In Spirit and in Truth
This Sunday at Rivers of Joy church our pastor preached a bit on what it means to worship "in Spirit and in truth."
In John 4:23-24 Jesus says:
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Our pastor spoke on how often as Christians we confuse worshiping in truth with the idea of worshiping "honestly." Worshiping honestly meaning that we come to God focused on our position, getting "honest" with God by confessing our sins before Him. For example, we come to church and as we sing praise to God we begin to recite in our minds our long list of sins and shortcomings asking for forgiveness and thanking God for his forgiveness. This might be what we think it means to worship in truth... being honest. I don't really think there is anything wrong with confessing our sins to God but our pastor had something to say about this.
His point was that worshiping "in truth" has nothing to do with getting honest about our position before God. God knows our position but rather he is looking for worshipers who will declare the truth about God. That as we worship God we are basically declaring what we know about God. I don't think I am doing the sermon justice but it did strike me how often Christians are focused on our relationship with God and our current situation or spiritual maturity, rather than just being focused on who Jesus Christ is and declaring that.
So if that is what it means to be a worshiper of Jesus, then that is basically what it means to be a Christian... someone who declares who Jesus is in truth and with the agreement of the holy Spirit who lives inside us.
If I haven't told you lately who Jesus is, then I'm not much of a worshiper but I know that every Sunday we are very sincerely declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God who loves man so much that he came to die and conquer death so that we can live. Because of Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and can worship the Father.
In the process of declaring this truth every Sunday and studying God's word, I fall more in love with Jesus. For those of you who don't worship Jesus, well, you are missing out. I'm not kidding when I say that declaring that Jesus is God actually infuses life. I am planted by a river of life. I love to declare the truth that JESUS SAVES and I pray that God would help me each day to worship him in spirit and in truth.
In John 4:23-24 Jesus says:
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Our pastor spoke on how often as Christians we confuse worshiping in truth with the idea of worshiping "honestly." Worshiping honestly meaning that we come to God focused on our position, getting "honest" with God by confessing our sins before Him. For example, we come to church and as we sing praise to God we begin to recite in our minds our long list of sins and shortcomings asking for forgiveness and thanking God for his forgiveness. This might be what we think it means to worship in truth... being honest. I don't really think there is anything wrong with confessing our sins to God but our pastor had something to say about this.
His point was that worshiping "in truth" has nothing to do with getting honest about our position before God. God knows our position but rather he is looking for worshipers who will declare the truth about God. That as we worship God we are basically declaring what we know about God. I don't think I am doing the sermon justice but it did strike me how often Christians are focused on our relationship with God and our current situation or spiritual maturity, rather than just being focused on who Jesus Christ is and declaring that.
So if that is what it means to be a worshiper of Jesus, then that is basically what it means to be a Christian... someone who declares who Jesus is in truth and with the agreement of the holy Spirit who lives inside us.
If I haven't told you lately who Jesus is, then I'm not much of a worshiper but I know that every Sunday we are very sincerely declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God who loves man so much that he came to die and conquer death so that we can live. Because of Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and can worship the Father.
In the process of declaring this truth every Sunday and studying God's word, I fall more in love with Jesus. For those of you who don't worship Jesus, well, you are missing out. I'm not kidding when I say that declaring that Jesus is God actually infuses life. I am planted by a river of life. I love to declare the truth that JESUS SAVES and I pray that God would help me each day to worship him in spirit and in truth.
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Praying!