John 4:23-24
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
One of the most powerful worship experiences of my life took place not at FBCG (although I have had many such experiences here!) but in Turkey of all places.
I had traveled to Turkey with once of the first teams from FBCG to visit that nation after we had adopted Turkey as our “unreached people group.” As most of you know, Turkey is an overwhelmingly Islamic country with very few Christians and very few churches. But toward the end of our trip we gathered in one of those churches to worship on a Sunday morning.
The church gathered in a second floor room that felt kind of like a small hotel banquet room. As I recall there were about 50 people including our group. But two things were immediately noticeable. First, the congregation gathered that morning was more diverse than any group of people I had ever been part of – made up of Turks, Americans, Iranians, South Koreans, Central and South Americans, South Africans and Europeans. Our worship time was led by a musically talented Swedish family who sang in both Turkish and English. The sermon was delivered by a German pastor who spoke in English but had his words translated by an Iranian woman into Turkish.
But the second, and more important thing I noticed, was that our worship was filled with a sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence. In speaking of true worship, Jesus said:
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
I think Jesus is teaching us two things about worship in this text. First, he is teaching us that our worship is not dependent on things like location, nationality, language or music style. The context of these verses is a discussion with a Samaritan woman about the long-standing conflict between Jews and Samaritans regarding the proper place of worship. Jesus is saying that place doesn’t matter; language doesn’t matter; culture doesn’t matter – what matters is spirit and truth!
In other words; who and why we worship is more important than where and how we worship!
Some of us worship in Geneva, Illinois.
Some of us worship in Ankara, Turkey.
Some of us worship in Nairobi, Kenya.
Some of us worship in beautiful sanctuaries topped with soaring steeples; some of us worship under acacia trees on the African plain.
Some of us sing hymns accompanied by pipe organ and choir; some of us sing songs accompanied by guitars and keyboards; still others dance and sing to tambourines and drums.
But we all, as Christians, worship the same Lord and in the same Spirit.
The second thing Jesus is teaching us isn’t quite so obvious – yet I believe is assumed in his words. Jesus assumes that his followers will worship him together – in community.
Some of us worship in Nairobi, Kenya.
Some of us worship in beautiful sanctuaries topped with soaring steeples; some of us worship under acacia trees on the African plain.
Some of us sing hymns accompanied by pipe organ and choir; some of us sing songs accompanied by guitars and keyboards; still others dance and sing to tambourines and drums.
But we all, as Christians, worship the same Lord and in the same Spirit.
The second thing Jesus is teaching us isn’t quite so obvious – yet I believe is assumed in his words. Jesus assumes that his followers will worship him together – in community.
While I can certainly worship God in a meaningful and powerful way when I am alone – there is something unique and irreplaceable that happens when I worship in the community of others! The Bible is full of instructions that encourage God’s people to worship together rather than alone. Most of the Psalms were written as songs intended for the whole community of Israel to share together. In the New Testament Paul says clearly:
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another… Hebrews 10:25
We know that on any given weekend only about 45% of the people who call FBCG home actually attend one of our worship services. We also know that this is consistent with other churches throughout North America. We live in a busy culture with many other things grabbing for our time and attention. We also provide many ways for people to stay connected with their church family between weekends – Bible Studies, prayer groups, small groups, on-line resources, etc. And while all of that is good – there is something fundamentally important about the body of Christ sharing worship together!
Do you know that when you are unable to join your church family for worship – something is missing that is irreplaceable? Sometimes we think that because there are a lot of people who make up our church family – around 4,000 - it doesn’t make much difference when we are not there. But the Bible teaches that your presence, your voice (even if you don’t like to sing), your heart – is important because God has “arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (1 Corinthians 12:18). Our collective worship is diminished - we all experience just a little bit less when any one of us is missing.
Timothy Ralston writes, “The Holy Spirit forms the community itself as a sanctuary for the worship of the living God. He empowers each individual to contribute to the unity that alone testifies to the deity of the Savior.”
He is saying that the church is not a building. The church is people. We – each and every one of us who call FBCG home - are the church of Jesus Christ! When even one of us is missing – the church is that much less than God intends it to be.
Thank God for calling you to be part of his family, and commit yourself and your family to making worship a priority in your life!
Pastor Brian Coffey
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another… Hebrews 10:25
We know that on any given weekend only about 45% of the people who call FBCG home actually attend one of our worship services. We also know that this is consistent with other churches throughout North America. We live in a busy culture with many other things grabbing for our time and attention. We also provide many ways for people to stay connected with their church family between weekends – Bible Studies, prayer groups, small groups, on-line resources, etc. And while all of that is good – there is something fundamentally important about the body of Christ sharing worship together!
Do you know that when you are unable to join your church family for worship – something is missing that is irreplaceable? Sometimes we think that because there are a lot of people who make up our church family – around 4,000 - it doesn’t make much difference when we are not there. But the Bible teaches that your presence, your voice (even if you don’t like to sing), your heart – is important because God has “arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (1 Corinthians 12:18). Our collective worship is diminished - we all experience just a little bit less when any one of us is missing.
Timothy Ralston writes, “The Holy Spirit forms the community itself as a sanctuary for the worship of the living God. He empowers each individual to contribute to the unity that alone testifies to the deity of the Savior.”
He is saying that the church is not a building. The church is people. We – each and every one of us who call FBCG home - are the church of Jesus Christ! When even one of us is missing – the church is that much less than God intends it to be.
Thank God for calling you to be part of his family, and commit yourself and your family to making worship a priority in your life!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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