A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Meditation
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To the one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
~ Joy Harjo
From there to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome
¨ Call to Worship Seth Hutchins, Reader
One: Hallelujah! It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God; praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.
All: God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem, who regathers scattered exiles. God heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds.
One: Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn, play music on your instruments to God who brings the rain, and greens the grass.
All: Not impressed with horsepower nor the flexing of human strength, Those who fear God get God’s attention; they can depend on his strength. Hallelujah!
¨ Hymn #21 God Reigns O’er All the Earth Terra Beata
- God reigns o’er all the earth! Green hills and valleys low, The farms and towns in golds and browns God’s grace and beauty show. God reigns o’er all the earth! Stone banks and spreading plains, In rainbow hues—reds, yellows, blues—of streams and country lanes.
2. God reigns o’er human life! Through youth and aging years, In death, in birth, in grief, in mirth, in all our hopes and fears. God reigns o’er human life! Our inspiration still. Through all our schemes, in all our dreams, we see God’s reigning will.
3. God reigns o’er time and space! In history’s bygone days, Christ’s faithful folk in reverence spoke to bring God earnest praise. God reigns o’er time and space! O’er galaxy and sun, through timeless years the cosmos hears the heavenly music run.
4. God reigns! Emmanuel! God with us every day, in all our past and to the last, our comfort and our stay. God reigns! Emmanuel! Let praise to Christ be sung! God’s presence here makes all things dear. Let joyful bells be rung!
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: God invites us to come to worship as our whole selves: God offers us a new beginning day by day and week by week. Trusting in God, we pray for transformation and new life:
All: Holy One, we hope in your steadfast love, bringing our broken hearts and our wounded spirits. Make us aware of the hearts we break, the spirits we wound, of those we treat as outcasts, of those we tread down. Renew us in your grace, renew us in your strength. Amen.
¨ Words of Assurance
One: Have you not known? Have you not heard? God does not grow weary with us, but loves, forgives, and renews us. By this love, may you carry renewed strength in your walk of faith.
¨ Passing the Peace of 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.
Word and Worship
Anthem Creation Will Be at Peace Williams, Page Union Church Choir
In the holy mountain of the Lord all war and strife will cease; in the holy mountain of the Lord creation will be at peace. The wolf will lie down with the lamb, the cow and bear will feed, their young will pay together; a little child will lead. The leopard and goat will graze, the lion will feed on straw. They will war no more; a child will lead them all.
Scripture Lesson Isaiah 40:21-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
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 Lesson Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Sermon Fear and Trembling Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
Responding to God’s Love in Communion
One: God be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift our hearts in prayer.
One: Let us give thanks to God.
All: It is good to give God thanks and praise.
One: As we come to this table, we are reminded that this is not the table of this congregation, nor is it the table of any particular denomination. It is the table of Jesus Christ, the family feast of the whole people of God.
One: All who seek to be nourished and sustained in the journey of faith and long to live justly and in peace with their neighbor, are welcome here. You do not need to be a member of this church or of any church.
One: So come, all of you. Come not because you must but come because you may. Let us eat and drink together for our strengthening for the witness of love over hate, for healing over hurt, for “heart work” over hardness. To prepare let us unite ourselves in prayer.
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.
Communion Prayer
One: O God, you strengthen the powerless and renew those who wait in you. In despair and delight alike, you bear us up and give us vision from the eagle’s lofty view.
One: You are the Creator of the earth who stretched out the sky like a curtain and sent down rain, clothing the mountains in green. You gathered your people from exile, healing the broken hearted and binding their wounds.
One: You came among us, as one of us, in your child Jesus the Christ, sharing our weakness in order to save us. Healing the sick and casting out demonic powers, he proclaimed your mercy and peace, intended for all. Turning his back on the acclaim of the crowds, he faithfully followed your call all the way to death on a cross.
One: You raised him up and promised that all who trust in him will rise up with wings like eagles and run the race without ever growing weary.
One: Therefore, Lord we join with the millions and millions in every generation who know that you are our life, our living, our love. We sing our praises alongside sinning saints and saintly sinners, joining the song of blessing:
Sanctus
Words of Institution
One: We remember that when Jesus ate with his friends, he took a loaf of bread and, after blessing it, he broke it and gave it to them saying:
All: “Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. As often as you eat it, remember me.”
One: Then, he took a cup, and after giving thanks, passed it to his friends, saying:
All: “Take this and drink. This is the cup of God’s promise poured out for you. As often as you drink it, remember me.”
One: Let us pray…..Loving God, creative Power, blessing your name, we seek your Spirit. Come to us and bless these gifts of bread and cup, that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ; the sign and seal of our forgiveness in him, our strength in times of trouble, and a sign of our walk and witness.
One: As we eat and drink together, make us one in and with the heart of Christ.
All: Amen.
Serving One Another
All who seek the love of God are welcome at this meal and are invited to freely receive from it. 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. All the bread is gluten-free, and the chalices are filled with non-alcoholic grape juice. If it is not your tradition to receive, you are invited to join in prayers for the unity of the Spirit and all people, within your tradition.
Offertory
A Chance for Generosity: www.easytithe.com/union
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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.
Prayer of Thanksgiving Seth Hutchins, Reaer
Thank you, God, for the power of wings and the reach of healing hands. You are strength to us, even in our weakness; awe and wonder to us, even when we are bereft. Here today we have taken in your goodness, your hope and healing. Cast out of us the broken shards that cut from the inside, the words that have wounded us too long, the fears of fractured thinking and incomplete compassion. Feed us every day with the living bread of your presence, that with strength and joy we can rise to serve in your holy way.
Our Lord’s Prayer
All: 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
¨ Hymn#472 Precious Lord, Take My Hand
- Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light:Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.
- When my way grows drear, Precious Lord, linger near, When my life is almost gone, Hear my cry, hear my call, Hold my hand lest I fall: Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.
- When the darkness appears And the night draws near, And the day is past and gone, At the river I stand, Guide my feet, hold my hand: Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.
Community Connections
Announcements
We share opportunities for Beloved Community and ways to serve. Please see the listing of church & community evens, prayers, and notices in the pages following the service.
Lighting the Justice Candle to Lead us Forth
The Greensboro Four Most people have never heard of Ezell Blair, David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil, but their quiet protest in February 1960 at a Greensboro, NC, Woolworths lunch counter was a landmark event in the fight against racial segregation in the South. The four young college students are not as celebrated as some others, but their simple refusal to leave the lunch counter without being served was the catalyst for six months of sit-ins and demonstrations throughout the southern US. After some arrests for trespassing, the movement grew into a boycott of all segregated lunch counters. Woolworths and others eventually gave in and integrated their facilities.
In the larger struggle for equal rights, the widespread protests among college students were instrumental in forming the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which is credited with breaking down barriers to the empowerment of African-American communities. That one small, courageous action by four young college students had ramifications throughout the South that have had a lasting influence in the ongoing work towards full equality for all.
¨ Benediction
Postlude
Our Prayers for Others
¨ 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.
¨ If you’d like to donate to those affected by the recent earthquakes in Japan, this is the most direct way to do so: Japan Red Cross: jrc.or.jp/english/
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Jan Hamilton, Betsy Hoefer, Dorie Hubbard, Lois Morgan, Sara Parker, Cheryl Payne, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Sally Zimmerman.
¨ All those suffering from mental strain, trauma, and disease: 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.
¨ Jeannette Davidson, having health problems.
Prayers for Barb Taylor, recovering at home from a stroke.
Mary Lou Wiese at the death of her friend and partner, John.
Joan English, Office Administrator, recovering at home from Covid-19
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