Weekly Bulletin & Announcements

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

July 12, 2026 10:30 am 

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Meditation

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

From There to Here: We Gather

Prelude  How Can I Keep from Singing trad.

Take a Moment and Live      Leroy Abernathy

Al, Alice & Ruth

¨  Call to Worship        Deb Beishline, Reader

One: Praise is due to the Holy One, whose ways are the joy of our hearts.

All: The Faithful One holds our lives and our hands. Happy are we who praise the One on high!

One: Worship is due to the Lord, whose revelation illuminates our path.

All: The Just God is righteous. Happy are we who follow their ways

One: Love is due to the One, whose compassion, peace, and strength satisfies the prayers spoken and unspoken.

All: The Sovereign God answers prayer. Happy are we who love the Holy One!

¨ Hymn #292              Breathe on Me, Breath of God                Trentham

Verse 1
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love the way you love,
and do what you would do.

Verse 2
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with you I will one will,
to do and to endure.

Verse 3
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
stir in me one desire;
that every earthy part of me
may glow with holy fire.

Verse 4
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with you the perfect life
of your eternity.

¨ Invocation                    

One:      God who gathers us together, we delight to be in community with you and one another. Let your word be proclaimed in truth. Let us burst into songs that reflect the depths of our spirits. May our prayers be formed in your name and granted by your wisdom.

May we know you, Divine Mystery, and ourselves better and deeper because we have entered your presence as a community of faithful, questioning, and hope-seeking participants in your kindom. Amen.

¨ Passing the Peace

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.

¨ Prayer of Approach & Confession Box Breath Prayer (3x)

As we pray, we slow our breathing and our lives in order to attend to God. The leader will guide this meditation three times, and you are invited to pattern your breath with each phrase as indicated below.

Inhale: Breathe in the grace of God. 

Hold: Hold God’s abundant mercies. 

Exhale: Breathe out the truth of God.

Hold: Be still and know God. 

¨ Words of Assurance

One: The world may feel suffocating, but the breath of the Almighty gives life. As long as we are breathing, we are not defeated.

All: Our soul breathes and our hearts sing for we have seen the Lord at work! Amen!

Word and Worship

Special Music Ring Them Bells Bob Dylan Al, Alice & Ruth

Scripture Reading Isaiah 55:10-13

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle, and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Psalm 119:105-112

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances.

I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

~ 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 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!”

“Hear, then, the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

                ~ New Revised Standard Version, updated

Sermon                                 We Shall Come Rejoicing           Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins

Video Reflection

Living Prayer

Call to Prayer 

One:      Generous God, just as you provided for all our needs in your creative acts, you have made us caretakers of your good creation. Let us accept the call to faithful discipleship, the opportunity to trust in your provision, and the generous nature you have embedded in us.

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. Next week, let us hold the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia; and our siblings at Hays Fork 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 table. You may also choose to source the essential ingredient of solitude and private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts in your pew.

For Reflection

Christ Breathes Peace-Do We?

So-called “Box Breathing” is an ancient prayer practice now credited with deep neurological benefits. Slowing your breathing settles nerve responses and increases oxygen uptake. More oxygen feeds and frees the brain. It lowers blood pressure. It resets the vagus nerve stem. With our thoughts clear, our heart settles, and the space opens to receive what God is offering in each moment. Here is prayer meditation to center and ground you for this week:

Breath Prayer for The Week:

Inhale: Breathe in the grace of God. 

Hold: Hold God’s abundant mercies. 

Exhale: Breathe out the truth of God.

Hold: Be still and know God. 

Repeat the pattern until you are deeply at peace. Ten times is a good start, but do more if you need or have time. Do this anytime you find your anxieties on the rise, or you need the spiritual support of Christ’s love.

Christ Lifts Our Hearts…

Easter is the sure sign that joy is part of God’s plan. Far from condemnation and guilt, Christ seeks to lift the hearts of everyone he touches. What would lift your heart? What makes it sing? Stopped because what you want or need feels preposterous? Well, is it more preposterous than a risen Christ appearing in a locked room… TWICE? Even if only in this prayer relax your judgement and offer up what would free your heartsong. Hold the vision and allow Christ to breathe peace over it. Pray for what you need to lift your heart.

Offertory  Roll On Clouds Jean Ritchie Al, Alice & Ruth

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.

¨ Use your smart phone or computer and go to easytithe.com/union. No registration required, but registering once makes future generosity simply entering 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

To God all glorious heavenly Light,

To Christ revealed in earthly night,

To God the Spirit now we raise

Our joyful songs of thankful praise. Amen.

Silent Prayer and Prayers of the Community  Deb Beishline, Reader

One: Holy One, we incline our hearts toward you, but the concerns of the world and challenges of daily living pull us away. Keep us grounded in your promises, your purposes, your power, and your presence. Reorient us on the road of liberation, belonging, and communal care so that not only do we receive the gift of transformation, we companion with siblings, neighbors, and even enemies in your work of making all things new.

Remove the misleading veil that disguises sufficiency with scarcity. Sustain us with being satisfied with enough and abundance materially while continuing to thirst for righteousness so that all may be well. In you, we hope and believe as we pray …

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.    

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

Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie was the original folk hero, writing over 1,000 songs. He transformed folk ballads into a vehicle for social protest and observation. His popular ‘This Land is Your Land’ was written in response to Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’.

Guthrie stated that all you can write is what you see and his eyes saw a land where people were hungry, and the lives and health of immigrants and union workers were threatened with moneyed interests.

The last 15 years of his life Woody Guthrie was hospitalized for Huntington’s disease.

Excerpted from: Americans Who Tell the Truth: americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/woody-guthrie/

¨ Hymn  Bringing in the Sheaves Minor, Shaw

From Here to There

¨ Benediction  

One:      May you drink from the wells of God’s abundance
Nourished by the grace of God
Sustained by the truth of God
Hydrated by the promise of God
As you go, spread the good news and good gifts the Holy One bestows upon all.

¨ Benediction Response I’m Goin’a Sing trad.

2. Sing …

3. Sow …

4. Reap …

Our Prayers for Others

¨ 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.

¨ Those in mortal danger in the continuing war in Iran. For the leaders of nations to set aside assassination and warfare in favor of just, diplomatic solutions to conflict. 

¨ 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 neighbors experiencing housing insecurity, homelessness and food insecurity.

¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.

¨ Prayer request received online, for Kimberly and her partner, facing hostility from family members over their relationship and gender identity.

¨ The children and staff of Samuel’s Kids School and Orphanage in Uganda.

¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Dorie Hubbard, Susan Kramer, Hattie Parks, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Theresa Scherf.

¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!

Birthdays: July 13 – Paula White; 15 – Mary McConnell; 17 – Jeff Hutton; 20 – Deborah Martin, Mallory Lakes, Cavan Kobersmith  

Anniversaries:  July 15 – Abi Woodie & Brandon Bailey

If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!