To magnify Christ is to take risks.

A call to worship.

Themes

Taking risks • Magnifying Christ • Costly love • Security • Comfort • The myth of safety • Making plans • Making decisions • The Father’s omniscience • Risks in love • Risks in faith • Forgiveness

Enable us to make the hard decisions that need to be made today.

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Scripture reading

James 4:13–15

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This call to worship¹ dares to name what most of us won’t admit—we crave safety more than we crave Christ. But to magnify Jesus in this uncertain life means stepping into risk, not running from it.

Come now, you who say, 
“Today or tomorrow 
we will go into such and such a town 
and spend a year there 
and trade
and make a profit” — 
yet you do not know 
what tomorrow will bring. 
What is your life? 
For you are a mist 
that appears for a little time 
and then vanishes. 
Instead you ought to say, 
“If the Lord wills, 
we will live 
and do this 
or that.”

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Prayer

Father in heaven, 
our single, all-embracing passion 
is to make much of Your Son. 
It is to have a life that magnifies Him. 
But, such a life 
is a life of costly love — 
a life of risks, 
a life that exposes us 
to the possibility of loss and injury — 
loss of money, 
loss of reputation, 
loss of health. 

The truth is 
we instead want 
security and comfort. 
We seek places 
that are as far from danger 
as possible. 
We confess 
that we’ve confused losing our lives 
with wasting our lives. 
We’ve passed over the great things 
that may be achieved 
for the cause of Christ 
because the unknown is too scary 
and the risk seems too great. 

It is true 
that we don’t know 
how things here in our lives 
will really ever turn out.
This is one thing 
that separates us, Father. 
You know the next moment, 
the next hour, 
the next day, 
the whole next year. 
And we don’t. 
We are ignorant of tomorrow. 
And You are omniscient. 

And in nearly every instance 
of our wanting to know, 
You don’t reveal it to us. 
It seems You clearly intend for us 
to live and act 
in uncertainty 
about the many outcomes 
of our choices and actions. 

We are not You. 
We do not know tomorrow. 
And so, our lives are risky. 
Very risky. 
Uncertainty is the air we breathe. 
The life You’ve given to us 
is one of unavoidable risk. 

Any plan we make 
can be shattered 
by a thousand unknowns, 
even when we choose 
the safest path. 
Every direction we turn 
is filled with unknowns 
and countless things 
beyond our control. 
And yet, we remain enchanted 
with the myth of safety 
and security 
and comfort.

Father, there are decisions to be made, 
and we can’t see 
which decisions are best. 
Keep us from paralysis. 
Keep us from running away. 
Keep us from procrastination, 
indecisiveness, 
and risk avoidance. 

Enable us 
to take risks in faith 
and in love. 
Enable us 
to make the hard decisions 
that are needed to be made today, 
and this week — 
in our families, 
in our work, 
in this community. 

For it is right to risk 
for the cause of Christ. 
It is right for us 
to seek to make much 
of Your beloved Son 
by taking risks of love. 

In the name of Jesus, 
Who offers forgiveness 
when we choose to do nothing 
and Who offers forgiveness 
when we do the best we can 
and make mistakes along the way. 
This is why we love Your gospel. 
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 little book from. This call to worship was written from this book. Much of what is in this call to worship is in this book.

1. This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on August 21, 2022.