Worship: It is more than music

Introduction

Trip to South Carolina

Praise House (SLIDE)

also known as Gullah Houses

Small worship houses built by plantation owners for their slaves so they could worship

They were intentionally made small

They were gathering places for slaves where they could come and worship God through singing, prayer, and testimonies

Services always ended with a shout

Even after the slaves were emancipated

These houses continue today

In the back woods of South Carolina, near the properties of the old plantations, you can still find these small praise houses.

Picture evokes all kinds of emotions in me

Remember looking at the picture and thinking

In the midst of slavery and human cruelty, these house stand as memorials of the faithful

They gathered because of their faith in who God was, and because of His faithfulness to keep their faith.

Their worship was not empty, it was full, and that fullness was born out of a deep and personal relationship with God

There faith was not rooted in a place, but in a God who cares

At the end of every service in the Praises houses, they would all shout with loud voices, hallelujah

-7A (SLIDE)

As we come to the topic of worship today

we come to a very familiar story

The woman the well

NIV Bible (PAGE )

PRAY

CONTEXT

What does Biblical worship look like?

John 4:19–26 NIV84

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet 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. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

Jesus was in Judea

Pharisees were comparing how many people Jesus and his disciples were baptizing compared to John the Baptist

So Jesus not wanting to stick around or entertain such conversations decides to leave Judea and head to Galilee

The quickest route was to go through Samaria

The Samaritans were half Jewish and half non Jewish

The Assyrians

Most Jewish people would make the trek through the region of Samaria, but would avoid contact with Samaritans

The most pious or religious of the Jews, would take the extended three day trek around Samaria

It was about the 6th hour of the day

For most Jewish people, the day began at 6am

So the sixth hour would put it at around noon

Verse 9

So there are a couple of issues going on here

1) Jewish men did not speak to women in public, not even their wives, let alone another woman who was not their wives

2) She was a Samaritan woman

3) The time of day indicates a lot about this particular woman

Only the outcast, the prostitutes, or the very sick would be able to come and draw water in the afternoon, usually after everyone else did

What does Biblical worship look Like? (SLIDE)

READ (SLIDE)

Jesus is about to introduce a new concept of worship

Man has a great desire to worship God

Sin entered the world, corrupted our way of worshipping God

MARS HILL

Not only in how people think about worship, but who God seeks to worship him

In man’s attempt to worship, so often we worship what we do not know.

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart you, God will not despise.”

Verse 10-22

1. Biblical worship begins with a relationship with the Creator of the universe

Christ is initiating a new way of worship (Vs.23: the time is now)

It is not found in tradition or location

It is found in a relationship with God

we are able to worship God, because of what the Son has done for us, and because the Holy Spirit now resides in our lives

Worship in Spirit and truth, we can worship in Spirit, because of what Christ has done and because we are now sealed with the Holy Spirit

To worship in the spirit, means we are now brought into the family of God, as we are now one with God because of Christ Jesus

,

A worship that can only be experienced by one who is a part of t

God is seeking those who are called by Him to worship him

(But the man who loves God is known by God)

To worship in the Spirit, is to have the Spirit of God residing in our lives, and to have the Spirit of God in our lives, means we are known by God, and therefore we can worship Him truly, because we are known by him.

We worship not in ignorance, we worship because we have experienced first hand the work of God in our lives

2. Biblical worship is grounded in the true knowledge of God's character.

How do I worship God? What does it look like?

It happens through music (David worship with music)

It happens through prayer (Ps 5)

It happens through the way we live our lives (; )

It happens through the acknowledgment of what God has done in and through our lives

In our posture

With cymbals,

"Worship is the practice of expressing praise, thanksgiving, and/or adoration towards God, for how He has moved within His creation"

"Worship is the practice of expressing praise, thanksgiving, and/or adoration towards God, for how He has moved within His creation"

"For God to be known and focused by us, thus making worship possible, he must take initiative to disclose himself to us. This he has done initially in the OT Scriptures. But the further and fuller revelation of God is now at hand in the Son who makes the Father known...True and satisfactory worship is worship offered in and through Jesus Christ; only through the truth He embodies, and the Spirit He imparts, can we know God and worship Him."

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"For God to be known and focused by us, thus making worship possible, he must take initiative to disclose himself to us. This he has done initially in the OT Scriptures. But the further and fuller revelation of God is now at hand in the Son who makes the Father known...True and satisfactory worship is worship offered in and through Jesus Christ; only through the truth He embodies, and the Spirit He imparts, can we know God and worship Him."

Bruce Milne (BST Com. on John)

Worshiping God in truth, comes from a life that is filled with His truth of God’s word

Because we are known by him, and we have his truth in our hearts, the natural by product of our worship will be worship that is true and spirit filled.

(READ) “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (, NIV84)

3. Biblical worship is a daily occurrence in the lives of God's people.

“Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside me doors.”

We should be people who are daily worshipping the Lord. It should be something we delight in doing.