Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of May 25, 2022

Rev. Jan Buxton Wade

O Radiant One, the prophets of old spoke of you as the God of Light; and Jesus taught that your shining essence is embedded within each of us. And yet it seems that we have grown comfortable living within the hungry darkness. Will we wait until that somber bear of evil swallows us up before we make changes in our nation? Have we grown so accustomed to violence that we take it in stride, sighing in relief when tragedy strikes outside our personal domain? If this is so, forgive us, Good Lord. As witnesses to such unthinkable suffering, we must not remain silent. Rekindle that beam of the kingdom you planted within us, we pray, that we might dispel all apathy by lifting high your bright banner of healing, wholeness, and peace.   

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Lord, we carry with us those many lives torn apart by calamity, those many faces contorted by grief. Touch each being visited by tragedy in recent weeks, particularly the anguished ones in Uvalde, Texas; the deaths of children rips apart our sense of rightness. We mourn, as well, the innocent victims in Buffalo, NY and their families who have had to release their own loved ones back to your care.  We watch as havoc and murder play on, destroying the lives of the Ukrainian people. Such losses defy logic, and there are no words when loss numbs the soul; still, we believe you hear even the silent laments that scar the hearts of your people. Stay close, we pray, for the tears of your people are flowing.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We turn to you, O Burning Lamp of Hope, knowing that your love is the answer to the pain and sorrow that thrive throughout our world.  We long to be part of your answer, trusting you will give us a portion of your courage, wisdom, and presence to meet that end.  And even as we tremble, enfold us in your strong arms, along with our brothers and sisters in every region who are discounted, oppressed, misunderstood, lonely, hungry, and forgotten.  

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

And as each soul is dear to you, also receive these particular thanksgivings and petitions offered by your followers at Church Street:  

  • Mother much improved after severe traffic accident
  • Family grateful for daughter’s recent celebration of life 
  • Grateful for prayers: Brother’s cancer surgery at Vanderbilt was successful and full recovery is expected
  • Two families express gratitude for safe and restful vacations
  • Praises for our high school graduates
  • Undergraduate grateful for courage to complete his first year of study in another state
  • Wife thankful for husband’s peaceful death and support of church family
  • Thanksgiving: Brother safely moved to rehab center
  • Wife continues to improve following an accident at home
  • Family offers thanks for prayers and concern during a bereavement
  • Decreased pain and continued healing as member recovers from surgery
  • A dear friend with cancer; husband with bouts of depression
  • Guidance for suffering Ukrainians displaced by the war
  • Wisdom for leaders of the free world to help end the war in Ukraine 
  • Grace and guidance for adult son in a toxic work environment
  • Pray for all wounded by sexual misconduct within the Southern Baptist Convention and growing courage for SBC leaders working for justice
  • Prayers for safety for our Youth Choir & their leaders – on tour in Chicago area May 27-June 3
  • For safe delivery of a grandchild
  • Increased funding at all levels for treatment of mental illness 
  • Courage and healing for a mother with advanced cancer & her family
  • Prayers for open doors for one seeking a new job
  • Pray for all young people making transitions this season and their families 
  • Prayers for member needing work with insurance benefits
  • Son-in-law in depression – for physical and emotional healing
  • For our community leaders to address poverty & racial inequities  
  • All teens adjusting to community life after Covid  

We harbor no illusions, Lord, that we can make it on our own, for you are the Luminous Center which brought us into being; and around you we have framed our faith. Shore up our faith day by day as we come to you in all humility, offering all our spoken and silent prayers in the name of Jesus, the One who suffered for our sakes, 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.

Have a Prayer Request?

One of our favorite things about the spring semester each year is celebrating our graduating seniors.  And this year, we have a special Senior Spotlight series on our blog.  Our seniors answered interview questions earlier this spring and it has been so much fun learning their answers! Check back in each week to get to know our seniors better and help to cheer them on as they wrap up high school and prepare for their next steps!

Meet Sam Kelso!

What high school are you graduating from?
West High
What are your plans for next year?
Attending FSU
What is your favorite bible verse?
1 Corinthians 13:4-6
If you could choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Steak and Potatoes
If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Be confident; walk around with your head up
What are your top 3 favorite movies?
It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Eraserhead (1977)
What is your favorite Church Street memory?
One time Davis threw a gummy bear from one end of the gym hallway to the other and I caught it in my mouth
What are you most excited about going into the next season of your life?
Having the freedom to make my own path

One of our favorite things about the spring semester each year is celebrating our graduating seniors.  And this year, we have a special Senior Spotlight series on our blog.  Our seniors answered interview questions earlier this spring and it has been so much fun learning their answers! Check back in each week to get to know our seniors better and help to cheer them on as they wrap up high school and prepare for their next steps!

Meet Caitlin Carroll!

What high school are you graduating from?
Webb
What are your plans for next year?
UT
What is your favorite bible verse?
1 John 4:8
If you could choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Pasta/Mac & Cheese
If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Just do what makes you happy!
What are your top 3 favorite movies?
The Proposal, The Other Woman & Soul Surfer
What are you most excited about going into the next season of your life?
Starting my own path and getting my first real job

Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of May 18, 2022

Rev. Pat Clendenen*

I will come to you in the silence; I will lift you from all your fear.

You will hear my voice; I claim you as my choice.

Be still and know I am here.

Gracious and Merciful God, we come seeking your presence in the midst of our busy and often fractured lives, only to discover that you have been here all along, waiting and ready. You created us for relationship with you and with one another. Each of our names is written on your hand, for we are your children, created in your image. In this time, create a holy space for us where we may find peace in your presence, enabling us to hear your still, small voice. 

I am hope for all who are hopeless; I am eyes for all who long to see.

In the shadows of the night, I will be your light.

Come and rest in me.

There are so many in our nation and in our world who teeter on the brink of hopelessness, yet clinging to the assurance that you are at work in the world to bring peace with justice for all your children. Still, in our own land, our Black brothers and sisters continue to die, struck by bullets born of a hatred beyond our comprehension, and their cries continue across the centuries, “How long, O Lord? How long?” Forgive us when we become numb to their pain and suffering, tired of talking about it, even convincing ourselves that there’s not really a problem, that these are isolated incidents. Change our hearts, O God, that we may see with your eyes and hear with your ears. Emblazon upon our hearts the understanding that we will not be truly free until all your children are free; neither will we live in unity until we eat from the same bread, drink from the same cup, and equally sit together at the same table.

I am strength for all the despairing; comfort for those who grieve.

I bring healing for those who are broken.

Do not be afraid; I have called you each by name.

I love you, and you are mine.

Loving God, you call us to be your hands and feet in a broken and hurting world, to offer care in the name of Christ. Empowered by your Spirit and awakened by your holy nudges, free us to offer that cup of cold water in whatever form it may be needed and, in so doing, offer glimpses of Resurrection living.

As praying people, we lift the prayers that have come from across our community of faith, trusting that you hear both the gratitude and the deep cries of your people, and that we silently wait for your still, small voice gently prodding us into action.

  • Prayers appreciated: Member is receiving assistance in caregiving
  • One expresses thanks for her Stephen Minister
  • Family celebrates son-in-law’s achievement and recognition
  • A friend in ICU is improving
  • Family grateful for all help received following a family death
  • Member thankful for an unexpected gift
  • One grateful to be released from hospital
  • Please pray for brother having cancer surgery May 23
  • Wisdom for surgeon and positive outcome for member having surgery May 19
  • A dear friend with cancer; husband with bouts of depression
  • Blessings upon all attending a benefit luncheon on May 19
  • Prayers that innocents in Ukraine might be protected
  • Wisdom for leaders of the free world to help end the war in Ukraine 
  • God’s grace to surround all who are grieving 
  • Presence of the Spirit with family during memorial service May 22
  • Courage and healing for member with advanced cancer & her family
  • Prayers for open doors for one seeking a new job
  • For our bishop, cabinet, and all clergy facing transitions
  • Grace to surround a faithful member nearing death
  • Wisdom for daughter facing a bitter divorce and her children
  • Pray for all young people making transitions this season & their families 
  • New employment for couple experiencing downturn in income
  • Healing of an extreme voice ailment and depression   
  • Continued prayers: Friend injured in accident, remains in ICU
  • For community leaders to address poverty and other inequities  
  • Mother with heart condition 
  • An uncle and grandmother in hospice care & their families
  • Easing of tensions within family grieving deaths of two members
  • Lift up all teens amid the mental health crisis & all teens adjusting to life in community after Covid

I am the Word that leads all to freedom.

 I am the peace that the world cannot give.

I will call your name, embracing all your pain.

Stand up, now walk, and live!

We have found peace in your presence, rest in your loving arms.  Renew in us your vision for your world – SHALOM – peace with justice for ALL your children – on earth as it is in heaven. Through the waters of our baptism, we have become new creations, empowered by the Holy Spirit to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Give us the courage and the strength to fully claim our identity so that the vows we made – to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they find themselves – may, with God’s help, be the foundation on which we live out our lives.  In that spirit, we confidently and with boldness pray the prayer Christ taught us.

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?

*Words in bold and italics taken from the hymn, “You Are Mine” by David Haas.

One of our favorite things about the spring semester each year is celebrating our graduating seniors.  And this year, we have a special Senior Spotlight series on our blog.  Our seniors answered interview questions earlier this spring and it has been so much fun learning their answers! Check back in each week to get to know our seniors better and help to cheer them on as they wrap up high school and prepare for their next steps!

Meet Sara Katherine Bailey!

What high school are you graduating from?
Bearden High School
What are your plans for next year?
Tennessee Tech and major in nursing
What is your favorite bible verse?
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7
If you could choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
burger and fries
If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?
don’t worry so much
What are your top 3 favorite movies?
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. 10 Things I hate about you
3. Mamma Mia
What is your favorite Church Street memory?
Working with the kids at Wesley House during MAD
What are you most excited about going into the next season of your life?
making new friends

One of our favorite things about the spring semester each year is celebrating our graduating seniors.  And this year, we have a special Senior Spotlight series on our blog.  Our seniors answered interview questions earlier this spring and it has been so much fun learning their answers! Check back in each week to get to know our seniors better and help to cheer them on as they wrap up high school and prepare for their next steps!

Meet Preston Rotton!

What high school are you graduating from?
Bearden High School
What are your plans for next year?

Go to UTK.

What is your favorite bible verse?
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
If you could choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Steak
If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.
What are your top 3 favorite movies?
Step-Brothers, The Dark Knight Rises, and John Wick.
What is your favorite Church Street memory?
All the choir tours.
What are you most excited about going into the next season of your life?
Going to sporting events and being a part of the student section.

Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of May 11, 2022

Rev. Jan Buxton Wade

O Light of Each New Day and Luster of Evening Star, we tremble when we consider how your goodness permeates every hour of every day!  You have brought us safely to this point, as the curtain of dusk falls softly all around. And here in the shadows we ponder how your holiness has touched our encounters in this week just passed: the stranger that offered a helping hand, the promising report from a physician, the cheery note that arrived when most needed, the safe arrival at a destination, worship moments that filled our hearts to the brim, friends who demonstrated their concern, and also . . . . . . . . . . We thank you, Lord, for coming to us in such quiet graciousness; you slip in unheralded, so softly that we often overlook your presence.  Ah, but here in these moments, we recall how your providence ever flows through circumstances, creating blessings where none are expected or deserved. 

Faithful Spirit, receive our prayer.

Keeper of All Our Stories, you know the stories of our lives – of the times we failed miserably, when we chose the wrong roads, when we were betrayed, when we placed our trust in the wrong places and persons, when our dreams collapsed, the times when grief overtook us, when bitter tears were our food day and night.  Even in these times, remembering your own story of suffering, you colored our hurts with your love, cradled us in your arms, told us that there is always a new beginning, and that your mercy would help us find it.  As you gather us under your wings, remind us that all our stories begin and end in you, for you are also the Keeper of our Souls.

Faithful Spirit, receive our prayer.

You know us through and through, Lord, and we pray we might come to know ourselves in entirety as well.  Surprise us with insights into our own assumptions and motives; give us wisdom to ask the most difficult questions of ourselves. Move us out of our complacency into a life of fullness.  

Faithful Spirit, receive our prayer.

Accept, O Lord, these private prayers we carry in our hearts . . . . . . . . . . and also these praises and concerns offered by your people at Church Street:

  • Gratitude: our gifted high school seniors who led Sunday worship 
  • Thankful that a husband with Parkinson’s is regaining strength
  • Family celebrate a successful pacemaker procedure this week
  • Blessed news of a daughter’s pregnancy
  • One appreciates successful surgery & all who prayed
  • Member gives thanks for a wonderful vacation
  • Grateful for the Spirit’s presence in a mother’s peaceful death
  • Thanksgiving for a son’s happy wedding last weekend
  • One offers thanks for friends who offered help & wisdom in regard to an important decision
  • Family thankful for daughter’s beautiful beach wedding on Saturday
  • Gratitude: a member has overcome a second bout of Covid
  • Grateful for prayers – cancer patient has not contracted Covid after exposure
  • Two grateful for having overcome recent illnesses
  • Prayers that innocents in Ukraine might be protected
  • Wisdom for leaders of the free world to help end the war in Ukraine 
  • All who are grieving the deaths of loved ones
  • Guidance for family making decisions following bereavement
  • Courage & healing for member with advanced cancer & her family
  • Wisdom & guidance for daughter facing a bitter divorce
  • Husband with Parkinson’s, easing of depression & help with his caregiving
  • Prayers for all young people making transitions this season & their families 
  • Prayers that a pathology report is clear
  • Infirm member anxious about an upcoming physical evaluation
  • Couple experiencing downturn in income, seek financial security 
  • Healing of an extreme voice ailment & the sufferer’s depression   
  • Continued prayers: friend injured in accident, remains in ICU
  • Healing for two women with untreatable eye disease 
  • Addressing of poverty in our community 
  • Correct diagnosis for mother with heart condition
  • Young man seeking work in college athletics
  • For the Spirit to abide with family during memorial service on Saturday 
  • An uncle & grandmother in hospice care & their families
  • An ill mother-in-law & concerned family, for recovery

Faithful Spirit, we would be channels of your light, mercy, and peace as we live out our days; so fill us with grace that we may open ourselves to be used in whatever ways you desire. And, as always, we offer all these things in the name of the Risen Christ, 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.

Have a Prayer Request?

One of our favorite things about the spring semester each year is celebrating our graduating seniors.  And this year, we have a special Senior Spotlight series on our blog.  Our seniors answered interview questions earlier this spring and it has been so much fun learning their answers! Check back in each week to get to know our seniors better and help to cheer them on as they wrap up high school and prepare for their next steps!

Meet Anastasia Lamar!

What high school are you graduating from?
Alcoa High school
What are your plans for next year?
Maryville College
What is your favorite bible verse?
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34
If you could choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Mac and Cheese
If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Be sure to buy face masks and stock in zoom! And enjoy the little moments while they last because soon you’ll be remembering how fast time goes by.
What are your top 3 favorite movies?
Ten Things I Hate About You
Knives Out
The Breakfast Club
What is your favorite Church Street memory?
Our sixth grade choir tour trip when I thought my friends and I were unstoppable and that the high schoolers and college students were the coolest people I could ever hang out with!
What are you most excited about going into the next season of your life?
I am excited to make new friends and being my nursing career!
One of our favorite things about the spring semester each year is celebrating our graduating seniors.  And this year, we have a special Senior Spotlight series on our blog.  Our seniors answered interview questions earlier this spring and it has been so much fun learning their answers! Check back in each week to get to know our seniors better and help to cheer them on as they wrap up high school and prepare for their next steps!

Meet Olivia Roberts!

What high school are you graduating from?
West High School
What are your plans for next year?
Attending ETSU with a major in fine arts
What is your favorite bible verse?
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
If you could choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
My moms pork loin and Brussel sprouts
If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to be bold.
What are your top 3 favorite movies?
-Fantastic Mr. Fox
-French Dispatch
-The Breakfast Club
What is your favorite Church Street memory?
Sitting in Jenny’s office with the other members of youth band laughing and bonding each week
What are you most excited about going into the next season of your life?
I am excited experience things in life for myself rather than others.

Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of May 4, 2022

Rev. Jan Buxton Wade

From the grain of the field and from the fruit of the vine you continue to feed us, O Sustainer.  Having received the bread of life and the cup of grace in our community this past Sunday, you addressed our brokenness and have given us strength to go out in your world and feed others who do not know of your mercy.  Without your divine energy regularly implanted within us, we could not venture to reach out to those who are difficult to love, to speak a word of kindness to those who question our motives and may even hold us in contempt.  And though we often fumble, we believe you know of our deep desire to do for others what you have done for us.  Continue to feed us your mysteries, we pray, that the outpouring of your love through Christ will be made manifest in our lives.

Enduring One, hear our prayer.

As each day of this week unfolds, we ask that your mercy would accompany us, for you know how swiftly we can make that wrong turn called discouragement. There are those detours that haunt us daily: our worries about family members and friends, the news of bloodshed and atrocities across the world, reports of famine and needless deaths of the innocents, the deep divide within our nation’s leadership, the growing number of drug addictions, and the multitudes suffering natural disasters.  We often feel our efforts are so paltry in the face of these complex situations; but save us from despair, we pray, for your love can permeate every circumstance and every heart.  Place your hands upon our hearts as we move through each tomorrow we are given, that we will always trust in your promise to watch over our going out and our coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Enduring One, hear our prayer.

And we confess that most tenacious temptation – our desire to please ourselves.   Still that voice within us — that voice that mimics the noise of the marketplace, whispering that we need more and more of the world’s goods. You have filled us to overflowing and have blessed us in ways we do not merit. So let us be content with what we have and give praise to the Giver of all good gifts!

Enduring One, hear our prayer.

And because you are the Author of our Faith, whose only Son endured all things for our sake, we are bold to turn to you with our joys and with our burdens.  

  • Thankful an ill brother-in-law is home from rehab
  • Member is grateful for her new solid employment position
  • Family celebrates the baptism of their young daughter
  • Gratitude for good report following evaluation at Vanderbilt
  • A brother’s surgery went well on Monday at Vanderbilt
  • Thanksgiving for presentation by our Youth & Children’s Choirs
  • Member thankful for recent eye treatment
  • Family celebrates the birth of healthy baby boy
  • Family grateful for an opportunity to live abroad next year
  • Family grateful for prayers: home purchase is final
  • Thanksgiving for the Christian witness of two members who will be buried this week
  • Couple celebrating their wedding anniversary this week
  • Thanksgiving an arm infection has almost completely healed
  • Prayers for an end to the horror & violence in Ukraine
  • Three member families who are grieving deaths this week
  • Courage for 4 church members with Parkinson’s 
  • Lift up our high school seniors & their families this season
  • Prayers that a pathology report is clear
  • Prayers for couple seeking financial security
  • Please pray for 5 persons on the heart of a member
  • Singer with a voice malady, healing of illness & depression 
  • Prayers for a young son whose father died of an overdose  
  • Continued prayers: friend injured in accident, remains in ICU
  • Healing for two women with untreatable eye disease 
  • Correct diagnosis for mother with heart condition
  • Cancer patient exposed to Covid, pray that she is not infected
  • Young man seeking work in college athletics
  • Ease of pain for son awaiting shoulder surgery 
  • An uncle & grandmother in hospice care & their families
  • An ill mother-in-law & concerned family, for recovery 
  • A grandson with a difficult home life
  • Prayers for all taking part in a wedding on Saturday 

We thank you, Enduring One, for knitting us together as the body of Christ and for accepting our prayers that are offered in the name of your Son. May your Spirit continue its sustaining flow within us and through us until we reach those gates above, where we shall joyfully serve together with Jesus himself.

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?