Have you ever met someone in line at the grocery store, or while waiting for your car to be fixed, and realized, “This is an interesting person. I would like to know them better…” Lots of friendships begin when we realize that someone simply interests us. Now, what if that someone were God?
Join us this Sunday as we begin the process of kindling a deeper relationship with God by learning to love God with our mind! You are invited to our beautiful sanctuary at 200 East Main Street in Endicott. Or. if you wish, you can join our livestream from home or travel by clicking on the Youtube video below. You are always welcome!
A Deeper Life 2
Loving God with Our Mind
Luke 2:39-40; 1 Peter 1:13; Romans 12:1-2
Union Presbyterian Church
June 21, 2026
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Kathy Sullivan Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Welcome
This is the day that the Lord has made!
Let us rejoice and be glad in it! ~Psalm 118:24
Announcements Kathy Sullivan
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“For the Beauty of the Earth,” J.B. Taylor
©2022, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Call to Worship
A new day has dawned.
God’s gift of life is renewed in you and me.
Praise God for today!
Praise God for the creative spirit in our midst!
Be still and know that God is here.
Let the Spirit in.
We are ready to pray and think and rejoice.
We are ready to hear God’s word.
Let us listen and respond to God, who meets us in new ways,
today in worship, and every day in the world.
Come to us, O God, and guide our worship.
Speak. Speak to us the word we need,
Let your word change us.
Let your word empower us to be your people.
* Hymn # 12
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
(Public Domain)
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might:
Thy justice, like mountains high soaring above;
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small.
In all life thou livest, the true life of all.
We blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
Then wither and perish; but naught changeth thee.
Thou reignest in glory; thou dwellest in light.
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight.
All praise we would render; O help us to see
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!
* Call to New Life
Sometimes the first thing we need to learn is the recognition of what we already have. Let the same mind be in us as in Christ, as we open our hearts for God’s healing and hope.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace
Creator God, we give you thanks for all that fills our lives with joy: the love of family and friends, the comfort of our homes, the challenge of our work, the delight of leisure. Too often, we take all these for granted. We fail to see them as your gifts. Forgive us. In this time of worship, stretch our understanding, that we may know our lives through your sovereign and compassionate gaze. Teach us to live in your world in faithfulness. Teach us to be at home wherever your Spirit leads us, through Jesus Christ your faithful witness. Amen.
* Assurance of God’s Love
The one who created the heavens and the earth
created each of us in their own image.
Our sovereign God created us in love.
The one who judges us came in Jesus to bear our burdens.
Our faithful brother came among us breathing forgiveness.
The one who inspires us will never leave us orphaned.
Our blessed Spirit is our comforter.
Hear these words of Jesus, and let them dwell in you deeply.
Peace be with you. You are forgiven. Follow me.
* Sharing of the Peace
The world is badly in need of the peace that God can provide.
Let us open our hearts to both receive that peace and to share it.
May the peace of our loving God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.
Scripture
Our reading from Luke and gives us an example: the young Jesus growing in wisdom. Then, our reading from first Peter offers a summons: like the prophets who came before us, we must use our intellects to grow as disciples.
Luke 2:39-40 NRSVUE
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
1 Peter 1:13
Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “In the Midst of New Dimensions” (Hymn #315)
©1994, Julian B. Rush, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Anthem
“Father, I Adore You,” Terrye Coelho
©1997, Maranatha! Music
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
Father, I adore You,
Lay my life before You,
How I love You.
Jesus, I adore You,
Lay my life before You,
How I love You.
Spirit, I adore You,
Lay my life before You,
How I love You.
Scripture Romans 12:1-2
I urge you therefore, sisters and brothers, because of the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your thoughtful worship. So do not be conformed to this world, rather be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may determine what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and mature.
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “Loving God with Our Mind” Rev. Pat Raube
* Affirmation of Faith From the Confession of 1967
God’s sovereign love is a mystery
beyond the reach of the human mind.
Human thought ascribes to God superlatives
of power, wisdom, and goodness.
But God reveals divine love in Jesus Christ
by showing power in the form of a servant,
wisdom in the folly of the cross,
and goodness in receiving sinful human beings.
The power of God’s love in Christ to transform the world
discloses that the Redeemer is the Lord and Creator
who made all things to serve the purpose of God’s love.
* Hymn # 650
“O Beauty Ever Ancient”
Text: Shirley Erena Murray, ©2000, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Music: Alfred V. Fedak, ©2009, Selah Publishing Company, Inc., All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
O beauty ever ancient,
O beauty ever new,
Divine and Holy Presence,
My being sings to you,
In gratitude, in worship
My being sings to you!
O beauty in creation,
In world of sound and sight,
O beauty in the silence,
In darkness as in light,
In gratitude, in worship
My being sings to you!
O beauty that is movement
In liquid line of grace,
O beauty that is stillness
In lovely form or face,
In gratitude, in worship
My being sings to you!
O beauty of the Spirit
Where love is shining through,
O beauty ever ancient,
O beauty ever new,
In gratitude, in worship
My being sings to you!
Prayers of the People
The 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.
Prayer Response # 587
“Alleluia!” Fintan O’Carroll, Christopher Walker
©1981, @1985, OCP, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Call for Offering
* Doxology # 606
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”
(Public Domain)
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.
* Dedication of Offering
* Hymn # 643
“Now Thank We All Our God”
(Public Domain)
Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers' arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in God's grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God,
Who reigns in highest heaven,
To Father and to Son
And Spirit now be given:
The one eternal God,
Whom heaven and earth adore,
The God who was, and is,
And shall be evermore.
* Benediction
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“Sent Forth by God’s Blessing,” John Turner
©2019, Lorenz Publishing Co., All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
Scripture Translations from the Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney, “A Women’s Lectionary for the
Whole Church,” Year A, unless otherwise noted.