Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 23, 2018           10:30 am

Meditation
“There is no greater path to greatness than true service. He who knows how to serve from a true heart and spirit knows what it takes to be truly great.” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

From there to Here: We Gather

Welcome & Announcements
Welcome to this service of worship!  During the service, you are invited to rise in body or in spirit, standing or sitting, at points in the service marked “ ” .”
Please sign in using the pew folder, passing it back down the row so all can greet one another by name, and place the sheet in an offering plate. We’re glad you’re here!
Prelude Pastoral Dance on Simple Gifts Andrew Clarke
The Call  
Prayer for Approach, Confession & Release
¨  Hymn  Gather Us In (opposite) Gather Us In
¨  Passing the Peace of Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this day! You are invited to turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace and hospitality.

The Living Word among us

Anthem If My People Don Wyrtzen
When we walk before the Lord in faithfulness each day, when we bow before His Word, His statutes to obey, He promises to hear, He promises to heal, and He promises to bless and to forgive.
If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
In allegiance to His name all idols we will break, when we spread abroad his fame, our nation may awake. He promises to hear, He promises heal, and He promises to bless and to forgive.
If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. He will hear, He will heal and He promises to forgive.
Epistle Lesson  James 3:13-4:3 (p. 1481)
James praises two kinds of wisdom. Worldly wisdom tends to be ambitious and boastful; heavenly wisdom is humble, merciful and fruitful.
Children’s Moment                  as the children return to their seats we sing:
May God’s presence guard, protect and guide you.  God bless you, God bless you. Our savior’s loving arms be ever ’round you. God bless you, God bless you.
Following the Children’s Moment, children kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to Children’s Church in Cowan Chapel. They are also welcome to stay in the service if they prefer. The Children’s Worship Center in the back of the sanctuary has toys, books, and drawing materials for children (or parents) who would like help staying present in the service. For children preschool age & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs in Room 104 off the playground.
Gospel Lesson  Mark 9:30-37 (p. 1206)
In this passage, Jesus instructs the twelve that he is to be betrayed, killed, and resurrected on the third day. Them Jesus teaches his followers about the shape of the cruciform life, a life of humility and service.
Sermon The Inside Job Rev. Kent Gilbert

Living Prayer

Ringing of the Peace Bell
The Union Church Peace Bell was created by Jeff Enge in honor of Union Church member Carl Eschbach (1904-1998).  A twin bell hangs in Berea’s sister province in Japan and is also rung in the hope of peace for all nations.
Prayers in Action and Reflections
You are invited to reflect and pray, either in your pew or at one or more of the 4 stations.  Some suggested prayer direction is printed on the worship insert and at the tables you visit.  You are also free to choose to rest in private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts and in your pew. The reflection page is provided for your thoughts, notes, drawings or other meditations at any time during the service.
Our Offering
As a community we can do together for others what individually might be beyond us. We practice this kind of generosity of spirit and money as a way of bringing forth the best of our fellowship and opening our hearts to good and healing work. Today’s offering is especially centered on reaching to others with messages of hope, with counseling from our pastor and Stephen ministers, and through our web ministry. All of these touch lives and help people on the “outside” know they are truly “in” with us.
Many friends give online, and you can use your smart phone or computer and go to www.easytithe.com/union. You don’t have to register to make a contribution, but if you do, it can make future generosity that much easier. You can even give by text! Text to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering)
Musical Meditation
When invited, please join in singing “Give Me a Clean Heart”
Give me a clean heart so I may serve you. God, fix my heart so that I may be used by you. For I’m not worthy of all these blessings. Give me a clean heart and I’ll follow you.
Community Prayer & Our Lord’s Prayer
One: Our Maker, our Mother, and …
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 sins as we forgive those who sin 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.
From Here to There
¨  Hymn #539 Black Won’t You Let Me Be Your Servant Servant Song

The Sending and Blessing

Postlude (please be seated) Trumpet Tune in C David Lasky

Prayer in Action Reflections

Space is provided  here for you to write notes, to reflect, or draw responses to questions or ideas that occur to you during the sermon, or at the tables, or holy questions of your own.
What conversations are you having with yourself about “greatness?” Where do you see yourself in the words of today’s Gospel?
Do you tend to fill your bowl to the brim? Oversharpen your knife? Seek money and security? Care what others think? How would your life look and feel if you did less of those things? Who or what would be “in” and at the center instead?
You are a blessing. You are made for love. What will you do with your blessing this week? What will you tend and teach? To whom do you need to reach? Write a few thoughts here…
Especially in our prayers
Each week we join millions of Christians who pray for one another through the ecumenical prayer cycle and, locally, the Berea Ministerial Association’s prayer cycle. Let us hold the people of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and our brothers and sisters at Berea Church of God our hearts, and pray for them. Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week.
Prayer requests to be printed may be sent to the office anytime before 10:00 am Fridays.
¨ Children in detention centers, that they may be reunited with their families soon.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound: Ruth Butwell, Edith Hansen, Nancy Hindman, Loyal Jones, Mary Miller, Alva Peloquin.
¨ Dan Rohrer, returning home to Berea after treatment for a severe liver disorder.
¨ Dave Wellinghurst, with a recurrence of glioblastoma. Hospice is involved now.
¨ For Jack Marshall, in the work to restore right relationship with self and others.
¨ For those imprisoned at the Madison County Detention Center and around the state.
¨ Emily Spires, daughter of Randy Stone, diagnosed with breast cancer.
¨ The Livingston Bosley family, as Betsy, Reid’s mom,  is in the Compassionate Care Center.
Sermon Series “All In” All This September. Union Church wants you to be “In”: In for work that matters, and In for transformative living. This month we’ll be exploring what’s “In” as we build a beloved community with the very people who may have thought they were “out.”
Welcome to Dr. Bernardo Scarambone, who will begin this week as our Interim Director of Music! Dr. Scarambone is professor of piano and keyboard at Eastern Kentucky University and has a long history with church music.  Originally from Brazil, Bernardo lives in Richmond with his wife and 3 children.
Learn more about the church today! Come One, Come All! Each fourth Sunday of the month anyone wanting to know more about Union Church or wanting to explore church membership, are invited to come to the Classroom and join in conversation with the Community Life and Growth Board after worship.
Lunch next Sunday!  Fundraiser lunch after worship September 30^th. Our development partner CoCoDA has several projects underway in El Salvador and Nicaragua, to provide clean piped water to villages, and even more ambitiously, to run the water pumps with solar-produced electricity. We are partnering with CoCoDA to help raise the needed funds to complete these projects, and will kick off the effort with a Salvadoran-themed lunch next Sunday. There will also be a short informational presentation on the project by Deborah Payne.
Meals for Jennie Kiteck. Friends, if you or your children ever played strings with Jennie Kiteck, now might be a nice time to reconnect briefly. She’s not doing much cooking these days and Union Church has set up a Meal Train to provide a home-cooked meal for her once a week on Friday evenings. She is an adventurous eater and does a great job washing up your containers! Use this MealTrain link: https://mealtrain.com/dwkg44
Come to Wednesday Nite Live! All welcome for supper at 5:45 pm ($5 donation if able). Youth Group at 6:30, Handbell rehearsal at 7.
Pick up your Directory at WNL, and thereafter in the office or vestibule. PDFs will be available for the asking as well. We didn’t include the skill share section—though it’s a terrific idea, we didn’t get a lot of participation. We’ll ask again at Stewardship season. Thank you!
The nursery and children’s church are both in need of  volunteer substitutes for those rare occasions when our amazing nursery worker and children’s church teachers aren’t here. If you’re called to this way of serving the church family, please contact Laura Nagle (358-0106) or Jenny Hobson (893-1075) and we’ll get the process started.
Friends of the Madison County Public Library is a non-profit group that supports the programing and staff of Madison County Public Library.  This library has more than 65,000 active library card holders.  Funds raised by the Friends come from book sales, small quilt auction and annual membership fees. Become a member today or renew your annual membership by picking up an application in the narthex, at the library or go online to our website, Friends of the Madison County Public.
Please Sign up to Read Scripture or to Help Greet and Usher!  Please use our electronic sign up system, http://signup. com/go/xkdVtB, where you can pick a date that works for you and get reminders!  OR you can also call the office and we’ll get you on the lists.
LifeLine is coming to Union Church October 5. Info in the vestibule. There are three ways to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, please call 1-888-653-6441 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com/or text the word circle to 797979.
Witness for Peace Southeast Speaker and Program on October 17 at Wednesday Nite Live We are fortunate that Berea, KY is once again on the Witness for Peace Southeast Fall Speakers Tour. Union Church will be privileged to host Alicia Sevila Hidalgo from Havana, Cuba on Oct. 17 at WNL.
She will also be speaking at a luncheon event on campus that day, sponsored by the Peace and Social Justice Program.. Alicia Sevila Hidalgo from Havana, Cuba’s Martin Luther King Center lives and works in Matanzas, Cuba as a pastor, ecumenical leader, popular educator and prison educator focusing on gender and liberation theology. She will be accompanied by a WFP Team from Raleigh, NC.
Union Church has been privileged to serve as a host for the Fall Speakers Tour for a number of years, thanks to Michelle Tooley’s involvement as a Board Member and arranging for Berea to be a stop on the Tour while she was on the Berea College Faculty. Mark October 17 on your calendar now!!