God desires to be known by us, and he desires to know us.

A call to worship.

Themes

The glory of the Lord • The Word becomes human • The spoken word • The God who is knowable • Trinity • Knowing God • Known by God

The little godlets of our own imaginations wouldn’t necessarily be so knowable. Yet God is so knowable. It seems that He is the God that we could not have imagined.

God has enabled us to know Him. And He’s told us that it is His will to be known. He desires to be known by us, and He is just as eager to know us. 

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Scripture reading

Isaiah 40:5
John 1:14–18
Romans 10:17
1 John 1:1–4

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This call to worship¹ is from various scriptures. First, from a prophet called Isaiah. Then, from a disciple of Jesus named John. And from an apostle of Jesus Christ called Paul.

Isaiah prophesied:

The glory of the Lord will be revealed, 
and all people will see it together.


John wrote this in his gospel:

The Word became human 
and made His home among us. 
We have seen His glory, 
the glory of the one and only Son, 
who came from the Father.

John the Baptist spoke words concerning Him. 
In fact, he shouted out words about Him: 
“Someone is coming after me 
who is far greater than I am, 
for He existed long before me.”


The Apostle Paul wrote:

Consequently, 
faith comes from hearing the message, 
and the message is heard 
through words spoken about Christ.


And finally, John wrote this in one of his letters:

We proclaim to you 
the one who existed 
from the beginning.

From the very first day, 
we were there, 
taking it all in —
we heard it with our own ears, 
saw it with our own eyes, 
verified it with our own hands. 
The Word of Life appeared 
right before our eyes; 
we saw it happen! 
And now we’re telling you 
what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: 
The infinite Life of God himself 
took shape before us.

We’re telling you 
so that you too can experience it —
this experience 
of communion with the Father 
and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 

Our motive for telling you is simply this: 
We want you to enjoy this, too. 

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Enjoy this call to worship devotionally;

change the plural pronouns (we, us)

to personal ones (I, me).

Be encouraged.

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Prayer

Almighty, 
righteous, 
gracious, 
kind, 
patient, 
and eternal
God in heaven, 
there is no higher aim 
that we could possibly have
than to know You. 
You are the source 
and You are the substance 
of every good we can hope to enjoy. 
You are worthy of our mind’s passion. 
You are worthy of our heart’s devotion. 
You are worthy of our body’s strength. 
To know You is life itself. 

But if left to ourselves, 
our attempts to know You 
would be hopeless. 
For it is not possible 
to lay hold of You.
But it is possible for You 
to lay hold of us; 
and indeed You have. 

You have enabled us 
to know You. 
And You’ve told us 
that it is Your will 
to be known. 
You created us 
to know You.  
You have promised 
to show Yourself 
again and again and again 
to those who seek You. 

Why is it 
that You are 
able to be known?
And why is it 
that we 
can know You? 
And why is it 
that we 
even want to know You? 
The little godlets 
of our own imaginations 
wouldn’t necessarily be so knowable. 

Yet, You are so knowable. 

It seems 
that You are the God 
that we could not have imagined.
You are the God 
who lives eternally 
in a perfect communion, 
in a perfect relationship 
of knowing and being known — 
a communion 
of loving, fully known persons — 
Father, Son, and Spirit.

Heavenly Father, 
You truly know the Son 
and the Son 
deeply and truly knows You. 

And so, amazing three-in-one God, 
because You are first and foremost 
knowable within Yourself — 
as Father, Son, and Spirit — 
how would it be 
any other way with us?  

By consequence 
of You being the God 
who is beautifully and fully known, 
You’ve so created us 
in a way 
that we can be known by You 
and You can be known by us.

And it is more than that. 
It is more 
than being knowable and known. 
It is that You desire 
to be known by us 
and You are just as eager 
to know us. 

Through the words spoken this morning —
through the words that are sung 
and the words that are proclaimed, 
enable us to know You. 

We want to experience 
communion with You, Father, 
and with Your Son, Jesus Christ. 
You’ve made a way 
for Your words 
to be read 
and proclaimed 
and shouted
and sung; 
and here we are, 
in Beaverdam this morning, 
about to listen to them. 

Open our ears 
and eyes 
and hearts again 
to who You are, 
to what You are like, 
to what it is You will. 
Enable us to hear Your words. 
Awaken our knowledge of You. 
Restore our faith.

You have created the world 
and You sustain the world 
through Your Word. 
Through Your incarnate Word, 
You have saved us 
and You have reconciled the world 
to Yourself. 
In the power of Your Spirit, 
You have raised Jesus 
from the dead. 
And this same Spirit 
lives in us 
and gives life to our mortal bodies.

There is no greater truth. 

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, November 28, 2021.