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

Reign of Christ Sunday November 23, 2014, 10:30 am

Meditation
“The source of light is not in the outer world. We believe that it is only because of a common delusion. The source of light dwells where life also dwells: within ourselves.”

—Jacques Lusseyran, quoted in Learning to Walk In The Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor

From there to HEre

Welcome and Announcements              
Prelude     Gigue  D. Wagner
*  Call to Worship
One:     Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.
All:      We glorify our God with songs of thanksgiving and joy.
One:     God has done great things for us, filling us with grace.
All:      God fed our ancestors in the wilderness, God clothes us with hope.
One:     With beauty and power God wraps the world. May our thanksgiving lace the work of God’s hand.
All:      We will sing your praises, shouting of God’s presence in our lives.
*  Opening Hymn #28         For the Beauty of the Earth     Dix
*   Prayer of Approach and Confession
One:     We tell the myth of our own impoverishment and use it as an excuse to withhold from others. Our pockets may be empty, our spirits may feel deflated, but we are rich beyond measure in both care and love from you. You are Lord of the world, yet you gently tend to every tear. We confess we have believed the myth and forgotten the power of presence.
All:      Forgive us, Restorer of life. As you clothe us with your grace and mercy, may we share all your riches with those who have so little. As our hearts overflow with your love and wonder, may we offer them as gifts to everyone we meet.  As you feed us with your joy and hope, may we welcome to the Table all those whose lives are filled with tears and pain. Forgive and renew us, God of grace.  Help us change ourselves and the world in true thanksgiving, through Christ, the king of people in need. Amen.
*  Words of Assurance
One:     The heavenly kin-dom is not populated by the perfect. It is populated with truth and earnest hope. All those who seek the Love of God shall find. All who undertake forgiveness shall themselves be forgiven.
All:      Thy Kingdom come, Lord! Thanks be to God!
*  Passing the Peace of Jesus 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 joy.

The Word in our Midst

Epistle Lesson                  Ephesians 1:15-23
Anthem    Honor and Glory        J.S. Bach

Union Church Choir

Honor and glory be to God in the highest, Hallelujah! Sing praises to His name!
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 Children’s Moment, children grades K-3 are invited to Children’s Church, which takes place in the chapel.  If this is your child’s first time attending Children’s Church, please accompany them to fill out a registration form.  Otherwise, children are welcome to follow volunteers to their worship spaces. For children preschool & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Community Room. Please pick up your children in the Chapel after the service.
Gospel Lesson                  Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon     All in All          Rev. Kent Gilbert

Gifts given for Love to flow

Call to Offering
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.
This can now be done online or by text to  859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering” to contribute to the ongoing ministries, or add “youth,” or “missions” or designation of your choice to benefit one in particular.)
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
 Offertory             Prelude on a Mozart Theme    arr. J. Troutman
*   Doxology We give thee but thine own, what e’er the gift may be.         Schumann
                  All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from Thee!

Praying it Forward

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.
Silent Prayers and Prayers of the Community
Our Lord’s Prayer     
One:    Our Maker, our Mother, and …
All:     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

*  Closing Hymn #419        Now Thank We All Our God   Nun Danket
*  Benediction
Postlude    Now Thank We All Our God   S. Karg-Elert
———————————————

*  Please rise in body or in spirit

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 the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe and our brothers and sisters at Big Hill Pentecostal Holiness Church  in your hearts, and pray for them.
Please also hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week:
* Those in harm’s way in service of our country, and those who wait and worry for them
* Our church family members in nursing homes:  Edith Hansen, Klara Welsh, Bernice Robertson, Nancy Jones, Mary Miller, Averill Kilbourne, Alva Peloquin
* Wyndee Holbrook’s friend, Andrew Boyd, a young Orthodox preacher in NYC a who is struggling with newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease.
* Ruth Butwell, who had a fall at home
* Thich Nat Han, recovering from a stroke
* Leslie Small Stokes, who is now a certified associate Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor
* The Holmes children, at the death of their father (relatives of Debbonnaire Kovacs)
Announcements 
You Matter! Please Sign the Register, Check in on Facebook/Twitter and try a nametag! It’s hard to get to know people elsewhere, but we don’t want it that way at church.  Let’s all try to get to know each other better.

Today – Fourth Sunday New Membership Info: Come One Come All!   Each Fourth Sunday of the Month anyone wanting to know more about Union Church or wanting to explore church membership, as well as new members who have not been able to participate in a previous meeting, are invited to come to the classroom two doors past the church office immediately following worship for conversation with the Pastor and the Community Life and Growth Board.

    Light refreshments will be offered and you are invited to pick up coffee or tea in the parlor on your way through the hall. New members will be received each Second Sunday of the month at the close of worship.
Come on Down to Family Faith Day! You are invited to a new project for families to celebrate and share faith together! Our first Family Faith Day is right after church today.
All varieties of families are welcome! We will eat pizza and create a family Advent calendar for you to use at home. Please bring a small donation for pizza if able.  The Faith Development Board is sponsoring these opportunities for intergenerational sharing of justice and faith. Next Family Faith Day will be January 10. We’ll make quilts for Project Linus, which provides homemade blankets to children in need.
Nurture & Care Advent Breakfasts: Sundays, 9-10:15 am The Nurture & Care Board would love to nurture and care for you! Come join us for a casual oatmeal breakfast Sunday mornings in Advent, starting November 30.  Oatmeal, festive toppings, coffee, friends old and new: we want to hang out with you!
Together we make a supportive community. Grab a bowl of oats on your way to choir or Sunday School, or just come on early to church. Sit and enjoy a conversation with friends while your children attend Sunday School. We look forward to seeing you!
Women’s Creative Sewing and Crafts (formerly Women’s Industrial) is 120 years old this year! Join us on November 30th for a momentous celebration. Chili lunch and crafts/quilt sales will complement the celebration event. We’ll begin serving lunch after church service at noon. Help us make this next year one of the best ever by showing your enthusiasm for this outstanding program of Union Church’s Mission and Service Board.
Let’s Beautify for Advent! Decorating the church for the weeks of Advent will take place after each Sunday worship service beginning November 30th until Christmas.  Worship Board members will be coordinating, but we need your help and vision! Stay after to hang greenery, change the banner, decorate trees, and hang lights. Contact Abigale Embry at abbyembry@gmail.com
Berea College Christmas Concert tickets available  The concert, featuring Instrumental and Vocal Ensembles and Community Carol Singing, will be here at Union Church Friday, Dec. 5th and Saturday Dec. 6th, both  at 7:30 pm. Pre-concert music will start at 7:00 with the Clarinet Ensemble, Folk Roots Ensemble, and Saxophone Quartet. Although admission is free, tickets are required due to limited seating.
Tickets for the Christmas Concert are now available for pick up. This year the Music Department is using an online distribution at no cost. You can either print at home, order a print tickets, place on will call, or bring your phone, iPad, or tablet. In order to get tickets please visit berea.brownpapertickets.com.
For more information call 859-985-3466 or email javier_clavere@berea.edu
Thanks from Mission and Service Board! We would like to thank everyone for attending Sunday’s Christmas with a Conscience: Alternative Christmas Market Event – we had a great turnout!! The soup lunch fundraiser brought in 11 kettles of soup and about $300 for Berea Faith Community Outreach. We also had about 28 organizations participate and raised close to $3,000 in little under 2 hours! We’re incredibly grateful for all the volunteers who stepped up to help with the accounting and checkout process, in the kitchen and set up/clean up. Much Love and thanks to starting off this holiday season in a beautifully giving way! Your work is love in action and we’re proud to serve along side you in this community.
Gifts for Liberty Place. Dodie Murphy is collecting sweat shirts, sweat pants (same size, matching or coordinating) and crew/athletic socks for the women at Liberty Place in Richmond for their Christmas gifts. If possible, please wrap each garment in tissue and put in a large gift bag. Also, please put the size on a sticky note on the outside of the bag. Dodie will happily deliver any donations to LP. If you are unable to do a whole bag, a contribution of any part of the bag will be most welcome. LP is a 108-bed long-term residential recovery center for women with addictive diseases. Thanks so much for considering. Dodie can be reached at 859-200-7277 or dodiemurf@yahoo.com.
 A few bumper stickers are still available. Pick one up in the parlor drop $1 in the basket to offset expenses if you can.