DAY TEN

We're through two weeks! I hope and pray that this worship study has blessed you and challenged you as a worshiper. I have thoroughly enjoyed going through it again with you.

Week Two - Day Five

A PLACE TO WORSHIP

Today's Main Idea:

God is in us and among us, and His presence is available every time we worship Him.

The tabernacle was a place where God chose to dwell. It was "the place where God established His residence on the earth--a place where God's people could worship freely and spend time in His presence...it was a rare and holy place. The tabernacle--and later the temple--was the place where God would relate corporately to His people in worship....King David knew God's people needed to encounter God's presence just as he had done his whole life. Their lives depended upon their relationship with God.

There could be no true worship without a relationship between the One being worshiped and the worshiper.

That was true in the Old Testament, and it is still true today. Everything changed, however, when God provided Jesus Christ--the Lamb who was slain for all our sin and iniquity. Our relationship with God was sealed by the blood of the Lamb" (p. 50, workbook).

John 4:23-24

²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers

will worship the Father in spirit and truth,

for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

I want to emphasize verse 24 again.....

What do you think is the differenced between worshiping God in spirit and worshiping Him in truth?

God sent Jesus to redeem us; to make a way for us to be able to enter God's presence. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

We are now the temple, the holy place of God's Spirit. "When we gather, we know that He is present, just as He was present whenever His people worshiped in the Old Testament" (p. 51, workbook).

The true worshippers shall worship the Father - Not here or there only, but at all times and in all places.

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The material below was inspired by a variety of sources but primarily, Rick Warren’s, “Worship that Pleases God” in The Purpose Driven Life, pp.100-106. Unless otherwise stated, quotations are ta

ken from the book.

We can observe from this passage that “the kind of worship that pleases God has four characteristics”:

1. God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved

“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22)

Worship is linked to salvation. This is the most profound truth we can learn about worship. Only those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour can truly offer worship that is pleasing to God.

2. God is pleased when our worship is scripturally accurate

“true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23)

Worship that pleases God must be scripturally accurate not scripturally ignorant. Occasionally someone will say to me “I like to think of God as…” and then they go on to describe a god they have created in their own image that they worship. The bible has a word for this approach. Its called idolatry. Worship must be based on the truth of scripture. Jesus acknowledged that there are two kinds of worshippers - true worshippers and by implication - false worshippers. “true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”

“To ‘worship in truth’ means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Bible.” The best way to worship God, therefore, is to use scripture in worship. The Psalms, for example, are a divinely inspired hymnbook without the tunes. Indeed our study of the bible should not only feed our worship, it should also shape our view of what true worship is. Our faith is based on God’s progressive revelation of himself.

If Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, your body is now the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This means we can worship God anywhere. No place is more holy than any other. If we limit worship to what happens in our worship center, the minute we leave, we will leave our attitude of worship behind like a crumpled-up news sheet. So if we are to please God, our understanding of worship must be shaped by the Bible.

3. God is pleased when our worship is spiritually authentic

“true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

“When Jesus said we must ‘worship in spirit’ he wasn’t referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit.” That is to your innermost being. That is why only those who have been born again and made alive by the Spirit can worship in a way that pleases him. We are to worship with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind. “God wants all of you.” He doesn’t just want part of your life on Sundays. Jesus told us to give God, all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind and all of our strength. Rick Warren insists, “God is not interested in half-hearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of your time and money.”

Spiritual worship therefore engages the whole person including our emotions. “God gave you emotions so you could worship him with deep feeling - but those emotions must be genuine, not fake. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn’t want showmanship or pretense or phoniness in worship. He wants your honest real love. We can worship God imperfectly, but we cannot worship him insincerely.” Notice Jesus insists ““true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”

The Bible describes many different ways to praise God. These include,“confessing, singing, shouting, standing in honour, kneeling, dancing, making a joyful noise, testifying, playing musical instruments, and raising hands.” What is the best style of worship? Do you want to know? Rick Warren suggests, “The best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God, based on the background and personality God gave you.”

4. God is pleased when our worship is sacrificial and practical

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and

said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? They came out of the town and made their way towards him.” (John 4:28-30)

What the Samaritan woman did involved great sacrifice. Sacrifice to her pride, to her self-esteem, a risk to what ever reputation she still had. "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Sacrificial and also practical. Indeed Jesus gently rebukes his disciples when they return and points to the Samaritan woman returning with her neighbours, praising her actions.

“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” (John 4:35-36)

Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Why does God also want our bodies? Why does Paul not say “offer your spirits”? Rick Warren explains why. “Because without your body you can’t do anything on this planet. In eternity you will receive a new, improved, upgraded body, but while you are here on earth, God says, ‘Give me what you’ve got … When you praise God even when you don’t feel like it, when you get out of bed to worship when you are tired, or when you help others when you are worn out, you are offering a sacrifice of worship to God” And that pleases God.

God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved; pleased when our worship is scriptural; pleased when our worship is spiritual; and pleased when our worship is sacrificial.

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No matter our circumstances, lifetime mistakes and failures--we were created for worship! "There is a deep need within each of us to know our Creator, recognize His goodness to us, and come into His holy presence to receive from His gracious hand of mercy. He alone is worthy!" (p. 52, workbook)

Have a great day praising God in all that you do.

Blessings,

Ken