A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
Proper 21 of the Season after Pentecost 10:30 am
Meditation
“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.” ~ C.S. Lewis
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 Donna Daniels, Reader
One: You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord.
All: My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.
One: Those who love me, I will deliver;
All: I will protect those who know my name.
One: When they call to me, I will answer them;
All: I will be with them in trouble.
One: I will rescue them and honor them.
All: With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation. ~ ad. Psalm 91
¨ Hymn #473 Blessed Assurance Assurance
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of the Spirit, washed in Christ’s blood.
Refrain: This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight!
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. Refrain.
3.Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blessed;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with God’s goodness, lost in Christ’s love. Refrain.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: Friends, we do gather in the blessed assurance of God’s love, and Christ’s friendship with us. No matter where we have come from, and no matter where we find ourselves on life’s journey, Jesus offers strength for the road and forgiveness for the missteps. Let us rest in that assurance as we unburden ourselves of any thing the keeps us from God or from one another. Let us pray:
All: Almighty God, we confess that we have not always taken the right path. We have stepped over some in need; we have stepped on tender feelings; we have reached our own goals but only by hindering others in theirs.
Forgive us when we have been less thoughtful than we could be; less caring that we know how to be; less loving that we should be. Befriend our wayward parts and teach us the better way. We pray in Jesus name: Amen.
¨ Words of Assurance
One: We can never outrun the wrongs we have done to God and to one another, but we can also never outpace the speed and willingness of God’s mercy and transforming Grace. We know through the life of Christ that any who truly seek transformation and forgiveness will have the might of the Holy Spirit for the task. In Christ’s name and by the way of his life and living, we are forgiven and set on a new road. Let the people say:
All: 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
Anthem Temporary Home Simmons; arr. Rouse Union Church Choir
Sometimes I feel like I’m just walkin’ around with my head up in the clouds. I’m steady movin’, but I’m not gainin’ ground, headin’ the wrong way in the crowd. Then I remember I’m not part of this world; I’m movin’ higher each day. Upward mobility sounds mighty good to me. I just can’t wait to get away. I’ve got to remember I’m not here to stay. I’m looking forward to a brighter day. I’ve got to remember I’m not here for long. I’m livin’ in my temporary home.
If you are bothered by the problems of life, don’t you let them get you down. Just look to Jesus; you will not be denied. He’ll move you up to higher ground. Don’t you forget that you’re a child of the King, that you’re an heir to His throne. You may not know just when, but He’s comin’ back again to take us to our happy home. In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
Scripture Reading Psalm 146
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!
~ 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 John 15:12-17; 21:15-17
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.:
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Friendship with God Rev. Dr. Jeff Pool
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 Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Peru; and our siblings at West Side 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
Feeding the Soul
We don’t live on bread alone… indeed true “life” and “living” is fed from many different pastures: some spiritual, some earthly, some emotional and intellectual. Jesus calls on Peter to “Feed my sheep.”
· Taking slow, intentional breaths, look at the plate of your soul.
· How’s your diet? Is some part of you needing fed?
If you are well-satisfied and balanced, give thanks with at least three deep breaths breathing out your gratitude in whatever words might come to you. If you are lacking, hungering, or maybe even suffering for something, be bold to name what you need and bold to ask for help finding it. With three intakes of breath feel the want, feel the grief, and take in the assurance. You are in God’s care.
Friendship the Verb…
“Friendship is as friendship does” goes the old axiom. It means that friendship is known in the doing, not the naming. Take time to be deeply grateful for the true friends in your life.
· What of their actions is noble?
· What have they done that has strengthened you?
· Turn, then, to God’s friendship. Is it different? How have you know the presence of divine friendship, if you have?
Breathing carefully and fully, imagine the fabric of your actions merging with the blessings you have just identified. As you breathe, unite your own actions with the noble actions of friendships both God and others have lavished on you. Be a friend this week, and let that be your “amen.”
Offertory
A Chance for Generosity: 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.
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¨ Give by Mail to: 200 Prospect St., Berea, KY 40403.
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 Donna Daniels, Reader
Maker of love, and lover of all that is being made, we come to you for your friendship and for your care. Thank you for the ways you have connected the separated, fed the hungry, and sustained us with words of both wisdom and warning. We pray to deepen. We pray to heal. We pray this day to find all that is needed to mend that which has been broken.
By the power of your love and friendship, we are united in a circles of grace that carry us when it seems we cannot carry on. So be strength to the weary, dear Lord, and hope to those suffering. And let those who hear your voice feed your lambs, even as we are fed as sheep of your own pasture. Holy one, we ask these things in Jesus name who taught us to reach to you as…
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 #506 What a Friend We Have in Jesus Erie
1. What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
2. Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to our God in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer!
3. Are we weak and heavy laden,
burdened with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge–
take it to our God in prayer!
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to our God in prayer!
Jesus’ arms will take and shield you;
you will find a solace there.
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
World Food Programme and starvation in Gaza More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths. The United Nations World Food Programme and other international agencies have collectively highlighted the extreme urgency for an immediate and full-scale humanitarian response in Gaza. Almost two years of conflict, displacement and severe restrictions on humanitarian access have pushed people into starvation. Regardless of your political stance on the war in Gaza, the systematic destruction of the land and its people is unconscionable, as is the labelling as antisemitism any opposition to Israel’s policies and actions.
¨ Benediction
¨ Benediction Response God Has Work for Us To Do Miller, Daw
Reprinted with permission using OneLicense #A-723786
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.
¨ Charlie Hoffman, recovering from hernia surgery.
¨ Chip Bailey, at the death of his first cousin, Rev. Brion K. Williams, pastor at Oakey Mountain Baptist Church in Clarksville, GA.
¨ Friends, family and church family members of Rev. Gerald “Jerry” Cooper, who died last Tuesday, at 91.
¨ Jan Hamilton’s family, her many many friends and former students, at her passing on Sept. 24. Service today at Lakes Funeral Home at 3 pm. Jan grew in Union Church and was an honorary Lifetime Deacon and a member for 90 years!!
¨ 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.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: 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. 28 – Pat Barrett; 29 – Abi Woodie; 30 – Michelle Meadow, Aurora Snow-Hurst; Oct. 1 – Teresa Dickson; 2 – Jeff Melton; 3 – Dorie Hubbard, Ellen Mink, Dana Carlberg;
Anniversaries: Sept. 39 – John & Claudia Munson-Schrumpf, Alan Connor & Maggie Park; Oct. 2 – Josh & Jessie English, 3 – JR & Kelly Anderson; Brice & Meaghan Spencer-Catlett
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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