Experience of Grace #10 - Open Invitation
Description
In Romans 10, Bryce Vaught explores how God cares, calls, and commissions every person toward salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Whatever doubt or past hurt has left you questioning God's love, this message holds the door open: the invitation to know Him is still being extended.
Summary & Application
There's a particular kind of panic that sets in when the pressure suddenly spikes — when the plan you'd counted on falls apart and you're left scrambling. Bryce described it from his own junior high basketball days: an easy season opener turned into a full-court press his team hadn't prepared for, and in the chaos he froze, turned the ball over again and again, and ended the game on the bench, brokenhearted.
It's a small story, but it points to something much bigger. When the pressure is on, our minds narrow, we lose our footing, and we start making mistakes — and that's frustrating enough in sports or work or relationships. It becomes something else entirely when it touches our relationship with God. Many of us struggle to feel secure in being known and loved by Him.
Romans 10 sits inside Paul's answer to that struggle, and it comes down to three simple but weighty truths: God cares, God calls, and God commissions.
God Cares (Romans 10:1–4)
Paul opens this chapter not with an argument, but with an ache: "My heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved" (Romans 10:1). It echoes the raw grief of chapter 9, where Paul says he would give up his own salvation if it meant his people could know theirs.
This matters because chapters 9–11 can read as dense theology, but Bryce was clear that Paul isn't teaching a seminar — he's sharing his heart, and his heart is a small reflection of God's. It's easy to picture God as distant or emotionally guarded, the way people often protect themselves from being let down. But Scripture says otherwise: God provides for every creature, and Jesus reminds us that the Father already knows our needs before we ask.
Bryce illustrated this with an unlikely example: a Survivor contestant named Genevieve, who entered the game determined to stay emotionally detached — "these are pawns in a game" — only to break down in tears later because it's nearly impossible to do life with people and not become attached. If even strangers on a reality show can't stay guarded forever, how much more is God — who is for us, not playing us — already invested in our good?
God Calls (Romans 10:5–13)
From the time of Moses, Paul says, God has been inviting people into relationship with Him by faith, not performance. The call in this passage is specific: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
Bryce unpacked just how loaded that phrase was in the first century. "Jesus is Lord" echoes Israel's ancient confession in the Shema — there is one God, not many — and in Rome, where Caesar required public acknowledgment as the supreme deity, declaring Jesus as Lord instead was treasonous. This wasn't a private spiritual preference; it was a whole-life allegiance.
To make the call land, Bryce shared an old missionary story about searching for a word for "faith" in a tribal language, eventually landing on an image: lifting your feet fully off the ground, trusting a chair to hold your whole weight rather than keeping one foot down just in case. That's the call: not partial trust, but resting your whole weight on what God has done.
God Commissions (Romans 10:14–17)
God doesn't just save us and leave us on the sidelines. "How can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14–15). Bryce compared this to learning to drive — you can study the manual, but you only really learn behind the wheel. Confidence in the gospel grows the same way: by living it out, not just understanding it intellectually.
This is the heart behind Jesus's three parables in Luke 15 — the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son — all told in response to religious leaders asking why Jesus would eat with sinners. His answer, in effect: because I love what the Father loves, and the Father loves what's lost. That's the mission we're commissioned into.
An Open Door
Whatever has kept you at a distance from God — a hard theological question, a wound from people who didn't love you well, or simply doubt about whether you're truly known — Bryce's closing word was simple: the invitation is still open. God cares about you specifically. God is still calling. And God commissions ordinary people to carry that invitation to others.
For Reflection
Where in your life have you been guarding your heart from God the way Genevieve initially guarded hers on Survivor — and what would it look like to let that guard down?
"Faith" was pictured as resting your whole weight rather than keeping one foot on the ground. Where are you still keeping a foot down with God, just in case?
This post was developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on the sermon "Open Invitation" by Bryce Vaught (Romans 10, June 20–21, 2026). While every effort has been made to faithfully represent the content and intent of the original message, readers are encouraged to engage the full sermon audio or transcript for the complete teaching.
-
No referenced material.
-
Opening Prayer
I want to wish all of our dads a happy Father’s Day. There are many issues we could discuss that are going on in our world, and probably twice as many different ideas or solutions to solve those problems. But I am convinced that one of the greatest needs in our world today is simply a good, present, faithful dad. You play a vital role in our world, and I just want to pray for you before we get into today’s text.
Father, thank You, God, for allowing us to know You as Father. Thank You for the gift of dads—the dads in our lives who have loved us well, served us well, led us well, and set an example of what You are like. God, we know that this world is broken and that many people have not had that chance. I pray that today You would reveal Yourself to them as the true, good, faithful Father who loves us. As we get into today’s text, lead us. Help us to know You, to love You, and to follow You with all our hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction: Pressure and Panic
I may not look it initially, but in high school I was a decent basketball player. Decent is an accurate description of my skill level—I wasn’t great, I wasn’t bad. I started a few games, especially in junior high and late in high school. Looking back, I remember my junior high year when we began the season against a team close to us that was a fairly small district—Lincoln Junior High. For years, they were a cupcake. We beat them relentlessly every year, and I thought, “This is going to be a good way to start the season—an easy win, a warmup for the rest of our games.” We called them “Stinkin’ Lincoln.” They were just terrible. (I did eventually marry a graduate of Lincoln High School, so they couldn’t have been that bad—but in basketball, terrible.)
I remember that first game of our junior high season. That was not the team I remembered. New players had moved into the district, they had a new coach, and by late in the game it was a fight. Late in the third quarter, they put on a full-court press that we had not really faced as a team. We hadn’t planned for it, hadn’t prepared for it, and we were struggling. In that moment, I began to panic and I froze. You go into that fight-flight-or-freeze mentality. I started making a lot of mistakes. Between me and one of my best friends, we turned the ball over five or six times in a row. They took the lead, I was taken out of the game, and I finished on the bench.
I was so disappointed—frustrated and brokenhearted that I had let my teammates down. What I’ve come to see is that this can be a pretty normal experience of life. When the pressure amps up, we go into panic mode, our minds begin to narrow, we lose the ability to be creative and free and to enjoy life, and we’re prone to making a lot of mistakes.
That’s frustrating, especially when it impacts something more important than a sport—when it begins to impact our careers, our relationships. It may be most damaging when it begins to impact our relationship with God. For many of us, we struggle to be secure in knowing Him and being loved by Him.
The Argument of Romans
As we continue through the book of Romans, one of the key themes Paul is trying to communicate to his audience is this: you will have difficulty and frustrations and setbacks in life, but when it comes to your relationship with God, that does not have to be your experience.
The whole point of Romans is that Paul is arguing and presenting the gospel message—the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. He lays out a very detailed, well-articulated presentation of the gospel: how we are all sinners, born naturally with a disposition toward selfishness and destruction and rebellion against God. Because of that, God’s wrath and judgment is set against us. We need deliverance from that righteous judgment we are destined for. Yet out of His grace, He sends Jesus to take on flesh, to take our place, to take the punishment and wrath we deserve—so that in exchange for our sin, we receive the righteousness of Jesus. We are justified before God now and for all time.
Paul builds this argument to a crescendo in chapter 8, which begins with, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Paul says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present life are not even worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.” He goes on to say, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us,” and that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 1–8 is great in and by itself. Yet when you come to chapters 9 through 11, it sometimes feels like it comes out of nowhere. But Paul realizes that if he stops at chapter 8, he leaves some unanswered questions for his original audience in Rome—namely, if God is so faithful, why does it look like He has abandoned His covenant people, Israel? It’s as if they’re asking: “Okay, Paul, this is a great promise that God will never leave us and we will always be secure—but He made some pretty big promises to Israel. Some have been fulfilled, but many have not. At what point will God abandon us?”
In chapters 9, 10, and 11, Paul uses God’s relationship with Israel to prove God’s integrity, so that his audience—and we today—can know security in God’s love and presence. Chapter 9 says you can trust God’s faithfulness because He has always been present to Israel, maintaining a remnant by faith from before the foundation of the world. Chapter 10 says you can trust God’s faithfulness because He is still being faithful, still inviting anyone to come to know Him by faith and experience salvation. Chapter 11 says you can trust God’s faithfulness because His plan with Israel is not yet finished—at some point there will be a turning and a recognition that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and their status with God will be renewed.
Maybe your security isn’t hanging on the thread of Israel’s status, though that is an important issue with major implications for how we live and our worldview. Maybe it’s another theological concept that has been a hurdle for you to be secure in your relationship with God—perhaps the doctrine of election that comes up in chapter 9. When I say election, I mean this act of God whereby He chooses whom He will save before the foundation of the earth, before they did anything good or bad. We see this with how He chose Jacob over Esau before they were even born. Wrestling with that doctrine can leave us with heavy questions. I remember when I first started wrestling with it myself: Is it possible to want to be saved but not even be chosen? What about those who haven’t heard? How is this right? How does this work with human responsibility?
Or maybe it’s not a doctrine at all. Maybe it’s very personal—you can’t imagine being secure with God because of broken relationships in the past that have left you feeling unwanted and unloved by the people you trusted most. You can’t imagine how God could love you. You see a lack of integrity in your own heart that has prevented you from following through on what you know you should do. And in the back of your mind you’re asking: When is God going to realize He made a mistake?
This is where Paul is addressing you. His main point in chapters 9, 10, and 11 is that we can trust and hold this gospel confidently and invitationally because we know that God is faithful to save all those who call on Him by faith.
Three Truths from Romans 10
1. God Cares
Verses 1–4 say: “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”
Paul starts right off the bat: “My heart’s desire is for Israel to be in right relationship with God once again.” This echoes how he begins chapter 9 in verses 1–3: “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” He would give up his own security in Christ so they could know theirs. Just feel the sorrow in that.
It’s important to see this because chapters 9, 10, and 11 contain some deep theological concepts that can be hard to navigate. But Paul is not trying to provide an academic course. He is sharing his heart—he loves these people. And Paul’s love for them is a small reflection of God’s love for them.
We can sometimes begin to see God as distant, disconnected, or emotionally stoic in this section—but He cares deeply for people. We often think God is like us, guarding His heart from people who will disappoint Him. But God cares. Scripture says He provides food and care for every creature of the earth. Jesus says, “Why do you worry? Why are you anxious? Because your Father in heaven knows your needs before you even ask.”
I didn’t watch the show Survivor growing up, but I caught it a few years ago and have been hooked. There was a woman on the show named Genevieve. If you don’t know the concept, these people are dropped on an island and must work together as a tribe to survive and compete against other tribes. You become deeply dependent on the people in your tribe. But eventually you have to go to Tribal Council and vote one of your own off the island. That creates a tricky relational dynamic where a lot of people learn to guard their hearts from getting too close.
Genevieve’s intention from the start of the season was: “I’m not going to get close to anyone. I’m here for the million dollars. These are pawns in a game, and I’m going to use whatever I can to gain leverage.” For most of the show, she remained disengaged. But as she made it further and had to trust someone to keep advancing, she sat down for a one-on-one interview and just broke down—because she couldn’t help but get emotionally involved with these people. It’s impossible to do life with people and not get attached.
God is more intimately involved in our lives than anyone. He cares deeply. And He doesn’t just care in a general or basic sense—He cares about your ultimate best. Paul says the Israelites were zealous for what was good, but not according to the knowledge of God. They were doing many good things, but they missed the heart of it. They failed to know God intimately and rightly.
You might ask, why can’t God just be satisfied with us trying our best? Because that might work in some areas of life, but not really in relationships. It’s not enough to just do good things—we want to be known and loved. Think about marriage. My wife Brittany really prefers doing laundry. She has a system—a specific way she folds the towels for our bathroom closet. I have tried to help, but I have failed every time. She has changed the way she folds them depending on the apartment or house we’ve been in. Now, if I don’t know the method and try my best, I’m just ignorant. But if I know the way she wants it done and refuse to do it, I’m no longer being helpful—I’m being harmful. I communicate to her that I don’t really know her, that I don’t see her, that I’m not loving her.
All the good things Israel was doing were not the way God desired them to do it. It communicated that they didn’t really know Him. God wants to be loved. He cares because ultimately there is no good apart from God. Your ultimate good is Him. Everything good is attached to Him. We can walk confidently because God cares for you—He is intimately involved in your life, and He wants your ultimate good for eternity.
2. God Calls
Moving forward in chapter 10: “Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’ But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ‘or “Who will descend into the deep?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
From the time of Moses, God has been calling people to know Him, to experience His grace, and to relate to Him by faith. There are different types of calls in Scripture—a call to ministry, a call to use your life in a certain profession or steward resources in a specific way. Theologians also speak of the effectual call, where God works upon a person’s heart to bring them to faith. But there is also a general gospel call going out to all people everywhere. As Paul said when he went to Athens: God had allowed people to seek generally, but now He is calling everyone to come and repent and know Jesus.
This call is going out to every person on earth—to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. We might hear that and think it means simply making Jesus your personal savior. But that is not what the early church meant. The phrase “Jesus is Lord” was extremely profound. It echoes the Old Testament Shema: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God, the Lord is one.” In a very polytheistic culture where every field, forest, and river had its own deity, the message that the Lord is one meant: there aren’t multiple deities you have to serve and worship—there is one, and you bring all of your life under the lordship of Yahweh.
In the New Testament, confessing “Jesus is Lord” was actually treasonous, especially in the city of Rome. Caesar had presented himself as a manifestation of deity. Rome allowed people to practice their different religions as long as they recognized that Caesar was the ultimate lord. Eventually there was an edict requiring everyone to carry a signed document showing they had offered sacrifice to Rome’s supreme god. Without that document, you could be killed.
So this call to confess Jesus as Lord is a recognition that Jesus isn’t just my personal savior—He is Lord of all, and I am bringing the whole of my life under His lordship. And His lordship is good. The Old Testament prophets, as they predicted the coming of Jesus and His kingdom, described it as filled with blessing, goodness, peace, justice, righteousness, joy, and celebration. This call is also to believe that God raised Him from the dead—not merely as a historical fact, but to recognize and believe in your heart that it was for you. To rest in it. To trust it. To begin living your life out of that conviction.
There is a story about a missionary who went to a foreign tribe that did not yet have the Bible in their language. As he worked to translate the Scriptures, he came to a word he did not know how to translate: faith. He began having conversations with the tribal chief about it. The chief had him sit down in a chair and said, “Now lift your feet off the ground.” He said, “That’s the word you use for faith.” It is the idea of putting your whole weight on something—not keeping one foot on the ground in case it doesn’t hold you. You put your entire eternity upon this truth and you rest in it.
This gospel call is going out, and this is important to understand because we can imagine God as simply waiting for us to mess up, eager to execute judgment. But that is not the God of Scripture. The invitation is open—to come and know Him, to have faith and to experience salvation. He desires to save because He is good.
3. God Commissions
He doesn’t just save us so we can enjoy it from afar. He actually calls us to participate in His life and His mission of bringing people to salvation. Paul concludes this section: “How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
Paul is saying: you want to know security in your position with Christ? Live it. One of the best ways to grow in confidence in anything is to practice it on a daily basis—to go and experience it. I remember preparing to get my driver’s license. I would watch how people handled different situations. There is a written test you study for, and that has its place. But the best way to learn how to drive is to drive. You just have to get out on the road.
It’s as if Paul is saying: you’re asking a lot of great questions—stop trying to figure out all the answers and just go. Because when you go, when you participate in the mission and begin to articulate the gospel to others in the context of community, it begins to settle deep within your heart. You begin to understand who God is and what He is about.
This is really how Jesus lived. In Luke 15, a story familiar to many of us, we find not just one story but three. The chapter opens with Pharisees seeing Jesus eat and drink with sinners and asking, “Why are you doing this? You’re supposed to be a man of God, yet you’re interacting with people who are beneath you and don’t fit our understanding of godly living.” Jesus responds by telling them three stories in a row.
The first is the story of a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find one lost sheep. The second is the story of a woman who has ten coins but loses one, and tears her house apart to find it. The third is the story of a father with two sons. The younger one demands his inheritance, essentially slaps his dad in the face, runs off, lives his own way, eventually comes to his senses, repents, and comes back home. The father throws a grand party celebrating that his son who was dead is now alive. But when the older son returns from working in the field, he is furious: “You’ve never done anything like this for me.” The story ends with the father outside the party, begging his older, self-righteous son: “Just come in.”
Remember—the story begins with Jesus at a party with sinners and self-righteous Pharisees standing outside asking, “Why are you doing this?” His answer, the whole point of these three stories, is this: I do what I do because I love the Father, and I love what the Father loves. The Father has sent me to seek and to save what was lost. Because God loves those who are broken and lost in our world.
Closing and Prayer
I don’t know what obstacles you came in here with today—whether there are some theological concepts you can’t quite get over, or personal experiences that have left you questioning. I want you to know that the invitation is open. This Father’s Day weekend, you can know that God cares. You can know that God is calling. You can experience God commissioning you to go share this message with others.
By confessing that Jesus is Lord and trusting in Him, you can experience the deep love of God—a love so great that He sent His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
Father, we thank You for Your goodness—the fact that You care for us, that You call us to Yourself. Thank You that You are still calling men, women, children, and families to know You, to trust in You, to experience Your good lordship and Your faithfulness. We align our lives with this truth today—that we can know Your love and help others to follow You and find You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
===============================
AI-Generated Disclaimer
This transcript was cleaned up and formatted with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Filler words have been removed, grammar has been refined, and sentence structure has been lightly edited for readability. Every effort has been made to preserve the speaker’s original words, meaning, and intent. The content has not been theologically altered. If you notice any discrepancies from the original message, please contact the church office.
