One who is in our midst -
May we sing aloud, shout, rejoice, and exult with all our hearts! For You have taken away judgment and turned away enemies. Because You are with us, we fear disaster no more, and our hands remain strong.
We long for that day…that day of festival when You give victory, rejoice over us with gladness, renew us in Your love, and exult over us with singing.
We long for that day…that day of festival when You remove disaster from us and deal with the oppressors…when You gather the outcasts and change our shame into praise.
We long for that day…that day of festival when You bring us home and restore us before Your eyes.
In our longing for home and restoration, may we sing trusting that what You have done will come to fullness.
Amen and amen.
(The Third Sunday of Advent is 12/12.)