SERMON SERIES: THE DYNAMICS OF WORSHIP
What is Worship? (John 4:21-24)
Introduction
Begin series THE DYNAMICS OF WORSHIP
Several weeks to complete series
At the end – change up our service a little and I’ll explain why later
Would a doctor be successful in his medical practice if he didn’t know what he was doing?
What about an auto mechanic?...if he tried to fix cars without knowing the essential fundamentals or elements of auto repair?
In a similar sense, we cannot worship God in the way that He desires if we don’t know what we are doing.
We need to understand the essential principles of worship and put them into practice
Do you view worship as a burdensome activity? As not that important?
Or, it’s just what we do on Sunday morning?
If you do, your worship has little to do with God
Much of what we call worship today is really not worship at all…I want us to see what worship is from His Word and not what we think it is
My message today is “WHAT IS WORSHIP”
In order for us to truly be able to worship…we need to understand what it is
Read Passage (John 4:21-24) / Pray
Trans: If you could survey the people you pass daily on the streets, you might get some of the following opinions about what worship is.
1. STREET TALK
• It’s a waste of time
o The atheist says worship is unnecessary because there is no God
o No heaven, no God, no gratitude – no point in worship
• It’s a shot in the dark
o The agnostic says “I don’t know WHO to worship”
o Hard to worship someone you can’t see
• It’s up to the individual
o Some say it doesn’t matter who or how you worship
o What’s important – you devote life to serving higher power
o All religions are different roads that lead to same God
• It’s better in a fishing boat
o This view says you can be as close to God in a boat or on a golf course or in my house as a stained-glass sanctuary
o Worship is seeing God in the beauty of the sparkling water, the towering trees and the blue sky
• It’s more common than you think
o Some worship religious leaders – we see this in cults
o Some worship special objects – house, car, boat
o Some worship other people – child, spouse, father, mother, friend
o Some worship hobbies, work, ideas – fishing, hunting, job, position
• It’s done a certain way according to liturgy
o Worship is following a set of repeated religious words or exercises
o Emphasis is on standing up, sitting down, bowing or some other ritual
o Traditional clothing and religious phrases are key elements
• It’s something that happens at church
o Some feel it is a specific time at a specific church setting
o Stained-glass windows, traditional hymns, soft organ music
o Or live band, special lighting, contemporary music
Does anyone really know what worship is all about? Can we define it?
Truth is…Man was made to worship
God’s Word tells us about the definition of worship and what kind of worship God expects from us
2. Worship Defined
• Is worship something we do? Something we feel? Something we achieve?
• Dictionary – show reverence and adoration for a deity; honor with religious rites
• Commonly, considered to be the singing and praise part of a church service
• The word worship comes from an old English word that contains the ideas of honor and worth
• When we worship God, we are honoring Him
• When we worship God we recognize or should recognize His inexpressible, indescribable, infinite value
• The Old and New Testament have a number of references to the word WORSHIP
o Occurs 108 times in 102 verses in KJV bible
This word is SHA KHA in Hebrew and means “to bow down, prostrate oneself in homage”
We see this idea first in Gen 18:2 when Abraham saw three men from the Lord appear to him and he “bowed low to the ground”
First account of the word WORSHIP is used by Abrahan in Gen 22:5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and WORSHIP, and come again to you”
• This is the same word used in the Ten Commandments saying we should not worship – bow down to any other god but GOD only
• First account in New Testament is Matt 2:2 “Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to WORSHIP him”
o This word in the GREEK is pros ku ne o and means “to kneel, or prostrate in homage in order to express respect”
We see this depiction in heaven (turn to Rev 4:10-11)
We see true worshippers who not only recognize the worthiness of God but also are rejoicing in it
Our passage today talks about worship and the kind of worshippers God is looking for
Look at vs 23
Notice…Jesus says what worship is…
3. Worship is Spirit and Truth
The nature of Christian worship is from the inside out and two equally important parts “SPIRIT & TRUTH”
a. Spirit
o Has nothing to do with our physical posture
o Rather with our innermost being (our hearts)
o To worship in spirit requires a couple of things
o 1. You must Be Born again (turn to 1 Cor 2:11; 1 Cor 12:3)
• It is impossible to worship without being born again
• Jesus told Nicodemus – must be born of water & Spirit
• You are spiritually dead – you cannot worship whom you do not know
• The Holy Spirit in us is the one who energizes us to worship in order to glorify God
• Paul says in 1 Cor 2:14 natural man cannot understand things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned
o 2. You Must have a pure heart
• Open and repentant – King David & Bethsheba (2 Sam 11) – he found it impossible to worship
• He felt God was far from him – he groaned all day
• He felt God’s heavy hand upon him (Psa 32:3,4)
• When he confessed…his fellowship was restored (Psa 51:10-11)
b. Truth
o Paul exhorts us to be living sacrifices & to have our minds renewed
o The only thing that will renew your mind is TRUTH
o Jesus said in John 17:17 “thy word is truth”
o All worship is response to the TRUTH of God’s Word
o When the word is preached in TRUTH…our minds are being renewed
o When we read it daily and obey the TRUTH of the word…our lives are being transformed
o As our lives are transformed…we are then able to fully WORSHIP in truth
You and I cannot worship without the Spirit being present and our minds renewed by His Truth
There also must be a balance of both Spirit and Truth for true worship to occur
• Truth without Spirit leads to dry, dead, ritualistic, legalistic religion
• Spirit without Truth leads to emotionalism, sensationalism, excess and abuse!
Since external actions are unimportant in Christian worship, there is no rule regarding whether we should sit, stand, fall down, be quiet, or sing praises loudly
True worship is more about the attitude of our hearts and not our outward signs
There can be a whole lot of what would appear worship through outward things but worship is far from being done
Conclusion
There are many misconceptions and opinions about what worship is or isn’t
From the people on the street…to those who enter through the church doors
What is worship?
Jesus says He seeks True Worshippers that will worship Him in both Spirit and Truth
Worship about our attitude and our hearts being prostrate before Him
It is done by those who are born again and have a repentant, pure heart
Worship is also about His Truth; living it in our lives as we take it in
And there must be a balance of both Spirit and Truth for true worship to occur
Next week look at “What is God Like?” You can’t worship Him if you don’t know what He is like
Pray
