Where are we the Church?

Intro

*Start with a story about going to the ornate Catholic church in Hermosillo… Europe even more grand*

Take your pick of many church buildings in town.

Recap the current series:

The church is the gathered peopel of God following Jesus in obedience to His eternal mission.

Last week = not a specific time. Today = not a specific location.

Focus will be specifically on worship.

Read John 4:20-26 and pray.

It’s Not About Location

Go over important background info:

Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman

Went against social convention

Had just revealed to her that he know about her many former husbands; she believes him to be a prophet.

Samaritans and Jews… did not get along.

Ethnic conflict: Samaritans claimed to be descendants of Ephraim and Mannasseh, while they were likely a product of inter-marrying with people resettled by Assyria during exile.

Religious conflict: Samaritans claimed that true worship took place on Mt. Gerizim, while the Jews believed true worship was on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.

Samaritans even had built a rival temple on Mt. Gerizim (destroyed by time of Jesus)

The Samaritan woman brings up this long-time debate (v. 20)

Jesus takes a side! He confirms that the Jews are in the right; they know God and are His chosen people; Mt. Zion in Jerusalem is a location of true worship; salvation is from the Jews (v. 22)

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He declares that the time has come when location doesn’t matter for true worship.

It certainly had mattered for both Samaritans and Jews (Holy of Holies as God’s manifest presence).

Not anymore! God is looking for a different type of worship; worship in spirit and in truth (v. 23)

Today, no one location is more holy than any other. We can be the church anywhere.

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?

“Worship ‘in spirit and truth’ is easy to understand negatively: worship is no longer tied to sacred sites. It is harder to say what it means positively.” (Colin G. Kruse)

Worship in Spirit

NOT primarily talking about the Holy Spirit (like NIV); instead referring to the way in which we can relate to God.

God is spirit; therefore we relate to him spiritually.

Lines up with Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus: Cf. John 3:3-6.

When we are spiritually transformed by faith in Jesus, we can worship God truly and be His church.

Though not named, the Holy Spirit is the binding agent of all of this.

Paul describes the work of the Spirit in worship versus hope in the flesh (physical) in Philippians 3:3.

The Holy Spirit ushers us into worship, and also binds us together as the church.

Where are we the church? Any where that we worship God by the power of the Spirit and in the bond of the Spirit.

Which is why we are able to be the church online, when necessary.

*Share story of being on the news*

Worship in Truth

First, this is all about sincerity.

Ties into the warning we talked about 2 weeks ago: Some may acknowledge Jesus with their lips but not know Him or obey Him.

We can raise our hands, sing out loud, come to church every Sunday… doesn’t make it truth.

*Share story of leading worship; people staring*

We are the church wherever we glorify God in our worship.

It is not “heartfelt” worship, contingent on our emotions.

Our emotions will follow, but we must not follow them.

*Share story of Aquire the Fire*

It is the focused desire to give God glory, honour and praise. It is about Him; not our experience.

This is the end goal of the church: to glorify God. We do this anywhere and everywhere.

Second, we need to worship God in the right manner. We need to worship truly.

If we are not careful, we can slide into worship division like the Jews and Samaritans.

Today = denominationalsim

“True believers must stop this mindless, endless, meaningless bickering about sites and sounds of worship. God is not interested in Jews or Samaritans, Presbyterians or Methodists, Calvinists or Arminians. He is interested in worshipers who must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Kenneth O. Gangel)

In order for our worship to be right and true, we need to focus on Jesus.

Cf. John 14:6.

Jesus is the way to truly approach the Father (veil torn in the Temple)

Jesus is God revealed to us; what He said and did is our way of knowing God truly (the main goal of Gospel of John)

So our worship as the church needs to line up with who Jesus is and what He has done.

Are the words we sing theologically accurate?

Do we truly mean the words we sing, and do we live them out?

Conclusion

So, we are the church wherever we worship in spirit and in truth.

Can be our chapel, in the car, at schoo or work, in the bathroom… you name it!

God does not care about location of worship, but the manner in which we worship.

Let us worship in spirit, born again in our trust in Jesus Christ, not limited by physical space but brought into the presence of God and bound in unity by the Holy Spirit.

Let us worship in truth, with sincerity of heart, seeking God’s glory and not our own, always bringing the revelation of Christ into the centre.

Pray.