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

The Fifth Sunday of Lent

March 29, 2020       10:30 am

Meditation:
Away, my unbelieving fear; Fear shall in me no more have place; My Savior doth not yet appear; He hides the brightness of His face; But shall I therefore let Him go, And basely to the tempter yield? No, in the strength of Jesus, no! I never will give up my shield.
–Charles Wesley

From there to here: we Gather

Welcome & Announcements
Welcome to this service of worship!  As the Berea community responds to the governor’s suggestion to avoid gathering in large groups, we worship online to limit the risk of exposure to Covid-19. We’re delighted to welcome you into this virtual circle of God’s healing love and light.
Prelude Precious Lord, Take My Hand T. Dorsey
Union Church Orchestra
The Call Robert T. Weston
Cherish your doubts, for doubt is the handmaiden of truth. Doubt is the key to the door of knowledge; it is the servant of discovery. A belief which may not be questioned binds us to error,for there is incompleteness and imperfection in every belief. Doubt is the touchstone of truth; it is an acid which eats away the false. Let no man fear for the truth, that doubt may consume it; for doubt is a testing of belief. The truth stands boldly and unafraid; it is not shaken by the testing; For truth, if it be truth, arises from each testing stronger, more secure. He that would silence doubt is filled with fear; the house of his spirit is built on shifting sands. But he that fears no doubt, and knows its use, is founded on a rock. He shall walk in the light of growing knowledge; the work of his hands shall endure. Therefore let us not fear doubt, but let us rejoice in its help: It is to the wise as a staff to the blind; doubt is the handmaiden of truth.
Prayer of Confession
One: Before God, with the people of God, I confess to my brokenness: to the ways I wound my life, the lives of others, and the life of the world.
All: May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.
One: Amen.
All: Before God, with the people of God, we confess to our brokenness: to the ways we wound our lives, the lives of others, and the life of the world.
One: May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.
All: Amen. In your mercy, help us tend to this holy ground.

The Living Word among us

Special Music Arms of Love Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith,Gary Chapman
Sharona Nelson, singer
Lord, I’m really glad you’re here. I hope you feel the same when you see all my fear, and how I fail. I fall sometimes.
It’s hard to walk in sinking sand. I miss the rock, and find I’ve nowhere else to stand. I start to cry. Lord, please help me. Raise my hands, so you can lift me up. Hold me close, hold me tighter.
I have found a place where I can hide; it’s safe inside your arms of love. Like a child who’s held throughout a storm; I’m safe and warm in your arms of love.
Storms may come and storms may go. I wonder just how many storms it takes until I finally know you’re here always. Even when my skies are far from grey. Let me stay, Lord, teach me to stay in the place I’ve found where I can hide; it’s safe inside your arms of love.
Hebrew Scripture Lesson Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God:
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.
Children’s Moment   
Sung Psalm 130
The psalms were originally musical compositions. During Lent we will pray the psalms in musical form. You are invited to sing the response when invited, indicated by the R.
My soul waits for God.
 
R Out of the depths I cry to you, O God.
O God, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O God, should mark iniquities,
who could stand? R
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for God, my soul waits, and in God’s word I hope; my soul waits for God more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in God! For with God there is steadfast love. With God is great power to redeem. It is God who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. R
Gospel Reading John 11:1-45
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Sermon Turning Out the Turned Over Rev. Kent Gilbert

Living Prayer

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.
A Chance for Generosity: www.easytithe.com/union
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 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!
Center yourself, either now or sometime today, and breathe deeply and peacefully.

• Do you feel dry all the way down to your bones these days, lacking in spirit or hope? Think about how the Lord might refresh you and “cause your bones to live again.” What are you being asked to do in your more narrow life these days? What is your call and your prophesy that will sustain life in you and others, and chase away all fears? You are far from alone in your fears. What new breath of life needs to blow into your days and bring you back from the grave of your fears? Could it be something that has crossed your mind but is not yet fully in view? As you breathe and pray, let that breath gain power, grow in presence in you. Let the bones take flesh and spirit as you breathe.
• Limited in our ability to travel and connect,  perhaps you feel like Lazarus in the tomb. As you breathe now however, attend to the voices and music that call across difficulty to life. Try to center on the call to that which gives life, even in the midst of death. Center, deeply, soulfully, on this work, this holy task of tending your life and the lives of others.

Pastoral Prayer and Our Lord’s Prayer
You are very welcome to email (office@union-church.org) or phone (859-986-3725) prayer requests to the office for the bulletin. Please do so by 10 am Thursdays, and be sure you have permission to share the information.
¨ 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 The Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and our brothers and sisters at First Faith Independent Church, in our hearts, and pray for them. Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week.
¨ Families and Friends in Crises…may God be present to every need and heal every rift and wound.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound: Alva Peloquin, Edith Hansen, Joyce Henderson, Nancy Hindman, Loyal Jones, Jennie Kiteck, Mary Miller, Lois Morgan, Barb Smith, Tom Warth.
¨ Children in detention centers, that they may be reunited with their families soon.
¨ George Mountjoy.
¨ Cheryl Moore, whose brother has died.
¨ Kim Kobersmith’s parents — who are home safely from Africa!
¨ Those affected by the Covid-19 virus, their families and friends living with fear, anxiety, and feelings of isolation, may God bring peace to all who love them; and our wider community as we cope with the new realities of living.
One:      Wind of the Holy, Breath of unbounded life, knit together the bones of our resolve and prophesy to us when we are faint of heart or of faith. Unbind us from our fears, unwrap us from the tombs of ignorance and inaction. Even in the grave of our doubts, remind us of the life we have as gift from you, and the power of using it for others.
For all those who suffer, Lord of healing, we ask your presence and your power to restore. For those who are keeping us well and safe, we beg for them your strength and the endurance to bring life from the valley of the shadow of death. Comfort those who mourn, we pray, and tend our hearts, overturning the temptations of despair to bring us all into glorious light.
This we ask in the name of your Christ, who taught us to reach to you as 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

The Blessing and Sending
Benediction Response Now Is the Cool of the Day Jean Ritchie
Please join in singing the chorus:
Now is the cool of the day. Now is the cool of the day. O the earth is a garden, the garden of my Lord. And he walks….in his garden, in the cool….of the day.
In Worship Today…
Each week many elements come together to make our worship together rich and deep.
This week we are grateful for Betty Hibler, our worship leader, Sharona Nelson, for singing the anthem and Marty Hensley, Sayer Kobersmith and Olin Perry, in the sound booth.
The bulletin covers for Lent will focus on the theme of “holy ground” in all the many ways we experience the sacred.

Announcements

For the latest information regarding COVID-19 visit Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ website:   https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/pages/covid19.aspx (updated daily)  COVID-19 Hotline (800) 722-5725
Need some assistance with technology? This might be a good time to explore options of grocery pick-up services, online ordering, e-books, face-to-face video communications, and connecting to Union services remotely. If you are interested in volunteering to help with technology please email Laura Nagle at joyfulsunflower@gmail.com or text at 859-358-0106.
If you need help getting technology set up please contact Sharona Nelson at sharonan@gmail.com or (856) 499-4116 (The 856 area code is correct! Her phone will go right to voicemail, she’ll return your message).
Join Rev. Kent and Rev. Diana on Facebook for a story and song every night. In these hard times, and maybe stuck at home, here’s a chance to gather around a story. They are good for any of us, young or old. So grab your blanket, favorite stuffed animal, and snuggle in!
Use this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UCstorytime/?source_id=105561509581536
Digital Deacons and Tech Operators needed:   Can you help on Sunday mornings? We need folks to help with our online ministry — audio, video, and to serve as “social media host” – to respond online during the service to people who check in. Also needed – a person with video editing skills. Let Rev. Kent know! kgilbert@union-church.org. Also, with fewer announcements the service begins promptly at 10:30. Tune in early so you don’t miss anything!!!
Palm Sunday: Starting on Friday we’ll have palms available for pickup, along with a Healthy Holy Week at Home guide for you and your family to download from the web.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @Union Church Berea, and on twitter: @UnionChurchKY  This is a great way to get the latest news and inspiration as we care for one another.
Blood Drive, April 7, 11-4, Community Room.
Let’s stay in touch! Do you need a Church Directory? I can email you a pdf or snail-mail you a paper copy. Call or email the office — Joan