June 14th, Sermon & Ministry Resources

"More than we Deserved" (Romans 5:1-8)

Jun 08, 2026

∙ Paid

Lectionary Readings — Proper 6 — June 14, 2026

Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7); Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8, (9-23)

Call to Worship (based on Romans 5:1-8)

Leader: We have been justified by faith — declared righteous not by our own doing, but by the grace of God poured out through Jesus Christ.

People: Therefore we have peace with God. Not a peace we earned, but a peace He gave — through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Leader: Through Him we have been granted access into this grace in which we now stand. We do not come before God as strangers or as those on trial — we come as those who belong to Him.

People: We stand in His grace. We rejoice in the hope of His glory. This is where we take our place today.

Leader: And we do not only rejoice in hope — we rejoice even in our sufferings, knowing that God wastes nothing. Suffering produces endurance; endurance produces character; character produces hope.

People: And this hope does not disappoint us, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Leader: While we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners — not after we had cleaned ourselves up, not after we had proven ourselves worthy —

People: God demonstrated His love for us. Christ died for us. That is the measure of His love — not our worthiness, but His grace.

Leader: Come, let us worship the God who justifies the ungodly, who reaches the unreachable, and who loves the unlovable.

All: We come — not because we are worthy, but because He is faithful. We come — not to earn His favor, but to celebrate the favor He has already given. Glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose love we stand. Amen.

Opening Prayer (based on Genesis 18:1-15)

Let us pray:

Lord God Almighty,

You are the God who draws near. You are not a distant deity, removed from the dust and dailiness of human life — You are the One who comes to us, who seeks us out, who appears at the entrance of our tents in the heat of the day. We marvel this morning that the God who holds the universe in His hands would stoop to sit with us, to meet us where we are, to speak into our ordinary hours. You did it for Abraham. You do it still. And so we gather, asking You to do it again — right here, right now, in this place.

Father, we confess that we are much like Sarah. We have heard Your promises and we have laughed — not always the laughter of joy, but sometimes the laughter of doubt. We have looked at our own limitations, our own depleted resources, the barrenness of what we bring to You, and we have quietly concluded that what You promised simply cannot happen. Forgive us for reasoning from our weakness rather than from Your faithfulness. Forgive us for measuring Your power by what we can see, when You are the God who works precisely in the places where human possibility has run out.

And yet, gracious Father, we come before You not crushed by our unbelief, but drawn back by Your patience. You did not abandon Sarah in her laughter. You did not walk away when she denied it out of fear. You simply asked the question that silences every doubt and disarms every excuse: Is anything too hard for the Lord? Let that question settle over us this morning. Let it do its work in every weary heart, every discouraged spirit, every life that has been waiting so long it has nearly stopped expecting.

We come before You today as a people who need to hear You speak. We are carrying things into this room that are too heavy for us — burdens we have borne quietly, hopes we have nearly abandoned, situations that have stretched our faith to its limits. Meet us, Lord. Sit with us as You sat with Abraham. Feed us from Your Word as he fed his guests. And let us leave this hour having encountered not merely an idea about You, but You Yourself — the living God, the Promise-Keeper, the One for whom nothing is too hard.

May the truth of Your Word today open what has been closed, restore what has grown cold, and call forth faith where there has been only silence. May Your Son, Jesus — the fulfillment of every promise that began in that tent at Mamre — be glorified among us. And may Your Spirit grant us ears to hear what You are saying, and hearts courageous enough to believe it.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Hope.

Amen