October's Saturday Ladies Fellowship

This month's topic was Worship.

John 4: 20 "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

The Samaritan Woman was concerned with the mechanics of worship…the where and how of it. Jesus gets straight to the point…Spirit & Truth. What does that mean?

Truth is easy. It means what you'd think it means: honesty, sincerity, reality.
Spirit on the other hand, what exactly does that mean? The Greek is pneuma means the rational soul, mental disposition, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit, mind.
American Heritage: The animating force within living beings; soul. The Holy Spirit. The part of a human associated with the mind, will ,and feelings. A mood or emotional state. Vivacity, vigor, or courage. Strong loyalty or dedication.

Spirit & Truth are internal issues, not external. The real you in all honesty without pretension. The outward expressions of worship must find their source in a heart overflowing with love for the Savior. Outward expressions of worship such as singing, lifting hands, bowing down, etc... are of no value to God unless they spring out of Spirit & Truth.

And the Father is seeking such to worship Him! Amazing!

But what if I don’t honestly feel like worshipping?
Heb 13: 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

I believe that it is in those times that we can still offer a sacrifice of praise.

1 Cor 7: 4 The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

The marriage relationship was intended by God to represent His relationship with the Church (His Bride). Just because you don’t feel love, does not change the fact that you are married. You are not your own…you belong to Him…do not deny Him the worship due His Name. Make a sacrifice of your feelings. Offer to Him your will.

When our feelings aren’t in line with what we know is true, we offer the sacrifice of praise…reminding ourselves of who He is. Feelings follow! (They are the caboose!)

Do we refuse to worship God when the cirsumstances aren't pleasing to us? Worship is not for us, it is for God! If you don't know or like the song that the leader has chosen, you can still worship. Look/listen to the words. Can you agree, as in prayer, with what the song is saying? Then worship! Tell Him that He is all that!

Trying to have a relationship with Jesus without worship is like saying you can have a healthy marriage without living together. A relationship with Jesus that doesn’t have an active worship life is to keep God at arm’s distance. He is not satisfied with that! He didn’t sacrifice His Son for that!

Why singing? Because it is scriptural! Occurs 116 times in 99 verses. We are told over and over to sing to Him. He must really like it! Is it the only form of worship? Of course not! But throughout the Bible that is the prescribed form of congregational worship. I asked Kevin why? He said he thinks it is a reminder to us of how we are one Bride/one voice/one body in Christ. (Eph 2:14 Jesus, Our Peace destroyed the dividing wall of separation).

Those who say things like, “I don’t really like the worship part of the church service.” don’t understand that this is a time for us, as the Body of Christ, to set everything else aside and boldly proclaim our love for our Savior. It is His Bride declaring her love and devotion. It should be held sacred because it is a very precious thing in God’s sight.