A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost 10:30 am
Meditation
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. ~ Proverbs 31:26
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
Welcome Dr. E.J. Stokes
¨ Call To Worship Rhonda Edwards, Reader
One: Stir up the wills of your people, O God.
All: Move us into new ways of living.
One: Stir up the minds of your people, O God.
All: Move us into deeper ways of thinking.
One: Stir up the hearts of your people, O God.
All: Move us into fuller ways of loving.
One: Stir up the conscience of your people, O God.
All: Move us into wisdom and compassion. Stir us thoroughly, O God. Let us worship you afresh. Amen.
~ based on Psalm 1
¨ Opening Hymn How Happy Are the Saints of God (opposite) Wareham
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
All: We need your healing, merciful God: give us true repentance. Some sins are plain to us; some escape us, some we cannot face. Forgive us; set us free to hear your Word to us; set us free to serve you. In Christ’s name: Amen.
¨ Words of Assurance
One: No matter where we are, God is there. No matter what we have done, God forgives. No matter our reluctance to accept God, God has accepted us. With that assurance, receive forgiveness, and live in fullness and in hope.
All: 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 this day! You are invited to turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace.
Word and Worship The Lord Is My Shepherd arr. Pfautsch Union Church Choir
The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. God makes me down to lie down in the green pastures, God leads me beside the still waters, God leads me in the paths of righteousness. I will fear no evil for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.
Choir Anthem The Lord Is My Shepherd arr. Pfautsch Union Church Choir
The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. God makes me down to lie down in the green pastures, God leads me beside the still waters, God leads me in the paths of righteousness. I will fear no evil for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.
Scripture Reading Proverbs 4:7-9
The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a fair garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.
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 James 3:13-4:10
Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth. This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers!
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks to no purpose? Does the spirit that God caused to dwell in us desire envy? 6 But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Sermon Wisdom Is the Principal Thing! Rev. Dr. LeSette Wright
Video Reflection
A chance to take in what we have heard.
Living Prayer
Ringing of the Peace Bell Rhonda Edwards
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.
Offertory
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.
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 simply 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.
¨ Give by Text. Text an amount to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering”).
¨ Give by Mail to: 200 Prospect St., Berea, KY 40403.
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
¨ 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.
Silent Prayer and Prayers of The Community Rhonda Edwards, Reader
O holy God, author of all wonder and wisdom, we pray today for open hearts. We pray for clear minds unclouded by the desire to see only what we want to see. In a time of challenge, help us keep wonder alive: the wonder of your care, the wonder of your creation, the wonder and saving curiosity about how we realize your kin-dom in our midst.
Keep us open to others that we might, like you, see no stranger. Heal us our infirmities, and keep those we love safe. Do not spare us from challenge, but strengthen each of us for the course. For in you is love. In you is wisdom. Made in your image may we treat each other with both wonder and compassion, in Jesus’ name. In that hope we pray as Jesus taught, reaching to you as….
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.
¨ Hymn #533 Children of God Welwyn
1 Children of God, lift hearts to one another! Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there; to worship rightly is to love each other, each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.
2 For God whom Jesus loved has truly spoken: the holier worship which God deigns to bless restores the lost, and binds the spirit broken, and feeds the widow and the parent-less.
3 Follow with reverent steps the great example of Christ whose holy work was doing good; so shall the wide earth seem our Father’s temple, each loving life a psalm of gratitude.
4 Then shall all shackles fall; the stormy clangor of wild war music o’er the earth shall cease; love shall tread out the baleful fire of anger, and in its ashes plant the tree of peace.
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
September 15– October 15 is Hispanic Heritage month and today we light this candle to honor the late legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz who is the first Afro-Latina woman to appear on U.S. currency.
The “Queen of Salsa” was one of five women selected to be the “face” of a quarter this year by the U.S. Mint, which runs a program dedicated to the celebration of the accomplishments and contributions made by women of the United States.
“Celia Cruz’s influence reached well beyond her music,” Ventris Gibson, Mint director, said in a news release. “She was proud of and celebrated her Cuban culture, which empowered Afro-Latino Americans in embracing their heritage, making her an important and enduring cultural icon.”
¨ 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 Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Peru; and our brothers and sisters at New Liberty Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
¨ Mary Ellen Sarafin, Betty’s sister, suffering from cirrhosis.
¨ Nick Lockwood, 21-year-old nephew of the Lockwood and Methler family.
¨ Muse Watson, recovering from spine and neck surgery.
¨ Truman Fields, recovering well from his surgery.
¨ Annriette Stolte, after a serious a-fib episode.
¨ Debbonnaire Kovacs’ grandson. Lucas. got his cast off and his arm is doing well. There was also no further attention needed to his realigned club foot at this point. Thanks for your prayers!
¨ Jennifer Elam reports that her long-time friend, Pat Rucker, has died. She was in hospice at Morning Pointe.
¨ Darlene Lowe, seriously ill with Covid complications and C.Diff, and for her wife, Lauri McVicker , as she cares for her.
¨ A Celebration of Barbara Prairie’s (May 4, 1939 – August 4, 2024 ) life will be held on Sept. 28, at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Unitarian Church, 320 Resor Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45220. Donations in Barbara’s memory are invited to the Berea Arts Council.
¨ 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, Susan Kramer, 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 encouragement 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.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: Today, Sept. 22 – Chloe Groth;24 – Claudia Munson-Schrumpf; 25 – Brice Catlett; 27 – Olin Shaw Perry; 28 – Pat Barrett; 29 – Abi Woodie; 30 – Michelle Hayden
Anniversaries: Sept. 29 – John & Claudia Munson-Schrumpf, Alan Connor & Maggie Park
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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