God meets us here.

A call to worship.

Themes

Generous God • Holy Spirit • Good news • Anointed One • Resurrected life • Gathered people • Justice and righteousness • Bread of life • New life

We need more than our own positive emotions to be His good news to the world. We need the power of the Spirit to be on us.

Father, apart from You, we are poor, captive, blind, and oppressed.

---

Scripture reading

Luke 4

---

This call to worship¹ invites us into the presence of the Triune God, who gathers us and empowers us by His Spirit. And when He does, we encounter Christ again—our Savior, our strength, our joy—who is present right there with us.

When He came to the village of Nazareth, 
His boyhood home, 
He went as usual to the synagogue 
on the Sabbath 
and stood up to read the Scriptures. 
The scroll of Isaiah the prophet 
was handed to Him. 
He unrolled the scroll 
and found the place 
where this was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
for He has anointed Me 
to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent Me 
to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.

He rolled up the scroll, 
handed it back to the attendant, 
and sat down.

---

Prayer

Generous God,
who has great, 
glorious, 
and eternal plans for us, 
here we are, 
Your people, 
gathered again, 
another Sunday morning. 

Your Way, Truth, and Life 
is also here—
right here, 
gathered with us—
in the middle of us, 
the Anointed One, 
Your Only Beloved Son, 
our Lord, 
our Savior, 
and our Friend. 

Father, 
if Your Spirit came upon Him... 
we need Your Spirit that much more. 

Loving Father, 
if we are to re-follow Him this week, 
then we need more than our own positive emotions 
in order for us to be… 
...to be Your Good News to the world. 
We need the power of Your Spirit 
to be on us. 

The world around us 
is poor, 
captive, 
blind, 
and oppressed. 
Father, apart from You, 
we are poor, 
captive, 
blind, 
and oppressed. 

Help us now, together, this morning
to enjoy this time with Him— 
the Resurrection, 
the Bread of Life, 
the True Vine— 
for He is here, 
in our midst, 
ready to give 
new life
—resurrected life.
Ready to give 
strength and power. 
Ready to bring 
joy and delight 
so that we can be 
Your Good News, 
so that we can display 
Your Good Character, 
so that Your justice, 
and Your righteousness, 
and Your redemption, 
given to us through Your Good Son, 
can be experienced by others. 

In the name of Jesus, 
Amen.

---

1. This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on April 25, 2021.