Jesus said in John 4:23-24; “23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
True worship is not about the location or the environment.
As Jesus points out, worship is not about the place you go. Not only is worship not about the place you go, its also not about the environment. What I mean by that is that our worship doesn’t depend on how nice, comfortable, or preferable the environment is.
True worship is not based on feelings or the result of being moved emotionally.
In the same way that worship isn’t dependent on the environment we create, it’s also not based on how we feel. For instance, a song that moves one person in the service may not move another person sitting in the same service. In addition to that reality, we are often moved emotionally by songs, movies, musicals, plays, and even commercials that have nothing to with God at all. Because of this, we cannot let our worship be based on how something makes us feel, instead, we must pursue worshipping God in Spirit and in truth. Like Jesus says, the Father wants these kinds of worshippers.
True worship isn’t about where you are, what you wear, what songs we sing, or what type of music we use. True worship is when the part of you that is spirit meets with God. Worship happens truthfully from the inside out, not from the outside in. True worshippers have been born again and worship God from a changed heart. It is because of who God is, and because of what Christ has done that we are able to worship in Spirit and in truth.
True worship is when you whole-heartedly meet with God and praise Him for who He is.
When we worship together as a church, our focus is on God and not ourselves. We come to offer up our praise to Him rather to see what we will get out of the experience. You see, whatever or whoever you focus on in worship is whatever or whoever you are worshipping. You cannot whole-heartedly praise God for who He if you are focused on what you are getting out of it.
Worship is an act of giving, not getting. We give praise to God because He is worthy of our praise. There isn’t an emotional experience or feeling that can transcend the truth of who God is. When we require certain songs, styles, or experiences in worship we are saying to the Lord that He is not enough for us. Instead of requiring something additional to praise God for who He is, we are to come ready to offer up our offering of praise to Him when we gather as a church family. Worship is a delight for us, because our greatest joy and delight is God Himself.
“What ought to make worship delightful to us is not, in the first instance, its novelty or its aesthetic beauty, but its object: God himself is delightfully wonderful, and we learn to delight in him.” – D.A. Carson
Delighting in God Himself requires knowing God as He really is, and we have been given the Bible to reveal to us who and how God truly is. In Exodus 34:5-8 God shows Himself to Moses and tells Him of His compassion, grace, patience, and faithful love. After seeing and knowing God Moses responds by immediately kneeling and worshiping Him in that place.
Take some time today and read through Revelation 4:1-5:14. This majestic and grand view of God serves as a reminder of who we are worshipping when we come together as a church. When we get a biblical view of God it causes us to put Christ at the center of our lives. IF Christ is the center of our lives, then He must certainly be the center of our worship services.
For more you can listen to the sermon on worship here: http://harrisburgonline.org/sermons/reset#popup-video-2630