Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union

Third Sunday after Pentecost

June 21, 2020         10:30 am

Meditation
“I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable.” —Anne Morrow Lindbergh, A Gift from the Sea

From there to here: we Gather

Welcome
A welcoming Spirit blows through us all! As the Berea community responds to the governor’s suggestion to avoid gathering in large groups, we worship online to limit the risk of exposure to Covid-19. We’re delighted to welcome you into this virtual circle of God’s healing love and light.
The Call The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran Dave Kobersmith, Reader
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world. But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also. And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self. You are the way and the wayfarers. And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
Passing the Peace at Home
Building the Community: News that Connects Us
Justice Candle This month our justice candle will be lit in honor of all those who are a part of the food supply chain. Despite the pandemic, these individuals continue to work extremely hard and risk their lives every day to make sure our world does not starve. Many of those in this ever-essential industry are immigrants or migrant workers, who face the challenges of discrimination, low wages, and lack of adequate benefits for themselves and their families. Regardless of citizenship status, almost all are considered to be the working poor.
Truck drivers must come into contact with plant workers, who are extremely likely to be infected because of the deplorable and unhygienic conditions of the factories they pick up their product from. They must also continue to work long hours to deliver the food to storefronts, risking infection when dropping off the products. Many struggle to find food, shelter, and even restrooms amidst the pandemic because of all the shutdowns of restaurants and hotels (a trucker’s best option when travelling on the road).

The Living Word among us

Anthem All I Need Brandi Blakeman
Brandi Blakeman, performer
Epistle Lesson  Romans 6:1b-11 Cadence Perman, Reader
Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Children’s Moment 
Please join in singing as we bless children everywhere:
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.
Gospel Lesson  Matthew 10:24-39 Cadence Perman, Reader
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Sermon      The Winds of Change:Wind Resistance Rev. Kent Gilbert
Living 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.
A Chance for Generosity: www.easytithe.com/union
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 portion of our contributions flows out to aid those in need via many external agencies.
Many friends give online, and you can use your smart phone or computer and go to www.easytithe.com/union. You don’t have to register to make a contribution, but if you do, it can make future generosity that much easier. You can even give by text! Text to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering”)
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
Offering Music
Silent Reflection and Prayer
Center yourself, either now or sometime today, and breathe deeply and peacefully.

• As we breathe and pray today, pay attention to the wind that is Spirit blowing to you and through you. Breathe deep in the realization that this wind may cause you to face into other winds, winds resistant to a spiritual journey or call.  When you encounter this resistance, breathe and recall the internal Spirit. With each breath, focus on locating your heart and mind with that wind at your back. Pray to slip like the wind, around and through your obstacles.

Our Prayers for Others
You are very welcome to email or phone prayer requests to the office for the bulletin. Please do so by 10 am Thursdays, and be sure you have permission to share the information.
¨ 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 Malawi and Zambia and our brothers and sisters at Pilot Knob Missionary Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them. Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week.
¨ All those seeking a new and just society and those fearful that they will be supplanted, may god open their hearts and include them in grace.
¨ Families and Friends in Crises…may God be present to every need and heal every rift and wound and those who care for them.
¨ For fathers who have been blessings to their children, and for all for whom “father” is a difficult word today.
¨ Guy Patrick, recovering from intestinal surgery.
¨ Doug Hindman and all the family, at the death of Nancy Hindman.
¨ Teri VanPelt, experiencing health concerns.
¨ Marie, Dorie Hubbard’s kindergarten aged great grand-niece, who has had a recurrence of cancer and is back in treatment.
¨ Emily Hoskins, who is pregnant and has gestational diabetes.
¨ Amanda Chao Benbasset and husband Maxi at the birth of Domenico!
¨ Corey Chao, whose family is expecting a baby this summer.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound: Alva Peloquin, Loyal Jones, Jennie Kiteck, Mary Miller, Lois Morgan, Barb Smith, Jan Hamilton.
¨ Children in detention centers, that they may be reunited with their families soon.
¨ George Mountjoy, living with cancer.
¨ Those affected by the Covid-19 virus, their families and friends living with fear, anxiety, and feelings of isolation, may God bring peace to all who love them; and our wider community as we cope with the new realities of living.
Prayers of the People Rev. Bob Shaffer, Reader & Author
O Lord our God, we thank you this morning for resurrection gifts: for strength to go on when we feel like giving up, for a second look that reveals what we missed at first glance, for new life discovered in old ruins, for the assurance that no failure is final, no sin unforgivable, for vibrant memories that bring back lost loves, for Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness.
Our newest toys look old when we compare them with the gift of new life. For that gift, we offer our unrestrained thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We pray now for others, especially for those who serve where needs are greatest and compassion most tested: nurses, doctors, and others serving overwhelming needs in refugee camps; those who care for the severely handicapped and mentally disturbed; parents who are at wits’ end with a troubled child; conscientious politicians who keep the faith while others surrender to self-interest.
As they make Christ visible, may they stiffen our resolve to make real the presence of Christ in our place. As they treat lightly the quest for comfort and security, may they inspire us to lay aside our heavy weights; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For much of our lives, we are relatively peaceful, healthy, and happy, but there come times for all of us when: our peace is robbed by discord, our health is threatened by disease, our happiness is overwhelmed by sadness.
Let all among us who are hurting deeply feel your healing presence this morning, especially those who cannot tell their hurt. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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.   

From Here to There

Hymn Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness   Steve Bolster & Al White
Chorus: Spirit, spirit of gentleness, blow through the wilderness, calling and free, Spirit, spirit of restlessness, stir me from placidness, wind, wind on the sea.

1. You moved on the waters, you called to the deep,

then you coaxed up the mountains from the valleys of sleep;
and over the eons you called to each thing;
“Awake from your slumbers and rise on your wings.”

2. You swept through the desert, you stung with the sand

and you goaded your people with a law and a land;
and when they were blinded with idols and lies,
then you spoke through your prophets to open their eyes.

3. You sang in a stable, you cried from a hill,

then you whispered in silence when the whole world was still;
and down in the city you called once again,
when you blew through your people on the rush of the wind. 

4. You call from tomorrow, you break ancient schemes.

From the bondage of sorrow all the captives dream dreams;
our women see visions, our men clear their eyes.
With bold new decisions your people arise.
James K. Manley (20th century), hymn-writer. Published in Everflowing Streams (1981).                         “Spirit,” l. 1-4 (1978).
The Sending & Blessing Rev. Kent Gilbert
Postlude Everything Will Be Alright
In Worship Today…
Each week many elements come together to make our worship together rich and deep.
This week we are grateful for Dave Kobersmith, Cadence Perman and Bob Shaffer, Readers; and Marty Hensley, Jeff Hutton, Sayer Kobersmith, Sean Mack and Olin Perry, in the sound and camera equipment booth.
Many thanks to the Worship Team who crafted this service: Debbonnaire Kovacs, Jennifer Melton and Sharona Nelson.

Congregational Meeting to consider revised 2020 budget on Sunday afternoon, July 19. Zoom Webinar format.

Union Church weekly news can be found at union-church.org/news