Mustard Seeds of Faith
“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say
to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
-Matthew 17:10
This Sunday we will enjoy the leadership of our students in worship. We will celebrate our graduating high school seniors and bestow quilts made with love and care upon them as we bless them into the next phase of life. Please join us as we return to the Main Sanctuary for worship at 10am. We will also share cake in the First Pres Center!
Our theme for Youth Sunday this year is “Mustard Seeds of Faith”. Compared to pre-covid days, we had smaller numbers of students attending our Elementary Sunday School, our Middle School YB’s, and our High School LYFE group. Even with those small numbers, God brought some incredible growth. The old adage, “good things come in small packages” is true. Jesus certainly used that analogy with the mustard seed parables and examples. We don’t need lots of faith – just a little, to make a powerful and mountain-moving impact! God is working and moving in our church, in our families, and in our students. We are so thankful for Ayla Ragsdale, who led our LYFE group this year, along with her faithful team of volunteers. We have been so blessed with Norma Cristobal’s leadership of our YB’s and Elementary programs. As we continue the search for our new Director of Student and Family Ministries, please keep these amazing women, volunteers, and students in your prayers.
As you have heard, this past weekend was one fraught with violence and hatred in our nation. The senseless murder of shoppers in a grocery store in New York and the attack in a Presbyterian Church in Southern California leave us grappling for meaning and God’s intervention. We join the communities of faith in Buffalo, NY, and Irvine, CA, praying for an end to racism in America, an end to violence in our country, and justice and righteousness to flow down like water. We pray for comfort for those grieving families and communities. We pray for God’s peace in our world. Our prayers, just like mustard seeds of faith, transform the world.
Imagine what a mustard seed of faith might do this week in your life. Not a quart, nor a gallon, nor a truckload. Just a mustard seed. Imagine… Now go and live out that grace. Please join us this Sunday for a very special worship service and celebration.
Dear Lord God, we thank you for mustard seed and for the wonders of yeast and for how these things teach us about your love. Lord, plant your seed into our lives, help us work your yeast into our hearts that wonderful things may happen. We pray, Lord, your comfort to those who have been ripped apart by gun violence in the past days. We pray for safety for our worshiping communities. We pray for justice and righteousness to prevail. We pray for an end to racist violence and hatred in our country. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
