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

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

October 16, 2016 10:30 am

 
Meditation
“On the Children’s Sabbath weekend and throughout the year and years to come, people of faith and goodwill must put their bodies and souls in motion to curb morally obscene and indefensible child poverty rates; wealth and income inequality; massive miseducation of poor children of color; preventable hunger and homelessness; mass incarceration and unjust criminal justice systems that criminalize the poor; and bullying and demagogic politicians encouraging assault of nonviolent protesters.
The time is ripe right now to do what is right and reject the ugliness, violence, demagoguery and greed that have permeated far too much of our political discourse. We must move forward and not backward and teach our children how to disagree strongly without disagreeing wrongly.”
— Marian Wright Edelman, Founder, Children’s Defense Fund

From there to Here

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  Prelude in Classic Style G. Young
*  Call to Worship
One: Come praise God the Creator who made each child in God’s image!
All: We will praise our Creator by recognizing each child’s sacred worth.
One: Come praise the Christ who blessed the children!
All: We will praise Christ by being a blessing to children in need.
One: Come praise God the Holy Spirit who moves among us!
All: We will praise the Holy Spirit by working for justice.
One: Come praise the triune God who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us!
All: We will praise God by putting our faith into action to seek justice for children. Let us worship in Spirit and in Truth!
*  Opening Hymn  Come All You People Alexander Gondo
* Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Merciful God, you call us to create change for children, but we’re comfortable with the status quo. You call us to work for justice today, but we put it off until another day. You call us to bring hope, but inside we’ve really given up on making a difference. You call us to believe in a better tomorrow, but we don’t always believe that it is possible. We have broken our covenant of persistent hope in you.
All:       Forgive us, we pray, for our apathy, for our procrastination, for our resignation and our limited vision. Write new words on our changed hearts, O God!
Put a new covenant inside of us so that we may live boldly into your vision of justice and compassion for every child. Write is so that no one need ask if we “know the Lord” or if we care for your bright and hopeful tomorrow.  Inscribe your word on our hearts and we shall be changed. Amen.
¨  Words of Assurance
¨   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

Anthem Order My Steps Glenn Burleigh Union Church Choir
Order my steps in Your word dear Lord, lead me, guide me everyday. Send your anointing, Father I pray. Order my steps in Your word, please, order my steps in Your word.
Humbly, I ask Thee teach me Your will, while You are working, help me be still. Though Satan is busy, God is real! Order my steps in Your word, please, order my steps in Your word!
I want to walk worthy, Lord, my calling to fulfill. Please order my steps Lord and I’ll do Your blessed will. The world is ever changing, but You are still the same. If You order my steps, I’ll praise Your name.
Order my steps in Your word, order my tongue in Your word; guide my feet in Your word, wash my heart in Your word. Show me how to walk in Your word, show me how to talk in Your word.  When I need a brand new song to sing, show me how to let Your praises ring in your word.
Hebrew Scripture Lesson Jeremiah 31:27-34
Jesus tells a parable of a widow’s persistence overcoming even the unjust and unrighteous.
Children’s Moment
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.
Today, following the Children’s Moment, children are invited to help Pastor Kent with the Gospel and Sermon, before being excused to Childrens Church.
Gospel Lesson  Luke 18:1-8
Jesus tells a parable of a widow’s persistence overcoming even the unjust and unrighteous.
Sermon       Joy Rekindled Rev. Kent Gilbert
Hymn Somebody’s Knocking trad. Spiritual

Gifts Given For Love to Flow

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 Choral Song L. Smith
*  Doxology Avery/Marsh

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 for the Community
Our Lord’s Prayer
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

*  Closing Hymn  Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying Children Praying
*  Benediction & Sending Forth
Postlude (please  be  seated) Love Divine, All Loves Excelling J. Raney
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 Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and our brothers and sisters at the Berea Friends Meeting in your hearts, and pray for them.
Please also hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week:
¨ The healing of families, communities, and our nation and world, wracked by violence and murder, may we be agents of transformation.
¨ Refugees around the world.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound:  Edith Hansen, Mary Miller, Alva Peloquin, Gloria VanWinkle.
¨ The people affected in Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and the United States by Hurricane Matthew.  One Great Hour of Sharing is already on the ground helping with rescue efforts.  If you’d like to donate, go to “Donate” at www.union-church.org and choose “give online.” You’ll be taken to a page where you can choose “One Great Hour of Sharing.”  Or, write a check and put it in the offering plate with the note, “One Great Hour of Sharing.”  Thank you.
 
¨ For the family of Chris McKenzie, whose grandfather passed away in his sleep on Tuesday night.
¨ Congratulations and Prayers of thanksgiving for the ministry of Rev. Kent! The 25th Anniversary of his ordination was October 12.
¨ Prayers for Rev. Rachel, Leslie, and their newborn Jack Small Stokes! Everyone is home now in Lexington. To help with meal ingredients (drop-off here at church) please go to https://mealtrain.com/vvroq6. This link will be included in emailed announcements tomorrow, for easy signup & complete information!
¨ Dottie Blackburn, suffering from severe sciatica
¨ Nancy Hindman, recovering from  abdominal surgery at home.
¨ George and Loretta Mountjoy, both in rehab facilities; George for knee replacement, Loretta after heart valve surgery
We’re Celebrating Children’s Sabbath Today! The Children’s Sabbath is a weekend that unites places of worship of all faiths across the nation in shared concern for children and common commitment to improving children’s lives and working for justice on their behalf . In that respect, it is bigger and more powerful and more inspiring than the efforts of any one congregation on its own. Today and every day, Union church works to be part of the larger movement for children. Many of the resources today come from the Children’s Defense Fund (http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/2016-sabbath-manual-/welcome.pdf) and includes a special letter from Marian Wright Edelman. Everyone is encouraged to make each day a holy sabbath for our children, our future.
The 2016 National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths® Celebration, “Children of Promise: Closing Opportunity Gaps” is a focus on closing opportunity gaps due to poverty and lack of access to high-quality early childhood development and a high-quality education so that every child can reach their God-given potential. For that to happen, we as people of faith need to stand tall within our communities and push our nation to keep our promises of love and justice, equality and dignity for all.  – Children’s Defense Fund
Children and Poverty:

• America’s child poverty rate is one of the highest among industrialized nations.
• Child poverty creates gaps in cognitive skills.
• Child hunger jeopardizes children’s health and ability to learn.
• Child poverty fuels the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

 New Membership Info session post-poned to Oct. 30.
Mission and Service Board is looking for your feedback, as we discuss long term mission projects/commitments that engage the congregation in action, advocacy and broaden our understanding on these important issues. https://union-church.org/union-church-mission-focus-survey/Potluck after worship next week!
We’re Planning! October is the month we start a holy conversation every year, a conversation about how we can live faithfully and sustain a mission of relevant important work as a church. We’re talking about pledging funds for next year’s work, and hope you will join the conversation. What sustains you about this community? How could we help sustain others? What’s the right amount to contribute? What happens if someone is in need? All this month, pray with us, and be a steward of our journey. Let’s talk faithfully so we can grow by leaps and bounds!
October is Stewardship Month at Union Church! Many hands make possible every aspect of our church life: from worship services, to serving others in need. Union Church receives no grants, no outside support from Berea College, and only a few “legacy” dollars from trust or benevolence funds. It is supported by our gifts and tithes, and without the love and kindness of all, we couldn’t reach, serve, worship, or risk in God’s name the way we do. Can you help? Make an estimate of what you can contribute by the end of the month and we’ll be able to craft a responsive, effective budget. We can’t do it without you! (Consecration Sunday, when we receive all pledge cards is October 30).
October 18, Flying Solo, our Widows’ Group, meets monthly for widows/widowers. Those grieving a divorce are also welcome. If you are interested, you are invited to contact Debbonnaire Kovacs 859-779-0793.  The group will meet the third Tuesday of each month, at 1 pm, in the Wayside Room.
October 18, Explore the Psalms, 4 pm, 1st & 3rd Tuesdays. Conference Room this week only, then Classroom:  The Psalms have guided the work and prayer of people in all manner of situations, from desperation to exaltation, from religious ritual to personal searching for life’s meaning.  So we will come to these as a way of prayer, and to that end we will read and consider and listen to them speak to us individually and collectively.
Wednesday Nite Live Oct. 19! Third Wednesdays of the month the program is SINGING! Sing-along with Debbonnaire Kovacs, share food and fellowship! Don’t miss it, see calendar for WNL schedule.
LBGTQIA Safe Space gathering for sharing and support. Wednesday Oct 19, 7:00 pm, Wayside Room. This is not a religious group, but a general support group. The group meets every 1st and 3rd Weds.
Worship Workshop October 22, 8:30-3:30. St. Andrew UCC, Louisville. Join Dr. Marcia McFee, a renowned leader and designer of worship for regional and national gathering, including the UCC General Synod and Presbyterian Church (USA) events, for a workshop designed to designed to make worship more sensory-rich, more deeply spiritual, more participatory, and more anticipatory. Learn how to have more fun and stress less when planning worship week after week. Two spots left! Call the office tomorrow by noon if you’d like to attend. Joan will register you, call or email the office.
Hunger Hurts: on October 22nd & 29th, the youth group will participate in the Hunger Hurts food drive through the CELTS program at Berea College. We will be driving around Berea Neighborhoods dropping off empty bags and then picking up bags of food. We will need volunteer drivers to help us do this. Drivers needed! Call the office if you can help.
Ministry Mission: Blood Drive Chairperson needed: Blood Drives done here at Union Church have been organized by Joyce Henderson as the volunteer for the Kentucky Blood Center. They call the position the Chairperson of the blood drive. This past month on September 20th Joyce “chaired” her last blood drive. Therefore the Blood Center and the church are looking for someone to continue this valuable service to our community.
The last blood drive was a great success—73 pints were collected and, since each pint is separated and assists 3 procedures, our blood drive participants assisted in 219 medical procedures! 25 were first-time donors! Chairperson respons-ibilities include the following every other month:
Tape directional arrow signs the morning of the blood drive and take down after the blood drive and lock the doors after KBC staff has cleared all equipment out of church.
Please consider this important service to our community. Contact Dave Kobersmith, davek@union-church.org or call 986-3725.
T.R.U.T.H. Talk Oct. 18 (True Racial Understanding Through Honest Talks) regarding the 2016 Presidential Election: candidates, policies and voting mobility among the topics to be discussed. October 18, 5:30, Carter G. Woodson Center. T.R.U.T.H. Talks are designed to keep the campus talking about issues of race, diversity, and inclusion. All welcome. T.R.U.T.H. Talks are held the Third Tuesday of each month.
The Berea College Concert Choir & Chamber Singers’ Annual Fall Concert on Sunday, October 23, 3:00 pm.  No charge for admission. The program is entitled “Celebrating our Common Bonds.”  Texts of several pieces express the oneness of the human experience, in which we are united by the common bond of our beating hearts—the pulse of humanity.    The pieces extol the value of having an open, “singing” heart, alive and free, in which all of humanity is reflected.
Liberty Place Tea November 5, 1 pm, at the First Christian Church in Richmond. Once again, we are blessed to have the Rev. Kent Gilbert as auctioneer. Each table seats eight and if there are particular people with whom you want to sit please let Dodie Murphy know when you buy your ticket. Oh…many of the silent auction donations are autographed books, CDs, jewelry and art by well known Berea artists. For questions or to buy tickets call Dodie Murphy at 859.200.7277.
Crocheters/knitters sought to make flowers for hand-knitted hats (already made) for Berea children. The school districts’ family and youth resource centers will distribute the headwear on behalf of No Child Cold/No Child Hungry in Berea. Union’s own Tennant Kirk already has made more than a dozen flowers and about 40 more are needed (between 2 1/2 and 4″ in diameter). This is a perfect use for leftover yard of any color or design. For information call Dodie Murphy at 859.200.7277. Flowers can be left in a bag with Dodie’s name on it outside the church office.