September 12, 2021, Worship Bulletin, Prayer Concerns, Zoom Coffee Hour link

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

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost 10:30 am 

Meditation

I endure many privations and with it that suspicion and coldness attendant upon first labors before confidence is secured and which so much chills the Spirit of all men. But I look not to this world for my reward. May the Living God be with you, lead you yet to Him unreservedly, as the only source of true and lasting joy. This was Mary’s portion: “Good part” – there you will find the source of all that is noble in men and, like the ocean, boundless and eternal, inexhaustible.

— John G. Fee, from a letter to S.D. Ireland, Nov. 20, 1857

Our service today is in honor of Union Church’s and Berea College’s founder, Rev. John Gregg Fee, born September 9, 1816. Happy 205th! Rev. Fee preached in neighboring counties, often running into violent opposition to his anti-slavery views. His autobiography is filled with his accounts the volatility of the decade before the Civil War, when he was often challenged and threatened because of his stand on abolition and equal treatment of African American people. In 1855 with other members of Union Church, Fee founded Berea College, the first college in the state that was interracial and coeducational.

From There to Here: We Gather

Gathering Music

Welcome

The Call Susie Ritchie and Robert Rorrer, Readers

One: Come, bring your hearts and minds to God.

All: Come, give voice to longings for justice and healing.

One: Come, trust in the goodness of a just God.

All: Come, expect Jesus to open for us a new vision for life.

One: Come, rejoice in the movement of the Spirit that knows no boundaries.

All: Come, let us worship God.

Passing of the Peace at Home

Lighting the Justice Candle

Today we light the Justice Candle for all the first responders who rushed to the Twin Towers in NYC on 9/11 to try to save those who were in — or nearby — the Towers that day —  as our nation marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Many first responders lost their lives, and many of those still alive continue to suffer physical or psychological challenges as a result. 

Hymn O Day of Peace and Gladness

1. O day of peace and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
Most beautiful, most bright;
On you the high and lowly,
Through ages joined in tune,
Sing, “Holy, holy, holy,”
To the great God triune.

2. On you, at the creation
The light first had its birth;
On you, for our salvation
Christ rose from depths of earth;
On you, our Lord victorious,
The Spirit sent from heav’n;
And thus on you, most glorious,
A three-fold light was giv’n.

3. Today on weary nations
The heav’nly manna falls;
To holy convocations
The silver trumpet calls,
Where gospel light is glowing
With pure and radiant beams,
And living water flowing
With soul-refreshing streams.

Hebrew Scripture Lesson Proverbs 1:20-33 Robert Rorrer,  Reader

Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Children’s Moment                       

Please join in singing as we bless children everywhere:

May God’s blessing 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. 

Gospel Lesson Mark 8:27-38

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Sermon The Past Speaks: Rev. John G. Fee Rev. Kent Gilbert

Living Prayer

Call to Prayer and Offering

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”)

You can also use US mail!  Mail to: CPO 2105, Berea, KY 40404

Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!

Offering Music Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service  Beachspring arr. K. Buckwalter

Pearl Marshall, handbells, Susan Stephens, piano

Offertory 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.

Prayers of the Community

O Holy God of all understanding, hear the prayers of your people. For the times that we have tried to place human boundaries on your infinite Wisdom and your saving Word; forgive us. For the times that our hearts have been hardened against your boundary-breaking love, forgive us. For the times that our minds have been closed to learning from you how to extend your peace in the world, forgive us. For the times that our spirits have tried to limit the life-giving work of your Spirit, Forgive us. In Jesus’ name 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.

From Here to There

Hymn         Rescue the Perishing   

1. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Refrain: Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

2. Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

3. Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

4. Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Benediction

Postlude The Heavens Declare the Glory of God B. Marcello arr. V. Stephenson

Union Church Handbell Ensemble, Charles Hoffman, cello

Come to Zoom Coffee Hour after Worship! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87387600761

OUR FELLOWSHIP PRINCIPLES:

“Union Church welcomes all followers of Christ and works with all who work with Him; respecting each person’s conscience; working by love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.”

Especially in Our Prayers

¨ 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 Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo, and our brothers and sisters at Bethel Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them. Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week.

¨ All those seeking a new and just society and those fearful that they will be supplanted, may God open their hearts and include them in grace.

¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Alva Peloquin, Loyal Jones, Jennie Kiteck, Mary Miller, Lois Morgan, Jan Hamilton, Laura Robie

¨ Families and Friends in Crises…may God be present to every need and heal every rift and wound and those who care for them.

¨ Tom Hubbard

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

¨ Sharona Nelson, as she faces decisions regarding a difficult family situation.

¨ Ally Nurre, recovering from hip replacement surgery.

¨ Dorie Hubbard’s great grand-niece, Marie, whose cancer has gotten worse.

¨ Shelagh Quigley, dear friend of Dodie Murphy, who has Covid-19.

¨ The 20th anniversary of 9/11, those affected at the time, and all who are affected still.

¨ The members of Senior Renewal at the sudden death of a member who was a good friend of Sally Zimmerman, and especially for the bus driver who discovered him.

¨ Prayers for those in danger from fires and flood, especially those in western wildfires and cleaning up after Hurricane Ida. 

¨ Children in detention centers, that they may be reunited with their families soon.

¨ 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, including the now over 8000 Kentucky residents, and 121 Madison County residents, who have died to date from Covid-19.

¨ Important dates—if we haven’t got yours, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!

Birthdays coming up: September 13 – Mary Nash, Steve Connelly; 14 – Debbonnaire Kovacs; 17 –  Joyce Fields, Sunni Walters; 19 – Reid Connelly

Anniversaries this week: Sept. 17 – Tom & Joy Frazier