1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Spoken transitions in a worship service
God's Word makes a breath-taking confession about followers of Jesus: they have become resurrected with their risen Lord.
St. Paul commended it as a resurrection virtue. A humble person is within a millimeter of becoming like Christ himself, who “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped… but humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross!”
Patience-filled Christian saints keep cultivating their relationship with the Spirit and keep praying continually for his help in showing makrothumia everywhere and always toward all others, no matter how impatient and rude, no matter how grumbling and irritating those others at times may be.
Forgiving: it’s a challenging practice—perhaps no other command of Jesus is more difficult to obey. And it’s so counter-intuitive. Why give anyone a fresh start after he’s hurt you deeply? Why not just retaliate by knocking his block off?
What better place to celebrate the Good News of God’s agape and to get the instruction manual for learning how to live it out toward others than in the congregation of saints on Sunday morning? There we gather to hear about and to celebrate, to receive instruction and to pledge anew.
To be human is to be aware that life—one’s own life—is a sheer and undeserved gift from God. It is to revel and delight in its giftedness and to return thanks to the Giver. When the Giver hears an echo of gratitude, the circle becomes complete. Thus gratitude is an essential feature of living up to what God intended for his humans creatures when he made them.
An image based on Galatians 2
Songs and scripture texts for worship based on Galatians 5:22-26, the Fruit of the Spirit.
Whether in Toledo, Toronto, Taipei, Tehran, or Tegucigalpa, worship of the Triune God has many commonalities, and followers of Jesus have much to learn from one another.
Sandra Bowden is a visual artist who has been interpreting scripture and her own spiritual walk through mixed media for more than 40 years.
Guillermo Márquez-Sterling is associate pastor at Coral Gables United Church of Christ in Coral Gables, Florida. In this edited conversation, Márquez-Sterling talks about their MTR mission trip in June 2013.
