A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 19, 2014 10:30 am
Welcome & Announcements
Prelude Prelude and Fugue in A Minor J.S. Bach
* Call to Worship
One: We come to this place bogged down by the details of our lives, preoccupied with the challenges we face outside these doors.
All: We are refreshed and renewed by the waters of our baptism.
One: From the isolation of our fears and struggles, we come yearning for the community of Christ.
All: We are invited and emboldened by the waters of our baptism.
One: We come to this place motivated to act and live out the fullness of our discipleship seeking compassion, justice, harmony, and peace for all people.
All: We are reminded and encouraged by the waters of our baptism.
One: Let us fully embrace the promises of our baptism.
All: We worship in the joy of that promise. Hallelujah and amen!
* Hymn #597 Black Shall We Gather at the River Hanson Place
* Prayer of Confession (unison)
Maker of all that is seen and unseen, forgive us. In the midst of our humanly struggle, we have stopped bathing in the floods of the Holy Spirit’s love. We often ignore Christ’s call: that we may be the living embodiment of your peace in a troubled world. We do not always use our hands for larger service, our hearts for unceasing love, nor our minds for greater understanding. Compassionate God, forgive us.
As we recommit ourselves to your work here on earth, we need to remember our baptisms. Remind us that we are not only cleansed by the healing waters of grace but we flow as streams of living water into the world. Amen.
* Words of Assurance
One: Listen! The voice of God is calling. Look! The light of God’s love shines upon your path. Speak! Rejoice in the joy of God’s eternal love.
All: We overflow with the stream of living water and we are renewed!
* 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.
Anthem Oh Freedom arr. Brazeal Dennard Union Church Choir
1. Oh freedom, Oh freedom, Oh freedom over me
And before I’ll be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free!
2. There’ll be praying….
3. No more weeping…..
4. Oh freedom…
The choir invites you to join in the singing – either from your seats or to join them up front. We all have a voice to raise up in joyful singing!
Hebrew Scripture Lesson Isaiah 49:1-7
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, Little Church for children Preschool & under is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Fellowship Hall, and Children’s Church, for grades K-3, takes place in the chapel. If this is your child’s first time attending Little Church or Children’s Church, please accompany them to fill out a registration form. Otherwise, children are welcome to follow volunteers to their worship spaces.
Gospel Lesson John 7:37-39
Sermon Don’t Waste Water Ethan Hamblin
Offertory Swimming to the Other Side Pat Humphries
Union Church Choir
1. We are living ‘neath the great Big Dipper, we are washed by the very same rain. We are swimming in the stream together, some in power and some in pain. We can worship this ground we walk on cherishing the beings that we live beside, loving spirits will live forever, we’re all swimming to the other side.
2. I am alone, and I am searching, hungering for answers in my time. I am balanced at the brink of wisdom, I’m impatient to receive a sign. I move forward with my senses open, imperfection, it be my crime. In humility I will listen, we’re all swimming to the other side.
3. On this journey through thoughts and feelings binding intuition, my head, my heart, I am gathering the tools together, I’m preparing to do my part. All of those who have come before me band together and be my guide. Loving lessons that I will follow, we’re all swimming to the other side.
4. When we get there we’ll discover all of the gifts we’ve been given to share have been with us since life’s beginning and we never noticed they were there. We can balance at the brink of wisdom never recognizing that we’ve arrived. Loving spirits will live together, we’re all swimming to the other side.
* Doxology Avery\/Marsh
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 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.
Remembrance of Baptism
Living Waters Litany
One: The Lord be with you!
All: And also with you!
One: Eternal God, when nothing existed but chaos, you swept across the dark waters and brought forth light. In the days of Noah you saved those on the ark through water. After the flood you set in the clouds a rainbow. When you saw your people as slaves in Egypt, you led them to freedom through the seas. Their children you brought through the Jordan to the land which you promised.
All: Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Tell of God’s mercy each day. We are living waters.
One: In the fullness of time you sent Jesus. He was baptized by John and anointed by your Spirit. He called the disciples to share in the baptism of this death and resurrection and to make disciples of all nations.
All: Declare his works to the nations and his glory among all people. We are living waters.
One: Pour out your Holy Spirit, and by this gift of water call to our remembrance the grace declared to us in our baptism. May we be clothed in righteousness throughout our lives, that dying and rising with Christ we may share in his final victory.
All: Go forth as servants of God, loving and rejoicing to all. We are living waters!
One: All praise to you, eternal Maker, through Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forevermore.
All: Hallelujah and amen!
Blessing the Waters
Hymn #351 Black I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry Borning Cry
Ritual of Remembrance
Bell Anthem Amazing Grace arr. Judy Drake
The Bell Choir will play the song through twice, and then you are invite you to join in singing:
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.
* Closing Hymn Take My Life (opposite) Hendon
* Benediction
Postlude Minuet gothique Léon Boëllman
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 Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia and our brothers and sisters at First Faith Independent Baptist Church 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.
* Bob Bates’ cousin Bruce, gravely ill with H1N1 flu. Prayers also for all affected by the virus.
* Beck Whipple, friend of Deborah Payne, healing from major surgery
* Lisa Vaughn and all the family at the death of her grandmother, Ezra Mae Wild, who raised her, on January 11th, at 100
* West Virginians facing the water crisis, and all companies whose practices affect human health and safety
* Tony Irelan, Rusti Mullins’ father, recovering at home after being in ICU for a pulmonary embolism
* Caitlin Cheek Shroyer and Vanessa Ladeira, who were married on December 31.
* Peggy Coyne’s daughter’s future mother-in-law, Jan Dailey-Hosp, awaiting a lung transplant
* John and Peggy Coyne welcomed a new grandson, Dylan Lyman Coyne, on November 12! Congratulations!
* Teri VanPelt and Christine Ward
* Dick Drake, recovering from a fall at Berea Health Care Center
* Ethan Hamblin’s grandmother, Geraldine Sandlin, very ill with COPD
* Ruth Butwell, recovering well at home after hip replacement
* Judy Rowell , beginning cancer treatment
* Greg Bolster, Steve’s brother, fighting cancer
* 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
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.
Interested in what it means to be a part of Union Church? Join us after church for a Newcomers’ Meeting in the Wayside Room (next to the Parlor behind the Sanctuary). We’ll have light refreshments and a chance to share who we are, who you are, and how Union Church works. We’d love to have you!
Join us tomorrow for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial March! Members of the whole of Berea will gather in Union Church’s sanctuary at 8:45 am for a welcome by Rev. Rachel and singing with the Berea College Black Music ensemble. We will then march to Berea Baptist Church, where Ethan Hamblin will emcee a slate of inspiring speakers. Lunch is available at the cafeteria, and at 3:00pm there will be a convocation with Desmond Tutu’s daughter and Berea College graduate Nontombi Naomi Tutu at Phelps Stokes Chapel.
“Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” Sounds nice, but how do we find rest in a 24/7 world? In 24/6, Dr. Matthew Sleeth describes our symptoms, clarifies the signs, diagnoses the illness, and lays out a simple plan for living a healthier, more God-centered life in a digitally-dazed, always-on world. Sleeth shares how his own family was dramatically transformed when it adopted Sabbath practices and helps readers better understand how their own lives can be transformed – physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually – by adopting the 24/6 lifestyle.Paralyzed with busyness? Take a break once a week. Learn how: download free 24/6 e-book just through tomorrow – Jan 20 http://amzn.to/Kf4vTh
We need a new Directory! Please take a look at the draft in the vestibule and make sure your entry is correct. If you’d like to update or add your photo, email it to the office — office@union-church.org. Thanks!!
Bloodmobile Tuesday – 11-5 in the Community Room. Bring ID. Every donor will be registered to win a $200 gift card.
Have something you want to share with the church (a book, a skill, a hobby, a method of prayer?) The Faith Development Board is getting ready for Lent, and we’re looking for folks who want to lead small groups or one-time activities between March 5th and April 20th. Got an idea? Talk to Rev. Rachel!
Children’s Choirs are back in action on Wednesday nights. 4-6 year-olds sing from 5:15-5:45. 2nd grade through 5th grade sing at 6:30-7:15. We’d love to have all of our singers back, and if you haven’t joined yet, now is a great time! Our first song in worship will be in mid-February.
We can be a Safe Haven. We are invited to organize a tornado “Safe Haven” where local people (especially those in mobile homes) could shelter in our community room whenever there’s a tornado watch. We’ll need about six church members to staff it. Join us after service on January 26 in the community room to explore this opportunity (light lunch provided). This is a pilot program from FEMA, the local Emergency Management Agency, Dept of Public Health, Red Cross, and other agencies. For details, join us Jan 26 or contact Doug Hindman at 582-5806.
WNL January 29 — Program about the work of the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center with Mae Suramek and Ashley Cochrane. There will not be a program this Wednesday, Jan. 22nd. Come for good food and fellowship.
Come cheer on Rev. Rachel, Duncan Blount, and many others you know from the Berea Community as they strut and shimmy in the Berea College Dancing With the Stars event on Friday, January 31st at 7pm in Phelps Stokes Chapel. They are dancing as a fundraiser for the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center, and would LOVE your support!
The Alzheimer’s Association invites you to join us January 29, 10:00—1:00, as we gather at the Capitol in Frankfort, DRESSED IN PURPLE, to show our elected officials just how many Kentuckians are impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. Constituents will meet with legislators and build awareness of Alzheimer’s disease as well as promote the care and support needs of those living with the disease and their caregivers. During the event, attendees will also share their personal perspectives on how Alzheimer’s has affected them and what must be done. This is your opportunity to personally meet with your state representative or senator! Please contact us with your registration or questions at: 1-800-272-3900 infoky-in@alz.org
Leave a Reply