Bread and More Soup Kitchen continues to serve a free to-go meal every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:15.
June 2026
Father’s Day
Reminder: We've got special Father's Day offerings for this Sunday, June 21. The men will lead our worship service, and the women of the church are hosting a Father's Day luncheon for us. It would be great if you could join us.
Hope all is well.
Blessings,
Pastor Sean
Sunday School: Sunday School is finished for the year. Please call our church office at 631-727-2621 if you would like information for next year. Sunday School is held during church services at 10:00.
Bible Study: Bible Study is held on Fridays from 10:00am - 11:00 am. Call the church office for the information. 631-727-2621 You can also join us on Zoom. All are welcome. Last Bible Study is June 19th.
Thrift Shop: The thrift shop hours are Tuesday and Thursday 10-2 and Saturday 9-1. Clothing, knickknacks, and other small household items are accepted. No furniture or children's clothing. Please bring your donations only when we are open. Thank you for your support.
If you would like to join us on Zoom, please follow the link
Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting chat link
https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/84520152334
Meeting ID:
845 2015 2334
Passcode: 123456
Third Sunday after Pentecost
A Service of the Word
June 14, 2026 ✦ 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Melcombe C. S. Lang
(Once the music begins we ask that you would please maintain respectful silence)
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love;
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship, we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: This is a time of God’s appearing; let us worship!
Let us recognize that God is within and among us.
Many: God’s ear is inclined towards us.
We know that God listens and hears our prayers.
One: We are here to offer our thanks to God.
We will pay our vows to God in the presence others.
Many: We are grateful for the grace in which we stand.
We praise God with great joy and gladness.
One: God bears us up on eagles’ wings.
God draws us into covenant community.
ALL: We will listen for God’s commandments
We will seek to do all that God requires.
*HYMN: O How Glorious, Full of Wonder No. 558
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
God of all creation, help us to recognize your presence among us. May we greet one another as your precious children and as messengers of your care. Help us offer such hospitality to one another that even the most skeptical among us will be touched by love. You are love; in you we find hope amid our weaknesses and doubt. Let your glory shine in this place today as we lift up the cup of salvation and call on your name. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
Shephard of the flock, whose compassion reaches out to all who are harassed and helpless, teach us and empower us to proclaim the good news of your dominion, that healing may be offered, new life received, and demons overcome. May your love tend all of us day by day, transforming us in the image of Christ. Amen.
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ 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. Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is
the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever.
Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
OFFERING: I Dream a World Andre J Thomas
* DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ Genesis 18:1-15 OT Page 13
❖ Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19 HYMNAL Page 699
❖ Romans 5:1-8 NT Page 135
❖ Matthew 9:35-10:8 NT Page 8
SERMON: “Godsends”
A Godsend is a highly welcome, beneficial, or necessary thing, person or event that arrives unexpectedly, often at the exact moment it is needed most. It is used to describe something that is received as a divine blessing or -- for those considerably less religious -- as an extraordinarily lucky piece of good fortune. The found compass for a wayward hiker, the rainstorm in a time of draught, the sudden appearance of strong friends on moving day can all be considered Godsends.
For Abraham, as he sat at the entrance of his tent, the Godsends were the three mysterious men who bring miraculous blessings and words of promise. For the people of Jesus’ day, Jesus himself was the godsend as he taught in their synagogues and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom and cured “every disease and every sickness.” And then it’s not Jesus alone, but the early apostles who are the Godsends as they cure the sick, raise the dead. cleanse those with a skin disease and cast out demons. Later it’s Paul who the major Godsend as he establishes churches and takes the time to write to them, letters that will bless congregations for centuries upon centuries.
Yet such as the Godsends of Bible land, that distant region of days long past and accounts that often go more forgotten than embraced.
About 25 years ago, I first moved out of Manhattan and into the unknown land to me of the north shore of suburban Long Island. Even as I was still unpacking, the minister of the NY Association of that time showed up with her husband and with trays of annuals in hand and planted a garden outside the kitchen window. Back then, I knew next to nothing about gardening. That surprise visit and planting inspired me to begin my research, my learning. Godsends.
I joined Dave’s Garden, now National Gardening Association, and read about zones and annuals, perennials and such. Over the years, I befriended a woman of Southold who was a master gardener. She and her husband visited me and I, Miguel and Gaby visited them. We were astounded by her gardens and blessed by her suggestions and gentle advice. They even treated me to lunches at some wonderful restaurants.
When her husband passed away, some five years later, I began to write to her each day. Now some 15 years later, that continues to this day. The notes are brief but contain the joys and the challenges of life as it comes. I’ve helped her through some rough patches, even including computer and tv issues that necessitated a bit more technical knowledge than she had. Perhaps the biggest compliment she’s extended my way, and done so more than once, is to say, “You are a godsend!”
Godsends. I’ve long been blessed by them as I trust you have, too. These are the neighbors and friends who extend the much-needed helping hand, who share a dish or two and perhaps even the recipe, especially when they know we’re in no position to cook, who look after the house and pets when one travels, who do the fixes that have got us befuddled.
As I get to concluding my ministry here with you, and look over my should at the 13½ years I’ve been here, a nod to the Godsends among us seems appropriate. Of course, even prior to my arrival, God was already at work in our midst. There was the team of dedicated individuals who worked hard on the search committee and waded through the dozens and dozens of applications for this position. And, of course, long before them, there were the people who are remembered on our stained-glass windows and in the tomes of historical records who gave much and did much for this church to even get started and built.
Throughout the years, there have been tireless volunteers who have spent long hours, painting, fixing, filing, banking, singing, and thrift-shop working. Ron Blake, Alice Davis, Alice Summerville, and Joan Fleishman are just a few of those now gone whom I knew to be regularly here and at work at keeping this place going and in good shape. A Godsend, each one.
Still today there are many Godsends among us, some long-time members like Jim Wooten, Sandy Gruner, Jane Kulesa, Melinda Topping, Barbara Parsons, Luann Seaman, Janet Sanford, Janis Meyer, Alan and Susan Hubbard, and of course, the Nancy and Alan Repp who continue to help out in big, and sometimes unseen, ways to sustain us, nurture us, and bring the blessings to us especially when most needed. They share their gifts, their expertise, and generosity with us and others.
There are more too, others who have joined during my tenure here, who stepped up to do and to bless such as Marion Maino, Shirley Bergman, and even more recently Jeanne Vecchio, the O’Hares, and now Bonnie Miller, who serve or have served on our boards. There are even those who have yet to join our church, like David Hayes, a big help with our pantry collections, Lorraine DeArmitt, a gift for our bookkeeping issues, Suzanne Pfalzer who’s been a boon to our choir and Tom Pfalzer who has excelled at set-up before we worship. All, too, are doing and giving by the grace of God. There’s every choir member, every thrift shop volunteer, every coffee hour host or hostess, and every regular donor, all who are sharing their time, talent and treasures for the good of this church, for the good of all. These are the Godsends among us.
My thanks to you. Our thanks to you, from this church and our community, for you do bring blessing by your service. As I fade into the horizon, I encourage you to stay with it, keep at it, and know that the Godsends have not ceased. The unknown is always a bit scary, but God remains and God continues to embrace us all.
*HYMN: You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore No. 173
https://youtu.be/CsKijadStPg
*BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel.
Lead us back if we should stray.
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Sonata K. 545 Scarlatti
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Service of Word and Sacrament
June 7, 2026✦ 10am
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Prelude in A Major Chopin
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love.
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: God calls us out of places known and secure.
God invites us into a living, trusting, relationship.
Many: Happy are those whom God chooses as a heritage.
God’s counsel to every generation comes to us.
One: God continues to bring new worlds into being.
God is constantly offering new opportunities to us.
Many: We are called away from empty pursuits.
God wants to employ our talents for the common good.
One: Let us worship God with our whole being.
Let us use all our talents to praise our Creator.
ALL: Praise God with instruments we have made.
Sing praises with voices God has given.
*HYMN: The God of Abraham Praise No. 24
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
Teach us your word in this hour, faithful God, for we want to communicate your truth to our children and their children. We want to follow your commandments, to love you with all our hearts. We intend to walk in the ways you set before us. Preserve us, we pray, and grant us courage to face each day’s challenges. Help us to live by faith and to serve with abiding trust. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21. Please join us as the men of the church lead worship and the women host our Father’s Day brunch.
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer:
God of law and grace, who shared our common lot in Jesus Christ, we are drawn to your righteousness, believing that you will justify us and lead us to a wholeness that is freeing to us and attractive to others who need the good news of the gospel. Unite us in love for you and one another, that your will might find life in us and in all we meet….
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ 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. Lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever. Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
OFFERING & OFFERTORY ANTHEM:
We Come to Your Table, Lord Ruth Elaine Schram
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ Genesis 12:1-9 NT Page 9
❖ Psalm 33:1-12 Hymnal Page 643
❖ Romans 4:13-25 NT Page 135
❖ Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 NT Page 8
*GLORIA:
Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit,
Three-in-one; as it was in the beginning
Is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Amen.
SERMON: “A Little Scary…Journey Faithfully”
When it comes to reflections on Abram aka Abraham, it’s rare, at best, that any focus on his courage. Most will focus on his faith or faithfulness, obedience, trust, progeny or leadership. But as courage indicates some trepidation, for it doesn’t take courage to do the easy stuff, it’s seldom featured in Abraham’s life.
Upon hearing our Gospel lesson, it’s easy, too, to skip over the courageous and instead focus on Jesus, his welcoming spirit, his command of unclean spirits, and his miracle working. That’s all well and good, too, as any of that could make for decent sermon, but how about the not-as-gifted or those who feel not-yet-called.
Yet courage in the face of the unknown and unsure speaks to us all. Obviously, few of us are being asked to leave our native land, preach to nations, or heal with a touch. But most of us are trying to take the next faithful step even when that step feels uncertain, costly, or frightening. And that is where courage lives. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is what faith looks like when fear is still in the room. It is trust with trembling hands. It is obedience with a racing heart. It is moving forward when we would much rather stay where life feels familiar, controllable, and safe.
Consider Abram. The Lord says, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” That is not a small request. God does not hand Abram a map, a timeline, or a guarantee that every mile will be easy. At the ripe young age of 75, Abram is called to leave home, leave routine, leave what he knows, and walk toward a promise he cannot yet see. That’s faith, of course, but it is also courage. It takes courage to loosen your grip on what you’ve known well and what you’ve even been led to trust. It takes courage to step away from the familiar patterns that have organized your life. It takes courage to trust that God can be present not only in the place you have loved, but also in the place you have not yet arrived.
Another important element is that Abram’s courage does not depend on having every answer first. He goes because God calls. That matters for us, because many of us delay obedience until fear has disappeared or until certainty arrives. But certainty is seldom given in advance. Often what is given is just enough light for the next step or two. Abram teaches us that courage is not knowing everything; it is trusting the One who does. In a foreign land, even with those Canaanites about, he pitches tents, builds altars, and keeps moving. His life becomes a testimony that fear does not have to have the final word.
Then there is Matthew, sitting at the tax booth. Tax collecting was not simply a job; it was a whole world, a defined role, a settled identity. Matthew knows how that world works. He knows where he sits, what he does, and likely what people think of him. Then Jesus passes by and says, “Follow me.” In the brevity of the account, we can miss how disruptive that invitation is. Matthew is not merely changing careers. He is leaving a whole structure of security, income, routine, and reputation. To rise from that booth is an act of courage.
There’s always at least a tinge of trepidation involved in the process of becoming someone new. There is courage required whenever Christ calls us out of a life that is settled, even if it is settled in ways that are not necessarily all that good for us. There is courage in leaving habits that have defined us, in stepping into vocations we did not expect, in saying yes to a path that others may not understand. Matthew gets up before he knows how the whole future will unfold. He gets up because the call of Jesus is stronger than the comfort of staying put. Sometimes courage is simply getting up from the place where we have been stuck.
And then there is the woman with the hemorrhage, whose courage may be the quietest and yet, in some ways, the most profound of all. She has suffered for years, as one who’s long been categorized as “unclean.” She has likely known exhaustion, disappointment, social isolation, and the ache of living in a body that feels like a battlefield. She comes from the margins. She does not make a speech. She does not ask for the crowd to part. She says to herself that if she can only touch the fringe of his cloak, she will be made well. Imagine that. Yes, again, that’s faith, but it is also deeply courageous because it is vulnerable. It is courageous because it even risks disappointment.
It takes profound courage to reach out when you have been disappointed so many times. It takes courage to believe healing, help, mercy, or change might still be possible. Some fears are loud and obvious. Others are hidden deep inside us: the fear that nothing will ever change, the fear that asking for help will expose us, the fear that hope will make fools of us. Yet she reaches anyway. She touches anyway. And Jesus does not shame her for her need or for her boldness. He assures her, even calls her “daughter.” Her courage becomes the path by which grace meets her in public and in tenderness.
Taken together, these stories remind us that courage comes in more than one form. Sometimes courage looks like Abram, leaving for a place not yet seen. Sometimes courage looks like Matthew, standing up and walking away from an old identity. Sometimes courage looks like a suffering woman, reaching out with one trembling hand toward the mercy of God. Courage can be public or hidden, dramatic or quiet. But in every case, courage is a response to God’s presence. It is not pretending nothing hurts. It is not denying that we are afraid. It is trusting that God can meet us on the road, at the moment of decision, and in the reach of our need.
What’s a bit scary for us these days? Likely more than a few things. For some, courage looks like facing an operation or beginning a difficult treatment. There is nothing easy about placing your body in the care of others when you do not know exactly how things will go. For others, like me, courage looks like major change: retirement, the end of a long chapter, the beginning of something new in a new place. For those here, it means the newness of leadership and of style in the weeks and months ahead. For others still, courage looks like a starting over, recovery, walking into a room where no one knows your name, a change in career or perhaps in hobbies and habits.
The take-away isn’t that we should all suddenly feel brave. It’s this: take the next faithful step, even if you take it with fear. If you are facing surgery or recovery, courage may be praying honestly, asking questions, letting others help, and entrusting yourself to God one day at a time. In a season of change, courage is releasing what was, even while you may still grieve it, and making room for what God is doing next. If you are in a new place, courage may be introducing yourself, showing up again, learning names, and resisting the temptation to retreat into isolation. Courage often looks very ordinary when we are living it. But even the ordinary can be courageous.
The good news is that in all three stories, the courageous one is not abandoned. Abram is led. Matthew is welcomed into discipleship and table fellowship. The woman is healed and addressed with tenderness. The point is not that courageous people are fearless; the point is that God is faithful. And because God is faithful, we can do scary things. We can leave what is familiar. We can rise from the booth. We can reach for the hem. We can go to the appointment, make the call, enter the room, begin again. Not because we are certain, and not because we are unafraid, but because Christ still passes by calling, healing, and leading his people onward. So if the road before you feels a bit scary, journey faithfully anyway. God has met frightened people before, and God has a way of making a future out of their courage, even out of ours.
OUR ORDER OF COMMUNION
The Invitation and Time of Confession:
❖ Call to Confession
❖ Silent Confession
❖ Unison Prayer of Confession:
God of justice and righteousness, we come to you as tax collectors
and sinners flocked to Jesus long ago. We have wavered in distrust
of your promises, yet cling to their truth. We believe that your ways
are far more fulfilling than any we can devise, yet we shrink from following
where Christ leads. Forgive our pursuit of lesser gods we create,
and wean us away from our fascination with the false values that tempt us.
Draw us closer to you, we pray. Amen.
❖ Words of Assurance
Thanksgiving:
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to God Most High.
People: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Pastor: We give you thanks, God of majesty and mercy,
for calling forth the creation and raising us from dust
by the breath of your being.
We bless you for the beauty and bounty of the earth and for the vision of the day when sharing by all will mean scarcity for none.
We remember the covenant you made with your people Israel, and we give you thanks for all our ancestors in faith.
We rejoice that you call us to reconciliation with you and all people everywhere and that you remain faithful to your covenant even when we are faithless.
We rejoice that you call the entire human family to this table of sacrifice and victory.
We come in remembrance and celebration of the gift of Jesus Christ, whom you sent, in the fullness of time, to be the good news.
Born of Mary, our sister in faith, Christ lived among us to reveal the mystery of your Word, to suffer and die on the cross for us, to be raised from death on the third day, and then to live in glory.
We bless you, gracious God, for the presence of your Holy Spirit in the church you have gathered. With your sons and daughters of faith in all places and times, we praise you with joy as we say together:
All: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory,
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Words of Institution and Communal Proclamation:
Pastor: We remember that on the night of betrayal and desertion,
and on the eve of death, Jesus gathered the disciples for a shared meal of preparation.
Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying: “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, he took the cup after supper.
Again he gave God thanks and praise and said:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as
often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
All: Christ’s death, O God we proclaim.
Christ’s resurrection we declare.
Christ’s coming, we await.
Glory be to you, O God.
Prayers of Consecration:
Pastor: Eternal God, we unite in this covenant of faith, recalling Christ’s suffering and death, rejoicing in Christ’s resurrection, and awaiting Christ’s return in victory. We spread your table with these gifts of the earth and of our labor. We present to you our very lives, committed to your service on behalf of all people. We ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon this bread and wine, upon our gifts, and upon us. Strengthen your universal church that it may be the champion of peace and justice in all the world. Restore the earth with your grace that is able to make all things new.
All: Be present with us as we share this meal,
and throughout all our lives, that we may know you as
the Holy One, who with Christ and the Holy Spirit,
lives forever. Amen.
Sharing the Bread and Cup:
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is offered for us.
People: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.
We celebrate the grace of God in our midst.
Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving:
We give you thanks, Almighty God, that you have refreshed us at your table through the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to heal us, we pray, and strengthen our faith. Increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; we ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
*HYMN: Be Not Dismayed No. 460
https://youtu.be/N7a1hDWtj_M
*PASTORAL BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel,
Lead us back if we should stray,
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Petit Jacquet Claudio Merulo
Pass code: 727262
We're biblical, traditional, yet progressive.
We honor and take pride in our
Congregational roots.
We covenant with one another and with God,
as revealed
in Jesus Christ through the illumination of
the Holy Spirit.
We endeavor to walk humbly with God and
strive for justice and peace.
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 56.7
We are an open and affirming congregation in which all persons regardless of race, ethnic background, economic status, gender, age, or personal ability, are equally affirmed into membership, leadership and employment
and joyfully welcomed.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Worship on Sundays at 10:00am.
No matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here.
103 1st Street, Riverhead, New York 11901, United States
Today | Closed |
Our church office is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am-12:00. Church services are held on Sunday at 10:00am, and coffee hour in the fellowship hall following the worship service. Sunday School will be held at 10:00 am. (To run concurrent with our worship service)
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