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

First Sunday of  Christmas December 29, 2013        10:30 am

Welcome & Announcements
Prelude     In Dulci Jubilo            J.S. Bach
*  Call to Worship               (From Hamlet by William Shakespeare)
One:     Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad:
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.
All:      Let us sing of the dawn,
            Let us sing of God’s creation,                        
            For unto us a savior is born,
            unto us new life is given.
* Hymn #126 Black            Angels from the Realms of Glory        Regent Square
* Prayer of Confession
One:     We were heavy with sorrow, but joy interrupted.  We were deep in the night, but a star appeared.  We were silent with sadness, but the heavens rang.
All:      And the splendor shone around them
            When the time had fully come.
One:     We were hardened by conflict, but love intervened. We were frightened by shadows, but light took them away. We were haunted by fears, but a child brought us hope.
All:      And she laid him in a manger
            When the time had fully come.
One:     We were dismal and defeated, but faith set us on fire.  We were weary and complaining, but our hearts discovered praise. We were doubtful and confused, but a door to life was opened.
All:      And the guiding star went before them                                         
When the time had fully come.
One:     We were arrogant and angry, but his innocence disarmed us. We were cruel, crude, and clumsy, but his grace made all things new. We were selfish, narrow, greedy, but his joy we had to share.
All:      And they offered him their treasured gifts                                           
When the time had fully come.
One:     We were sheep who had lost their way, but the shepherd knew our names. We were strangers without a country, but our kingdom came to us.  We were children far from home, but God sent his Son to guide.
All:      And the Word was flesh among us                                         
 When the time had fully come.                                                                                     ~ written by Kenneth I. Morse
*  Words of Assurance
One:     God came among us in a babe in Bethlehem to awaken hope in us, and assure us of a love that is everlasting. Let us receive the good news of this grace.
All:      Amen.
*  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.
Special Music      
Hebrew Scripture Lesson                       Isaiah 63:7-9
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.
Gospel Lesson                  Matthew 2:13-23
Message    The Gift of the Magi    O. Henry                                 performed by Eleanor Lindsay and Randy Bonifay
 
Hymn        God Bless Us and Disturb Us John Bell
Sung to the tune of God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
1. God Bless us and disturb us as we celebrate this feast,
When Christ who was the highest came to earth to be the least
Lest we confine to Satan’s power those for whom joy has ceased.
CHORUS: O Come Christ the Savior from below, from above
And infect the depths of earth with heavenly love.
2.   Where Palestinian people cry for justice which is true.
Where Syria’s hungry children cry for food which is their due
Where North Americans declare “Our wealth has come from you
CHORUS
3.  When powers thrive on heroin where people run from pain
Where parents watch an addict child let life run down the drain
Where hope’s a hit, a drink, a shot and death seems like a gain
CHORUS
4.  Where Christian folk detach ourselves from following the cross
By spotlighting the cradle as if that was all there was
Where who gets what at Christmas turns our minds from grace to dross
CHORUS
5.  From Bethlehem and Washington, City Hall and Central Park       To where a star is needed since the night is doubly dark
To where our lives await the Lord to set us on God’s mark
CHORUS
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 Kiyosato, Japan and is also rung in the hope of peace for all nations.
Silent Prayer and Prayers of the Community   
Our Lord’s Prayer
  One:  …Our Maker, our Mother,
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.
Offertory 
*  Doxology              Avery\/Marsh 
*  Prayer of Thanksgiving
*  Closing Hymn #129 Black          Good Christian Friends, Rejoice        In Dulci Jubilo
*  Benediction          Take Joy          Fra Giovanni
 Postlude   Hallelujah       George Frederic Handel
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 Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan & the Occupied Palestinian Territories and our brothers and sisters at the Holy Pentecostal Sanctuary 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.
* Lauri McVicker and Rhonda Edwards, who were legally married on December 26! Congratulations!
* Ruth Butwell, recovering well at home after hip replacement
* Judy Rowell
* Greg Bolster, Steve’s brother, fighting cancer
* Erin Hay
* Linda Parsons, recovering at home
* Michelle Tooley, awaiting cancer treatment
* Dawn Manor, Dot Kindel’s daughter, as she recovers and they adjust to a new home
* Naomi Brandenburg, Larry’s mother, recovering at home after hip replacement
* Rose Brandenburg, Larry’s aunt, at Berea Health Care Center
* Edith Hansen, at The Terrace
* Klara Welsh, at Berea Health Care Center
* Bernice Robertson, at Berea Health Care Center
* Shirley Dean, on hospice care for lung cancer
* An additional poinsettia was given by Les Pross in memory of Mary Lou Pross
Assisting in Worship
Many thanks to Rob Hayden for serving as organist today.
Elly Lindsay is currently a member of the theater faculty at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a nationally ranked performing arts school. She has a B.A. from Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts and an MFA in theater  from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She was a company member at the Dallas Theater Center from 1980-1983 under Paul Baker where she met her husband, Randy. Elly continues to perform professionally throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  Her first trip to Christmas School at Berea College was in 1965.
Randy Bonifay currently is a freelance stage manager and production manager working in the world of corporate meetings and auto shows.  For thirty years, he co-owned the company, Showcrafters, which was a design and fabrication scenic company. He has a B.S. from Texas A & I University in Kingsville, TX and an MFA in theater from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.  Randy was a company member at the Dallas Theater Center from 1974-1983 working as an actor, director, designer and producer. His avocation for the past thirty-two years has been the study and teaching of the martial art of Aikido.  He is currently the Shihan of an organization that has seven affiliate dojos.  This is his fourteenth consecutive year at Christmas school.  He and Elly are often accompanied by their son, David.
About Our Advent and Christmas Art
The hand-wrought Advent Wreath and stand was made by local artisan Bob Montgomery.
The Banner Series complements a decades-old tapestry from the church’s collection made by fabric artist Mildred Strickler. That banner, (which is hung for Christmas Eve and the weeks following) in blue, yellow, and red accents, depicts a Star of Bethlehem that dwarfs the small city under it with both its size and dynamism, unable to be contained by the borders of the banner. Each Advent banner has an image drawn from the traditional advent texts that is also larger than the waiting world over which it appears.
 
The Advent Banners were designed by Rev. Kent in 2006 who made them as full size paper cuts. In 2007 they were translated into fabric by Rita Barlow, Joyce Fields, Ramona Culp & Debbonnaire Kovacs.
Adorning the Christmas tree: Chrismons, beautifully beaded  gold and white ornaments, are so called because they are Christ monograms.  Symbols such as crowns, lambs, shepherd crooks,  doves, crosses, stars, butterflies, and many others which convey some aspect of Jesus grace the  tree in the Sanctuary to the right of the pulpit.  The Chrismon tree originated in 1957 at Ascension Lutheran Church, Danville, Virginia,  and continues throughout the country/world in  many churches.
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.
Sunday School, Children’s Church and Little Church will have a Christmas break until January 5.
Needed: twin bed for a little girl — can you help? Please call Joy Frazier, 859-353-5054, if so.