The Biblical Church Gathering

How Should the Church Worship?

Today we will be reading from John 4:7-26

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost literally means 50 or the 50th. On that 50th day Jews from all over the known world were coming into Jerusalem for the Festival of the First Fruits which celebrated the beginning of the Wheat harvest.

This was a celebration of the Lord’s pouring out of His bountiful mercy with the start of another harvest. So, these faithful Jewish men were bringing in the best of the very first yield of their wheat harvest.

Little did they know that there would be another demonstration of the Lord’s bountiful mercy and the start of a spiritual harvest.

For on that very day, in His bountiful mercy, the Lord poured out the Holy Spirit on all mankind!

But things were going to be different now.

The Most Holy Place in the temple had been torn open by God when Jesus died on the cross. Therefore we now have direct access to the Father through Jesus.

And, now, the Holy Spirit has, in essence, come out to us from the Most Holy Place to be with us and to guide us. Us! All of us who seek Him! Praise His name forever.

Now the temple worship of continual sacrifices is over. What will worship be like from this point forward?

Jesus tells us Himself in John chapter 4 …

Let’s read John 4:7-26

(Prayer for help)

What will our worship be like?

Re-read John 4:23-24

Right there is the attitude of our worship from that point forward.

The rest of the New Testament was written within 50 years of Jesus’ death and in all of that time do we see an outline of what a worship service should be?

We do not. Is that because we humans would have made it into a “law” and declared that this is the way and no other way is acceptable?

So, if we do not have prescribed pattern of worship, what is it that we DO see in the New Testament?

We see elements of their worship gatherings:

- We see the proclamation of the Scriptures (preaching/teaching)

- We see the Lord’s Supper - communion

- We see the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs

- We see offerings being given

- We see prayer

- We see discussion (as we would do in a Bible study session)

- We see the fellowship of believers encouraging one another

This was very different for those who had come out of Judaism where their worship was comprised of following a rigid format that was repeated over and over the same way each time.

So, how do we worship here at Crossroads Church of The Nazarene? Is our worship acceptable to the Lord?

We know that we have a general flow to our service. Most of us do not need to even look at the outline of the service to know what is coming up next other than the song selections. Have we fallen into a rigid, legalistic pattern?

Let me tell you some of the thoughts I have about our worship services.

First of all, my hope is that we WILL worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

That the Lord will be glorified and honored in all we do.

That there will be no “self” in the service.

That our worship and our prayers will rise up before Him as a sweet aroma.

That when we leave the time of worship the Lord and what He has taught us we will be more like Jesus than when we came in.

That we will leave the worship service worshiping Him!

That is why the worship ministry team is off to the side of the platform and not spread across it. The ministry team should NOT be the center of attention. If we could be behind a screen or up in a balcony out of sight it would be best but we are not set up for that.

This is important to help us worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

During our time of worshiping the Lord in song He alone is to be the focus.

Our music selection is intentional. There is a mix of the great hymns of the past and of newer worship music. All of it must be Biblical. All of it must be singable. All of it must glorify God or cause us to seek to be more like Him.

If at all possible it is best if it can be pure Scripture with such songs as the “Revelation Song” or “Mighty Is Our God” as we sang this morning or “Jesus Messiah”. What wonderful songs about our wonderful Lord, praise His name forever!

This helps us to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.