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

First Sunday of Lent February 22, 2015, 10:30 am

Meditation

“Would you become a pilgrim on the road of Love? The first condition is that you make yourself humble as dust and ashes.”

—Ansarit of Herat

From there to here

Welcome & Announcements
Prelude     Prelude and Fugue in D Minor           J.S. Bach
*  Call to Worship
One:     We come, so God might open our eyes,
All:      that we may discover the wonders surrounding us; that we may embrace the joy deep within us.
One:     We gather, so Christ might widen our hearts,
All:      that we may hear the sounds of brokenness around us; that we may sing the melodies of hope.
One:       We are here, so the Spirit might teach us the ways of humility,
All:      that we may walk that street named Enduring Love; that we may wait at the corner called Faithfulness.
One:     Let us move God-ward in this hour, poised on the edge of grace.

–adapted from prayer by Thom Shuman

* Opening Hymn #205 Black         Forty Days and Forty Nights  Heinlein
*  Prayer of Approach & Confession
One:     Before beginning a journey there is the preparation. Let us take silence now to off-load what hinders and binds. Let us confess, name, and lessen the power of our past failures and twisted paths. In silence we name our temptations and ask for the power to see past brokenness in the new light of God’s way. Hear our prayers, O Lord. Walk with your people.
      [silence is kept]
One:     May God know our hearts.
All:      May Christ forgive and bless our way forward. Amen.
* Assurance of Pardon
*  Passing the Peace of Jesus Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this day! You are invited to turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace and joy.

The Word in our Midst

Anthem    Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley    trad.
Union Church Choir
1. Jesus walked this lonesome valley. He had to walk it by Himself; O, nobody else could walk it for Him, He had to walk it by Himself.
2. I must walk this lonesome valley, I must  walk it by myself; O, nobody else can walk it for me, I have to walk it by myself.
3. You must go and stand your trial, you have to stand it by yourself; O, nobody else can stand it for you, You have to stand it by yourself.
Hebrew Scripture Lesson                       Genesis 9:8-17
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, children grades K-3 are invited to Children’s Church, which takes place in the chapel.  If this is your child’s first time attending Children’s Church, please accompany them to fill out a registration form.  Otherwise, children are welcome to follow volunteers to their worship spaces. For children preschool & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Community Room. Please pick up your children in the Chapel after the service.
Gospel Lesson                  Mark 1:9-15
Sermon     Road Signs and Wonders        Rev. Kent Gilbert

Gifts given for Love to flow

Call to Offering
Our gifts help sustain this particular community of caring by sustaining the building, pastors and staff, and all the materials that make our ministry of healing, justice, and teaching available to all in need. In addition, a good portion of our contributions flows out to aid to those in need via many external agencies.
This can now be done online or by text to  859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering” to contribute to the ongoing ministries, or add “youth,” or “missions” or designation of your choice to benefit one in particular.)
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
 Offertory             Andantino        X. Scharwenka
*  Doxology  Praise God from whom all blessings flow;    Old Hundredth
                  Praise God all creatures here below;
                  Praise God above, ye heavenly host:
                  Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praying it Forward

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.
Silent Prayers and Prayers of the Community
Our Lord’s Prayer
One:     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.       

From Here to There

*  Closing Hymn #391  Black         In the Midst of New Dimensions         Deo Gracias
*  Benediction & Sending Forth
Postlude    Festival March            G. F. 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 Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta and our brothers and sisters at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 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 service of our country, and those who wait and worry for them.
* For the victims of violence everywhere, and especially under the influence of racial prejudice and simmering fear. Peace to those everywhere our madness reigns.
* Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound:  Edith Hansen, Klara Welsh, Nancy Jones, Mary Miller, Averill Kilbourne, Alva Peloquin, Ruth Butwell
* Teri VanPelt and Christine Ward and especially Kim Wooldridge
* Lee Hubbard
* Kelly Mehler
* Mary K. Kauffman recovering from a fall in Florida.
* Judy Rowell and the family of Mervin Deaton, her brother, who passed away in late January.
* Anne Weatherford, who is declining and under greater care at her nursing home in Asheville, NC
* Berea High School Junior, Jayson Smith, who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during a football game  on November 7, 2014.
* Melissa Zook, recovering from a fall and broken leg.
* The family of Silas House in the death of his Aunt Sis during this last week
* Rev. Rachel is off with the Confirmation Class retreat, leading worship for them. Prayers for her, for each of the members of our Confirmation Class and for their mentors: may faith grow and a sense of God’s grace increase
* Joy for Hayden Bradley Isaacs born to Dorie Isaacs on Tuesday, Feb 17th!
* Prayers of thanksgiving for all those who were angels of mercy in the recent storms
Announcements 
You Matter! Please Sign the Register, 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.  Let’s all try to get to know each other better.
Confirmation Class on Retreat this weekend. Rev. Rachel and our Youth Leaders, Chris and Grace McKenzie, are on retreat with our  Confirmation Class. Confirmation Class pairs young persons with mentors to explore the Christian faith and the history, questions, and quandaries of discipleship. They will enter into both study and service leading to a celebration of their work in May.
Learn more about the church today! If you’re thinking about joining, but have some questions, come to a new membership info session right after worship!   Anyone wanting to know more about Union Church or wanting to explore church membership, as well as new members who have not been able to participate in a previous meeting, are invited to come to the classroom two doors past the church office immediately following worship for conversation with the Pastor and the Community Life and Growth Board.   
New Group meeting at Union: Adult Children of Alcoholics: If you were brought up in a home of addiction, a home of abuse, and if it has affected your life, there is a place for you. ACA meetings, 11am on Saturdays, in the Office Level Classroom. You are not alone.
Lenten Lunches Begin today, February 22 Plan now to travel no further than to the Community Room for Sunday Lunch during Lent.  You may have noticed the Line Item “Lenten Lunches” in the Income section of the Church Budget. Each year the Boards work together to provide lunch for the five Sundays of Lent and the income from these lunches helps to fund the budgets of our Boards — suggested donations of $5.00/single or $15.00/family.
Today the Worship and Nominating Boards will serve up some country cookin’! Most important is the fellowship  shared, and especially the opportunity to get to know some of our newer members. Mark your calendars now! Next Week:  Admin and Nurture & Care Boards will team up.
Annual Meeting—Mark your Calendar! Union Church’s Annual  Meeting  will be March 22, in the Community Room, after worship & lunch. If you are a chairperson of a Board, please submit your Report for the Church’s Annual Report, by March 2. If you’d like a couple years’ worth of Reports for reference, I can send you pdfs. Many thanks. All are welcome to propose items of business, concern – or churchwide conversation – for the agenda. Please send ideas to Doug Hindman, Vice Moderator & Church Council chair, hindmandouglas @gmail.com by March 2.
The Faith Development Board needs your help! We are seeking donations of items for this year’s Easter Egg hunt for the children of the church. We need donations of plastic Easter eggs that can be taken apart and filled with items. We also need Easter candy that will fit in the eggs and small items/toys that can go in the eggs as well. Stickers, erasers and stencils are items that have worked in the past.  If you can donate any of these items, please bring them to the church office between now and Palm Sunday. The youth group will be stuffing and hiding the eggs in the days before Easter. Thank you in advance for your generosity!