Where do you find yourself in these stories today?

6.21.2026

Call Stories Continues...

Jeremiah 20:7–13 • Psalm 69:7–18 • Romans 6:1b–11 • Matthew 10:24–39

Dear Church,

The Peace of the Lord be with you and with our online worshiping community.

Let’s take a moment to check our phones. Silent? Vibrate?

If we missed a scam call, that’s a blessing.

When someone dear to us calls, we answer without hesitation.

But when a number we don’t recognize keeps calling, we pause.

Should I answer?

What if it’s something important.

On a day when your heart feels heavy, would you pick up?

If you’re in the middle of something urgent, would you?

Or when you finally find a quiet moment, would you let it ring unanswered?

Or would you let someone else answer it for you?

These everyday choices mirror how we discern and respond to God’s call.

There’s a saying many of us know:

“God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called.”

Why? Because God has already placed gifts within each of us.

How do we know it’s God calling?

Do you think we’re gathered here by accident?

Absolutely not. We’re here for a reason, in this season of our church’s life.

And here is the Good News I want you to hear clearly today:

God’s call doesn’t come from a distance; God calls from deep within.

And it is an expression of God’s love for you and for the community you belong to.

A Call Story is simply the story of saying “yes” to God.

It’s how our unique gifts and talents join God’s mission in this place, in this season.

After listening to today’s readings,

how have they resonated with your own call story?

And where do you find yourself in these stories today?

If you’ve ever felt worn down or discouraged like Jeremiah,

or if you’ve ever felt unseen or lonely like the Psalmist,

or if you’ve ever felt the urgency of teaching and guiding your siblings in Christ like St. Paul,

or torn between God and family like Jesus’ disciples in Matthew,

then you already understand the call stories we heard today.

These aren’t ancient struggles. They’re deeply our own.

And the Good News is this:

God meets us exactly where we are,

just as God met Jeremiah, the Psalmist, St. Paul, and Jesus’ disciples.

Jeremiah’s call is a heavy one.

He knows what it is to feel overwhelmed, mocked, or misunderstood.

I've been there. How about you?

Are you in a Jeremiah season—or have you been there—tired, yet still faithful?

If so, how has God used your wounds and your persistence, just as God used Jeremiah’s?

That’s your call story.

And here is the Good News:

God does not abandon the weary; God strengthens them from within.

How about Psalm 69’s call story?

The psalmist feels abandoned, exhausted, unseen.

He cries out, unsure if God hears at all.

And here’s what’s powerful about this psalmist’s call story:

His lament isn’t just crying out—it becomes testimony.

Through his honesty, he names the God who listens, the God who cares,

the God who receives even the most vulnerable truth we dare to speak.

I've been there. How about you?

Are you in a Psalm 69 season—or have you been there—longing for God to notice?

If so, how has God used your testimony to set your faith in motion?

That’s your call story.

And here is the Good News:

God hears the cries we barely dare to speak.

Then we hear Paul’s call story in Romans 6.

In this passage, Paul is calling the faith community to answer God’s calling to them. He carries both the weight and the joy of guiding others into a new way of life, a way that shapes their character and their community.

I've been there. How about you?

Are you in a Romans 6 season—or have you been there—teaching, leading, facilitating, helping others learn to live differently, letting resurrection reshape their lives together?

If so, how have you witnessed God forming the character of those who offered their daily “yes” to God, and watched them carry hope into the world with growing intention—just as God shaped the believers in Rome?

That’s your call story.

And here is the Good News:

God is forming us, day by day, into people who can

bear hope with courage,

share hope with others, and

live hope in a world hungry for it.

Finally, we come to the disciples’ call story in Matthew 10.

In this passage, Jesus is honest with his disciples:

their “yes” to him will cost them something.

They are asked to choose Christ

even when it disrupts expectations,

even when it strains relationships,

even when it pulls them out of what feels safe.

I've been there. How about you?

Are you—or have you been—in a Matthew 10 season, pulled between loyalty to family and love for God, or between staying in a comfort zone and finding the courage to follow Jesus into something new?

If so, how has God strengthened your heart the way Jesus strengthened his disciples?

That’s your call story.

And here is the Good News:

God strengthens our hearts so we can choose love, even when it costs us something.

None of your call stories are small or insignificant.

Every “yes”—spoken through fatigue, honesty, growth, or courage—matters.

Because the way God is shaping you for love, justice, and healing is the very way God is shaping our community and the world.

Every “Yes, I will with the help of God,” spoken quietly and consistently, is like water dripping on stone—slowly shaping depth and strength over time.

That’s how God, the Triune God, forms a life.

That’s how God in Jesus through the cross forms a community of love and forgiveness.

And here is the Good News that holds it all:

Your call story is evidence of God’s love at work in you and through you.

Your story is part of God’s story.

I give thanks to God for those who have shared their call stories, and for those who are just beginning to discover theirs.

Because your “yes” helps all of us say our own “Yes, I will with the help of God”—louder, more certain, and more clear.

Let us pray.

Holy God,

Thank you for calling us in ways both quiet and bold.

Give us ears to hear,

hearts to trust, and

courage to say “yes” over and over again in the places you send us.

Shape our lives with your love,

steady our steps with your Spirit,

and let our small daily “yes”

join the great story you are writing in this community.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.