Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Third Sunday of Lent
March 24, 2019 10:30 am
Meditation
Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground. ― Rumi
Is it not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable? ― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
From there to Here: We Gather
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 Preludio Claudio Santoro
Composed by someone who thirsted for a love that could not be.
The Call
The deeper our Faith, the more doubt we must endure. The deeper our Hope, the more prone we are to despair. The deeper our Love, the more pain its loss will bring. “These are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope, and love.
― Parker J. Palmer
¨ Hymn #45 Black Christ is the Mountain of Horeb Cristo es la Pena
¨ 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 hospitality.
The Living Word among us
Anthem Come All Who Thirst Luigi Cherubini
Union Church Choir
“Come, all who thirst, come to the waters. You who have no money, buy and eat without a price. Listen, come to me and your soul shall live. My love is ever true. “
Hebrew Scripture Lesson Isaiah 55:1-9 (p. 872)
The prophet calls Israel to repentance, to change, to return to the covenant with God.
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 the Children’s Moment, children kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to Children’s Church in Cowan Chapel. They are also welcome to stay in the service if they prefer. The Children’s Worship Center in the back of the sanctuary has toys, books, and drawing materials for children (or parents) who would like help staying present in the service. For children preschool age & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs in Room 104 off the playground.
Sung Psalm 63 Robert Rorrer, cantor p. 660
The Psalms were originally musical compositions. During Lent we will pray the psalms in musical form with congregational responses. Please sing the response when invited.
Gospel Lesson Luke 13:1-9 (p. 1254)
After a report of a terrible tragedy in which Pontius Pilate has massacred a group of innocent people at the temple, Jesus tells a parable about a barren fig tree.
Sermon The Holiness of Uncertainty Rev. Emily Miller
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.
Prayer in Action and Reflections
What do you thirst for? Was there a time when you tried to satisfy your thirst with unhealthy or unsatisfying things? What kind of unquenchable thirst can still come when your “well is full”? What satisfies your soul? What do you pray about in the night watches? How do you incline your ear toward God?
Our Offering Offering baskets are placed in the aisle, and can also be brought to your seat. 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.
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!
Community Sharing Table During Lent, one of the many ways you can kneel and kiss the ground is through your contributions at the Community Sharing Table. We are considering how our contributions can walk along with our scriptures each week.
Week 3: Bottled water or other drinks for those who thirst
Week 4: Non-perishable meat items (fatted calf)
Week 5: Emergency kits for disaster relief (the poor are always with us)
Week 6: (Palm Sunday): One Great Hour of Sharing
Use the Labyrinth as Meditation During the season of Lent, you will have three ways of walking a labyrinth here in the sanctuary.
- Your bulletin cover will feature a different finger labyrinth each week, which you can travel prayerfully without leaving your seat.
- For this season, the entire sanctuary is our labyrinth. As you walk, whether to a prayer station or for another reason, walk mindfully, pondering the paths your life is taking right now. Consider taking the long route some-times, around a set of pews.
- One of your destinations could be the labyrinth station in the front corner by the Peace Bell.
Kneeling in Prayer We are enlarging our prayer corner for you to kneel for your unique prayer journey. Each week the articles for contemplation will reflect the lectionary readings for that week.
Record Your Hundred Ways In the children’s corner is a large family star chart for recording and celebrating the actions we have taken in our “Kneel and kiss the ground” focus. If you have participated in one of the suggested actions or in any other way of letting the beauty you love be what you do, put a star or sticker on the chart. There is room to write in more actions, and a marker on the plate rail above the chart for that purpose.
Gather in a Circle
As we end our time of prayer, you are invited to form a large circle around the sanctuary. Those who have not left their seats to pray are encouraged to join the circle. Feel free to create “arms” of our “amoeba of love” which include those who cannot leave their seats. We will pray the Lord’s Prayer together and then sing our parting blessing responsively, repeating each line after the minister.
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
¨ The Sending and Blessing
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 Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia and our brothers and sisters at First Church of the Nazarene 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.
¨ Children in detention centers, that they may be reunited with their families soon. 15,000 are now detained in the US.
¨ Victims of the New Zealand mosque shooting, and victims of gun violence everywhere.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound: Edith Hansen, Nancy Hindman, Loyal Jones, Mary Miller, Alva Peloquin.
¨ Those who are without homes and safe places.
¨ Shirley Carlberg’s sister in her treatment for cancer.
¨ Judy Rowell, recovering at home from heart valve replacement surgery.
¨ For Michelle Hayden’s sister-in-law in her treatment for cancer.
¨ The family, friends and colleagues of Janice Blythe, at her sudden death.
¨ Delores Carpenter and all the family, at the death of her mother, Bernice Allen Parsons.
¨ Marie, great-great nice of Dorie Hubbard, battling cancer at 4 years old.
¨ Prayer request received online for the Landry family, with health concerns.
Announcements
Rev. Kent is away at a family wedding. Rev. Emily Miller brings us the Word this morning. Rev. Miller is the Director of Spirituality & Religious Life at Transylvania University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a native of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, she has previously served churches in Michigan and Virginia, and worked for the PC(USA) and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In 2018, she and her husband, Rev. Dr. Jake Hofmeister, relocated to Berea with their then 2 month old daughter, Harriet.
Stay for Lunch during Lent! On your way down to the Community Room, check out the beautiful quilts displayed in the Pross Gallery. They are the work of the quilting group that meets here at Union on Tuesday afternoons.
Learn more about the church today! Come One, Come All! Each fourth Sunday of the month anyone wanting to know more about Union Church or wanting to explore church membership, are invited to come to the Classroom and join in conversation with the Community Life and Growth Board after worship. Meet at the peace bell after service. You will be able to fill your plate with Lenten Lunch and then sit in a quieter place for a conversation with the group.
Children’s Church Parents: You can pick your kids up in the Community Room after service today! We will be preparing boxes for the Cookie Flash Mob that will be delivered to college students this afternoon. Stick around after Lenten Lunch and help us bring cookies and love to our neighbors across the parking lot!
Lectio Divina today: Come to the chapel at 4:00 on Sunday afternoons or 8:30 on Wednesday mornings during Lent for Lectio Divina, a brief Benedictine practice of reading scripture as Living Word.
Next Week is Pretzel Sunday These little breads were shaped in the form of arms crossed in prayer and were called bracellae (Latin, ‘little arms’). In German the word became ‘bretzel’. These pretzels were a common Lenten food throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, and became an all year round snack in the 19th century.
Union Church seeks a nursery worker! If you are 18+, love kids (especially the 0-5 age group) and are available on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, this might be a great opportunity for you. Nursery staff earn $12 / hour and must complete a background check and our free Safe Sanctuaries training. Interested? Contact Laura Nagle (859-358-0106 or joyfulsunflower@gmail.com) for more information.
Want to keep your hands busy during service? There’s a basket in the back of the church with knitting projects started by the knitters among us. You can knit a few rows and pray for the person who will receive the finished item, and then return it to the basket after service for someone else to add their stitches and prayers.
Narcan training here at Union Church March 26, 6 pm.
A Caregivers’ Support Group will begin April 8, 7:30 in the Wayside Room, and will meet the 2nd and 4th Mondays of a month. All welcome. Call Doug Hindman at 859-582-5806 for more info.
Lent Opportunities
Settle Into Scripture! Sundays at 4:00 pm; Wednesdays at 8:30 am Cowan Chapel. For thirty minutes, Rev. Kent will lead the traditional Benedictine practice of Lectio Divina, a four-step process that treats scripture as a living word, rather than just a text to be studied. (Note: Sunday and Wednesday of each week will use the same scripture passage.) Also, watch Facebook for a virtual version of the weekly Lectio Divina.
Community Joy at Wednesday Nite Live! March 27—fun activities for kids! No age limit on the fun.
Run Together! Couch to 5K: Thursdays 6-6:30 pm; Stephenson Trail. Ever wanted to train for a 5K? Let’s do it together. Bring the kids & the dog! Contact Laura with questions: joyfulsunflower@gmail.com / 859.358.0106 (text or call) or just show up!
Explore a Labyrinth! Sunday 3/31 at 1:30 in the Classroom. Carla Gilbert will lead us in a visit to the new labyrinth at the Campus Christian Center. No registration necessary—just show up!
Chair Yoga Friday, April 5, 11:00 am til noon in the Classroom. Judy Flavell, teacher at Mind Body and Sol Yoga Studio will be leading Chair Yoga, a gentle form of yoga that allows to you connect with your body and let your spirit shine through. No registration necessary — just show up wearing comfortable clothes!
Reflect Through Photography! Use Facebook to share images representing the Lenten Word of the Day. Follow Union Church on Facebook and post your images.
Make Stuff Together! In the back of the sanctuary, you will find kits with simple knitting projects, started by the knitters among us. Pick one up during service,
follow the pattern, pray for the person who will receive the item, and sign the card when you leave it in the basket for the next person to continue.
Connect With Each Other! Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living. Virtual Book Group We will use a private Facebook group to read & discuss this book of essays by Shauna Niequest. Contact Laura to be added to the group: joyfulsunflower@gmail.com / 859.358.0106 (text or call).
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