A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
March 30, 2025 10:30 am
The Fourth Sunday of Lent
Meditation
But maybe God was not talking about us.
Maybe God was talking about
her own reckless love.
Maybe God was talking about
her own willingness to turn the world upside down
for me.
~ 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 “<>.”
”Hymn of Welcome Breathe, Listen & Notice Paul Vaslie
¨ The Call Lorilyn Howie-Kipphut, Reader
One: Our God is a shepherding God.
All: Our God knows us by name.
One: Our God will never stop searching for us. So if you feel lost,
All: then know that God is seeking you.
One: If you feel found,
All: then know that God will never leave.
One: This is the promise of scripture. This is the promise of God’s love.
All: God is with us. Let us worship our God.
¨ Hymn #247 My Shepherd Is the Living God Consolation
1. My shepherd is the living God,
I therefore nothing need;
In pastures fair, near pleasant streams
you settle me to feed.
You bring my wandering spirit back
when I forsake your ways,
And lead me for your mercy’s sake
in paths of truth and grace.
2. When I walk through the shades of death,
your presence is my stay;
A word of your supporting breath
drives all my fears away.
Your hand, in sight of all my foes,
does still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
your oil anoints my head.
3. The sure provisions of my God
attend me all my days;
O may your house be my abode,
and all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
while others come and go –
No more a stranger or a guest,
but like a child at home.
¨ Prayer of Confession
One: Friends, in the Christian tradition many have used “lost” and “found” labels to describe people “out there” versus people “in here.” Many have used “lost” and “found” language to create a damaging dichotomy that Christians are found and non-Christians are lost.
But the truth is, each and every one of us is a little bit lost and a little bit found from time to time. Each and every one of us needs the love of the Good Shepherd. So join me in the prayer of confession, as people who know both ends of that spectrum. Join me as we go to God in prayer:
One: If God is a painter,
All: let us be the brush.
One: If God is a musician,
All: let us be the song.
One: If God is an architect,
All: let us be the tools. Let us be the hands. Let us be the builders.
One: But if God is a shepherd, who never stops seeking,
All: let us be willing to be found, no matter how lost we feel.
One: Our God is never far away.
All: Forgive us for forgetting this good news. Amen.
¨ Words of Grace
One: Family of faith, we are all a little bit lost and a little bit found.
We grumble. We push back. We doubt God. We doubt ourselves.
We leave the flock and lose our way.
But fortunately for us, our God is a shepherding God who is always by our side.
So hear and believe the good news of the gospel:
No matter how far we wander, we can never wander from the bounds of God’s grace.
We are loved. We are forgiven. We are not alone.
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 Here I Am, Lord Schutte, arr. Young Union Church Choir
1. I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. All who dwell in dark and sin my hand will save. I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright. Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?
Chorus: Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
2. I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain. I have wept for love of them. They turn away. I will break their hearts of stone, Give them hearts for love alone. I will speak my word to them. Whom shall I send? Chorus
3. I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame. I will set a feast for them. My hand will save. Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied. I will give my life for them. Whom shall I send?
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 #119:129-144 p. 703
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 15:1-7
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. ~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Wandering Between The Lost and Found 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 A Fine Psalm Marcello Union Church Orchestra
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 Lorilyn Howie-Kipphut, Reader
One: Shepherding God, You look for us. You search for us. You turn every corner and climb every mountain. You call our name until your voice is hoarse. When we lose our way, you never stop seeking after us. So once again we pray, find us in this moment. Look for us. And then surround us with your presence, so that we might feel you near. With hope we listen and 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 #252 Savior, Like A Shepherd Lead Us Bradbury
1 Savior, like a shepherd lead us; much we need your tender care. In your pleasant pastures feed us, for our use your fold prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have bought us: yours we are. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have bought us: yours we are.
2 We are yours; in love befriend us, be the guardian of our way; keep your flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear your children when we pray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear your children when we pray.
3 Let us always seek your favor, let us always do your will; Jesus Christ our only Savior, with your love our spirits fill. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have loved us; love us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have loved us; love us still.
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
Julia “Judy” Bonds, 1952-2011
Today we celebrate Judy Bonds, a coal miner’s daughter who led the fight in West Virginia to stop mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. When Massey Energy began MTR mining in her area, the residents suffered noise, dust and health problems. Her “eye-opening moment” came when her young grandson found many dead fish in a nearby steam, and she began working with Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW), an organization devoted to protecting the region from MTR mining. Later Judy became the outreach director of CRMW, and she travelled the country speaking and lobbying for greater controls on MTR mining. In 2003, Bonds received the Goldman Environmental Prize, an honor often called “the Nobel Prize of environmentalism.” Sadly, Judy’s activist career was cut short by cancer, which took her life in early 2011.
Source: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/julia-judy-bonds
¨ Sending Forth
All: We believe in a seeking God, a with-us and before-us God, a chasing-after-us God.
One: So on the good days and the hard days, on the mountains and in the valleys, we believe that we are always being found. Thanks be to God for a love like that. Amen.
Artist’s Statement
I began my artwork for this series by collaging torn strips of newspaper articles together, overlapping global headlines with photos of current events.
Along the torn edges, I added gold leaf. Then I photographed the result, editing the photos in black and white. These photos would become the backdrop for my pieces, as I wanted my digital drawings to emerge within the noise of the world’s deepest pains, divisions, and everything in between. The collage is also a reference to theologian Karl Barth’s famous quote about reading the bible and the newspaper together. I wanted the gold leaf to represent God’s presence in the spaces in between the events and forces that tear us apart.
On September 27th, 2024, I began drawing the Good Shepherd with the lost sheep tenderly wrapped around his shoulders. As I worked, rain pummeled our roof, saturating the ground with an endless deluge as the wide bands of tropical storm Helene reached our high-elevation town of Black Mountain, NC. The next day, winds roared and threw trees to the ground like dominos. We lost power, then water, then cell service. We didn’t know it yet, but every creek and river had swelled with enormous force, sweeping away everything in their path. Landslides, sinkholes, and extreme flooding ravaged the entire region of Western North Carolina, taking homes, towns, and human lives.
We were incredibly and graciously spared, having no flooding in our house or trees on our roof, so as soon as the storm relented, we headed out to find our friends and family by foot. As we walked through our small town, we found ourselves in a maze-like wasteland, changing our route every other turn due to downed trees or power lines, or washed-out roads. Progressively, we found family and friends, greeting them with great relief and urgent questions: “Do you have enough water to drink? Do you have water for flushing? Do you need any food?” It would be nearly 6 days before any emergency relief could arrive with food, water, and supplies. Meanwhile, neighbors survived by the help of their neighbors. Churches opened their doors. Firefighters and first responders persisted, despite perilous rescue missions. Helicopters air-lifted stranded people to safety.
When I began this artwork, I naively hoped to gain insight into Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep. In that process, I did not wish to become the lost sheep and live through the greatest natural disaster to hit my hometown in over a thousand years. But as I read this parable again, now over 6 weeks after the storm, what strikes me is the pursuit of the shepherd, so singularly focused on the one who is lost, vulnerable, and at-risk. The Good Shepherd steadies the sheep on his shoulders and steps out of the frame toward us. His gaze finds mine, and I almost hear him whisper, “I will never stop searching for the lost. I will never stop rejoicing when one is found.”
—Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity
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 Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia; and our brothers and sisters at the Berea Evangelistic Center 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.
¨ 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, recovering from the devastation of winds and 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, continuing to gain strength after his surgery.
¨ Rev. Kent’s cousin, Kathy, undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer, and her mother, Helen, who is Rev. Carla’s sister.
¨ Ally Nurre, doing well after further treatment of her knee.
¨ Kelly Mehler, who has resumed treatment for his lymphoma.
¨ Barb Taylor’s son, David, undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
¨ Dodie Murphy asks for prayers as she is treated for middle stage chronic kidney disease.
¨ Rev. Christina’s family: her brother-in-law, Jamie, with stage 4 cancer and his wife, her sister Veronica. They’ve got two small children.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: March 31 – Colin Perman; April 2 – Susan Kramer; 3 – Leslie Berger; 4 – Stanley Kramer; 7 – Greg Sutherland
Anniversaries: April 1 – Richard & Cheyenne Olson; 5 – Ernie & Leslie Campbell; 6 –Steve & Ann Rhodes
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
Leave a Reply