A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Proper 19 of the Season after Pentecost 10:30 am
Meditation
“It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work; and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.“
~ Wendell Berry
From There to Here: We Gather
Welcome
Welcome to this service of worship! 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! During the service, you are invited to rise in body or in spirit, standing or sitting, at points in the service marked “<>.”
¨ The Call Dr. Pamela Chabora, Reader
One: The foolish say, ‘there is no God.’
All: We come, trusting in Jesus, the face, the voice, the presence of the God who loves us.
One: The scoffers of our age ask, ‘why do you seek after God?’
All: We come, in this time, because God’s grace has spilled over in our lives.
One: The hopeless around us think, ‘no one cares about me.’
All: We come, in this time, to this place, because Jesus has found us and brought us home. ~ from Thom M. Shuman
¨ Hymn #1 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise St. Denio
1 Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, your great name we praise.
2 Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
not wanting, not wasting, but ruling in might;
Your justice like mountains high soaring above
Your clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.
3 Your life is life-giving, to both great and small;
in all life you’re living, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves and as flowers,
and wither and perish but naught dims your powers.
4 So perfect your glory, so brilliant your light,
your angels adore you, all veiling their sight;
all praise we now render, as your angels do:
in awe at the splendor of light hiding you.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession (unison)
Although we believe we are experts at faithfulness, Holy God, we must confess we are unskilled workers at doing good for others. Too often, we turn a deaf ear to the cries of people we have judged to be fools. We easily scoff at those we believe have nothing to teach us or share with us.
How foolish, Searching God, how foolish we are! Forgive us, and restore us to your goodness. Then, send us forth to search for all who sit in the shadowed corners of our world, yearning for someone to come and find them, even as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, came to find us. Amen.
¨ Words of Assurance
One: Our actions sometimes suggest we don’t know God, but God’s actions show our hearts are known and held by the Lord. God’s hope is change and healing. God’s delight is in every act of restoration, reconciliation, renewal. Those actions always reveal our connection to God and to Grace. So receive forgiveness and let us open ourselves to transformation.
All: God is seeking our best like a lost treasure. Thanks be to God for a love like that! Amen!
¨ 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 Give Yourself to Love Kate Wolf Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble
All are invited to join in singing the Chorus:
Give yourself to love if love is what you’re after
Open up your heart to the tears and the laughter
Give yourself to love, give yourself to love
Scripture Reading Psalm 14
Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. They have all gone astray; they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?
There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous. You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge. O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
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 Luke 15:1-10
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Foundations Rev. Betsy Whaley
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard and reflect together.
Living Prayer
Call to Prayer
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 Ghana and Nigeria; and our siblings at Liberty Avenue Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
Ringing 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 tables. You may also choose to source the essential ingredient of solitude and private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts in your pew.
For Reflection
Too Much Foolishness…
Sometimes the world feels so full of stupidity and cruelty. Whether deliberate and hateful, or the result of apathetic, insipid, lack of attention, feelings like the ones expressed in Psalm 14 can overwhelm our joy and sap our strength. If you are feeling lost in the cruelty of the world, try in your prayers to find an anchoring grace. This might be a person who is NOT foolish doing something that can help. Maybe it’s an act you yourself know to be helpful. Imagine this grace as a coin buried in sand. Then imagine your hand and Gods brushing the foolishness and cruelty aside to reveal the treasure. Like all “Swifties” know: Shake it off! Try to remember the feeling in your bones and motion. Let these motions sustain you through the week.
Being Looked After…
The overriding message of Jesus is “You matter. You matter to God.” Lost, or feeling powerless, buried in household chores or impossible debt, you still matter and God has not and will not stop looking for you and after you. See if you can slow your anxieties and nervous mind-chatter and take that in: God is looking for YOU; hunting for solutions for YOU; amplifying any good YOU are doing; and hoping to build a better kin-dom with YOU in it and part of making it. Breathe that deep into your body. Stay with that feeling of care as long as you can. Rest your worried and weary soul in the sure and certain knowledge: God is looking for you like looking for a lost diamond. You MATTER to God.
Offertory I Just Want to Thank You, Lord Judy Marshall Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble
All are invited to join in singing the Chorus:
I just want to thank you, Lord, for every time you heard me pray
I just want to thank you for always being there
When I was so down and out, you came along and made me want to shout
I just want to thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord
A Chance for Generosity: easytithe.com/union
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Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
¨ Doxology Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying Ken Medema
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
Silent Prayers and Prayers of the Community Pam Chabora, Reader
God we’re tired, and oh, how we’re lost most days: Surrounded in the corners of your kingdom, but far from the light and living in the dust. And if it’s not us, it’s those we love, those we know and care for. Lost, we are losing. Losing ourselves, and our best vision and intent; losing our will to change or be changed. But you hunt the lost, you find the broken, you mend the wounds, you lift the soul and bring out joy from dusty domains!
YOU know the consequences and YOU know we have helped and hidden and hindered, but YOU will not give up. Hound and Heal us, O amazing grace! Renew us heart, body and soul, that with you we may string a necklace of joy from the found coins of lost justice. You are the seeker. Find us! We pray in the name and manner of Jesus, calling on you…
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Maker, Our Mother, and Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; Thy kin-dom 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 kin-dom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
¨ Hymn #547 Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound Amazing Grace
1. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.
2. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
3. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
4. My God has promised good to me, whose word my hope secures; God will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.
5. When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.
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
On this “Just Peace” Sunday, we are honoring Father Ray Bourgeois. He is a Catholic
priest and activist known for his unwavering commitment to human rights, justice, and
peace. As a founder and member of the School of the Americas Watch, he advocated
against U.S. military training that supported human rights abuses in Latin America.
Bourgeois took direct action by protesting at the School of the Americas in Fort
Benning, Georgia, and was arrested multiple times for his activism.
His work emphasizes the intersection of faith and social justice, challenging both the Church and the government to take responsibility for the harm caused by militarization and oppression. His life is a testament to the power of nonviolent resistance.
¨Benediction
¨ Benediction Response God Has Work for Us To Do Miller, Daw
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
Postlude On the Jericho Road Donald S. McCrossan Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble
Cover Art: Hochhalter, Cara B.. Two Parables – The Lost Sheep, and The Lost Coin, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved September 10, 2025]. Original source: Cara B. Hochhalter.
Our Prayers for Others
¨ Dave Reilly’s nephew, Herb Post, ill with kidney cancer that has spread to his lung.
¨ Joe Tarter is doing well after his heart surgery and recovering at home.
¨ Kelly Mehler and all supporting him.
¨ Bonnie Donelly, grandma of Tennant Kirk’s daughter-in-law Carlie, on hospice care with pancreatic cancer.
¨ Larry and Iris Brandenburg, and family, at the loss of Iris’ brother, Gary, after a sudden illness.
¨ Charlie Hoffman, due to have hernia surgery on Wednesday.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ 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, and starvation of those in Gaza.
¨ We pray for our country, and those who are directly affected by the actions and inaction of our government to address the needs of its people and the world.
¨ For the family of Charlie Kirk and all victims of political violence. May God show us a better way.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Jerry Cooper, Jan Hamilton, Betsy Hoefer, Dorie Hubbard, Susan Kramer, Lois Morgan, Sara Parker, Cheryl Payne, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Theresa Scherf.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Sept. 14 – Debbonnaire Kovacs ; 17 – Joyce Fields, Sunni Walters; 18 – Barb Anspach, Sarah Kramer; 19 – Reid Connelly; 20 – Sally Gastineau; 21 – Renee Wellinghurst
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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