A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Third Sunday after the Epiphany 10:30 am
Meditation
Protect me today in all my travels along the road’s way. ~ Saint Christopher
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 ¨ Lorilyn Howie-Kipphut, Reader
One: The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
All: There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.
One: In the heavens God has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them, and nothing is hid from its heat.
All: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
One: More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
All: But who can detect one’s own errors? Clear me from hidden faults.
One: Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
All: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
¨ Hymn #539 Won’t You Let Me Be Your Servant? Servant Song
1 Won’t you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
2 We are pilgrims on a journey, we are travelers on the road; We are here to help each other go the mile and bear the load.
3 I will hold the Christ-light for you in the shadow of your fear; I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.
4 I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh I’ll laugh with you. I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen this journey through.
5 When we sing to God in heaven we shall find such harmony, Born of all we’ve know together of Christ’s love and agony.
6 Won’t you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
¨ 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 Calm as the Night Carl Bohm Charles Hoffman, cello
Scripture Reading 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, whereas our more respectable members do not need this.
But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work power deeds? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.
~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 4:14-21
Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
~New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
Sermon Come On, Holy Spirit! Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard.
Living Prayer
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.
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.
Way Finding:
Passages like the one Jesus quotes in today’s reading from Luke helped him find his way. They were like stone pillars erected on mountain paths to guide travelers.
Today we send Rev. Kent on a way-finding mission, but we all undertake one every day. To remind us and guide us during the 8 weeks of this Sabbatical Season, you are invited to think of the foundational and guiding stones in your spiritual foundation.
Was there a person or a passage that is your guide post?
Take a moment to give gratitude. Take a breath and enumerate what next step you are called to take (if any) toward that marker. Allow a physical stone to witness and hold your prayers, then place it with the others on the table near the bell. This stone cairn will remain in place as we here and Pastor Kent on his sabbatical journeys remember just what the Spirit is doing. This way is marked with our prayers and the cairn will guide us by God’s light.
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.
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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.
Silent Prayers & Prayers of the Community Lorilyn Howie-Kipphut, Reader
When we are blinded, help us recover what we have missed. When we forget, give us sign posts. When we declare, give us solid rock to stand on. When we weep, turn our mourning into dancing. When we fail and when we break, heal our hearts and right our minds. When we exhaust our own imagination, electrify our thinking. And when we are tired, grant us rest that we might rise with joy for the work and pleasure in your company.
Come, Holy Spirit; come and be upon us to serve and heal and hold all your holy endeavors high enough that all can see the sign posts of your will and your way. Your kin-dom, come, builder and blesser, challenger and chaser. By our lives may we mark the path. Show us what Love demands, so we can walk it together. This we pray in the name of Jesus, your servant Christ, who taught us to reach to you as…
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 #177 God of Change and Glory Katherine
1 God of change and glory, God of time and space, When we fear the future, Give to us your grace. In the midst of changing ways Give us still the grace to praise.
Refrain: Many gifts, one Spirit, One love known in many ways. In our difference is blessing, From diversity we praise One Giver, one Word, One Spirit, one God Known in many ways, Hallowing our days. For the Giver, for the gifts, Praise, praise, praise!
2 God of many colors, God of many signs, You have made us different, Blessing many kinds. As the old ways disappear, Let your love cast out our fear. Refrain
3 Freshness of the morning, Newness of each night, You are still creating Endless love and light. This we see, as shadows part, Many gifts from one great heart. Refrain
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
January is Human Trafficking Month (Commercial sexual exploitation or CSE), one of the fastest-growing criminal industries in the United States.
Today the Justice Candle is lit to honor Thistle Farms, located in Nashville, TN, a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping women survivors recover and heal from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction which is done by providing a safe place to live, a meaningful job, and a lifelong sisterhood of support.
The women live and work on the Farm working in crafts, lotions and other products. You can visit them and purchase their merchandise, which sustains and offers more women the opportunity to return to healthy lives, relationships and productivity. thistlefarms.org
From Here to There: Blessing the Way
Pastoral Sabbath Rest: February 1-April 1, 2025: In order to refresh and renew the ministry of the whole church, after a period of 5 years the congregation releases a pastor from the day-to-day ministries of the church and charges him or her to take sabbath rest. It has been 6 years since Rev. Kent’s last sabbatical. Time with family, time to process loss and grief, time to pursue hobbies and even just read books are often sacrificed to the many important needs of a thriving congregation. In addition we know the toll that a world pandemic took on all of us, but for those pastoral leaders who kept hope alive, reimagined and reinvented how to be a church, and suffered the learning curve of countless changes and new needs, it has been particularly taxing. The congregation also takes this time to examine the call of God and to understand our ministry in new ways.
Both pastor and people then come back together to share these new perspectives and witness to the ways the Spirit is moving among us: recommitted, renewed and re-invigorated. So today after careful preparation, we commission our pastor, our sabbatical pastor, and ourselves for wayfaring and wayfinding. Assisting in our transition blessing today is Moderator Betsy Whaley, Pastoral Relations Board Chair Steve Bolster, and the Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins, our sabbatical pastor.
Moderator: Sabbath rest is a commandment followed even by the Lord, who after mighty works, rested on the 7th day. Jesus, too, withdrew from the crowds to pray and strengthen. Today we commission a time of Sabbath rest and renewal for our pastor, who in ways visible and invisible has expended himself serving God and our congregation.
PRB Chair: The Pastoral Relations Board affirms both the need and the hope of some restorative time for Rev. Kent, and lends our prayers to the renewal work of the congregation while he sojourns. Part of our duty was to recommend a sabbatical minister to lead and assist in Kent’s absence. We are delighted to present the Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins to come alongside us in this time to preach and teach, bringing her considerable gifts to our ongoing ministry. While Rev. Kent refreshes with rest, we will refresh with new connections to our service, and new imaginings about all God’s call to us in discipleship and service.
Moderator: Living and working in covenant we now make special promises for this special time, trusting God to lead and guide us: Rev. Kent by promising to find God in new places, and to regain strength for service; Rev. Christina promises to sustain and support our congregation, and all of us promise to unite in listening closely, and in new ways, for all that Love demands.
PRB Chair: Rev. Kent, we ask now if you are prepared to undertake this renewal, in covenant with God and this congregation, not only on your own behalf but for the wellbeing of your family and the reinvigoration of your vocation. For the next two months we ask you to release back into our care the many pastoral duties and burdens you shoulder, and seek holy rest.
We ask that you catch your breath and be inspired by whatever God has in store for you. We hope you will pray for us as we will pray for you, and re-enter service with us when this sabbatical time is concluded, sharing with us that which God has shared with you.
Rev. Kent, will you promise to fulfill this covenant, seeking and serving God’s love as you do?
Rev. Gilbert: With God’s help, I do so promise. I will rest, I will pray, and I will come back to serve with you in joy.
PRB Chair: Rev. Christina, we ask if you will covenant with God and with this congregation to lend your insight, love, and wayfinding gifts during this sabbatical season. With love we ask you to encourage and cajole us, comfort and challenge us, and walk with us in the paths of God’s ministry and Christ’s love. We ask that you take up the pastoral responsibilities to uphold the health of our fellowship in every way, that you work alongside the boards, staff, and leadership to advance the work of Christ in this house, and that with your Godly gifts help us deepen our own.
Rev. Christina, will you promise to fulfill this covenant, seeking and serving God’s love as you do?
Rev. Ryan Perkins: With God’s help, I promise. I will work and pray with and for you in the service of all that God’s love demands.
Moderator: [to the congregation] And to the congregation: will you covenant with God and with one another to seek and serve God’s call and to build and strengthen beloved community with faith, care, labor, insight, and holy fellowship? In so doing, will you release pastor Kent from your needs and expectations during his sabbatical, pray for him, and while he is gone, welcome new and different gifts for this time?
Will you renew your responsibility in the ministry and service of this church during our pastor’s absence, each as you are able, supporting each other, all who offer service, our sabbatical pastor, and our staff with the strength of your faith and fellowship?
All: With the help of God we do so promise. This day we release you, Rev. Kent Gilbert, from the responsibilities of shepherding Union Church for this time of renewal. We will pray for you, hold God’s work for you in our hearts, and rejoice when we come together again to share the fruit of our time apart. We entrust you to God’s care and the leading of the Holy Spirit as you boldly and creatively embody the life and ministry of Jesus.
We receive with gladness the ministry of Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins asking God’s blessing on our own journey to learn, to serve, to love, and lead in light. We promise to support Pastor Christina, our staff and our ministries that together we may continue to bless God’s world in ways old and new.
Moderator: Let us pray: God of Sabbath and God of Grace, attend to the promises we have made in our service of your kin-dom come. Bless Pastor Kent with all he needs to renew in you. Bless your congregation that we might be creative and bold in the tasks of joy you have set before us; and bless Rev. Christina, with wisdom and love to help us grow ever closer to you and to each other. In Christ’s name we pray:
All: Amen!
Exchange of Symbols and Gifts
The Moderator removes the stole from Rev. Kent, symbolizing release from his yoke of responsibilities and places it on Rev. Christina. A special candle is lit and will be placed near the peace bell and the rock cairn made earlier as a way-marker as a symbol of this sabbatical covenant. Rev. Kent and Rev. Christina will also exchange small tokens of blessing for their respective tasks during this time.
Blessing Prayer
All: Most holy God, we await the touch of your Spirit with eagerness. We ask that you enter the lives of each one of us today, refreshing and renewing and healing us with the power of your loving Spirit.
Bless this way we walk and bless the sabbath renewal you offer, that we may live with purpose, bear spiritual fruit with enthusiasm and courage, and walk in faith, serve in truth, and live through love in Christ name. Lord, help us find the way! Amen!
¨ Benediction Song Woyaya (We Will Get There)
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!
¨ Benediction Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins
One: I will be patient.
All: I will be kind.
One: I will not be jealous.
All: I will not be boastful
One: I will not be proud.
All: I will not be rude.
One: I will not demand my own way.
All: I will not be irritable, I will keep no record of wrongs.
One: I will not rejoice about injustice. I will rejoice whenever the truth wins out.
All: I will never give up,
One: I will never lose faith,
All: I will always be hopeful,
One: I will endure through every circumstance.
All: When I was a child, I spoke, thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
One: Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All: I will be 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 Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye; White’s Memorial Pres; and our brothers and sisters at White’s Memorial Presbyterian Church 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.
¨ Dottie Blackburn, at The Terrace for rehab.
¨ 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!
¨ Thanksgiving to God and all who made contributions to Samuel’s Kids Orphanage in Uganda. More than $4000 was raised and will mean both food and some critical medical attention will be possible. God, we thank you for love in action!
¨ Rev. Kent’s cousin, Kathy, with esophageal cancer.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Jan. 26 – Sarabeth Brownrobie; 29 – Gwen Hensley, 30 – Elwood Donnelly; 31 – Steve Bolster
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know.
We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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