The hymn declares, “All beautiful the march of days/ As seasons come and go/ The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought/ The crystal of the snow.” Snow we won’t see, we trust, but yet another seasonal change we shall likely see, and a new year as well. Through it all, in all the events of our years and decades, even with COVID, God goes with us each step of the way. On this particular day we join together to go with God. Therefore let us, with confident hopes for a good new year, worship God.
Call to Worship – December 26, 2021
The big day is over, and life returns to normal. Except it doesn’t, because the Big Day was and is and always shall be The Big Day. God enters into human history in a unique way, and nothing should or shall ever be truly the same again. We gather in praise of a God who will not allow His creation to be lost or spoiled by us. Instead, He intercedes among us by sending His Anointed One among us. Therefore, let us, with confidence, worship the God of the Christmas Hope.
Call to Worship – November 14, 2010
When we gather for worship, we do so as a people who are uniquely blessed. We live in a country which has been remarkably productive, and we are the beneficiaries of that productivity. Most of us have far more than we need to live adequately and comfortably. Much of that has nothing to do with who we are or what we have done, but rather where we live and what it has done for us. All blessings come ultimately from God, and we seek to thank Him for those blessings. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – November 7, 2010
Sometimes we seem to need a break. Life conspires against us, we feel, and we are forced to make moral choices which are neither easy nor clear. And the break we desire may or may not come. In such circumstances, we may think we are isolated and alone. But God goes with us, every step of the meandering way. Therefore, to be strengthened for the circuitous journey, let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – October 30, 2011
The days shorten, autumn is certainly in the air, and we observe yet again how creation and our Creator progress from season to season and year to year. God is beyond our greatest comprehension, but nevertheless we see glimpses of who He is by what He does. In praise of Him and in awe of His goodness we gather each Sunday in worship. Therefore let us, with renewed confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – October 17, 2021
God calls all of us to worship Him, whoever we are and in whatever state of grace or disgrace we find ourselves. When we do so, we are refreshed, renewed, and restored to a proper relationship with God. We gather in gratitude to God for His continuous and unfailing love of us, asking Him to inspire us to seek to become new beings by His spirit working within us. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship - October 10, 2021
We are a people who are blessed. We are blessed by one another, by our community, our nation, and the world. Most of all, we are blessed by God, who is the ultimate source of all our blessings. In gratitude to God for all His gifts to us, we gather to sing His praises, to listen for His word, and to seek to go out as renewed beings into the world for whose stewardship God has given us the primary responsibility. Therefore let us with growing confidence worship God.
Call to Prayer: October 3, 2021
Over 150 years ago, Charles Dickens wrote a novel called Hard Times. Our times are also hard times, as millions of people all over the country and billions all over the world struggle with many seemingly intractable problems.. We look for solace and comfort in the midst of growing fear and anxiety. Where are we to find any security? It is with that question in mind that we come to church every Sunday, and especially on this Sunday. Looking for an answer, let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – September 19, 2021
The dawn of each new day brings a fresh start to all of us, but the dawn of the Sabbath day doubly blesses us with freshness. On this day we gather in God’s name to sing His praises, to hear His word, and to respond to His all-encompassing grace. On no two Sundays are we ever exactly the same, nor do we approach worship in exactly the same way. Nevertheless, God awaits us as we are, seeking to transform us into the best we can be. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – September 12, 2010
We gather in praise of a God who gives each of us abilities which we alone possess. We do not fully understand why we were chosen to utilize these gifts, nor can we comprehend exactly how they operate. But we thank God that He enables us to accomplish those things which, by ourselves, we could never do, but which, through Him, we can bring to fruition. In gratitude for all things, let us with confidence worship God!
Call to Worship – August 15, 2021
We gather to worship the God whom we are convinced makes Himself known to us. But how does He do that? Does He do it individually, or collectively, or both? Today we shall consider how God reveals His nature and His will to us by means of history, and we shall ponder what that means. We are forever grateful that God makes Himself known to us at all, when it is not incumbent on Him to do so. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of self-revelation.
Call to Worship – July 25, 2021
Time passes, events occur, we all make decisions. Where is God in this entire uncertain process? We gather in praise of a God whom we are convinced can bring good out of anything that happens: a personal decision gone terribly astray, wars or national or international conflicts in which the outcomes are very much in doubt, a world constantly beset with difficult challenges. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of providential hope.
Call to Worship – July 18, 2021
Once again we gather to worship the God who created us, sustains us, and redeems us. God alone is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving, for He alone make our lives not only possible but also indescribably bountiful. When we feel far from Him, He seeks us out, and draws us closer to Him once again. He is the eternal Love who never lets us go, and thus to Him we express our gratitude. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – July 4, 2021
Once again the American people unite to express gratitude for our national independence, and as usual Christians gather for worship on this Lord’s Day which happens to fall on Independence Day. As we do so, we ask God to help us extend freedom to all our people, especially to those who are the most imprisoned by poverty, illness, or social inequality. Therefore with thanksgiving for all the blessings which have come to us as citizens of this nation, let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – April 25, 2021
We are a people of privilege, not because of who we are, but because of where and when we live. Of all our privileges, one of the greatest is to be able to gather freely to worship the God who calls us into His presence, and who daily redeems us by His grace. It is to honor Him and to sing His praises that we come together each Sunday. Therefore let us, with Christian confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – April 11, 2021
In the storm and stress of life, we have a refuge, a place where our spirits can be revived and out hopes renewed. The Sabbath is God’s gift to His people. By it we are given time to reflect and meditate and find refreshment when the world seems too much for us. But these things happen because we become related to the One who created and sustains us, and in Him alone can the Sabbath work its wonders among us. Therefore let us, with Sabbath confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – March 7, 2021
A very controversial and charismatic man is walking along the highways and lanes of the region of the Galilee. He is convinced that he is sent from God, but the message he conveys is so extraordinary, so revolutionary, that he strongly repels as many people as he strongly attracts. We join him to hear what he has to say, and especially whatever he says about the kingdom of God. Therefore, hearing Jesus, let us also with confidence worship God!
Call to Worship – February 28, 2021
The God who sent Jesus calls us together in worship. God alone is worthy of worship, and Jesus made that crystal clear in all that he said and did. Christians are people who believe that in Jesus we see God made visible in the form of one born most fully in the likeness of God. Both God and Jesus are worthy of our worship, and to them we now turn in thanksgiving and praise. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Call to Worship – February 21, 2021
We are blessed to live in a community which exhibits the beauties of nature so fully that hundreds of thousands of people each year come here to be re-created in the extraordinary scenes of the beach or the golf course or the morning light shining through the limbs of oaks or pines or palmettos. Today we gather in praise of the God who created the natural order and everything in it, and especially on this sunny Sunday when there is a zero percent chance of rain. Therefore let us, with gratitude, worship God.
Call to Worship – January 31, 2021
None of us comes to worship each Sunday with exactly the same outlook or hopes or expectations as we felt on any previous Sunday. Worship is always a unique experience in and of itself. In it, God speaks to us, and we speak to God. In this divine-human dialogue, faith is deepened and trust is enlarged. Waiting to hear the voice of Him who leads us here, let us therefore with confidence worship God.