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:

• Praises for those who are being called to join our church on Sunday
• Thankful for friend’s miraculous healing from Covid
• Daughter grateful for father’s recent health improvement
• Thankful: Member improves daily following surgery
• Member grateful for prayers for her wedding
• Thanksgiving: All in one assisted living are negative for Covid
• Prayers for those who have tested positive for Covid; prayers for relief from frustrations of rearranging family routines
• One grateful for support during a family bereavement
• Mother thankful that daughter does not need surgery
• Prayers for a good position for a young professional
• Prayers for proper caregivers to be found for infirm sister
• Prayers for young friend in hospice care & her grieving husband, their friends and family
• Prayers for elementary students grieving the death of a classmate and for the educators who comfort them
• Guidance for care of sister who suffered massive stroke
• Prayers for daughter beginning proton therapy
• Family friend with cancer, for a route to healing
• Continued prayers for infirm uncle
• For an open door to healing within a broken family
• Comfort for families of church families in mourning
• Son thankful for successful heart procedure for his father
• Prayer for a co-worker who has many family responsibilities and has tested positive for Covid
• Prayers for adult children who are moving and settling into new jobs.
• For a daughter-in-law who died from Covid and for her husband who is also suffering.
• For a niece whose husband died after a fall.
• Prayers for those beginning Stephen Ministry training
• Thankful that one who had suffered for so long is now in God’s Eternal Love and Light
• For a father who is near death
• Prayers for a friend struggling with divorce amidst a change in job location; prayers for the children
• Prayers for a cousin undergoing complicated liver surgery
• Prayers for a daughter undergoing IVF procedures and for the grandparents who are so hopeful
• Prayers for a beloved wife and mother in hospital
• Prayers for healing after serious eye injury and extensive surgery
• Prayers for a long-time employment who has lung damage from Covid
• Thankful for a mother who is going home after a long rehabilitation; prayers for continued strength

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.

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.

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:

• Thanksgiving for prayers: Ankle injury improving
• Grateful for prayers: Niece’s husband died peacefully
• Family celebrating safe birth of new grandchild
• Thanksgiving for faithfulness and witness of Youth in our church
• Family rejoices: Pregnant mom is now Covid-free
• Grateful for miracle: Premature infant in ICU growing steadily
• Daughter gives thanks for a loving father who died peacefully this week
• Prayers appreciated: Recent cancer scans confirm healing
• Member with ALS expresses deep gratitude for church support
• Wisdom and guidance for one unsure of the future
• Safe travel for family traveling M.D. Anderson for follow-up tests
• Wife asks for direction as her husband’s memory loss increases
• Pray that a donor may be procured for a much-needed transplant
• God’s grace and comfort for family, sudden death of young father
• Safety and guidance for lonely, infirm widower
• Prayers for two friends in cancer treatment
• Peace and support for family grieving brother’s death on Friday
• God’s presence to surround daughter with Covid, great suffering 
• Prayers for a husband with cancer
• Sons who struggle with a father’s final illness
• Upholding wife and mother struggling with cancer, for her family
• God’s grace to surround all caregivers in their ministry
• Two members with severe vision impairment and neuropathy
• God’s work in the lives of two youngsters whose mother died recently
• Peace and healing for husband with Parkinson’s and loss of vision; strength and wisdom for his devoted wife 
• Friend now in labor delivering baby two months early

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.

Holy God, with the bells of New Year’s Eve still ringing in our ears, we come to you in all humility; for how can we celebrate the turning of the calendar without praising you for the divine grace that has come to us so tenderly throughout the year just passed?  Your steady hand carried us through difficulties we thought would break us.  You restored our hope when we were stranded in confusion.  You brought renewal when we were swallowed up in despondency.  Remembering how you shepherded us even in perilous times, we remain in awe.

God of Grace, receive our praise!

Speak, Lord, said the young prophet, for your servant is listening. Here, as the new year dawns for us, may we also listen attentively for your voice.  Some of us are full of expectation, ready to give shape to any new challenge you set forth.   Some of us are overwhelmed and anxious and must lean heavily upon your shoulders no matter your expectations.  Others of us are weary and worn, fearing we may not possess the energy to even answer when you call.  And yet, you are the God who opens doors, who fashions possibilities, who supplies what is needed, who carves roads where none exist. In whatever condition we find ourselves, we pray we would somehow discern your voice and allow you to work your will within us. 

God Who Calls, hear our prayer.

Your Son gave us a vision of the world as it could be, enlivened by people who model your intentions and desires.  Jesus dreamed of a world where abundance was shared, where peace reigned, where cooperation birthed prosperity for all, where love and justice were the rule of the day, where health and well-being were honored. We hunger for such a world, but we confess that we often lose heart when setbacks come.  We fall back into our old habit of grousing and complaining when obstacles so frequently appear.  Forgive us, we pray, and help us to be hope-filled kingdom people as we work in your service each day of this new year.

God Who Inspires, rekindle your dream in our hearts.

On the cusp of this new month and new year, we are deeply aware of the realities that face us at present.  And as always, we boldly ask for restoration for the ill, comfort for those who mourn, companionship for the lonely, reconciliation for the estranged, release for those held by the chains of poverty and addiction.  To these we add those closest to our hearts . . . . . . . . . ; as well as all these praises and petitions offered by our church community:

• Three offer gratitude for safe journeys and family visits
• Gratitude for successful cornea transplant on Tuesday 
• One is thankful for reconnection with two former friends
• Member thankful for healing following three family deaths 
• Gratitude: Granddaughter uninjured in a dangerous fire
• Member thankful for the help of his Stephen Minister
• One celebrates the restoration of a relationship 
• Prayers appreciated: Three member families recovering from Covid
• Family blessed by an extended holiday gathering in North Carolina
• Gratitude for dedicated church musicians and choirs
• Thanksgiving: Mother is off ventilator & is much improved
• Solace for family who lost a mother and a father to death in 2 weeks’ time
• Premature nephew born at 25 weeks, in ICU, for his survival
• Recovery for a cherished mother-in-law, hospitalized
• All who are mourning recent deaths of loved ones
• Healing of a grandson’s depression
• Pray for peaceful death for a niece’s husband 
• A peaceful death for a kind Christian husband, courage for family
• Member with grave vision impairment & neuropathy
• Courage, guidance for wife, caregiver of husband with Parkinson’s
• Recovery for daughter (42), brain surgery today at MD Anderson
• Healing of friend recovering from serious accident
• Faithful husband dealing with memory loss, his caregiver wife
• For intervention: Physician nephew who is an alcoholic
• Mother in South Carolina seriously ill, courage for three anxious adult children
• God’s presence with adult daughter, grave Covid complications
• Courage, guidance for young mother deserted by her husband
• Grace for member valiantly enduring cancer treatments
• Reconciliation of differences within three families
• Pray for young couple recovering at home from serious illnesses
• God’s grace to surround a mother with cancer, for renewed hope
• Two suffering from depression and Parkinson’s-related illness 
• A father who entered hospice January 3; for his sons who struggle

God Who Heals, receive our prayers.

Even now, Dear God, uncertain of how the coming months will unfold, we are confident you will continue to speak to us and will walk with us every step of the way. And on our journey into the new year, by your grace, we will endeavor to love you with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds, and with all our strength.  All these prayers we offer in the name of our Most Faithful Companion, who taught us to pray in this way:

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.

Let evening come, O God Who Calls Us to Rest.  Spread your quiet shadows over your tired people who have allowed themselves to be pulled in too many directions this day.  You give us permission to turn off the music of productivity and constant availability. Someone else pulls the strings and we dance; but we, having fallen in love with movement, continue to forge ahead on our own, even when the strings are loosened.  Slow our minds and our steps, we pray, as we wait upon your most gracious eventide. Soothe our bodies and minds, Wise Creator, that we might find the renewal you have planned for us.  We need it, we desire it, we wait for it!

May it be so, Lord, may it be so.

As we reflect upon this day just passed, may we bring to mind those instances which were bursting with rich blessing.  And though, perhaps unrecognized in the moment, we now remember the kindness behind each occurrence, especially  . . . . . . . . . . Ah, how mysteriously, stitch by stitch, you knit your grace into our lives! Our gratitude may come as only a whisper, but we pray you will hear every prayer of adoration, and sew those, too, into your blanket of love.

May it be so, Lord, may it be so.

In one of the bleakest eras, an angel brought greetings of great joy to lonely ones in the field watching their flocks. Your tidings, O Holy One, are as meaningful to us today as they were to the shepherds under that chilly Middle Eastern sky. We also know many who are lost and lonely, those who feel overlooked and forgotten.  We confess that we can casually erase them from our minds, so forgive our arrogance, we pray.  But you have not forgotten them — you know each feeble and frail one by name; they are those who hunger most keenly for your hope. Have mercy, O Lord, and give us that same gnawing hunger. 

May it be so, Lord, may it be so.

Many still seek that infant born of Mary.  Mark the way for those wounded ones everywhere: the starving in Madagascar and Afghanistan; the tornado-ravaged territories of our own country; those who have lost not only their homes and belongings, but their family members and neighbors. We lift prayers for those everywhere who are shaken by tragedy, victims of injustice, and those who are pummeled by the deadly virus.  And again we ask for healing of the deep political divisions within our nation that are unraveling the fabric of community;  we speak of peace, but our actions are not aligned with those of the Prince of Peace.  Come, Lord Jesus, and set our feet back on that solid road to Bethlehem.

May it be so, Lord, may it be so.

To these petitions, we add these personal ones on the hearts of our church family, who bring their hurts, hopes, and praises this week:

• Prayers appreciated: Family celebrates birth of heathy baby boy
  
• Thankful husband now living in safety in rehab
  
• Thanksgiving for helpful friends during a family illness
  
• Family celebrates happy wedding of granddaughter
  
• Thankful UMCOR already at recovery work in disaster areas
  
• Member celebrates: Scans reveal no sign of cancer cells
  
• Family grateful for a daughter’s wedding on December 18
  
• Family offers thanks for safe travel to a family event
  
• Pray for mother recovering from lung surgery, began chemotherapy today
  
• Continued prayers: Mother hospitalized, recovering from fall & her ill husband recovering from Covid at home
  
• Healing for daughter, very ill with painful, infectious colitis
  
• Upholding all church families in mourning during the holidays
  
• God’s grace to surround a mother suffering with cancer, for renewed hope; and her worried family standing by
  
• Beloved friend in Nashville undergoing chemo to salvage transplant and her husband who is hospitalized with an illness
  
• Healing for young man suffering from PTSD
  
• Faithful husband struggling with memory loss
  
• Solace for ill brother, that he might accept a move to a safer environment
  
• Dear friend no longer able to tolerate cancer meds
  
• Healing of wife’s injuries sustained in a fall
  
• Strength for daughter, extreme complications from Covid
  
• Relieving anxiety of daughter, estranged from her ill mother
  
• For doors of employment to open for a talented professional man
  
• Patience & healing for mother following colon surgery
  
• Beloved husband undergoing chemotherapy
  
• A father longs for reconciliation with his children
  
• Wisdom & strength: Young mother enduring a painful separation
  
• Mother seeking healing of relationship with her daughters
  
• God’s guidance and healing for a mother with cancer diagnosis
  

You are our Safe Haven, our harbor amid the upheavals of our days, the Keeper of every moment of our lives. Scripture says that weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning; therefore, help us release to your care all those who are weighed down with burdens and all who are closest to our hearts. We commend each one to you, knowing that, in due time, their joy will be made complete through the coming of that Blessed Babe, your Beloved, who draws near each time we offer his most complete 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.