Worship
(John 4:19-24 NIV)
“ "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews
claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is
coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what
you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now
come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the
Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth."”
1. What is worship?
a. Worship is to place great importance upon something or someone. When we say someone worships a
person or thing, we mean that they place excessive importance and attention that person or thing.
b. To truly worship something is to focus your life upon that thing. Before I met Jesus, I worshipped music. I
poured my whole life into it. People worship many things, but none of these things are worthy of worship.
c. Only God is worthy of our worship.
i. A song says, “You alone are worthy of my praise.”
ii. Psalms 18:3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
iii. Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created
all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
iv. Revelation 5:12 In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!"
2. “His worshippers must worship in spirit”
a. God is spirit – God is not flesh and blood like we are. He does not have the same needs we have. He
doesn’t need our money. He has no need of our possessions. He does not need our time. God doesn’t really
NEED anything.
b. He is spirit – that is, He is a spiritual being. All that He wants from us is spiritual. Now, our spiritual values
are revealed by tangible or earthly things. When we give something to God it shows Him that He is more important
to us than those things.
c. But we must understand that what God is looking for is spiritual worship. It is not the physical acts of worship
that are important.
i. The Old Testament sacrifices were a form of worship, but it was not the sacrifices that were important; it was
what they represented. The word ‘sacrifice’ did not represent the animal that was being offered. It represented the
voluntary ‘giving up’ of that animal. The animal was valuable to the person offering it. It could be used for work or
food, but instead it was given to God. To the human eye it seemed to be wasted, but to God it was significant
because of what it cost the giver.
ii. King David said, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that
cost me nothing." 2 Samuel 24:24
iii. Attending church, singing songs, giving offerings are forms of worship, but the actual worship is in the effort
you put forth to do these things – what it costs you. It costs you time and energy – time and energy that could be
spent doing other things.
d. The essence of worship – the heart of worship – is focusing our attention on God. God is concerned not
about WHAT you do, but what is going on in your heart when you do it.
i. You can attend church physically and your mind be in another place.
ii. You can give offerings or serve God and inwardly be resenting it.
iii. God seeks those who worship in SPIRIT, not in body – worship from the heart, not just ‘going through the
motions of worship’.
iv. Your motive is what is important.
v. When I first went to Albania many people wanted to be my friend. I used to wonder why they wanted to be my
friend. If it was because they thought I could help them get to America, or because they thought I was a rich
American who would give them money, or because they thought I might have some influence that would benefit
them, then they were not truly my friends.
vi. God is looking for people who will worship Him for who He is, not for what He can do for them.
3. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “worship in truth”.
a. True worship is from a pure motive.
b. Do you love God? Why?
i. Years ago I came to a point one day that I said, “Lord, I love you. And if you never do another thing for me, I
love you anyway.” I know then that I truly loved Him.
ii. Job said, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15
iii. He was saying, “I love God no matter what happens in my life. Even in the bad times, I love Him. Even when I
suffer, I love Him. Even when I don’t get what I wanted from Him, I love Him.”
iv. A friend of mine asked a young couple who wanted to get married, “Are you going to love each other when
one of you is disabled and helpless?” True love is strong even in the bad times.
v. True worship makes the sacrifice to worship God even when you don’t feel like God is being fair.
4. I believe the best definition of worship is “to lose yourself in the presence of God and forget about yourself.”
a. There was a song we used to sing 20 years ago. It said, “Just forget about yourself, and concentrate on Him,
and worship Him.” That song captured the true heart of worship.
b. A new song says it this way, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about you, Jesus.”
c. True worship is not about how it makes me feel. It’s about how it makes God feel.
d. It is what God wants from you in this moment that creates true worship.
i. Sometimes we want it soft and quiet and peaceful and God says, “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout
unto God with the voice of triumph.” Psalms 47:1
ii. Other times we want excitement and lively music and God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalms
46:10
iii. What is important is not what you want but what He wants.
Are you willing to lose yourself in order to find Him?
Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39
He is not talking about dying. He is talking about giving up control and letting Him have it. That is what worship is
all about – letting God have His way.
“ "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews
claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is
coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what
you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now
come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the
Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth."”
1. What is worship?
a. Worship is to place great importance upon something or someone. When we say someone worships a
person or thing, we mean that they place excessive importance and attention that person or thing.
b. To truly worship something is to focus your life upon that thing. Before I met Jesus, I worshipped music. I
poured my whole life into it. People worship many things, but none of these things are worthy of worship.
c. Only God is worthy of our worship.
i. A song says, “You alone are worthy of my praise.”
ii. Psalms 18:3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
iii. Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created
all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
iv. Revelation 5:12 In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!"
2. “His worshippers must worship in spirit”
a. God is spirit – God is not flesh and blood like we are. He does not have the same needs we have. He
doesn’t need our money. He has no need of our possessions. He does not need our time. God doesn’t really
NEED anything.
b. He is spirit – that is, He is a spiritual being. All that He wants from us is spiritual. Now, our spiritual values
are revealed by tangible or earthly things. When we give something to God it shows Him that He is more important
to us than those things.
c. But we must understand that what God is looking for is spiritual worship. It is not the physical acts of worship
that are important.
i. The Old Testament sacrifices were a form of worship, but it was not the sacrifices that were important; it was
what they represented. The word ‘sacrifice’ did not represent the animal that was being offered. It represented the
voluntary ‘giving up’ of that animal. The animal was valuable to the person offering it. It could be used for work or
food, but instead it was given to God. To the human eye it seemed to be wasted, but to God it was significant
because of what it cost the giver.
ii. King David said, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that
cost me nothing." 2 Samuel 24:24
iii. Attending church, singing songs, giving offerings are forms of worship, but the actual worship is in the effort
you put forth to do these things – what it costs you. It costs you time and energy – time and energy that could be
spent doing other things.
d. The essence of worship – the heart of worship – is focusing our attention on God. God is concerned not
about WHAT you do, but what is going on in your heart when you do it.
i. You can attend church physically and your mind be in another place.
ii. You can give offerings or serve God and inwardly be resenting it.
iii. God seeks those who worship in SPIRIT, not in body – worship from the heart, not just ‘going through the
motions of worship’.
iv. Your motive is what is important.
v. When I first went to Albania many people wanted to be my friend. I used to wonder why they wanted to be my
friend. If it was because they thought I could help them get to America, or because they thought I was a rich
American who would give them money, or because they thought I might have some influence that would benefit
them, then they were not truly my friends.
vi. God is looking for people who will worship Him for who He is, not for what He can do for them.
3. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “worship in truth”.
a. True worship is from a pure motive.
b. Do you love God? Why?
i. Years ago I came to a point one day that I said, “Lord, I love you. And if you never do another thing for me, I
love you anyway.” I know then that I truly loved Him.
ii. Job said, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15
iii. He was saying, “I love God no matter what happens in my life. Even in the bad times, I love Him. Even when I
suffer, I love Him. Even when I don’t get what I wanted from Him, I love Him.”
iv. A friend of mine asked a young couple who wanted to get married, “Are you going to love each other when
one of you is disabled and helpless?” True love is strong even in the bad times.
v. True worship makes the sacrifice to worship God even when you don’t feel like God is being fair.
4. I believe the best definition of worship is “to lose yourself in the presence of God and forget about yourself.”
a. There was a song we used to sing 20 years ago. It said, “Just forget about yourself, and concentrate on Him,
and worship Him.” That song captured the true heart of worship.
b. A new song says it this way, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about you, Jesus.”
c. True worship is not about how it makes me feel. It’s about how it makes God feel.
d. It is what God wants from you in this moment that creates true worship.
i. Sometimes we want it soft and quiet and peaceful and God says, “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout
unto God with the voice of triumph.” Psalms 47:1
ii. Other times we want excitement and lively music and God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalms
46:10
iii. What is important is not what you want but what He wants.
Are you willing to lose yourself in order to find Him?
Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39
He is not talking about dying. He is talking about giving up control and letting Him have it. That is what worship is
all about – letting God have His way.
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