Service program
Holy Eucharist
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
July 5, 2026 10:15am
Welcome to St. John’s! If you are new, please sign our Guest Book in the back of the church and join us for Coffee Hour in our Parish Life Center. Please let an usher know if you require hearing assistance.
This is a family friendly congregation. Over the summer we have a kids’ table in the back, east corner of the church to help children engage during the morning service. If you have toddlers, please feel free to sit to the front right where we have a “soft space,” and a nursery room is available in the back as needed.
Today we celebrate Holy Communion. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, all are welcome to receive at the Lord’s Table.
opening
Prelude Music
Welcome
Processional Music—Brethren, We have Met to Worship
Opening Acclamation & Collect for Purity—Book of Common Prayer p.355
Celebrant: Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.
Celebrant & People: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Song of Praise—Hymn #S-280
Collect—Book of Common Prayer p.230
Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: Let us pray. O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Music Moment
The liturgy of the word
Lector: A reading from the Book of Genesis.
The servant said to Laban, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’
“I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also” —let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’
“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”
And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.” Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
First Reading: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Lector: A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Second Reading: Romans 7:15-25A
Sequence Hymn #653 vv.1-4
The Holy Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Priest: The Holy Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ according to Matthew
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.
Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Sequence Hymn #653 vv.5
Sermon- The Reverend Tammy Smith
Nicene Creed-Book of Common Prayer p.358
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Prayers of the People
Confession of Sin
Celebrant: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Celebrant and People:
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Celebrant: Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness,
and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
The Peace
Celebrant: The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
People: And also with you.
The Ministers and People greet one another in the name of the Lord.
Announcements
The liturgy of the table
Offertory Anthem
Presentation Hymn
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host:
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Great Thanksgiving Prayer-Book of Common Prayer p.361
Celebrant:The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Celebrant: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth…
…Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:
Sanctus-Hymn #S-129
Celebrant: Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself…
…Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:
People: Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Celebrant:We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father…
…All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By whom, and with whom, and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever.
People: Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer-Book of Common Prayer p.364
Celebrant: And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say,
Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo,
santificado sea tu Nombre,
Venga tu reino, hágase tu voluntad,
en la tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día.
Perdona nuestras ofensas,
como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden.
No nos dejes caer en tentación
y líbranos del mal.
Porque tuyo es el reino,
tuyo es el poder, y tuya es la gloria,
ahora y por siempre. Amén.
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Fraction
The Celebrant breaks the bread.
Celebrant: Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
People: Therefore let us keep the feast, Alleluia.
Hymn #S-163
The Invitation to Communion and Healing Prayer
If you need Communion brought to you at your seat, simply make it known to the usher and the clergy will come out to you to bring the bread and wine. If you do not wish to receive communion, you are welcome to come up for a blessing. Please cross your arms across your chest to indicate you desire a blessing. Those desiring healing prayer after taking communion can approach the Healing Prayer station to the right of the altar.
Communion Hymn #304
Post-Communion Prayer-Book of Common Prayer p.365
Celebrant:Let us pray. Eternal God,
Celebrant and People: heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers for Birthdays & Anniversaries
Blessing
Closing Hymn #718
Dismissal
Celebrant:Let us go forth in the name of Christ.
People: Thanks be to God.
Voluntary Music
Certain materials repinted by permission from RiteSong, a one-time use reprint license for congregational use. Permission
to reprint and stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License # A-735293. All rights reserved.