Rev. Pat Clendenen
Loving and gracious God, in the quietness of these moments, speak to our hearts. We come to your house each week to offer our praise and thanksgiving with our words, our songs, our acts of commitment, and affirmations of faith. We long to know you completely and fully; and yet, we live in a world that pulls us in so many directions, distracting us from our purpose as the Body of Christ. Even this day we remember all our fancy words and acts of service mean nothing if they are not infused and undergirded with love, the kind of love you revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
Wise and loving God, you have woven your creation together, using your relationship with us and ours with each other to give rich, intricate, and diverse patterns to all of life. We give thanks that you have created us for community, calling us into relationship with one another. Forgive us for our internal conflict, and for our inability at times to see beyond ourselves. Teach us to love one another, even when we disagree, and to pour our energy into seeking understanding so that we may work toward the good of all your creation.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
Lord, you call caregivers to serve, and you give gifts to make their service possible. We thank you today for the willing and gifted hands and hearts in our Stephen Ministry. Thank you for our Stephen Leaders, who gladly serve to keep our Stephen Ministry flourishing. Thank you for our Stephen Ministers, who faithfully meet with their care receivers, extending the care of Christ to those who need it most. Thank you also for the support of our pastors and staff, and for all those who keep this ministry growing in our congregation.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
And because you have blessed our community here at Church Street, we who depend upon your love, mercy, and grace bring to you these prayers offered by our brothers and sisters in Christ:
- Celebrating successful February 2nd surgery
- Gratitude for prayers: A transplant donor has been found
- Appreciation for all church volunteers
- Member grateful for negative cancer scan
- Thanksgiving for all who are being called to join our church
- Gratitude: all who have generously pledged for 2022 church ministries
- Prayers for wife and mother recovering from February 2 surgery
- Healing for one in ICU, Covid complications
- One asks for prayers for her Sunday School class
- Prayers for recovery: Church families affected by Covid
- Comfort for widower who recently moved to assisted living
- Dear family friend with cancer, that a route to healing may be found
- Two couples who are adjusting to health challenges at home
- Continued prayers for two members in cancer treatment
- Strength and comfort for family: Cousin died of a stroke last week
- Continued prayers: Ill adult daughter, severe effects of Covid
- Comfort for families of three church members who died last week
- God’s presence with an uncle who is aging and infirm
- Courage for brother in military who may be deployed to Ukraine
We are truly blessed as a congregation to have a multi-layered system of care, making it possible to serve the needs of all people. We give you thanks for the vision and wisdom of those who breathed life into each of these ministries – Congregational Care, Parish Health Team, and Benevolence Team – and for all who continue to make these ministries a vital part of our mission. May we never become complacent, thinking there is no need to expand our understandings of your longings for your creation. Surprise us with new visions, and give us the courage to follow the path you set before us, trusting that Christ is alive and goes before us to show and share what love can do.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
Remind us, O God, that, as we move in the world, though scattered, we remain the Church, the Body of Christ in action. Let us be workers together with you, performing deeds of mercy and kindness, and giving evidence of Christ’s love in all that we do, for it is in his name that we offer our prayer…….
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 Lenten Prayer – March 1, 2022
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Week of March 1, 2022
Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
Christ whose glory fills the skies, your mercies pierce the darkest morn and the most dreary night. As Jesus was transfigured on the mount, you transfigure everything you touch. Most Holy One, you remain our light upon the unknown path and shall keep us steady as we embark upon our own Lenten journey of inner transformation. And as we travel, help us unveil those secret sins we have hidden so long from view; may we discard them as worthless ashes along the way, especially these that weigh heaviest within us. . . . . . . . .
Have you not planted seeds of hope and second chances within the most barren landscapes? Just so, sharpen our inner eyes, we pray, that we might discover these sparks of wonder as we move forward, highlighting all that is worthy of revival. All praises to you, for you are the Grace that breathes so quietly and steadily within the soil, far beneath the clamor of the world.
And believing you are that Radiant Friend who listens to the deepest sighs of our souls, and knowing you never leave us alone, we name all those things that tug upon our hearts this week:
As people dependent upon your transformative power, we ask that you remold us, even as we praise your name and offer our prayers and petitions in the name of Christ, the True and Only Light who taught us these words:
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.
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Weekly Prayer – February 23, 2022
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Week of February 23, 2022
Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
Scripture tells us your spark of divinity resides within each of us. And whatever essence this spark is, we confess, such a notion of innate holiness unnerves us. Therefore, we have lacquered it over by our own illusions and self-interests. We wear our masks of acceptability, hoping we will fit in with the culture. We scramble to acquire the newest baubles on the market, reach for the fleeting, and attend to the voices of promoters who promise lives of ease and tranquility. Help us remove these barriers we have erected through the years that keep us from seeing ourselves as we really are, for we are children searching for the easy way. Surely your prayers and ours are the same: That we might work, trusting in your mercy, to expunge each layer of falseness within us, till one day we stand before you as our unvarnished selves, with all are fallacies cast aside, with all our divine possibilities shining in brightness.
Hope of the World, hear our prayer.
A wise one once attested that “in the end, nature is enough.” How true it is that you speak to us, Holy One, through the language of the universe, in the dialect of love that is understood by every race and tribe. The earth itself is your sacramental gift to humankind, and when we ignore it or mar it, it devalues your offering and pierces your heart. Silence, we pray, all that muffles your daily call to your people throughout the world. May we recognize your magnificence in the frame of the smallest leaf, in the glorious potential of the smallest seed, in the wind that calls forth the seasons. Then may we bend the knee in homage to the One whose breath plants life wherever it passes and whose stillness is sufficient to saturate every soul.
Hope of the World, hear our prayer.
The present perils of the world weigh heavy upon us, O Lord. The thunder of tanks and vibrations of jets disclose the violence already at hand. We pray for all the vulnerable ones in Eastern Europe whose lives and livelihoods are in jeopardy because of the menace of war. May your word of peace ring out, we pray, to shatter the sword and quell the drug-related cruelty rampant in the Philippines, in Yemen, Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico. We lift up those affected by the deadly mudslides in Brazil, and all in developing countries where Covid rates remain high. Stand beside those persecuted ones everywhere because of their ethnicity, gender, or social class. Behind our posturing and claims of self-sufficiency, we are a frail people, dependent upon one another and upon your enduring mercy. Strengthen our resolve, Good Lord, for whatever lies ahead.
Hope of the World, hear our prayer.
May our prayers mingle with all those offered for the suffering in every place; and we add these concerns and thanksgivings that are offered by our friends, your beloved ones, at Church Street UMC:
Hope of the World, we believe you have accepted all our prayers that are offered in earnest, and ask that your holy presence would surround and sustain us throughout life’s journey; for we walk day by day with Jesus, who taught us to pray:
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.
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Weekly Prayer – February 16, 2022
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Week of February 16, 2022
Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
Awaken us, we pray, to your Spirit-filled blessings that encircle the quiet earth. In our quest to “do” we forget you have called us to “be.” We confess we walk about with eyes closed to your splendors, but you display them for us anew every day: from the dew-crusted grass to the robin nibbling berries on a holly, from the faint rustle of the evergreen to the blue-white peaks in the distance, from the evening shadows across the lawn to the familiar face that welcomes us home. Deserving of so little, you place riches on our doorsteps. Open not only our eyes, but our souls as well, to your grace overflowing.
Lord of All, we thank you!
We praise you, Architect of Faith, for our church, and for all who have gone out from this place to serve you throughout the world through the decades. Week to week you call your willing workers from within our congregation to serve their fellow human beings in this community. We marvel at their tenacity and dedication as they go out to share food and clothing, to tend to the sick, to provide emotional support for school children, to welcome the stranger to the table, to advocate for just and equal opportunity for all. These followers teach us that your work is not finished, Lord, and that there are many ways in which each of us may use our personal gifts to carry your banner of hope.
Lord of All, we praise you!
God of Healing, here in your presence, we cannot ask for assistance for ourselves without offering praise for your divine work as we have wrestled with the Corona virus and its variants. It is you who pointed the way to healing, who emboldened professionals to serve despite the risks, who stood beside each grieving soul touched by this devastating illness. You have brought us this far, Firmest Friend, and you will never leave us comfortless.
Lord of All, we honor you!
In all humility, we now pray you would be mindful of the needs of those who are closest to our hearts: . . . . . . . . . . ; and also of those special circumstances of our brothers and sisters in Christ here at Church Street:
We offer this prayer and the prayers that remain unspoken in our hearts in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and hear us now as we pray the prayer he taught:
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.
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Why I Wear Tennis Shoes to Church
pastorI do not remember exactly when it was that I started wearing black Converse all the time (except for Sundays) but I do remember when I started making them my Sunday shoes.
In a church I served many years ago, I had a woman tell me she wanted to attend my church but did not have “nice Sunday shoes.” She would have to wear her work shoes. I assured her no one would judge her based on foot apparel. But we do judge, don’t we? Why else would seekers express trepidation to me about coming to church? One member suddenly stopped coming because she felt uncomfortable wearing her work uniform. She had finally gotten a full time job and worked third shift. She was coming straight from work and did not have the time or means to change out of khaki pants and a golf shirt with the store logo on it. I told her we were so grateful for her job and glad to have her in worship! A grandmother apologized to me one Sunday because her grandchildren did not have ‘good Sunday clothes.’ Again, I assured her that we were glad her grandchildren were there!
I understand the value of “putting on our best for God.” My Daddy shined his shoes every Saturday night and then would polish our “Sunday shoes.” My grandmother’s directive to put on our best on Sunday came from an era where most folks had one Sunday shirt or dress and everything else was work clothes. Getting ready for Sunday was a spiritual discipline in preparing food and clothing for the Sabbath. There was much preparation for the day of rest. The outward appearance was a sign pointing to what was going on inside one’s heart.
My decision to wear the same black sweater and pants most Sundays is part of my spiritual routine to help me remember that people have come to hear the Word and not to decide if I look better in bold colors or pastels. My decision to wear tennis shoes is a two-pronged decision. One, I do not believe God intended us to cram five toes into a space that is one-third the width of five toes. Second, if a visitor who is wondering if he or she has on the ‘right clothes’ for our church catches a glimpse of my tennis shoes, then hopefully there will be a sigh of relief indicating that all are welcome here regardless of the outward appearance. We are concerned with inward and spiritual things.
A few Christmases ago, I received the most romantic gift I have ever received from my precious husband. Brad knows not to buy me jewelry or fancy clothes or spa day gift certificates. That is just not me. On Christmas morning, there were four wrapped boxes – all the same size and weight (yes, I had shaken the boxes). I opened the first box: a pair of white Converse. The second box was a pair of green Converse. I thought, ‘what in the world? I only wear black.’ In the third box, was purple. And then I knew the last box would be a red pair of Chuck Taylors. My sweet husband had purchased “Sunday shoes” for me; one for each liturgical color. Green for Epiphany; purple for Advent and Lent; Pentecost is red; and, of course, white for Easter and Christmas.
Don’t worry, Grandmama Leah. I hear you. I will always wear the black pumps for funerals and weddings. I get it.
See you Sunday … I will be looking into your eyes and heart – and not at what you’ve got on!
-Catherine
Rev. Catherine Nance is the senior pastor at Church Street.
Weekly Prayer – February 9, 2022
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Week of February 9, 2022
Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
Tree of Life, thank you for rooting yourself within us. Though we may flirt with other codes and ideologies, chasing after hollow promises, seeking easier avenues of faith, we always return to you, our Holy Center. We honor you for your guidance that is unchanging, for your ancient promise that we have stood the test of time, for the saints whose lives have helped shape our own. Even here in the deep midwinter, we feel your divine energy surging through us. Hold us upright and steady, Lord, that we might resist the gusts of fear that drive us to doubt.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Forgive us, Empowering One, for our mulish ways. It is by your own strength embedded within us that we are able to accept the changes you offer; therefore, open the doors that have remained closed because of our stale routines and our old habits of eschewing the route to authentic growth. We confess we so often take the convenient path. Give us the wisdom to open your doorway of renewal, we pray, for you have graced us with spiritual gifts to carry out your dreams for your church and your people. Our passage may not be free of difficulties, but we remember that, though you are the same from age to age, you are also our Source who ever invites us into the fresh and new.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We remember, Holy One, that our names are written in the palm of your hand. What joy to know that the Lord of the Universe will never forget us! We are counted among the saints! Indeed, it is a mystery too deep to fathom, yet one which calls us to keep you at the center of our being. In the solitude of these moments, we pause to thank you for our very lives . . . . . . . . . . Glory to the One who has plans and dreams for us, who calls us blessed, and who catches us when we fall!
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Heart of Hope, you know every thought of every soul; therefore we need not list all the details of our joys and our cares. Still, we whisper our most private petitions today in the silence of our hearts: . . . . . . . . . . ; and also turn to you with these sentiments offered by our church family. May your gentleness enfold us all:
May our prayers be acceptable in your sight, and may our lives proclaim the changeless love of our Living Lord. In Christ’s name we make our prayer:
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.
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Weekly Prayer – February 2, 2022
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Week of February 2, 2022
Rev. Pat Clendenen
Loving and gracious God, in the quietness of these moments, speak to our hearts. We come to your house each week to offer our praise and thanksgiving with our words, our songs, our acts of commitment, and affirmations of faith. We long to know you completely and fully; and yet, we live in a world that pulls us in so many directions, distracting us from our purpose as the Body of Christ. Even this day we remember all our fancy words and acts of service mean nothing if they are not infused and undergirded with love, the kind of love you revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
Wise and loving God, you have woven your creation together, using your relationship with us and ours with each other to give rich, intricate, and diverse patterns to all of life. We give thanks that you have created us for community, calling us into relationship with one another. Forgive us for our internal conflict, and for our inability at times to see beyond ourselves. Teach us to love one another, even when we disagree, and to pour our energy into seeking understanding so that we may work toward the good of all your creation.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
Lord, you call caregivers to serve, and you give gifts to make their service possible. We thank you today for the willing and gifted hands and hearts in our Stephen Ministry. Thank you for our Stephen Leaders, who gladly serve to keep our Stephen Ministry flourishing. Thank you for our Stephen Ministers, who faithfully meet with their care receivers, extending the care of Christ to those who need it most. Thank you also for the support of our pastors and staff, and for all those who keep this ministry growing in our congregation.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
And because you have blessed our community here at Church Street, we who depend upon your love, mercy, and grace bring to you these prayers offered by our brothers and sisters in Christ:
We are truly blessed as a congregation to have a multi-layered system of care, making it possible to serve the needs of all people. We give you thanks for the vision and wisdom of those who breathed life into each of these ministries – Congregational Care, Parish Health Team, and Benevolence Team – and for all who continue to make these ministries a vital part of our mission. May we never become complacent, thinking there is no need to expand our understandings of your longings for your creation. Surprise us with new visions, and give us the courage to follow the path you set before us, trusting that Christ is alive and goes before us to show and share what love can do.
God of love and God of power, all our lives belong to you.
Remind us, O God, that, as we move in the world, though scattered, we remain the Church, the Body of Christ in action. Let us be workers together with you, performing deeds of mercy and kindness, and giving evidence of Christ’s love in all that we do, for it is in his name that we offer our prayer…….
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.
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February Youth Update
YouthShrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner
We are having a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner TOMORROW, March 1 from 6:00-7:30 in the youth area. Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent begins on March 2, so we will celebrate and enjoy God’s blessings in our lives before we move into a season of preparation and stillness. Register at the link below!
Shrove Tuesday Sign-Up
Ash Wednesday
Senior Info
Recently, an email went out with all the upcoming senior info including important dates, links to the scholarship applications, and info about Senior Sunday. If you missed it, click the link below.
Senior Info Email
This Week…
Weekly Prayer – January 26, 2022
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Week of January 26, 2022
Rev. Catherine Nance
Loving and gracious God – we come today in praise and thanksgiving for you – the creator all good things. We remember that when you spoke the earth into being, you declared it good. As we stand on your earth and look up to the heavens and peer over vast waters and dig in the earth may we join in the chorus of, “It is good!” O God forgive us when we treat creation – your creation – as something disposable for our use. We confess we forget you called us to be stewards and not simply users of water, air, land, and space. Stir up in us a new commitment to work together to care about creation as an extension of our own bodies.
God of all creation, make us one in the body of Christ.
O God who knit us together in our mother’s wombs, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Forgive us when we turn to advertisers and celebrities for images of what we should look like. Forgive us when we are ashamed of our bodies; instead, may we take care of ourselves and know that you desire good health for all people. Give us a new vocabulary of wholeness and beauty; forgive us when we describe ourselves or others solely in terms of how we look or how we do not measure up. May we see each other’s bodies as sacred gifts and honor one another with respect, for you have created us in your image. May we see your grace in each other.
God of all creation, make us one in the body of Christ.
We thank you for the gift of your church and all the different ways the body of Church Street expresses itself. In each church there are members working together to proclaim your reconciling word and do your reconciling word; therefore we pray for all churches in our city and for all United Methodist churches, that our hearts may remain in communion with all, that that our voices might truly be pleasing to you as one song.
God of all creation, make us one in the body of Christ.
God of All Creation, we feel you moving within us and around us, opening doors, tending us in our woundedness, and binding us together in love. In that spirit of togetherness, we lay before you the most recent celebrations and concerns of our community of faith. As you wish the best for us, we leave all in your caring hands:
We offer this prayer in a spirit of unity – acknowledging that we all have differences that you call good, and that your love draws us into one spirit and one purpose. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ whose life, death, and resurrection makes us one and who taught us to pray…
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.
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Weekly Prayer – January 19, 2022
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Week of January 19, 2022
Rev. Tim Best
Gracious Lord, this week we remember the life and legacy of your servant, Rev. Dr. King, praying that your Spirit would continue to teach us the ways of peace. When we encounter hate; grant us the gift of love. Help us to recognize injustice in our world, our communities, and within our own hearts. Indeed, “even when pressed by the demands of inner truth” we struggle to oppose the status quo. Our own spirits may falter, and so we pray that you would give us wisdom and courage.
God of many gifts, make us one in your Spirit.
Lord of power and might, we recognize that power is a gift. With power we can create, make, imagine, and shape. We acknowledge that power is a gift that has been so often twisted, corrupted, and misused. We pray today for those who hold power and those who feel powerless. We give thanks for those leaders and servants who helped to safely recover all who were held hostage in Colleyville, Texas. Make us mindful of the power we hold in our communities and in the lives of others. As Jesus used his power to reconcile, teach, and to love, speak to those who hold authority in our world that they might use their power in the pattern of Christ.
God of many gifts, make us one in your Spirit.
Lord, you gifted your apostles with gifts to heal and make whole. As our world finds itself again in the grip of another pandemic wave, we pray for all those who are sick. We pray for not just those with Covid, but those with cancer, those chronic illness, and those that have mental illness. Grant us compassion to care for those in need. Give us the resolve to tend the suffering of others. Give us confidence in the power of Jesus, the great physician, and in his victory of all death and sickness.
God of many gifts, make us one in your Spirit.
God of Hope and Healing, you have called our church family together in your Spirit, that we might walk together in all seasons of life; therefore, receive these expressions of both joy and suffering from your people of Church Street. May our prayers strengthen our bond with one another and with our Lord:
Lord Jesus, we praise you for the gift of your blessed church. We confess that often the church has fallen short and not lived up to the calling you have given. Yet, we know that through your faithfulness we see your love for all the world. Grant us, the people called to from many peoples and places, to be unified in our mission and ministry as the church. Empower your people that the church may be a gift for the world and a sign of your love and justice even in the midst of darkness.
God of many gifts, make us one in your Spirit.
Join our prayers with those of the saints and all the company of heaven as we offer that prayer taught to us by Jesus our Lord, the giver of every good gift, praying:
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.
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Weekly Prayer – January 12, 2022
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Week of January 12, 2022
Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
Welcoming One, we can imagine you now in our mind’s eye, with your arms outstretched, bidding us draw close. You must know quite well how overwhelmed and vulnerable we feel. The pandemic continues to unfold around the globe and the media churns out unrelenting stories of instability and discontent. Even though your mercies have brought us through more than a year of dread, we are still rattled. We peer out the window at the same world, yet it seems a strangely unfamiliar place. Ah, but then our eyes fix on those stately trees that have withstood both storm and drought, as if they possessed some secret power. It is no secret, though, for far beneath their leafy grandeur and textured skin breathes a labyrinth of roots, a network securely embedded deep within the earth. Tighten our hold on you, O Faith that Never Fails, that we might also withstand the torrents of the time in which we live. Make our grasp firm and stable, we pray, till we also stand as resilient witnesses of our faith in you.
Welcoming God, we praise you.
In your mercy and wisdom, you have held the life of this world as a parent holds a beloved child, always wishing the best for us; indeed, it was you who formed us and the earth which nourishes and sustains us. By calling us into a community of believers, and by endowing us with talents for building up your kingdom, you have multiplied and extended our own strength. Help us acknowledge the gifts you have planted within us, Lord, that we might labor together for your purpose and your glory always.
Empowering God, we praise you.
How grateful we remain for the hearts infused by love that are beating every day throughout the world, near and far. We gaze in wonder at those who face real dangers in taking your word to forgotten territories, who tenderly care for the ill and the dying, for those who live sacrificially that others may have their needs met, for those who stand true to your calling. They are as trees in our midst, whose roots hold steady and whose acts rise ever heavenward. We thank you for these noble disciples who live out their faith in such varied, but mostly unheralded ways.
Calling and Confirming God, we praise you.
And as Jesus always reminded us of your loving concern, on behalf of your people in our church family, we extend these praises and prayers:
Caring God, hear our prayer.
Keeper of All Our Hours, thank you for receiving our prayers and for forgiving us when we fail to notice the ways you are moving in our world. We confess that we do quake when bad new spins, though your grace remains sufficient. May the blessings you have brought us come to mind even before our heads rest upon our pillows this night. And then, may our eyes be opened in new ways tomorrow, that we might behold your stirring around us and within us. In the name of the One who remains our refuge in every era, we offer these prayers:
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.
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