Great and Gentle God, you seem to know that this is a time when we need your brightness more than ever, and that is why you have bequeathed us this strand of dazzling days. In the brightness we can more easily detect your presence and are even more aware of those gentle gifts that come our way: a meal delivered, a timely phone call, the quiet loyalty of a spouse or loved one, the sudden insight that makes all the difference in our faith, the word of wisdom that comes from the aging friend, the memory of a past blessing, a note of encouragement. You come to us in little nudges, new every day, O Lord, urging us to move on, showing us that life is worth the living.

You see our hearts, dear Lord, and the painful memories and regrets that abide therein. There are the harsh words we spoke yesterday that cut as sharp as a sword; there is the face of one who longed for a word of gratitude, yet our lips were silent as stone; there was the frivolous purchase that we made in a casual manner, forgetting the transaction itself could have fed a family of four. Forgive our insensitivity, we pray, for we want to be free of all our flaws. May tomorrow bring another set of hours, another cleansing beam, and other chances for us to set things right.

And there are many who need a fresh touch of grace: our public servants who keep order; those who work diligently for a cure for the dreaded COVID-19 virus; depleted healthcare workers whose hours are long and whose lives remain at risk; educators who trudge forward, balancing virtual and in-person teaching responsibilities; those for whom infirmity has become a way of life; those who have no family to help them bear their burdens. All these, and the special ones in our hearts we lift up to you in these moments:  . . . . . . . . . . . We can picture you wearing our burdens as a yoke upon your shoulders, O Christ, and we are humbled that your desire is to ease our souls.

In your mercy receive all that we offer, asking that you also accept these special concerns and joyful thanksgivings which come from the hearts of your Church Street family:

• Member’s kidney surgery yesterday was successful, prayers appreciated
• Thankful for prayers: A friend’s hysterectomy went well
• Gratitude that a new home build is progressing nicely
• Thanksgiving for the United Methodist Women’s Service of Remembrance yesterday
• Prayers for healing of a member recovering from COVID-19 at home
• Comfort for beloved wife suffering from metastatic cancer; peace for her grieving husband and friends
• That tensions surrounding the presidential election will ease
• Continue prayers for one recovering from delicate heart surgery at Vanderbilt, strength and comfort for his family
• For peace to surround mother in hospice care, and her family
• Please pray for healing of a family member in ICU, weak with virus
• Pray for promising pathology reports for an ill member
• Dear friend hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia
• Healing for teenage daughter, wisdom and peace for her loving parents
• A hospitalized brother, healing of his foot infection, strength for family
• Staff and residents at local facility where virus numbers have spiked
• Pray for loving husband whose Parkinson’s is debilitating
• Continued prayer for autistic grandson, for healing of recent symptoms

We pray all of this, holding fast to the hope that you are our Sovereign and the Sustainer of our lives.  And even though we cannot put into words just what it is that we believe, we pray through your Spirit, laying everything before you in the name of your Son, as we pray together:

This is my commandment,

that you love one another as I have loved you.

Great Teacher, you ask of us a hard thing. Our experiences are limited, for many of us have never lived in foreign cultures nor have we been deeply exposed to the personal or collective histories that have shaped the mindsets of those who live on other shores. Our perspectives are as diverse as our understandings of your sacred goodness; and yet you command us to love each and all. And as you know, we even find it hard to live in love with our own kin, with those who bear our own resemblance and share our common history.

Ah, but then how far-reaching is your wisdom; for you are aware that when we concentrate on understanding the lives of others, when we focus on building our regard for the other, we will have far less time to dwell on our own petty concerns.  You are the Bridge-Builder, and if we too are to become wise, we will join in your labor, putting into place one small plank after another. Then you shall fasten them all together into your holy design and we shall all move freely across that platform of trust that stretches across the world.

All Renewing One, in this disquieting era of racial, cultural, and economic brokenness, we pray that your selfless love might bear fruit in our nation. We pray that you would implant your holy wisdom in the minds and hearts of both new and returning national officials just elected. Burn away our disrespect and disregard for the most vulnerable among us; melt the mistrust and misunderstanding that erodes the spirit. Renew the soul of our nation, and anchor our faith in you, that we might find a way for all to live out the life of freedom you plan for all.

Holy Comforter, we lift up all who face illness and adversity this day. Comfort those who are afraid; and give strength to those who love and care for them. May your holy peace wash over them, reminding them they are neither alone nor forgotten. Hear also these prayers that come from the hearts of your people at Church Street:

• Thanksgiving for prayers: Family in North Carolina all recovered from virus
• Gratitude: Family returned safely from Florida with promising news
• Gratitude for two successful orthopedic surgeries on Friday
• Family celebrates a granddaughter’s improved health
• Continued thanks for healthcare workers and educators at all levels
• Please pray for a lenient court ruling today for faithful member
• Prayers for faithful Christian physician having heart surgery today, that he may recover to remain a shining witness to others
• Dear friend in Martin, Tennessee, hospitalized with Covid-19 complications
• Relief for those suffering from economic setbacks due to virus
• Healing for teenage daughter, peace for her loving parents
• Relief from postpartum depression and young mother’s anxiety
• Faithful member having lung biopsy today, wisdom for medical team
• Safety and peace for elderly mother in hospice care, peace for her family
• Healing: young grandson with autism; a father’s depression
• Continued prayers, nephew in Missouri, seriously ill with Covid-19
• Prayers for friend with metastatic cancer, comfort for family

Spirit of Heavenly Hope, as you promised you would never leave us, may your brightest hope and love take root in our hearts, so that even during the dimmest days we will feel your empowering spirit stirring within. In the name of Christ we make our prayer:

Make me a channel of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love;
Where there is injury, Your pardon, Lord,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in You.

Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

O Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

-Sebastian Temple

We greet you this morning, Welcoming God, trusting in your divine presence and infinite wisdom to guide us throughout this day. This is an important time for our nation – we, the people of the United States of America – for on this day we will elect leaders who will take us into the future. May those we elect be ones whose guiding principles reflect a vision of shalom – peace with justice for all your children, both here and around the world.

As your beloved children, created in your image, we long to be channels of your peace, to stand above the fray as witnesses to the transforming power of your love. But how do we sing your song in the midst of all the chaos? It seems that we have lost our way, no longer able to celebrate the amazing diversity that defines us as a nation.

Throughout today and in the days to follow, may our thoughts, words, and actions be reflections of Christ’s love for each of us. Turn our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks that we may be agents of your healing peace and uniting love.

In the midst of all that seeks to consume us this day, may we not forget the hurting, the lost, the lonely, the outcast, the grieving, the ill, the dying, the dispossessed, and the disenfranchised. For many of these, the election may not be in the forefront of their lives, and voting may not even be a possibility. Yet, it is these, first and foremost, for whom Christ came, those whom we are called to serve in his name. Remind us that, as people of faith, it is for them also that we cast our vote.

God of grace and glory, you have told us through your prophet Micah what you require of us – to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with you. As “required” people, empowered by your Spirit, flood our hearts and minds with your vision for your world – the Beloved Community – and give us the courage and strength to walk into the future as channels of your peace, trusting that the Risen Christ goes before us to prepare the way. And so, as people of the Resurrection, we confidently offer the prayer he taught us:

Forever Guide, on this long journey called life, we confess that we do not always live as your people. We want to shine as the saints above, but we are often consumed in our own pursuits and do far too little to keep our promises. Day and night we have been swaddled in your love, fed by your mercy and nursed in your grace; and still we overlook the unfolding of your kingdom in our very midst. We thank you for our examples, those who left us legacies of trust. Sing to us the old songs of the saints, the melodies of your friends who continued to walk in your way of light, who lived by faith even when tribulations descended. Give us grace, we pray to join in that unending chorus of the faithful.

Redeeming God, these days you find us wringing our hands and lamenting, as so much around us seems to be swirling in disorder. Chaos appears to be gaining the upper hand across our own country, even threatening to cover your beautiful planet. We long for that land where justice rolls down as a mighty river and righteousness moves as an ever-flowing stream; but our fear of change blocks our path. Help us, Good Lord, to be bold enough to take those deliberate steps toward loving and understanding our brothers and sisters everywhere. We know you are a God who redeems, and pray you would take that anxiety and confusion, even from within ourselves, and make of them a seedbed of your new creation.

Lord of the Disheartened, gather in your arms, we pray, those who are most discouraged – those whom we know and others who are strangers, huddled in some faraway, lonely corner. Embrace those who are ill or frightened as they face a diagnosis, illness, surgery, poverty, or any sort of loss. We know you hear the cries of our hearts and that you have not left us comfortless. May your Spirit attend each one, and also these who are connected to the Church Street family:

• Grateful for prayers: Pastor with kidney ailment released from hospital
• One is thankful for successful cataract surgery on Wednesday
• Thanksgiving for church study opportunities
• Member family celebrates the birth of healthy baby boy yesterday
• Prayers for two members assist with sister-in-law’s funeral in Florida
• Prayer that counselor may be of help to son with major addictions
• Healing of our nation and order to be restored
• Granddaughter (18) with virus, protection for family, especially her father
• Lifting of depression for three members who suffer significantly
• Healing for best friend in North Carolina with virus; that her family is not infected
• Continued prayers for young wife battling leukemia
• For calm and courage for members awaiting a court ruling
• Healing of dear friend – young man in critical care, battling Covid-19
• Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care, comfort for her family
• Continued prayers for healing of beloved elderly mother
• Healing of young son with virus & protection of his family
• Nephew in Missouri on ventilator with Covid-19 and his wife infected

Gracious Sustainer, we give you thanks for your open ear that receives all our prayers, for friends and family members who support us, and for those role models who have upheld us through the years.  And most of all, we are humbled by the gift of your Son Jesus, who taught us the depth of your love and the wideness of your mercy.  We lift up all these offerings this day in the name of Christ, who prayed in this way:

O Listening Heart, thank you for the mysterious gift of prayer. The apostle taught us that your candle is never diminished and that you wait through the long hours for our call. But still, we frequently feel we are making a nuisance of ourselves when we arrive at your door with another basket of wants and needs. Of course, you know that our own inner light flickers when we travel the shaded roads of life, and we so need a share of your eternal flame. And how faithful you are to share your glory. Why, even today, the flame of your sunrise stoops down to brighten our spirits!

Eternal One, so much has unfolded this past year that we are anxious about what tomorrow will bring. The rampant virus has intensified throughout your created world, putting all in danger, particularly the poor and the vulnerable. We pray for these victims, and for the lonely, the hungry, the despondent, and the dying. The prophet once told us you had plans for us, plans for a future filled with hope. We hold onto that hope, Lord, for all we are worth. Knowing you are looking out for us makes all things bearable.

The evidence of your working on our behalf is solid, as miracles are being played out in all places, even within our church family. Our hearts fill with gratitude for your wonders and benefits. And as we lift up these personal situations to your care, we seek most of all that peace that surpasses all understanding: