Come as you are! Everyone welcome … In-person or on Zoom.
R E A D I N G S
🔆 Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7🔆 Romans 5:1-8
S E R M O N
🔆 “Grace and Toughness” – The Reverend Dr. Max Lynn
M U S I C
PRELUDE … Suite No. 5: Prelude and Allemande, G.F. Handel (1685-1759)
HYMN … All People That on Earth Do Dwell
ANTHEM … Fall to the Earth, Thurlow Weed (b. 1966)
HYMN … Seek Ye First
OFFERTORY … Suite No. 5: Courante, G.F. Handel (1685-1759)
ANTHEM … Ecce Panis Angelorum (Behold the Bread of Angels), Portuguese melody, edited by James Dhonau (living)
HYMN … Fight the Good Fight
POSTLUDE … Suite No. 5: Air and Variations, G.F. Handel (1685-1759)
Join us for Coffee Hour immediately after the service.
To subscribe to the weekly newsletter, click here.
To join the Zoom weekly Service, click here.
A N N O U N C E M E N T S
The anthem this service is used by permission. The words are by Michael Hudson and are from Songs for the Cycle (copyright 2004, Church Publishing Inc) and the music is by Thurlow Weed (copyright 2015).
Congressional Meeting, June 14
Our next Congressional Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 14 immediately following the worship service in the Sanctuary for the purpose of receiving a report from the Nominations Committee nominating Deacons and Elders and electing them.
Summer Choir, June 21, July 5, July 26, August 16, and August 30
Summer is a great time to try out singing in the choir. There are no Wednesday evening rehearsals, just show up at 9:00 am on a Sunday when you would like to join the choir and rehearse a simple anthem. Then, stay for worship and sing! The dates for summer choir are June 21, July 5, July 26, August 16, and August 30. Questions? Ask Todd Jolly (todd@stjohnsberkeley.org) or Evangeline Wolfe (evangeline@stjohnsberkeley.org).
Fair Trade Coffee, Chocolates, Olive Oil sales, July 12
Since 2011, St. John’s members have purchased tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of organic, fair-trade coffee, tea, chocolate, & olive oil to support small-scale farmers across the world. This is not a fundraiser for the church; SJ offers these products at the lowest prices possible to the church community — the more frequently we choose these products, the greater our participation in a truly just economic system. On Sunday, July 12, during coffee hour on the patio, there will an assortment of products to select from — come take a look! – Bill Herwood
Ride for Palestine – all are welcome, July 19
Last day for registration is Wednesday, July 15, 2026. The Ride for Palestine is an annual fundraising project of the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). MECA works to protect the lives, rights, and well-being of children in Palestine and refugee camps in Lebanon.
There are approximately 14 million Palestinians worldwide–roughly half reside in historic Palestine and the other half live in diaspora communities. Under international law, all refugees have a right to return to areas from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and to receive compensation for damages. The Right of Return for Palestinian refugees was affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948.
The Right of Return remains a central demand in the Palestinian struggle for justice and self determination. This year’s theme, The Ride of Return, symbolizes both the journey toward justice and the enduring claim to the Palestinian Right of Return.
All riders are committing to raise a minimum of $500. MECA will support your Peer-2-Peer fundraising with sample letters, many tips on fundraising, and we are available to help if you need coaching. Learn more at rideforpalestine.com.
QR Code for Giving Money to St. John’s
One can now donate via PayPal for weekly giving and special events, like Fair Trade Sunday. Simply scan the PayPal QR Code in our bulletin or church lobby. All donations are tax-deductible. Thank you for your continued support.
Looking into the Lectionary: Third Sunday after Pentecost — June 14, 2026
By Rae Watson, The Presbyterian Outlook
Church membership is shrinking across mainline protestant denominations. Yet, research shows that while many are done with the institution of the church, they are not done with spirituality. Many believe in a higher power. Some are seeking ways to be grounded in something larger than themselves. In a world where so many are starving, where financial stability is increasingly hard to find, where gun violence and mass shootings are ever more frequent, where war rages around the world, and where political discourse is increasingly divisive, people remain hungry for good news.
It appears that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Jesus looked out on the crowds and saw a group of people who were tired and overwhelmed, harassed and helpless. They, too, faced a world where political violence was at a high, where people could be killed because they disagreed with the powers that be, where families struggled to put food on the table, where religious leaders seemed to champion rules over people, and the division between the haves and have-nots was increasingly great.
The people around Jesus yearned for good news. They hoped for the end of suffering from disease and physical impairment. They dreamed of a world that was just. They grasped at the hope that all could be fed. Jesus’s message was compelling, and so they crowded around him. As Jesus notes in Matthew 9:35-10:8, “The harvest is plentiful …” (v. 37).
But, he continues, “the laborers are few” (v. 37). It was not a lack of people who yearned for the good news; it was a lack of people to do the work of proclamation and healing in a hurting world. And it is not a lack of people seeking some hope and good news today. Jesus sent his disciples out, out of their comfort zone, out of the safety of their community, out among the crowds.
Jesus shifts how the disciples see their interactions with others. Jesus tells them, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Instead of simply hoping for more people to show up and join their community, he urges them to ask to be sent out into other communities to spread the word and build community there.
To continue reading this article, click for The Presbyterian Outlook.