The Blessing of Being Prayed For: Guest Preacher Rev. Jeff Kellam

Sunday, August 30, 2026
10:30 AM 11:30 AM 10:30 11:30

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

Google Calendar ICS

Have you ever had the experience of being prayed for? It is a powerful experience. Jesus prayed many times throughout his ministry. One of those times, he prayed for his followers, and today’s sermon explores the blessing of the experience, then and now.

Today we welcome the Rev. Jeff Kellam to the pulpit. Jeff is the Parish Associate for Union Presbyterian Church in Endicott, as well as the host of WBDY’s weekly “Classic Vinyl Jazz” program. He also hosts the Broome County Council of Churches TV and radio program, Encounter. Throughout his career Jeff often used music—including pop/ rock as well as jazz—as a vehicle for taking notice of the spiritual in the very-day, including the music we hear on the radio.

You are invited to join us for worship this Sunday in our beautiful sanctuary at 200 East Main Street in Endicott. Or. if you wish, you can join our livestream from home or travel by clicking on the YouTube video below. You are always welcome!

The Blessing of Being Prayed For

Psalm 107:1-9; John 17:6-19

Union Presbyterian Church

August 30, 2026

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

Liturgist: Diane Sommerville Preacher: Rev. Jeff Kellam

Welcome

This is the day that the Lord has made!

Let us rejoice and be glad in it! ~Psalm 118:24

Announcements Diane Sommerville

Prelude Chris Bartlette

"It Is Well with My Soul,” Eleanor Whitsett

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Call to Worship Diane Sommerville

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

maker of heaven and earth.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

be with you all.

And also with you.

Let us worship God.

* Hymn # 402

“How Lovely, Lord”

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

How lovely, Lord, how lovely
Is your abiding place;
My soul is longing, fainting,
To feast upon your grace.
The sparrow finds a shelter,
A place to build her nest;
And so your temple calls us
Within its walls to rest.

In your blest courts to worship,
O God, a single day
Is better than a thousand
If I from you should stray.
I'd rather keep the entrance
And claim you as my Lord
Than revel in the riches
The ways of sin afford.

A sun and shield forever
Are you, O Lord Most High;
You shower us with blessings;
No good will you deny.
The saints, your grace receiving,
From strength to strength shall go,
And from their life shall rivers
Of blessing overflow.

* Call to Confession  

We cannot come before God unless we are first honest with ourselves

about who we are, about the mistakes we make, the sins we commit,

and about how well or poorly we care for others.

In this spirit, let us offer our prayers to God.

* Prayer of Confession

Holy and merciful God,

in your presence we confess

our failure to be what you created us to be.

You alone know how often we have sinned

in wandering from your ways,

in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love.

By your loving mercy,

help us to live in your light and abide in your ways,

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior.

* Assurance of Forgiveness

Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.

The old life has gone; a new life has begun.

Know that you are forgiven

and be at peace.

Thanks be to God.

* Sharing of the 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.

Prayer for Illumination

Lord, open our hearts and minds

by the power of your Holy Spirit,

that as the Scriptures are read

and your Word is proclaimed,

we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Scripture Psalm 107:1-9

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

those he redeemed from trouble

and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to an inhabited town;

hungry and thirsty,

their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress;

he led them by a straight way,

until they reached an inhabited town.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wonderful works to humankind.

For he satisfies the thirsty,

and the hungry he fills with good things.

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Jeff Kellam

Music: “You Belong to Christ” (Hymn #492)

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Anthem Summer Choir

“We Are Your People”

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

We are your people, Spirit of grace;
You dare to make us to all our neighbors
Christ's living voice, hands, and face.

Joined in community, treasured and fed,
May we discover gifts in each other,
Willing to lead and be led.

Rich in diversity, help us to live
Closer than neighbors, open to strangers,
Able to clash and forgive.

Glad of tradition, help us to see
In all life's changing where you are leading,
Where our best efforts should be.

Give, as we venture, justice and care
(peaceful, resisting, waiting, or risking)
Wisdom to know when and where.

Spirit, unite us; make us, by grace,
Willing and ready, Christ's living body,
Loving the whole human race.

Scripture John 17:6-19

”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:

Thanks be to God!

Sermon “The Blessing of Being Prayed For”

* Affirmation of Faith

* Hymn # 407

"Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayers”

(Public Domain)

Spirit divine, attend our prayers,
And make this house your home.
Descend with all your gracious powers.
O come, great Spirit, come!

Come as the light. To us reveal
Our emptiness and woe.
And lead us in those paths of life
Where all the righteous go.

Come as the fire and purge our hearts
Like sacrificial flame.
Let our whole soul an offering be
To our Redeemer's name.

Come as the dove and spread your wings,
The wings of peaceful love.
And let the church on earth become
Blest as the church above.

Spirit divine, attend our prayers.
Make a lost world your home.
Descend with all your gracious powers.
O come, great Spirit, come!

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 # 414 “Be Still and Know That I Am God,” John L. Bell

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

(Sing twice:)

Be still and know that I am God.

Call for Offering     

* Doxology # 675 (verse 4) “All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night”

(Public Domain)

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,

Praise God, all creatures here below:

Praise God above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

* Prayer of Dedication (Unison)

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.

Through your goodness

you have blessed us with these gifts:

our selves, our time, and our possessions.

Use us, and what we have gathered,

in feeding the world with your love;

through the one who gave himself for us,

Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.

* Hymn # 683 (sung to the tune of Hymn #450, “Be Thou My Vision”)

“Lord of All Hopefulness,” Jan Struther

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,

Whose trust, every childlike, no cares could destroy:

Be there at our waking and give us, we pray,

Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.

Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,

Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe:

Be there are our labors and give us, we pray,

Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,

Your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace:

Be there at our homing and give us, we pray,

Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.

Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,

Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm:

Be there at our sleeping and give us, we pray,

Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

* Benediction

Postlude Chris Bartlette

“To God Be the Glory,” Lloyd Larson

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit

Worship With Us

The Blessing of Being Prayed For: Guest Preacher Rev. Jeff Kellam