A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Sharing the Lord’s Supper 10:30 am
Meditation
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
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 “<>.”
¨ The Call Dr. Pamela Chabora, Reader
One: In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
All: In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
One: Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
All: Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
One: For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
All: From my birth I have leaned upon you, my protector since my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
¨ Hymn # 164 Arise, Your Light Has Come Festal Song
1 Arise, your light is come! The Spirit’s call obey; show forth the glory of your God which shines on you today!
2 Arise, your light is come! Fling wide the prison door; proclaim the captive’s liberty, good tidings to the poor.
3 Arise, your light is come! All you in sorrow born, bind up the brokenhearted ones and comfort those who mourn.
4 Arise, your light is come! The mountains burst in song! Rise up like eagles on the wing, God’s power will make us strong.
¨ Prayer of Approach & Confession
¨ Words of Assurance
¨ Passing the Peace of Christ
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
Special Music x x
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Scripture Reading Jeremiah 1:4-10 Pam Chabora, Reader
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a child.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
~New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
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 Luke 4:21-30
Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'”
And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land, yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
~New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
Sermon Not Everything Is Lost Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard.
Responding to God’s Love in Communion
¨ Invitation to Communion
One: God be with you!
All: And also with you!
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to God.
One: Let us give thanks to God.
All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Communion Hymn #346 Bread of the World, in Mercy Broken Eucharistic Hymn
1 Bread of the world in mercy broken, wine of the soul in mercy shed, by whom the words of life were spoken, and in whose death our sins are dead.
2 Look on the heart by sorrow broken, look on the tears by sinners shed; and be your feast to us the token that by your grace our lives are fed.
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.
Communion Prayer
One: Covenanting God, in the midst of chaos, you spoke the world into being, gathered it into light and dark, sea and land, minerals and organisms. You breathed life into the blood beating through every creature, and you called it Good.
One: As our blood ran hot, so did our tempers and our temptations, and we turned from your loving embrace to destructive ways. You called us back, you gave us consequences, you forgave us, and still we faltered. Ultimately, you made with us a covenant that your people would have you as their God always, no matter what.
One: In your greatest act of generosity, you emptied yourself into human flesh, walked among us in the dirt and dust, taught and laughed and sang and felt. You called us to follow in your footsteps. Then, you gave up your life, in order that we might know the power of your resurrection, the power of your everlasting love, the power of your peace, and the power of your spirit. We give you thanks and praise for your grace as we sing of your glory:
Sanctus Please join in singing:
Words of Institution
One: We remember that on the night before he died, Jesus sat at table with his friends, took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying:
All: “Take and eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
One: After supper he took the cup of wine and, after giving thanks, gave it to them and said,
All: “Drink this, all of you: this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
One: God of the new covenant, bless these gifts of bread and juice. As we take them into our bodies, may our souls be transfused with your love, our spirits renewed once more in your grace. 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. 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.
Offertory
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.
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 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 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.
Community Prayer of Thanksgiving (unison)
God, you are hope in hopeless situations, love amid loveless treatment, and presence in the deepest loneliness. Hear the desperate prayers of your people–for this world, for our neighbors, and for ourselves as we call on you, and do not turn your face from us in our time of need. We pray these things in your name, by your Spirit, and unified in the body of your child, Jesus Christ, who taught his followers to pray saying…
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Maker, Our Mother, and 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.
¨ Hymn #42 O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing Azmon
1 O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise, the glories ever echoing the triumphs of God’s grace!
2 My gracious Savior and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of your name.
3 Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease, is music in the sinner’s ears, is life and health and peace.
4 Glory to God, and love and praise be ever, ever given by all the saints in every age, the church in earth and heaven.
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
Noam Chomsky was born in 1928 in Philadelphia to immigrant Russian parents who were Hebrew scholars and teachers. His political awareness was formed during the depression when he witnessed the beating of women strikers outside of a local textile factory.
Professionally, he attended University of Pennsylvania and Harvard, majoring in linguistics. As a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, He published “Syntactic Structures,” a theory of grammar that turned Linguistics from an obscure discipline into a major social science.
But like the prophet Amos, he used his position to become a modern day “prophet on the edge,” speaking his truth to power. He became a well known critic of the Vietnam war, and since that time he has continued to call the US Government to account on critical social and political issues. He has been
a prolific writer and speaker. At the age of 96, he continues to push for social justice and survival of life on earth.
“… jingoism, racism, fear, religious fundamentalism: these are all ways of appealing to people if you’re trying to organize a mass base of support for policies that are really intended to crush them.”
From Here to There
¨ Benediction
¨ Benediction Song What Love Demands Mark Hayes
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
¨ 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 (World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer cycle: union-church.org/ministries/prayer). Let us hold the people of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Western Sahara and Tunisia and our brothers and sisters at Berea Friends Meeting in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
¨ Mary Ellen Sarafin, Betty’s sister, suffering from cirrhosis.
¨ 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.
¨ All those affected by the devastating losses in the current conflict in the Middle East, and prayers that the cease-fire will hold.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Jerry Cooper, Jan Hamilton, Betsy Hoefer, Dorie Hubbard, Susan Kramer, Lois Morgan, Sara Parker, Cheryl Payne, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie.
¨ All those suffering from mental strain, trauma, and disease, ands those who care and worry for them: may God soothe and heal all who are troubled.
¨ Members and Friends who need safer housing and income security.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ The Guild family as Will continues his struggle with brain cancer and stroke.
¨ Kerry Jones, out of the hospital an recuperating at home from his stem cell transplant.
¨ Muse Watson, recovering at home from surgery
¨ Schill Eich family Meal Train: Amy Schill is recovering from surgery and some help with food would be greatly appreciated! mealtrain.com/trains/gd8zml
¨ For Ramona Culp who had a heart incident that resulted in a new pace-maker. May God speed the healing!
¨ Rev. Kent’s cousin, Kathy, with esophageal cancer.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Feb. 4 – Sandy Bolster, Donna Eder, Donna Abner; 5 – Lisa Bosley, 6 – Joy Frazier, Tim Monroe; 7 –Jean Boyce; 8 – Henry Basham
Cecelia McKinney’s 90th birthday will be Feb. 22!! She’d love cards from church friend: 406 Sea Gull Ct., Edgewater, FL 32141
Anniversaries: Feb. 3 – Thomas & Sarabeth Brownrobie; 4 – Ronald & Annie Sims
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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