A new heart and a new spirit.

A call to worship.

Themes

Sin • Deeds of the flesh • Heart of stone • Crucified flesh • Out of death • Freedom • New creation • In the Spirit • Life • The Power of the Spirit • Love

The Spirit brings us life out of sin and death. The Spirit of Christ transforms death itself into life. The power of the Holy Spirit is a power that is far superior to all the forces of corruption and death that surround us. 

God has replaced your hard, stony heart, and He has replaced it with a new heart, a heart of new flesh—a new, living, breathing, pounding heart, whose power comes from His Spirit whom He has poured into it; whose power is capable to override, indeed replace, the power of the flesh, the power of sin. 

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Scripture reading

Ezekiel 36:26
Galatians 4:6
Romans 5:5
Romans 8:9–10
Galatians 5:13-14
Galatians 5:24

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This call to worship¹ is a prophecy from Ezekiel given about 585 years before the birth of Jesus to God’s people who were exiled in Babylon… and also from the Apostle Paul who helped us to see how Ezekiel’s prophecy has been fulfilled in us. 

Ezekiel prophesied the following: 

I will give you a new heart, 
and a new spirit I will put within you. 
And I will remove the heart of stone 
from your flesh 
and give you a heart of flesh.

And then Paul wrote the following to his friends in Galatia and in Rome: 

Because you are sons and daughters,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts.

God's love has been poured
into your hearts 
through the Holy Spirit 
who has been given to you.

So you are no longer in the flesh 
but in the Spirit. 
Although your body is dead 
because of sin, 
the Spirit is life 
because of righteousness.

You are called to freedom, brothers. 
But do not use your freedom 
as an opportunity for the flesh, 
but through love… 
use your freedom 
to serve one another.

For those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh 
with its passions and desires.

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Prayer

In the beginning, God, 
You spoke words. 
And these words had power. 
And Your creation came into being.
In the death of Jesus Christ, Your Son, 
Your power is now expressed 
in the Word of the cross. 
And so new creation 
is now coming into being. 

In Adam, 
You formed us into existence 
and called us to live out our lives 
as a journey into all of Your ways.
But in Adam, 
we all sinned, 
and as a result, 
our flesh developed 
an unstoppable propensity to sin 
that prevented us 
from doing Your will. 

And so our hearts 
became darkened and hard. 
And we became unable 
to acknowledge You 
as creator 
and as Lord.
That part of us that You created 
that enabled us to be Your friends, 
that part of us 
that enabled warmth 
and closeness 
and the safety 
of a relationship with You,
that part became infected with Sin — 
that part You call the heart, 
where faith and obedience 
were intended to spring forth; 
it had become dead. 
It had become like stone. 
So it became the appropriate target 
for replacement. 

And so You have taken away 
our hard, stony heart, 
and You have replaced it 
with a new heart, 
a heart of new flesh. 
A new, 
living, 
breathing, 
pounding heart, 
whose power comes from Your Spirit
whom You have poured into it; 
whose power is capable to override, 
indeed replace, 
the power of the flesh, 
the power of sin. 

You have told us, Father, 
that we are in the Spirit, 
and that Your Spirit is within us… 
and… 
that we are 
surrounded by Your Spirit. 
Inside of this
yet-to-be-glorified flesh that we have, 
it isn’t possible for us 
to have any greater power. 

All that this is, Father,
can be summed up in one word: 
LIFE!

Your Spirit brings us life
out of sin and death. 
Your Spirit transforms death itself 
into life. 
The power of Your Spirit, Father, 
is a power that is far superior 
to all the forces 
of corruption and death
that surround us. 
The power of Your Spirit 
is the power of new life
OUT OF DEATH — 
it’s a power that enables us 
to crucify our flesh, 
to put to death the deeds of our flesh, 
even while we’re still living in this flesh. 

Your Spirit has forged for us a link — 
a link between
the present experiences we’re in, 
and the future experiences 
You have prepared for us. 
And so Your Spirit is a down payment, 
the first installment 
of a future life with You. 

And the chief work of Your Spirit 
is love and freedom. 
The freedom of Your Spirit 
is the freedom to love one another fully, 
to love the unlovable, 
to forgive and embrace the unforgivable, 
and to become servants 
to each other.
THIS is new life, 
enabled by Your Spirit. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, 
Your so loved Son, 
our brother, 
whom we gather around 
while sitting in this building 
here in Beaverdam, 
enable us to truly experience 
this new life, 
enable us to experience 
the power of your Spirit.
 
Amen.

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1. This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, February 6, 2022.