Participation, not performance.

A call to worship.

Themes

Anti-performance worship • Burden of worship • Imperfect prayers • Spirit-formed people • Dependence on Christ • Divine breath • Body of Christ • Leadership • Trinitarian communion • Solitary Christianity • Mind of Christ • Formed by grace

Keep us from the myth of solitary Christianity, the myth of spiritual self-sufficiency that says we can know God apart from the community His Spirit has formed.

We are not here to “put on” worship for You.

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Scripture reading

Hebrews 2:10-13
Ephesians 2:18–22
Hebrews 4:14–16

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This call to worship¹ is about relief: it dismantles the anxious idea that worship is something we must manufacture, and replaces it with the gospel claim that God has already come all the way to us in Jesus Christ. We get to step into what Jesus is already doing—praying, praising, and bringing us to the Father by the Spirit.

Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters… 
Jesus says (to His Father), 
“I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; 
in the midst of the congregation 
I will sing your praise.”


Through Christ, 
we have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, 
but fellow citizens with God’s people 
and also members of His household, 
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
with Christ Jesus Himself as The Chief Cornerstone. 
In Him the whole building is joined together 
and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 
And in Him you too are being built together 
to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.


Therefore, since we have a Great High Priest 
who has ascended into heaven, 
Jesus the Son of God, 
let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, 
so that we may receive mercy 
and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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Prayer

Father in heaven
We come to You with honest hearts.

It’s easy to slip into worship 
as if You are over there somewhere, 
And we are over here. 
As if we’re trying to reach You 
by the authenticity of our worship 
or the strength of our singing, 
or by the right mood,
or the right atmosphere, 
or the right feelings, 
or the right words.

Forgive us, Lord, 
for carrying a burden of worship 
You never asked us to carry.

You have not left us to bridge that gap.

Jesus has already bridged it. 
In Jesus Christ, You, God, have come to us. 
You have taken our humanity. 
You have borne our sin. 
You have opened the way home. 
And even now, 
the risen and living Jesus stands among us 
as our Shepherd 
and our High Priest 
and our True Worship Leader.

Yes! He is the eternal Son, 
worthy of all worship and praise, 
sharing one divine life 
with You, Father, and with the Spirit.  

And He is also the incarnate, risen, and ascended Son, 
offering in our human flesh 
the perfect response to You, 
giving You the worship we cannot give, 
and drawing us in 
to participate in it 
by His Spirit that is in us. 

So, today, Father, 
we are not here to “put on” worship for You.
Instead, we join the worship that Jesus—
our ascended Christ—
is already offering to You.

We do not bring our prayers 
that must somehow be good enough; 
we bring our real prayers—
our small, stumbling, sincere prayers—
and we know that Jesus will gather them 
into His own perfect prayer 
and present them to You in His name.

And we ask that Your Holy Spirit 
make this congregation Your living work, 
not a religious club, 
not an audience, 
not an organization, 
not a business measured by things like efficiency or impressive outcomes, 
not an independent existence relying on its own resources.

For this little church 
has no life 
or power 
of its own 
apart from Christ.

So, breathe Your life into us, Father. 
Save us from being a tired and hollow organization.
Make us the living Body of Christ—
moved by Your love, 
marked by Your mercy, 
rich in Your service.

Teach us to lead like Jesus— 
to be servants of Your people, 
not managers of our system.

God, You are a living communion of Father, Son, and Spirit— 
a communion of persons,
a communion of love, 
a communion of fellowship and freedom. 
So, keep us from the myth of solitary Christianity, 
the myth of spiritual self-sufficiency
that says we can know You 
apart from the community Your Spirit has formed
in which the Word is heard, 
and answered, 
and tested, 
and learned together.

Knit us together, then, 
in this little church community of persons.
Knit us together 
in the ways that enable us to know You. 
Knit us together 
in the ways that will have our minds shaped by the Mind of Christ.

Make this church the place where we learn His mind together—
where we help one another hear Your Word, 
where we carry one another’s joys and sorrows, 
where we tell the truth in love, 
and where we are formed by grace.

So now, as we open this time 
for Scripture 
and testimony 
and prayers 
and requests 
and praise,
give courage to those who speak,
give wisdom to those who listen, 
and keep us close to Jesus.

And let everything shared today 
become a simple and grateful “Amen” 
to what Christ is already doing among us.

We pray in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

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1. This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians who gathered at Pathway Church in Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, January 15, 2023.