Hope.

A call to worship.

Themes

Hope • New creation • God’s inbreaking kingdom • God’s triune life • God with us • Resurrection • Death defeated • Redemption • The empty tomb • Transformation • Ambassadors of reconciliation • Perseverance • Patience • Endurance • Assurance • Joy • Vision • Body of Christ

God’s future kingdom is breaking through into the present—into our situations and our circumstances and our troubles and our celebrations. And it is transforming them—and transforming even our most mundane tasks—into sacred callings that anticipate and reflect His coming kingdom.

He is with us in the fullness of our human experience.

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Scripture reading

2 Corinthians 1:20
Romans 8:11
2 Corinthians 5:18–20
Romans 8:19–21
1 Corinthians 15:58

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This call to worship¹ comes from the most hopeful things that the Apostle Paul wrote to his many friends, particularly those in Rome and Corinth.

No matter how many promises God has made, 
all of them are fulfilled
—all of them are “Yes”—
in Christ. 
And so, through Christ, 
the “Amen” of all of that fulfillment 
is spoken by us 
to the glory of God.


The Spirit of God, 
who raised Jesus from the dead, 
lives in you. 
And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, 
He will give life 
to your mortal bodies 
by this same Spirit 
living within you.


And all of this is a gift from God, 
who brought us back to Himself through Christ. 
And God has given us 
this task of reconciling people to Him. 
For God was in Christ, 
reconciling the world to Himself, 
no longer counting people’s sins against them. 
And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; 
God is making His appeal through us.


For all creation is waiting eagerly 
for that future day 
when God will reveal 
who his children really are. 
Against its will, 
all creation was subjected to God’s curse. 
But with eager hope, 
the creation looks forward to the day 
when it will join God’s children 
in glorious freedom 
from death and decay.


So, my dear brothers and sisters, 
be strong and immovable. 
Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, 
for you know 
that nothing you do for the Lord 
is ever useless.

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Prayer

Father in heaven, 
we are confident 
that You 
will 
renew, 
absolutely, 
all things. 

And we can’t wait 
for that to be complete. 

And we know it will be completed, 
because Jesus Christ Himself 
rose from the dead,
and became the firstborn 
of that new creation.

And that new creation 
is not something we only wait for in the future.
It is already breaking into the present.
It is here, right now—
available and accessible to us,
because the Spirit of Christ, 
the firstborn of that new creation,
dwells within us.

And by this same Spirit, Father,
You have brought us into 
Your very own 
triune life.

And so this confidence, 
this hope that we have— 
it is not abstract; 
it is deeply personal to us, Father. 
It draws us 
into the redemptive work 
that Christ 
is doing 
in the universe 
right now, 
and it engages us 
and empowers us 
and inspires us 
to live in that light—
to live as though we already exist 
in that promised future 
that You are remaking for us 
right now. 
And when we do, 
we know that You are with us 
in the fullness 
of our human experience.

And so 
our hope isn’t wishful thinking 
or conjecture 
or some figment 
of our imagination. 
It is grounded 
in the historical truth 
of a resurrection—
of death finally defeated.
It is grounded 
in the reliability 
of what you have revealed 
about yourself 
in scripture. 

Our hope 
is in the fact 
that You have already made a decisive move 
to redeem us 
and to sustain us. 

Our hope 
is in the fact  
that all the brokenness 
of this world 
will be transformed into glory, 
and that You have the power 
to bring life out of death itself.
 
There is no greater evidence 
than the empty tomb. 

And so now, 
every trial, 
every difficulty, 
every challenge, 
every pain, 
every cancer, 
every bit of suffering, 
every bit of loneliness, 
is infused with this hope, 
that the same Spirit 
who raised Jesus from the dead 
dwells in us. 

We do not sit 
and complain 
and wait passively 
in our suffering, Father, 
because Your future kingdom 
is already breaking through 
into the present—
into our situations 
and our circumstances 
and our troubles 
and into our celebrations. 
And it is transforming them 
and transforming even our most mundane tasks 
into sacred callings 
that anticipate 
and reflect 
Your coming kingdom, 
Your love, 
Your mercy. 

You have equipped us 
to see that our lives, 
whatever they may be, 
are a precise and intentional part 
of Your unfolding story of redemption. 

You have called us, 
through our circumstances, 
to be ambassadors of reconciliation 
in our families, 
our schools, 
our places of work, 
our communities. 
Not because we hope 
that maybe our efforts, 
our circumstances 
can change the world, 
but because You are already 
changing the world. 

So, turn our hope 
into perseverance 
and patience 
and steadfastness 
and endurance 
and assurance 
and joy. 
And broaden our vision 
beyond our own circumstances, 
and free us 
to hope 
not only for ourselves, 
but for the renewal 
of the entire universe, 
for the healing 
of the whole creation, 
for the day 
when every part of creation 
will reflect 
Your glory. 

This morning, 
here with our friends, 
and here with the other members of your body 
of which we, too, are a part, 
and here with those You have placed us with 
to journey together, 
open our eyes to see—
and later this morning, 
with bread and wine, 
to taste 
and smell 
and feel—
that this very community 
is itself 
a living hope 
that points beyond itself 
to Your kingdom—
a tangible reminder 
of the hope to come, 
a foretaste 
of God’s eternal kingdom, 
a witness 
to the world 
of the hope 
found only 
in Jesus Christ, 
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 December 1, 2024.