Prayers of Dedication For Gifts to the Christmas Fund

Fourth Sunday in Advent Emmanuel, God-with-us, we give you thanks for those who help us experience your presence among us – clergy and musicians, educators, sextons and administrators. They have preached and sung the gospel on holidays and ordinary days and sustained the church as a beacon of creativity and security throughout the years. Continued . . .

When we need comfort, challenge, courage or a carol, they find a way to share it. When those who have never heard your name have become questioning as magi, hard-hearted as innkeepers, or isolated as shepherds, these messengers of yours have made this church a manger in the midst of the world. Bless these gifts that they may bring hope, peace, joy and all our love to these active and retired clergy and lay employees. Amen.

Gracious God, whose birth fills our ears and hearts tonight, we give thanks for the storytellers of this church – clergy and lay employees who don’t just preserve the good tidings on a dusty shelf but make them come alive in our daily experience. They are faithful in their watch over the church, bright in their carols, and as persistent in their tasks as the wandering magi so long ago. In this night when we reflect on the great gift we have received of Jesus Christ, we dedicate with gratitude our small gifts of help and hope and healing to these messengers of Bethlehem. Amen. Christmas Eve

Sunday After Christmas Gracious God, we give thanks for those who share the Christmas story of One called Emmanuel – God-with-us, and Jesus – the One who saves. On this Sunday of pause after the hurry and hope of Advent and the festivity of Christmas, we give thanks for those whose care of the church is faithful in all seasons. Bless these Christmas Fund gifts that they may express our gratitude to returned and active clergy and lay employees of our churches and our willingness to share the good tidings of hope, peace, joy and love all the ordinary days of the year to come. Amen.