Compassion to Serve

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Tuesday, March 9

By Louise Zirkle, March 19, 1979

Compassion to Serve

Read: Matthew 25:40

      “Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Leviticus 19:18

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

These words mean much to me because they epitomize the Christian obligation to reach out in sympathy and compassion to serve one’s fellowman.

Our Christian compassion and service to others is a direct obligation stemming from the two great commandments to love God supremely and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Our place in the kingdom of God at all times depends on our caring and outgoing concern for those in need. No matter whether it be to feed the hungry or minister to the sick, this we should do in Christ’s name.

Recently, the Lord gave me an opportunity to serve Him when I offered a poor and very ill woman a ride as she prepared to call a taxi to take her home from a doctor’s office. I just happened to be walking by the telephone booth at that time. I knew she couldn’t afford a taxi and I could see she was ill. Something made me turn around and offer to take her home. Looking at me with almost disbelief, she willingly accepted the ride. Upon arriving at her home, which was several miles away, she asked me what she owed me. I assured her that she owed me nothing and that it was my pleasure to bring her home. With tears in her eyes and with a grateful heart, she smiled and said, “God bless you!” What more reward could anyone want! I drove away feeling ten feet tall and praising the Lord for letting me serve Him this way. What I had done seemed so little and yet it meant so much to this stranger in need.

Prayer

Help us, our Father, not only in this Lenten season, but always, to see that there are lonely hearts to cherish and people to help as the days go by, and make us ever mindful of the needs of others. Amen.

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Evening Prayer – March 8

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

March 8, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

We lift our evening song to you, Creator of the Day and the Night. The voice of spring is thick in the air and you are busy planting seeds of hope and joy. You are providing all the elements that could bring reality all that you envision for us.  Give us the prudence to treasure these lengthening days you are bringing, to use them to ponder our relationship with you, to travel that extra mile to meet you afresh as Easter approaches. On that blessed day may we be found worthy to dance in the light of your grace.

It remains a holy mystery that your Son chose to share our lives, opting to reside among us in the everydayness of our existence, to suffer rejection and brokenness that we might become whole. Such outpouring we may never fully understand, yet we remember Jesus’ humility and service, and long to be counted among those who carry his legacy of selfless love. So much of the time we fail in our commitment, but we hold onto the certainty that you have planted seeds of compassion deep within us; and you use even our the tiniest of sprouts to help heal our hurting world.

Aware of your mercy and in awe of your grace, we kneel in gratitude for all the ways you continue to bless us, Gracious One, especially in these particular ways . . . . . . . . . . and also offer these prayers from the hearts of your people of Church Street:

  • Thankful for prayers: Chemo treatments going well
  • Thanksgiving: Colleague’s whipple surgery was successful
  • Grateful for prayers: Sister-in-law’s cancer prognosis is promising
  • Gratitude: Young mother home from the hospital
  • Prayers appreciated: Delicate cancer surgery was successful
  • Six offer thanks for church’s help in securing vaccine
  • Comfort for family who lost a loved one to COVID last week
  • Continued prayers for two recovering from risky surgery
  • Beloved mother with declining mental capacity
  • Easing anxiety of new mother-to-be
  • Stamina for husband continuing cancer treatments
  • Courage for 5 year old with head injury and family as they care for him
  • Prayers for two friends awaiting biopsy reports
  • Healing for 6-year-old niece having seizures
  • Comfort and healing for husband with breathing problems
  • Sister struggling with memory problems
  • Two mourning the end of important relationships
  • Member awaiting PET scan and news of treatment
  • Cherished mother in hospice care

Make a place for us, and all whom we love, this night in your haven of rest, where you cradle all who are worn and weary. We leave our cares in your hands, Tender Keeper, assured that your touch will bring wholeness in time to come.

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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How Far Does Our Love Go?

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Monday, March 8

By Martha Holt, April 9, 1979

How Far Does Our Love Go?

Read: Matthew 7:24

Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever beareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock . . .”

Easter reminds us how far love will go for the beloved. What response will we make to Love Himself?

We read in the Gospels of Jesus Christ’s ministry of healing; of teaching men how to live a satisfying life; of forgiveness; of reclaiming those who had been given up by others as beyond redemption. What an example of love in action!

He said that those who had seen Him had seen God, and thus from His life we know the character of His Father.

What a mind-boggling thought that His Father would allow Him to give His life for creatures as undeserving and as wayward as ourselves!

What an inspiring and humbling thought that Jesus Christ would care enough about us to carry out His Father’s will to save us!

After such a sacrifice it is inconceivable that we do not praise the Lord continuously, and in responsive love obey Him continually, trusting Him explicitly in all things.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, in this Easter season let us begin to “know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly” by faithfully studying our Bibles and conversing with you daily as a first object in our lives. In Jesus’ name we ask this. Amen.

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Tuned to Receive

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, March 7, Evening

By Nelle Kroll, March 22, 1976

Tuned to Receive

Read Psalm 46:10-11

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

As a member of the Radio Amateur Service, I’ve become especially conscious of the need in this technical area for a good receiver. No matter how great the output of a transmitter, to get the best reception I must have a directional antenna and receiver capable of precise tuning to a frequency which will receive that signal, cutting out as much of the interference as possible.

This has a message for me. There is a constant challenge to receive that distant signal which may be available to me at this instant. And yes, there is a signal there at this very moment! I am the receiver, capable of accurate tuning. I only need to set my senses Godward, attune myself to the proper frequency and “Be still . . .” and listen. He is transmitting. He has given me the license to operate through Jesus Christ and a receiver capable of picking up His most distant signal without interference. My message: Make all of the adjustments to being properly tuned. Be sure you’re on the right Frequency. Sit back and listen. Give Him a call. He is there!

Prayer

Father, help me be still and listen so that I will be attuned to your spiritual messages and can apply them to the forwarding of your kingdom here on earth. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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A Program for Spiritual Growth

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, March 7, Morning

By Col. Joe R. Shepherd, March 2, 1979

A Program for Spiritual Growth

Read Psalm 100:1-5

“My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2

In our world today most of mankind’s endeavors are based on a program of some kind. There are business programs built into elaborate computer systems, athletic programs, and individual success programs. Our church has a program for growth and development which was devised by the Council of Ministries and approved by the Administrative Board. Successful programs are based on goals and objectives supported by well conceived plans and a lot of hard work.

If our goal in life includes a meaningful relationship with GOD, then we would do well to consider a personal program for spiritual growth. For a time, my life was without such a program. Having been born in a Christian family where going to church and reciting our prayers at bedtime was the accepted way of doing things, I felt pretty comfortable about my spiritual situation. However, this changed early in my military career, when I found myself directly responsible for the lives of many other young men who were assigned to military organizations under my command. During critical situations, I found the need for reinforcement from outside my own resources. When I turned to GOD for help there was no meaningful response. My arrangements with Him had been too superficial to support a viable communication relation between us.

With the help of a chaplain friend, I developed a spiritual growth program. The goal of my program was to find a meaningful relationship with GOD. The supporting plans basically consisted of rededication to the Christian principles that I had learned earlier, but had neglected to practice. This was not a story of instant success, however, there was the immediate feeling that this was the right direction and the realization was there that with faith and work, my goal could be reached.

Prayer

Father, we pray that during the Lenten season, many of us will re-evaluate our spiritual lives and consider rededication and renewal programs to strengthen our spiritual growth and development. Amen.

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Help Who You Can

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Saturday, March 6

By Steve Roberts, March 5, 2017

Help Who You Can

Read: Proverbs 1:8-9

Like many fathers, mine shared with me the wisdom of his life hoping it would influence my life. While a natural story teller, or parables in ecumenical terms, the ones I remember were not parables but aphorisms – short, catchy phrases that are easy to remember. I hate to think how many I’ve forgotten; I’m certain the few I remember are the wisest and the ones I’m sure he would have chosen for me to remember. I am also certain that they are his creations and not transgenerational tradition. “You give what you have and you help who you can,” and “Put one foot in front of the other, and if you can’t do that, stand still” immediately come to mind. But the one that seems to be the most thematically theological is “if you have to choose who to save, save the first one you come to.”

I have thought about “save the first one you come to” some over the years but only in the past two or three have I realized that I have heard the same message all of my life. It is the heart of every parable Jesus told, the heart of our faith. He did not decide who was most worthy or had the greatest need. He had no priority list, no minimum qualifications. He “took” everyone. As my father told me, so He told us, “you save the first one you come to.”

Prayer

Creator God, guide us to give what we have and help who we can, right where we are. Amen.

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A Lesson From Seaweeds

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Friday, March 5

By Steve Richardson, March 18, 2018

A Lesson From Seaweeds

Read: Mark 4:30-32

One of my brothers, Joe, is a marine biologist. For as long as I can remember, he’s had a passion for all things marine. One of my earliest memories as a toddler was going with him to “fish” in a tiny run-off creek in our backyard after heavy rains. All we ever caught were leaves, but Joe still deemed it fishing. 

In his teens, Joe discovered the renowned oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Even I was fascinated by the images and films of Cousteau diving among marine life like whales, sharks, dolphins and giant octopi.

When Joe entered graduate school to attain his doctorate at North Carolina, I was certain he, too, would ultimately be diving among the great species of the seas to study their habits.

However, Joe’s dissertation dealt with the life cycles of seaweeds. Seaweed?! To me, that was the most mundane, obscure, seemingly purposeless thing the sea could render.

“Not so,” says Joe. Seaweeds are essential to our oceans’ ecosystems. They’re a food source for many forms of marine life, including fish. They’re hosts and hiding places for protection of other species. Although seaweeds lack the charisma of great sea animals that share the spotlight in documentaries and coffee table books, they serve a grand and important role for all marine life.

Isn’t that similar for all of us as people of God? Even those who our society may label the least, the lowest, the weakest, the obscure – in God’s eyes each of us has purpose, meaning and a role to play. To God, we all have worth and value. To God no one is least or low or weak or obscure.  Rather, we are all vital to the enhancement of God’s creation and kingdom.

Prayer

“God of the sparrow, God of the whale… How does the creature say Awe?” With great gratitude for your grace, we pray you remind us that such grace is unconditional for all people and we pray you grant us the wisdom to share it likewise. Amen.

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Evening Prayer – March 4

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

March 4, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

What gift can we bring: What present or token?

What words can convey it- the joy of this day?

When grateful we come, remembering rejoicing,

What song can we offer in in honor and praise?

(Hymn by Jane Marshall)

In these hours past you spoke not a word, but the day was saturated with your sacred presence. Holy silence sang through tiny buds on nubby branches and happy tufts of green grass, washed clean by recent showers, sunned themselves on the lawn.  Both the delicate blossoms of Lenten roses and the stems of the old yew fluttered when you passed by.  Even now crystal stars are clustering above, a sparkling choir to sing your serenade of rest.  In this ordinary day, you have come to us in extraordinary ways.  Indeed, what song can we offer in honor in praise?

We remain humbled by the endless ways you express your love for us and offer our gratitude for these personal ways you have appeared to us this day . . . . . . . . . . Yet despite your presence and guidance, we feel the sting of the instances when we let you down . . . . . . . . . Sprinkle us with fresh water from your stream of forgiveness, we pray, and remind us that tomorrow is another day, teeming with opportunities to honorably serve the Author of all our Days.

And now, Caring One, we place in your compassionate care these ones whom you love, as they render to you their own thanksgivings and their personal struggles.

Give each a sense of your grace and presence as they face their individual challenges:

  • Gratitude: Two visits with homebound friends
  • Prayers appreciated: A job has opened up
  • Three grateful for church help in securing vaccine
  • Thanksgiving for last week’s successful surgery
  • Young mother released from hospital
  • Prayers for member having delicate surgery Friday and wisdom for his surgeons
  • Healing friend with Covid, on ventilator
  • Easing anxiety of new mother-to-be
  • Colleague recovering from difficult surgery
  • Upholding one with lymphoma
  • Prayers for friend awaiting biopsy report
  • Member with stomach ailment, awaiting pathology report
  • Recovery for friend in ICU with multiple injuries
  • Friend with pancreatic cancer and his caregiver wife
  • Sister struggling with memory problems
  • One grieving the end of a relationship
  • Comfort for one enduring radiation treatment
  • Mother with increasing memory deterioration

Give thanks for tomorrow full of surprises,

For knowing whatever tomorrow may bring,

The Word is our promise always forever.

We rest in God’s keeping and live in God’s love. 

Guardian of our Sleep, grant us a peaceful night, and look with kindness upon all whom we love, for we place our trust in you, Our Keeper, and your Blessed Son who invited 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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Welcome, Friend

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Thursday, March 4

By Ann Jourolmon, February 27, 1978

Welcome, Friend

Read: Romans 15:7 (The Living Bible)

      “So, warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you; then God will be glorified.”

One of the International Sunday School lessons this past fall was based on the above scripture.  The key word is welcome. I thought how true it was that as Paul preached the Good News, always he proclaimed that it was for all. Again and again, he stressed that Christianity had a welcome sign out for every person. Someone has said that for Paul, the Gospel had so changed the world, that all the “Keep Out” signs were replaced by “Welcome” signs.

This reminds me of an incident that happened to my father. When he first built his mountain cabin, he put up a sign, “No Trespassing.” Someone did not like this. He found his sign torn down several times. Finally, he posted a sign: “Private Property – BUT – Welcome, Friend.”

Paul was positive that all the “Keep Out” signs were replaced by “Welcome” when Jesus Christ came to this world. As God welcomes every person through His Son, so we who are His followers must welcome all into the Christian fellowship.

We are told that the word “welcome” is an Old English word, originally spelled “wilcoma.” I suppose that it means well come – it is well that you have come. God says to us, “It is well that you have come to Me, through Christ, your Saviour.” And, in turn, we must say to all who would be a part of the Christian fellowship, “It is well that you have come -WELCOME.”

Prayer

Our Father, may we realize that Thy Son is an inclusive Saviour and that His church must be inclusive, too. Amen.

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Evening Prayer – March 3

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

March 3, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away

through my groaning all day long. . . .   

My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not hide;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;

and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

(Psalm 32:3-5)

Loving Parent, the poet spoke of the need to see ourselves as others see us. But more than that, we long to know how you, Holy One, see us.  As we reflect in evening shadows, we admit we sometimes think too highly of ourselves and act accordingly – lording it over others, pretending we have the solution to every situation. On the other hand, at times we feel we are inept, inadequate, completely unaware of any personal gifts worthy of notice. Surely in your eyes neither of these states is accurate.  Forgive us for both our grandiosity and our wallowing in self-pity. Grant us, Lord, a glimpse of your own perception of us, that we might acknowledge our sin and open ourselves more widely to the Spirit’s working in us and through us.

Enduring Truth, whatever is true in us causes us to see a world that is so in need of healing.  Your love is omniscient, but there are places where your love is invisible.  We know that whole populations are being killed, scattered and enslaved, while few take notice.  Greed has seeped into our relationships with other nations and we step on the backs of the poor to satisfy our personal desires.  Thank you for those who have taken on the brave beauty of your holy work, who tear down the wall between the haves and the have-nots, who labor for those who dream of life outside the ghettos.  May we ever see with the eyes of truth, and pray you would give courage to our convictions, that we might also use our individual gifts to join those who travel your road of justice.  Our steps may be small and sometimes wobbly, but you will show us how to run and not be weary, how to walk and not faint.

By you great mercy, bind our hearts, Lord, with all those who are hurting everywhere.  Freedom is meant to be shared, so let us spend the time you give us to break the bonds that shackle troubled souls. Receive these prayers of thanksgiving for the personal ways you have upheld us . . . . . . . . . . and accept these praises and pleas that are offered by the people of Church Street:

  • Gratitude for prayers: Back pain is easing
  • Thanks for encouraging news regarding financial help
  • Prayers appreciated: Ill member now eligible for vaccine
  • 2 couples thankful for church help obtaining vaccine
  • Thankful: severe headaches have improved
  • Thanksgiving for educators at every level who labor despite the challenges
  • One gives thanks for clear cancer scan
  • Thankful for the Christian witness of longtime cancer sufferer
  • Pray for dear friend in ICU, multiple injuries from car crash
  • Upholding an exhausted caregiver
  • Prayers for one having Whipple surgery Thursday and his surgeons
  • Member having delicate cancer surgery on Friday
  • Easing anxiety of new mother-to-be
  • New mother with high blood pressure
  • Upholding one with lymphoma
  • Friend with pancreatic cancer and his caregiver wife
  • Colleague on ventilator with Covid
  • Mother struggling with family finances
  • One grieving the end of a relationship
  • Comfort for one enduring radiation treatment

We make a pallet beside your own bed this night, Lord, knowing that your deep peace will carry us safely upon the sea of merciful sleep. We will arise with joyful hearts, ready to meet you on the other side of daybreak to continue our service in the name of 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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