First Service
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
We Don’t Deserve God’s Attention
June 7, 2026
AS WE GATHER
We do not deserve the attention God lavishes on us! As He calls us to Himself, we are on the receiving end of boundless love and mercy from Him, shown especially in the death and resurrection of our Lord, to whom we have been united. We share faith with Abraham, though the future may not be clear. Our sins brought Jesus to the cross, but the empty tomb invites us to eternal life. When the Pharisees questioned Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners, He admonished them in saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). God calls those who need to be saved—sinners like us—with the gracious Good News proclaimed to us in worship this day.
HYMN My Faith Looks Up to Thee TLH 394
My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine.
Now hear me while I pray; Take all my guilt away;
Oh, let me from this day Be wholly Thine!
May Thy rich grace impart Strength to my fainting heart, My zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me, Oh, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be, A living fire!
While life's dark maze I tread And griefs around me spread, Be Thou my Guide.
Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrow's tears away,
Nor let me ever stray From Thee aside.
When ends life's transient dream, When death's cold, sullen stream Shall o'er me roll,
Blest Savior, then, in love, Fear and distrust remove;
Oh, bear me safe above, A ransomed soul!
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
REMEMBRANCE OF BAPTISM
Pastor: Dearly beloved, Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In the last chapter of Mark, our Lord promises, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” And the apostle Peter has written, “Baptism now saves you.”
Pastor: Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?
People: Yes, I believe.
Pastor: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead?
People: Yes, I believe.
Pastor: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting?
People: Yes, I believe.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Pastor: Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
People: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen.
Pastor: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
HYMN OF PRAISE I Sing Praises CH 5
I sing praises to Your name, O Lord, praises to Your name, O Lord,
For Your name is great and greatly to be praised!
I sing praises to Your name, O Lord, praises to Your name, O Lord,
For Your name is great and greatly to be praised!
I give glory to Your name, O Lord, glory to Your name, O Lord,
For Your name is great, and greatly to be praised!
I give glory to Your name, O Lord, glory to Your name, O Lord,
For Your name is great and greatly to be praised!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Let us pray. Almighty and most merciful God, You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to seek and to save the lost. Graciously open our ears and our hearts to hear His call and to follow Him by faith that we may feast with Him forever in His kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Hosea 5:15–6:6 (God promises to go to His people.)
15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. 1“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
EPISTLE Romans 4:13–25 (We are saved by the faith given to us, not our own designs.)
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness Sarah's womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 9:9–13 (Jesus accepts people who know they are sinners, but He opposes those who are proud.)
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
HYMN How Firm A Foundation TLH 427 vs 1-3 & 6
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
In every condition, -- in sickness, in health,
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth,
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, --
The Lord, the Almighty, thy strength e'er shall be.
"Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never, forsake!"
SERMON
NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made: who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: God has worked faith in our hearts. Let us pray, therefore, for ourselves and people throughout the world, that we may share with them the joy we have in Christ.
For the church—all who call out to God as their Father, including those working in foreign countries and all who witness to Christ in their personal lives—that the Holy Spirit assure them of their mission, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For all who serve as leaders in government, that they may be given wisdom and knowledge; for all who teach and learn, that they find places among us to serve the common good; and for all who write and publish, that they work with courage and understanding, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For those who tend flocks and raise crops, who distribute goods and sell to those who have need, and all the commerce of our land and others, that the poor be fed and clothed, and all give thanks to the almighty God, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For the parents of our congregation and all who teach the next generation, that they instruct the young in the love and mercy of God; for single adults, that they find fulfillment in their service to us all; and for those of us gathered here, that we may all witness to God’s expansive love, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: Into Your hands we commend all for whom we pray, through Christ our Lord.
People: Amen.
+ SACRAMENT +
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Pastor: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, for You have had mercy on us and given Your only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
You condemned the sin of Adam and Eve but promised salvation by a Second Adam, Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We give thanks for the redemption You have prepared for us. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may faithfully eat and drink of the fruits of His cross and receive the blessing of forgiveness, life, and salvation that come to us in His body and blood.
People: Amen.