psalmist writes
‘Give the king your justice, O God
May he judge your people with righteousness
And your poor with justice
May he defend the cause of the poor
Give deliverance to the needy
And crush the oppressor’
Like an architect measures carefully with a ruler the dimensions of a building
This ruler would carefully intervene to set things right
To deliver the poor and oppressed
To pardon the wronged
To give voices to the marginalized
He was a long-awaited
and long-hoped for Ruler
who would come
And be Israel’s king and judge
The prophet Isaiah writes,
‘with righteousness he will judge the poor
and decide with fairness for the meek of the earth’
Like a builder uses a spirit-level to make sure a wall is level
This ruler would be the greater leveller
Lifting up the humble and lowly
And bringing down the proud and pompous
Filling the hungry with good things
And sending the rich away empty
He was a long-awaited
and long-hoped for Ruler
who would come
And be Israel’s king and judge
The prophet Micah writes,
‘But you, Bethlehem
though you are one of the littlest clans of Judah,
from you will come forth for me
a ruler of Israel
a shepherd of the people’
not from Jerusalem, home to Herod and failed dreams
but back to Bethlehem, home to David and new hope
He was a long-awaited
and long-hoped for Ruler
who would come
And be Israel’s king and judge
And Jesus, born in Bethlehem, says,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor
he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind
to let the oppressed go free’
Prayer
O come ruler of Israel,
he who rescues his people from Egypt
who teaches them justice and mercy
who blesses the poor and the humble
who feeds the hungry and needy
who cares for the orphan and widow
Come and write your holy way onto our hearts
Song: my heart is full of admiration
Cry 3: O come Root of Jesse
God said to Noah ‘never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth’
God said to Abraham ‘you shall be the father of many nations … your wife Sarah will have a son, and will name him Isaac’
God said to Jacob ‘Know that I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you’
God said to Moses ‘I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt … and I have come down to save them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a land flowing with milk and honey’
God said to Joshua ‘I will be with you; I will not fail you or forget you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall lead my people so they can take the land that I promised their fathers I would give them’
God said to David ‘I will make your descendants kings of Israel after you. Your family and your kingdom will continue always before me; your throne will last forever’
God said to Isaiah ‘I will give you a sign. The young woman is pregnant. She will have a son, and she will name him Immanuel’
God said to Jeremiah ‘I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah … I will put my teachings in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’
God said to Ezekiel ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you … and you will be my people, and I will be your God’
God said to Joel “I will pour out my spirit on all people; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions’
God said to Micah ‘But you, Bethlehem … from you will come one who will rule Israel for me’
God said to Malachi ‘I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me’
God said to Zechariah ‘Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son, and you will name him John’
God said to Mary ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus’
God said to Isaiah ‘A new branch will grow from a stump of a tree,
A new king will come from the root of Jesse.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him.
The Spirit will give him wisdom and understanding, guidance and power.
The Spirit will teach him to know and fear the Lord
Through the stories and songs, poems and prophecies, proverbs and laws, we discover the God who makes promises. Promises weaves in and out of the story of Israel. At particular points in the story God makes himself known through a promise
A promise of a son
A promise of rescue
A promise of a land
A promise of the Spirit
A promise of hopeful future
A promise to be Immanuel
And so because he has promised, we look to his coming.
Prayer
O come Root of Jesse
The one promised by the prophets
The wonderful counsellor and mighty God
The Everlasting father and Prince of peace
O come promise-making God of Abraham and Moses
Of Sarah and Miriam
Of David and Elijah
Of Hannah and Esther
Of Isaiah and Micah
Of Mary and Elizabeth
Draw us into your salvation story
Song my jesus, my saviour
Cry 4: O Key of David
Testimony on how God unlocks us
Prayer
O come key of David
Open the doors of our hearts and make your home
Come and free us, where we are trapped in despair and lies
Come and unlock the dark places of our lives and shine your light
Come and open our eyes to see you
In the faces of friend and stranger
In the words of song and scripture
In your risen glory
Song open the eyes of my heart
Cry 5: O come Morning Star
a powerpoint of sun rising with 'ruthless gravity' by craig armstrong and words spoken over
Wake up church! Wake up!
Put your face in the sunlight.
God's bright glory has risen for you.
The whole earth is wrapped in darkness,
all people sunk in deep darkness,
But God rises on you,
his sunrise glory breaks over you.
God will be your eternal light,
your God will bathe you in splendour.
Your sun will never go down,
your moon will never fade.
He will be your eternal light.
Wake up church! Wake up!
Put your face in the sunlight.
God's bright glory has risen for you.
Prayer
O come morning star
Come and waken us
from the greyness of our apathy
and renew in us your gift of hope
Come and stir us
from the gloominess of our indifference
and restore in us your gift of love
Come and inspire us
from the darkness of our doubt
and rekindle in us your gift of faith
Song the church’s one foundation
Cry 6: O come King of the nations
Powerpoint where the name each nation appears
Prayer
O come King of the nations
Creator and redeemer of all
Author and finisher
Come to your world
bringing
truth and reconciliation
freedom and welcome
love and compassion
for we long to see
your kingdom come
Song awake awake o church
Cry 7: O come Immanuel
Immanuel means ‘God with us’
And we celebrate that God stands at our side
Sharing our humanity
A comforting thought, an assurance of God’s love
Immanuel means ‘God with us’
And we celebrate that God is here to pick us up
And bale us out
A comforting thought, an assurance of God’s love
Immanuel means ‘God with us’
And we celebrate that God is here calling us
To care for the cruel and kind, to reshape the world around us
Still a comforting thought? Are we confident of God’s love?
Immanuel means ‘God with us’
And we celebrate that God is here transforming us
Into image-bearers of his love, into ambassadors of mercy
Still a welcome thought? Are we open to be changed?
Immanuel means ‘God with us’
And we celebrate that God is God and we are not
That God comes to give all that God is to that which is not God
An uplifting thought, a promise of God’s love
Immanuel means ‘God with us’
And we celebrate that God comes to us in Jesus
Born of Mary, gift of the Spirit, the welcome of God
An amazing thought, an experience of God’s love
Prayer
O come, o come Immanuel
Gift of God
come into our communities
and our homes
our hearts and our lives
come quickly and stay
for you are
the love of God revealed
who comes to seek and save
Song he is here
Blessing
May the wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
The amazing love of God
And the deep fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Be ours tonight, tomorrow and for ever more
Amen
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