A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Fifth Sunday of Lent April 6, 2014, 10:30 am
Meditation
My Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. ― Martin Luther
From there to here
Welcome & Announcements
Prelude What God Ordains Is Right Johann Pachelbel
* Call to Worship
One: The sun beats down, the dry bones bake
All: But God’s breath breathes on us yet.
One: Thunder clatters, bones rattle
All: But God’s breath breathes on us yet.
One: Death comes in all its finality
All: But God’s breath breathes on us yet.
One: Come, let us worship the God who breathes life into us,
All: Let our bodies and spirits come alive once more.
Hymn #554 Black Out of the Depths, O God, We Call Fennville
* Prayer of Approach and Confession
* Words of Assurance
* Passing the Peace of Jesus Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this day. Please turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace.
the Word In our Midst
Anthem The Cry of the Poor John Foley, S.J.
Union Church Choir
Refrain: The Lord hears the cry of the poor. Blessed be the Lord.
1. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise every in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord for he hears the cry of the poor.
2. Let the lowly hear and be glad the Lord listens to their pleas;
And to hearts broken, He is near for he hears the cry of the poor.
3. Every spirit crushed, He will save; will be ransom for their lives;
Will be safe shelter for their fears for he hears the cry of the poor.
4. We proclaim the greatness of God. His praise every in my mouth;
Every face brightened in His light for he hears the cry of the poor.
Hebrew Scripture Lesson Ezekiel 37:1-14
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 Children’s Moment, Little Church for children Preschool & under is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Fellowship Hall, and Children’s Church, for grades K-3, takes place in the chapel. If this is your child’s first time attending Little Church or Children’s Church, please accompany them to fill out a registration form. Otherwise, children are welcome to follow volunteers to their worship spaces.
Psalm Reflection
Gospel Lesson John 11:1-45
Sermon Rising to Justice and Joy Rev. Rachel Small Stokes
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. Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you.
Offertory Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart Donald P. Hustad
* Doxology Holy Ground Christopher Beatty
These are holy hands, God’s given us holy hands God works through these hands
And so these hands are holy These are holy hands, God’s given us holy hands
God works through these hands And so these hands are holy.
Connecting the dots and praying it forward
* Invitation to Communion
One: Jesus calls us to the well, inviting us to drink of the Living Water, and the life eternal.
All: Jesus calls us out of the shadows, out of the graves, to be entirely known, and entirely filled with God’s presence.
One: Jesus calls us all: all who were made in God’s own image, all who breathe the breath of God’s spirit: the Spirit of Life.
All: Jesus calls us to the table, to the meal that nourishes our bodies and binds our dry bones into one Body, living in Christ.
One: Jesus calls us, here and now.Come to this table, you who are beloved in Christ no matter what. Come to this table, all you who seek to be nourished and sustained. Come to this table, all you who seek to live justly and in peace with your neighbor. Come, not because you must, but because you may.
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 Prayer and Prayers of the Community
Communion Prayer
One: Holy God, source of all being, you are greater by far than our human thoughts can comprehend.
With all that you have created, you abide; weeping with us in grief and pain, rejoicing with us in life and love. You are everywhere in this very moment; holding the entirety of living experience and weaving us together in the great and intricate tapestry of Creation.
All: Creator God, mother and father of us all, in your holy love you took on our limitations. Born of a body, bound within a body, you know the whole of this human experience. Learning to communicate with words; teaching us to communicate with presence. Learning the fears that wring us dry; teaching us of the love that nurtures us back to life.
One: Everlasting God, you are everywhere and right here, as close as the air we breathe, the air which binds us one to another and all to your beautiful creation.
One: You are as close as the sunlight on our skin, as close as the rain that drips from our hair; the wind and the water that push us and lead us and call us again and again into relationship with one another and with you.
One: Holy Spirit, divine Advocate, guide and encourage us. Stir within our hearts, that we may find voices to sing:
Sanctus #792 Black Please Join in Singing
Communion Prayer, con’t.
One: Resurrecting God, in Jesus of Nazareth you revealed your grace, your light, your love:
All: in words that confront and comfort us, in teachings that challenge and change us, in compassion that heals and frees us.
One: And now we gather at this table to remember and to be filled with such longing for your realm, that we may rise together to turn our worship into witness and to follow in your way.
One: We remember that, when Jesus ate with his friends, he took a loaf of bread and, after blessing it, he broke it gave it to them, saying,
All: “Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Each time you do this, remember me.”
One: Then he took a cup and, after giving thanks, passed it to his friends, saying:
All: “Drink. This cup that is poured out for you is the promise of God, made in my blood. Whenever you drink it, remember me.”
One: And so, in remembrance of these your gifts, we share this meal with one another, and in so doing share your love with one another.
One: Come, for all things are ready.
Serving One Another
All who seek the love of God are welcome at this table and are invited to freely receive from it. By tradition, unfermented grape juice is used in the cup on Sunday mornings. We will share the elements today by intinction, dipping the bread in the cup. When invited please come to one of the stations by exiting your pew to the left and returning by the right. If it is not convenient to come forward, the elements can be brought to your seat by signaling to the usher. If it is not your tradition to receive, you are invited to join in prayers for the unity of the Spirit within your tradition. You may remain in you seat, or you may come forward for a blessing, as you wish.
Communion Music For Everyone Born Shirley Erena Murray
Blessing for Those Who Will Receive at Home
Members who have been designated to carry communion to those who could not be with us this morning are invited forward at this time. The bread and juice from our meal will go with our blessing and prayers for our continued unity in the Spirit. If you would like serve by taking communion to others, you are very welcome to do so and are invited to volunteer
Prayer of Thanksgiving (unison)
Source of life, and breath, and being, breathe into the dry dust of our existence. Nourished in body by bread and juice, may we strive for the nourishment of all bodies: may we work to end hunger in this creation that provides amply for all. Nourished in spirit by the Body which is within our own, may we strive for the incorporation of all: may we work to break the barriers that divide us from one another and from you. In the love that sustains us, and the Spirit that animates us, may we give all thanks and praise to you, O God of all. Amen.
From here to there
* Closing Hymn #4 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You Hymn to Joy
* Benediction
* Benediction Response We Will Walk with God Sizohamba naye
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 Wallaceton Baptist Church in your hearts, and pray for them. Please also hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week:
* Those in harm’s way in the service of our country and all those who wait and worry for them.
* John and JoAnn Hayden, Rob and the family, at his father’s grave illness
* Judy Royalty, recovering from surgery
* The family of Harry Piland, at his death.
* Peggy Coyne’s daughter’s future mother-in-law, Jan Dailey-Hosp, awaiting a lung transplant
* Greg Bolster, Steve’s brother, gravely ill with cancer and now under hospice care
* Michelle Tooley, with recurrence of melanoma
* Our church family members recovering at home and in nursing homes: Rose Brandenburg, Naomi Brandenburg, Jerry Cooper, Edith Hansen, Klara Welsh, Bernice Robertson, Nancy Jones
* Naomi Schulz, in seminary in Berkeley, CA.
* Joy Frazier, at the death of her brother, in Florida
* Rhonda Owens, in the loss of her mother
* Marlene Payne’s niece, Sarah, her daughter, Reldy, and grand daughter, Lola
* The family of Nadia Old, an 11-year-old Berea Community School student, who has died
* Barbara Frederiksen, recovering from emergency surgery
* Linda Parsons, who broke her leg in a fall and is recovering at Cardinal Hill
* Carole and all the family, at the death of Christopher Pierce. He taught Art Education classes at Berea College and Community School from 1967 – 2005. Chris died on March 23, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM after a brief illness. Anyone wishing to contact Carole may reach her at: 1319 Camino Ecuestre NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107
Assisting in Worship
Worship Leader today is Leslie Small Stokes
Many thanks to Larry Brandenburg for serving as organist today and to Jenny Bromley for accompanying on piano.
About the Communionware cover: Lent is a season of paradox. It is a time of mourning, introspection, and repentance, but also a time of rejoicing as we look ahead to the redemption that brings our peace.
Like the season, this communionware cover portrays both heaviness and beauty. The yarn is handspun from the lamb fleece of Rebekah, one of my first sheep. Suffolk is one of the scratchier wools, knitted lace tends to be heavier than other forms of lace, and the purple came out even darker than I intended. The black glass beads are reminiscent of jet, beloved of Victorian mourners. All these things remind us of sin, loss, and heartache. (Not to mention the mistakes, frustrations, and tears knitted into this difficult pattern!)
Yet the design is that of a daisy, a self-seeding, spreading, nearly unstoppable harbinger of summer and joy. The light airiness of the surrounding lace reminds us that even in the darkest nights, beauty is never far away.
Wool washed, prepared, carded, spun, dyed, and knitted by Debbonnaire Kovacs, January and February, 2008. Beads from Fishwisdom Beads in Old Town.
Announcements
You Matter! Please Sign in, Check in on Facebook/Twitter and try a nametag! It’s hard to get to know people elsewhere, but we don’t want it that way at church. Use the pew folder in your row, passing it back when all have signed. Let’s all try to get to know each other better.
Interested in exploring membership with Union Church? Every Fourth Sunday of the Month anyone wanting to know more about Union Church or wanting to explore church membership, as well as new members who have not been able to participate in a previous meeting, are invited to come to the classroom two doors past the church office immediately following worship for conversation with the Pastors and the Community Life and Growth Board. New members are received every Second Sunday of the month—next week, April 13, this month. YOU are welcome here!
Note: Barb Taylor’s email address is .com NOT .net Please make that change in your Directory (with Joan’s apologies).
Join Us For Lunch Today — You are invited to the Community Room immediately following worship for Lenten Lunch! This is the final Lenten Lunch of the season—many thanks to the cooks, setter-uppers, taker-downers, dish washers, helpers, and – of course – eaters! Donations go toward our church’s operating budget, but all are welcome with or without the ability to make a contribution. Good food, good fellowship, good cause.
Bereans for Fairness invites and encourages YOU to WRITE TO Berea City Council and tell them why you support an anti-discrimination Fairness ordinance that would include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Come downstairs after the service TODAY for Lenten Lunch and find the Bereans for Fairness table set up with all the materials and information you need. Contact Kate Grigg at kate@fairness.org with questions.
One Great Hour of Sharing Offering on Palm Sunday One Great Hour of Sharing is the special mission offering that carries God’s message of love and hope to people in 138 countries. Churches work with international partners to provide sources of clean water and food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, emergency relief, and advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response.
You can now pledge/donate to Union Church —online or by text! ! For Online Giving Union Church uses EasyTithe, a completely secure contribution system. You can use Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express Credit and Debit Cards, or an E-Check from your checking account. Visit the website and click on the Donate button for instructions. You do not need to register to make a donation (just choose “Quick Give” ). If you do register your information will be securely stored making future visits faster and giving you full control of your giving reports. Credit card processing does cost the church about 3.1% of your transaction. ACH (E-Checks) only incur a 1% fee. Please use whichever is best for you, but if you can, consider adding a little additional to help cover the bank fee!
Give By Texting 859-448-3403: Yes! You can give using your web-enabled phone. Text any amount to 859-448-3403. The first time you do–and just the first time–you’ll get a link to associate your phone and enter your securely stored credit or debit card. After that, all you need to do is text the number with an amount and any designation. It’s fast and easy! Of course, like every credit card transaction the church pays a 3.1% fee. If you can include that little extra bit, it will make a big difference!
Examples: Text “$5.00 Lenten Lunch” to contribute to the after church meals. Text “$200.00 My Pledge” to contribute to your pledge. (Amounts texted without a designation will automatically go to the Annual Ministry Budget and all giving will be included in your annual giving records).
AND – it’s now possible to donate & dedicate Easter lilies online—select the pink “buy Easter Lilies” button and follow the links — easy!
Wednesday Nite Live! April 9 Super-cool Guatemalan t-shirts for peace and for parents/grandparents/friends of cool kids. The MSB has a special speaker on April 9 for Wednesday Night Live. Nadine Umutoni, from Rwanda and Hazel Morris’ host daughter, has been accepted for a special conflict transformation program this summer–the program accepts 20 students worldwide with a priority on students from “hot spots”/conflict zones. MSB has helped with funding Nadine and others in past years (a Tibetan student who lived as a refugee in India, a Burmese student who worked with International Red Cross, etc.). Nadine will tell some of her story and we will sell some cool Guatemalan t-shirts from Betty Hibler, Dorothy Chao and Michelle Tooley’s trip to Guatemala.
Are you interested in community gardening? The new East Ridge Community Garden, located at 401 Estill St. (the big triangle between 1016 and 25), is now taking reservations for the growing season. Plots range from 3’x6′ to 20’x25′ (with rents from $15 to $35). To learn more about the garden and print a reservation form, go to http://eastridgecommunitygarden.org You can also see Jenny Hobson after church, and she has a limited number of printed forms for folks without internet access. For more information, you can call Katie Startzman at 985-9114 or Jenny Hobson at 893-1075.
DVD Player/monitor needed. Can you loan a DVD player/monitor to the Safe Haven program? We’d like to play movies to folks (especially kids) while they’re at the Safe Haven. See Doug Hindman (582-5806) if you can help.
Concert Choir Spring Concert today, 3:00 pm. Concert by the Berea College Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, Stephen Bolster, conductor, today, Sunday, April 6 at 3:00 p.m. in Gray Auditorium on the Berea College campus. The choral concert will be accompanied by Lindsay Clavere on the piano and organ. There is no admission charge.
Youth yard work days are back! For two days only! April 26th and May 24th youth will do yard work in exchange for a donation for getting them to Passport camp this summer. We will only accept between 2 and 4 jobs each day, depending on how many youth and the intensity of the work. Call or email Grace to schedule 205-451-7444 or mckenzieg@berea.edu
Good news for Veterans: Are you, or do you know, a veteran who is behind on the rent? Kentucky River Foothills may be able to pay it, directly to the landlord (this is NOT a loan—funds never need to be paid back). Call Tony Crachiolo, Veteran Outreach, 624-2046 x 307, to talk about it. Funded by a grant to the Department of Veteran Affairs.
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