A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost 10:30 am
Meditation
Tiny truths fell by day and night, gentle as rain and snow, and the people found them and kept them in their hearts. And slowly, as the people met other people different from themselves, they began to see … themselves.
~ from “Old Turtle and the Broken Truth” by Douglas Wood
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome
¨ Call To Worship Seth Hutchins, Reader
One: The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.
All: My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away, for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
One: The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. ~ Song of Solomon 2:8-13
¨ Opening Hymn #89 Awake, Awake, to Love and Work Morning Song
1 Awake, awake to love and work!
The lark is in the sky;
The fields are wet with diamond dew;
The worlds awake to cry
Their praises to the Fount of Life,
Christ Jesus passes by.
2 Come, let thy voice be one with theirs,
Shout with their shout of praise;
See how the giant sun soars up,
God’s gift for all your days!
So let the love of Jesus come
And set your soul ablaze.
3 To give and give, and give again,
as God’s own grace is free;
To spend yourself nor count the cost;
To serve most gloriously
The God who gave all worlds that are,
And all that are to be.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
¨ 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 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms arr. Nolan Williams Union Church Choir
1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms; what a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain: leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning on Jesus Christ, my Savior, safe and secure from all alarms.
2. O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms; O how bright the path grows from day to day, leaning on the everlasting arms. Refrain
3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms? I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms. Refrain
Scripture Reading James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.
For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act–they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
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 7:1-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders, and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash, and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God), then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus nullifying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “So, are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Sermon Doing and Not Doing Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
Responding to God’s Love in Communion
¨ Invitation to Communion
One: God you are with us.
All: You are always with us.
One: May we open our hearts
All: May we know your presence.
One: In thanksgiving
All: And in deepest honor.
One: We gather around this table because remembering Christ at his moment of both celebration and betrayal is important to how we understand what makes this meal communal and relevant. Sitting with saint and sinner alike, Jesus holds out life in the midst of death. With regard for all, Jesus proclaims a different way to see and participate in the wider, beloved community of God.
One: All who are here today and the many at home joining remotely are included in the welcome to help be “doers of community” not just “hearers.” You don’t have to be a member of this church or any church to take in the hope that a deeper love might prevail. You are welcome at this table, not by tolerance but by design. You are wanted for we are all guests at a table set by Jesus in an example of love for the greater grace.
One: As prepare with prayer, we remember those who make our circles of care: world, region, city, friend circles, family, households, pew: We remember places where hardship instead of bread is on the table and where blood flows more readily than joy. We remember those who are mourning losses hard to name, and those seeking healing from all that ails. We pray that strengthened ourselves, we might become strength to others. So come, one and all as we fall silent in the presence of God, knowing that we are always in that presence, but letting ourselves become more aware of it here, now, with one another.
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.
Communion Prayer
One: Blessed are you, gracious God; we give you thanks and praise. You made us in your image and you love us.
All: You are making us and loving us still.
One: You sent priests and prophets, disciples and apostles, men and women, youth and children to teach us and guide us in times past…
All: And are sending them still.
One: You call us to reconciliation through Jesus Christ. With his grace we are able to listen deeply to one another, to find mutual understanding, to reach agreements, and to live in truth and peace.
All: Help us to hear deeply and act faithfully.
One: The life of Jesus challenged us to come closer to you and to one another. He challenged even death and by his resurrection, Christ birthed new insight, new truth, new life.
All: His challenge and new life are with us now.
One: And so, we join together and with all who have gone before us proclaiming the glory of your name, lifting our voice in song:
Communion Sanctus please join in singing
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
Words of Institution
One: We remember that in a time of great trouble and trial, Jesus gathering with friends at dinner. He took a loaf of bread, and giving thanks, he blessed and broke it and gave it to them saying:
All: “This is my body, broken for you. Take and eat.”
One: In the same way he took a cup, and again blessing it, he offered it to them saying,
All: “This cup is my blood, shed for you. When you drink it, do it for the remembrance of me.”
One: Lord seeking life, master of more than words alone, bless this table where we remember life in the midst of death, hope in the heart of Christ’s message, and the yearning you carry for a beloved kin-dom of all your creation. Fill us with more than a taste of such love, and once filled may we ever hunger for such love to embrace all the hurting world.
All: Amen and Amen!
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. If it is not your tradition to receive, you are invited to join in prayers for the unity of the Spirit and all people, within your tradition.
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.
g and Not Doing
(With inspiration from the poet Mark Nepo for this prayer meditation)
Center yourself, and with your inbreath, let your mind rest on what you have what words you have heard and done. With that intake, say, “I am doing.” Breathe deeply, and with your outbreath, let your heart meditate on what has not yet become true or realized for you. Say, “I am not doing.” Inhale slowly, and even if you’re not sure how, enter your day with a commitment to stop running from the truth of your life; to hear and to do.
What We Take In
As you come forward to receive the communion elements today make a walking meditation. As you place your steps approaching take in the company around you, even those persons you don’t know. Take in and attend to yourself, your community of care, your work, what you have been doing (and not doing).
When you receive and taste these simple elements, envision them reinforcing, filling, and sustaining your steps. As you place each foot returning to your seat (and anywhere else you walk this week), practice taking in both Jesus’ life and love for you and strengthening steps for where you need to go.
Offertory Traumerei Schumann Charles Hoffman, cello
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¨ 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.
Prayer of Thanksgiving Seth Hutchins, Reader
One: Please pray with me…
All: God of this table and every table, thank you for this simple meal through which we hear your life, love, and commitment once again. Help us embody now the best of Christ’s work in our own. May this table remind us to draw close to you and to others at every table. Don’t let us forget. Don’t let us walk away from our selves or from our neighbors, but keep us kind, compassionate, risky, and challenged in every holy way.
Remembering the bold life and resurrection of our brother Jesus, we pray as he taught…
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.
From Here to There
¨ Hymn #332 As We Gather at Your Table Beach Spring
1 As we gather at your Table, as we listen to your Word, help us know, O God, your presence; let our hearts and minds be stirred. Nourish us with sacred story till we claim it as our own; teach us through this holy banquet how to make Love’s victory known.
2 Turn our worship into witness in the sacrament of life; send us forth to love and serve you, bringing peace where there is strife. Give us, Christ, your great compassion to forgive as you forgave; may we still behold your image in the world you died to save.
3 Gracious Spirit, help us summon other guests to share that feast where triumphant Love will welcome those who had been last and least. There no more will envy blind us nor will pride our peace destroy, as we join with saints and angels to repeat the sounding joy.
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
Murphy Davis was a devoted American activist, minister, and co-founder of the Open Door Community, known for her tireless work in social justice, particularly in advocating for the homeless and opposing the death penalty.
Born in 1947 in rural Georgia, she was shaped by her Southern Baptist upbringing, but grew increasingly committed to addressing the systemic injustices she witnessed. After studying sociology at Mercer University, where she became involved in the civil rights movement, Davis pursued theological studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. In 1981, she and her husband, Ed Loring, founded the Open Door Community in Atlanta. It was a vibrant, intentional Christian community dedicated to living alongside and serving the homeless, the poor, and those on the margins of society, and advocating for systemic change.
A central focus of Davis’s activism was her opposition to the death penalty. She provided pastoral care to death row inmates and was a vocal advocate for its abolition, driven by her deep belief in the sanctity of all human life and the possibility of redemption.
¨ Benediction The God of Second Chances David Haas
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!
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
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 Benin, Ivory coast and Togo; and our brothers and sisters at West Side 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.
¨ 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.
¨ 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.
¨ Joy Frazier is recovering from a stroke. Cards and notes can be sent to 3660 Central Ave. #250, Columbus, IN, 47203.
¨ Mary Ellen Sarafin, Betty’s sister, suffering from cirrhosis.
Nick Lockwood, 21-year-old nephew of the Lockwood and Methler family, has been in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital since July 4 due to complications from SMA (spinal muscular atrophy.) Please pray for¨ Teresa Dickson’s dad will turn 100 on Sept. 12! He’d love to get cards and notes. Send to:
Ralph Amann
6635 Azalea Drive
Ft. Wayne, IN 46825
¨ John McWilliams, ill at home with a serious leg infection.
¨ Lucas, grandson of Debbonnaire Kovacs, recovering from a broken arm.
¨ Muse Watson, recovering from spine and neck surgery in Lexington.
¨ The family, neighbors and friends of John Payne, whose life we will celebrate this afternoon.
¨ Pat Rucker, a long-time friend of Jennifer Elam, in hospice at Morning Pointe.
¨ Susan Kramer,who suffered a seizure last weekend and her husband, Stanley, caring for her.
¨ Darlene Lowe, seriously ill with Covid complications and C.Diff, and for her wife, Lauri McVicker , as she cares for her.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Sept. 1 – Sara Parker; 2 – Dodie Murphy, Hamrick Walters; 5 – Brian Madden; 6 – Chris Green; 7 – Noah Broomfield; 9 – Hailey Biggs
Anniversaries: Sept. 1 – Gene & Dorothy Chao; 3 – Greg & Adria Sutherland
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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