Themes
Loss • Weakness • Surrender • Divine sufficiency • Divine presence • Fear and courage • God’s speech through us • Ordinary discipleship • Boldness • Christ as strength • Christ as life • Discipleship • The way of the cross • Resurrection life • Resurrection power • Ground in Christ alone
This is the scandal of the gospel: that God chooses the foolish to shame the wise, that God chooses the weak to shame the strong.
Scripture reading
Philippians 3:7–8 2 Corinthians 12:9 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 Matthew 10:19–20 Acts 4:13
This call to worship1 is about how God, in Christ, takes what we thought defined us—our strength, our learning, our preparation, our very identities—and shows us that all of it must die. That all of it is crushed beneath the weight of Christ’s glory. That all of it is crushed under the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus. That all of it is crushed at the foot of the cross, where our self-made lives are ground to dust, so that Christ alone might be raised in us.
To the Philippians Paul writes: Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. And to the Corinthians, Paul testifies: He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And Jesus promised this to His disciples: When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. And in Acts chapter four we read: When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Prayer
Father in heaven, You are the God who dismantles our false strengths. You take what we build, what we cling to, what we boast in, and You strip it bare. You crucify our self-made identities. It is all counted as loss— so that Christ alone may be our life. You tell us, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.” And so You call us not to hide our weakness, not to mask it, not to despise it, but to open it, to offer it, to surrender it— because it is there, precisely there, where Your Spirit —the Spirit of Christ— makes His dwelling. You promise us words when we have none. You promise us courage when we are afraid. You promise us wisdom when we are empty. You promise us Your very presence— that it will not be us who speak, but Your Spirit speaking through us. Your ragtag disciples were just ordinary people whom You called — no credentials, no polish, no status. And yet they spoke with boldness, and the world was astonished, and it was plain they had been with Jesus. So remake us in this same way, Father. Strip us of false confidence. Crush every human achievement under the weight of Christ. Rebuild us in His strength alone. So that when we open our mouths, the words of Christ are spoken. So that when we are weak, the strength of Christ is revealed. So that when we are empty, Christ fills us with His life. So that when we are nothing, Christ is everything. Father, this is the scandal of Your gospel: that You choose the foolish to shame the wise, that You choose the weak to shame the strong. This is the call to discipleship: to lay down what we cling to, to walk in surrender, to follow Jesus wherever He leads. This is the way of the cross: loss, weakness, surrender— yet through it, You bring resurrection life; You give us resurrection power. So here we are, Lord. Weak, frail, trembling. But Yours. Take our weakness, and make it Your power. Take our loss, and make it Your gain. Take our emptiness, and make it Your fullness. For Jesus Christ is our only ground. Our only word. Our only strength. Our only life. Amen.
A call to worship given to the small assembly of Christians that gather in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, September 14, 2025