Guest Preacher: The Rev. Lea Harding

Sunday, August 24, 2025
10:30 PM 11:30 PM 22:30 23:30

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

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Please help us welcome our guest preacher, the Rev. Lea Harding, to the UPC pulpit! Rev. Lea is the longtime chaplain at the Hilltop Campus of our local United Methodist Homes.

You can join us for worship in our beautiful sanctuary or by livestream right here, every Sunday at 10:30 AM. We would love to see you!

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Set Free

Psalm 71:1-6; Luke 13:10-17

Union Presbyterian Church

August 24, 2025

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Liturgist: Chris Bartlette Preacher: Rev. Lea Harding

Welcome Rev. Lea Harding

Announcements Chris Bartlette

Prelude Chris Bartlette

“Just As I Am / Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” Paul Ferrin

Used by Permission.  CCLI License #CSPL068847 

Call to Worship

Come gather together here in the presence of Christ, who is our friend and healer.

We have entered here, and in our worship together,

we yearn for hope and comfort.

Let us reach to the heart of Jesus, who is our life.

We encounter our Lord, who makes us whole.

Here we are welcome and loved and cherished.

Here we are the people of God. Let us rejoice and give God praise.

* Hymn # 589 W & R

“O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee”

(Public Domain)

O Master, let me walk with thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me thy secret: help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me thy patience—still with thee
In closer, dearer company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong;

In hope that sends a shining ray
Far down the future’s broadening way,
In peace that only thou canst give,
With thee, O Master, let me live.

* Call to New Life  

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Let us admit our brokenness to God. 

* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

God of Wholeness, we have become fragmented. We build up walls and hide ourselves from others. The pain of others is too much to deal with. The struggles of the world are too much to bear. We’d much rather just focus on our own lives, jobs and families. But God, you have called us to be your people, a people of the covenant in which you are our God, not only my God. You have called us to be the people of the New Commandment, which is to love one another. We cannot go it alone. We cannot put blinders on and build up our dividers. Guide our hands to reach out across walls, our eyes to see beyond ourselves, so that we might participate in the healing of the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, who came to bring us life that we might have it abundantly, we pray. Amen.

* Assurance of God’s Love

Love knows no bounds. Hope knows no bounds. Peace knows no bounds. Faith knows no bounds. There is no place you can go where God is not there. There is nothing you can do that can separate you from God’s love. Go, bring hope and peace. Live into faith. Be love. Amen.

* Sharing of the Peace

Jesus promises us the peace that passes all understanding.

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 Psalm 71:1-6 (Responsive)

A responsive reading from Psalm 71.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me and save me.

Be to me a rock of refuge,
    a strong fortress to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.

For you, O Lord, are my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

From my birth I have leaned upon you,
    my protector since my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Lea Harding

Music: “Praise the Name of Jesus,” Roy Hicks, Jr.

Anthem

“We Cannot Measure How You Heal,” John L. Bell, Graham Maule

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.  

We cannot measure how you heal

Or answer every sufferer’s prayer,

Yet we believe your grace responds

Where faith and doubt unite to care.

Your hands, though bloodied on the cross,

Survive to hold and heal and warn,

To carry all through death to life

And cradle children yet unborn.

The pain that will not go away,

The guilt that clings from things long past,

The fear of what the future holds,

Are present as if meant to last.

But present too is love which tends

The hurt we never hoped to find,

The private agonies inside,

The memories that haunt the mind.

So some have come who need your help

And some have come to make amends,

As hands which shaped and saved the world

Are present in the touch of friends.

Lord, let your Spirit meet us here

To mend the body, mind, and soul,

To disentangle peace from pain,

And make your broken people whole.

Scripture Luke 13:10-17

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it to water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things being done by him.

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:

Thanks be to God!

Sermon “Set Free” Rev. Lea Harding

* Affirmation of Faith

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,  
creator of heaven and earth.  

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,  
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,  
born of the Virgin Mary,  
suffered under Pontius Pilate,  
was crucified, died, and was buried;  
he descended to the dead.  
On the third day he rose again;  
he ascended into heaven,  
is seated at the right hand of the Father,  
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.  

I believe in the Holy Spirit,  
the holy catholic church,  
the communion of saints,  
the forgiveness of sins,  
the resurrection of the body,  
and the life everlasting. Amen.  

* Hymn # 630 W & R

“Healer of Our Every Ill,” Marty Haugen

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.  

Healer of our every ill,

Light of each tomorrow,

Give us peace beyond our fear,

And hope beyond all sorrow.

You who know our fears and sadness,

Grace us with your peace and gladness.

Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.

Healer of our every ill,

Light of each tomorrow,

Give us peace beyond our fear,

And hope beyond all sorrow.

In the pain and joy beholding,

How your grace is still unfolding.

Give us all your vision, God of love.

Healer of our every ill,

Light of each tomorrow,

Give us peace beyond our fear,

And hope beyond all sorrow.

Give us strength to love each other,

Every sister, every brother.

Spirit of all kindness, be our guide.

Healer of our every ill,

Light of each tomorrow,

Give us peace beyond our fear,

And hope beyond all sorrow.

You who know each thought and feeling,

Teach us all your way of healing.

Spirit of compassion, fill each heart.

Healer of our every ill,

Light of each tomorrow,

Give us peace beyond our fear,

And hope beyond all sorrow.

Prayers of the People

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     

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   

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 # 559 W & R

“Here I Am, Lord,” Dan Schutte

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.   

I, the Lord of sea and sky,

I have heard my people cry.

All who dwell in dark and sin

My hand will save.

I who make the stars of night,

I will make their darkness bright.

Who will bear my light to them?

Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night.

I will go, Lord, if you lead me.

I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain,

I have borne my people’s pain.

I have wept for love of them,

They turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone,

Give them hearts for love alone.

I will speak my Word to them.

Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night.

I will go, Lord, if you lead me.

I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of wind and flame,

I will tend the poor and lame.

I will set a feast for them,

My hand will save.

Finest bread I will provide

Till their hearts be satisfied.

I will give my life to them.

Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night.

I will go, Lord, if you lead me.

I will hold your people in my heart.

* Benediction

Postlude Chris Bartlette

“Postlude Brevis,” David Lasky

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.  

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

Worship With Us

Guest Preacher: The Rev. Lea Harding