This Sunday at St. John’s:
The Buried Treasure
Friends,
I’m back from vacation, and grateful to the Rev. Dr. Valerie Bell for the care she gave this congregation while I was away.
This Sunday I’m preaching on the shortest parable Jesus ever told. One sentence, Matthew 13:44.
A man is working a field that doesn’t belong to him. Ordinary day, ordinary dirt, and then his shovel strikes something that won’t give. He digs. What comes up out of that hole is worth more than everything he owns put together.
So he sells it all and buys the field.
What gets me is the joy. Jesus could have made this a story about sacrifice, about counting the cost, about how much the man surrendered. Instead he says the man went off “in his joy” and sold everything, and you get the sense he would have laughed at anyone who called it a loss. He was trading up and he knew it.
Most of us cross that field every week. The commute, the grocery store, the waiting room, another ordinary Tuesday. Somewhere under all that ground is the Kingdom, and every so often we catch a glint of something we can’t quite name and can’t stop thinking about either.
Come worship this Sunday. Mary Gaber will read from Proverbs, where wisdom is something you search for the way you’d search for buried silver. We’ll sing “Be Thou My Vision,” and when we reach the third verse, listen for the line at the end: High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.
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
July 26 2026
9th Sunday after Pentecost
Gathering
Prelude, Mary Box, Piano
*Call To Worship, The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham
Pastor: We gather in the name of a God who hides the Kingdom in ordinary fields and ordinary days and ordinary people, and then waits with something like delight to see who will notice.
People: Thanks be to God, who makes the finding worth everything it costs.
Pastor: We come from another week of ordinary life, from the fields of our ordinary Tuesdays, and some of us have caught a glint of something beneath the surface that we cannot quite explain or name but cannot stop thinking about.
People: Thanks be to God, whose treasure is closer than we think.
Pastor: We come because the man in the parable sold everything in his joy, and that joy is what Jesus wants us to catch: not the sacrifice, not the cost, but the overwhelming gladness of someone who has found what they did not know they were looking for.
People: Thanks be to God, in whom we find what nothing else in this world can give us.
Opening Prayer
*Hymn 35 Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty
1 Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him,
for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near;
join me in glad adoration!
2 Praise ye the Lord,
who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings,
yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
how thy desires e'er have been
granted in what he ordaineth?
3 Praise ye the Lord!
O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath,
come now with praises before him!
Let the amen sound from his people again;
gladly for aye we adore him.
Prayer of Confession, Liturgist Mary Gaber
Gracious God, we confess we have chased smaller treasures with the intensity we ought to reserve for you, walking across the field that holds the Kingdom every day and failing to notice the glint beneath the surface. We have glimpsed something true and beautiful in moments of prayer or grief or unexpected grace, and then gone back to our ordinary lives without selling a single thing. Forgive us, and give us the joy that makes surrender feel like the best trade we ever made. Amen. (Silent Confession)
Assurance of Pardon
*Glory Be to the Father, Hymn 581
*Passing the Peace
The Word
Prayer for Illumination
Mary Gaber
First Scripture Reading, Proverbs 2:1-5 Mary Gaber
My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures — then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Special Music
Sermon Scripture, Matthew 13:44
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
The Word of the Lord for us today.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon, The Buried Treasure
The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham
*Hymn 450 Be Thou My Vision
1 Be thou my vision,
O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me,
save that thou art;
thou my best thought,
by day or by night,
waking or sleeping,
thy presence my light.
2 Be thou my wisdom,
and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee
and thou with me, Lord;
thou my soul’s shelter,
and thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward,
O Power of my power.
3 Riches I heed not,
nor vain, empty praise;
thou, mine inheritance,
now and always;
thou and thou only,
first in my heart,
High King of Heaven,
my treasure thou art.
4 High King of Heaven,
my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys,
O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart,
whatever befall,
still be my vision,
O Ruler of all.
The Apostles’ Creed
Prayers of the People
Lord’s Prayer
Welcome and Announcements
Offering
*Doxology, Hymn 609
*Prayer after the Offering
Sending
*Hymn 39 Great Is Thy Faithfulness, 1 and 3
1 Great is thy faithfulness,
O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not;
thy compassions they fail not.
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning,
new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me!
3 Pardon for sin
and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence
to cheer and to guide,
strength for today
and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine,
with ten thousand beside! (Refrain)
*Benediction
*Postlude
Announcements
Healing Hearts, A Ministry of Care and Encouragement.
Healing Hearts meets on Monday, July 27, 11:00 am.
Healing Hearts meets in the Prayer Room of the church office building. Healing Hearts is a grief and bereavement support group led by Lisa Sparaco, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and member of our church. This ministry provides a safe and faith-filled space for sharing stories, receiving encouragement, and walking together through seasons of loss. This is not a therapy group, but a ministry of care and prayer for all who grieve.
Blessing of the Backpacks, August 9 in Worship.
On Sunday, August 9, we celebrate the beginning of a new school year with the Blessing of the Backpacks. Students and teachers, you will be invited to the front to receive a blessing, so bring your backpacks, bags and satchels.
College Student Updates.
“Hello everyone! It is hard to believe I am in my final year of mechanical engineering already. I am still interning at Boeing and have been learning a lot through both school and work. This summer I was thankful to pass another class and keep making progress toward graduation. Spiritually, I have been visiting a different church each Sunday to learn from different congregations and grow in my faith. Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement. I am excited to see what God has in store this coming year!” -Tori Gorby
“I am a member of Starlight Aggies; we do philanthropic work for children’s hospitals.” - Marie Dzeukou who is a Sophomore at A&M.
Happy Birthday
Scenacia Jones (July 26)
Eliora Lehna Caspa (July 28)
Happy Anniversary
Brad and Fran Urquhart (July 27)
Doug and Teresa Darr (July 29)
Prayer Concerns
Ben Carrettin and his son Ronan, health
Cathy, Cindy Bergman’s sister, health
The family of Connie Brown
Phyllis Freeman, now receiving hospice care
Shirley Boyd and family
Jessica Ivete Robles, awaiting a kidney transplant
Becky Crawford
Glen Risley
Tom Edmondson and Kristi Edmonsond
Kelsey Wiltz
Scott Moore
Alice Rubio
Our college students
The families in our PCHAS Single Parent Family Ministry
One Hope Preschool families and staff
Calendar
Sunday, July 26, 9th 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
1:30 pm Book Study on Zoom
Monday, July 27
11:00 am Healing Hearts, Room 202
Tuesday, July 28
5:00 pm Exercise Group, Building 2
Thursday, July 30
5:00 pm Exercise Class in Building 2
Sunday, August 2, 10th 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
1:30 pm Book Study, Zoom
Coming Events
Wed, Aug 5, Men’s Group, 6:30 pm
Sun, Aug 9, Blessing of the Backpacks
Sun, Aug 9, Meetings of CE and Fellowship and Caring Committees
Tue, Aug 11, Session Meeting
Wed, Aug 12, Healing Hearts, 7 pm
Wed, Aug 19, Men’s Group
Mon, Aug 31, Healing Hearts, 11 am
Thurs, Oct 1, BIM Gala
Thurs, Nov 26, Thanksgiving
Fri, Dec 25, Christmas
Parables of the Kingdom:
Stories Jesus Told That We're Still Figuring Out
- July 26 – Ninth 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 – Tenth 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 – Eleventh 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?)
