July 19th, Sermon & Ministry Resources
"Groaning Toward Glory" (Romans 8:12-25)
Lectionary Readings — Proper11 — July 19, 2026
Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-12,23-24; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
Call to Worship (based on Romans 8:12-25)
Leader: We are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. We have been set free from that obligation — and brought into something far greater.
People: We come this morning not as slaves to the old way of living, but as those who have been called into the freedom of the children of God.
Leader: All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.
People: We received a spirit of adoption. And by that Spirit we cry out — Abba, Father. You are ours, and we are Yours.
Leader: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God — and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
People: We do not come to You as strangers hoping to be tolerated. We come as Your children, welcomed into an inheritance we could never have earned.
Leader: We share in His sufferings so that we may also share in His glory. The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
People: We bring our hard weeks and our tired hearts — and we lay them down here. What we are carrying is real, but it is not the whole story. The best is still ahead.
Leader: The whole creation has been groaning in labor pains — and not only creation, but we ourselves groan inwardly while we wait for the redemption of our bodies.
People: We groan too, Lord. We feel the weight of a world not yet made right. But we groan as people who have the first fruits of the Spirit — as people who know what is coming.
Leader: In hope we were saved. And hope that is seen is not hope. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
People: We are a waiting people — but we are not a hopeless people. We wait on the certainty of what You have promised, and what You have promised will not fail.
All: We worship You, Father — the God who adopted us, who calls us heirs, who fills us with a hope that does not disappoint. The creation groans, and we groan with it — but we groan toward You. Come, Lord Jesus. Until then, we wait — and we worship. Amen.
Opening Prayer (based on Psalm 139:1-12,23-24)
Let us pray:
Father, You already know everything we are about to say.
You knew it before we walked through the door this morning — every conversation we wish had gone differently, every fear we carried quietly so no one else would see it. You know when we sit down and when we rise up. You discern our thoughts from far away. There is not a word on our tongues this morning that You do not already know completely.
And we are here anyway. That is its own kind of grace.
We confess that the knowledge of You knowing us so thoroughly is not always a comfort. We have become skilled at managing what others see — presenting the version of ourselves that holds together, that looks like it is doing fine. But You cannot be managed. You see through every careful presentation to the thing underneath it. You know us as we actually are, not as we have arranged ourselves to appear.
Some of us have tried to run from that. We have descended into our own private darkness and told ourselves You could not see us there. But You are there. The night is as bright as the day to You. There is no depth to which we can sink where Your hand is not already extended. We cannot outrun Your presence — and this morning, standing honestly before You, we are grateful that we cannot.
Because we do not come to You needing to hide. You have already seen everything there is to see — and You are still here. You have hemmed us in behind and before and laid Your hand upon us. That is not the posture of a God who is finished with us. That is the posture of a God who will not let us go.
So we ask what the Psalmist asked — not as a formality, but as the most honest prayer we know how to pray. Search us, O God, and know our hearts. Try us and know our thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in us — and lead us in the way everlasting.
Meet us now in this hour. And remind us that to be fully known and fully loved at the same time — by You — is not a contradiction. It is the gospel.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[NOTE to Paid subscribers — scroll down for the full manuscript sermon]
Sermon Outline: "GROANING TOWARD GLORY"
Based on Romans 8:12-25
I. The Obligation We Have Left Behind (vv. 12–13)
II. The Adoption We Have Been Given (vv. 14–17)
III. The Glory That Has Been Promised (vv. 18–25)
Full Manuscript Sermon Below for Paid Subscribers
