A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
August 23, 2026 10:30 am
Meditation
“Faith is the bird that feels the light before the dawn when the world is still dark.” ~ Phillip Gulley
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome
Welcome to this service of worship! 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! During the service, you are invited to rise in body or in spirit, standing or sitting, at points in the service marked “<>.”
¨ Invocation All We Need Is Here
All we need is here! All we need is here! God is among us, All we need is here!
“Call to Worship Blessing Sue Goldsmith, Reader
One: Seeking blessing, we arrive in grace.
All: If it had not been for the Lord at work, where would we be? How many dangers have we escaped? How many waters could have washed us away?
One: Blessed is the Lord, who is rescuing and redeeming.
All: Like birds may we fly out of the hunter’s snare, for our help is in the name of the Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth.
¨ Hymn God, Be the Love to Search & Keep Me Green Tyler
¨ Prayer of Approach & Confession
One: Enfold your people, O God of earth and sky, heart and hand, with every gift needed.
All: Light within all light, and Soul within all souls, we give thanks for gifts you have entrusted to us.
One: Where we have not touched, but trampled you in creation, and where we have not honored but avoided you in one another, and where we have not received but rejected your goodness and the goodness in others:
All: Forgive us. Hear our desire to make good that which we have broken, and to seek a better path toward right-relationship with you, with one another, and with ourselves. Our burdens are too much to bear alone. Forgive and free us to live forward in grace. In Christ’s name we pray.
¨ Words of Assurance Come, Bring Your Burdens to God South African; English Trans: Barbara Clark, Mairi Munro, Martine Stemerick
Come, bring your burdens to God (3x) For Jesus will never say no.
¨ Passing the Peace
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on the journey of faith. Please turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace.
Word and Worship
Scripture Reading Exodus 1:8-2:10
Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude, and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?”
The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.”
So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Children’s Moment as the children return to their seats we sing:
May God’s blessings 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.
Scripture Reading Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God–what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Logical Leaps of the Spirit Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
Living Prayer
Call to Prayer
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. Next week, let us hold the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone; and our siblings at Grace Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
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.
Embodied Prayer
You are invited to reflect and pray at the candle table. You may also choose to source the essential ingredient of solitude and private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts in your pew.
For Reflection
Leaping To Conclusions, Leaping to Learn…
In the Romans reading for today Paul reminds his readers that different as we might be, we are still part of the same organism, the same body. Despite assurances many, maybe even most, people feel that they are so different as to not belong anywhere. Loneliness stalks every room, even those filled with people, so what can not only unite us, but help us FEEL united to the Love That Will Not Let Us Go?
As you pray, practice the disciplines of connection in this way: as you breathe, see if you can be aware of any and all other life around you. It might be your cat purring on the chair, or your dog (or partner!) snoring softly. With each breath, let the breathing of all life seep into you. Train your mind on the connections created by taking in breath: you and every other living creation is respirating. You belong. You belong to the system of this world’s web of life.
As your prayer deepens, either today or in the days to come, what new conclusions can you leap to as part of this wide web of life? Try to hold your alienation from differences in the light of God’s love of diversity. You belong even if you are not like others around you. You are loved because of your gifts. Now leap farther. Can you practice loving others who are also feeling different but who also have gifts? How could you live out these leaps of faith and learning? How could you embody everyone as an “ace” in their place?
Offertory
A Chance for Generosity: easytithe.com/union
A community of caring relies on support. Your recurring or one-time donation will make a ministry of healing, justice, and teaching available to all in need.
¨ Use your smart phone or computer and go to easytithe.com/union. No registration required, but registering once makes future generosity simply entering an amount and a click.
¨ Baskets for checks or cash are located at the head of each aisle for those who wish to make an in-person donation.
¨ Give by Text. Text an amount to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering”).
¨ Give by Mail to: 200 Prospect St., Berea, KY 40403.
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
¨ Doxology Words: St. Patrick, adapted Kent Gilbert Tune: Bunessan
Christ be beside me, Christ be before me, Christ be behind me, my rock and my stay; Christ be within me, Christ be below me, Christ be above me guiding my way.
Silent Prayers and Prayers of the Community Sue Goldsmith, Reader
One: Hear us, Lord of difference and delight: we labor too much for what satisfies too little. We ask for help to discern the gifts we carry and the good ways to offer them. Grant that we may be midwives of your coming kin-dom; that with sharp minds and open hearts we can subvert all that is harmful and heal all that is broken. We need this for the world, but also for our own divided spirits. We pray comfort for those who are ill and those whose hearts are heavy.
We pray for healing, and we pray to have wisdom to love and courage to reconceive old ways into new life. Build in us and on us your greater vision, however small or humble our part may be. We offer our gifts as we pray the way Jesus, our brother taught us to reach to you…
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Maker, Our Mother, and Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; Thy kin-dom 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 kin-dom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
¨ Hymn #177 God of Change and Glory Katherine
1. God of change and glory,
God of time and space,
When we fear the future,
Give to us your grace.
In the midst of changing ways
Give us still the grace to praise.
Refrain: Many gifts, one Spirit,
One love known in many ways.
In our difference is blessing,
From diversity we praise
One Giver, one Word,
One Spirit, one God
Known in many ways,
Hallowing our days.
For the Giver, for the gifts,
Praise, praise, praise!
2. God of many colors,
God of many signs,
You have made us different,
Blessing many kinds.
As the old ways disappear,
Let your love cast out our fear.
Refrain
3. Freshness of the morning,
Newness of each night,
You are still creating
Endless love and light.
This we see, as shadows part,
Many gifts from one great heart.
Refrain
Community Connections
Announcements
We share opportunities for Beloved Community and ways to serve. Please see the listing of church & community events, prayers, and notices in the pages following the service.
Lighting the Justice Candle to Lead us Forth
On August 23, we observe the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition, honoring the millions who suffered under the transatlantic slave trade and those who resisted and fought for freedom. As we light this Justice Candle, we remember their courage and recognize the ongoing work of organizations like Abolish Slavery Kentucky, which advocates to remove slavery and involuntary servitude from Kentucky’s Constitution. We recommit ourselves to the continued work of justice, dignity, and freedom. abolishslaveryky.org
From Here to There
¨ Benediction
¨ Benediction Response All We Need Is Here
All we need is here! All we need is here! God is among us, All we need is here!
Our Prayers for Others
¨ All the people of Ukraine for their safety and sovereignty. Prayers also that the government of Russia will turn to reason & respect for their own peoples’ lives as well as for Ukrainian families.
¨ Those in danger in the continuing war in Iran. For the leaders of nations to set aside assassination and warfare in favor of just, diplomatic solutions to conflict.
¨ We pray for our country, and those who are directly affected by the actions and inaction of our government to address the needs of its people and the world.
¨ Our neighbors experiencing housing insecurity, homelessness and food insecurity.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ The children and staff of Samuel’s Kids School and Orphanage in Uganda.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Dorie Hubbard, Susan Kramer, Hattie Parks, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Theresa Scherf.
¨ Students, teachers and staff at the start of a new school year!
¨ Laurie McVicker, with critical blood sepsis issues, now at the University of Pennsylvania hospital.
¨ Charlie Hoffman, anticipating surgery.
¨ Bob Berger, with vascular issues.
¨ Paula White’s cousin, Donna Seale, badly injured in a car collision that will require several surgeries.
¨ Ron Rosen, in his recovery from thyroid cancer and for up coming surgical procedures to improve his voice.
¨ John Hindman, Sally Hindman’s brother, diagnosed with prostrate cancer, and his wife, Diane, in Hospice Care with lung cancer, in California.
¨ For Mary McConnell and family, as her sister enters hospice care.
¨ The family of Jackie Perman, facing difficult abdominal surgery. Jackie is Cadence’s grandma.
¨ Denis Burton, awaiting treatment at St. Joe in Lexington for abdominal issues. Surgery is a possibility.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Aug. 23 – Alvera Perman; 24 – Iris Shaffer, Sylvia From; 26 – John Culp, Jennifer Elam; 29 – Sofia Saderholm; 30 – Nancy Adams; Sept. 1 – Sara Parker
Anniversaries: Sept. 1 – Gene & Dorothy Chao
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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