SERIES: “GOD-GIVEN GUIDELINES FOR GROWING A GREAT CHURCH”
(Material taken from Bob Russel’s When God Builds A Church)
TEXT: JOHN 4:21-24
TITLE: GUIDELINE #2: “WORSHIP GOD TOGETHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH”
INTRODUCTION: A. After attending church one Sunday morning, a little boy knelt at his bedside that night
and prayed, “Dear God, we had a good time at church today. I wish you had been
there.”
--How sad but how true that statement is in our time
1. The primary purpose for attending a church service should be to worship God.
2. Ps. 95:6-7 – “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD
our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under
his care.”
3. Worship is more than just singing a few songs, performing a few rituals, and
enduring a sermon. We come to experience the presence of God, to acknowledge
his authority in our lives, and to worship him as our Creator.
B. What worship is not:
1. To some people, worship is ritual: a regular routine that they go through once a
week
2. They come to a building, sing a few songs, listen to a prayer or two, eat a stale
cracker and drink some grape juice; put a couple of dollars in the offering plate,
listen to a sermon, and go home.
--Nothing of any importance happens but they have done their religious
obligation for the week (or month or even year)
3. Several years ago Barna Research Group did a survey of adults in churches across
North America. 71% of the adults who regularly attend church said, “I have
never experienced the presence of God in worship. Never.”
a. Sad to say, but worship to many has no connection with God.
b. It’s rote; it’s routine
--In reality, it’s irrelevant and empty, and boring
c. But it’s not worship.
C. So, what is worship?
1. It’s a declaration of the “worth-ship” of God
2. Worship is when you see God and you go, “WOW!”
--It’s responding to all that God is and all that He has done, what He is doing, and
what He will do
3. When we worship God we acknowledge that there is a Creator who has authority
over us and to whom we are accountable.
a. We humble ourselves in his presence and praise him for his goodness.
b. We renew our pledge to obey his commands and seek his honor.
D. In Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, it didn’t take long before their
conversation turned to worship.
1. The woman’s question was sincere, "I know there are two ways to worship…the
Samaritan way and the Jewish way…but which is the right way?"
--Jesus dealt with that question once and for all as he explained that the true God is
seeking after worshippers to worship in spirit and in truth.
2. The Samaritan form of worship was characterized by enthusiastic, lively, and
highly emotional worship.
a. Although this kind of worship was stimulating and left the worshippers feeling
good, they were missing something.
b. They did not have important information about God and the Messiah that had
come.
--The Samaritans only accepted the first five books of the Bible
c. They lacked many of the basic truths of God that should motivate us to worship
Him in the first place.
3. The Jews had the opposite problem.
a. They believed the truth as revealed to them by God and literally built their entire
culture around this truth.
b. Unfortunately, the Jewish form of worhip became as routine as lacing their
sandals or washing their hands.
c. They lacked a spiritual, emotional experience that should accompany
knowledge of such great truth.
d. The same kind of thing is happening today in worship.
4. Some people worship totally in the spirit.
a. Now, it’s true that worship happens from the inside out.
--Sincere worship begins within the depths of a person’s heart and overflows
into every area of life, bringing blessing and joy to those around.
b. But with all this emotional charge, it’s easy to set our emotions above God.
--That places us in danger of making an idol out of worship.
5. On the other hand are people who worship primarily in truth.
a. They know God as revealed in His Word and cannot be swayed in their beliefs.
b. People like this live with purpose and confidence.
(1). Their faith is a rock for them in times of trouble and they provide strength
for those around them.
(2). Their thinking is clear and untainted by emotion.
c. But we can easily be hindered in our worship if we become so afraid of feeling
that we disengage emotionally.
5. Jesus tells us there needs to be a biblical balance to our worship
E. Your probably wondering if I’m going to talk about the current hot topics concerning
worship.
1. What music style is God most pleased with? Should we put lyrics to songs on a
screen or should they be in a hymnbook just like the 1st Century church had?
2. I hope I don’t disappoint you but those things are trivial when it come to the biblical
teachings concerning worship.
3. However, I will inform you that tonight I will continue in teaching on worship and
that I’ll share with you some thoughts about worship that will teach on those
subjects.
4. How do we achieve the balance that Jesus taught us about?
--What we need to focus on having a healthy view of worship that is based on
scripture.
5. To have a healthy scriptural view of worship, we need to honestly answer three
questions about our worship:
I. Question #1: DOES OUR WORSHIP HONOR GOD?
A. The primary purpose of worship is not to entertain those sitting in the pews but to glorify God
1. We tend to evaluate what happens in our congregation on Sunday morning like it was a performance:
a. The special music this morning was great!
b. Can’t they speed the congregational singing up a bit?
c. I liked the hymns this morning. How about you?
d. Boy, that sermon was a dud! Yeah, and lasted way too long!
2. Ben Merold, “In most churches, we have the preacher performing, with God as the prompter, and the
people as the audience. In truth, worship should be the people performing, with the preacher as the
prompter, and God as the audience.”
B. The University of Kentucky basketball team won the NCAA National Basketball championship in
1998. It was a fantastic day for UK fans! A few days later there was a celebration in Rupp Arena to
honor the team. Being a UK fan, I watched the celebration on TV.
The audience cheered wildly for each player when he was introduced. The fans carried banners.
They painted their faces and proudly wore blue-and-white outfits. They tried to get autographs. Not one
fan walked away saying, “That event was a dud. It didn’t do anything for me.” The event was a success,
not because the performance was great (they didn’t play any basketball at all) or because the players’
speeches were inspiring (most of them weren’t very good speakers), but because everyone understood
why they were there. The purpose was not to please the fans but to honor the team. People walked away
saying, “That was great! I hope the team understands how much we appreciate them!”
1. Ps. 29:2 – “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his
holiness.”
2. Rev. 14:7 – “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him
who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
3. We worship to bring glory to God and express our gratitude for his goodness.
--Our goal is to please him.
4. When we understand the purpose of worship, we’re more likely to walk away saying, “That was
great! I hope God knows how much we appreciate him!”
II. Question #2: DOES OUR WORSHIP INSPIRE, UPLIFT, AND TRANSFORM THE WORSHIPER?
--The primary purpose of worship is to honor God, but corporate worship does have some by-products.
A. One of those by-products is to uplift and encourage the worshippers.
1. David says in Ps. 122:1 (KJV) – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
LORD.”
2. When we genuinely worship God, we receive inspiration and empowerment.
B. God ordained worship not just because He deserves it, but also because we have in instinctive need to
worship.
1. William Hendricks, Exit Interviews: Revealing Stories of Why People Are Leaving the Church: As
you might guess, people often said they were leaving church because it was “boring,” but notice how
they defined boring. Hendricks wrote: “Perhaps the most common complaint was that worship
services were boring. It was not just that these gatherings were not interesting; they were not
worshipful. They did little to help people meet God. However, I did not hear this as a call for more
entertainment, but for more participation.”
2. The most important benefit of a worship service is an awareness of the presence of God in the midst
of His people.
a. This awareness of the presence of God is more important than an impressive choir, an outstanding
soloist, or even a relevant message from scripture.
b. I’ve heard it said that when interaction with God is absent, church loses much of its appeal.
--People come to church because they expect to find God there.
C. Blaise Pascal, the famous 17th century physicist, “There is a God-shaped hole in every heart that only
God can fill.”
1. Human beings instinctively worship because that is what God created them to do.
When we do what we were created to do, we are inspired.
2. There’s something inspirational and encouraging about singing songs of praise and worship with
other believers.
a. There’s something cleansing about taking communion and praying for forgiveness and renewal
while surrounded by believers who are doing the same.
b. There’s something uplifting about hearing the truth of God’s Word proclaimed boldly to an
assembly of listeners.
c. There’s something moving about seeing people respond to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ.
3. Heb. 10:24-25 – “24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one
another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
a. Have you ever gone to church when you didn’t feel like going?
(1). Occasionally – not very often – I don’t feel like going to church.
(2). And sometimes – rarely – I don’t feel like preaching.
b. One Sunday morning, mom called upstairs to her son, “Honey, it’s time to get up and get ready to
go to church.” The son called back down, “But I don’t wanna go to church! Give me one good
reason that I should go to church.” Mom called back, “I’ll give you three good reasons. #1 – It’s
the right thing to do. #2 – You’re 35 years-old. #3 – You’re the preacher!”
c. Sometimes I want to stand in the pulpit and stare at the audience the way some of them stare at me.
(cross arms, scowl, yawn, look at watch, scowl again)
d. But even when I don’t feel like it, I go to church anyway because God has commanded me not to
forsake the assembly.
e. And I sing the songs anyway because God has commanded me to make a joyful noise.
f. And I preach anyway because God has commanded me to preach in season and out of season.
g. And you know what?
--When I do, I feel so much better. I’m lifted up by worshiping God in the assembly of believers.
III. DOES OUR WORSHIP DRAW VISITORS CLOSER TO AN ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS
CHRIST?
A. Acts 2:47 tells us about the church in Jerusalem that they were “praising God and enjoying the favor of
all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
1. Evangelism is a very natural by-product of authentic worship.
2. When outsiders see Christians genuinely worshiping, they are attracted.
--The Holy Spirit works through worship to draw the seeker to Christ.
B. Sally Morgenthaler, Worship Evangelism: “Worship is the most powerful tool we have for
satisfying the hunger of famished, injured souls, for breaking down spiritual strongholds of pride
and unbelief and ushering in the gift of true joy. How can we refuse to use it? Our whole culture,
saved and unsaved, is starving for an extraordinary glimpse of God…Worship is not just for the
spiritually mature. It is for the spiritually hungry and that includes more people than we realize.”
1. Jesus, Jn. 12:32 – “But, I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”
--When Jesus Christ is exalted, people are attracted.
2. Morgenthaler quotes several preachers and worship leaders in her book. Listen closely to one that
really caught my attention: ‘The bottom line is, people are hungry for spiritual things. Ultimately,
even the world wants the church to be the church and to own up to who we really are…Everything
else – they can get that anywhere. “They can pay thirty bucks to go see Letterman or whatever.
But what people want today is God. They want to feel God, to know God…There is no substitute
for the presence of God…”
CONCLUSION: A. One final thing about worship as we close:
1. What we do in one hour of corporate worship each week is to be a reflection of what
we as individuals are doing the other 167 hours a week.
a. The plain truth is that God despises corporate worship if the worshipers have hearts
that are not right with him.
b. Amos 5:21-24 – “21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your
assemblies. 22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will
not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no
regard for them. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music
of your harps. 24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-
failing stream!”
c. William Temple: “Worship is the submission of all our nature to God.”
2. Worship isn’t something we do one hour a week. It’s a lifestyle that we offer to God.
--Paul tells us in Rom. 12:1 to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.”
B. There’s an old story concerning Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, who is
mentioned in the Bible. Cyrus, king of Persia once captured a prince and his family.
When they came before him, the monarch asked the prisoner, "What will you give me
if I release you?" "The half of my wealth," was his reply. "And if I release your
children?" "Everything I possess." "And if I release your wife?" "Your Majesty, I will
give myself." Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all.
As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, "Wasn’t Cyrus a handsome man!"
With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, "I didn’t notice. I could
only keep my eyes on you – the one who was willing to give himself for me."
1. That’s exactly what Jesus did for us
2. He presented Himself as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God
--John the Baptizer: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
3. Idolatry is the worship of false gods
--Tim Kelly, “Worship is taking our affection off our idols and putting it on God.”
a. The root word for idolatry literally means, “the way I see things.”
b. False worship is when we worship the way we see things
c. What are you looking at this morning?
d. Are your eyes focused on the One who was willing to give Himself for you?
