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

Fifth Sunday of Easter

April 24, 2016 10:30 am

Meditation
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
—Lao Tzu

From there to Here

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  Chorale Prelude  Ich ruf’ zu dir Herr Jesu Christ JS Bach
* Call to Worship  
One: Come, let us dwell in God’s shelter. Let us dwell in God’s work of art, this world, this creation. Come, because the Earth is the Lord’s, and God’s Earth is our home.
All: We live in God’s World; we are not alone. We share this life with the heavens and the earth, with the waters and the land, With trees and grasses, with fish, birds, and animals, with minerals and creatures of every form, and with all our brothers and sisters.
One: Let everything living praise the lord! Sun, moon and stars declare God’s praise. Let us, too, trace our journey through creation in caring love and Easter hope!
*  Opening Hymn #308 At the Font We Start Our Journey Westminster Abbey
* Prayer of Approach 
One: Come with what you have. For you who grieve this day know that you are invited to bring the broken pieces of your heart.
All: Loved by one another, we discover God’s love for us.
One: Come with what you have. For you who come with gladness know that your melody will find harmony.
All: Accepting God’s love for us, we are called to love one another.
One: Come with what you have. For you weighed down by too many ‘shoulds’ and ‘what-ifs’ know that here you may lay down the burdens of guilt and shame.
All: Loved by one another, we discover God’s love for us.
One: Come with what you have. For you who have the answers, know that new questions await you.
All: Accepting God’s love for us, we are called to love one another.
One: Come with what you have. For you who come seeking, know that your questions are safe in the presence of God.
All: Loved by one another, we discover God’s love for us.
~ written by Katherine Hawker,
*  Passing the Peace of Jesus 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 joy.

The Word in our Midst

Hebrew Scripture Lesson Psalm 148
Children’s Moment
As the children return to their seats or move to children’s church, 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 Children’s Moment, children grades K-5 are invited to Children’s Church, which takes place in Cowan Chapel.  Otherwise, children are welcome to visit the Children’s Worship Center, where there are toys, books, and drawing materials for children (or parents) who would like help staying present in the service. For children preschool & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Community Room. Please pick up your children in the Chapel or Nursery after the service.
Lesson from Acts of the Apostles Acts 11:1-18
Sermon                  Love Like a Weed           Rev. Kent Gilbert

Gifts Given For Love to Flow

Our gifts help sustain this particular community of caring by sustaining the building, pastors and staff, and all the materials that make our ministry of healing, justice, and teaching available to all in need. In addition, a good portion of our contributions flows out to aid to those in need via many external agencies.
This can now be done online or by text to  859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering” to contribute to the ongoing ministries, or add “youth,” or “missions”  or designation of your choice to benefit one in particular.)
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
Offertory Prelude in D Minor Cesar Franck
*Doxology Avery/Marsh

Praying it Forward

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.
Silent Prayers and Prayers for the Community
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

* Closing Hymn #388 Help Us Accept Each Other Aurelia
* Benediction & Sending Forth
Postlude (please  be  seated) Deo Gracias John Dunstable
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 East Timor, Indonesia and the Philippines and our brothers and sisters at Blue Lick Missionary Baptist Church in your hearts, and pray for them.
Please also hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week:
¨ Refugee families and individuals seeking shelter and safety, and all who are working to provide it: May God magnify our efforts.
¨ Andy Blyth, recovering at home
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound:  Edith Hansen, Mary Miller, Alva Peloquin
¨ The family and friends of George Oberst, at his death
¨ Sheila Johnson, facing breast cancer
¨ Marlene Payne and her family
¨ Kelly Ambrose and family
¨ Terry Allen Watts, NoraRuth Jenkins’ cousin
¨ Cindy Saylor’s friend Genny Bryant, who has colon cancer.
¨ Loretta Mountjoy, recovering from surgery at home
¨ Jerry Cooper’s daughter, Debbie diagnosed with breast cancer
¨ Jillean McCommons, feeling a lot of stress and anxiety
¨ Alvera Perman’s new niece, Avery Stallard
¨ Jessica Spencer and family, at the loss of her grandmother, Hazel Graybeal
¨ Toby Wilcher, recovering from broken bones at Brookdale Richmond Place, and for Shane Wilcher, holding down the house in her absence  with the help of many Union Church family members
¨ Dennis Jacobs, who had a successful heart procedure
¨ The family of Les Pross, in his death on Wednesday
¨ Loyal Jones and all the family of Nancy Jones, in her death on Thursday
¨ Don Graham in the death of his wife, Frances,  whose life we commemorated in a lovely service yesterday in Cowan Chapel.
¨ For all discerning the way forward in difficult circumstances, may God’s light lead and guide
¨ Students taking final exams and blessings for those graduating this week, including our Jessica Holly!
Union Church Celebrates Earth Day Sunday: All that we are and become is dependent on the interdependent web of life. Caring for creation is one vital way to respond to God’s love in that web. Union Church has committed itself to many aspects of this care and joyfully invites individuals to make all the difference they can in similar ways. We have

• Reduced our energy consumption by just under 50% over the last 7 years.
• Undertaken a solar energy project that will provide approximately 25% of our electricity and vastly reduce the amount of carbon emitted. (Installation begins in May!)
• We use reusable plates and dishes, relishing the community that washing them creates (if not the actual washing :)) And we actively recycle materials of every kind used in our ministries.
• Striven to support our local farmers and food providers in our activities.
• Provided raised beds for those wishing to grow more of their own vegetables.
• Helped promote and support the Berea Municipal Utilities Solar Farm.
• Studied and provided opportunities to learn more about theology and ecology and the relationships between ecological care and justice for the poorest people on the planet.
• And there is much left to do!

Lunch after worship: Please join us right after church for a chance to hear Margaret Nakoto describe the work of the Katosi (Uganda) Women Cooperative, whom we have supported for many years! Deborah Payne first met Mrs. Nakoto when she served in Katosi with the Peace Corps. We’ll meet in the community room right after church.
Celebrate May Day Next Week: This year May 1 falls on a Sunday and our local folk dancers will be offering a wonderful array of May Day festivities. Join them at Sunrise on the front lawn for Morris dancing and a true Maypole! Breakfast will be served. They will also begin our service that Sunday and will perform a Maypole dance after church for all to see. Refreshments will served on the porch for maximum enjoyment! “Summer is a’comin’ in!”
Services for Averill Kilbourne will this Saturday, April 30th at 1 pm in Cowan Chapel. An ice cream reception follows.
Art Exhibit in Pross Gallery through April 30 Yes! A Tribute to Michelle Tooley Fiber Art by Ann Butwell in the Pross Gallery off the Community Room. Stop by to take a peek at the pieces Ann created in Michelle’s memory and to celebrate resurrection!
The artwork embeds symbolism of the Guatemalan quetzal soaring above our
heads, Michelle speaking truth to power in her work for social justice and peace, and friends encircling her with love and song.
You will have an opportunity to take one of the textiles home with you at the end of the month, and leave a sliding-scale donation to one of Michelle’s favorite causes.
Tonight, April 24, Orthodox Palm Sunday Service, 6:00 pm. The congregation of St. Athanasius Orthodox Church, Nicholasville,  invites anyone interested to their Palm Sunday service. This service is at the beginning of Orthodox Holy Week after the celebration of Palm Sunday, and is called Bridegroom Matins, with the name being taken from Christ’s parable of the bridegroom. It is a somber service consisting of sung and chanted hymns and prayers, with emphasis on repentance and our own unreadiness. The service lasts around an hour. It will be in Cowan Chapel or the Parlor, depending on the number attending. More info ore at :http://orthodoxwiki.org/
Breaking News from Bread for the World: Both the Senate and House passed their versions of the Global Food Security Act — only minor differences need to be agreed upon and passage looks imminent. Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2016 Offering of Letters on March 30.
Step By Step, Lexington has been preparing for our first “House Warming Party” on April 28th for several months. The young single moms who have earned points by attending meetings, setting and reaching goals, volunteering in the community, etc. will have an opportunity to use their points to “shop” in our Home Store that evening.
We have had several groups promise to collect items over the past few months who have been unable to do so. We are looking for household items such as bath towels, dishes, dish towels, silverware, kitchen mixers, pots and pans, cookie sheets, cleaning supplies, lamps, pillows, small pieces of art work or wall hangings, items used for storage, Tupperware, bath accessories i.e. shower caddies, soap dishes etc. (we DO NOT need toiletry items) and small appliances (ex: toaster). Gift cards are also welcome.
NOTE: Please be sure the condition of any items you give are in the condition YOU would want to receive. No stains, holes, burns, etc. and please be sure items are clean. Towels and sheets MUST be brand new and NOT used. Everything else can be gently used. Items can be brought to Union Church and will be delivered by Sarabeth Brownrobie. Thank you!