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

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

September 1, 2019             10:30 am

Meditation
Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.
— Verna Myers, Diversity and Inclusion Expert

From there to here: we Gather

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 #6 Chopin
The Call Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Love all creation—The whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, Every ray of God’s light, Love the animals Love the plants Love everything. If you love everything You will perceive The divine mystery in things; And once you have perceived it, You will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly More and more everyday And you will at last come to love the whole world With an abiding universal love.
¨  Hymn #332 Black As We Gather at Your Table Beach Spring
¨  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 and hospitality.

The Living Word among us

Musical Meditation
Hebrew Scripture Lesson  Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16  (p. 1476)
Paul urges new Christians to live in holy ways, showing hospitality to strangers, honoring marriage vows, and being in reverence to leaders.
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 the Children’s Moment, children are welcome to return to their seats. The Children’s Worship Center in the back of the sanctuary has toys, books, and drawing materials for children (or parents) who would like help staying present in the service. For children preschool age & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs in Room 104 off the playground.
Gospel Lesson Luke 14:1,7-14 (p. 1255)
Jesus, a guest at the table of a Pharisee, teaches about hospitality for the ”poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.”
Sermon Keeping Up Appearances Rev. Nate Craddock

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 God our Creator.
All:  It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Communion Prayer
One: We gather around this table to reclaim our memories and to risk ourselves in a journey of costly love.
One: We are invited to pause and then to seek for ourselves Jesus’ clarity of vision and passionate resolve, to feel for ourselves the Spirit’s ever-present offering of life, and find in ourselves a remembrance and a readiness to work toward a world restored.
One: Who is welcome here? All who seek and serve the love of God, all who hunger and thirst for righteousness, all who are weary and long for strength in a struggle for justice and  who yearn for peace within and without. Let us together prepare in prayer to gather at the table of blessing.
Ringing of the Peace Bell and Prayers of the Community
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.
Communion Prayer
One: It is truly right always and everywhere to praise you,
Lord God our Parent, Giver of light.
For you made humanity and all things in a world of glory,
and taught us to live together in love forever.
And though we turned from your light
and made war on one another,
wasting the gifts of your creation,
until we could find no way out of the darkness, but began to die,
and all things cried to you for release
— even then you did not destroy or forsake us.
You called Abraham and Sarah on a journey of promise,
and brought Israel out of captivity;
you made Moses your friend and taught him to grow in the truth.
And in due time the new star of glory appeared,
scattering the shadows of death
and leading us on the road to peace.
Our eyes at first were dim: we could not make him out.
We wondered as he taught us the way of your peaceable kin-dom;
we fled in fear when he died for us, showing the fullness of love.
But you raised him again,
and in his new dawn the truth shone plainly for all to see.
Now we have cast down our fears;
we have turned our faces full to the light.
And running together from all parts of the earth,
we join in love once more,
to follow his example and share his glorious life in the breaking of bread.
For this great work we sing your praises,
joining our voices to the voices of those
who gather throughout space and time
at this endless banquet as we sing:
Communion Sanctus #793 Holy, Holy, Holy Please join in singing, first in Spanish, then English
Communion Prayer
One: On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said—
All: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
One: After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said—
All: “Drink of this, all of you: This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
One: Mothering God, we pray that in your goodness and mercy your Holy Spirit may descend upon us, and upon these gifts, sanctifying them and showing them to be holy gifts for your holy people, the bread of life and the cup of salvation, the Body and Blood of your Son Jesus Christ.
Grant that all who share this bread and cup may become one body and one spirit, a living sacrifice in Christ, to the praise of your Name.
Remembering you as we come to the richness of your table, we cannot and we do not forget the rawness of the world and the cry of the poor.
We cannot take bread and forget those who are hungry. We cannot drink and forget those who are thirsty. Help us feed others as we are fed.
And here we remember that you have offered us not just bread, not just a cup, but your very self in a costly outpouring of love. You did this so that we may be filled and forgiven, healed, blessed, and made new again; that we might have both beauty and bread in our lives.
All: Ground us in your love that we may be strong and discerning for the journey. Bless us, as we open our hearts and hands to receive, and celebrate the goodness of the world. Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Amen.
One: And now, as Jesus taught us, we are bold to say:
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.
One: Holy food for a holy people: come share in the meal!
A Chance for Generosity: Offering Baskets in the Aisles
Offering baskets are placed in the aisle, and can also be brought to your seat. 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 those in need via many external agencies.
Many friends give online, and you can use your smart phone or computer and go to www.easytithe.com/union. You don’t have to register to make a contribution, but if you do, it can make future generosity that much easier. You can even give by text! Text to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering)
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
Serving One Another
All who seek the love of God are welcome at this meal and are invited to freely receive from it.  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 to the usher. All the bread is gluten-free, and the chalices are filled with non-alcoholic grape juice.
Please sing when invited: From All That Dwell below the Skies

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 elements from our meal will go with our blessing and prayers for our continued unity in the Spirit. If you would like to serve by taking communion to others, you are very welcome to do so and are invited to volunteer.
Prayer of Thanksgiving (unison)
Though Broken, we are made whole; lost, we are brought home; empty, we are filled with songs of gladness. We rejoice and give thanks to you, God of reconciling hope, who has graced us with mercy, love, and gifts for healing the world. Amen.

From Here to There

¨   Hymn #314 Black           Community of Christ           Leoni
¨  The Sending and Blessing
Postlude (please be seated) Allegro in E John Stanley
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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 Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo and our brothers and sisters at St. Clare Catholic Church in our hearts, and pray for them. Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week.
Prayer requests to be printed may be sent to the office anytime before 10:00 am Fridays.
¨ Families and Friends in Crises…may God be present to every need and heal every rift and wound.
¨ For Children in detention centers, that they may be reunited with their families soon. 15,000 are now detained in the US.
¨ In thanksgiving for those students, teachers, parents, lawmakers, and citizens who are witnessing and working to end gun violence in our society. May laws that help be passed; may hearts that are broken be healed; may all who are in danger be kept safe.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound: Alva Peloquin, Edith Hansen, Nancy Hindman, Jennie Kiteck, Mary Miller.
¨ For those who are without homes and safe places, that we may work together for solutions.
¨ Marie, 4-year-old great grand niece of Dorie Hubbard, being treated for cancer.
¨ Dean Jacobs, Mary Lou Wiese’s brother, recovering at home.
¨ Cheryl Moore, with family members struggling with health issues: Larry O’Hara in hospice care and  Rob Unterberger with lung cancer.
¨ Larry Brandenburg’s mom, recovering from a broken hip.
¨ Al White, recovering at home.
Steve Boyce, at UK Hospital in Lexington with a bout of pneumonia
Announcements
Next Week: new members welcomed. As a family of faith committed to boldly and creatively embodying the life and ministry of Jesus, we would like to join with YOU. We’d like to be a context and inspiration for your own spiritual path, and work with you to make your heart, your world, your life more peace-filled and joy-full. Next Sunday, and every second Sunday of the month, there will be an opportunity to covenant together. No prior action on your part is required, but if you have any questions at all, we’d like to help. Working together, we want to make God’s love visible and real to all.
Rekindle the Spirit next Sunday! Everyone come prepared to have your spirit rekindled and think about ways to spark your faith for the upcoming year! Children’s Church will start up again for Fall and, during the worship service, we will commission our volunteers who work with children and youth. Children – bring your backpacks for a Blessing of the Backpacks. Would you like to be an acolyte? Stay for a training after church.
Potluck September 4 – Plan to gather for the 1st Wednesday Potluck on Sept. 4 at 5:45 pm. The Mission & Service Board will provide the program: Berea College student Phurbu Tseten will speak about her experience over the summer at the Caux (Switzerland) Peace Workshop with other college students from around the world. Each year we contribute from the Michelle Tooley Memorial Funds to assist with the Caux Scholar’s miscellaneous expenses. Students – you are our guest, no need to bring anything but yourselves!
Let’s thank Shirley Carlberg for her years of service to WNL! Our first WNL potluck of the year is Sept. 4 and you can either bring a card telling her what her work has meant to you, or sign a card that we will have there!
Greg & Brianna Neal have reunited with their biological parents. Next week we’ll sign cards and get teddy bears & get them to the kids. Love and support to Michael and Sara Murphy, who have loved these children and shared them with the Union Church family!
Autumn Potluck in the Park: Thursday Sept. 12 at 5:45, Memorial Park (across from the Folk Center). Community Life and Growth  will provide fried chicken, drinks, and plates / utensils. Bring a side (and a serving utensil for your dish!). Does anyone have a cornhole set? If so, bring it! The kids can play on the playground, and we can enjoy the beginning of autumn together.
Inmates at the Madison County Detention Center are in need of books. They are only allowed paperbacks delivered directly from Amazon.  If anyone is interested in sponsoring a book or two, please send $10 or $20 to the church (offering plate, mail, or easyTithe. If writing a check, put MCDC in the memo line) and we’ll place the order from the office. Rev. Nate has a list of requested titles. Thanks so much.
Thrivent Members – We are making plans to raise awareness around our 2019 5-4-3-2-1 Vision and our relationship with Thrivent Financial. If you are willing to tell Dave Kobersmith you are a Thrivent Member he would like to talk to you about the possibility of using an Action Team that is available to you as a member. For reasons of confidentiality, Thrivent Financial representatives cannot tell church staff who are Thrivent members but you can – if you are willing – let me know. I can help you use your Action Team or Choice Dollars to help Union Church programs or other non-profit programs if you wish. Thanks, Dave Kobersmith, Church Admin-istrator, 859-986-3725 or davek@union-church.org.
Check out the lost & found shelves across from the office if you’ve left something at church. It’s headed for the Goodwill this week.
Drum Break Thursdays at noon, through Sept. 19, Room 101. No charge, donations appreciated. Relieve stress, build community, improve immune response, and HAVE FUN in this lunch-time group drumming activity! Official program lasts from 12-12:30, followed by free time to jam and visit. expression, and activities can be adapted for a range of ages and abilities. Drop-ins welcome, but please register ahead if possible, especially if accommodations are needed. Bring a brownbag lunch if you wish. Facilitator Rachel Dorroh is trained in the HealthRHYTHMS protocol and can be reached for registration and questions at racheldorroh@outlook.com or (859)985-8724.
Several in the church have asked if it is possible to write to Jack Marshall at the Madison County Detention Center. The best way is a new electronic email system available to prisoners. Cost of a message is $0.50 and requires that you register at https://www.smartjailmail.com. Select the Madison County Detention Center from the list, then search for “John Marshall” and a request to open messaging will be sent. You must buy a minimum $5 of message credits, but you can transfer a credit so he can write back without incurring additional fees.
Letters to Jack need to have his proper name: “John Marshall”  followed by his jacket number:  #206801. Send to 2901 Richmond Rd., Suite 140-322, Lexington, KY, 40509.