Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of March 13, 2024
Written by Steve Richardson
God of all creation, God in heaven and in our midst, God of grace and love, we humbly ask you to hear our prayers.
Thank you for the majesty of the spinning Earth and the changing seasons. Thank you for the emerging signs of springtime that hearten our senses ever more frequently. Thank you for the beauty of nature dispersed all around us in this region where we live. Although we know there are other areas around the globe just as delightful as ours, we still feel blessed to call this space our home. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Thank you for your grace and mercy, even when we don’t deserve either. Thank you for sending Jesus the Christ who continues to point us to paths of righteous living, paths of justice, paths of love, paths of hope and confidence, paths of transformation, and paths of eternal life. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to journey with us on those paths every day. Thank you for your constant presence, even when we may not always realize it. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Thank you for daily moments of joy, as well as memories of joy. These are gifts that help sustain us amid the difficulties we face. Thank you for your holy scripture that reminds us many, many times to “fear not” as you surround us with hope and love. Thank you for church and connections that provide ties that bind us in mutual support. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Thank you for minds that can imagine, dream and hope; minds that can reason and solve problems; and minds that can share empathy and compassion with others who grieve and feel despair. Thank you for never abandoning us. Thank you for your Word and your Light. Thank you for the wisdom of Biblical writers, teachers, commentators and scholars. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Yet even with these many blessings and countless others (plus blessings that undergird us but escape our awareness!), we still seek your help and direction. There are circumstances and challenges beyond the abilities of humankind. So we humbly pray to you, Lord, for your sacred omnipotence to bring your creation to its ultimate wholeness. And to you, God, with all praise and glory, we pray that you hear these needs and prayers of others in our church community; and that you surround each person with your loving embrace and comfort…
We pray for ….
- Family members grieving the loss of a beloved mother
- A mother in the hospital
- A newborn who had procedure done recently; prayers for healthy days ahead!
- A mother grieving the death of her son by suicide; Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer!
- A man in our community whose brother has been missing
- One who is looking for safe housing and meaningful work
- A recent widow and her day-to-day coping
We give thanks for ….
- Acceptance letters from colleges and post-high school programs
- Faithful volunteers who come to soup kitchen week after week
- A good job interview; praying I will find the right job.
- A good time away with family over spring break; praying that the rest of the school year will be positive for my children
- Our country and its freedoms
We continue to pray for ……
- A grandmother who has been diagnosed with multiple cancers; prayers for discernment in next steps for treatment
- A member who has moved to skilled nursing care and rehab after a stroke
- A dear friend who was so active and now unable to walk
- A woman seeking employment that will bring her joy and will help her family
- The health of a newborn; may parents make good decisions
- One is traveling overseas for school
- For children who are adjusting to life after the sudden death of their mother
- Victims of Israeli-Hamas war
- Loved ones who are transitioning from ‘home alone’ to ‘assisted living’
- Caregivers who feel they are alone.
- Those whose grief is deep
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.
A Time of Introspection
Featured, lentLent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
By David Lineberger
A Time of Introspection
Read: Jeremiah 29:11
“Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
The first time I remember hearing about Lent I was amazed that there was a religious time to concentrate on belly button dust. Of course, I was 8 years old at the time. Later, I was curious to learn that this was not a celebration like Christmas or Easter, but something very personal and introspective, and that it was different for every person.
Historically, new Christians were baptized and confirmed at Easter. Leading up to that was a period of preparation centering around your relationship with God, how you were living your own life, and how you were sharing God’s love with those less fortunate. Doing these things gave you a renewed perspective of your faith and an appreciation of God’s love.
Today, we use the season of Lent to emphasize these same spiritual ideas. To focus on how important various things are in your life, imagine a blank piece of paper. Imagine there is a circle in the center of the page with your name on it. Now place things or people that are most important to you nearest the circle in the center. Continue with other less important parts of your life and place them farther from the center, depending on their importance to you. Once this is complete, put God where He belongs in your life, being honest and not where He should be, but is in reality. This mental exercise should give you a picture of your life currently, and how important God is to you. Do you see anything that should change? Does God deserve better?
Now look at the paper and ask yourself how many of the items nearest you reflect selfishness or greed, or harm to yourself or others. Are there items that should move away from you in the center, or items near the edge of the paper that belong nearer the center?
And last, realize how many of your items focus on the needy or those who are desperate for help from those more fortunate. How close are they to the center of the page? How much are you sharing God’s blessings and love with others?
In doing these things, Lent can become a personal celebration of your faith in God and a renewal of what it means to be His disciple. Lent can also be a time of a renewed appreciation of His greatest gift to all of us. What could be better than making our lives all about sharing His love instead of all about ourselves?
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, forgive our selfishness and greed, our tendency to exclude you from our lives, and our willingness to look the other way when needs of others cross our path. Help us to see You in others, and help to show You to others! In the name of your precious Son I pray, Amen.
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Go. And Do.
Featured, lentLent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
By Steve Richardson
Go. And Do.
Read: Luke 10:29-37
“Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
These days, with all the turmoil happening across the world, there are times I just want to hunker down and hide inside a bubble. Everything seems safer that way.
But when looking at Biblical examples of Jesus, Paul, Peter and other God-led role models, self-preservation was nowhere near the top of their lists of priorities. In fact, self-preservation wasn’t even on their lists at all.
Maybe it’s amid social and cultural commotion that God looks to us to contend with it, and to use such times as opportunities to be God’s agents for peacemaking, advancing justice and building community.
At crossroads of hesitancy in my life, sometimes I’ve been nudged by a snippet of wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas: “If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.” Like ships are made for sailing, we as God’s people need to be out in the tumultuous world sharing and living lives reflective of God’s grace and love.
Granted, Lent is a time for introspection and reflection. This might imply that Lent is a time to pause or retreat, to moor our ship in a sheltered harbor for a few weeks. Likely, though, the full richness of the transformational power of Lent can be best realized when we augment the season by applying our resources and talents to building God’s kingdom, by giving of ourselves to God’s work, by venturing out into a troubled world with acts of kindness, mercy and justice.
Prayer
God of fervor, God of opportunities, forgive our hesitancies to respond when action is needed, especially in service to others. Instill in us a passion for going and doing in Jesus’ name. Call us and use us to be conveyors of your Holy Spirit throughout all your creation, especially when everything seems turned upside-down! Amen.
Have a Prayer Request?
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The Presence of God
Featured, lentLent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Monday, March 25, 2024
By Laura Still
The Presence of God
Read: Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths you are there. If I take the wings of the morning, if I fly to the furthermost depths of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,” even then the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Lent is traditionally viewed as a time a self-denial, as a time when we focus on the dark side of ourselves and try to improve our faith practices through exercises in self-discipline, fasting, study and prayer. It is a time we are meant to move closer to God, but another way to improve our relationship with our Lord is to seek joy—the joy of being loved by God.
One of the joyful things about teaching children is the questions they ask, even the ones that are meant to sidetrack the lesson plan. In a recent discussion of our lesson, which was about the baptism of Jesus, the kids managed to turn the conversation to the omnipresence of God—not that they used that particular phrase. They wanted to know, if God was everywhere, was He here in the room? Was He also out in the hallway? Could He be in the closet? Or in the trash can even? I replied ‘Yes’ to every question, and seeing a certain look in some of their eyes, I went on to say, “I don’t care where you are thinking of, no matter how weird or inappropriate you think it is, God is there. There is no place you can go that God cannot be. He is everywhere, because nothing is impossible for God.”
After that I managed to get them back to our lesson, but their questions are never unwelcome. They always give me the feeling that God wants me to think about something, because I hear echoes of these questions as I go through the week, remembering times I have felt distant from God’s presence, when I have tried to hide myself in the darkness, and forget that God is with me no matter how lonely or confused I am feeling. Whatever is troubling me, God is listening and present, constant and steadfast in his love. I may not see a dove descending or hear a voice from the heavens, but I do hear God speaking in the voices of the children, reminding me I too am his beloved child.
Prayer
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Amen. (Psalm 139:23-24)
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Look Around
Featured, lentLent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Sunday, March 24, 2024
By Rev. Tim Best, Senior Associate Pastor
Look Around
Read: Mark 11:1-11
“The king shall come when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills and life to joy awakes.
And let the endless bliss begin by weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong and truth shall be extolled.”
“Morning Song,” a hymn by John Brownlie, 1907
My first memory of attending a parade was the annual “Jubilee” in mid July in my hometown. I remember the convertibles and the fire trucks filled with smiling people throwing candy. It was a celebration!
That’s what parades are supposed to be all about. Palm Sunday begins with a celebratory parade. Once Jesus arrives in the heart of the city he goes to the temple. While there, Mark tells us he “looked around.” Every Palm Sunday we focus upon the grand entrance into Jerusalem. We dress our children up and give them palm branches, and sometimes tambourines, and have them march around the church. We shout “Hosanna” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Do we look around? As we begin this Holy Week let us take time. Let us look around. We look at the story of each day of this week. We look at the ways Christ’s Lordship seeks to transform and renew our lives. When Christ looks around your life, what does he see? When you look around our church, what, and who, do you see? Keep your eyes open this week. Look around and see where it is that God is leading.
Prayer
Gracious and loving Lord, as you journeyed to the temple, journey with us this week. Open our eyes and our hearts that we can see and hear where you are speaking and leading in our lives. Give us the courage to follow you through this week and show us how to live with the same love, humility, and compassion that you displayed in your trial and passion. Amen.
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Weekly Prayer – March 20, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of March 20, 2024
Written by Rev. Catherine Nance
O God of evening, many of us are coming to you now ready for a good night’s sleep. We look back over the day and offer gratitude for the ways you have shown your love and grace to us. But you know, O God of nighttime, that there are those of us who dread the night for we have trouble sleeping. There is much on our mind. We want to ‘find our rest in you,’ but our minds will not turn off.
Soothe our spirits O God, give us a sense of trust that you are with us. You neither slumber nor sleep and you will watch over us. We pray for mothers and fathers who watch their children sleep, worried about their future. We pray for children who hope their aging parents can sleep well; storing up energy for the next day’s medical appointments and errands. Our minds wander to the day’s news and when we close our eyes we see images from around the world. How can we rest?
Breathe on us, O Breath of God. Help us to see and to receive the nighttime as a gift. Please help our minds and souls to rest. You have created in us in such a way that our bodies and spirits need rest. Help us to see this as a gift and not an escape or a hurdle to overcome.
May we truly find our rest in you.
We pray for those who are too weary to pray. We pray for those who do not know how to pray. And we pray for those who do not know the solace that comes from communing with you. We know you hear all the sighs and the groans and the silence and receive them as prayer.
Bless you, O God of evening.
Tomorrow may we rise singing, “Morning by morning new mercies I see!”
And now, in an act of covenant love with our church family, we pray for these individuals and families who have asked for prayer …
We pray for ….
We continue to pray for ….
We give thanks 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.
March Update
YouthSunday Schedule:
Worship – 8:30AM & 11:00AM
Sunday school – 9:45-10:45AM
NightLife – 5:00-7:00PM ($5 dinner)
At a glance…
Modified NightLife Schedule
Thursday, March 28 ~ Maundy Thursday
7 p.m. in the Nave and online
Friday, March 29 ~ Good Friday
12 p.m. in the Nave and 7 p.m. online
Sunday, March 31 ~ Easter Sunday
Sunrise: Courtyard facing Henley Street (breakfast to follow in Parish Hall)
8:30 & 11 a.m.: Parish Adult Choir and the Tennessee Brass, Nave
11 a.m.: Online at www.youtube.com/churchstreetumc
Follow us on Facebook & Instagram for more ways to prepare for Easter. Social links are below!
Senior Info
Attention all Graduating Seniors! We have lots of information for you about the season ahead. We want to honor and celebrate you. So, please fill out our Senior Info form, apply for Scholarships, and mark your calendar to lead worship on May 12!
Senior Info Due Date: March 24 (this Sunday!)
Application Due Date: April 7
Senior Info Form
College Scholarships
Great Day of Service
Every year, Church Street organizes the Missions Day of Service and this year, we’ve partnered with other Knoxville churches to pull off a GREAT Day of Service on April 6!
This collective effort will be kick-off at Church Street in Downtown Knoxville and projects vary based on your interest, availability, age, and location. There’s plenty room and opportunities for you to join this ecumenical effort!
Click the link below to learn more about our service opportunities and to register!
Great Day of Service Info
Summer Newsletter
Summer is just around the corner! We’d love for you to join us for all our summer programming. Use the link below to check out our newsletter and register.
Operation Backyard – June 28-29
Ocoee Rafting – June 30
MAD in the City – July 7-11
Smokies Game – July 28
Summer Info
Youth Ministry Meals
Each Sunday, we serve our students breakfast and dinner. We ask families to volunteer to help make these meals happen! The sign-ups are below. If every family signs up for one breakfast and one dinner each, we will have nearly every week covered!
Sunday School Breakfasts
NightLife Dinners
Have you viewed our page on Church Street’s website? Check it out!
Jenny Cross, Youth Director
jcross@churchstreetumc.org
Bread for Life, Bread of Life
Featured, lentLent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Sunday, March 17, 2024
By Suzanne Matheny
Bread for Life, Bread of Life
Read: 1 John 3:17-18 (NRSV)
“How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
I grew up next door to my beloved grandfather, enjoying the bounty from his vegetable gardens, fruit trees and chickens. Our meals were satisfying and are a favorite today. Gratefully, I have never known hunger. However, our world is in a global crisis with 828 million people (10% of world population) going to bed hungry, accompanied by death rates exceeding those from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Fortunately, there are programs, such as United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) or Feeding America, to address these issues.* Yet as I reflect, my wealth of food juxtaposed to this reality is sobering. How can I help?
God commands us to feed the hungry. Jesus demonstrated that when he fed the hungry crowd (miracle of 5 loaves and 2 fishes). Subsequently, Jesus included spiritual sustenance. (“I am the Bread of Life.”) Centuries later, Ghandi said, “There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of food.” How best, then, do I/we deliver God’s love in the form of life-sustaining food that also opens the door to the light of the Bread of Life?
Prayer
Merciful God, we are blessed with well-stocked grocery stores and meals set before us. As we receive this nourishment, deepen our awareness and compassion for those who suffer from hunger. Increase our understanding of the circumstances. Use our minds and bodies to work for remedies where we can. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
*UMCOR: https://umcmission.org/advance-project/982920/
*Feeding America: https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america
Have a Prayer Request?
Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.
Weekly Prayer – March 13, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of March 13, 2024
Written by Steve Richardson
God of all creation, God in heaven and in our midst, God of grace and love, we humbly ask you to hear our prayers.
Thank you for the majesty of the spinning Earth and the changing seasons. Thank you for the emerging signs of springtime that hearten our senses ever more frequently. Thank you for the beauty of nature dispersed all around us in this region where we live. Although we know there are other areas around the globe just as delightful as ours, we still feel blessed to call this space our home. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Thank you for your grace and mercy, even when we don’t deserve either. Thank you for sending Jesus the Christ who continues to point us to paths of righteous living, paths of justice, paths of love, paths of hope and confidence, paths of transformation, and paths of eternal life. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to journey with us on those paths every day. Thank you for your constant presence, even when we may not always realize it. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Thank you for daily moments of joy, as well as memories of joy. These are gifts that help sustain us amid the difficulties we face. Thank you for your holy scripture that reminds us many, many times to “fear not” as you surround us with hope and love. Thank you for church and connections that provide ties that bind us in mutual support. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Thank you for minds that can imagine, dream and hope; minds that can reason and solve problems; and minds that can share empathy and compassion with others who grieve and feel despair. Thank you for never abandoning us. Thank you for your Word and your Light. Thank you for the wisdom of Biblical writers, teachers, commentators and scholars. To you, God, all praise and glory.
Yet even with these many blessings and countless others (plus blessings that undergird us but escape our awareness!), we still seek your help and direction. There are circumstances and challenges beyond the abilities of humankind. So we humbly pray to you, Lord, for your sacred omnipotence to bring your creation to its ultimate wholeness. And to you, God, with all praise and glory, we pray that you hear these needs and prayers of others in our church community; and that you surround each person with your loving embrace and comfort…
We pray for ….
We give thanks for ….
We continue to pray 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.
Boon Companions
Featured, lentLent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Sunday, March 10, 2024
By Dan Kelley
Boon Companions
Read: Matthew 25:21
One summer in the early 2000s my wife Julia and I toured Civil War battlefields of the Western Theatre. We had started in Chattanooga at the Chickamauga Battlefield and were heading toward Florence, Alabama on US highway 72 to see Brice Cross Roads and Shiloh Battlefields. Just west of Tuscumbia we saw a large green highway sign that read “Key Underwood Memorial Coon Dog Cemetery”. We had to see that. So we turned onto Alabama 247 and went 12 miles to Coon Dog Cemetery Road.
There among the dusty redtop Freedom Hills was a small green oasis that used to be a hunting camp. We were greeted by a tall stone column of two coon dogs treeing a raccoon. We learned that Key Underwood had loved hunting in these woods with his dog Troop. When Troop had died in 1937, Key had buried him here as a memorial to their 15 years together. He placed an old chimney stone on the grave on which he scratched “Troop was a joy to hunt with”. Other bereaved hunters followed his example, when their beloved dogs died, to bury them and mark their graves.
There were over 300 dogs buried there. To qualify they needed to be AKC recognized breeds; Redbones, Black and Tans, English Blueticks or Redticks, or Treeing Walkers. Or they needed to be Southern hunting hounds; Black Mouth Curs, Plott Hounds, Catahoulas, or Mountain Curs. And they had to have 3 witnesses that had seen them tree a coon singularly. They were not just any dogs but coon dogs. working dogs who were varmint hunters and protectors of crops and livelihoods. No poodles or lapdogs.
Many had marble or limestone headstones that were professionally carved. They listed their AKC or UKC registration and the trophies they won. Some were local champions, some were State Champions, some were National Champions, and a few were World Champions at their craft. Famous Amos was buried there. He was Ralston Purina’s “Dog of the Year” in 1984.
While the marble headstones show the pride of the owners, the metal markers that had welded messages or the wooden markers that had wood burned messages showed the love and companionship that was shared by the hunter and his dog. One of my favorite was a 4 x 4 post with a dog collar and tag nailed to it. It said, “Old Blue, he weren’t the best but he was the best I ever had”.
Key Underwood reminded me of all the companions that had helped me on my spiritual journey; those who had taught me, encouraged me, and worked with me. Not all were champions but all were of a recognizable breed: loving, compassionate, and full of the Holy Spirit. And there were at least three witnesses to their ability to keep sin at bay.
In this Lenten season, as we remember what Our Lord and Savior has already done for us, let us remember those that have helped us on our way learning to follow His example.
Prayer
Dear Lord of Mercy Divine, Thank for your sacrifice, for sending your Holy Spirit to us, and for the many faithful companions you have placed in our lives to help us return to you. Help us to be good companions to others of your children that we may help them on their journey home. Amen.
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Weekly Prayer – March 6, 2024
Featured, prayer for todayWeekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of March 6, 2024
Written by Rev. Catherine Nance
Honestly God, it has been a dreary day.
We know we are supposed to give thanks in all things, but we let the gray sky and the rain and the humidity bring us down.
We say things like, “Now, I have to change shoes. These got all wet.”
Forgive us, O God of Sunshine and Rain. As we mutter under our breath that we left our other umbrella in the office and our new one is at home, make us pause to give thanks that we have two umbrellas. Forgive us when we forget we have a choice of clothing and can dress in layers. We complain when we have to de-layer; forgive us.
Move us beyond ourselves, O Lord.
We pause now, embarrassed by our pettiness, and offer thanks to you. We are grateful for all that we have. We are grateful for the options that most of us have. When an activity is rained out, we have a dry place to go. Forgive us for grumbling.
Now that we have our good sense about us O God, we do give you thanks for this day. We have had enough to eat, we have stayed mostly dry and warm, and we have a safe place to sleep tonight. We thank you for the people we have encountered today; some strangers and some family. People who were kind to us and people who took time for us.
Before we call it a day, be with us O God, as we remember the conversations and the interactions that were meaningful. We include you in these remembrances knowing that your spirit is always present. Thank you for your blessings.
Before we pray for those near and dear to us, we think about your world. We cannot imagine what a rainy day is like in Gaza or Odesa. We simply open our heart right now and know that you hear the prayers of people all over the world. Through the power of your holy spirit, as we pray for people we know and love, may we feel a connection to all people who call out to you.
Lord, we thank you for the rain. We thank you hearing our prayers. We offer now the prayer requests from our congregation ….
We pray for ….
We continue to pray 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.