Jesus has authority. Everywhere.

A call to worship.

Themes

Chaos • Order • Beauty • Life • Creation • Stormy seas • Weariness • Heavy burdens • Viruses • Cancer • Mental health • Heart troubles • Isolation • Rest • Authority

Give us courage to face our seas, and to walk upon them.

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Scripture reading

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭45
Matthew 11:28–30
Matthew 28:18

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This call to worship¹ is about our fears. All of them.

For the Lord is God, 
and He created the heavens and earth 
and put everything in place. 

He made the world 
to be lived in, 
not to be a place of empty chaos. 

“I am the Lord,” He says, 
“and there is no other.”

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Prayer

Father, in the beginning, 
Your Spirit hovered
over the chaotic, deep waters, 
and with love, 
and care, 
and authority, 
You shaped them into being; 
You gave them order, 
and beauty, 
and life. 
You formed a world to be lived in. 

You loved our world. 
You sent Your only Son to it. 
And He stood on stormy seas 
and He stilled them.  

He spoke these words: 
"Come to me, 
if you’re weary 
and carrying heavy burdens, 
and I will give you rest. 
Learn from me; 
I am gentle 
and humble 
in heart, 
and you will find rest 
for your souls." 

Father, there is much 
that is threatening us: 
viruses, 
cancers, 
genetic mutations, 
weak knees, 
arthritis, 
death, 
stressful situations, 
mental health, 
cysts, 
exhaustion, 
loss of jobs, 
heart troubles, 
isolation…

Yet, there’s not a single place— 
not a dark cave 
on a distant planet 
in a galaxy 
light years from here, 
not a microscopic cell 
buried deep within our body—
where Your Son, Jesus Christ, 
does not have authority. 

In fact, 
He proclaimed, 
“All authority 
in heaven 
and on earth 
has been given 
to Me.” 
Jesus everywhere has authority. 
Father, your Son, Jesus Christ, 
has authority everywhere. 

He is Lord 
of the things 
that threaten our survival, 
that threaten our well-being, 
that threaten our happiness. 

Right now, 
we acknowledge 
that anything that threatens us— 
it is all subject 
to His authority. 
And because that is true, Father, 
it is fraught— 
not with chaos, 
not with destruction, 
not with death—
but with possibility.
There is a whole world of possibility 
beneath its waves. 

Father, keep us from bowing 
to our struggles. 
And where we have, 
this we confess, 
here now.

We gather to remember: 
Your Jesus has authority. 
We gather, Father, 
to have our strength restored. 
We gather 
to worship 
the Lord of Lords. 

You, Father, 
are capable 
of turning our life-threatening struggles 
into sources of life and vitality.

You, Lord, 
are mightier 
than any stormy chaos 
we are facing. 
Lord, reveal to us 
new possibilities
hidden from our view. 
Show us the life that exists 
beneath the surface of our fears. 
Give us courage
to face our seas, 
and to walk upon them.  

In the name of the one 
who walked on the sea.
And through Your spirit 
who lovingly hovered over the deep, 
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 March 14, 2021.