A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Fourth Sunday of Advent 10:30 am
Meditation
But despite it all, the bell that wouldn’t stop tolling, the words that won’t stop clanging through my heart, are, so much. There is so much left to love. ~ Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed from “Despite it All”
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Hymn Sing Choose Your Favorites!
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 “<>.”
Meditation Chant/Song Desiree Scarambone
Scripture Reading Micah 5:2-5
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord is God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be the one of peace.
~New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
Lighting the Candle of Love
The Advent Wreath tradition reaches back to pre-Christian northern Europeans who lit candles awaiting the winter solstice. By the 1500s, both Lutherans and Catholics had adapted the Advent Wreath as a devotional way to prepare for the coming of Christ, the Light of the World. Each week as we wait through Advent, we light a new candle representing an aspect of the light God intends for all people. This Sunday the candle of LOVE is lit.
Reading by Candlelighters John & Donna Lovell
One: In a weary and worn world, how do we begin again? Where do we start?
All: Let us begin with tenderness. Let us begin with our hearts on our sleeve. Let us begin from a place of vulnerability and hope. Let us begin with love.
One: Yes, let us start with love. Today we light the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love.
All: May the warmth of these lights be our cornerstone. May the truth in these lights help us begin again.
One: May it be so! Let us pray…
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Gracious God, You paint pictures of what could be,
All: but we declare those visions impossible.
One: You speak of the lion lying down with the lamb,
All: but we spout skepticism and uncertainty.
One: You dream of a more just day,
All: but we poke holes in the plan, unable to fathom that horizon. Forgive us for losing sight of all your Love illumines. Forgive us for assuming that what we see is all there is. Open up our hearts to see the world as you see it. Open up our hearts to risk hope to dare to do what love demands, to dream dreams, and to not be afraid of any call. With gratitude we wait and we pray: Amen.
¨ Words of Assurance
One: Friends, No matter what you hold onto, and no matter what you let slip through your hands, God is holding onto you. That good news will never change. So hear and believe the good news of the Gospel: Today is a new day. It is filled with Love and the hope we will risk for better. Today, we are forgiven. And tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow: love will set us right.
All: Thanks be to God for a love like that. Amen.
¨ Hymn #106 My Heart Sings Out with Joyful Praise Marias Lovsang
1 My heart sings out with joyful praise to God who raises me, who came to me when I was low and changed my destiny. The Holy One, the Living God, is always full of grace to those who seek their Maker’s will in every time and place.
2 The arm of God is strong and just to scatter all the proud. The tyrants tumble from their thrones and vanish like a cloud. The hungry all are satisfied; the rich are sent away, the poor of earth who suffer long will welcome God’s new day.
3 The promise made in ages past at last has come to be, for God has come in power to save, to set all people free. Remembering those who wait to see salvation’s dawning day, our Savior comes to all who weep to wipe their tears away.
¨ Passing the Love
All are invited to greet fellow worshippers and offer a sign of love. You may simply share where you have seen glimmer of love this week, or where you are seeking one.
Word and Worship
Children’s Moment A 5-Minute Pageant!
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 Luke 1:39-55
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name; indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has come to the aid his child Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
~New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
Sermon Love Demands And Hope Is Worth the Risk Rev. Kent Gilbert
¨ Hymn Hope Is Worth the Risk trad. French Melody
Video Reflection?
Living Prayer
Ringing 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.
Offering
A Chance for Generosity: www.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 www.easytithe.com/union. No registration required, but registering once makes future generosity simply 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!
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.
Words make worlds when we can’t see them with our eyes. Words keep hearts open and affirm our deepest aspirations to hope, to peace, to joy, and to love.
Each week as we end one year and enter whatever the new day brings, we are sharing Affirmations of Faith for reflection and prayer. Sometimes we need the reminder! Sometimes the words make the nebulous more real. Sometimes words help us begin…
Affirmation of Faith for the
Fourth Sunday of Advent
I believe in a God who gives us reason to hope,
a God who fills our nights with stars,
who follows winter with spring,
who dwells with us and among us.
I believe that this God has dreams for creation,
dreams of justice like a mighty stream
and swords that will be beaten into plowshares.
Therefore, we push cynicism aside.
We risk vulnerability.
We hold out hope,
and we declare:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Amen.
¨ Doxology Old Hundredth
To God all glorious heavenly Light, To Christ revealed in earthly night, To God the Spirit now we raise Our joyful songs of thankful praise. Amen.
Christmas Cantata
As we patch together our hope, peace, joy and love in the light of Christ’s coming, we lift our voices in song. The choir, orchestra and readers have assembled music to prepare our hearts for both love and service. We are grateful to Dr. Bernardo Scarambone, our director of music ministries for creating the cantata from special pieces as shown below:
The Hills Are Bare at Bethlehem Royce J. Scherf, arr. Johnson
We Are Waiting William T. Paxson
Comfort My People Ian Callahan
Rise Up Shepherds trad.
Lift Up Your Heads trad.
Silent Prayers & Prayers of the Community Rev. Carla Gilbert, Reader
Holy God, draw near to the most vulnerable places in our lives.
Draw near to our depression and anxiety, to our addictions and sorrows.
Draw near to the problems that feel impossibly big.
Draw close to the places where hope seems out of reach.
In the ups and downs of this world, show us how to hope.
Give us the courage, the vulnerability, and the wisdom to risk hope; to believe that change can come.
With all the tenderhearted hope we can muster, we wait in wonder and act with the conviction that your love demands. In the name of the coming Christ : Amen.
Hymn #165 Love Came Down at Christmas Whitney
1 Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine; Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign.
2 Worship we the Godhead, Love incarnate, Love divine; worship we our Jesus, but wherewith for sacred sign?
3 Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine; love to God and others, love for plea and gift and sign.
From Here to There
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
This week, as we light the candle that represents love, we honor the grassroots organization Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid. These are ordinary folks who put the commandment of “love your neighbor as yourself” into action on a daily basis. They are not wealthy philanthropists, but rather justice warriors who reach out when times are hard and keep members of their communities fed, the heat on, and the rent paid in increments as little as $5, $10, or $15. They patch together resources from and for working class people who live in areas that are not served by food banks and other relief agencies. Many of those who donate and volunteer know themselves what it is to go without. And despite their own struggles, they LOVE, LOVE, and just keep LOVING!
¨ Benediction
¨ Benediction Response Let There Be Love on Earth Courtney, Miller
Those who are able & willing are invited to fill the aisles as we sing the Benediction Response together. If you’re at home or in the balcony, you are part of the embrace too. The embrace is as wide as God’s love!
Our Prayers for Others
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