A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the
CHURCH OF CHRIST, UNION
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost August 4, 2013
Meditation
Romantic love is blind to everything except what is lovable and lovely, but Christ’s love sees us with terrible clarity and sees us whole. Christ’s love so wishes our joy that it is ruthless against everything that diminishes our joy. The worst sentence Love can pass is that we behold the suffering which Love endured for our sake, and that is also our acquittal. The justice and mercy of the judge are ultimately one.
—Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
GATHERING TO WORSHIP
Welcome & Announcements
Prelude We Worship You, God (HANOVER) Robert Hobby
Processional Come, All You People (opposite) UYAI MOSE
Please rise and sing as the Procession reaches your pew.
* Call to Worship
One: We come here from the world whose siren song tells us that we do not have enough – we do not buy enough – we are not enough.
All: Here we re-learn God’s wisdom – that we have enough if we share; that security cannot be found in the marketplace; that we are always enough.
One: Center us once again, Holy God. Ground us in your love. Grow us toward your sense of abundance: abundant listening active love fullest life. Come, let us worship the Lord.
* Opening Hymn We Cannot Own the Sunlit Sky (opposite) Ruth Duck * Call to Confession
One: Gracious God, so often we add up our treasure only by considering the dollar sign and the decimal point. We come here to remember that we are so much more than a currency and a decimal bank account. We are your loving and beloved children, come to learn from you. Teach us, Holy One. Teach us. Amen.
* Prayer of Confession (unison)
Blessing, blessed God, we pray to you for “our daily bread,” for what we need. But in our worrying, we crave ever more. In our fear that there may not be enough, we desire more than we need. In our hope to evade trouble, we look for refuge and rescue in amassing more and more things. Forgive us, dear God, for the times when our anxieties outweigh our sense. Forgive us when we think of ourselves but forget to think of others. Forgive us that we do not seek our safety in you. Unclench our fists. Open our hearts. Amen.
* Passing the Peace of 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.
HEARING THE WORD
Message in Song What a Friend We Have In Jesus Jan Sanborn
Nyghel Byrd, soloist
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge-take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms he’ll take and shield you; you wilt find a solace there.
God Speaking through the Epistles Colossians 3:1-11 (p. 1436)
“Seek the things that are above,” Paul urges the residents of Collossae,” not the things that are on earth.”
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, child care for ages kindergarten & under is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Fellowship Hall. Activity clipboards are available at the altar for older children.
God Speaking through the Gospels Luke 12:13-21 (p. 1252)
A man comes up to Jesus, asking Jesus to settle a dispute between him and his brother. In response, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool.
Sermon Buried Treasure Rev. Kent Gilbert
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
Call to Offering
Offertory Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Johann Walther
* Doxology Avery/Marsh
RESPONDING TO GOD’S LOVE IN COMMUNION
* Invitation to Communion
One: May God be with you.
All: May God also be with you.
One: People of God, open up your hearts.
All: We open them to God and one another.
One: People of God, give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give thanks to the One who offers us lives filled with grace.
Please join on the refrain printed below, the soloist will sing the verses.
- O come and sit at my table where saints and sinners are friends. I wait to welcome the lost and lonely to share the cup of my love.
- O come and eat without money; come to drink without price. My feast of gladness will feed your spirit with faith and fullness of life.
- My bread will ever sustain you through days of sorrow and woe. My wine will flow like a sea of gladness to flood the depths of your soul.
- Your fields will flower in fullness; your homes will flourish in peace. For I, the giver of home and harvest, will send my rain on the soil.
One: Called by name and known within the very heart of God, we gather in hope and respond with gladness bringing the gifts of work and earnings, bringing the gifts of home and table. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God and God’s bounty.
One: Called to live daringly without fear or favor, we gather as slave and free, male and female, rich and poor, young and old, all colors, all persuasions, all one body, and Christ in all. This meal is a connection with Christ and with one another. It is fuel for our passion and sustenance for our hope. It is a table set so that we may feed justice, give courage, and resist the corrosive forces in our lives.
One: All are welcome at this table. All who wish to be fed, all who hunger and thirst, all who have been turned down or who have turned aside or have been turned away. You are welcome here. You need not be a member of this church or any church to share in this meal, for this is Christ’s table where all are welcomed and renewed. Let us pray.
Ringing of the Peace Bell and Communion Prayers
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.
[Please join the prayer through song after the reader says:]
Communion Prayer and Words of Institution
One: Therefore, we joyfully lift our voices, with those who have gone before us, and those who stand beside us, singing our praise for your great love;
Communion Sanctus Please Join in Singing
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.
[Prayer continues. Please join in again at this point:]
One: Remembering that you did not give up on us or hand us over to sin and death but showered us with your mercy in Christ Jesus, we take the bread of life and the cup of grace and joyfully celebrate that mystery we call faith:
All: Christ died, his life hidden in God. Christ is risen, seated by God’s side.Christ will come again, that we might be revealed with him in glory.
Words of Institution
One: Today, we remember that on the night of his betrayal and desertion, Jesus first sat among his friends and colleagues, treating them as equals no matter their station in life. As they shared their meal together, Jesus took the bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them saying:
All: Take. Eat. This is my body given for you. Remember me, each time
you do this.
One: After supper he took a cup, gave God thanks for the wine, and shared it with his friends, saying:
All: Take. Drink. This is God’s promise poured out for you. Remember me, each time you drink it.
One: Compassionate God, pour out your gracious Spirit on us, and on these, your simple gifts. Fill us with the broken bread that we might be made whole; touch our parched lips with the cup of salvation, so we might proclaim your gospel. Then send us forth:
One: our hearts recoiling at the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers;
One: our hands willing to build shelter for those cast out by the world;
One: our arms surrounding the lost and the least, in the embrace of common humanity.
One: And when we are clothed with our new self, when we are united with our sisters and brothers gathered around the Table of glory, we will sing our praises to you forever, God in Community, Holy One, as you satisfy the thirsty with your grace, and fill the hungry with your love.
All: Be present with us as we share this meal, and throughout all our lives, that we may know you and feel your presence more fully. Amen.
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. As you wait for your turn, you are invited to reflect upon your communion and the music.
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. Elements 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 with the Nurture and Care Board members or by contacting one of the pastors.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
One: Lord God of all times and places, set our minds on the power of your love. You have graced us with common elements of bread and cup, and dignified them by your presence and your purpose. We who have received this blessing thank you and ask that we, your common people, might be vessels in which your Holy Spirit of humility and compassion might come and gladly rest.
All: And in your resting may you stir our rising to new and hopeful beginnings, proclaiming God’s love and serving you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen.
WALKING FORWARD IN FAITH
* Closing Hymn O Young and Fearless Prophet MEIRIONNYDD
* Benediction and Sending Forth
Postlude Festival Fanfare Malcolm Archer
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 Canada and the United States, and our brothers and sisters at Berea United Methodist 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.
* Bob Bates, recovering at home from emergency surgery
* Teri Van Pelt, experiencing pain from stenosis in the cervical vertebra
* Jerry Cooper, recovering from shoulder surgery
* The father of Debbonnaire Kovacs, hospitalized with serious health issues
* Ed Poston’s sister, and the family, at her serious illness
* Rose Brandenburg, Larry’s aunt, at Kenwood Nursing Home in Richmond
* Edith Hansen, at The Terrace
* Shirley Dean, on hospice care for lung cancer
Announcements…
You Matter! Please Sign In, Check in on FB/Twitter and Try a Name Tag! 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, and whether you are a first time visitor or a long-time member, a name tag helps everyone connect the dots. Mobile phone users can also check in on Facebook and Twitter.
Explore Union Church! This is a place where your faith can grow and deepen! We are actively looking for those who would like to explore discipleship with Jesus in this congregation. YOU matter, and so does YOUR faith journey. If you’d like to join Union Church in pursing the way of peace, justice, and hope, please call, email, or Facebook either pastor, or call the church office. YOU are welcome here!
Final summer carillon concert tomorrow, ! John Gouwens will play the John Courter Carillon at 6:30 pm tomorrow, August 5, on the Draper Quad. He serves on the faculty of the North American Carillon School of Centralia, Illinois, teaching Campanology (the study of bells), Composition, and Improvisation. He also is associated with Ball State University and Indiana University, Bloomington, where he plays and teaches each year. All are welcome, no charge.
Thank you! to everyone who participated in the Bereans for Fairness Picnic last Saturday. Union Church was well represented! So many of you volunteered and contributed in so many ways. It’s a blessing to have you with us in body and spirit.
Youth Group meetings are back! Youth Group meetings will begin on August 14th. Middle school group will meet at 4:45 a high school group will meet at 6:30. We realize that meeting at 4:45 may not be conducive to some work schedules, so if you will call Chris (678-982-1731) or Grace (205-451-7444) we can arrange to pick up your youth if you need us to.
FREE Tickets for Wild Goose (This week, so act quickly) – Join the Presbyterian Hunger Program and hundreds of other faith and justice seeking individuals for the Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, NC from August 8-11th. It is an amazing line-up of 3.5 days of speakers and musicians in an ecumenical fun outdoor setting. Young Adults scholarships for FREE tickets are available and for those outside that age range can lend a helping hand and we can offer you a FREE Ticket for the entire event. For more information go to http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/compassion-peace-justice/wild-goose-festival/ or contact Gina Chamberlain at 859-985-9526 or jakeberea@yahoo.com.
Sunday August 11th 7-9:00 pm – Trade Simulation Game
Trade Simulation Game – Have you ever wondered how trade agreements work and how they impact our Christian principles of justice and peace? Does the topic seem too big, too far way and too complicated? The Trade Simulation Game is designed to bring these issues to life by assigning a character to each participant in four real-life trade scenarios. The characters share their realities with others and work together to understand the roles of participants in trade negotiations. Discussion focuses on what how Christians respond on behalf of the poor, the environment and fair/open/ transparent process. It is an interactive, fun way to learn about this important issue. If you are interested in playing please contact Gina Chamberlain at 859-985-9526 or jakeberea@yahoo.com to reserve a character. We need at least nine people to play so email or call as soon as possible so that we can confirm that the game is on.
Do you love working with young adults? Wanna help us make some great opportunities happen? We are looking for 2-3 volunteers who could dedicate some time to planning events, studies, and spiritual opportunities for our young adults. Contact Rev. Rachel for details.
Tidy up spaces by moving various heavy and light objects to the correct room or closet. Contact Dave Kobersmith at the office.
Hang pictures, 2 white boards and 1 bulletin board. Contact Dave K.
Calling artists! The Community Life and Growth Board is looking for someone who might like to help us design and order banners regularly for our signs on the front lawn. Contact Betty Hibler betty_hibler@berea.edu or Rev. Rachel for more info.
Can you make small Roman shades for the glass on the interior classroom and office doors to indicate that they are “in use?” Needed for the Pastors’ Offices, Conference Room and Office Classroom . Contact Dave K.
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