Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Good morning, Westgate.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: You braved the weather.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: There was, like, 10 people in here at the start of the first service. So this is. This is impressive.
[00:00:15] Speaker C: So y'.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: All. Y' all excited to be here?
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Are you warmed up?
[00:00:19] Speaker B: You got your hot chocolate and coffee?
[00:00:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, let's stand and let's worship together.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Praise him.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: All creatures here below.
Raise him above the heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Rejoice.
Rejoice.
Rejoice.
A fountain overflowing. How rich is his mercy.
[00:01:28] Speaker C: Rejoice. Ris.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Rejoice.
Let all creation shout his praise the Father.
Through all our O Jesus, our salvation.
[00:02:01] Speaker C: Rest.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: The spirit.
We invite you rescue from the depths of hell.
Rejoice.
Rejoice.
A fountain overflowing.
How rich is his mercy.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: Rejoice.
Rejoice.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Let all creation shout his praise.
Is he worthy of our praise?
He is indeed. Amen.
This is our story right here.
Before you breathe creation, before you split the sea, before you brought down giants, your plan was laid for me.
Before you walked on water, before you. You healed the blind, before you fed the masses, you were the bread of life.
Before you breathed creation, before you split the seed, before you brought down giants, your plan was laid for me.
Before you walked on water, before you healed the blind, before you fed the.
How much he loves us.
[00:04:11] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: You are my great provider.
You are my prince of peace. You are my wing of shelter, my strength when I am weak, you are my rock and fortress.
You catch me when I fall. God, you are everlasting.
You see me through it all.
[00:04:40] Speaker C: Sa joy to rejoice.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: A fountain overflowing.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: How riches his mercy.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Rejoice.
Rejoice.
Let all creation shout his praise.
Yes, you are worthy.
For you are worthy.
[00:06:09] Speaker D: Welcome to Westgate.
So good. What a blessing and a privilege it is for us to come here freely with no fear, to hear the word of God, to fellowship with one another, to praise our holy, perfect God. Amen.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: All right.
[00:06:25] Speaker D: If you are new to Westgate, this is your first time or you've been coming, but you're still learning how things work here, and you are still getting to know people. We would love to get to know you and connect with you and start a relationship with you, there's two ways to do that. In the pews in front of you, there's a connect card that you can fill out and then you can give it to the people at our guest services and they can get you started on getting connected here. And you can also go to the Westgate chapel. App and you can also fill out a connect card there as well.
The holidays are among us, and there's lots of busy things happening. We are once again going to do our I Friends Thanksgiving dinner, which many of you I know have been a part of and enjoy doing. For those of you who don't know that the I in front of friends stands for international.
And so it's an opportunity for us to invite our international friends and neighbors to come and learn about Thanksgiving because many of them don't know about it or to enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner. And it's also an opportunity for them to come to church and to fellowship with people who know and love Jesus and experience the love and truth of Jesus through us. So it's a great opportunity to serve. There are invitations out in the atrium on a table there near the W Cafe that you can pick up and hand them out to invite your friends and neighbors. Also, just so you know, there's lots of different ways to participate in this. If you're like, I don't know, there's so many ways. You can donate food, you can serve food, you can cook food, you can help set up and clean up. You can drive international students to and from church.
You can host a table. And most importantly, please pray over this event, not only for the people coming to encounter the love of Jesus, but for everyone who's serving. Because we want to cover this in prayer.
Next Christmas is coming.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: Yay.
[00:08:17] Speaker D: Fun time of the year. We've got lots of things going on here at Westgate and we don't want you to miss out on any of it. And so there's lots of different ways for you to make sure you don't miss out that information in your bulletin. There is a handout in there that gives all that information. In addition, if you're like me, I like to have all of my dates and times in one place and I put it in my Bible or my planner or my favorite book. And we've got a bookmark out in the atrium on a table near the W Cafe that has all that stuff not only for yourself, but to pass out to friends and neighbors who you might want to invite to be a part of our Christmas things that we have going on here. And also our reliable Westgate Chapel app. You can go on there. And we even have a little Christmas button. Our tech people are awesome and they have put right between home and Sunday, a Christmas button. You can go right on there and it's all there for you.
So it is now time for us to greet One another before we enter into praise and worship. And I want you to ask somebody who you greet, hey, have you participated in the I Friends Thanksgiving dinner? And how have you participated and what's been a special moment for you? And if you have not, that is okay. It's an opportunity for you to learn how to better pray for this event or get involved if you would like to. All right. Let's greet one another.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Remember those walls that we called sin and shame?
They were like prisons that we couldn't escape.
But he came and he died and he rose.
Those walls are up on that.
Remember those giants we called death and grave?
They were like mountains that stood in our way.
But he came and he died and he rose those giants at them now.
[00:10:29] Speaker C: Hallelujah.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: This is our God this is who he is.
He loves us this is our God this is what he does.
He saves us.
He bore the cross, beat the grave Let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God King Jesus.
Remember that fear that took our breath away Faith so weak that we could barely pray but he heard every word, every whisper now those altars in the.
[00:11:22] Speaker C: Wilderness.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Tell the story of his faithfulness Never once did he fail and he never will.
Oh, this is our God this is who he is.
He loves us this is our God this is what he does.
He saves us for the cross he decra.
Let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus.
Who pulled me out of that pit?
He did.
He did.
Who paid for all of our sin? Who did? Nobody but Jes.
Who pulled me out of that pit?
He did, he did.
Who paid for all? Come on.
Nobody.
Who rescued me from that grave?
Yahweh.
Yahweh.
Who gives the glory and praise?
Nobody like Jesus.
Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh.
Yahweh.
Who gives the glory and praise?
Nobody but him. This is our God this is who he is.
He loves us.
This is our God this is what he does.
He saves for the cross Beat the grave Let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus.
Before the cross beat the grave Let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus.
Give God praise this morning. Amen.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.
You oh my soul, Praise him for he is my rock, my foundation.
What the Almighty can do, he is faithful. His mercy sustain us.
The world takes its to yet your grace and your love still maintain us Drawing us near Let our intentions be here.
Praise to the Lord Praise to the Father.
Praise to the one who sa to.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: The Lord.
[00:15:18] Speaker C: Praise to the Father Praise to the one who makes me whole I lift my hands to sing all that's within me adore all that has life and breath Come now with praises.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Before.
[00:15:56] Speaker C: Let the amen son from his people again Praise to the Lord Praise.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: To the Father.
[00:16:16] Speaker C: Praise to the one who sa to the Lord Praise to the Father Give us hope you give us healing now we're surrendering you give us hope Praise you give us healing Praise to the king we sing you.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Give us life.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: You have forgiven oh God, you cancel Sin came within life begins oh God, you canceled Sin came within life begins oh God, you came to sing can we sing again?
Praise to the Praise to the Father Praise to the one who sa Father Praise to the one who makes me Praise to the one you raise me.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: We'll continue in.
Is it me?
Might be.
Check. There we go.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: All right.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: We're just going to continue in worship with some time responding together with communion.
So if you're able to pick up one of those communion elements on the way in, if you didn't grab one, just raise your hand. We have some ushers, they'll come forward and get you some elements, some over here.
Robin Farside One of the things that Paul encourages as we celebrate communion in this time of remembrance is an opportunity to reflect first, to examine ourselves, to examine our hearts, to make sure as we come that if there's something, something not right between a brother or a sister, that we would address it.
If there's something not right between us and the Lord, something that we need to confess before the Lord to do that and provide time and space to just allow the Holy Spirit to look in and examine something that maybe happened this week or something going on in your life that you need to lay down for the Lord. So I'm going to pray.
We'll have some silence. Time of just hearing and examination, confession.
So, Lord, we do give you our praise to the one who has saved our souls, to the one who makes us whole, the one that brings us healing. We thank you as we enter this time of remembrance, of communion. God, we ask that you would examine us if there's something that we need to confess to you, Lord, we do so now.
God, we thank you for this reminder.
Through communion, we are reminded of your mercy, of your forgiveness, of your sacrifice, of this gift of salvation that you give.
We remember in your name. Amen.
On the night when Jesus was betrayed, he gathered in the upper room with his disciples.
He took bread and gave thanks and broke it. And he gave it to them he said, this is my body broken for you.
Take and eat in remembrance of me.
Then in the same way after supper he took the cup giving thanks. He said, this is the cup of the new covenant shed for you with my blood for forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.
Take and drink.
Lord, we thank you for reminders like this.
Thank you for saving us.
And we pour our hearts with praise.
With gratitude, with adoration.
We love you, Jesus.
Amen.
[00:23:11] Speaker C: Satan.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: How could I express all my gratitude?
I could sing these song as I often do but every song was.
[00:24:05] Speaker C: So.
[00:24:06] Speaker B: I throw up my hands and praise again and again.
All that I have is a hallelujah.
I know it's not much Nothing else fit for a key except for a heart singing hallelujah Hallelujah.
I've got one response but I've got just one with my arms stretched wide I will worship you so I throw up my hands and praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a valley Hallelujah. And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else fit for a king except for a heart singing Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Come on my soul don't you get shy on me Lift up your song inside of those lungs Praise the Lord oh come on my soul oh don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Cuz you got a line inside of those lungs get up and praise the Lord Come on my soul oh don't you get shy of me Lift up your song Cause you got a line inside of those LS get up and praise the Lord Praise the Lord.
You oh my soul so I throw up my hands and praise you again and again it's all that I have is a hallelujah Hallelujah. I know it's not much I've nothing else before.
[00:28:05] Speaker C: Course again.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: And I know it's nothing else except for heart singing hallelujah Hallelujah.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: At this time we're going to have our offering opportunity to give back to the Lord.
So I'll pray then we can go ahead and continue in worship in that way. Lord God, we thank you.
Thank you for all that you give us. Thank you for all the ways that you bless us and care for us and love us and walk with us in all of the highs and all the lows, the good and the bad in life.
Lord, we you have blessed us in many ways. One of those is opportunity to give back financially. And so God, we take, we offer this to you. We Ask that you would receive and use this for your kingdom, for your word to be known and spread throughout the world. For your worship and your praise and your glory to be known.
[00:29:43] Speaker C: All over the world. World.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: We ask this in your name, Jesus. Amen.
You can go ahead if you're in the center aisle here to pass those offering buckets or if you're on the balcony from the outside all the way to the center.
[00:30:10] Speaker C: Sam.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: All right, well, we'll continue in worship this morning through the reading of God's word. If we haven't had a chance to meet yet.
My name is Adam, just I get to serve here on staff. One of the pastors, I guess, executive pastor of ministry. I love working here.
I love being able to serve the church in this way.
And this morning, love get to share God's word with us all. I wanted to begin with Psalm 95, because in God's Word there are hundreds of ways that we are invited to worship.
Sometimes that's in songs, sometimes that's in giving, sometimes that's in communion, sometimes that's, that's just through God's word.
And if you would just join with me as we, we're just going to say and read Psalm 95, verses 1 and 2 together.
It reads, there we go. Okay. Oh come let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.
Amen.
And in that last song, it sounded beautiful. You guys were offering a joyful noise and songs of praise. One of my earliest memories of like that community worshiping together was with my grandparents growing up in, in Northeast Ohio and in the Methodist church that they were in and standing next to my grandfather. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time and the pews were blue in their church building.
And I could picture him with his overall. Maybe he probably didn't have overalls, but he always wore overalls. Cause he was a farmer. Whether he wore them to church or not, I don't remember. But I'm picturing him with the overalls on and he's holding this red hemisphere and singing in this like raspy 80 year old old man voice. The old rugged cross.
And just having that. And anytime I hear that hymn, there is something special that goes on within me.
It was on the old rugged cross that Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctified me so I'll cherish the old rugged cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown we do these things together and we have opportunities to worship together because God's word commands us to, not only on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week.
I wanted to invite all of you for another opportunity for us as a church to come together and worship.
In two Fridays from now, we have the night of worship. So on the 21st Friday night from 7 to 8pm if you come this Friday, you might get hit by a dodgeball. It's a dads and kids night.
Next Friday, the 21st, we have a night of worship in here. An opportunity to. For us to have like a time to sing and rejoice and also other creative ways that we'll worship together on that evening. So join us in two Fridays as we worship together.
We're gonna continue in our series called Life Together with the focus on worship. And the one thing I love about the image here, is it really telling what is the church made of people?
And we've been talking about the things that we do as God's people, as the church, whether that is, we gather together, we fellowship together, we trust and rely upon the Holy Spirit. We're empowered by the Spirit of God together. And this morning we worship, we worship together. So that's going to be our focus.
And the passage that we are going to dive into is John 4. At about a month and a half, we did a study on John 4 when we're talking about breaking down the barriers between Jews and Samaritans. And what does that mean to break down barriers in our own life? And the end result of the whole town coming, basically coming to the Lord.
There was a part that we didn't focus too much on, and it is about working worship.
And so we're going to spend some time and camp there this. This morning.
And so I'll be reading John 4:1 8 and then we'll jump to verse 19 through 26.
Now, when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples.
He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there.
So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.
It was about the sixth hour, which is noon. The Jewish day starts at 6am so sixth hour is noon, verse seven. A woman from Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, give me a drink.
For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Skip ahead to verse 19.
They have this conversation, and then conversation continues. The woman says to him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. But you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You will worship. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know. For salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will work. Worship the Father in spirit and truth.
For the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
The woman said to him, I know the Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ.
When he comes, he will tell us all things.
And Jesus said to her, I, who speak to you am he.
So there's a lot happening in this narrative with Jesus and this Samaritan woman. So Jesus, if we get this picture, he's traveling from south in Judea up to north in Galilee. And they are headed and they have to go through Samaria. It's through this time that Jesus gets tired and weary, which reminds us that Jesus is fully human. Part of our theology is understanding Jesus is fully human as well as fully God.
And it's instances like this that remind us, oh, man, he was tired and weary. Any of you ever get tired and weary?
[00:38:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:24] Speaker A: Okay, good.
Yeah, good. That means you're using what God has given you, right?
And so he sits down, and then his disciples go in to get some food to a town.
And as he's waiting there at this well, here comes a woman, a Samaritan woman, and she's bringing her water jar. And sometimes either the. You bring the jar, and they would attach a rope to it, and then you lower the rope, dips it up, and then you take it and maybe pour it into a larger vessel or not, and carry it back into town.
So she's there, and she has this encounter with Jesus. And it is my conviction that Jesus knew this was happening all the time. This isn't like a surprise encounter, oh, here comes somebody, and I'll ask her for water.
I think he knew what was going to happen in this whole interaction the whole time.
And so they have this conversation. He asks for water, and then this leads into Jew, Samaritan conversation. And Eventually, Jesus says, well, this water is not going to, you know, quench you. You need this internal, like, eternal water that only I can provide.
And so she says, well, I want some of that water. And he says, well, go tell your husband. And he's like, well, that's not the husband. And then he reveals, well, I know, yeah, the one you're having now is not the five that you've been with. And at that moment, she shifts gears suddenly and says, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
And oftentimes this can be explained that all of a sudden the spotlight got shown on something really intimate in her life, and she's trying to change the focus and the direction.
I think this is a significant intentional turning because of where they were and what Jesus to share.
It's not like a surprise. It's not a way to deviate the conversation or change the subject. I think, as Samaritans, Samaritan tradition was that someday a prophet is going to come that will teach us.
And all of a sudden, she's at this well with this guy who knows these things that I do, and she perceives you are a prophet.
And maybe she could even be thinking, maybe, is he the prophet? Perhaps?
Well, if that's the case, I need to talk with him about worship.
Because worship has been this huge, like, point of division for my people and for this area for centuries.
And so she asks him this question about worship.
Verse 20. Again, our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say in Jerusalem, there is the place where people ought to worship.
And it's in her statement. I think we can pull out three questions.
One, what is worship?
How do we worship?
And three, why?
What is worship? How do we worship, and why do we worship?
Before we get to these questions, maybe a little bit more understanding of why that place?
Why this conversation then, right? What is happening within that time, within that place?
What's the history, the context of what's going on there?
So geography has something to say about it.
Why this place?
Where are we?
Back in verses five and six, kind of give us a point to where are we? Feel free to shout out, where are we?
Well, Samaria, more specifically, Jacob's well, in this town next to this town called Sychar. So maybe the disciples probably going into Sychar, or she's from there. But the well is outside of town in this place. And I have a map to show.
There's Judea in the bottom in the red, and through the center is this line, the road that they were taking, and up to in the middle of the yellow circle, you have Sychar. Right next to is the town called Shechem as well.
In between two mountains, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
Is this place Shechem and Sychar again, she says, we've always worshiped here.
So we mentioned this is Jacob's. Well. Who's Jacob's dad?
Isaac.
Who is Isaac's dad?
Abraham. Who's Abraham's dad?
Oh, terah.
That was a trick.
Abraham, back in Genesis 12, Abraham, before his name got changed. Abram and Sarai, his wife. God commands them to go.
Leave the land and I will take you to a place. Just trust me and go.
Where do you think they first stop once they come into this land of Canaan?
Shechem.
What do they do there?
They set up an altar and they worship.
The first place, Abraham and Sarah worship in this Canaan land, in this promised land area, is Shechem.
Right there.
And we have Isaac, and then we have Jacob. And Jacob buys land there in Shechem, and he then digs a well.
And he then what? Does what?
He builds an altar.
And at that place he calls God. El Elohe. Israel, the Lord God mighty.
And this is a place of worship.
It's so important.
And we have another picture, courtesy of Google Maps. No, Google Earth.
Where we are, where this photo is taken from is Mount Gerizim.
So right now, we're kind of all up on Mount Gerizim in the lower right. This arrow is kind of pointing to where Jacob's well is.
And the hill on the far side, we would call it a hill. That's Mount Ebal. So Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, this is not like Long's Peak in Colorado, but they're more like hills. But this is the mountains about 3,000, 3,500ft above sea level.
And so right there in this yellow arrow is Jesus and the Samaritan woman sitting there having this conversation.
And she's saying, this place of worship has been here for generations. And so this looking around.
Well, yes, it has. And this was so important that then 400 years later, after Jacob digs the well, well, the Israelites are, you know, wandering. They've left Egypt. And God says to Moses, when you finally enter the Promised land, the first place I want you to go and worship me is where?
Guess, Shechem.
Moses doesn't get to go.
And so Joshua is then leader.
They conquer Jericho, and they're marching into the promised land with the one place to go to, shechem In Joshua 8, they get to Shechem, they build an altar, they offer sacrifices, peace offerings, guilt offerings, fellowship offerings, and they're worshiping the Lord.
[00:47:05] Speaker C: Even.
[00:47:05] Speaker A: So what they were also told to do is make copies of the Ten Commandments, the law. And they make it in big stone and put it there.
And then they're also to read the entirety of the law amongst all the people, all the old, young, the stranger, the foreigner, the wanderers that were with them.
All this is happening there.
And then I think one of the cool things that then God told them, I want six tribes up on one mountain, Gerizim.
I want the other six tribes kind of on the base and going up the other side, Mount Ebal, and then with the altar in between. And I want you back and forth antiphonally, going back and forth, one mountain saying the curses and the other saying the blessings.
This has been a historical place of worship for generations of God's people.
Then things shift to Jerusalem. And David asks the Lord, can I build you a house here?
David can't, but Solomon can. And he builds the temple and Jerusalem becomes this focus.
So we get a sense of the tension that's here of these Samaritans. This is the place where God has always wanted us to worship him. And then the Jews say, no, it's in Jerusalem. So in 500, the Jews march up to Samaria and go to Mount Gerizim and the temple that's been constructed there. And they just was built in 500, they destroy in 150. And this conversation is probably happening in year 30, just a few generations post the Jews destroying their temple.
So it's not a distraction.
She's not trying to distract from worship. It's, I think, a sincere and authentic question.
And there's many factors in our lives that try to distract us from worship. Worship.
So what is worship?
What is worship?
This is the first time in John's that we find this word worship in the Greek language. It's recorded as this word, which is made up of two different words. Both are like kind of action, pros and kuneo. And pros means to move forwards, move towards. And kuneo is to mean to kiss.
So proskuneo in this idea of worship is more of like you want to adore someone, you want to praise someone or something so much that you are willing to humble yourself and move towards and kiss the feet or bow down in adoration or thanksgiving or praise.
It's worship.
The magi in Matthew wanted to come and proskuneo or worship the Messiah multiple times. In the Gospels, when people get healed or Jesus, you know, does something amazing in their life, they come back and they want to proskuneo and worship at his feet, or wash his feet, or cry at his feet.
The final scenes in Revelation are that of proskuneo, of bowing in adoration, of praise and worship before him.
So a definition for us to consider this morning is that worship is a valuing or treasuring of God with inner heart, relationship and devotion combined with outward expressions placing God above all things.
I made God a fill in because sometimes we have the opportunity of putting anything in that blank that we want to.
We are to place God above all things.
It is an adoring of God that begins with an inner recognition that leads us to an outer or outward expression of praise, thanksgiving, adoration.
It's an inner and outer expression of love that really reflects, I think, these early commands, whether it's in Deuteronomy 6 or in Matthew 22, about loving the Lord your God with all the heart, all your soul, all your might, all your strength, with everything that you have to worship.
And as Jesus responded to this woman, it's not about a space.
It's not about this mountain or that mountain. It's about a time. It's not about a time. It's not about a place.
It is really about the heart of the worshiper and the direction of the that we are of worship.
[00:52:25] Speaker C: Worship.
[00:52:27] Speaker A: Worship is about placing God above all things.
So what does this worship look like?
How do we worship? What is. What is worship? How do we worship?
Letter A. That Jesus Christ is the center and focus of worship.
That Jesus is the center and focus of worship. In verse 21, Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming. When neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
I think he's inviting her. Believe me, believe me, the hour is coming.
When? This isn't a question any longer.
The hour is coming, especially in John's Gospel, is always pointing towards the moment when the time when Jesus will be put on the cross.
The hour is coming when he will be resurrected and then glorified and exalted.
The hour is coming.
John 2, he says to his mother at the wedding at Cana, she's, hey, can you do something?
My hour, my hour's not yet come.
Later on in John 7 and John 8, he does these things and he declares that he is the I am. And people are upset and so they want to take him and grab him or stone him or kill him or arrest him. And both Those times says sorry, hour.
Hour's not yet come.
Later on in chapter 12, Jesus finally says the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.
And the purpose I have come for this hour ready. As he washes the disciples feet, he says Jesus knew his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.
And later in John 17 in his prayer he lifts his eyes to the heavens and he says, father, the hour has come.
Glorify your Son and that the Son may glorify you. You, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
The hour isn't come yet, but it is here.
So worship.
How do we worship? We worship centered and focused on Jesus.
For us the hour has come. Jesus has paid our price on the cross.
All of our mistakes right, all of our sin, all of our shame has been placed upon him. All of God's wrath and judgment was placed upon him on the cross.
Everything that we deserve he has taken and that hung him on the cross. His love for us hung him on the cross.
Then he conquers the grave and rose three days later.
This is why we worship.
At the heart and center of our worship is a person, the person Jesus Christ, who deserves all of our devotion, all of our focus, all of our attention, all of our thanksgiving, all of our praise.
Verse 22. You worship what you do not know is Jesus saying because they only had, they only used referred to the first five books.
Jews says we worship what we know. All the law and the prophets pointing to the Messiah.
For salvation is from the Jews and now the Messiah, Jesus.
And this salvation has been made known through the Scriptures which leads to be true worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
Verse 23. But the hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.
The Father is looking for worshipers.
These are true worshipers who will worship in spirit and in truth.
It's not just about a physical action worshiping in spirit and in truth, but it's an internal spirit, internal soul, an internal movement of worship and praise.
Oftentimes we might come to worship and walk through the motions, so to speak.
I think true worshipers, ones that worship in spirit and truth have hearts and minds and souls directed with attention to Jesus.
True worshipers aren't attached to a location, but to a person. Jesus Christ and In truth, because he is the truth. He calls himself the truth.
He is the way, the truth and the life.
So when we worship in spirit and truth, we also do this with knowledge of who he is.
See, worship requires preparation of heart, mind and body.
All the worship that was mentioned earlier in that time and place in Shechem, as you can imagine, building altar, getting everything arranged, bringing sacrifice, that took time, planning, energy, effort.
It wasn't a casual, hey, let's just show up and worship.
I often can ask, how often do we take worship as something casual?
Or are we preparing that we're coming to worship together?
The God who made the heavens and.
[00:59:29] Speaker C: The earth.
[00:59:31] Speaker A: He deserves my worship and my adoration.
Did you know that when they would get ready to worship in Jerusalem at the temple, they would tailgate first?
You guys know what tailgating is?
They would tailgate first.
So that's like the pre worship. Just like any game or baseball game or a football game, when people show up, I mean, I'm a Buckeye graduate and I've gone down to games before and people have RVs that are decked out like a of bunch Buckeye.
And they show up for the whole weekend, they are tailgating and they are getting ready to go into their house of worship.
And doesn't matter what time, place, school, whatever team, there's worship usually going on.
But in Jerusalem, they tailgated as well.
Before they got to the temple, they actually would sometimes take like a mikvah, which is like a bath, a cleansing. They made sure they were prepared. And then as they ascended, as they were getting closer, we have these songs of ascent, Psalms 120 through like 134. And they would sing these in preparation as they got there and as they were going to Jerusalem, as they were getting higher and higher, the steps were made intentional in different spacings and heights and depths, so that you couldn't just go like rope through it. You actually they were made for specific designation, to go slower, to catch your attention. Because if you weren't paying attention on what you were doing, you would trip multiple ways. We have tailgating here at Westgate. It's called our West Cafe.
We sometimes we come and we hang out and we are preparing ourselves to come in to worship the Lord. And that in itself is also can be an act of worship as we commune and share and talk and have fellowship with each other.
But worship requires preparation of heart, mind and body.
There is a warning that Jesus gives to the pharisees in Matthew 15.
He says, these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain. Their teachings are merely human rules.
Don't just go through the motions.
Make sure your heart and your mind is prepared and ready and eager to worship. The one who loves you so much, he died for you.
Letter D. Worship is personal and also together or communal.
Paul writes about this in Romans 12.
He says, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices. Notice that the response to offer your body as a living sacrifice is a response to the mercy of God.
We don't worship in order to get the mercy of God.
It's out of God's mercy that we then respond back by offering ourselves everything about our lives as living sacrifices. So every place you live gets guess what? You can be a sacrifice.
When you go to work, you can be a living sacrifice.
And how you work and how you function and how you do and perform at your job, the relationships that you're in, the integrity that you work with is worship.
When you go to your neighbor's house, how you treat and care for your neighbor is worship.
As you drive in your car, may it be a place of worship.
Schools, shops, family reunions can be places of worship.
We align our hearts and have our hearts focused on on the Lord.
Paul continues, that do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I think you're not conforming to the pattern of this world, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, you're worshiping in spirit. You are conforming to the Spirit of God and then being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Because our minds are on the truth of God.
And so we worship in spirit and in truth.
And this is all a rehearsal for when we come together on Sundays or any other time when we get to heaven.
Why? Third question. Why do we worship?
A, because God commands it.
God doesn't need it, but God commands.
[01:05:35] Speaker C: It.
[01:05:37] Speaker A: For the praise of his glory.
Two or B worship aligns our hearts with God and reminds us of his truth.
Did you know? We become what we worship.
We become like what we worship, what we put our attention and our focus on. That's what we'll become like.
And so why do we worship? We worship because we want to be like Jesus. We want to be disciples that follow in his ways and in his word and the ways that he was in the world and loved people and wants us to go and do likewise.
But worship reminds us.
And so therefore it aligns our hearts with God. And reminds us of his truth.
There's also a peace that as we get our hearts aligned, that God speaks to us his truth. And there is enjoyment, there is fulfillment, there is courage poured into us.
See, worship provides spiritual food and spiritual drink.
Verse 25 and 26. The woman said to him, I know the Messiah is coming. He who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He.
He's the Messiah.
I don't know if her mind just blew up at this moment, but I know her life was changed. When she was in that time with Jesus, her life was changed. She no longer. Do you notice what she leaves behind?
She leaves the water jar behind.
What she came initially for, she no longer needed because she was already filled with something else.
The eternal, eternal living water of the Messiah.
And I don't get it, but Jesus also wasn't hungry anymore either.
It's like our worship, our songs, our singing somehow fills God somehow. I don't understand that, but he wasn't hungry. He's like the food that you bring me, I don't need that kind of food anymore.
You ever have times in worship with God where you are just filled by hope, by love, by his mercy, by his forgiveness?
She is so filled that she doesn't need that anymore.
She now has the living water and goes and tells everyone in town about.
So it's two for us.
Colossians 3:16. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms and hymns and songs from the Spirit singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Yes, we can worship personally, privately, individually, on your own. We do that. Some of my best times are in the car because no one else can hear me singing.
But there's something different when we're all together, right?
God's word says we sing with all psalms and hymns, and it vanished on.
[01:09:10] Speaker C: Me.
[01:09:12] Speaker A: With all wisdom and songs from the Spirit singing to God.
And when we do that, as Ron's over here singing, we trust that Bob is getting blessed as Jamie is over here worshiping.
We trust that Heidi is being filled up by the community of God that we're in.
We are all needed in the worship of God for the building up of the church.
And we get encouraged and we get exhorted and we look to our left and to our right. We're like, I'm not doing this on my own, but we are worshiping together.
We get filled and ready to go out into A world that desperately needs what we just got filled with, they're still trying to get filled up with something else that's not going to satisfy.
But you are filled up with eternal living water. Go pour it upon the world.
D Worship gives honor and glory to God.
Don't give it to something else.
Give it to the Lord.
And there's a letter E. There's a bonus one.
Bonus.
Because why do we worship?
From what we saw, the woman at the well, she had seen generations before her forever.
It's important that we worship together for generations to follow and generations with us and after us.
Worship blesses those that are older and younger than what we are.
So we worship together because worship teaches the next generation about God.
I have three reflection questions for us just to think about this week. As you have life group as your home around your table tonight or in a Bible study this week, ask some of these questions.
Or maybe just for your own personal reflection, how is your heart and mind being prepared for worshiping together throughout the week?
Are you doing anything intentionally to, like, tailgate with God to prepare?
Second question. How often do you find yourself worshiping something else instead of God?
Is there something else that you're continuing to find fulfillment in?
Man, you keep having to go back to the well.
She left it behind. Is there something that you need to leave behind?
Let go of with God's help?
And does anything in your life need to be addressed? Number three, in order to make worshiping together higher priority, Knowing that worshiping together is one of the greatest gifts of the church, is there something that needs to happen in your life? If that's not a priority right now, don't be casual.
Be all in.
Let's pray.
Jesus, we recognize that you are.
[01:13:20] Speaker C: Our.
[01:13:21] Speaker A: Ultimate focus and center of worship.
You are truly what we need.
You are what we honestly want.
God, I pray that as we go out this week that you would help us to worship you in all aspects of our lives. That we would be living sacrifices for you.
And through that God, things would change. We would be transformed. You would be given glory.
We ask that you would help, that you would lead. And most of all, God, I thank you for the church. I thank you that we can sing together, to worship together, to encourage one another.
Thank you, Jesus, for the work that you've done for us on the cross.
We want to give you all of our praise forever and ever.
[01:14:25] Speaker C: Amen.
I can't wait for eternity.
[01:14:54] Speaker B: To song.
[01:14:56] Speaker C: They're already singing Holy, Holy, holy. Are you just to bow down before your throne?
See your face I cry out because you're holy, holy, holy Are you Lord Jesus King of King Jesus Just Majesty.
[01:15:47] Speaker B: I can't wait for eternity Join the song they're already singing Holy, holy, holy.
[01:16:00] Speaker C: Are you just just to bow down.
[01:16:06] Speaker B: Just to bow down before you See your face, see your face so cry out because you're holy, holy, holy Are your.
[01:16:25] Speaker C: Jesus of Kings Jesus Majesty Jesus, King of Kings Jesus of Majesty.
[01:17:04] Speaker B: Standing with those who have heard well done Proclaiming forever that you're the one who's.
[01:17:13] Speaker C: Faithful, faithful, faithful are yes why can.
[01:17:24] Speaker B: We give you a endless praise.
[01:17:34] Speaker C: Jesus.
[01:17:35] Speaker B: Jesus you are love.
[01:17:42] Speaker C: Jesus Jesus King.
[01:18:05] Speaker B: Of King Jesus.
[01:18:26] Speaker C: Worthy, worthy, worthy Lord Another glimpse of glory we sing once more Worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy Lord Forever forever Worthy, worthy, worthy Lord of a glimpse of glory we sing once more Worthy, worthy, worthy Lord Forever forever.
[01:19:04] Speaker B: Worthy.
[01:19:05] Speaker C: Worthy, worthy Love Another glimpse of glory we sing once more Worthy, worthy, worthy Love Forever forever Worthy, worthy, worthy.
[01:19:33] Speaker B: Worthy.
[01:19:34] Speaker C: Worthy, worthy Lord Jesus King of Kings King of Kings Jesus.
[01:19:55] Speaker B: Majesty.
[01:20:01] Speaker C: Jesus Majesty.
[01:20:32] Speaker A: As you go out this week, may the songs of praise be in your heart and on your lips.
Go out with the love of the Father, through the grace of the Son, through the power of His Spirit, Go in peace and that.
