Call to Worship
One: God who dwells in the mystery of life
Many: Fill us with wonder as we traipse around your world.
One: Christ who offers kindness and mercy
Many: Fill us with understanding as we meet our stranger, enemy, and friend.
One: Spirit who delivers dreams to us
Many: Draw us into your visions of love for our neighbors.

Invocation
God of Illumination,
Under the sparkles of the Christmas lights and long starry night skies, we find joy in the bustle of the Christmas season.  As the Christmas lights are taken down, the beauty of Christmas is just beginning.  Birth is happening in the springtime buds, the summer sunsets, the autumn hues, and the winter snowfall.  May we see the joy of birth surrounding us throughout our year.  May this joy move us to bear kindness, creating your Realm here on earth.  Amen.

Prayer of Reflection
Holy Bearer of Delight-
Most days, we shuffle along, filled with focus on the ordinary.  Instead of seeing your Divine Light in each space, we overlook the beauty of your presence.  Open our souls to notice the amazement of your steadfast presence.  May we see the holy beauty of each flower’s petal, each cloudy sunset, each rumble of thunder, and each weed in our lawns.  Amen.

Assurance of God’s Grace
Our God who gives us rebirth, resurrections, and renewals lavishes us with grace.  May God’s mercy allow us to see how newness can transform our lives.

Reflection on Giving
The Gift of Christmas is greater than what can be found in any wrapped box.  Christmas has presented us with the Christ in our midst.  As Jesus the Christ was the one who taught us how to love one another, we pass this Divine Love to our neighbors through our talents, treasures, and time.  Whether Christmas or Easter, Pentecost or any ordinary day, we share our gifts with the church and community.

Blessing of the Gifts
Enchanting God, Divine Joy,
We take these days in the warmth of summertime to remember the birth of the Christ.  We take time away from the consumerist holiday to celebrate the holy aspects of Christmas.  May this day remind us of the mirth of Jesus’ birth and the love of Jesus which still ripples in our world.  May we spend these next few months until Christmas with the joy of rebirth in our hearts, sharing that excitement with our neighbors around us.  Amen.

Benediction
Filled with the joy of this ordinary day,
May we go forward celebrating the magnificent and ordinary,
The fantastic and everyday,
The mediocre and amazing,
The astounding and common.
God is in the shiny days and cloudy evenings,
The starry nights and the foggy mornings.
Let us find Divine Sparkle no matter the time or space
As God is already there!

*****

(c) 2023 Rev. Michelle L. Torigian. Permission to use with attribution.