Swimming in God’s generosity.

A call to worship.

Themes

Generosity • Communion • Holy Spirit • Friendship • Jesus Christ • Suffering • Glory • Community • in Christ • Sonship

We are swimming in the Father’s generosity. Like the air we breathe, we don’t notice it. We don’t contemplate it. We don’t see it. But we do keep breathing it.

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Scripture reading

1 Corinthians 1:9
Romans 8:32
Acts 17:28
Romans 6:3–5
Galatians 2:20
2 Corinthians 4:17
Romans 8:14–17

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This call to worship¹ comes from scriptures that describe the most incredible acts of generosity in the history of mankind.

God is faithful. 
He will do this. 
He has called you 
into the fellowship 
of His Son, 
Jesus Christ our Lord.


He who did not spare His own Son, 
but delivered Him up for us all, 
how shall He not with Him also 
freely give us all things?


In Him 
we live 
and we move 
and we have our being.


Do you not know 
that all of us 
who have been baptized into Christ Jesus 
were baptized into His death? 
We will certainly also 
be united with Him 
in a resurrection like His.


I have been crucified with Christ 
and I no longer live, 
but Christ lives in me.


Our light affliction, 
which is but for a moment, 
works for us 
a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory.


For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
these are sons of God… 
And if children, 
then heirs—
heirs of God 
and joint heirs with Christ…

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Prayer

Father in heaven, 
every day, 
and even today, 
this morning, 
particularly this morning, 
we get to enjoy a generous fellowship—
a profound and generous communion with You, 
a participation in Christ’s own relationship with You—
that has been made possible 
by His eternal, 
and eternally generous 
and atoning sacrifice. 

You have generously shared all things with us. 
In fact, 
we are just swimming 
in Your generosity, Father. 
So much so 
that we have come to believe 
that Your generosity isn’t. 
Like the air we breathe, 
we don’t notice it. 
We don’t contemplate it. 
We don’t see it. 
But we do keep breathing it. 

You are generously sharing with us 
the Spirit of Christ. 
And, so, we are participating in—sharing in—the Spirit. 
And because of that generous sharing, 
we are then with the Spirit, 
brought into the 
generous, 
dynamic, 
intimate, 
loving, 
joyful, 
communion and friendship 
that the Spirt enjoys with You 
and that You enjoy 
with the Son. 

You are generously sharing with us 
the history—past, present, and future—
of Jesus Christ. 
Not like you’re teaching us this history—
sharing information about it. 
No. 
It’s the very life of Jesus, 
the baptism of Jesus, 
the death of Jesus, 
the resurrection of Jesus, 
the ascension of Jesus, 
and the reign of Jesus 
that have all generously become ours. 
His past, 
His present, 
His future 
are ours. 
We can claim them as our own. 

You are generously sharing with us 
the experience of Christ—
His self-denial, 
His suffering, 
His giving up of material goods. 
And it’s harder, for sure, 
to think of this as Your generosity. 
But it is achieving for us 
an eternal and generous glory 
that far outweighs it all. 
And then, 
we will come to see, 
really just how generous our sharing has been 
in the experience of Christ. 

Your generosity 
has brought us into 
a holy community—
this holy community, 
right here, 
called Pathway.
And here 
we get to generously share with others 
who, too, are sharing in the experience of Christ, 
who, too, are sharing in Christ, 
who, too, are sharing the Spirit of Christ. 

You have brought each of us 
into a completely new existence—
an existence whose dominant characteristic 
is the generous sharing 
of a common life 
with others, 
particularly with those right here in this room. 
It’s not simply 
the shared experience 
of being together 
as Christ followers; 
It is the status we have 
of being in Christ 
and of being shareholders together 
in a sonship 
derived from the sonship of Christ. 

We are not sharing in some things. 
We are generously sharing in a divine someone. 
Your Spirit binds us to Him — Jesus Christ —
in a divine-human relationship, 
in a generously participator relationship 
that grows out of the same relationship 
You have 
with Him.

In the name of Jesus, 
who generously was not spared, 
in whom we have been called into generous fellowship, 
alongside whom we will generously be given all things, 
in whom we generously live and have our being, 
who we are generously united with 
in baptism, 
in crucifixion, 
and in resurrection, 
with whom we are generously joint heirs, 
Amen

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Inspiring resources

A call to worship creates wonderment, amazement, curiosity, yearning, captivation, provocation, hopefulness, thankfulness, affection, rapture, delight. As these mix together, the response is worship.

If this call to worship leaves you wondering or curious or provoked or hopeful, consider diving into this awesome book which inspired me to write this call to worship.

1. This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on October 13, 2024.