This Sunday
at St. John's:
Treasure Maps
Friends,
This Sunday I'm preaching on Matthew 6:19-24. The sermon is "Treasure Maps."
Jesus talks about moth and rust and thieves. Then he says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
What gets me is the direction of that sentence. We usually assume the heart goes first and the money follows. Jesus puts it the other way around. Put your treasure somewhere, and your heart will go looking for it.
That makes a checkbook a kind of map. A calendar too. Look at where the money and the hours went last month, and you can trace the road your heart has been walking. Some of us won't love what we find. Some of us will be surprised how much of it already points home.
Come worship this Sunday. Mary Gaber is our liturgist, and we'll hear Malachi's dare to bring the full tithe and watch the windows of heaven open. We'll sing
All Things Bright and Beautiful, and we'll go out singing, "All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee." And mark next Sunday, November 1. It's All Saints Day, when we remember the saints of St. John's who have gone before us.
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 Church Worship Bulletin
October 25, 2026
22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Gathering
Prelude,
Alina Klimaszewska, organ
*Call To Worship,
The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham
Pastor: Do not store up treasure where the moth and the rust get to it, Jesus said, and where the thieves know the way in.
People: Thanks be to God, who guards what cannot be stolen.
Pastor: Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, the prophet said, and test me, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven.
People: Thanks be to God, who pours down more than we can hold.
Pastor: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, and the map to one is the map to the other.
People: Thanks be to God, who gives us the map and walks us home.
Opening Prayer
*Hymn 20
All Things Bright and Beautiful, 1, 3 and 4
Refrain:
All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.
1 Each little flower that opens,
each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colors;
God made their tiny wings. (Refrain)
3 The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden,
God made them every one. (Refrain)
4 God gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God Almighty,
who has made all things well. (Refrain)
Prayer of Confession,
Liturgist Mary Gaber
Gracious God, we confess that we have buried our treasure where the moth and the rust could get to it and then wondered why our hearts felt so heavy. We have served two masters and told each one it was the favorite. We have given you the leftovers and called it a tithe. Forgive us, and redraw the map. Amen. (Silent Confession)
Assurance of Pardon
*Glory Be to the Father
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
*Passing the Peace
The Word
Prayer for Illumination
First Scripture Reading,
Malachi 3:6-12
For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”
Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How are we robbing you?” In your tithes and offerings! You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. I will rebuke the locust for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
Anthem
Sermon Scripture,
Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
The Word of the Lord for us today.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon,
“Treasure Maps”
The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham
*Hymn 703
Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me
1 Jesus, thy boundless love to me
no thought can reach, no tongue declare;
O knit my thankful heart to thee,
and reign without a rival there!
Thine wholly, thine alone, I’d live;
myself to thee entirely give.
2 O grant that nothing in my soul
may dwell, but thy pure love alone;
O may thy love possess me whole,
my joy, my treasure, and my crown!
All coldness from my heart remove;
may every act, word, thought be love.
3 O Love, how gracious is thy way!
All fear before thy presence flies;
care, anguish, sorrow melt away
where’er thy healing beams arise.
O Jesus, nothing may I see,
nothing desire, or seek, but thee.
*The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
he descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand
of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come
to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic Church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
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.
Welcome and Announcements
Offering
*Doxology, Hymn 609
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise God, in Jesus fully known:
Creator, Word, and Spirit one.
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
*Prayer after the Offering,
Rev. Burnham
Sending
*Hymn 708
We Give Thee but Thine Own
1 We give thee but thine own,
whate’er the gift may be;
all that we have is thine alone,
a trust, O Lord, from thee.
2 May we thy bounties thus
as stewards true receive,
and gladly, as thou blessest us,
to thee our firstfruits give.
3 The captive to release,
to God the lost to bring,
to teach the way of life and peace:
it is a Christ-like thing.
4 And we believe thy word,
though dim our faith may be;
whate’er we do for thine, O Lord,
we do it unto thee.
*Benediction
*Postlude
Announcements
Next Sunday, November 1, Is All Saints Day
Every year we remember the saints who have passed on to the Church Triumphant from our congregation. This service is a beautiful opportunity to celebrate the lives of our passed members, family and friends.
Healing Hearts Meets Monday, October 26
Linda Herron will lead the Healing Hearts grief support group on Monday, October 26, at 11:00 a.m. in the Prayer Room. If you are carrying a loss, you are welcome. Come as you are.
Men’s Group Meets October 28
The Men’s Group meets Wednesday, October 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the Session Room. All men of the church are welcome.
Advent Is Coming
Advent begins Sunday, November 29. On Saturday, November 28, at 10 a.m., we will decorate the sanctuary, and the sanctuary will have a new six-foot Christmas tree this year. Forty poinsettias will arrive December 11 and fill the sanctuary through Christmas Eve. They are $12 each, the same price as last year. Each Sunday of Advent, a family or individual will lead the Advent reading in worship. If you would like to take a Sunday, call the church office and we will let Lynne Parsons Austin know.
Church Phone Service Restored
Our church phone line is working again. You can reach the office at 713-723-6262.
St. John’s Holiday Gift Market, Nov. 8, noon to 2 pm
Come browse the offerings of at least 15 vendors and share a light lunch. This market is a St. John’s tradition for many decades!
Oil for Our Lamps: A Tuesday Zoom Group
A small group of women at St. John's has met to study and pray together for fourteen years. The group grew out of our churchwide Unbinding the Gospel study in 2012. It began meeting at the church on Tuesday afternoons, moved to Zoom when COVID struck, and has stayed there since. After a recent sermon, the group took a new name: Oil for Our Lamps.
The group now meets on Zoom on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. By November they hope to begin a study of the book of James, using the Life Change Bible Study Series book and study guide. New members are warmly welcome.
To learn more, speak with any member of the group: Libby Adams, Shirley Boyd, Alvina Hamilton, Ann Hardy, Gerry Jump, Pat Ragan, or Fran Urquhart. Or contact Shirley at 713-598-0818 or saboyd2@att.net to receive the Zoom invitation and order a book.
One Hope Schools Harvest Festival, Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 am to noon
One Hope Schools invites the whole community to its free Harvest Festival on Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to noon on the One Hope Preschool campus, 5020 West Belfort Ave. There will be a bounce house, games, a petting zoo, and food, with fun for all ages. Bring the grandkids and the neighbors.
Greeters and Ushers Needed
Calling all smiling faces to serve the Lord as greeters and ushers! The Worship Committee is looking for volunteers to enter the ministry of greeting and ushering during our Sunday morning Worship services. It is a great way to meet folks in the church and to practice your gifts of hospitality and friendship. Participation is on a rotating basis and the schedule will accommodate those times that you will not be able to serve due to a conflict. Contact Lynne Parsons Austin for more information. Your energy and smiling face is needed.
Christmas Shoeboxes for Seafarers
Each year the Houston International Seafarers Center delivers Christmas shoeboxes to the crews of ships in the Port of Houston. Last year it was 8,901 boxes, for sailors from 68 nations, many of them months away from home at the holidays. Chaplains and ship visitors carry the boxes aboard by hand.
St. John’s is collecting again this year. Peter Sparaco has set a box in the Narthex. Please bring new, unopened, full-size items such as body wash, deodorant, disposable razors, shaving cream, toothbrushes and toothpaste, lip balm, lotion, socks, new caps or T-shirts, playing cards, word-search or sudoku books, pocket notebooks, flashlights with batteries, non-perishable snacks, and Texas souvenirs. The cutoff date for donations will be announced in a coming Epistle.
Sermon Series: Generous Trouble
We are in a sermon series for the stewardship season:
Generous Trouble: When Kingdom Economics Interrupt Our Plans. Scripture keeps circling back to money, and it rarely leaves us comfortable. A widow gives her last coin. A rich man walks away sad. A whole community gathers only what it needs and no more. Nine weeks, nine stories, one question underneath all of them: what happens when God's economy interrupts ours? We'll move from the Jubilee's reset button, through widows and rulers and a tax collector who gives away half of everything he owns, to All Saints' Sunday and the Reign of Christ. Along the way, expect a few sermons that unsettle before they comfort. That's the trouble worth having. Mark your calendar and come ready to be interrupted.
Gift of Empathy Class
The Gift of Empathy Class meets weekly on Thursday evenings at 6:30.
Happy Birthday
Dave Muanza (Oct 1)
Virgil Fisher (Oct 2)
Christine Nelson and Amy Caraballo (Oct 7)
Barm Alsbrook (Oct 9)
Alice Rubio and Jeffery Herbert (Oct 10)
Stewart Hall (Oct 14)
Brendan Mulder (Oct 15)
Elizabeth Ragan (Oct 16)
Atillio Ator (Oct 19)
Fran Urquhart and Jonathan Hughes (Oct 24)
James Adams (Oct 25)
Joene Moore and Nathan Herbert (Oct 28)
Happy Anniversary
Dan and Linda Herron (Oct 11)
Barm and Karen Alsbrook (Oct 15)
Prayer Concerns
Miri Upton, friend of Lisa Sparaco, health concerns
Kelly McDowell and family, Shirley Boyd’s nephew, health
Kathleen Captain, health
Ken Krueger
Family of Betty Robinson
Linda Dobbin, health
Mary Hughes and family, in the loss of Mary’s brother Fred
Fran, her children and family of Brad Urquhart
Lisa, health
Sandy, health
Patti, health
Randy Finfrock, health
Katherine Kyle James, friend of Mark Swindler, health
Alice's grandson, Marc, health
Gayle Morales, friend of Alice Rubio, recovering from hip surgery
Jessica Ivete Robles, friend of Alice Rubio, awaiting a kidney transplant
Phyllis Freeman, receiving hospice care in the Dallas area
Tom Edmondson and Kristi, his caregiver
Kelsey Wiltz, health
Scott Moore
Alice Rubio
St. John’s college students
Raina Bailey and the families in our PCHAS homes
One Hope Preschool families and staff
Calendar
- Sunday, October 25, 22nd 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
- Monday, October 26
- 11:00 am Healing Hearts, Room 202
- Tuesday, October 27
- 5:00 pm Exercise Group, Building 2
- Wednesday, October 28
- 6:30 pm Men’s Group, Session Room
- Thursday, October 29
- 5:00 pm Exercise Class in Building 2
- 6:30 pm Gift of Empathy Class
- Sunday, November 1, All Saints Day
- 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 Meets
- 1:30 pm Book Study on Zoom
- 4:30 pm Pack 8 Meeting, McPhail Hall
Coming Events
- Thursday, November 5, Oil for Our Lamps, Zoom, 1:30 pm
- Saturday, November 7, One Hope Preschool Harvest Festival
- Sunday, November 8, Holiday Gift Market
- Tuesday, November 10, Session Meeting
- Wednesday, November 11, Men’s Group and Healing Hearts
- Thursday, November 12, Friends United Luncheon
- Saturday, November 14, PCHAS Luncheon, McPhail
- Sunday, November 15, Stewardship Dedication Brunch and CE Committee and Fellowship and Caring
- Sunday, November 15, 3:30 pm, Girl Scouts, Session Room and 203
- Sunday, November 15, 4:30 pm, Pack 8 Meeting, McPhail
- Saturday, November 18, Presbytery Meeting, St. Phillip
- Wednesday, November 25, 6:30 pm, Men’s Group
- Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day
- Saturday, November 28, 10 am, Decorate Sanctuary for Christmas
- Sunday, November 29, First Sunday of Advent
- Saturday, December 5, Quarterly Bible Study, Advent
