A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Second Sunday after the Epiphany, 10:30 am
Meditation
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
~Amanda Gorman
From there to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome
¨ Call to Worship New Day’s Lyric by Amanda Gorman Pamela Chabora, Reader
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once altogether beaten,
Now all together beat.
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
¨ Hymn #289 Come Forth, O Love Divine Down Ampney
1 Come forth, O Love divine,
seek now this soul of mine,
and visit it with your own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, your holy flame bestowing.
2 O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let your glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
3 And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far out-pass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace,
till love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Holy God of all life, we humble ourselves before you and the call of your Spirit.
All: God of justice, too many people are weighed down by oppression.
One:: God of freedom, too many people are in chains.
All: God of abundance, too many people are hungry.
One: God of care, too many people live in fear.
All: We cry out to you, Holy God of all life. Answer us.
(a moment of silence is observed)
Diane Zaerr Brenneman, Words for Worship 2 (Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2009).
¨ Words of Assurance Isaiah 58:9-11
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your needs in parched places
and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never fail.
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Is 58:9–11.
¨ 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
Scripture Lesson Jonah 3:1-10
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.
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 1:14-20
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Sermon When You’d Rather Not … Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
Living Prayer
Call to 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.
Offertory
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 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”)
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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.
Community Prayer
How often have we been hooked, drawn in, towed the line, and all only to be deceived, not delivered? We’ve been caught by lies, by self-delusion, and willful ignorance. We’ve succumbed to “numb” and resisted the call to get up and go where you send us. But oh, how sweet the work and how strong your spirit shines for us! When we’d “rather not” but find the way to your Way, we come alive.
God of Truth and Light and Fish everywhere, draw us now to you on lines of purest love. Hook us with forgiveness for all our mistakes and take us from these sorrowful seas of our own making. Fish us out of the drink, Lord, and call us to the light of your kin-dom. Send us with good news in every direction to proclaim a greater unity and a deeper love. Keep safe those in danger, and touch gently all who are ill. In this world of shadows, use your healing hands to draw us ever closer to you and your Light of Life.
This we ask in the name of Jesus, who calls and heals, teaches, and loves so all can reach to you as…
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 The Summons Bell, Maule
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
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
In 1991, local youth gathered on Jane Goodall’s front porch in Tanzania and expressed how they felt powerless against the problems in the world around them. As the students told stories and offered ideas, Jane realized the solution was right in front of them: their power to create change. The Roots & Shoots program was born.
Roots & Shoots provides the resources to encourage and motivate young people to take action on issues that matter to them. Today, the tools and support offered through the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) program empower youth in all 50 states and over 60 countries to use their voices and ideas to address the issues that matter most to them in their communities. Through Jane’s hopeful message and the Roots & Shoots model, youth around the world are encouraged to put their ideas into action. Since 1991, millions of students have taken on the challenge of making the world a better place for people, other animals and the environment we share. Roots & Shoots youth are not only the future–they are the present– and they are changing the world.
Partnership and Purpose
Today presents an opportunity to covenant together! All who would like to are welcome to join the church family – you will be received in joy.
Questions of the Congregation and New Members
¨ Covenant of Welcome
And we, the members and faithful friends of this church, renewing our own covenant to God and to each other, do now heartily welcome you to our fellowship, promising to watch over you in love, and praying that you, and we, may be true witnesses for Christ, a light in the world, and continue to increase in usefulness and joy in his service.
¨ Benediction
Postlude
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 Cyprus, Greece and Türkiye; and our brothers and sisters at Wayside Christian Church in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
¨ 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.
¨ Dorie Hubbard, now living in New York. Her new address is Vista on 5th; 1261 5th Ave.; Apt #510; New York; NY; 10029
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Today, Jan. 21 – Sally Hindman, Iris Brandenburg, Ella Sutherland; 23 – Bob Boyce; 24 – Gail Wolford, Ali Beishline; 26 – Sarabeth Brownrobie; 29 – Gwen Hensley
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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