Themes
The goodness of God • The kindness of God • Trials • Difficult circumstances • Meeting all our needs • God’s perfect will • Paths of righteousness • Becoming like Jesus Christ
There is no greater good in this world than for us to become more like Jesus.
Scripture reading
Psalm 23:5–6 Psalm 34:8 Psalm 86:5 Psalm 100:5 Matthew 6:26
This call to worship1 comes from several songs that King David wrote and also from encouraging words that Jesus spoke, as recorded in Matthew’s gospel.
You, Lord, prepare a feast before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him. For You, O Lord, are good abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You. For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Enjoy this call to worship devotionally; change the plural pronouns (we, us) to personal ones (I, me).
Prayer
Father, You are gracious and You are kind and You are caring. You are always these things; You are always good. From Your throne of grace, an ocean of benevolence is being lavished on us. We are flooded by Your kindness. You are always up to something good. All the time. No matter what. You are always pursuing us with Your abundant kindness. Your goodness is enormous. Your generosityis unimaginably wealthy, and You delight in lavishing it on us. Even in our trials, we remain convinced that You are good. When we look at our circumstances and we observe what’s happening in the world around us, we’re tempted, we are, to waver in our confidence in Your goodness. But the testimony of Your Scripture keeps reaffirming and reaffirming and reaffirming the extreme abundance of your goodness. You generously provide for all our needs. You are a gracious host who prepares for us a sumptuous banquet feast even in the midst of threatening enemies; even in the darkest shadows of life, Your provision is lavishly given. With perfect discretion, with incomprehensible wisdom, You pour Your blessings out on us. Your desire is to meet our needs. It pleases You to supply all our needs. You invite us to present our needs before You. And You respond to us according to Your perfect will. We put all our trust in You. And You give each of us the guidance we need. You guide us in the paths of righteousness for the sake of Your own name. You direct us into green pastures and beside quiet waters. You never lead us into sin, but always into greater and greater life. You give us direction that is always according to Your purposes, which are always good, always acceptable, and always perfect. You are causing all things — both good things and bad things, prosperity and adversity — to be interwoven into one master purpose that You’re constantly working in our lives. Nothing is out of Your control. Because You are good, You are always working things together for our good. And this good is shaping us into a likeness of Jesus. There is no greater good in this world than for us to become more like Him. In the name of Jesus, whom we look more like every day, 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 that inspired me to write this call to worship.
This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, January 30, 2022.