I go to church on Sunday mornings to attend a "worship" service. I know when I walk into the sanctuary that we will have morning announcements, greeting of one another, an opening prayer, a hymn, an anthem by the choir, a time of offering, the Pastor's prayer, and a sermon message. We will close with a hymn and if we're lucky we will beat the church down the street to the restaurants. We all know how slow service can be if the Baptists get to the restaurants first.
In John 4: 23-24, Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well, what true worship is: 23 "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him." 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Jesus makes this statement as a matter of fact, not as an assignment or command. He is merely stating a truth. As we read on, we read that the Samaritan woman acknowledges that the Messiah is coming and that he will proclaim all things to us, at which Jesus replies, "I am he." (vs 26). So Jesus is proclaiming what worship must be!
If worship isn't of spirit and truth, it is not worship. I know that when I feel the Spirit's leading and receive instruction from Him, it is never a routine or everyday, ho hum experience. I always have a sense of awe and an awareness that God's ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). True worship is filled with the same awe and awareness. Worship is a response to God not an assignment from Him. When Jesus said that the Father seeks such as these to worship him, He is looking at the hearts of the worshipers. He is not looking at the worship outline or church bulletin to see if it is true worship.
Sunday worship is a time of responding to God....aware that He is seeking us, and rejoicing that we have been found and saved By Him. His Spirit will rejoice with us as we realize that we are one with Him just as Jesus is. The Holy Spirit wants us to feel the same connection with the Father as Jesus experienced and experiences today. God will use our worship time to encourage us and equip us to be better conduits of His love. Worship is an encounter with God that transforms us and helps us to be joyful and patient even if the Baptists get to the restaurants first.
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