A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost 10:30 am
Founder’s Day
Meditation
Trust God – trust him for success, for support, for life. If in this way you will trust God, he by his word, by his Spirit and by his providence, will lead you into the highest usefulness of which, in your day and generation, you are capable. ~ Rev. John Gregg Fee
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome
¨ Call To Worship Dr. Pamela Chabora, Reader
One: I will bless the Lord at all times; God’s praise shall continually be in my mouth.
All: My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
One: O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt God’s name together.
All: I sought God, and God answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
One: Look to God, and be radiant, so your faces shall never be ashamed.
All: This poor soul cried and was heard by God and was saved from every trouble.
One: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear God and delivers them.
All: O taste and see that God is good; happy are those who take refuge in God.
~ Psalm 34:1-8
¨ Opening Hymn #376 God, We Thank You for Our People Holy Manna
- God, we thank you for our people, roots dug deep within the soil, hardy spirits, rich in loving, strong for struggle, bold for toil. Faithful Rock of generations, you whom parents’ parents praised: here in hope as we remember may our song to you be raised.
- Thank you, God, for gentle pleasure: lessons learned and secrets told, hopes and memories saved as treasure, passed to young ones by the old, pranks and glories, songs and stories, food by loving hands prepared, God we bless you for your presence in our tears and laughter shared.
- Still we must confess before you, sometimes, Savior, we have failed; though we worship and adore you, sometimes love has not prevailed. Tempers racing, devil chasing, hearts estranged by ice or flame You transform by ways forgiving. Grace amazing! Grace, your name.
- By your Spirit of creation keep us bold for risking still, eager in anticipation, ever strong to do your will. Bind us close to one another, sharing life and death and birth, welcoming as sister, brother, all your children on the earth.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Let us pray…
All: In your mercy, Lord, you gather your people that we might have life and in grace rise to your service. We confess that we often fall short of the mark of such love.
We have not loved kindness, pursued justice, or walked humbly with you. We have not lived worshipfully as we ought, nor loved our neighbors as you teach. Forgive our trespasses and set our feet on higher ground. This we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
¨ Words of Assurance
¨ 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.
Word and Worship
Anthem Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord John Courter, arr. Scarambone
Union Church Choir
Come let us sing to the Lord! Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song! For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods! Come let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth, and does not live in shrines made by man, not is he served by human hands. God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth, for in God we Live and move and have our being. We are one in Spirit but we are many in thought and deed.
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? The Lord has shown you what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
Scripture Reading Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb. May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
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.
Scripture Reading Mark 10:46-52
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.”
And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Sermon Rising to the Call Rev. John G. Fee
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard.
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.
Embodied Prayer
You are invited to reflect and pray at the candle table. You may also choose to source the essential ingredient of solitude and private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts in your pew.
In 1859, ahead of a mob riding from Richmond to lynch church leaders, the original charter and register of Union Church was burned to protect their identities. The binding covenant of the congregation was and is:
“The Church of Christ, Union receives all followers of Christ and works with all who work with him: respecting each one’s conscience; serving in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.”
This meant, then and now, that it is what love demands that unites us, not skin color, creed, denomination, or background. On Founder’s Day we remember that commitment to God’s impartial love by offering everyone a chance to remake our lost ledger. All who wish are invited to sign the banner indicating a pledge to rise in service and in love!
Offertory
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 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
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God above ye heavenly host: Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost! Amen.
Silent Prayer & Prayers of the Community Pam Chabora, Reader
Thank you, God of restored vision and rising love. You have never failed to coax us to service as love demands, and you have never failed to prosper the work of justice and joy here. Bless the start of this day, this week, this season of Rising that we might venture forward together.
That we might serve in new ways, together. That we might forge new bonds and heal every wound, together with you and one another. Christ brought the blind to his side and made the wounded whole. Vision and healing is still our work, and so we ask for your power in our midst to help us rise together, partners and servants of all your love demands. This we pray as Christ himself reached to you…
Our Lord’s Prayer
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.
¨ Hymn Rise Up, O Saints of God Festal Song
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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, Berea Home Village would like to acknowledge Union Church’s early and continuing support since 2014 in creating this nonprofit – a purpose, not a place – that helps older Bereans thrive at home. Recognizing the church’s role in creating Berea Home Village on Founder’s Day underscores its commitment to justice and kindness for many years.
Recently, Berea Home Village received the inaugural Lloyd H. Dean Institute award for human kindness and health justice from CommonSpirit, the parent organization for Saint Joseph Berea, for its community service. This award is rightly shared with Union Church, given the many ways it has helped grow this unique village by hosting its first fundraiser, acting as its fiscal sponsor, including it in the church’s annual budget, and encouraging its growth through volunteers directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the organization.
¨ Benediction We Will Rise Up Together Jim Papoulis
Those who are able & willing are invited to fill the aisles as we sing the Benediction Response together. If you’re at home or in the balcony, you are part of the embrace too. The embrace is as wide as God’s love!
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 Canada & The United States and our brothers and sisters at Bethel Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
¨ Mary Ellen Sarafin, Betty’s sister, suffering from cirrhosis.
¨ Nick Lockwood, 21-year-old nephew of the Lockwood and Methler family.
¨ Patrick Quinn, an online friend, who had a pulmonary embolism last week at only 24.
¨ Steve Rutledge, mourning the loss of his long time friend of 62 years, Arie Kopelman, who has died of pancreatic cancer.
¨ If you want to help those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, donations of money are best; and Church World Service and the Red Cross are “on the ground” now. Giving directly to them is the best way to help. Please don’t try to travel to affected areas.
¨ 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: 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: may God soothe and heal all who are troubled.
¨ Members and Friends who need safer housing and income security.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ For all those caring for others in their illnesses and needs: may God give them both strength and encourage-ment in this work of costly love.
¨ Erikke Meadows’ mom, Prudy Meadows, with COPD.
¨ The Guild family as Will continues his struggle with brain cancer and stroke.
¨ Prayer for a restored and renewed sense of integrity in all public officials and work: that justice may be louder than greed; fair and good governance a blessing to all people, not the favored few.
¨ Dottie Blackburn is in The Terrace for rehab. Cards welcome. 1043 Brooklyn Blvd., Berea.
¨ Jerry Cooper has moved to Morning Pointe. New address: 1400 Gibson Bay Dr. #108, Richmond, KY 40475.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Today, Oct. 27 – Reda Hutton, Susan Schmied; 28 – Josh English, 31 – Noah Cain; Nov. 1 – Diane Bailey; 2 – Cheyenne Olson; 4 – Beatrix Smith
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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