A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Seventh Sunday of Easter 10:30 am
Meditation
I soar and rise
Up to the skies,
Leaving the world their day,
And in my flight,
For the true light
Go seeking all the way.
~ Henry Vaughan from Ascension Day
From There to Here: We Gather
Welcome
Welcome to this service of worship! Please sign in using the pew folder, pass-ing 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
One: Jesus says:
All: “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.
One: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let everyone who hears say,
All: “Come.”
One: And let everyone who is thirsty come.
All: Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
One: The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
All: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
One: And may the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen!
¨ Hymn #257 Alleluia, Gracious Jesus Hyfrydol
1. Alleluia! Gracious Jesus! Yours the scepter, yours the throne! Alleluia! Yours the triumph, yours the victory alone! Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood: Jesus out of every nation you’ve redeemed us by your blood.
2. Alleluia! Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now. Alleluia! You are near us; faith believes, nor questions how. Though the cloud from sight received you when the forty days were o’er, shall our hearts forget your promise, “I am with you evermore.”
3. Alleluia! Bread of angels, you on earth our food, our stay; Alleluia! Here the sinful flee to you from day to day. Intercessor, friend of sinners, Earth’s redeemer, plead for me, and the songs that sound in heaven will repeat your gracious plea.
4. Alleluia! Christ eternal, nothing can disrupt your reign; Alleluia! Born of Mary, heaven and earth are your domain. Human life you fully entered, tending those we count the least, serving both as Priest and Victim in the eucharistic feast.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession (unison)
For all the times we have looked up to ourselves and not looked out for those we know you count as precious, forgive us and help us change. We are witnesses to your reconciling love. Take us in and then send us out with mercy in our bones, we humbly pray. Amen.
¨ 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
Anthem Bless the Lord, My Soul from Godspell Kentucky Cabaret Trio
Oh bless the Lord my soul! His praise to thee proclaim! And all that is within me join to bless His holy name! Oh yeah! Oh bless the Lord my soul! His mercies bear in mind! Forget not all His benefits, the Lord, to thee, is kind. He will not always chide. He will with patience wait. His wrath is ever slow to rise. Oh bless the Lord, and ready to abate. He pardons all thy sins, prolongs thy feeble breath. He healeth thine infirmities, and ransoms thee from death. He clothes thee with his love, upholds thee with his truth. And like an eagle he renews the vigor of thy youth. Then bless His holy name; whose grace hath made thee whole, whose love and kindness crowns thy days! Oh bless the Lord, Bless the Lord my soul.
Scripture Reading Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for the promise of the Father.
“This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
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 John 17:20-26
“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Beauty from Brokenness On the Rise Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard and reflect together.
Responding to God’s Love in Communion
Invitation to Communion
One: The Lord is here.
All: God’s Spirit is with us.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them to the Lord.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to offer thanks and praise!
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.
Communion Prayer
One: It is our great joy to give you thanks and praise, O God, creator and sustainer of the universe. We give you thanks for sun and sea and sky, for bush and birds, for phases of the moon, for stars at night, and planets in their courses. All you make is very good, and for all that stirs our life and the life within us,
All: we worship and adore you.
One: We give you thanks for our creation and our calling, for friendship and community, for love and laughter, for tears and pain of growth. For your gift of life and your will to heal and hold us, we praise you,
All: we worship and adore you.
One: With all who stand before you in earth and heaven, from every culture, land and tongue, we praise you, giving voice to every creature, as we join the never ending hymn:
Sanctus
Words of Institution
One: Blessed are you, most Holy, in Jesus Christ, who came among us as a servant and a friend. We thank you for that life of love, the good news you bring of unquenchable love, and the promise of a banquet where all your children shall be free. For your gift of Christ we praise you,
All: we worship and adore you.
One: Glory and thanks be to you, almighty God, because on the night before he died, your Son, Jesus the Christ, took bread; when he had given you thanks, he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said:
All: Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you; do this to remember me.
One: After supper he took the cup; when he had given you thanks, he gave it to them and said:
All: This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you; do this as often as you drink it to remember me.
One: Therefore, loving God, recalling now Christ’s death and resurrection, and remembering all the grace and good news offered to us, we ask you to accept this our sacrifice of praise. Send your Holy Spirit upon us and our celebration, that we may know life wider than our own and show love deepened with divine care. In your presence we are healed.
~ Adapted from Celebrating Eucharist by Bosco Peters
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.
Living Prayer
Embodied Prayer
You are invited to reflect and pray at the candle tables. You may also choose to source the essential ingredient of solitude and private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts in your pew.
Offertory We Are Not Alone Pepper Choplin Union Church Choir
A Chance for Generosity: www.easytithe.com/union
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¨ Doxology #765 Alleluia!
Community Prayer of Thanksgiving
Lord, we are so very grateful for all that lifts and stirs us to greater life. At this table of abundance may we be lifted to serve those who starve and heal those who hurt. By your grace to us, may we rise not to rest on your laurels, but to walk into every corner to become “good news” to those we meet.
You have come into us that we may be one with your way and one with your work. We are so grateful and we are so ready. May this table and every table be where heaven and earth touch the heart of your love. Hear our prayer as we pray the way Jesus taught us, reaching to you as…
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Maker, Our Mother, and Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; Thy kin-dom 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 kin-dom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
¨ Hymn Beauty for Brokenness Graham Kendrick
From Here to There
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
LGBTQ Pride Month Pride Month is a celebration of LGBTQ pride, and began in 1970 as a commemoration of the NYC Stonewall Inn riots that erupted in June 1969 when gay and lesbian protesters demanded an end to police harassment. The movement spread, with June later becoming recognized as Pride Month, and the celebration has expanded internationally over the years. Pride Month has at times received Presidential recognition, even from former opponents.
There has been a predictable backlash from some religious groups who oppose Pride Month on ideological grounds. This has been exacerbated by the “anti-DEI, anti-woke” push by the current administration. The religious opposition to basic civil and human rights for LGBTQ people echoes the often rabid opposition to the Black Civil Rights movements of the mid-20th century.
¨ Benediction
¨ Benediction Response God of the Poor Graham Kendrick
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 Angola and Mozambique; and our siblings at Farristown Baptist 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, and starvation of those in Gaza.
¨ 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, Theresa Scherf.
¨ We pray for our country, and those who are directly affected by the actions and inaction of our government to address the needs of its people and the world.
¨ Members and Friends who need safer housing and income security.
¨ Rev. Kent’s cousin, Kathy, undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer, and her mother, Helen, who is Rev. Carla’s sister.
¨ Kelly Mehler, responding very well to treatment for his lymphoma.
¨ Barb Taylor’s son, David, undergoing treatment for prostate cancer
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ Laurie White’s mom, Skippy, facing a long and painful recovery from spine surgery.
¨ Whitney McKnight’s mother, Patty Wallace, recovering from a brain hemorrhage.
¨ Doris Mosley, Deb Beishline’s mom, recovering from a nasty fall.
¨ Dave Reilly’s nephew, Herb Post, ill with kidney cancer that has spread to his lung.
¨ Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins will soon face complex jugular vein surgery. Please hold her in your prayers!
¨ Jerry Cooper, hospitalized with seizures.
¨ Debbonnaire Kovacs, on the birth of a new grandbaby! Welcome to the world, Freya Maxine Christopher. She lives with her family in Fredericktown, Ohio!
¨ Tennant Kirk has a grandbaby on the way! Prayers for the save delivery of Ransom Hager Gravitt, for Mom, Carlie Hager, and Dad, Spencer Gravitt.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Anna Erickson Baumann will be ordained as a Deacon at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington, on June 7.
Birthdays: today, June 1 – Dottie Lovell, Reid Livingston; 2 – Jane Mecham; 4 – Rhonda Edwards; Laura Menefee-Greene; Loretta Reynolds, Eef Fontanez ; 5 – Ethan Connelly; 6 – Mim Pride, Luke Woodie, Deborah Payne; 7 – Adria Sutherland, Telson Ponnie
Anniversaries: June 1 – Matt Saderholm & Angela Anderson
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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