The Lord’s Message:  Worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth

The Lord’s Message:  Worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth
Date:  October 6, 2024
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  John 4:19-26

          During the tenure of the great orator Henry Ward Beecher, a visiting minister (Beecher’s brother Thomas K. Beecher) substituted for the popular pastor. A large audience had already assembled to hear Beecher, and when the substitute pastor stepped into the pulpit, several disappointed listeners began to move toward the exits. That’s when the minister stood and said loudly, “All who have come here today to worship Henry Ward Beecher may now withdraw from the church. All who have come to worship God keep your seats!”  They returned to their seats.  If you have come here today to worship David Kelley, then you can leave.  But, if you have come here to worship God, then stay in your seats.  We are going to learn today why we should worship God and how He wants to be worshipped.

            Let us pray.

            Why should we worship God?  The reasons that we should worship God are more numerous than the stars in the night sky or the number of sand particles on the beach.  Some of those reasons are that God made us in His image and likeness and God does not make junk.  God loves us even when we are disobedient and fall into the trap of sin, He sent His only Son to die on the cross for us.  Through believing in His Son, Jesus the Christ, we can spend now and eternity with Him.  He provides us with blessings every day, more blessings that we can count. 

            For a Christian, it is not a choice of whether to worship God or not.  Just as fish were made to swim and birds were made to fly, we were made to worship God.  As a Christian, our first priority should be to worship God.  This is not done just on Sunday morning, but every day from the time we get up to the time we lie down to sleep.  Psalm 136 says give thanks to the Lord for these reasons and after each of these reasons a response is “His love endures forever.”   So, let us try the first five verses, I will read the reason and you will respond, “His love endures forever.” 

Now that we know that God is worthy of our worship, where should we worship God?  This was the question that the Samaritan woman asked Jesus in John 4:19-20.  The Jewish people despised the Samaritans, because of their practices of mixing the worship of God with other gods.  This started in 722 BC, when the nation of Israel was divided.  Ten tribes of the north made up the country of Israel and the two tribes in the south made up the country of Judah.  Over time Israel did not worship God, so God allowed the Assyrians to take over the country.  The Assyrians exiled the royal family and people of high standing.  They left the farmers and other average Jewish people in the land.  Then they brought other people into the land with their worship of their gods.   The Jewish people living in the land intermarried with these people and the worship of God became intertwined with the worship of other gods.  This is all found in 2 Kings 17:24-25, 27-29. 

Jesus responded to the woman that the place does not matter, but the attitude is what matters.  Look at John 4:21-24.  Christians gathered all over the world to worship God.  Some worship under trees, in parks, homes, movie theaters, restaurants, stores, malls, garages and also in churches.  While we were on vacation, JoAnn and I worshipped at a community center with a group of Christians that were starting a new church.   Everywhere people are gathered, they can worship God.  That is what Jesus says in Matthew 18:19-20.

The place is not important, but the attitude is.  Jesus says that God is not looking for just worship, but true worshippers.  True worshippers are the one who have the correct attitude.  The attitude we need to have is to worship God in spirit and in truth. 

Our worship of God is spiritual because God is spirit.  Just as God is made up of a trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; human beings are made up of a trinity; body, soul, and spirit. In John 14:15-17, Jesus says that if we love Him and follow His laws, then God will send the Holy Spirit to live in us.   The Apostle Paul confirms this in Ephesians 1:13-14.  It is when our spirit is connected with God’s Holy Spirit that true worship is found.  That is why you can look at a beautiful rainbow and feel the presence of God.  God’s spirit does not just reside in one place but is everywhere. 

When we are “filled with the Holy Spirit” as it says in Ephesians 5:18 thenthe result is found in verses 19-20. 

Did Jesus say that our worship should just be spiritual?  No.  We can have spiritual worship.  All religions can have a spiritual experience but are they truthful.  Are they truthful when it comes to God?  The answer is no.  Truth can only be found in God and His love letter to all of us, the Bible.  In Psalm 119:104-106.    

Everything that we do in worship is based on scripture.  From the Prelude to the Postlude is based on scripture.  In between, we have the Call to Worship, the singing of hymns, the reading of the Bible, the message from the Lord, the offering, the praise and prayers, the affirmation of faith and the Holy Communion are all based on the truth found in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. 

One of the goals established at the 2024 General Conference of the Global Methodist Church is to spread “scriptural holiness” throughout the world.  This was the same goal that John and Charles Wesley had when they established the Methodist Movement, which became the Methodist Church, was to spread “scriptural holiness” throughout England and the colonies.  Which in turn was the goal of every Methodist pastor and evangelist.  That is why Methodism spread throughout the world.  It must be the goal for every Christian minister today.  God demands nothing less.

So, let us worship God in Spirit and in Truth because only He alone is worthy of our worship.  Amen.