29th. November. 2020 Service.
First Sunday in Advent
Prelude Hark the glad sound, the Saviour comes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeBRYhG86x0
Let us worship God
The Canticle of the turning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QeTmRCpW4
The Collect for today
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKu0or0t8Uw
The Collect for today
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel”
Call to Prayer
The heavens rejoice in anticipation,
And we wait for Jesus.
The nights are long, and the days are short,
And we wait for Jesus.
Our redemption is drawing near,
And we wait for Jesus.
Let us hope in God and worship as people ready to see the salvation of our God!
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Creator God, you made the heavens and the earth.
You set the planets in their courses, lit the sun with fire,
caused the stars to shine and the world to turn.
Life springs up wherever your Spirit moves.
In Jesus Christ, you brought hope into a world full of fear and despair.
You sent your Holy Spirit to enliven our hope and guide us into the way of life
We are waiting now in anxious times for the world to be made new. We wait for new life, and we wait with deep hope.
Redeeming God,
We confess that waiting is difficult for us.
We want to be comfortable in this festive season,
but the pandemic keeps us anxious and unhappy.
We complain about our own troubles and close our eyes to the suffering of others,
Forgive us for ignoring truths do not want to see.
Forgive us for seeking our own comfort at the cost of others.
Give grace to see the great need within our community.
Give us insight int the deep need within our own lives and turn our hearts to you with renewed faith and hope every day,
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
The good news of Jesus Christ is for all people everywhere. There is nothing we have done, nothing we will ever do, that will separate us from the love of God made known in Jesus Christ, for this is your love! Enable us to live in your love as forgiven and forgiving people.
Prayer for Understanding</strong
God of grace, you speak words of hope in the face of our fear. Send us your Holy Spirit to make us more fully aware of that hope. Show us how to interpret the signs of the times we are living in through the lens of your grace, that we may find comfort and courage in your promises through Christ, your Living Word.
The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)
Hymn: Make way, make way for Christ the King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alCQ7fb0hEA
Invitation to the Offering
We enter Advent today amid the advertising of the season, tempting us to buy gifts, suggesting new desires to satisfy our longing. But God has given us the love that truly satisfies in Christ Jesus. We offer whatever we have to share, knowing these gifts can fill the deepest hungers in the world God loves and bring hope to lives in despair.
Prayer of Dedication
God of hope, we offer you our gifts with our thanks that your love never goes out of style, your presence is never beyond our budgets. Bless what we bring with your Spirit and enrich their impact in a world with desperate needs. May we shine as symbols of the unending hope we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Friend. Amen.
The Readings
Isaiah 64:1-9
64 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake before you!
3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have given us over to our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins for ever.
Oh, look upon us we pray,
for we are all your people. Amen.
Mark 13: 24-37
24 ‘But in those days, following that distress,
‘“the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”
26 ‘At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: he leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 ‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’ Amen. This is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all praise and glory.
When out of poverty is born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzwyjnACz0o
Sermon
Watch therefore…… for you do not know when the master of the house will come; in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow or in the morning… lest he come and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch! Mark 13: 35-37
Phew! What a week! Developments in the news about Covid-19, and Brexit, our recent preliminary discussions with Place for Hope about the future of ministry within our Presbytery, and very preliminary Session discussions about maintaining the tower in Inverkeithing have left me thinking, “What does the future hold for us all?”
What do we think will happen? Tomorrow, next month, next year? Our view of the future radically effects how we live today.
Perhaps people see the future in one of two ways: bleak or bright
Bleak. There are many who see the future as a possible slide into disaster; things are going downhill fast, from bad to worse.
Bright. There are some who see the future as holding bright promise. Nothing is beyond us if we will only pull together.
The bleak may tend to live the present in a constant state of anxiety, which results in either frantic activity or inhibited and immobilised like a terrified rabbit Because faith for the future is hard to muster, the present becomes a maze of threats and struggle for survival.
The optimistic, provided they are not merely superficially so, might live purposeful, daring, creative lives. They have long range goals. Because they believe in the future they can dare to be relaxed and productive in the present and be patient for that which takes time to bring to fruition.
Are there grounds for pessimism? Of course, we must admit that there seems to be plenty of grounds for pessimism. There are plenty signs that life could become more restricted and that things go wrong. I’m sure that every newspaper has a Cassandra predicting the worst and many unwilling to believe her.
How optimistic dare be the 80% of the world’s population who have access to only 20% of the world’s resources and wealth?
How much optimism can poorer countries affected by the Covid-19 virus on top of AIDS or famine muster? Or in regions where climate change is threatening heatwaves, fires loss of water sources or rising sea levels?
How much optimism can the people sustain through the violence and oppression inf Basque regions, Kurdish areas, Uighurs, Rohingya, Syria, Colombia or Palestine?
How much optimism can we expect within indigenous populations, with their average lifespan twenty years less than the rest of the world?
How much optimism is there in the Western world following all the economic, political and military changes that have occurred in the past few years.
How much optimism is there among the (sadly more numerous that we once suspected) where domestic violence is endemic?
How optimistic dare young people be as they study for a future in a society where employment commensurate with one’s acquired skills is by no means guaranteed?
For many people at home and abroad, the outlook does indeed appear bleak. Not to recognise this would be foolish. For the church to ignore the human misery and uncertainty that exists would be a serious lack of love. Those of us whose “lines have fallen in pleasant places” cannot pretend that the miseries of others are self-inflicted or preach a pious optimism which counts the unhappiness of others of no account.
As a Christian community, how do we respond to the many circumstances we hear of daily that affect our own nation and people around the globe?
Today on this first Sunday in Advent we celebrate hope and we have lit a candle to focus our thoughts upon hope. Christians see something better than the bleak aspects of life. No matter how jittery we may feel during difficult times, we are called to hope. Jesus’ words, “Watch therefore! … For your salvation is nearer than when you first believed,” says the Gospel. Hope is our business.
This hope is not a matter of ignoring the grim realities. It is not pretending that every cloud has a silver lining. We are not called to be hymn singing ostriches that pop their heads out of the sand during choruses. We are challenged to have our eyes wide open. Watch!
In truth, our eyes should be wider open than those of our hard-headed humanist friends. It is our job to look honestly at life, to recognise evil and name it openly, yet also to see our coming Lord everywhere at work, even in the places of utter cruelty and chaos. We are called to see a Lord who dares to be redeemingly busy in the bleakest of circumstances. The cross remains forever the surest mark of his presence among his people.
God brings light out of darkness and growth out of decay. The Lord creates love where previously not a skerrick of love seemed to exist.
This will only be true for us if we have a firm belief in the future as belonging to the God of Christ Jesus. From early days, Christians have held to the belief that Jesus Christ comes again. He comes again to every generation in judgment and mercy. He comes again at the end of time; a final return when he will bring to consummation everything he started at Bethlehem.
Christ is the Lord of history. He is the destination of history. He is the one true end: the one true Lord. Not pandemic, chaos, terrorism, war, greed, injustice, cruelty, neglect, survival of the fittest or democracy or final world-wide self-destruction. None of these negativities will rule! Christ alone is the end, the destiny of humanity. The future which will inexorably arrive with the glory of Christ who comes again.
To believe in the Christ who comes again is to live with an indomitable hope. Evil may be noisy, boastful, and blatantly busy everywhere, but it will not win the final day. The ultimate victory lies with Christ Jesus.
Such hope is a command. “Watch!” says Jesus.
“Watch therefore…… for you do not know when the master of the house will come; in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow or in the morning… lest he come and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch!” Mark 13: 35-37
It occurs to me that in choosing to focus on these three verses means that I have taken them out of their context, and perhaps we need to realise that this section of Mark’s gospel begins with some very ominous words. There is a long section about the destruction of the temple and a violent upheaval in the lives of many people and it ends thus: 24 ‘But in those days, following that distress ,‘“the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” This is an apocalyptic vision that has challenged many people through the ages whether through wars, plagues, slavery, genocides, economic collapse or natural disaster. But what follows is a promise that is full of hope, and Jesus encourages his people always to watch with hope.
‘Watch’ does not mean passive waiting. Not waiting wistfully like children peering out the window begging the rain to stop so that the family picnic can go ahead. Not waiting like bored travellers for a train that never seems to arrive.
Watch means to be ready for him here and now as he confronts us in the rough and tumble of life, to co-operate with him in his saving ministry among our modern equivalent of the “tax gatherers and sinners.” ‘Watch’ also mean seeing him at the end of all things as the last Final Word, the loving climax of history, yet to be loved and served right now.
Also remember the truth that flows from the parable about the master of the house going abroad. The parable also points the way for contemporary believers.
To watch and be ready it to be about your Lord’s work. Work which the Lord himself has spelled out to us: loving God as we go about loving one another. Forgiving enemies, praying for our persecutors, giving without expected reward, going the second mile, storing up treasure not on earth but building spiritual capital in heaven, seeking not the praises of men, healing the sick and releasing the prisoner, welcoming the refugee, rescuing the lost, and housing the homeless.
This is what being ready for the appearance of the Lord means.
This we are commanded to do. Get that? Start hoping! Hope is a command from our God.
Hope is not a natural disposition which some sunny souls have in larger quantities than others. Hope is not some special feeling that we get and privately must cultivate, like growing a sensitive hot-house plant. Hope is not related to one’s material prosperity, our outward success in life, or a lucky propensity for good health.
Hope is a response to the word of Jesus. It is a matter of the will. It involves commitment. Hope is obedience. Hope is living pro-actively, creatively, lovingly, self-sacrificially in spite of all the barriers we encounter, or the darkest clouds that loom on the horizon. Hope is being committed to fundamental optimism in a world increasingly riven by distrust and fear. It is a refusal of fear and anxiety, of depression or despair. It is fixing our thoughts and attitudes upon the love of God and the compassion of Jesus Christ.
Watch! says Jesus. Be ready for me. I am the final word. Watch and join me in my mission of hope.
Here is a quote from the French mystic and scientist Teilhard de Chardin:
“Creative energy awaits us, ready to work in us a transformation beyond anything the human eye has seen, or the ear heard. Who can say what God would fashion out of us if, trusting his words, we dared to follow his counsels to the very end and surrender ourselves to his providence?”
“To be ready has never seemed to mean anything to me but this: to be straining forwards.”
“Watch”, says Jesus. “Look ahead and see me coming to fulfil all things with love and joy.” Amen. With thanks to BP for his inspiration.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Merciful God, the signs of our times are worrisome.
We gather in your presence, aware that the earth groans in pain and many people are suspicious of each other.
We thank you for your comforting presence in times of suffering and uncertainty,
and for your promise of life beyond death, and hope beyond fear.
As the longest night of this year draws nearer,
comfort those who dread the darkness and direct those who have lost their way.
Wherever people are overwhelmed by the demands of this season
and the complications of COVID-19,
let them hear your still small voice within all the clamour and confusion,
and catch a glimpse of your light shining in the night.
God of all our days and nights,
we remember that the days leading up to Christmas are difficult for many,
especially this year.
We pray for those who are hungry and cold.
Alert us to the ways that we can set a feast
for those in our community and beyond whose cupboards are bare.
Warm them with your love.
We pray for those who are grieving.
Make us patient and compassionate companions to those in mourning,
even when we’re not sure what to say.
Fill emptiness with your comfort.
We remember those who are feeling very isolated this year.
Inspire our hearts with ideas of how to reach out in friendship.
Bring hope to the lonely with your friendship.
We pray for those who feel like the world is ending.
We pray for those whose lives have been uprooted by fire, flood, or storm, illness, job loss or death.
Steady us amid the upheavals of this year of pandemic
and remind us that you alone are constant.
Your steadfast love will see us through.
Heaven and earth may pass away,
but you are the source of everlasting life and undiminished hope.
Help us trust in you, no matter what is happening. Hear all our prayers and still our fears through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Come, thou long expected Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDmfWoAuWEc
Benediction
Be people of hope.
Let hope live in your heart and share the hope of Christ with all you meet.
Share hope by noticing someone else’s humanity.
Share hope by listening to someone’s story.
Share hope by praying for our world.
In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share hope.
As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations, share hope with those you meet.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you, Amen.
Come, thou long expected Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDmfWoAuWEc
Postlude: The people who in darkness walked
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYHe1vDniQ
1 The people that in darkness sat
a glorious light have seen;
the light has shined on them who long
in shades of death have been,
in shades of death have been.
2 To hail thee, Sun of Righteousness,
the gathering nations come;
they joy as when the reapers beat
their harvest treasures home,
their harvest treasures home.
3 For thou their burden dost remove
and break the tyrant’s rod,
as in the day when Midian fell
before the sword of God,
before the sword of God.
4 To us a Child of hope is born,
to us a Son is given,
and on his shoulder ever rests
all power in earth and heaven,
all power in earth and heaven.
5 His name shall be the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Lord,
the Wonderful, the Counsellor,
the God by all adored,
the God by all adored.
6 His righteous government and power shall over all extend;
on judgment and on justice based,
his reign shall have no end,
his reign shall have no end.
7 Lord Jesus, reign in us, we pray,
and make us thine alone,
who with the Father ever art
and Holy Spirit, one: and Holy Spirit, one.
Hymns
Here are some hymn suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest and the ones marked “listen” do not have the lyrics on the screen:
Prelude: Hark the glad sound, the Saviour comes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeBRYhG86x0
The Canticle of the turning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QeTmRCpW4
O come, O come, Emmanuel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKu0or0t8Uw
Make way, make way for Christ the King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alCQ7fb0hEA
When out of poverty is born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzwyjnACz0o
Come, thou long expected Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDmfWoAuWEc
Postlude: The people who in darkness walked
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYHe1vDniQ
For Children
This morning I brought some clay. I’m sure that all of you have made things from clay or Play-Doh or Plasticine. There’s even a job for making bowls, jars, art, and more from clay. Someone who does this is called a potter.
If you have some, why not make a flower, or take a minute to make a horse or something that particularly interests you. That could be a bit harder. If you are really ambitious try making a cup, or a vase. A vase is not so easy because with clay you need a special wheel to get is shape perfectly.
What happens to a piece of clay if you forget and leave it out for a long time? It dries up and gets hard. When it’s dried out, it’s not easy to mould it into what we want it to be.
That reminds me of what was happening to God’s people during the day of the prophet Isaiah. In our Bible lesson today, Isaiah is terribly upset and is begging God to come down and change the hearts of his people who were doing evil things. “We have sinned and turned away from You and You have become angry with us. How can we be saved? No one calls on Your name or pleads for Your mercy. You’ve turned away from us.”
Sounds pretty hopeless, but Isaiah didn’t think so. He knew if the people would turn back to God, He could mould them and shape them into what He wanted them to be–like clay. Isaiah said to God, “Oh Lord, you’re our Father. We’re the clay, and You’re the potter. We’re formed by your hand. Please don’t be so angry with us. Look at us and see that we’re Your people.” Isaiah knew even though the hearts of God’s people had become hard, God could still mould them into what He wanted them to be.
Just like the people in Isaiah’s day, we sometimes stray away from God and our hearts become hard. All is not hopeless. If we will turn back to God and ask Him to forgive us, He can mould us and shape us into what He wants us to be. God is still the potter and we’re still the clay!
Dear God, forgive us when we go astray. Take us in your hands and shape us into what You want us to be. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Here is a video which shows how a potter works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8tMR-mUE5s
Intimations
Thank You!
A huge “thank you” is due to all who have contributed to our Gift Day in Inverkeithing.
The wonderful sum of £4960 has been raised to date and this is going a long way to help make up for not being able to hold any fundraising events since March.
If you have not yet been able to make a donation or simply forgot don’t worry, we will be happy to accept further contributions up until the end of the year.
Robert S Dowie, Treasurer
Please remember to indicate to Joan More or Chris Duguid if you wish to attend worship on Sunday. Owing to Government regulations, numbers will be restricted to fewer than fifty persons, twenty-five in North Queensferry and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis each week. Please call Joan 01383 414515 on Friday or Chris 01383 413372 to indicate that you wish to attend. Please do not come without first ensuring your place each week as we do not wish to turn anyone away on the day.
Open Letter from Christian Clergy from the Bethlehem Area
July 7, 2020
Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed (Jeremiah 22:3)
We are writing this letter in our capacity as spiritual leaders of various Christian communities in the Bethlehem Area. The Israeli Government is planning to annex more occupied Palestinian land. According to the information they have released, this process could begin on July 1st. For Palestine, Bethlehem and particularly for its Christian population, this new process of annexation will be particularly catastrophic.
Soon after the occupation of 1967 Israel annexed over 20,000 dunums of land in the northern parts of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, for the construction of illegal colonial settlements. This severely hindered our capacity to grow as communities. They have already annexed one of the most important Christian religious sites of Bethlehem, the Mar Elias Monastery, and separated Bethlehem from Jerusalem for the first time in the two-thousand years of Christian history in Holy Land.
One of the only areas left for our expansion, as well as for agriculture and simply for families to enjoy nature, are the valleys of Cremisan and Makhrour, both located to the west of our urban areas and are under the current threat of annexation by Israeli authorities. This will affect the private property of hundreds of our parishioners. In the Cremisan Valley we also conduct spiritual activities. There is a school run by Salesian Nuns in addition to a historic monastery. The western Bethlehem countryside is also in danger, where some of our parishioners have been farming for generations, and this includes the Tent of Nations in Nahhalin. At the same time, and in accordance to the original maps of the US Plan, there are threats against the eastern part of Bethlehem, including the Ush Ughrab area of Beit Sahour, where there has been plans for years to build a children hospital to serve the local community.
Our biggest concern is that the annexation of those areas will push more people to emigrate. Bethlehem, surrounded by walls and settlements, already feels like an open prison. Annexation means the prison becomes even smaller, with no hopes for a better future.
This is land theft! We are talking about land that is largely privately owned and that our families have owned, inherited and farmed for hundreds of years.
Most of our parishioners have lost hope in earthly powers. They feel hopeless and helpless, evident in the words a parishioner this month as he watched his land devoured by Israeli bulldozers preparing the way for more wall expansion: “It is devastating. You see bulldozers destroying your land and you can do nothing. No one is stopping them.”
Our parishioners no longer believe that anyone will stand courageously for justice and peace and stop this tremendous injustice that is taking place in front of your eyes. The human rights of Palestinians have been violated for decades. Hope is a pillar of our faith, yet is being challenged due to the actions of those who claim to care about the Christians in the Middle East. In practice, annexation could be the final straw when it comes to a viable Christian presence in Palestine, as well as the national aspirations to live in freedom, independence, dignity and equality in our homeland in accordance with international law.
Nobody can claim that they did not know the consequences of annexation for Palestine in general and Bethlehem in particular. We feel the burden of history upon our shoulders to keep the Christian presence in the land where it all started. As we continue to put our hope and trust in God, we call upon the leaders of this world to stop this severe injustice. We remain committed to peace with justice, and find strength in the support of many around the world, specially the support of many churches. We hope that the world takes decisive and concrete actions to stop this injustice and provide the conditions to restore hope for a future of justice and peace that this land deserves.
Fr. Yacoub Abu Sada – ‘The Theotokos’ Melkite Church Bethlehem
Fr. Issa Musleh – Forefathers Greek Orthodox Church Beit Sahour
Fr. Hanna Salem – Catholic Church of the Annunciation Beit Jala
Fr. Bolous Al Alam – St. Mary Greek Orthodox Church Beit Jala
Rev. Ashraf Tannous – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation Beit Jala
Fr. Suheil Fakhouri – Our Lady of the Shepherds Melkite Church Beit Sahour
Rev. Munther Isaac – The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church Bethlehem and The Evangelical Lutheran Church Beit Sahour
A Prayer for Palestine
At this dark time for the world let us remember, rejoice and give thanks for those who challenge and resist evil, and work for justice and peace, sometimes at great cost, especially in Palestine. Let us pray
We rejoice and give thanks for all those who challenge narrow and exclusive theology and embrace a vision of God that seeks care for all humankind.
We rejoice and give thanks for all here and throughout the world who work, pray, and are in solidarity with the people of Palestine, even remotely standing by them in their suffering and hope.
We rejoice and give thanks for all practical support for brothers and sisters in Palestine by lobbying, by marketing goods, by supporting medical and educational work, in the cause of fuller lives.
We rejoice and give thanks for courageous folk in Israel and Palestine who swim against the political tide and replace sectarianism with common humanity – Rabbis for Justice, Combatants for Peace,, Accompaniers through the wall, the Women in Black, and so many others.
We rejoice and give thanks for Jewish, Muslim, and Christian folk who celebrate the cause of one humanity and give themselves to resist and oppose oppressive power that seeks to shut out and deny that vision.
In the name of all who call on the one God of justice by many names and for us in the name of Jesus, breaker of walls and eternal embracer of the love of the divine. Amen.
This prayer was inspired by reading this recent book ‘The Other Side of the Wall – A Palestinian Narrative of Lament and Hope’ by Munther Issac, Theologian and Minister from Bethlehem.