March 23, 2025, Third Sunday of Lent, Worship Bulletin & Prayer Concerns

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

March 23, 2025     10:30 am 

The Third Sunday of Lent

Meditation  

Who can blame them? We’re all impatient. But if it’s fruit you want — Put your hands in the dirt, and wait.

~ from “Slow Growth” by Rev Sarah Speed

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  Dr. Pamela Chabora, Reader

 One: Worship is a place to rest.

All: We breathe deeply here. We still our aching bones. We sit in the quiet. We surround ourselves with music.

One: Worship is a place to rest. Worship is a place to grow.

All: We listen for God’s word. We invite it to challenge us. We lean in with curiosity. We ask questions.

One: Worship is a place to grow. So come into this space. Come rest and grow here.

All: For where two or more are gathered, God is always there. Let us worship our gracious God.

¨ Hymn               Beneath the Soil                                Winchester Old

¨ Prayer of Confession  

One:      Friends, we carve out time for confession in worship because it is not enough to hear about God’s grace once. We need that reminder again, and again, and again.
So join me in speaking the truth of our lives, and join me in receiving God’s grace again.

All: Holy God,
There are days when we fail to rest.
We stretch ourselves too thin. We say “yes” to every invitation.
We run a million miles a minute. We ignore your command to rest.
There are also days when we fail to act.
We wait for someone else. We take the easy road.
We find excuses and justify our inaction.
God, forgive our imbalance.
Remind us that birds rest, and they also fly.
Show us how to do the same. Amen.

¨ Words of Grace

One: Family of faith, I have good news! Our God does not keep score. Our God does not hold grudges. Our God does not assume the worst about us. No, our God offers grace, and endless second chances, and boundless love. So join me in proclaiming the good news of the gospel:

All: God’s grace is deeper than the ocean. God’s love is wider than the sky. We are seen. We are claimed. We are forgiven. May this realization change and inspire us. Thanks be to God! Amen.

¨ 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    I Know Who Holds Tomorrow        Ira Stanphill

                             Whitney McKnight, vocals; Robert Rorrer, guitar

 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. 

Sung Psalm #122 p. 705

The psalms were originally musical compositions. During Lent we will pray the psalms in musical form. You are invited to sing the response when invited, at the “R” if using the hymnal.  

Scripture Reading            Luke 13:6-9

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” ~New Revised Standard Version, updated

Sermon                       Rest & Growth         Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins   

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.

 Offertory                    

 Embodied Prayer

You are invited to reflect and pray at the candle table. There are artistic reflection opportunities at stations around the sanctuary. Please join us in our collaborative art. 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.

Silent Prayers and Prayers of the Community Pam Chabora, Reader

One: Creator God, Your Word is like soil, something we can root ourselves in. Your Word is like the sun, big enough to touch everything with its warmth. And your Word is like a gardener, a love that prunes and encourages, waters and delights, seeds and tends.

So as we learn from your text today, warm our bones, tend to our broken pieces, and show us how to grow. With hope we pray…

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 #433 In the Bulb There Is a Flower Promise

1. In the bulb there is a flow­er;
   In the seed, an ap­ple tree;
   In co­coons, a hid­den pro­mise:
   Butterflies will soon be free!
   In the cold and snow of win­ter
   There’s a spring that waits to be,
   Unrevealed un­til its sea­son,
   Something God alone can see.
2. There’s a song in ev­ery si­lence,
   Seeking word and me­lo­dy;
   There’s a dawn in ev­ery dark­ness,
   Bringing hope to you and me.
   From the past will come the fu­ture;
   What it holds, a mys­te­ry,
   Unrevealed un­til its sea­son,
   Something God alone can see.
3. In our end is our be­gin­ning;
   In our time, in­fi­ni­ty;
   In our doubt there is be­liev­ing;
   In our life, eter­ni­ty,
   In our death, a re­sur­rect­ion;
   At the last, a vic­to­ry,
   Unrevealed un­til its sea­son,
   Something God alone can see.

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

Today we are honoring a recent champion of Truth and Justice: Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the spiritual leader for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC. A passionate believer in the gospel of Jesus and the Episcopal Church’s particular witness, Bishop Budde is committed to the spiritual and numerical growth of congregations and developing new expressions of Christian community. She believes that Jesus calls all who follow him to strive for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being. To that end, Bishop Budde is an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation.

Bishop Budde made national news with the delivery of her speech at the presidential inauguration in January. She had the courage to speak truth to power in addressing Donald Trump, requesting that he have mercy on the weakest and most vulnerable in our society, and reminding all of us of what following Christ demands of us.

Thank you for speaking for us, Bishop Budde.

¨  Sending Forth

During Lent we depart to serve without a postlude as a kind of “fasting” from our regular routine. Please join for fellowship downstairs where coffee, tea, and light refreshments await.