On this Sunday we celebrate the day—June 19, 1865—when Union soldiers rode into Galveston, Texas to bring the great Good News: All enslaved people in these United States were free, and the war between the states was ended. We will hear the story of the seeds of liberation through our texts, and celebrate after church with a wonderful reception with delicious food!
You can join us for worship in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here, via livestream! We worship Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM. You are invited!
Juneteenth Celebration
The Liberating Spirit
Exodus 3:1-12; Galatians 3:23-29
Union Presbyterian Church
June 22, 2025
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Carlton Sackett Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Welcome
Announcements Carlton Sackett
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“My Lord, What a Mornin’,” Harry T. Burleigh
(Public Domain)
* Call to Worship
The Spirit blew across the deep at creation, ready to light the flame of God’s love.
The Spirit is aflame in the places God has touched.
The Lord told Moses, This place on which you are standing is holy ground.
The Spirit is aflame in the places where liberation is born.
The Spirit blew through the fields of the plantations
and the woodland clearings where the enslaved heard God’s saving word.
The Spirit is aflame in the places where freedom blooms.
Let the whole earth be the Holy Ground of God’s saving love.
Let us worship!
* Hymn # 563 PH
“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
(Public Domain)
Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies;
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on, till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet, with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered;
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might led us into the light;
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee;
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.
* Call to New Life
Our God is a God of love. Our God is a God of freedom, not enslavement. Our God is a God of liberation. Let us pray, remembering the past, looking with clear eyes upon the present, and with strong hope and courage for the future.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace
Loving and Liberating God, You who desire the freedom and flourishing of all creation, manifest yourself among us as we worship You today. On this observance of the emancipation of enslaved Africana people in this land, prepare our hearts to hear and receive what your Spirit will say to us through the Word and prayer and song. Clarify our vision so that we may recognize and equally regard the humanity of all people. Reorient our hearts and our minds so that after we depart from this place we may continue your ministry of justice, liberation, and love to and for all your children, here and around the world. In the name of Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.
* Assurance of God’s Love
Jesus said: A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
The Lord is kind and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Know that God is love, and be at peace.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
* Sharing of the Peace
A loving heart is the perfect home for God’s peace.
May the peace of our loving God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.
Scripture Exodus 3:1-12 (NRSVUE)
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “Goodness is Stronger Than Evil,” Desmond Tutu, John L. Bell
©1997, GIA Publications, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Anthem
“Freedom is Coming”
©1984, Walton Music Corp., All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
O freedom, O freedom, O freedom,
Freedom is coming. O yes, I know.
O Jesus, O Jesus, O Jesus,
Jesus is coming. O yes, I know.
Scripture Galatians 3:23-29 (NRSVUE)
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “The Liberating Spirit” Rev. Pat Raube
*Affirmation of Faith Section 9.32 from the Confession of 1967, PCUSA
The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ
has set the pattern for the church’s mission. His life as man involves the church in the common life of humanity. His service to humanity commits the church to work for every form of human well-being. His suffering makes the church sensitive to all the sufferings of humankind so that it sees the face of Christ in the faces of human beings in every kind of need. His crucifixion discloses to the church God’s judgment on man’s inhumanity to man and the awful consequences of its own complicity in injustice. In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming, the church sees the promise of God’s renewal of man’s life in society and of God’s victory over all wrong.
* Hymn # 334 PH
“When Israel Was in Egypt’s Land,” Melva W. Costen
©1990, Melva W. Costen, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
Let my people go!
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go!
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh,
To let my people go!
"Thus saith the Lord," bold Moses said:
Let my people go!
"If not I’ll smite your first born dead,"
Let my people go!
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh,
To let my people go!
"No more shall they in bondage toil,"
Let my people go!
"Let them come out with Egypt’s spoil,"
Let my people go!
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh,
To let my people go!
Prayers of the People
Today, we commemorate the end of slavery in America.
This day partially reminds us of the progress made.
This day also partially reminds us of the progress we have not made.
We celebrate the freedom of black lives in our nation.
We grieve that we have not correctly reconciled racism in our nation.
You created each person in Your image.
The two greatest commandments call us to love You with all our heart, souls, and minds;
Then, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Your love for us motivates us to love each other.
If we do not love each other, then ultimately, we have not experienced Your love.
As much as we commemorate and celebrate Juneteenth, we grieve this day.
We mourn that our black brothers and sisters have not been loved as our neighbors.
We mourn that our black brothers and sisters have been treated less than created in Your image throughout history.
So, Lord, we confess our sins and repent.
The healing and reconciliation we desire comes from the gospel.
On Juneteenth this year, we ask You to guide our nation.
May the good news of the gospel motivate us to love each other.
May the ideals of our words match the practices of our lives.
May a fresh empowerment of Your Spirit unite us together.
Give us eyes to see and ears to hear Your will and leading.
Prayer by Peter Englert, used with Permission.
The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Prayer Response # 352 W & R (verse 2)
“Spirit Song,” John Wimber
©1979, Mercy/Vineyard Publishing
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
O come and sing this song with gladness
As your hearts are filled with joy.
Lift your hands in sweet surrender to his name.
O give him all your tears and sadness;
Give him all your years of pain,
And you’ll enter into life in Jesus’ name.
Call for Offering
* Doxology # 145 W & R (verse 1)
“Glory Be to God, Creator,” Richard K. Carlson
©1996, Hark! Productions
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
Glory Be to God, Creator,
Glory be to God the Son,
Glory be to God the Spirit,
Known as three, yet God the One.
* Dedication of Offering
* Hymn #315 PH
“Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” Melva W. Costen
©1990, Melva W. Costen, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.
Upon the mountain, when my Lord spoke,
Out of God's mouth came fire and smoke.
Looked all around me, it looked so fine,
Till I asked my Lord if all was mine.
Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.
Jordan river, chilly and cold,
It chills the body but not the soul.
There is but one train upon this track;
It runs to heaven and then right back.
Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.
Benediction
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“Go Down, Moses,” Mark Hayes
©2010, Lorenz Publishing Co., All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.
“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal
Prayer for Wholeness and Peace adapted from a prayer by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.