A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
World Communion Sunday October 5, 2013
Welcome to this service of worship. We are glad that you are here today. You are invited to rise in body or in spirit as you are able and willing at points in the service marked “*.”
Hearing enhancement devices and large print bulletins are available in the vestibule. After checking in on FaceBook and Twitter, please silence your cell phone, pager, etc., so all may worship undistracted.
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.
Meditation
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
— Mother Teresa
Gathering to Worship
Welcome & Announcements
Prelude Prelude on Foundation (“The Church’s One Foundation”) Nevett Bartow
* Call to Worship
One: The world belongs to God,
All: the earth and all its people.
One: How good and lovely it is
All: to live together in unity.
One: Love and justice come together,
All: justice and peace join hands.
One: If the Lord’s disciples keep silent
All: the very stones themselves would shout aloud that our world belongs to God and God is building a global hope.
One: Open our lips, O God,
All: and our mouths shall proclaim your praise.
—”Litany for Our World,” Peacemaking through Worship, vol. 2,
ed. Jane Parker Huber
* Hymn #394 Black In Christ There Is No East or West McKee
* Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Dear God, You invite us to come and eat at this table together that has been prepared for us – food and drink; reminders of nourishment and the blessing of fellowship.
All: You bid us come, but our feet are heavy, our spirits hesitant. Who all will be there? Some who’ve criticized us? Others we’ve passed judgment on?
One: How awkward, even unnerving, to celebrate unity within the diversity of Christian faith when it seems so superficial.
One: How do you, Lord, see past our inflated senses of superiority, and the doubts we have in each other’s integrity and beliefs?
One: How is it you ask us in when our arms are full of grudges and complaints?
One: Jesus said: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” (Luke 13:24)
One: You want us to let it all go – to leave behind all our “right” answers and the “right” we have to sue those who have sinned against us. That’s asking a lot.
All: Lord, with the faith that we have, as little as it may be, toss our deeply rooted prejudices and fellowship-killing stereotypes aside, that we may come into your banquet through the narrow door, and be at peace with all whom you have drawn in.
One: Bless this gathered community, and let it inspire us to imitate Jesus’ choice to lay down everything, even his life, to hold your love and welcome out to all. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11)
All: May this communion be ours to enact with all followers of Christ in the worldwide Church. Fill us, Lord, with your Spirit, and with your joy. Make us one body, one light, one united witness. To the glory of your Name we ask it. Amen.
* Words of Assurance
One: The table is open. God’s arms are open. Let, too, your hearts be open, for you are the beloved.
All: Thanks be to God.
* Passing the Peace of Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this day. Please turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace.
Hearing the Word
Anthem The Prayer of St. Francis Rene Clausen
Combined Choirs from First Christian Church and Union Church
Larry Brandenburg, director; Mary Bondurant, pianist
Lord make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, help me to pardon. Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, let me bring light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Lord, master divine, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive-
and in pardoning that we are pardoned. For in dying we are born to eternal life. Amen.
God Speaking through the Epistles 2 Timothy 1:1-14 (p. 1452)
We are encouraged to be bold in our faith.
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, Little Church for children Preschool & under is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Fellowship Hall, and Children’s Church, for grades K-3, takes place in the chapel. If this is your child’s first time attending Little Church or Children’s Church, please accompany them to fill out a registration form. Otherwise, children are welcome to follow volunteers to their worship spaces.
God Speaking through the Gospels Luke 17:5-10 (p. 1260)
Faith and service are their own rewards.
Sermon Rev. Ed McCurley
Rev. Kent Gilbert
Hymn #338 Black Sheaves of Summer (Una Espiga) Una Espiga
Choir—Stanza 1, All—Stanzas 2-4
Offering Our Gifts
Offertory Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness Theodore Beck
Soul, adorn yourself with gladness, leave behind all gloom and sadness;
Come into the daylight’s splendor, there with joy your praises render
Unto Him whose grace unbounded has this wondrous banquet founded.
High over all the heavens He reigns, yet to dwell with you he deigns.
* Doxology Avery/Marsh
Responding to God’s Love in Communion
* Invitation to Communion
One: God be with you!
All: And also with you!
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to God.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
One: It is our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise for you looked upon all your hands wrought and called it good.
You smile upon purple mountains soaring above wildflower plains where grasses raise their backs to meet your Spirit’s caress
You send clouds scuttling across reflective waters and set stars to wink upon the earth in deep, knowing delight.
You call the tune for dolphins dancing in the play of waves.
As giraffes amble across savannahs, birds sing in full-throated praise and children of various hues giggle as they run free in your image. Despite your created goodness, we use our freedom for ourselves alone without regard for your intentions for all.
Still, you chase after us to save us from sin’s harm, freeing us from slavery to give us a new world flowing with milk and honey. When we chase after other gods, you call us back to you through cries of prophets, which we ignore, until at last you send your own child to be for us the goodness we refuse.
Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with the choir of creation and all the saints of all times and places who forever sing to the glory of your name:
Communion Sanctus Asikhatali/We Are Free arr. Betty Pulkingham
Please Join in Singing
Communion Prayer
One: Blessed are you, O Christ, for coming to us as a little child to live baptized in the muck of our fallen world. Embodying God’s desire to bless all people you spoke peace to a war-mongering empire, and were blessed to be a blessing to all people.
When threatened with the terror of crucifixion, you did not keep silent but stood up with resurrection new life to turn the bread of human affliction into manna from heaven, and to turn the bitter dregs of sin into the cup of joyful celebration. So as we await your coming among us In the fullness of your sovereign glory, we proclaim the mystery of faith:
All: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
One: Praised be you, Holy Spirit, blowing through time to enliven your people, the church, to live as Christ’s body, in God’s ministry of repairing our broken world.
Come hover over us now with your bright brooding wings in the breaking of bread and in the celebration of this cup, that our eyes may be opened to recognize Christ among us and in all who share in this feast.
Knit us more closely together in the fellowship of your sovereign Way. We offer ourselves, our lives, our resources, to be your hands reaching into the world With your unfathomable compassion. Fill us like breath fills flutes to be instruments of your peace.
Where there is lack of regard for your creation prod us to speak up.
Where people fail to see the dignity of all persons, pen blind eyes.
Where there is silence about others being hurt, impassion us with a desire for justice.
Lord, your creation groans under abuse. Renew the earth with goodness. Your children are starving across this globe. To those who hunger give bread.
And to those who have bread give hunger for justice. People languish in prisons, some unjustly, some without repentance, and some for standing up for your Way.
Release the captives, Lord. O God, our Sovereign, leaders in all lands take bribes and afflict their peoples. Topple oppressive powers with your rule and send the rich empty away. Your church luxuriates in the comfort of faith; send us to be your servants in service to the world.
The sick suffer forgotten in pain; heal their hurts in body, mind, and spirit. People have solicited our prayers and others needing our prayers weigh heavy on our hearts. So we offer up to you those whom we have named together, and those whom we name now in our hearts …
[Silence is kept.]
Gather all these prayers and praise and join them with those of all the saints and with our Great High Priest who taught us to pray, calling out to our Mother, our Maker, and …
Our Lord’s Prayer
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.
The Words of Institution
Serving One Another
All who seek the love of God are welcome at this table and are invited to freely receive from it. By tradition, unfermented grape juice is used in the cup on Sunday mornings. We will share the elements today by intinction, dipping the bread in the cup. When invited please come to one of the stations by exiting your pew to the left and returning by the right. If it is not convenient to come forward, the elements can be brought to your seat by signaling the usher. If it is not your tradition to receive, you are invited to join in prayers for the unity of the Spirit within your tradition. You may remain in your seat, or you may come forward for a blessing, as you wish.
Blessing for Those Who Will Receive at Home
Members who have been designated to carry communion to those who could not be with us this morning are invited forward at this time. The bread and juice from our meal will go with our blessing and prayers for our continued unity in the Spirit. If you would like serve by taking communion to others, you are very welcome to do so and are invited to volunteer with the Nurture and Care Board members or by contacting either the pastor.
Prayer after Communion
One: Help us rise in your resurrection power from this table where you, the Ruler of the Universe, have served us by your own hand, that we may extend your arms of peace to a world at war. This we ask through Christ, in Christ, with Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. May all honor and glory and dominion be yours Now and forevermore. Amen.
Walking Forward in Faith
* Closing Hymn Song of Hope (sung twice – in English) Argentina
* Benediction and Sending Forth
Postlude
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 Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and our brothers and sisters at Wallace Chapel 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 the service of our country and all those who wait and worry for them. We pray especially for peace and justice in Syria as the world deliberates.
* Teri VanPelt & Christine Ward
* Ann Rhodes, at the death of her aunt Eleanor Pierce, in Tryon, North Carolina
* Gail Wolford, hospitalized with complications
* Judy Rowell, recovering from surgery at home
* Peggy Coyne’s daughter’s future mother-in-law, with serious lung problems
* Michelle Tooley, recovering from surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
* Sally Zimmerman, undergoing testing for breast cancer
* Peggy Baker, recovering at UK Hospital
* Dawn Manor, Dot Kindel’s daughter, recovering from surgery at M.D. Anderson Center in Dallas,TX
* Rose Brandenburg, Larry’s aunt, now at Berea Health Care Center
* Edith Hansen, at The Terrace
* Klara Welsh, at the Berea Health Care Center
* Shirley Dean, on hospice care for lung cancer
Announcements…
A very special welcome to our brothers and sisters from First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)! This is the fourteenth—and final—time Rev. Kent and Rev. Ed will offer a dialogue sermon. What a joy to share in worship together!
You Matter! Please Sign In, Check in on FB/Twitter and Try a Name Tag! It’s hard to get to know people elsewhere, but we don’t want it that way at church. Use the pew folder in your row, passing it back when all have signed, and whether you are a first time visitor or a long-time member, a name tag helps everyone connect the dots. Mobile phone users can also check in on Facebook and Twitter.
Pastoral Care and Shepherd Teams: With Rev. Kent away on sabbatical the Nurture and Care Board with the approval from Church Council have devised a plan to help us all keep up with and care for a growing congregation.
We are looking for a few good shepherds… and a lot of great sheep! Union Church has contracted with Leslie Small Stokes, a professional pastoral care trainer, to help us form a team of 10-12 church members who would volunteer to “shepherd” 10-12 union church families each, divided roughly by neighborhood, keeping in regular touch with individual prayer and care needs in each household. That way if a family has a need, a shepherd can also help coordinate the neighborhood group as a first line of love and care. Examples include visiting members in their homes, calling to check up on people, helping the neighborhood members to provide a few meals for someone who is sick or coming home from a surgery. In short, we hope to help everyone do a little in order to help a lot!
Rev. Rachel (and Rev. Kent when he returns) will continue to be available for pastoral care, especially for emergencies. Shepherds will be a vital link in communicating needs to the pastors, as well as being an additional prayer and support partner for any family in need.
So You Want to Help… In the coming days and weeks look for the application to be a Union Church Shepherd, because we’ll want to start our program as soon as possible. Look in this month’s newsletter for more details and a Shepherd Job Description. Shepherds will be chosen on the basis of temperament, their ability to attend to their families and training with regularity (particularly through the sabbatical time), and ability to work well as a member of a team. Contact the church office at office@union-church.org or 986-3725 to put your name on the contact list and we’ll be off to a great start.
We have GED Classes at Union Church! The Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests) are developed by the American Council on Education to enable persons who have not graduated from high school to demonstrate the attainment of developed abilities normally acquired through completion of a high school program of study. Eastern Kentucky University serves as a GED Testing Center. If you, or someone you know, might benefit from this service, please contact the Office of Adult Education at 859-622-2001for additional information.
Do you or someone you know need help in navigating the options under “kynect” — the new health care insurance options in Kentucky under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)? Anyone can call the White House Clinic in Berea (986-2323) for a personal appointment with a knowledgeable kynect staff person!
House concert at the Carlbergs’! This evening, Oct. 6 Concert with potluck. Music by guitarist Claude Bourbon. Claude is French-Swiss and plays a wide range of music from medieval tunes to blues and jazz. 5:30 potluck supper this time, or come for the concert at 7:00. phone 985-5501 www.claudebourbon.org
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