A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
March 2, 2025 10:30 am
Transfiguration Sunday
Meditation
Oh Lord, lover of justice, you have established equity. ~ Psalm 99:4
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 “<>.”
Invocation
¨ The Call Pamela Chabora, Reader
One: All of us, with unveiled faces are being transformed from one degree of glory to another; this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. ~ 2 Cor. 3:18
¨ Hymn Holy Ground Holy Ground
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
¨ Prayer of Confession
One: Holy God, present in our midst yet beyond all comprehension, by your light, we see light; by your healing, we are made whole; by your mercy, we know your greatness.
Turn your gaze upon our weakness and show us the way of your love that we may live with unveiled faces, through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
All: Amen.
¨ Words of Grace
One: When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Turn now with unveiled faces, and see to the health of all creation as newborn children of God.
¨ 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 The Mountain Dave Carter Debbonnaire Kovacs and Robert Rorrer
I was born in a forked-tongued story, raised up by merchants and drugstore liars. Now I walk on the paths of glory, one foot in ice, one in fire. I see the mountain, the mountain come to me, I see the mountain and that is all I see.
Some poor prophet comes, some find solace, some lay him down in a junkyard bay. Some will chase us and some will call us, gone, gone, gone in a day. Gone to the mountain, the mountain come to me, I see the mountain and that is all I see.
Miller take me and miller grind me, scatter by bones on the wild green tide. Maybe some rovin’ bird will find me, over the water we’ll ride. Over the mountain, the mountain come to me, I see the mountain and that is all I see.
Some build temples and some find altars (da-ri kur-niserin-na, pirin zalag) endless mountain of cedar trees, forest of light. Some come in tall hats and robes spun fine (da-ri kur-niserin-na, dili-du-a) endless mountain of cedar trees, I walk alone. Some in rags, some in gemstone halters, some push the pegs back in line.
Scripture Reading Exodus 34:29-35
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face, but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.
~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 9:28-37
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Child, my Chosen; listen!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
~New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
Sermon Let Us Stay Here Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard.
Responding to God’s Love in Communion
¨ Invitation to Communion
One: The peace of the Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give God 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
Loving God, in many and various ways you have visited and redeemed your people – including sending to us your child, Jesus. We thank you Lord God for sending him to us. We thank for the example that he set – for how he rejoiced with those who rejoiced and wept with those who wept. We praise you for the power and the love that you displayed through him – for how to the despairing he spoke a word of hope, to the sick he gave healing, and to the rejected he became a friend.
It is with sorrow, O God, that we recall how, because of our sin, he was betrayed and nailed to a cross. Yet, O God, your plan was not frustrated by this evil – and your mercy was not thwarted.
We thank you Lord, for how you lifted Jesus from the grave and restored him to life – that he might be with us and we with him – a forgiven people – alive for evermore.
With all the saints and with the angels in heaven, we thank you for the salvation that he has brought to us and to our world, saying:
Sanctus
Words of Institution
One: Blessed indeed, O God, is the one who comes in your Name – Christ Jesus your child. We thank you for the love you have poured out upon us through him and we remember how that love was first shown to us.
We recall how on the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread, and gave you thanks, and then broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, all of you, and eat. This is my body, broken for you.”
In the same way, we recall how, when the meal was over, Jesus took the cup, the cup of blessing, and after giving you thanks, gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take all of you and drink. This is my blood, the blood of a new and everlasting covenant, poured out for you and for all, for the forgiveness of sins…. Do this in remembrance of me.”
The Mystery of Faith and the Consecration
One: Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith:
All: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
One: Loving God, send your Holy Spirit upon us and this bread and this cup – that they may be for us the body and the blood of Christ Jesus. Grant that what we do here may strengthen and sustain us and that we may be known as Jesus followers, and follow him faithfully on the mountains and in the valleys of life as we await his return in glory. Amen.
Serving One Another
One: Come – this is the table of our Jesus, open for all. Come and receive the gifts that he offers so that we may be made whole.
All who seek the love of God are welcome at this table and are invited to freely receive from it. By tradition, unfermented grape juice is used in the cup on Sunday mornings. If it is not convenient to come forward, the elements can be brought to your seat by signaling to the usher. If it is not your tradition to receive, you are invited to join in prayers for the unity of the Spirit within your tradition. You may remain in you seat, or you may come forward for a blessing, as you wish.
Invitation to Generosity
One: We serve the Lord with freedom; we worship God with joy. In freedom and in joy, let us present the offerings of our lives to the Lord.
Offertory Contemplation Paul A. McKlveen Union Church Handbell Ensemble
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.
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 simply entering 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”).
¨ Give by Mail to: 200 Prospect St., Berea, KY 40403.
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.
Prayer of Thanksgiving Pam Chabora, Reader
One: Holy are you, O Lord! We praise your great and awesome name. Use us, and these our gifts, in your service, to establish justice, righteousness, and equity, all for the good of your people and the glory of your eternal realm.
All: Amen.
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 #183 Jesus, Take Us to the Mountain Silver Spring
1. Jesus, take us to the mountain Where, with Peter, James and John, We are dazzled by your glory, Light as blinding as the sun. There prepare us for the night By the vision of that sight.
2. What do you want us to see there That your close companions saw? Your divinity revealed there Fills us with the self-same awe. Clothed in flesh like ours you go, Matched to meet our deadliest foe.
3. What do you want us to hear there That your dear disciples heard? Once again the voice from heaven Says of the incarnate Word: “Listen, listen everyone; This is my beloved One!”
4. Take us to that other mountain Where we see you glorified. Where you shouted, “It is finished!” Where for all the world you died. Hear the stunned centurion: “This was God’s beloved One!”
5. We who have beheld your glory, Risen and ascended Christ, Cannot help but tell the story, All that you have sacrificed; Say with Peter, James, and John: “You are God’s beloved One!”
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
Women’s History Month originated as a week-long celebration in Santa Rosa, California, in 1978. The celebration was organized by the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women. The week was chosen to coincide with International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8th. Others followed suit and In 1980, the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) was founded in Santa Rosa, California by Molly Murphy MacGregor, Mary Ruthsdotter, Maria Cuevas, Paula Hammett, and Bette Morgan to broadcast women’s historical achievements and, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter recognized National Women’s History Week.
In 1981, Congress passed legislation to establish Women’s History Week In 1987, Congress passed legislation to establish Women’s History Month in perpetuity. Since 1995, US presidents have issued annual proclamations to designate March as Women’s History Month as a time to reflect on the contributions of women in the US.
Today we honor those women and celebrate their vision. That work is continuing by the National Woman’s History Alliance, whose Executive Director is Molly Murphy MacGregor. The theme for this year is “Forward Together.”
¨ Benediction
One: May the glory of the Lord shine upon you, the Word of the Lord live within you, and the Spirit of the Lord give you peace.
¨ Benediction Song What Love Demands Mark Hayes
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!
What Love Demands was commissioned by Union Church, and is dedicated to the public health workers, medical personnel, chaplains, and front-line essential workers who answered love’s demands in a time of national pandemic.
It is dedicated to them by the people of Union Church, Berea, KY, in memory of Mr. Tom Warth, Dr. Richard and Ms. Judy Drake, and Ms. Mary Lou and Dr. Lester Pross.
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 Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and our brothers and sisters at Dreyfus Church of Christ 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, 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, and those who care and worry for them: may God soothe and heal all who are troubled.
¨ Our Kentucky neighbors, who are once again facing the devastation of flooding.
¨ 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.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ The Guild family as Will continues his struggle with brain cancer and stroke.
¨ Muse Watson, recovering at home from surgery
¨ Rev. Kent’s cousin, Kathy, undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer and having some bit of improvement.
¨ Ally Nurre, having some complications from a recent knee replacement.
¨ Kelly Mehler, awaiting the next phase of treatment for lymphoma.
¨ Barb Taylor’s son, David, undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
¨ Susan Doring-Zook and family, at the passing of her mother, Mary Doring.
¨ Good friend of Betty Sarafin, Elsie Knappenberger, who has lost her oldest granddaughter, Fallon, to suicide, leaving behind 2 children, in Tulsa, OK.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: March 5 – Jenny Bromley; 8 – Betsy Hoefer
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know.
We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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