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• “True Worshipers” – Meaning of worship

• “Worship the Father” – Object of worship

• “Father is Seeking” – Source of worship

• “Spirit and Truth” – Elements of worship

Verse 23: “true worshipers will worship the Father

in spirit and truth, for the father is seeking such

people to worship him.”

“Perhaps the greatest need in all of Christendom is for a clear

understanding of the biblical teaching about worship. When

the church fails to worship properly, it fails in every other

area.” - John McArthur3

• Worth-ship: to attach value to, to make much of

• A worshiper is one who expresses honor and

adoration to God for who He is and what He has

done.

“The very heart of worship, as the Bible makes

clear, is the business of expressing, from the depths

of our spirits, the highest possible honor we can

offer before God.” – R.C. Sproul

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Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation

from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great

is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be

feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples

are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and

joy are in his place. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of

the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an

offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the

splendor of holiness.5

• “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to

enjoy Him forever.” – Westminster Catechism

• We are uniquely made in God’s image to uniquely

worship Him.

• 3 Dimensions:

• Outward – toward others

• Inward – personal behavior

• Upward – toward God

“Worship: our innermost being responding with praise for

all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and

words, based on the truth of God as He has revealed

Himself.” – John McArthur6

• Only when we start to glimpse what God is really

like do we desire to give Him glory. The more we

seek to understand who God is, the more glorious

He will appear, and the deeper our worship will be.

• The Holiness of God

• Isaiah 6, Revelation 4 – “Holy, Holy, Holy”

• Mark 4 – Jesus’ holiness

There is a variety of responses to the presence of God in the

Bible, but we never read of an occasion when God appears

to people and they are bored. Neither do we read of anyone

walking away from an encounter with God, saying, “That

was irrelevant.” – RC Sproul7

• Worship of God is the theme of scripture, the theme

of redemptive history, and the theme of eternity.

• God is seeking worshipers, but He must create

them first.

• Creation – made to worship - Romans 11:36

• Sin – misplaced worship - Romans 1:25

• Redemption – re-made to worship

• The cross: both the enabling power and the

greatest reason for worship. - Psalm 72:23

• Glorification – pure worship - Revelation 5:13

“We should consider it the great end of our existence to be

found numbered among the worshipers of God.” – John Calvin8

• Two important principles:

1. Form of worship matters to God.

• We are not free to worship in any way that is

fulfilling to us.

2. Sufficiency of the Bible - Sola Scriptura

• Regulative Principle - “God disapproves of all

modes of worship not expressly sanctioned in His word” - John Calvin

“Pleasing God is at the heart of worship. Therefore, our

worship must be informed at every point by the word of

God as we seek God’s own instructions for worship that is

pleasing to Him.” – RC Sproul 9

• Both Jews and Samaritans had it wrong.

• Samaritan worship: in spirit, but lacked truth

• Jewish worship: in truth, but lacked the spirit

• Spirit:

• Holy Spirit empowered

• Flowing from within (not merely external)

• Truth:

• Right theology is vital to acceptable worship.

“True worship emerges from heart and mind in a response of pure adoration, based on the truth revealed in the Word. Genuine worship is a response to divine truth. It is passionate because it arises out of love for God. But to be true worship it must also rise out of a correct understanding of His law, His righteousness, His mercy, and His Being.” – John McArthur

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• Colossians 3:15-16 – And let the peace of Christ

rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were

called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word

of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and

admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing

psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

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• Corporate Worship

• Preparation – “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”

• Sacraments – “called in one body”

• Giving – “And be thankful”

• Preaching – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom”

• Singing – “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God”

• Prayer – the whole verse

“Acceptable worship is impossible without preaching.

For peaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and

worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known.

Preaching is indispensable to worship.” – John Stott12

• Why is music and singing part of the worship service?• Scriptural exhortation

• Unity: Edification and encouragement in the church

• Instruction: Hides the word in our hearts

• Beauty: Merges the emotions (spirit) and the mind

(truth) in a way that simply speaking does not

• Colossians 3:16 and Psalm 150:3-6• Musical variety – psalms, hymns, songs, instruments

• Lyrical orthodoxy – word of Christ dwell in you richly

“There are realities that demand to break out of prose into

poetry and some demand that poetry be stretched into song.

Singing is the Christian's way of saying: God is so great that

thinking will not suffice, there must be deep feeling; and

talking will not suffice, there must be singing.” – John Piper 13

• Audience of One• Ultimately, the worship service is not about receiving

a blessing, it is about giving glory to God. • However, worship is the engine of Christian life and

ministry. Since we are created and redeemed for

worshiping God, we will be most blessed when He

is most glorified. When God is glorified, believers

are purified, the church is edified, and the lost are evangelized.

“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God,

to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination

by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to

devote the will to the purpose of God.” – William Temple14

• Am I a worshiper of God?

• How big do I think God is?

• Is worship a way of life?

• What do I expect when I come here on Sundays?

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