Christmas prayer of praise and confession
We praise You, O loving God,
who gave Your very self in human form,
Your majesty born into our poverty,
Your love lying in a manger.
We thank You that, amidst Bethlehem’s noisy rush,
we find in You
a focus for our activity,
a hope for you humanity,
a love for all eternity.
But we confess that
Christ’s birth has gone unnoticed.
Now, as then, we have not made room
in our day to day lives.
Now, as then, we have mislaid
Your message of reconciling love.
Now, as then, we have ignored
the stillness of Your presence.
Gift-giving God, forgive us.
Free us from our self-centeredness.
Help us to accept Your love so freely given
that we may live
as You have called us to live. Amen.
– The Methodist Church in Britain