Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the

Church of Christ, Union

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

July 9, 2017              10:30 am 

Meditation 
“Our life does not consist in making up beautiful phrases but in performing beautiful deeds.”
                   — Athenagoras, 2nd C.
“We will boldly and creatively embody the life and ministry of Jesus with passionate worship that celebrates the transforming love of God. In every setting where we meet we will proclaim God’s inclusive care and prophetic witness, empowering all persons to worship with joy and develop a deeper closeness to God in a ministry of all believers.
We will offer our widely varying gifts of scripture, prayer, music, dance, drama, visual art, the spoken word, and the beauty of our actions to inspire those of every generation to follow in God’s way.”  
—Union Church Mission Statement: Passionate Worship, 2009                                                                                                                         

From there to Here

Welcome & Announcements
Welcome to this service of worship!  During the service, you are invited to rise in body or in spirit, standing or sitting, at points in the service marked “ ”.”
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!
Prelude Just a Closer Walk with Thee M. Kim
¨  Call to Worship
 One: Come all who are weary
All: of wealth, of poverty, of power, of struggle, of division;
One: Come all who are heavy-laden
All: with too much, with too little, with anxiety, with fear, with anger;
One: Come all who have hope
All: for liberation, for peace, for freedom, for the kingdom;
One: Hear these words:
All: “See, I am making all things new.”
One: Come, let us worship!
All: Let us worship in joy!
¨  Opening Hymn #41 I Thank You, Jesus Thank You, Jesus
¨  Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Let us confess our sin against God and each other.
All: Merciful God, we know that you love us and that you call us to fullness of life, but around us and within us we see the brokenness of the world and of our ways.
Our successes leave us empty, our progress does not satisfy. Our prosperous land is not the promised land of our longing.
Forgive our willful neglect of your word, our insensitivity to the needs of others, and our failure to feed the spirit that is within us; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.
¨  Words of Assurance
¨  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 and joy. 

The Living Word among us

Anthem I Surrender, Lord Ovokaitys, Austin
Union Church Summer Choir
Lord, in the quiet of this place, I am surrounded by Your grace. I come with heavy heart and soul. I long for You to take control. And I surrender, Lord. Yes, I surrender, Lord! As I come before Your presence, I surrender, Lord! I come to offer all my life. I trade my darkness for Your light. I give to You my every care. My every sorrow You will bear. As I come before Your presence, I surrender, Lord! All to Jesus. I surrender. All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him; in His presence daily live. I surrender all to Thee, my blessed savior. As I come before Your presence, I surrender, Lord!
Hebrew Scripture Lesson Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
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 are welcome to visit the Children’s Worship Center, where there are toys, books, and drawing materials for children (or parents) who would like help staying present in the service. For children preschool & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Community Room.
Gospel Lesson Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Sermon The Measure of Great: Again Rev. Kent Gilbert

GIfts Given for Love to Flow

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                    In Thee Is Gladness arr. D. Wood
¨  Doxology                 Avery/Marsh

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 Prayer 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

Introduction and Invitation to Membership
Union Church is a vital and growing family of faith, a home to those committed to the way of Christ’s sacrificial love and service. All who feel led to join will be received in joy, and are welcome to come forward during the Closing Hymn. Thanks be to God for these ministers among us.
¨  Closing Hymn #484 O Come to Me, You Weary Meirionydd
¨  Questions of the Congregation and New Members
¨  Covenant of Welcome
And we, the members 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 & Sending Forth
   Postlude Trumpet Voluntary J. Stanley
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 Eritrea and Ethiopia and our brothers and sisters at New Liberty Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them.
Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week. Prayer requests to be printed may be sent to the office anytime before 10:00 am Fridays.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound:  Ruth Butwell, Edith Hansen, Mary Miller, Alva Peloquin, Gloria VanWinkle.
¨ For Susan Doring Zook, recovering from surgery on her arm broken in a fall last Saturday. MealTrain dates available at: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/wodzge
¨ For Susie Ritchie and the family of her dear friend, Sonny, who passed away in Atlanta this week.
¨ Susan Pross Kramer, recovering from knee replacement.
¨ Laura Robie, recovering at home from a shoulder replacement. MealTrain dates available at:https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/qvn56r
¨ Loretta Mountjoy, struggling with several health issues.
¨ Elizabeth Barrett, recovering at home. Meal Train dates available at: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/12644z
¨ Families in difficulty
¨ Travel mercies for members & friends here and abroad. 
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.
Join the church today. Union Church is a vital and growing family of faith, a home to those committed to the way of Christ’s sacrificial love and service. All who feel led to join will be received in joy! New members are received every second Sunday of a month. YOU are welcome here!
Kent and Diana’s wedding shower today after worship! If you can’t come and want to “shower” them anyway, friends have put together a list at www.simpleregistry.com/KentandDiana.You can pay for just a part of a gift, too, or better yet: make a donation to one of their charities, also listed on the sight.
July 30 is “Share-YOUR-Music” Sunday.  This is a chance for you to share your musical offerings and be part of our worship service.  We have had an abundance of people sign up and only have ONE space left to fill.  If you’d like to participate, please email Gabe Evans at gevans@union-church.org. Registration is due by July 16.
The Spirited Handbell Ringers will be reaching out and ministering their musical gifts on July 16.  The handbell ensemble will travel to Richmond to participate in the worship services at the First United Methodist Church! If you happen to be in the area, pop in a worship with them!
Berea Leadership Experience – A Camp for Building Bridges of Peace and Resolving Conflict.  Registration  The Berea Leadership Experience has a few spots left—and some scholarships! It’s a weeklong camp for kids ages 6-13 that is designed to help kids develop skills of transforming conflict into community.
We’re using a curriculum that helps kids learn to build peace through Mindfulness, Connecting with Nature, Media Literacy, and Conflict Resolution.
Berea Leadership Experience will be July 24th-28th, 9am-3pm at the Berea Friends Meeting House. The cost is very low: $75 per student, and up to half of the campers can receive scholarships of $50 to make it even more affordable. Register them here: www.union-church.org/ble
    Thanks for helping this dream come true!
Berea Celtic Festival August 18-20. Saturday Gala Concert at Union Church, 8 pm. For eight years Berea Celtic Fest has produced one great event after the other with absolute quality Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England, Brittany, Galicia and across the North American continent.
This year’s “Celtic Gala Concert” will take place at Union Church and will also be a fundraiser and friendraiser for KEF – Kentucky Environmental Foundation and in cooperation with The Folk Circle Association of Berea.
Tickets are $20, $5 children & students,$75 priority seating – available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3000155
Prayer in Action
Significant deliberation will begin on the senate’s health care proposal this week. Healing others is one of Christ’s “big three” commandments to the disciples. The complexity of providing health care should not blind us to its imperative: both for the safety and wellbeing of our country, and in fulfilling the mandate Jesus gives to the disciples: “Teach, Preach, and Heal.” All are encouraged to pray and discern diligently, then contact our Senators with your comments and concerns. Make a commitment to pray in action this week. Here are some possible messages of concern from a Christian perspective:
Reducing taxes on the rich in order to limit cost of health care for those who can least afford it is not a biblical or Christian value. If a plan cannot adequately provide access to care in an affordable way for all Americans, it cannot be a viable plan.
We are not concerned with providing “health insurance,” per se. The issue for people of faith is in healing people. A patchwork of differing state regulations and practices is unlikely to help people heal. Letting states opt out of covering pre-existing conditions, drug costs, mental health care, or setting doctors fees so low that they cannot stay in business will increase sickness and death. We should focus on healing, not on preserving insurance companies’ labyrinth of policies all in the effort of reducing taxes on those who can easily afford to pay them.
When calling simply state that you are a constituent, and would like to leave a message for the Senator. You may be asked to give your name and contact information, but you are not required to do so. Often the local offices experience a lower volume of calls, so trying Bowling Green and London may get you through faster. You can call more than one office and leave messages at each one.

• Senator Rand Paul: DC Office: 202-224-2541, Bowling Green: 270-782-8303
• Senator Mitch McConnell: DC Office: 202-224-2541, Louisville Office: 502-582-6304, London Office: 606-864-2026

Often the London office is more likely to answer calls because of a lower volume.