St. John's Presbyterian Church

Houston, Texas

Worship Bulletin and Announcements

for June 7, 2026

The Generous Scandal

An Invitation from Pastor Jon

Dear friends,

Most of us carry a little invisible notebook around in our heads.

We keep track of who worked hard and who didn’t. Who showed up. Who pulled their weight. Who deserved the reward and who somehow got lucky. We may not admit it, but we are all amateur accountants of fairness.

That is why Jesus’ parable this Sunday feels so unsettling.

In one of his most surprising stories, a vineyard owner pays the workers who arrived at five o’clock the same wage he gives those who labored through the scorching heat of the entire day. The workers who arrived first are furious. Frankly, most of us understand exactly why.

Alongside this strange story, we will hear Jonah sitting outside Nineveh, angry because God has shown mercy to people Jonah believes deserve judgment. Jonah wanted justice. God offered grace. The tension between those two things sits at the center of both passages.

This Sunday we begin our summer sermon series, Parables of the Kingdom: Stories Jesus Told That We’re Still Figuring Out, with a message titled “The Generous Scandal.” We will wrestle with a question that reaches into every corner of our lives: What happens when God’s mercy extends beyond the boundaries we would have drawn ourselves?

We will gather around Word and Table, sing beloved hymns of God’s faithfulness, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and remember that every one of us comes to Christ as recipients of grace we could never earn.

If you have ever wondered whether God could be this generous, or if you have ever struggled when that generosity was extended to someone else, then this Sunday is for you.

Join us at 11:00 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church.

The vineyard gate is still open. The invitation is still being offered. And the God who keeps returning to the marketplace looking for one more worker is still calling people by name.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jon Burnham

St. John's Presbyterian Church, Houston

5020 West Bellfort Avenue Houston, TX 77035

(713) 723-6262 / stjohnspresby.org

P.S. The service will be live-streamed

on our church website

and on our St. John's Facebook page.

St. John's Presbyterian Bulletin

June 7 2026

Second Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering

Prelude 

Alina Klimaszewska, organ

*Call To Worship, The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham

Pastor: We gather in the name of a God who goes out at dawn to hire workers, who goes out again at nine in the morning, and again at noon when the sun sits straight overhead and the pavement holds its heat, and again at three, and one more time at the last thin hour of the day, still walking back to find those no one else had chosen.

People: Thanks be to God,

whose mercy does not punch a clock.

Pastor: We come carrying our invisible ledgers, our careful records of who worked how long and who received more than they deserved, the scorching weight of the long day still settled in our shoulders.

People: Thanks be to God,

who asks us still: “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Pastor: We come because the vineyard gate is open, the wage is full, and even now at this last hour the landowner has gone back out into the marketplace to find the ones still standing there, wondering if anyone in this world will ever want them.

People: Thanks be to God,

who is more generous than we are,

and more patient than we deserve.

Opening Prayer 

*Hymn 620 Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;

to his feet your tribute bring;

ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

evermore his praises sing:

Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King.

2 Praise him for his grace

and favor to his people in distress;

praise him still the same as ever,

slow to chide, and swift to bless:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Glorious in his faithfulness.

3 Fatherlike, he tends and spares us;

well our feeble frame he knows;

in his hands he gently bears us,

rescues us from all our foes.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Widely yet his mercy flows.

4 Angels, help us to adore him;

you behold him face to face.

Sun and moon, bow down before him,

dwellers all in time and space:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise with us the God of grace.

Prayer of Confession

Liturgist Lynne Parsons Austin

Gracious God, we confess that we have loved mercy the way Jonah loved his shade plant: gratefully when it falls on us, and bitterly when it extends to someone we had already written off. We have stood at the end of the pay line with our arms crossed and our accounting done, grumbling that the five o’clock workers received the same full wage our long day had earned, as though your generosity to others were a kind of theft from us. We have built small kingdoms of fairness inside our hearts and defended them against the reckless grace you keep pouring out on ground we would never have chosen. Forgive us, Lord, and make us glad for every mercy you scatter beyond what we think is right. Amen. (Silent Confession)

Assurance of Pardon 

*Glory Be to the Father, Hymn 581

*Passing the Peace

The Word

Prayer for Illumination 

First Scripture Reading, Jonah 4:1-11

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade for his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he fainted and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Anthem

Sermon Scripture, Matthew 20:1–16 

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the one as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The Word of the Lord for us today. 

Thanks be to God. 

Sermon, 

“The Generous Scandal” 

The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham

*Hymn 716 God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending

1 God, whose giving knows no ending, 

from your rich and endless store,

nature's wonder, Jesus' wisdom, 

costly cross, grave's shattered door:

gifted by you, we turn to you, 

offering up ourselves in praise;

thankful song shall rise forever, 

gracious donor of our days.

2 Skills and time are ours for pressing 

toward the goals of Christ, your Son:

all at peace in health and freedom, 

races joined, the church made one.

Now direct our daily labor, 

lest we strive for self alone.

Born with talents, make us servants 

fit to answer at your throne.

3 Treasure, too, you have entrusted, 

gain through powers your grace conferred:

ours to use for home and kindred, 

and to spread the gospel word.

Open wide our hands in sharing, 

as we heed Christ's ageless call,

healing, teaching, and reclaiming, 

serving you by loving all.

The Lord’s Supper

The Great Thanksgiving 

Lift up your hearts! 

We lift them up to God!

Celebrate God's love! 

It is right to give God our thanks and praise!

As we walk this journey of life, 

we remember these gifts

as we proclaim the mystery of faith. 

Christ has died, Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

Prayers of the People 

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.

Breaking the Bread and Communion of the People

Hymn 521 In Remembrance of Me

1 In remembrance of me, eat this bread. 

In remembrance of me, drink this wine.

In remembrance of me, pray for the time 

when God’s own will is done.

2 In remembrance of me, heal the sick. 

In remembrance of me, feed the poor.

In remembrance of me, open the door 

and let your neighbors in, let them in.

Take, eat, and be comforted; 

drink and remember too,

that this is my body and precious blood 

shed for you, shed for you.

3 In remembrance of me, search for truth. 

In remembrance of me, always love.

In remembrance of me, don’t look above, 

but in your heart, look for God.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Prayer after Communion 

Welcome and Announcements

Offering

*Doxology, Hymn 609

*Prayer after the Offering 

Sending

*Hymn 722

Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak,

1, 2 and 5

1 Lord, speak to me that I may speak 

in living echoes of your tone.

As you have sought, so let me seek 

your erring children lost and lone.

2 O lead me, Lord, that I may lead 

the wandering and the wavering feet.

O feed me, Lord, that I may feed 

your hungering ones with manna sweet.

5 O use me, Lord, use even me, 

just as you will, and when, and where

until your blessed face I see, 

your rest, your joy, your glory share.

*Benediction and Postlude

New sermon series starts June 7

Parables of the Kingdom:

Stories Jesus Told That We're Still Figuring Out

• June 7 – First Sunday after Pentecost. "The Generous Scandal.” OT: Jonah 4:1-11 (God's mercy offends Jonah); NT: Matthew 20:1-16 (Workers in the vineyard)
• June 14 – Second Sunday after Pentecost. "Midnight Bread." OT: Genesis 18:1-8 (Abraham's hospitality to strangers); NT: Luke 11:5-8 (Friend at midnight pounding on door)
• June 21 – Third Sunday after Pentecost. "The Dishonest Hero" OT: 1 Samuel 21:1-9 (David lies to Ahimelech) NT: Luke 16:1-13 (The shrewd manager)
• June 28 – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost "Party Crashers Welcome" OT: Isaiah 25:6-9 (Feast for all peoples) NT: Luke 14:15-24 (Great banquet, streets swept for guests)
• July 5 – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. "Lost and Found" OT: Ezekiel 34:11-16 (God searches for the lost sheep) NT: Luke 15:1-7 (The shepherd leaves 99 for the 1)
• July 12 – Sixth Sunday after Pentecost "The Interrupted Judge" OT: 1 Samuel 1:9-18 (Hannah's persistent prayer) NT: Luke 18:1-8 (The widow and the unjust judge)
• July 19 – Seventh Sunday after Pentecost "Seeds That Fail (And One That Doesn't)" OT: Isaiah 55:10-11 (God's word like rain that doesn't return empty) NT: Mark 4:1-9 (The sower scatters wildly)
• July 26 – Eighth Sunday after Pentecost "The Buried Treasure" OT: Proverbs 2:1-5 (Search for wisdom like hidden treasure) NT: Matthew 13:44 (Man sells everything for field with treasure)
• August 2 – Ninth Sunday after Pentecost "Ten Girls and One Door" OT: Song of Solomon 5:2-6 (Beloved knocks, but the bride delays) NT: Matthew 25:1-13 (Wise and foolish bridesmaids)
• August 9 – Tenth Sunday after Pentecost "The Final Accounting" OT: Amos 5:21-24 (Let justice roll down like waters) NT: Matthew 25:31-46 (Sheep and goats: when did we see you?)

Happy Birthday 

Ender Jump (May 29)

Kay Swint (May 31)

Lynne Parsons Austin (June 6)

Jacob Ehrenstrom (June 6)

Leonie Tchoconte (June 6)

Glen Risley (June 8)

Bill Ehrenstrom (June 9)

Jan Herbert and Holly Darr (June 11)

Phyllis Freeman (June 13)

Ekong O. Ukpabio (June 15)

Gabrielle Williams (June 21)

Kristel Maguy Sio and Pete Sparaco (June 22)

Steve Jump (June 25)

Sarah Dickson (June 27)

Happy Anniversary

Michael and Felicity Bisase (June 2)

Jonathan and Rebecca Amador Hughes (June 3)

Ben and Jennifer Carrettin (June 27)

Prayer Concerns

Carolyn McEathron and her family

in the death of her father-in-law

Michelle Byron and family,

in the unexpected loss of her brother Jeff Byron

Jessica Spain Nash, surgery,

and Adriana Rodriguez, death of her father,

friends of David Rainwater

Rebecca Crawford, hip surgery

David Wintersgill, hip surgery

Glen Risley, recovering from hip surgery

Nyjel Bennett-LaGrone and his family, health

Tom Edmondson, health,

and his loving caregiver, Kristi

Kelsey Wiltz, health 

Scott Moore

Alice Rubio

St. Johns College Students

Raina Bailey and the families in our PCHAS homes

One Hope Preschool families and staff

Calendar

Sunday, June 7, Second Sunday after Pentecost

  9:30 am Sunday School for Adults, Systematic Theology, Session Room

11:00 am Worship Service, live in sanctuary and on Facebook

12:00 pm Christian Education Committee Meeting

  1:30 pm Book Study, Zoom

Tuesday, June 9

  5:00 pm Exercise Group, Building 2

  7:00 pm Session Meeting, Session Room

Wednesday, June 10

 6:30 pm Men’s Group, Session Room

 7:00 pm Healing Hearts, Room 202

Thursday, June 11

  5:00 pm Exercise Class in Building 2

Sunday, June 14, Third Sunday after Pentecost

  9:30 am Sunday School for Adults, Systematic Theology, Session Room

11:00 am Worship Service, live in sanctuary and on Facebook

12:00 pm Fellowship and Caring Committee Meeting

  1:30 pm Book Study on Zoom

Coming Events

Tue, June 9, Session Meeting

Wed, June 10, 6:30 pm, Men’s Group

Wed, June 10, 7 pm, Healing Hearts

Sun, June 14, noon, Fellowship and Caring Meeting

Wed, June 24, 6:30, Men’s Group

Sat, June 27, 1-5pm.Girl Scout meeting, Session Room 

Mon, June 29, 11 am, Healing Hearts

Sat, July 18, Quarterly Bible Study (new format for all ages)

Thurs, Oct 1, BIM Gala

St. John's Friends United is taking the summer off

and will resume activities this fall