Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.14UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.06UNLIKELY
Joy
0.66LIKELY
Sadness
0.52LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.6LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.23UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.91LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.83LIKELY
Extraversion
0.46UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.88LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.77LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
JUNIOR CHURCH DISMISSED
It’s been an amazing week as I’ve been able to start the planning process for our next year of ministry here in Bristol.
I’m looking forward to all the things God is going to do in and through Liberty Baptist in the years to come.
This morning I’m excited about bringing this message to you and pray that it will have an impact on not only your understanding of worship but the way in which you worship.
When we think of the word worship we may think of a number of different things.
Some may think of monks in a monestary worshipping by performing silent duties for their deity.
Others may think of meditation or self realization.
Still others will think of an emotional experience caused by music that invokes responsive feelings.
But what is authentic worship?
How does God define worship?
How does He instruct us to offer it to Him?
You see, authentic worship is an act performed from a heart that has reverence for the Lord.
The word worship comes from the words “worth” and “ship” meaning worship is the way we ascribe worth toward another.
Worship literally means “to prostrate oneself in homage, to do reverence to, to adore.”
You see, we worship what we believe is worthy.
The Wise men in did this by delivering gifts to Christ.
Worship is an attitude of our heart that is expressed in actions.
Worshipping God is so much more than singing songs to and about Him on Sunday mornings.
It is about recognizing who He is and with a desire to express our feelings of adoration to Him we show it in a practical way.
People worship many things and have been for a long time.
Golden Calve’s, false God’s, rock stars, sports athletes, and superheroes have all been lavished with worship.
During the upcoming holiday season bookstores report that the most frequently types of books purchased are cook books and diet books.
One to tell you how to prepare the food and the other to tell you not to eat any of it.
Unfortunately, we approach worship in the same way.
Double minded.
Our hearts are made for worship, so they worship something.
but our hearts are desperately wicked and who can know it.
So we instinctively misdirect our worship.
The Bible teaches us that God is the only one worth of worship and adoration.
Authentic worship comes from heart that has been transformed by the gospel and finds an outlet in actions to express love for Jesus Christ.
Follow along as I read
PRAY
The text this morning spells out specifics regarding how we should express our worship.
Notice first with me the people of worship.
I.
The people of worship
Without an understanding of the gospel and faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior our worship is directed at the wrong entities.
However as Christians we can know and rejoice in the privilege to worship Jesus Christ.
Peter gives two titles to believers that point out the importance of our worship being directed to Jesus.
A. The Lively Stones
Our Savior is descirbed as the chief cornerstone in .
Being called a lively stone or a living stone helps further our understanding that we make up the spiritual house of the church.
The Spirit of God no longer resides in the temple in the holy of holies, He is no longer confined to a building, to a methodology, or a specific area.
He lives in us after salvation.
We are connected to our chief cornerstone through salvation and to one another as the church.
As the Spiritual building we are the pillar and ground of the truth.
Responsible to lift the truth high for all to see.
Peter also describes us as believer priests.
B. The Believer Priests
Lively stones and an holy priesthood.
We have Jesus as our high priest tempted as we are but without sin.
We are believer priests, having direct access to the Father to offer spiritual sacrifices and worship.
What does all of this mean for us in regard to worship though?
Based upon this passage and the understanding we now have, we can see that the church is a living organism made up of lively stones connected to Christ.
As we gather together as believer priests, we all offer the sacrifice of worship.
It’s those that are new to the faith or have a misunderstanding of Christianity that identify worship as what happens on the platform on Sunday mornings.
In reality, all of us are to be people of worship.
It’s no just the platform presence that is involved in worship, it is to be every member of the church, all of us, who are a part of the spiritual house, who worships the Lord.
As Christians that are meant to worship the Lord we have to understand the priority of Worship.
II.
The Priority of Worship
Turn in your Bibles over to the reference there, .
This passage is about Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well.
It’s through their conversation we see Jesus give two priorities that must be in place if authentic worship is to be offered.
To give you some background to what’s happening in this passage let me give you the context of the conversation.
It’s Midday and Jesus has arrived at a well weary from His travels and thirsty.
It’s at the well he meets a woman.
We commonly refer to her as the woman at the well.
This well is located in Palestine and because of the heat there most woman did not collect water at mid day.
Her presence at this time of day indicates she was an outcast.
Jesus who is known to have compassion on all people asked her for a drink.
She expresses her shock that Jesus would ask her for water.
Jesus is a Jew and she was a Samaritan.
These two people groups did not get along.
Nonetheless, Jesus goes on to tell her that if she knew who He was, she would be asking Him for living water.
Then in the following minutes of conversation Jesus presents truth to her.
She realized He knew her personal life- she had been married five time and was now living with a man who was not her husband- she said “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.”
This sparked the conversation about priorities in worship.
After this conversation the woman had put her faith in Christ and went to tell others about Him.
Go back with me though to verse 24 where Jesus said “God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
These are the two priorities for authentic worship
A. Worship in the Spirit
Our Spirit is the par of us that has the ability to have fellowship with God.
It’s the part that’s brought to life through salvation.
When we are worshipping God in the spirit, we are worshipping God with our Spirit which the Holy Spirit has enabled.
It’s when we are saved and trust Jesus as our savior that the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence in our hearts.
It’s the Holy Spirit of God that stirs in our hearts the very desire to worship God in truth.
B. Worship in the truth
Worshipping in truth means accepting truth.
When jesus and the woman at the well were talking, she tried to divert the conversation to a place of worship and talking about a location.
People will still do this today.
If you speak to them about Christ they say “Well, I go to Saint Mark’s” or “I’m a Lutheran.”
But authentic worship is not about a place, it is about a person - Jesus.
His statement about salvation being of the Jews, He was referring to himself as the messiah and Lord.
Anyone who teaches something different or that there are mutliple ways to Heaven is not teaching biblical truth.
Authentic worship centers around this truth.
Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God.
Sure a group can have a “worship service” where they sing, give light incnense, or teach.
But if they are lifting up Jesus in Turth, they cannot have biblical worship.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9