A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost 10:30 am
Meditation
“Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you’re going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.” ~Anne Lamott
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome
¨ The Call
One: So with all those who have read these words thousands of years, we pray that God might turn toward us in this hour and have compassion on all these servants.
All: Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us and as many years as we have seen evil.
One: Let your work be manifest to your servants and your glorious power to their children.
All: Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!
One: O God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship, narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride, and strife.
Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling-block to children, nor to straying feet, but rugged and strong enough to turn back evil’s power.
God make the door of this house the gateway to your eternal kin-dom, now and always! Let us step boldly into worship and praise.
~ (adapted from a prayer of Bishop Thomas Ken 1637-1711)
~ United Church Publishing House, Celebrate God’s Presence (United Church Publishing House, 2000).
¨ Hymn Stepping In Christopher Grundy
Chorus: There is a prayer like a wide river. It never ends, does not begin. Around the world, it’s always flowing and I am stepping in, we are stepping in.
1. We are praying with those in diff’rent places, diff’rent languages and faces, every hour of the day. And we are praying, with enemies and strangers, in gratitude and danger, calling God ten thousand names!
2. We are praying with those who’ve gone before us, that great ancestral chorus we are joining as we sing. And we are praying with heroines and heroes, Moses, Mary and Romero, and Martin Luther King!
@2004 Hand and Soil Music. CCL#5845619 Used by permission
¨ 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 What Wondrous Love Is This arr. Weaver Union Church Choir
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to lay aside his crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing. To God and to the Lamb who is the great I AM, while millions join the theme I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on. I’ll sing and joyful be, and through all eternity I’ll sing on.
Scripture Lesson Deuteronomy 24:1-12
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain — that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees — as far as Zoar.
The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated.
The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended. Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
~ New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
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 Lesson Matthew 22:34-46
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”‘?
If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
~ New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021)
Sermon Love with a View Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
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 Reflection Questions
View from Up Top:
Breathe up your spirit in prayer today and take in the view from the highest vantage of your best love. Like Moses, we all have promised places we may never reach, but remain important goals. Let your prayer today be about the value of your journey thus far. Let your breath carry your prayers all this week.
Where Love Is:
Love is neither finite, nor a competition. In fact, the more you love the easier it becomes to love MORE. Sit quietly and allow love to fill you. You might imagine it rising from the ground or floor and filling you. You might imagine it as light emanating from God and connecting to your deepest heart. When you have a sense of connection or of filling, notice what happens if you imagine that light and love spilling up and over you to others. Allow yourself to remain ‘filled’ but now notice how you can direct or shower light on parts of your life, on people, on issues. Hold what you’ve experienced so your whole week can have “love with a view.”
Offertory Let There Be Peace on Earth Union Church Orchestra
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 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.
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Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
Silent Prayer and Prayers of the Community Jennifer Elam, Reader
Creator God, you have made us to love. Love you, love our neighbor, love all this creation you lavish on the world. But we confess we don’t always do any of that very well. Made to love, sometimes we look away. Called to compassionate justice, we lash and thrash. Prophets from Moses, to Jesus, to people in the pews have taught us to know better. Forgive us and help us. Reform our thinking and infuse our living with what we truly need, and what the world truly needs from us. From the heights of such love we can see the promised land, and reaching deep into your truths we can help everyone get there. Help us, dear Lord, in all our struggles. Let love change us and prevail in all the people. who taught us to reach to you as…
Our Lord’s Prayer
All: 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: We Depart
¨ Hymn #50 I Sing the Praise of Love Almighty St. Petersburg
1 I sing the praise of love almighty, which shines revealed in Jesus’ face. I offer up all that delights me, all mean desires, each fond embrace, turn from myself in pure devotion, and eager plunge in love’s vast ocean.
2 How loving-kind you are, how gentle, how your heart reaches ager mine! My heart responds in elemental sympathy, beating perfect time. This mutual love, this strong attraction, I have no other satisfaction.
3 Secure my heart and all my being, in you, my Savior, crucified. You gave your life to work my healing, bleeding for me, you groaned and died. Beloved Jesus, my salvation, you have, through love, restored creation.
4 May my heart bear the deep impression of love that Jesus shares with me, My life become a pure expression of all that Christian love can be: Each word, each act, a bright reflection of joy in Love’s own resurrection.
Community Connections
Announcements
We share opportunities for Beloved Community and ways to serve. Please see the listing of church and community events, prayers, and notices in the pages following the service.
Lighting the Justice Candle to Lead us Forth
Mike Ervin is a Chicago disability activist. He has been exposing the good and the bad of how our system treats the disabled by writing a monthly column which is published in several venues including The Progressive Magazine, New Mobility magazine, and his own personal blogspot for over 10 years. A quadriplegic himself, he takes on the “powers that be” using humorous sarcasm to get very valid and painful points across to those of us who are not disabled, and therefore mostly blind to the barriers those who are disabled face every day.
He is also an active member of ADAPT, a United States grassroots disability rights organization, for decades and boasts of having been arrested himself about 20 times. He refuses to “sit down and shut up” about things that he understands very well, and as a result, he has helped make the world a better place for many.
¨ Benediction
Postlude
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 and the United States; and our brothers & sisters at Bethel Baptist Church 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.
¨ Those suffering due to recent earthquakes in Afghanistan; and in natural disasters everywhere.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Jan Hamilton, Betsy Hoefer, Dorie Hubbard, Lois Morgan, Sara Parker, Cheryl Payne, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Betty Wray, Sally Zimmerman
¨ Loyal Jones’ family and many friends, at his passing. A memorial service will be held Dec. 9, time tbd, likely mid-afternoon.
¨ Rita Barlow, receiving care at home.
¨ All those suffering from mental strain, trauma, and disease: may God soothe and heal all who are troubled.
¨ James Stephens, Charlie Hoffman’s brother-in-law, suffering with cancer.
¨ Members and Friends who need safer housing and income security.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ Russ Neil, family of Peggy Patrick, critically ill and soon moving to hospice
¨ Teresa Dixon, recovering from surgery on her jaw.
¨ Diane Gammon’s family and friends, at her passing. A celebration of Diane’s life will be held on Saturday, November 4 from 3-5 pm at the Berea Arts Council at 444 Chestnut Street in Berea.
¨ Susan Henthorn, now living in North Carolina, undergoing cancer treatment.
¨ Jeannette Davidson, having health problems.
¨ Susan Kramer, recovering at Central Baptist, Lexington, after suffering a seizure on Friday.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Oct. 31 – Noah Cain; Nov. 1 – Diane Bailey; 2 – Cheyenne Olson
Anniversaries: Oct. 30 – Curt & Donna Rath; Nov. 5 – Melissa & Susan Doring Zook
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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