Today we continue our series, “Follow Me - 7 Traits of A Spirit-Filled Disciple.” Today the focus is going to be placed on the topic of worshipping in Freedom. What I need you to understand is that worship is not just singing. Singing can be uncomfortable if we don’t like it or are afraid of what we sound like.
Singing and “traditional worship” may not be your thing. But the way you present or don’t present yourself during worship might indicate where your heart is towards God. What do I mean…
You may never lift your hands in worship because you are naturally a more reserved person, but your heart, mind, and soul are connecting with God. But you also may not lift your hands because you fear what the person next to you might think.
You might fully connect with God, singing loudly, proudly, and off-key while jumping up and down. Or you might be doing those things to make the people around you think you are spiritual, and never do any of those things during your weekdays.
But I want to challenge you today by pushing into God with everything you have. If you consistently press into God, you’ll be amazed at what he moves back with.
Before you go any further into this post, check out this video…
Action vs. Reaction
I hope that the video helps you out with this idea of Action vs. Reaction in worship. We must find the right and healthy rhythm for our relationship with God, our family, work, etc... Those balances will look different for each of us, as they should, and they will even look different in different seasons of our lives.
This imagery feeds into the visual we often see and hear of lifting weights. If I lift weights (action), I build muscle (reaction). And if I spend time with God (action) I experience revelation (reaction).
Lets check out our passage for today…
God Provides Opportunities To Catch Our Attention
Let’s keep this idea of action vs. reaction going this morning. On this particular day, this woman ran into a wall. She just wanted to go and get her water without anyone noticing her. But Jesus was trying to capture her attention. She is there at the hot time of the day to avoid judgment, comments, and stares. But Jesus needed to be there. He was there to push on her, and push is what he did. His goal is not to out her sin, but to help her realize that this Messiah she thinks is coming, is here and is in front of her.
That water, while good, is a thing of this world, but there is something greater she must look for.
Now when we look at this interaction, I want you to realize something. When you start with this walk with God, the targets He sets are bigger and more obvious. Now, we will have some moments throughout our walk where God is this obvious, but typically as we grow in our understanding, the targets to focus on grow smaller. This isn’t because God is trying to hide; He is trying to get you to focus.
This moment was life-changing for this woman. She goes from avoiding people to now going and evangelizing her community. But she didn’t have the information yet, so she brought the people to Jesus.
And that is what so many people do. They bring people to where they experienced Jesus because they haven’t went deeper. And that is okay at first, but we must desire to continue to go deeper so we can all do the work of leading people to Christ.
…In Spirit and In Truth.
Jesus uses a phrase in this passage that the true worshippers will worship the Father “in spirit and truth.”
To say that we must worship God “in spirit” means, among other things, that it must originate from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all he is and has done.
Worship cannot be mechanical. That does not rule out elements of our faith from being ritualistic. But it does mean that everything we do must be infused with heartfelt commitment, faith, love, and zeal.
But when we say Spirit, we must not forget the Holy Spirit. When we have that first encounter with the Holy Spirit, who awakens in us an understanding of God’s beauty, splendor, and power.
The Holy Spirit stirs us to celebrate, rejoice, and give thanks. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see and savor all that God is for us in Jesus. And it’s the Holy Spirit who, I hope and pray, orchestrates our services and leads us in corporate praise of God.
So, God, the Father, uses Jesus to catch our attention and set us free from sin, and then the Holy Spirit to help us live and refine our lives to look more like Jesus so we can introduce Jesus to others. So we must worship God in Spirit, but Jesus also says we are to worship in truth.
Truth is easier for us to understand, for it means that our worship must conform to the revelation of God in Scripture. It must be informed by who God is and what he is like. But we must remember that you don’t get to design your God based on your wants and needs. But we worship the God who made us, revealed in scripture.
Our worship must be rooted in and tethered to the realities of biblical revelation. Genuine, Christ-exalting worship must never be mindless or based on ignorance. It must be doctrinally grounded and focused on the truth of all we know of our great God.
This is why we need to grow in these seven traits in this series. We already talked about studying the Bible two weeks ago. So to worship God in Spirit and Truth, we need to take the trait of studying God’s word from two weeks ago and add it to our topic in two weeks of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Remember Jesus’ words… The father seeks people who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. How can you grow with God if you refuse to grow in one of these areas?
What Does This Look Like For Us?
So our goal as a church then is to see the following things in the different age groups of our church…
Pre-school
· Understand that worship shows God how much we love Him
· Know they can worship God anytime and anywhere.
· Express Gratitude to God
Elementary
· Disciples learn to respond to God in worship to show how much they love Him and want to obey Him. They understand that God is worthy of all of our worship because of who He is.
· Disciples learn to praise God personally, participate wholeheartedly in worshipping with others, and offer their daily activities to God.
· Disciples begin to develop an understanding of their identity in Jesus Christ and express gratitude to God using their own words.
Youth
· Disciples grow in their understanding of worship and respond obediently to God’s love, pursuing Him and growing in their knowledge of God’s Character and nature.
· Disciples set an example in worship personally and corporately in their church community and understand that worship is a choice that allows them to overcome their current circumstances and emotions.
· Disciples grow in their identity in Jesus Christ, express gratitude, and experience God’s healing from the past and fresh hope for their future
· Disciples begin to develop a life of obedience to God, family, and those in authority by demonstrating God’s characteristics regularly through words, actions, and attitudes.
Adults
· Disciples offer worship to the trinity with deep respect and continually grow in their knowledge of God’s character and nature.
· Disciples actively worship God in private moments and with their local church community and choose to worship even when circumstances and emotions bring great distractions.
· Disciples find their full identity in Jesus Christ, and express gratitude for experiencing God’s healing from the past and fresh hope for their future
· Disciples grow in obedience to God and draw closer to God and each other, exemplifying God’s characteristics regularly through words, actions, and attitudes.
If you want to dive further into this topic, watch the full sermon here on our YouTube channel. Are you looking for a “Local Church near me?” Then join us this Sunday at our campus in Saint Clair Shores!