Youth Sunday: The Mustard Seed

Sunday, June 7, 2026
10:30 AM 11:30 AM 10:30 11:30

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

Google Calendar ICS

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in the earth. This tiny seed produces a tree large enough to welcome a community of birds to nest in its branches. Youth Ministry is a little like a mustard seed! We do our best to plant the gospel in the hearts of our young people, and then we stand aside, marveling at their growth and wisdom!

Please join us this Sunday as our young people lead us in worship, and as our graduating senior shares the Word with us all! You are invited to join us for worship in 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!

Youth Sunday: The Mustard Seed

Psalm 65:5-13; Matthew 13:31-35

June 7, 2026 

Union Presbyterian Church 

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 

Liturgist: Youth 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          Rev. Pat Raube

Prelude Robin Lostetter

“Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord,” Mark Hayes

Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

* Call to Worship Xavier Rivera

Hear the whisper of the Spirit in your ear:

Come and worship!
Hear the wisdom of Jesus in your heart:
Come as you are!

Hear the song being sung through the ages:
God is good, all the time!
All the time, God is good!

* Hymn # 401

“Gather Us In,” Marty Haugen

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Here in this place the new light is streaming;

Now is the darkness vanished away;

See in this space our fears and our dreamings

Brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken;

Gather us in, the blind and the lame;

Call to us now and we shall awaken;

We shall arise at the sound of our name.

We are the young, our lives are a mystery.

We are the old who yearn for your face.

We have been sung throughout all of history,

Called to be light to the whole human race.

Gather us in, the rich and the haughty;

Gather us in, the proud and the strong;

Give us a heart so meek and so lowly;

Give us the courage to enter the song.

Here we will take the wine and the water;

Here we will take the bread of new birth.

Here you shall call your sons and your daughters,

Call us anew to be salt for the earth.

Give us to drink the wine of compassion;

Give us to eat the bread that is you;

Nourish us well, and teach us to fashion

Lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

Not in the dark of buildings confining,

Not in some heaven, light years away:

Here in this place the new light is shining;

Now is the kingdom and now is the day.

Gather us in and hold us forever;

Gather us in and make us your own;

Gather us in, all peoples together,

Fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

* Call to New Life Kiara Neal

How has your week been? Has it been great? A breeze? Has it been difficult? Made you want to hide under the covers? No matter what it’s been like, God is here for you, and for me. Let us pray to God for all the help we need.

* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace (unison) Kiara Neal

Dear God, our Creator, we know that you love us, and we love you. But sometimes it’s hard to be the people we want to be. We want to be kind and loving, but we get mad or frustrated. We want to be helpers and givers, but we get tired or resentful. We want to be your people, but we’re not sure we’re good enough. Help us, God! Help us to be the people you created us to be. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

* Words of Assurance from Isaiah 43 Rev. Pat Raube

Listen now to God’s words:
Don’t be afraid: I have claimed you as my own.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters of chaos, I will be with you.

When you walk through the fire of anger, I will be by your side.
You are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.
I am kind and faithful, slow to anger, and filled with love.
Be at peace. Know that you are forgiven. Turn the page, and begin again.

* Sharing of the Peace Carmen Rivera

It feels so good to know that God is with us.

What a relief!

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Let us share with one another a sign of God’s peace.

Scripture Psalm 65:5-13 Channel Rivera

Psalm 65 describes what it feels like when God comes to your rescue and makes everything right again.

A reading from the Psalter, Psalm 65, beginning at verse 5.

Through wondrous deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation, hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
You established the mountains through your might;
you are girded with strength.
The one who silences the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the rumble of the peoples.
They who live at the farthest reaches are awed by your signs;
you make the dawnings of morning and evening sing for joy.
You attend the earth and water her,
you enrich her greatly;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain, thus, you have established it.
Irrigating earth’s furrows, smoothing her ridges,
softening her with showers, and blessing her growth.
You crown the year with your goodness;
your paths overflow with fatness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
and with joy the hills gird themselves.
The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys arrayed in grain,
indeed, they shout for joy.

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube

Music: “Liebster Jesus,” J.G. Walther

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Anthem

“The Kingdom of Our God"

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

The kingdom of our God is like

A treasure trove concealed

Beneath the ground, for which one sells

All else to buy that field,

All else to buy that field.

The kingdom of our God is like

A mustard seed in size

Which grows to offer nesting space

For every bird that flies,

For every bird that flies.

The kingdom of our God is like

The yeast a woman takes

And mixes in to leaven each

And every loaf she bakes,

And every loaf she bakes.

The kingdom of our God is like

A merchant who to own

The rarest pearl sells everything

To gain that pearl alone,

To gain that pearl alone.

The kingdom of our God is like

A net which has been cast

And draws in good and bad which must

Be sorted out at last,

Be sorted out at last.

Skit “The Mustard Seed” Spirit Squad

Scripture Matthew 13:31-32, 34-35 Arianna Neal

Jesus laid out another parable before the crowd: “The realm of the heavens is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field. Indeed it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; without a parable he said nothing to them. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth to speak in parables;

I will declare what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word.

Thanks be to God.

Sermon Arianna Neal

Affirmation of Faith from the Iona Community, Scotland

We believe in God,
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the church:
to Celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

* Hymn # 48

“Rain Down”

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people!

Rain down, rain down,
Rain down your love, God of life!

God’s dear beloved, God wants us to love,

Wants us to love one another.
God loved us first, before we ever knew
Jesus, God’s son and our brother.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people!

Rain down, rain down,
Rain down your love, God of life!

Who would dare separate us from God’s love?
Peril or famine or sorrow?
Nothing can do that; God’s love will stand fast,
God’s love’s for every tomorrow.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people!

Rain down, rain down,
Rain down your love, God of life!

Come, Holy Spirit, and live in our hearts.
Come, God, who loves us and made us.
Come, Jesus, brother and friend for our lives.
Come, lift us up, re-create us!

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people!

Rain down, rain down,
Rain down your love, God of life!

Prayers of the People 

THE LORD’S PRAYER  (Unison) 

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

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

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 God, all creatures here below:

Praise God above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Dedication of Offering 

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Invitation

One day, children were being brought to Jesus by their parents,
in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray.
The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them.
Imagine what kinds of things they might have said.
“Don’t bother the Jesus.”
“Jesus is too busy for children.”
“Can’t you keep these children quiet?”
But Jesus said,
“Let the children come to me, and do not stop them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”
And he laid his hands on them and blessed them.

May God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the heart of God.
Let us give thanks to our loving God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

Carmen:

Why do we give thanks and praise before this table?

Congregation:

We give thanks for God’s work of creation and salvation.

Pastor:

It is our greatest joy, creator God,

to give you thanks in every time and place.

you made the heavens and the earth

and all that is in them-

sun, moon, and stars,

mountains, rivers, and trees,

animals and people.

You even made us in your own image

to love and serve you,

and you show us your mercy every day.

Therefore with people and all creation,

We shout your praise:

Sanctus

“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,” Marty Haugen

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Holy, holy, holy Lord, 

God of power, God of might, 

Heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. 

Hosanna in the highest. 

Blessed is He who comes  

In the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest, 

Hosanna in the highest. 

Pastor:

All glory and blessing are yours, Saving God,

For in your mercy you gave your only Son, Jesus Christ.

Born a child like us,

He grew up to be your servant.

Jesus taught your truth.

He welcomed, healed, forgave, and loved people.

In the end, he suffered and died

to save us from our sin.

And God raised him up,

to give us a new life.

We praise you that before he died,

our Savior gave us this holy meal

to eat together until he comes again.

Xavier:

Why do we eat bread at this table?

Pastor:

On the night before he died, Jesus took bread.

After giving thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples,

saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Channel:

Why do we drink from the cup at this table?

Pastor:

The same night, Jesus took the cup, saying:

This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,

shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Kiara:

What do we remember at this table?

Pastor:

We remember God’s gracious love for us,

Christ’s death and resurrection for us,

and the Spirit’s tender care for us.

And remembering,

We offer ourselves and our gifts for the world.

According to our Lord’s commandment:

Congregation:

We remember his death,

we proclaim his resurrection,

we await his coming in glory.

Arianna:

What do we ask at this table?

Pastor:

Merciful God,

pour out your Holy Spirit on us

and on these gifts of bread and the fruit of the vine,

that in eating and drinking together

we may be made one with Christ

and with one another.

At this table we ask for unity in Christ our Lord,

and we ask for strength to serve the world in his name

until the day you make all things new.

Congregation:

Through Christ,

all glory and honor are yours, almighty God,

with the Holy Spirit in the holy church,

now and forever. Amen.

Music during Communion:

“Let Us Break Bread Together,” Brenda Dillon

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Prayer of Thanksgiving Rev. Pat Raube

Loving God, you renew us at your table with the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation. May this food strengthen us in love and help us to serve you in each other. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our brother, friend, and Lord. Amen.

* Hymn # 741

“Guide My Feet,” Wendell P. Whalum

@1985, Estate of Wendell P. Whalum, All rights reserved.     

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Guide my feet while I run this race;
Guide my feet while I run this race;
Guide my feet while I run this race,
For I don't want to run this race in vain!

Hold my hand while I run this race;
Hold my hand while I run this race;
Hold my hand while I run this race,
For I don't want to run this race in vain!

Stand by me while I run this race;
Stand by me while I run this race;
Stand by me while I run this race,
For I don't want to run this race in vain!

I'm your child while I run this race;
I'm your child while I run this race;
I'm your child while I run this race,
For I don't want to run this race in vain!

Search my heart while I run this race;
Search my heart while I run this race;
Search my heart while I run this race,
For I don't want to run this race in vain!

Guide my feet while I run this race;
Guide my feet while I run this race;
Guide my feet while I run this race,
For I don't want to run this race in vain!

* Benediction 

Postlude Robin Lostetter

Two Hymn Tune Intonations by Paul Manz, Op. 11

“Freu dich sehr” and “Grosser Gott”

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.     

Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.     

Scripture Translations are from A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A, by Wilda C. Gafney, unless otherwise noted.

The Lord’s Supper Liturgy from The Book of Common Worship, PCUSA, 2018.

Worship With Us

Youth Sunday: The Mustard Seed