Prayer Service B Thursday, June 14 5:15 p.m. Please complete the commitment cards found on your tables and place them in the baskets provided near the fabric display at the end of the worship service. *PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT Light and peace in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God. *OPENING MEDLEY Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing Come, thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I m fixed upon it, Mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by thy help I m come; And I hope, by thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He to rescue me from danger, Interposed his precious blood. O to grace how great a debtor Daily I m constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above. How Firm a Foundation How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word! What more can he say than to you he hath said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid; I ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow; For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply; The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I ll never, no, never, no, never forsake. Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying Lord, listen to your children praying, Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying, Send us love, send us power, send us grace. PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING We praise and thank you, O God, for you are without beginning and without end. Through Christ, you created the whole world; through Christ, you preserve it. You made the day for the works of light, and the night for the refreshment of our minds and our bodies. Keep us now in Christ; grant us a peaceful evening, a night free from sin; and bring us at last to eternal life. Through Christ and in the Holy Spirit, we offer you all glory, honor, and worship, now and forever. Amen. SILENCE A CALL TO SEE ALL THE PEOPLE We are gathered here to receive God s vision to embrace all people, To discover those we haven t embraced, And to bring those hidden and broken Into the healing embrace of Jesus. And so we remember Jesus words: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, And teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
PRAYERS We are gathered here to re-member ourselves As the body of Christ Loving who Jesus loves, And giving thanks to God, the Source of life. And so we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. We are gathered here as the body of Christ To go into the world and call people to know God, And join us in repenting our sins and seeking to live in peace with one another. But what shall we say? What shall we do? Let us not be so quick to forget Jesus teaching: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Knowing that God is with us as we go, We offer these prayers confidently and fervently: Together, let us pray for the people of the Tennessee Conference, that we might renew our commitment to God s call to find the people so quickly ignored those who suffer and those in trouble, including those too long neglected by the church the concerns of our home communities the small hamlets, county seat towns, metropolitan areas, and every hillside and neighborhood the world, its people, and its leaders the church universal its leaders, its members, and its mission And now we boldly pray:
THE LORD S 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. SENDING FORTH As we go forth into the world, may our prayers flow and join together As waters meet from creeks, rivers, streams, and oceans. Go in peace as a people of prayer. Thanks be to God. CLOSING SONG Down to the River to Pray O sisters, let s go down, let s go down, come on down. O brothers, let s go down, let s go down, come on down. O fathers, let s go down, let s go down, come on down. O mothers, let s go down, let s go down, come on down.
O sinners, let s go down, let s go down, come on down. Please place your commitment cards in the baskets near the fabric display during the closing song. As you leave, we invite you to draw near to the fabric, lay hands on it, and pray for the ways churches in your district will See All the People and make disciples in every community. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: An Order for Evening Praise and Prayer 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House. Used with permission. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, by Robert Robinson. Words public domain. How Firm a Foundation, from A Selection of Hymns, 1787. Words public domain. Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying, by Ken Medema. 1973 Hope Publishing Co. Used with permission under CCLI License #721601. All rights reserved. Prayer of Thanksgiving from The Upper Room Worshipbook. 1985 The Upper Room. Used with permission. A Call to See All the People, by Jackson Henry. 2018 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. Used with permission. Down to the River to Pray, Southern USA folk song. Words public domain.