Go!

A call to worship.

Themes

Apologetics • Thinking • Believing • Ideas • Culture • The Gospel • Imagination • Vision • Truth • Good News • Questions • Answers • Hopes • Fears • The Cross • The Spirit of Christ

Ignite our imagination and our reasoning abilities and our deepest longings so that we can better proclaim the imaginative richness and the intellectural solidity and the spiritual depth of the gospel. 

Your faith is linked through a complex chain of proclamations down through the ages and across the mist of time to the one pivotal proclamation of the cross itself, and now you hold the baton. You have become entrusted with proclaiming the gospel. It is your turn.

---

Scripture reading

Matthew  28:18–20

---

This call to worship¹ comes from the Great Commission, given to every Christ-follower.

Jesus came to them and said, 
“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, 
and teaching them 
to obey everything I have commanded you. 
And surely I am with you always, 
to the very end of the age.”

---

Prayer

Father in heaven, 
draw us into the heart of Your gospel, 
so that we might know Christ 
and proclaim Him 
as the living Truth. 
Equip us to become better communicators 
of the hope that is within us. 
Cause our minds to become engaged 
so that we can interact with
—not run away from—
the ideas that are propagated by our culture 
and ingested by our children, 
and our friends. 

Help us to become better thinkers, 
and teach us how to help thinkers become believers. 

And in all of that, 
keep us from finding peace in our own reasoning. 
Keep us aware that peace begins 
not in our ideas or methods, 
but in an encounter 
with Your Son. 
So, help us to rest in Your Word 
that has come to us in Jesus Christ, 
who alone is the answer 
to our deepest questions.

Teach us to see all things 
in light of Your revelation, 
and give us the boldness to proclaim that, 
even when it’s confrontational to 
the world’s assumptions 
and questions.

Inspire our minds 
to engage with the world, 
not by conforming Your message to it, 
but so that we can invite others 
who are in that world 
into the new reality 
that has been made visible 
through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

Shape our imagination, 
our intellect, 
and our desires 
so that they reflect the imaginative richness, 
the intellectual clarity, 
and the boundless depths 
of the life we have 
in communion with You, 
so that in all things, 
Christ Himself 
may be made known 
through us.

Reassure us 
that at the heart of Your gospel 
is the most compelling of all visions, 
is the greatest of all truths, 
is the crux of anything
—really anything—
that matters, 
and prepare us to live, and be, and speak 
the Good News 
in ways that make that plain to see. 

Anchor us firmly in the truth 
of Christ’s victory on the cross, 
firmly in His resurrection, 
firmly in His promise to be with us always, 
so that we may proclaim Him as Lord, 
who is Truth itself 
and the hope of all creation.

Show us where to turn to
—to come to know all that we must know—
so that we can respond effectively 
to the questions 
this culture 
is asking 
about You.

And in that, 
remind us that You, Lord, 
are the source of all knowledge, 
and that what we ultimately seek to understand, 
we do so in faith, 
only as we are drawn deeper 
into communion 
with You.

And from that place
—from within our deep communion with You—
then, help us 
to find the vivid and faithful and dynamic ways 
of expressing the gospel 
so that it connects 
with the hopes and the fears 
of those losing sight 
in the darkening culture around us.

Our faith is linked through a complex chain of proclamations 
down through the ages 
and across the mist of time 
to the one pivotal proclamation 
of the cross itself, 
and now we hold the baton, 
we have become entrusted 
with proclaiming the gospel. 
It is our turn. 

So help us bear witness 
to a world in great need, 
in all the ways You’ve gifted us to do so: 
in appealing to intellect 
and in revealing the joy, 
the peace, 
and the eternal life 
found only in the risen Christ, 
who meets anybody 
right wherever 
they are.

So give us right thinking. 
So give us backbone. 
Give us insight. 
Give us strength. 
Give us joy. 
Give us wisdom. 
Give us peace. 
Give us the courage 
to speak to the world 
for which Christ has died. 

You have already given to each of us 
the gifts we need 
to do this very thing. 
You know us for who and what we are, 
and You’ve equipped us accordingly 
for what You want us to do. 

And most importantly of all, 
You have poured into us 
the Spirit of Christ, 
and so Christ Himself is with us 
to the end of the age. 
The risen Christ stands by us 
and with us 
as we hand on 
and hand over 
the Good News 
of who He is 
and what He has done 
for us. 

So help us to explain the faith
—and be the faith. 
Help us to make sense of it
—and be the sense of it—
for those outside the church 
who have no sense of it. 
Help us to communicate the truth
—and the joy and the attractiveness—
of the gospel 
of Jesus Christ. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, 
to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, 
in whose name we baptize, 
whose teaching we obey, 
and who is with us always, 
Amen.

---

---

Inspiring resources

A call to worship creates wonderment, amazement, curiosity, yearning, captivation, provocation, hopefulness, thankfulness, affection, rapture, delight. As these mix together, the response is worship.

If this call to worship leaves you wondering or curious or provoked or hopeful, consider diving into this awesome book which inspired me to write this call to worship.

1. This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on November 10, 2024.