Not optional.
A call to worship.
Themes
God as necessity • Spiritual hunger • Living Water • Self-sufficiency • Repentance • Eternal life • Bread from heaven • Dependence
Forgive us for thinking that there is some kind of life… capable of being lived… without you, God.
Scripture reading
Matthew 4:4 John 4:10–14 John 6:32–35
This call to worship1 is about refusing the lie that God is merely a “spiritual enhancement” to an otherwise workable life. It presses us toward a stark reality: God is not a matter of human preference; we need God because we were made to live from God, with God, and for God.
We come to worship God… and we do so from a place of need. We bring with us the needs and cares of the world. It’s not so easy to set them aside… even while we are here to worship.
We draw near to God… who draws near to us — who comes to us in Jesus. And so we come to a God who knows from experience what it’s like to be human.
We come with faith… and we come with our doubts. We come with hope… and we come with our fears.
We simply come as we are. It is how we have been invited. God has invited us here exactly as we are. And God has promised never to turn us away
To Satan, Jesus said: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God To a Samaritan Woman, Jesus said: If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. To the crowd, Jesus said: Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Prayer
Lord, there are things that we know we need to survive. We need bread. We need water. We need sustenance. But You have told us that there is Living Water. And… that we do not live by bread alone. But by every word that comes from Your mouth. Forgive us for thinking that this is just a metaphor. Forgive us for thinking that there is some kind of life… … capable of being lived… without You. We are not here this morning, Lord, because You are an option or an alternative. We are here because we are hungry for You. Our souls must have nourishment, and that nourishment is only available from You. Nourish us in the ways of eternal life. This we pray, through Jesus Christ, our Living Water, the Bread from Heaven, Amen
This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians who gathered at Pathway Church in Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, February 9, 2020.