Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of June 12, 2024
Written by Steve Richardson
God in heaven and in our midst: Open our minds to your presence as you hear our prayers.
Thank you for moments such as now to ponder your grace, mercy and blessings that refresh our spirits and emotions; to pray for others and for your help with one another’s needs; and to seek your guidance for decisions and uncertainties.
Giver of life, each of our hearts beats in rhythm to our own body’s needs. For our spiritual hearts, attune them to beat in rhythm with the needs of the body of Christ. For times when our hearts are restless, calm them as Jesus pacified the restless sea. When they feel broken, bind them together again with your grace and compassion often found through our relationships with others. When our hearts seem as if they’re not beating at all, rejuvenate them with your transforming energy.
Your holy scripture instructs us repeatedly about neighborliness and love, especially for people and groups that we tend to push to the backgrounds and margins. For these neighbors, Lord, move us – –
from blinding apathy to recognition;
from recognition to acceptance;
from acceptance to respect;
from respect to inclusion;
from inclusion to affirmation;
from affirmation to partnership;
and from partnership, to the fullness of love you want us to have for one another.
Through your church, you connect us to a community of people bound by mutual love and who strive to live as your disciples. For Church Street, we are especially grateful for Pastors Catherine and Tim. We rejoice in knowing both have been re-appointed by Bishop Wallace-Padgett to continue their callings in ministry to us. Thank you for Brad and Christina, too, whose support, commitment, gifts and service have nourished your church.
Creative God, you’ve given us many blessings through music at Church Street. Thank you for the talents shared by Tim Ward, Edie Johnson and others who lead our choirs, as well as all of the musicians who sing and play instruments. Thank you for the safe return of the Youth Choir following their trip last week to Boston, where voices of Church Street extended to others the splendors of the sounds of your kingdom.
In our church community, there are many other needs and prayers, including these listed here. Surround each of these persons with your loving embrace and comfort…
We pray for …
- A member whose mother is in the hospital
- One who is still recuperating from trauma of car accident
- A member who is dealing with MS; awaiting results from tests
- A couple who anxiously awaits birth of child
- For an indigent friend, with no family support, in another state with serious health issues, dependent on frequent trips to ER for medical care.
- One of our neighbors whose car was totaled after an accident; prayers of thanksgiving that no one was hurt
- One who has been in hospital and is recuperating at home.
- For a couple getting married this weekend
- For one whose father died; funeral was yesterday
- A relative who needs a kidney transplant
We continue to pray for ….
- One who will be having surgery soon to remove tumor in soft palate
- One who is looking for housing
- A young woman dealing with mental health issues
- Individuals and family members navigating the dementia diagnosis
- A mother-in-law who just entered hospice care at home
- Friends and family who are having struggles
- A couple who is waiting to hear about IVF procedures and results.
- Family members who continue to deal with cancer … all the tests and new treatments and waiting and follow up appointments. May they feel God’s healing presence in the midst of it!
- Friends and family members who are going through a troubling time.
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for ….
- For those who attended Holston Annual Conference as local church and district lay members.
- For our bishop and our superintendent
- Beautiful weather these last few days!
- That my cousin is coming for a visit
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
All are welcome at Church Street! We believe every person is of sacred worth and created in God’s image. We welcome and celebrate the gifts God has given to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, status, economic condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation. We respect diversity of opinion and expressions of Christian faith. We believe God loves everyone unconditionally! As God loves us, so let us love and serve in the name of Christ.
Weekly Prayer – June 26, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of June 26, 2024
Written by Rev. Tim Best
Gracious Lord,
Break open our hearts. Our hearts break open with both joy and pain. When we burst with joy we share the happiness and the wholeness that we experience from your abundant mercies. In our suffering, our hearts break open with weeping and pain, revealing our need for you and our longing to be made whole. With grace and love, break us open that we might know more fully your love.
We pray for those whose hearts are breaking with pain and loss. We pray for those who have lost loved ones this week. For those covered in grief and sadness, lift some of the weight from their hearts. Remind them of your presence, your faithfulness, and your promise of resurrection.
For those who have battled illness and other forms of suffering this week, we pray for recovery and renewal. May they know love and mercy from those who give them care. May those who are caregivers and helpers know a strength and courage found in you alone. We praise you for the gifts of modern medicine, and the abilities of doctors and nurses. Be a constant help to them that they may be help to others.
We give thanks for all the mercies of this week. For those who rejoice in the joys of seeing a favorite team win, for those who have been recently married, and for those children learning and playing at VBS, we are thankful for their joy. Help us to always be thankful for even the smallest mercies and joys in our lives.
Open us continually to the direction of your Holy Spirit. Break us open that we might be continually made new in your grace. Help us all to know and name those ways of service and worship to which you call each of us. It is in trust of your gratuitous grace that we offer all those concerns that fill our hearts.
Break open our hearts now as we share those joys and concerns of this, our Church Street family…
We pray for …
We continue to pray for …
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for …
Break open the heart of our church that we might be signpost of your coming kingdom, for which we pray, saying…
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a Prayer Request?
Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.
Weekly Prayer – June 19, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of June 19, 2024
Written by Leah Brown, Duke Divinity School Summer Intern
Merciful God, You are the source of all things good and lovely in this world. You make Your presence known even in small joys like nature, laughter, community, and art. Teach us to recognize You in both the grand and the mundane and let it be evidence of the hope we have in Your mercy and love.
Lord, in a world where injustice and suffering is so common, let us be active participants in the coming of Your Kingdom here on earth. Let us be agents of change where change is needed and agents of grace where grace is needed. Guide us to live in this world according to the final restoration that is to come, as reflections of both Your justice and mercy. Bring Your peace and reconciliation to the brokenness of the world, and when our lived reality of suffering seems to compete with the reality of Your Word, remind us of Your almighty power against which evil cannot stand.
Lord, in Your mercy… hear our prayer.
We pray for Your holy Church. Across all homes, buildings, traditions, and denominations, bring us into communion with one another in acknowledgement of our oneness in Christ. Let our diversity enrich the Church’s work in the world, and let our discipleship be molded to reflect Christ Jesus. Let the Church’s witness to the world be one of grace, humility, and peace, offering an alternative to the brash division found in our world’s ruler, nations, and people.
Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayer.
Loving God, restore strained relationships between friends, family members, and communities. Bring an end to violence and resentment, and soften our hearts to see Your holy Image in every new and familiar face we encounter and even in nameless or faceless persons we only hear about in news or media. Give us the humility to love like You love and be peacemakers in the midst of conflict.
Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayer.
We pray for ….
We continue to pray for …
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for ….
Comfort the lonely and the lost. Console those who mourn and grieve. Strengthen our faith and give us hope in Your triumphant love as we join together and boldly pray the prayer that Christ taught us, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a Prayer Request?
Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.
Weekly Prayer – June 12, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of June 12, 2024
Written by Steve Richardson
God in heaven and in our midst: Open our minds to your presence as you hear our prayers.
Thank you for moments such as now to ponder your grace, mercy and blessings that refresh our spirits and emotions; to pray for others and for your help with one another’s needs; and to seek your guidance for decisions and uncertainties.
Giver of life, each of our hearts beats in rhythm to our own body’s needs. For our spiritual hearts, attune them to beat in rhythm with the needs of the body of Christ. For times when our hearts are restless, calm them as Jesus pacified the restless sea. When they feel broken, bind them together again with your grace and compassion often found through our relationships with others. When our hearts seem as if they’re not beating at all, rejuvenate them with your transforming energy.
Your holy scripture instructs us repeatedly about neighborliness and love, especially for people and groups that we tend to push to the backgrounds and margins. For these neighbors, Lord, move us – –
from blinding apathy to recognition;
from recognition to acceptance;
from acceptance to respect;
from respect to inclusion;
from inclusion to affirmation;
from affirmation to partnership;
and from partnership, to the fullness of love you want us to have for one another.
Through your church, you connect us to a community of people bound by mutual love and who strive to live as your disciples. For Church Street, we are especially grateful for Pastors Catherine and Tim. We rejoice in knowing both have been re-appointed by Bishop Wallace-Padgett to continue their callings in ministry to us. Thank you for Brad and Christina, too, whose support, commitment, gifts and service have nourished your church.
Creative God, you’ve given us many blessings through music at Church Street. Thank you for the talents shared by Tim Ward, Edie Johnson and others who lead our choirs, as well as all of the musicians who sing and play instruments. Thank you for the safe return of the Youth Choir following their trip last week to Boston, where voices of Church Street extended to others the splendors of the sounds of your kingdom.
In our church community, there are many other needs and prayers, including these listed here. Surround each of these persons with your loving embrace and comfort…
We pray for …
We continue to pray for ….
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for ….
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a Prayer Request?
Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.
Senior Spotlight: Hannah Blake
Featured, YouthSenior Spotlight: Meg Atkins
Featured, YouthWeekly Prayer – June 5, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of June 5, 2024
Written by Rev. Catherine Nance
Gracious God, we thank you for this gift of prayer, and for this technology. “Email” can sound so impersonal, yet, here we are, so many of us reading these words and praying the same words together. We thank you for the way we can be connected – yes, through the power of the Holy Spirit – but also through a weekly email that acknowledges we are part of a larger group.
We may not know everyone’s name, but there is a comfort in knowing that we gather to pray on Wednesday night or perhaps it is Thursday morning when these words are opened. Thank you for the opportunity to pray for one another. We do experience peacefulness when we pray for others.
We have marveled yesterday and today at the sudden downpour of rain and then what seems to be just as sudden clearing of clouds and shining sun. Then the rain and then sunshine, again. Our bodies and spirits are tuned to your creation, O God. The sun on our face feels so nourishing and we pray for ‘no rain.’ Then it comes, and we find joy in watching cardinals splash in puddles in our yard. We know the earth needs sun and rain. Our bodies need light and refreshment as well. Help us make good decisions about the care of our bodies and our minds.
At the start of ‘vacation season’ we pray for good and safe times:
May our summer travels make us even more thankful for home. We give you thanks for family and friends and for our church family. We give you thanks for the beauty of East Tennessee and the opportunities we have here to bask in the glory of your creation.
May we not take for granted things like windshield wipers, sunscreen, farmers’ markets, cobbler, and the warmth of a hug or handshake. May we not take for granted how much it means to pat someone on the back or send a ‘thinking of you.’
Thank you, God, for the variety of rhythms your changing seasons give to us. Thank you for Wednesdays and the time to pray.
We pray together for the concerns and joys shared by our church family and also offer the prayer your son taught us …
We pray for ….
We continue to pray for ….
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for ….
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a Prayer Request?
Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.
Senior Spotlight: Annabel Jumper
Featured, YouthSenior Spotlight: David Johnson
Featured, YouthSummer Update 2024
YouthWeekly Schedule:
Worship – Sundays, 8:30AM & 11:00AM
Sunday school – Sundays, 9:45-10:45AM
Bible Study – Tuesdays, 12:00-1:30PM
Happy Summer!!
Can you believe that we are already here?! We are looking forward to a great summer of mission, growth, and fun together!
Our weekly newsletter will have a simplified format for June and July. Keep up to date with all of our upcoming events and projects!
Weekly Bible Study
We will meeting on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:30 PM beginning June 11. We’ll study the book of Colossians together each week!
Operation Backyard
This Friday and Saturday, we are working together to serve a local homeowner! We will begin at 7:30 AM to try and beat the heat. If you have signed up, you should have already received info from Jenny!
Additionally, some prep work will be done on the house on Thursday morning. If you are interested in helping in any capacity, let Jenny know!
We could use a couple of other adults with some construction experience to help with this project. Please contact Jenny if you are interested!
Rafting the Ocoee
This Sunday, our group is traveling to the Ocoee River for white-water rafting. If you are going on this trip, you should have already received an email. Be sure to complete the online waiver!
Youth Choir Reunion – July 28
If you sang in the Youth Choir under Tim Ward’s direction (2009-10 school year through present), you’re invited to come & sing on Sunday, July 28! Join us for the 8:30 service as we sing together and honor Tim on his last Sunday at Church Street. There will also be a reception following 11:00 AM Worship!
MAD Info
Be on the lookout for important MAD in the City information coming your way in the weeks ahead! There are lots of logistics to pull off a mission project like this, so we need lots of hands. Stay tuned!
Wesley House Project – Thursday, 9:00 AM
Church Street Missions are helping with classroom clean-ups tomorrow at Wesley House from 9:00AM-1:30PM. If you are interested, bring a water bottle and come in clothes you don’t mind messing up. If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Catherine – cnance@churchstreetumc.org
Senior Spotlight: Elizabeth Walker
Featured, Youth