Weekly "Call To Worship" Encouragement

For this call to worship, I have a message from the Lord in these anxious times, Philippians 4 beginning in verse 4:

"4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

There is much to be anxious about lately, if we don’t follow Paul’s advice, if we don’t follow the word of God. There’s an election coming up (maybe you’ve heard something about that). We have war in the Ukraine, war in the Middle East, conflict in Haiti, Sudan, and I know I’m probably leaving out some part of the world. Hurricanes in the southeast. Violence in our cities. Sometimes it just seems like too much.

How are we to respond to all of that is going on in the world? How are we to engage our family, loved ones, co-workers, neighbors regarding these issues? With gentleness, with peace, knowing that the God of peace is with us. 

We are here to worship the God of peace together. We are here to bow before Him, to present our petitions with thanksgiving. Let’s do that now.

Father in heaven, we bow before you. Father, we confess that we have been anxious, and that we have not been gentle, and we have not been at peace in these times. Father, we repent.

 We know that we can trust in You, because You are the One who is truly faithful, the One who is purely righteous, the One who has all wisdom, and all glory, and all power.

Father, help us to walk by your Spirt so that our gentleness is evident to all, to your glory. Father, help us to walk by your Spirit so that we can do what is good, so that we can help those that are in need, so that we can share your good news.

Father, we thank you for the peace that we do have in our homes, in our neighborhoods; we are very blessed to live where we do. And Father, we are thankful to be at peace with You because You sent your Son Jesus to die on a cross for our sins and because He rose from the dead.  Father, we pray that our worship is pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.