Does God Prefer One Type of Church Service Over Others?.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] John chapter 4, if you have your Bibles go ahead and turn there. [0:04] That’s where we’ll spend most of this morning. [0:08] We’ve spent the past few weeks knocking over some sacred cows in the church. [0:14] I guess we would call them issues that we always have questions about, but very seldom [0:20] do we actually voice those questions and ask those questions about why we believe certain [0:26] things that we believe, why we do certain things that we do.

[0:29] One of those things is, do you have to go to church to be a believer? [0:34] We talked about that and we said it’s kind of like being a husband to a wife. [0:40] It’s very hard to say that you love your wife if you seldom spend time with her. [0:46] Jesus looks at the church as his bride and we are his bride, but only when we’re together. [0:52] Then a few weeks ago we took a look at, can you lose your salvation? [0:56] The answer was no, as long as you endure to the end.

[1:01] That God keeps us saved himself through his sovereignty, but what he does is the means [1:07] by which we keep our salvation that God uses is that he gives us endurance and we endure [1:13] in the faith, but when we have no endurance, when we seemingly fall away, what we’re showing [1:20] is that maybe God was never true in our lives to begin with.

[1:26] Then today we’re going to talk about, excuse me, last week we talked about our money, which [1:31] I didn’t want to mention again because some of you held your wallets pretty tight as [1:35] you left last week. [1:37] The fact that God has given us great wealth, especially in this culture, but that we are [1:42] to use that wealth and not hate that wealth, but rather redeem it for the purposes of God. [1:48] That God has made some of us five talent people as we looked at the parable of the talents

[1:53] last week where wealth is concerned. [1:55] We are to invest that for his kingdom rather than our own. [2:00] I think some of us, we looked at the question for this week and it sounds very practical, [2:04] but we’re thinking, you know what, this is one of those issues that you just have an [2:08] opinion and everybody seems to have an opinion over what a church service should look like, [2:12] what worship should actually look like in our life, so it’s not really going to be that

[2:16] deep of a Sunday. [2:17] What I want to tell you this morning is that if that’s your opinion, I’m going to disagree [2:21] with you. [2:21] I believe in our culture where we are right now, especially in this almost Bible beltish, [2:29] I guess some people would call it, type of community, is that this may be the deepest [2:34] question that we ask ourselves.

[2:37] Because especially in this culture, and I grew up here, I have watched church after [2:43] church split over this very question.

[2:48] And I have seen churches split over things as simple and it seems to us silly over what [2:58] type of music should we have in our services. [3:01] Should we have pews even? [3:04] I worked at a church in a rural area of Virginia for a while and they had a few committee meetings [3:10] that I had the privilege of sitting in on and one of those meetings someone brought [3:17] the subject of replacing the pews that had been there since 1950 and said maybe we should

[3:24] take the pews out and put more comfortable chairs in and man, people’s blood started [3:29] boiling because their father sat in that pew. [3:33] And so whether we want to admit it or not, this subject is really in us and it is in [3:40] our minds and I could almost guarantee that if I went person by person, each and every [3:46] one of you would have an opinion. [3:50] Inside of what we call the local church, this is such a hot issue that even people who

[3:55] don’t go to church have an opinion over what a church service should look like, how it [4:01] should make us feel, how reverent it should be, where liturgy should be in the service, [4:06] should we recite psalms out loud, should we not recite psalms out loud, should we allow [4:10] drums or should we not allow drums?

[4:14] I had one issue in the church I worked at for a long time and I loved these people but [4:18] man it was bonkers sometimes. [4:20] A missionary brought in a slide projector, you know, if you’ve been in church any time, [4:26] when those missionaries come they like to bring the push button slides and he left [4:30] because he was furious because they brought recent technology into the building. [4:36] It was a rural area, I guess slides were recent technology there.

[4:41] He was furious.

[4:46] And they really enjoyed this Sunday when I brought drums in for Youth Sunday.

[4:53] Do these questions and these traditions and these practices, do they have anything to [5:01] do with how we follow Jesus and kind of deeper than that, do they say anything about us in [5:09] our worship? [5:11] Now if you come here, we do not, I guess you could say, have traditional music, we, you [5:21] know, we don’t have pews because we don’t even own the building.

[5:27] So you might think that I’m, oh, he’s going to give us just this long diatribe about [5:30] why grandma and grandpa were wrong and why he’s right. [5:33] I’m not going to do that this morning. [5:36] At least I’m going to try not to. [5:38] It may be accidentally happening.

[5:41] But what I want to get to this morning is something far deeper than how we worship but [5:46] what I want to get to is the how of our worship often reveals the heart behind our worship. [5:56] And I want you to know that what we do here on Sunday mornings, I want to start with this. [6:01] We don’t simply sing the songs we do, have the band members that we have and sing the [6:07] type of music and wear the type of clothes and, you know, even down to the earrings. [6:12] Because we don’t do this as some type of gimmick to be cool for the sake of being

[6:18] cool.

[6:21] But quite honestly, some of you may think we haven’t really thought this through. [6:25] What do I want you to know? [6:26] We spent literally years figuring out how we would do this and why we do every single [6:37] on Sunday mornings, to the placement of when we sing songs, how we sing songs, to the question [6:44] of why do we do the Lord’s table every single week, to how will we preach.

[6:53] Because we made a decision that we would not do anything that would make the gospel less [7:00] than it is, or if you believe it, more than it is, but something that would show the [7:07] very heart of not only how we should do worship on Sunday mornings, but more importantly, [7:13] the way that we worship and the worship experience at the village church is actually teaching [7:19] us how we should live our lives every single day for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [7:27] If someone is like, well, I don’t have any screens in my house, how am I going to do

[7:31] that? [7:31] That’s not what I’m talking about.

[7:35] If you look in John chapter 4, I want to start talking this morning simply about worship.

[7:43] And the fact that typically we have two extremes. [7:47] We have two extremes in worship, and the first extreme tells us that worship needs to be [7:52] called in theology, and in church ministry circles the regulative principle that if it’s [7:57] not in scripture, then we shouldn’t do it.

[8:03] And then there’s something called the normative principle, which says that you should do everything [8:07] that scripture commands as the church gathers, but then anything that it does not specifically [8:14] say we shouldn’t do, do it. [8:18] So you’ll have guys bringing dirt bikes into their services, you’ll have guys bringing [8:23] Lamborghinis on stage, you’ll have youth pastors, maybe you’ve seen the YouTube video, [8:27] there’s a youth pastor that tries to do a wheelie during the service to make a point,

[8:31] and he crashes through a wall and pandemonium ensues. [8:36] That’s what you would call the normative principle.

[8:40] And then you also have some people that say, man, Sunday mornings should not even be planned, [8:45] we should just show up, and whatever the Holy Spirit does, He does, He doesn’t need our [8:51] help, so let’s not put any planning in it, you shouldn’t put any organization into it, [8:55] it should just be totally free for the Holy Spirit to move and speak through whoever [8:59] He wants to move and speak through.

[9:03] So we run the gambit, and there’s like 75 things in between, and I guarantee you, you [9:07] have an opinion on this spectrum of how far is too far, and how little is too little.

[9:15] But I want to start and just let you know that if that is where we’re starting, when [9:20] we talk about worship, we’re starting in the wrong place.

[9:26] Because worship goes so much deeper, and so much more specifically into our very hearts, [9:34] before we can ever come together and say, how should we do this, we should say, what [9:39] does this show about us? [9:42] What does this say about my heart? [9:45] Because in the scripture, when it talks about things that we’re actually really believing, [9:50] that we’re really passionate about, it talks about our heart.

[9:54] And it says that is what the heart believes, what the heart thinks.

[9:59] First thing I want you to know, worship means one of two things, it talks about our posture, [10:05] or the way we serve Jesus, and then secondly it talks about our emotion, or our feelings [10:12] for Jesus. [10:14] And really those are the two prevalent dictionaries, it’s a posture of living, but also an outcry [10:20] of emotion. [10:22] And in John chapter 4, I just want to start looking at verse 23 of John chapter 4 this

[10:26] morning, and we’re really going to talk about almost the whole chapter. [10:30] Jesus talks here and he says, but the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers [10:37] will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship [10:44] him. [10:45] So we have to begin with a realization that God desires to be worshiped. [10:55] Right there.

[10:56] What Jesus is saying in this whole chapter of John 4, and I want to just start here, [11:02] is that worship is about far more than an hour on Sunday mornings. [11:06] What Jesus is saying here is that true worship is about the entirety of our lives, and what [11:14] Jesus came to do was, Jesus came to really not teach us how to worship, but fill our [11:21] very hearts and fill our very lives with worship so that it will be real, because [11:28] without him what he’s saying, it can’t be.

[11:33] And when he says a time is coming and the hour is actually here, he’s talking about [11:41] the work that he’s doing in his very life. [11:46] That he is doing the work that will bring the Holy Spirit, that will guide us into [11:53] the truth of the gospel, and that it will bring about true worship, because the gospel [12:02] brings worship to God.

[12:06] That’s where we need to start. [12:09] We need to start with an understanding that outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there [12:15] is absolutely no worship.

[12:19] God desires, and the entire point of the gospel, the entire purpose of the mission of Jesus [12:27] was to bring worship to God the Father through himself. [12:33] And that was his mission. [12:35] That was his purpose. [12:36] Because, and we’re going to see in all of John 4 how this works out, but I want to [12:40] start by laying a little bit of a foundation before we jump off and just go straight in

[12:45] to live in the gospel. [12:46] What I want to show you is that without God, we are people that seek satisfaction in everything [12:54] that he has created, because we were designed and created to be people that worship. [13:01] So what sin has done in our lives is it has separated us from the true source of satisfaction [13:08] in our lives, and what Jesus is getting at in verse 23 is that he came to rid us of [13:15] all of the things that we are attempting to fill ourselves with where satisfaction is

[13:19] concerned, because what we’re satisfied in is what we worship. [13:23] If you want to know what you worship in your life, take a look at what you cannot live [13:28] without.

[13:31] Because that’s what you’re defining your purpose by. [13:34] And that’s what you’re seeking after. [13:36] And that’s what you’re worshiping.

[13:42] But I want to take a look at what it is that causes this thing inside of us where we’re [13:47] seeking satisfaction in so many things and never really finding it. [13:53] Because what it creates is people that are utterly unsatisfied in everything that we [13:58] have. [13:58] We have a 50 inch TV, but I need that 60 inch.

[14:05] I’m wearing Old Navy, I wish I was wearing Gap.

[14:10] I’ve got a wife, but that one sure is prettier.

[14:15] What in the world is it that does it? [14:17] A lot of you brilliant theologians, sin, that’s just sin.

[14:25] Right. [14:26] Right. [14:27] Let’s go deeper. [14:29] Because that’s really generalizing it. [14:31] What it is is that we are a people, and this is just humanity in general. [14:35] This is why we even fight wars and have children, because we’re looking to find satisfaction

[14:40] in every angle of life, but we cannot find it. [14:44] And Psalm chapter 42 really sums up the human experience, and it really sums up what brought [14:50] you here this morning. [14:51] Because I believe in my heart that most of you did not come here because you don’t like [14:55] God, and you want no part of Him. [14:57] I think most of you came here this morning because deep inside of you, you know that

[15:02] in God there is a satisfaction that you cannot find, but most of you are probably living [15:07] all week in such a way that you just don’t know how to fill your life with the satisfaction [15:13] that can only be found in God. [15:15] And Psalm 142 sums this feeling up. [15:19] It says to the choirmaster,

[15:33] And a lot of us have that on a shirt or a coffee mug, and it’s like, has the deer pants [15:38] for the water? [15:39] All right, the first song I ever learned on the guitar was this song. [15:43] And it’s like we sing that, and it makes us feel good. [15:47] It shouldn’t. [15:48] Because what David, excuse me, what the choirmaster, what the sons of Chorah are writing here,

[15:53] is this attitude and this posture that they find themselves completely emptied out of [16:00] anything that could satisfy them. [16:02] And they’re saying, God, it’s as if I have run a marathon. [16:06] I am so thirsty for satisfaction. [16:09] I need you, God, but I can’t find you.

[16:13] I need satisfaction, and you’re the source, but I don’t have it.

[16:18] That’s the posture of this song right here.

[16:23] And that’s where most of us find ourselves. [16:26] But then we walk out the door and we try to find satisfaction in everything but God. [16:31] And then we come in a service on Sunday morning, we’re like, okay, let’s worship.

[16:36] And you’re totally unaffected, totally unchanged. [16:41] It’s because you’re not there yet. [16:44] You’re not at a place where you’re being really honest with yourself, and you’re like, [16:48] I am empty.

[16:50] Oh, God, where are you? [16:53] So instead, you’re like, as the deer pants put the water.

[17:00] This is a wretched cry from a sinner’s heart for God, because what he’s looking for [17:07] is found in Psalm 63. [17:10] In Psalm 63, we see it writes, it says, because your steadfast love is better than life, [17:17] my lips will praise you. [17:19] So I will bless you as long as I live. [17:21] In your name I will lift up my hands, my soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich

[17:27] food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. [17:31] When I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you and the watches of the night for you [17:36] have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

[17:44] See, in Psalm 42, this is what he’s looking for. [17:49] This place where he says, oh, God, I’m actually worshiping you. [17:56] It’s not just some emotion where they hit the right key at the right time.

[18:01] You know, where James hit that note just so perfectly, and you’re like, mm. [18:06] No, this is a posture in life where he’s saying, even at night, I’m laying in the bed, [18:13] and I’m just rejoicing because I see you through my days. [18:17] I know you’re keeping me through my nights. [18:20] God, give me a life of worship. [18:23] He’s saying, I have it.

[18:26] Because worship is a lifestyle.

[18:34] And this is what the Gospel is really drawing people into. [18:38] It’s doing so much more than just saving us from hell. [18:42] Because that’s the part we focus on, because that sounds pretty miserable. [18:45] We like our recliners, and apparently hell doesn’t have any of those. [18:48] So we really don’t want to go there. [18:50] So the Gospel is what gets us that.

[18:52] But it’s about so much more. [18:53] What the Gospel does is it gives us God. [18:56] It gives us this posture of worship. [18:58] And what Jesus is going to show us in John chapter 4 [19:00] is about this posture and this life of worship, [19:04] and how life cannot be found in any other place,

[19:08] but in the worship of God, in the way that God has prescribed us to worship. [19:15] All right, so go to John chapter 4, and we’re going to start reading in verse 7. [19:20] And you’re probably familiar with this story. [19:24] John chapter 4 verse 7.

[19:27] A woman from Samaria came to draw water. [19:29] Jesus said to her, give me a drink. [19:33] Pretty direct. [19:35] For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. [19:38] The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, [19:42] ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?

[19:46] For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. [19:50] So Jesus right here is completely defying the cultural norms of that day. [19:55] The Samaritans, if you don’t know, were a people who were half Jewish and half Assyrian. [20:01] And they were considered half-breeds. [20:04] Racism in Israel were rampant. [20:07] And people that were full-blooded Jews had nothing to do with what they considered

[20:12] pagan half-breeds. [20:14] Because what they had done is they had synchronized Judaism with the worship of [20:19] the pagan gods in Assyria, and they were creating this different type of worship, [20:23] and they had their own part of land. [20:25] And Jews hated them so much, rather than walk through Samaria, they would most times [20:30] hit a trail that went around Samaria, walking even further to stay away from them.

[20:38] And Jesus just walks right into Samaria, sits at the well, and waits for a Samaritan woman [20:42] to come out, and then he’s like, hey, could you give me a drink of water? [20:44] I’m kind of thirsty. [20:45] And she’s shocked, because he’s Jewish. [20:49] And she’s like, why are you even talking to me?

[20:53] And so right here in the story, I want you to understand the narratives of scripture [20:57] are very important, because right here in the story, we need to understand that Jesus [21:02] is changing something. [21:04] That there is a cultural, traditional norm, and Jesus is saying that is not [21:11] the way it should be.

[21:16] And Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, [21:21] give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

[21:28] So Jesus is beginning to reveal a little bit about himself to her, and he’s almost [21:33] showing the offense of a woman looking at the Son of God and saying, why are you talking [21:38] to me? [21:39] And he’s saying, if you knew who I was, you’d ask me for something way more satisfying [21:45] than a drink of water on a hot day.

[21:50] The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. [21:56] Where do you get that living water? [21:58] Are you greater than our father Jacob? [22:01] He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.

[22:08] So right there, what I’m seeing in this passage is that she at least understands a little [22:14] bit that Jesus is talking about more than water. [22:18] Because what she gets to when she responds to Jesus is the lineage that both Samaritans [22:24] and Jews came out of, and she’s saying, are you greater than our father Jacob? [22:27] You claim to have some sort of living water? [22:30] You don’t even have anything to get water from, from the well with.

[22:36] Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of the water, excuse me, of this water will [22:41] be thirsty again. [22:43] But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. [22:47] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal [22:53] life. [22:54] The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come

[22:59] here to draw water. [23:01] Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here.

[23:08] I just love how Jesus just gets right to the heart of the person immediately.

[23:13] The woman answered him, I have no husband. [23:16] Jesus said to her, you’re right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five [23:21] husbands and the one you now have is not your husband. [23:24] What you have said is true.

[23:27] So Jesus goes from talking about water, because she is so confused that she even goes to the [23:35] point where she thinks he’s talking about some miracle drug so that she’ll never need [23:39] to get water out of the well again. [23:42] And so she gets a little facetious with Jesus. [23:44] And so he gets a little facetious with her and looks into her heart and says, hey, go [23:48] tell your husband to come talk to me.

[23:49] It would be a little more appropriate if I talked to a man about this. [23:51] She says, oh, I don’t have a husband. [23:52] Jesus said, yeah, you’ve been married five times and you’re shacking up with somebody [23:56] right now.

[24:01] Just imagine someone doing that in this culture to someone. [24:05] Talk about judgmental. [24:07] But let’s keep going.

[24:10] The woman said to him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

[24:15] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. [24:17] But you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.

[24:23] That’s what I want you to understand right here in this story. [24:27] Because I want to stop and unpack it.

[24:30] Jesus has gotten to the very heart of an attitude of worship. [24:36] And you say, but Jesus hasn’t talked about worship. [24:38] He does that in the next verse. [24:41] Now, understand this.

[24:43] Jesus, as soon as he started talking to her, he asked for water, [24:47] not because Jesus was thirsty, but because Jesus knew what she was thirsty for.

[24:55] And Jesus gets right in her face with her lifestyle because Jesus wants her to worship God. [25:02] He wants her to understand that in order for her to worship God, [25:06] God has to be the very thing that she is satisfied with. [25:09] And Jesus looks at her and says, you are trying to find satisfaction [25:14] in sex with various men. [25:17] You harlot.

[25:22] But you’re unsatisfied, aren’t you?

[25:29] You said, well, Jesus didn’t call her a harlot. [25:32] Yeah, he did.

[25:34] I think she got the point.

[25:38] Jesus looks at her and says, you are unsatisfied because you are seeking [25:44] satisfaction in the things that God has created [25:47] rather than in the God that is sitting right beside you. [25:52] What does she do? [25:54] She deflects and said, well, how should we worship? [25:59] You say we’re supposed to worship over on that mountain, right?

[26:01] Well, some people say we’re supposed to worship on this mountain. [26:03] So which one is it?

[26:10] Here’s what I want you to understand.

[26:14] When you begin to start arguments over worship formats, [26:22] worship music styles, pews, pipe and drape, screens, dress code,

[26:31] I’m going to look into you right now and say that if that’s you, [26:34] you’re deflecting because you don’t want to deal with how un-worshipful [26:38] your heart really is.

[26:44] You’re just like this woman. [26:45] And you’re like, I’ve been married to the same man for 45 years. [26:50] Yeah, but it’s not just sex that people find satisfaction in. [26:53] Maybe it’s your job. [26:55] Maybe it’s your car. [26:56] Maybe it’s your wife.

[26:57] Maybe it’s your husband. [26:59] Maybe it’s your kids. [27:00] Maybe it’s sports.

[27:05] This woman has been pierced to her soul with the fact that she doesn’t even [27:11] know how to worship God because she’s never found satisfaction in him. [27:14] And she wants to spend all of her time talking about worship style and worship format. [27:20] And even location.

[27:24] So Jesus keeps going and he says,

[27:28] Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem [27:33] will you worship the Father. [27:35] You worship what you do not know. [27:37] We worship what we know. [27:38] For salvation is from the Jews. [27:40] But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father

[27:46] in spirit and truth. [27:48] For the Father is seeking people to worship him.

[27:55] Jesus is not dialoguing about the traditions of Israel or the traditions of Samaria. [28:03] He is looking right into the life of this woman and says, [28:06] It doesn’t matter where you are or what you do. [28:10] Nothing you do is in worship because worship is about satisfaction. [28:15] And you’re finding satisfaction in all these men and trying to seek it in all of your [28:20] husbands and even the one you’re living with right now.

[28:23] And you’re not going to have it there because you need me.

[28:29] Because what she’s doing is exchanging the worship of God for the worship of the things [28:37] that he has made.

[28:40] In Romans chapter 1 Paul writes about this starting in verse 24. [28:44] Paul writes,

[28:46] Therefore God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, [28:50] to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [28:53] Check this, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served [29:00] the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. [29:05] Amen. [29:06] This is what Jesus is talking about with this woman in John 4.

[29:11] He’s saying you are finding satisfaction in things that are not God. [29:16] You need to find satisfaction in God and only then does it matter what you do about it. [29:24] Because her foundation was built in her joy and happiness coming from things that weren’t [29:31] God. [29:33] And many of us do the exact same thing week in and week out. [29:37] And then we come to a church on Sunday morning and we deflect our real problems by saying,

[29:41] You really didn’t hit those notes well today.

[29:45] Man, that preacher was off. [29:48] See his shirt? [29:49] I’m not going there. [29:50] They’re not reverent enough.

[29:56] Is that what you’re building a foundation on?

[30:01] Or are you building a foundation on the gospel where God is gathering people to worship [30:06] themselves? [30:08] Because the gospel is worship to God. [30:13] And what this woman is really showing is that she doesn’t want to deal with her life. [30:17] She wants to deal with a way of doing things. [30:21] And Jesus is not going to have any of it.

[30:26] John Piper writes that the first thing we have to learn about our worship of God is [30:31] that it has to do with real life and is not a mythical interlude in a week of reality. [30:39] Because quite often the way that we treat Sunday mornings is that it is this mythical [30:43] place that we go into to reach some type of nirvana state of feeling where the right keys [30:49] are hit, the right notes are hit, the right sermon is preached. [30:53] And then we exit back into the real world off of our little mountain and the rest of

[30:58] the week we just live in wait for Sunday morning so we can enter back into that mythical [31:03] interlude where our real life doesn’t affect us so we can just sing and praise and hear [31:09] another sermon and hopefully be moved by it. [31:12] But then probably just go right back outside, throw up every spiritual little nugget we [31:17] got in there and go through the rest of our week as if we didn’t even do it in hopes [31:20] that the next week we’ll do it again.

[31:24] And that’s exactly what the Samaritan woman was trying to do too.

[31:34] The living and satisfying water is the worship of God through the reconciliation that Jesus [31:43] gives us in the gospel where he died for us and rose again so that we would be transformed [31:50] to live a lifestyle in such a way that every step that we take, every decision that we make [31:57] is in worship of God in our lives. [32:00] And then when we come back together on Sunday mornings what we’re going to see is that on [32:06] Sunday mornings it is simply an outlet of everything that is already taking place in

[32:13] our lives.

[32:18] It must be a reflection and highlight of our lives. [32:27] But the sad truth is if it was truly a reflection and highlight of what was really going on in [32:33] our lives, quite often zero worship would take place on Sunday mornings at all.

[32:42] Because most of us, and I don’t think I’m just generalizing here, most of us spend our entire [32:49] weeks finding satisfaction in something other than God and then on Sunday morning we come [32:54] together and try to pretend that we find our satisfaction in God.

[33:01] Satisfaction in God cannot be found in a church service.

[33:08] Satisfaction in God can only be found in Jesus Christ and in the satisfying water that he gives [33:15] us in himself in a transformed life of mission where we live to worship him in the way that he [33:23] has designed us to worship him. [33:27] So if the gospel is about bringing people into worship of God we have to understand that God [33:34] wants worshippers gathered. [33:37] So let’s talk about it.

[33:38] God does want worshippers gathered. [33:41] And I mean this in two senses. [33:42] First, in the obvious sense that the church has a service. [33:46] Yeah, it works that way. [33:47] But then in the second one I want you to understand that the whole purpose of the mission of [33:52] Jesus in Luke chapter 18 he says I came to seek and to save that which was lost.

[33:58] So Jesus’ mission is to take people who are in the Psalm 42 state of not finding satisfaction [34:05] of God and transform them into a Psalm 63 state where they can say God you are my satisfying [34:13] water. [34:13] It’s as if I’m eating the best food ever. [34:16] That is the only thing I can compare the satisfaction that you give me through the [34:20] gospel of Jesus Christ and the worship of you.

[34:24] Because God currently, what Jesus is saying in this passage of John 4 is that God is [34:33] currently finding glory and being worshipped in the gathering of other worshippers. [34:42] What are you talking about? [34:43] Let’s look further. [34:45] All right. [34:46] John chapter 4.

[34:50] Go down to verse 27. [34:53] Jesus has talked to this woman and then in verse 27, just then he reveals himself. [35:00] Just then the disciples came back.

[35:04] They marveled that he was talking with a woman but no one said what do you seek? [35:10] Or why are you talking with her? [35:12] So the woman left her water jar and went away in town and said to the people come see a [35:17] man who told me all that I ever did. [35:19] Can this be the Christ? [35:21] They went out of the town and were coming to him.

[35:24] Meanwhile the disciples were urging him saying Rabbi eat. [35:27] Listen to this. [35:29] A woman has been radically transformed because she met the son of God and for even this first [35:37] moment she begins to understand that satisfaction can only be found in him. [35:41] What’s her response?

[35:43] I got to go get some more people.

[35:49] Look at the disciples response.

[35:51] Rabbi eat.

[35:54] Why would they do this?

[35:57] Because they’re revealing the heart that they had back starting in verse 27 because [36:02] they walked up and they said oh my goodness does Jesus know he’s talking to a Samaritan.

[36:10] Well let’s not make him feel like an idiot because you know he might rebuke us. [36:13] Let’s just try to trick him with a sandwich.

[36:19] That’s what happens.

[36:24] Jesus is you know that son of God thing makes him brilliant. [36:27] All right. [36:28] Jesus said in verse 32 but he said to them I have food to eat that you do not know about.

[36:37] Smacks them right in the face.

[36:41] Did you know what he’s saying to him? [36:43] He’s saying you have the same problem the Samaritan woman had. [36:47] You’re seeking satisfaction in things that are never going to satisfy you. [36:51] My food is the will of God.

[36:56] Check it. [36:57] He says the disciples said to one another has anyone brought him something to eat. [37:01] I mean they’re so stupid. [37:04] They’re like did any of you slip him a sandwich before we left [37:07] because apparently he’s already eaten.

[37:10] That complicates us getting him away from the Samaritans. [37:13] Bunch of ding-a-lings.

[37:16] Jesus said to them my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. [37:23] Do you not say there are yet four months then comes the harvest. [37:27] Look I tell you lift up your eyes and see the fields are white for harvest. [37:31] Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life. [37:37] So that sower and reaper may rejoice together. [37:41] Jesus looks at them and he says don’t you get what I’m doing here.

[37:49] I’m doing the will of my father who sent me which is to gather people to worship him [37:55] because he wants the Samaritans.

[38:00] And look they’re up on a mountain and he just points out and he looks and he says the fields [38:06] are white for harvest go gather them.

[38:13] Because God is worshiped through people coming and worshiping and then people going [38:19] and getting worshipers so that the sower God and the reaper man can come together and rejoice.

[38:31] Break it down to you. [38:33] You will never sing a song so well that God finds complete satisfying worship in it. [38:40] I will never preach a sermon so amazing so spectacular and you’re like I know that God [38:46] just receives he’s like oh no more sermons need to be preached Steve worshiped. [38:52] You will never come in here with a heart so pure and with morals so in line. [38:59] That God’s like that’s worship listen to her sing.

[39:05] Jesus lays it out there and he’s dealing with worship and what he’s saying is you want to know [39:11] how God wants to be worshiped. [39:13] God wants to be worshiped by us loving and worshiping him and then realizing there are [39:19] people that are not worshiping him and he has a vision in Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 [39:24] where he says there are people from all tribes all tongues all nations gathered around the throne [39:30] of God praising him and saying salvation belongs to our God.

[39:39] And you are the means through which his vision will be accomplished and he’s saying disciples [39:47] you dummies quit trying to find satisfaction in separating from the Samaritans. [39:54] And find it by taking my redemption to them.

[40:00] Woman quit trying to find satisfaction through your fornicating lifestyle of adultery [40:06] and just worship me because I am the pathway to the father.

[40:15] Jesus is saying that worship is found in God and God wants worshipers gathered so God is [40:22] worshiped through us living the mission of Jesus. [40:26] The mission of Jesus is not the ends of worship the mission of Jesus is the means of worship.

[40:36] We find our satisfaction in the gospel of Jesus Christ not because it exists but because of who he is. [40:46] And then with that satisfaction he says now I am enough for you right? Absolutely Jesus. [40:56] Here is what I want you to do. Go show that to others. That’s why worship is a lifestyle.

[41:08] Because you can’t tell people about Jesus when you listen to me talk.

[41:13] And you are like well I haven’t been to seminary I don’t understand all this Jesus stuff I just started believing in him. [41:23] Okay now let’s talk about Sunday morning.

[41:28] In this culture the reason that the Sunday morning service is so important is because this is where people come to hear about Jesus often for the first time. [41:38] This is where people the Sunday morning service is often most people’s first entry point into church culture and church community.

[41:48] Alright so part of living the mission of Jesus in the culture that is Midlothian.

[41:57] Is leveraging the Sunday morning worship service so that people can hear the gospel. [42:04] It’s part of it. It’s a big part of it in this culture.

[42:09] And so what we do on Sunday mornings is that we attempt to create an exciting creative innovative comfortable hospitable atmosphere. [42:24] Where the music is relevant the clothing even is somewhat relevant. [42:29] I’m letting you in on the inside of a staff meeting right now. [42:31] The clothing that I wear is relevant I don’t come up here looking homeless. [42:35] I typically take showers on Sunday mornings. [42:38] So that people will not have barriers to hearing the gospel come out of my mouth.

[42:43] So what we’re doing up here is we are attempting to show people out there the gospel of Jesus Christ. [42:51] Without any traditional or religious barriers because we’re setting a comfortable atmosphere to give them the most uncomfortable message in their lives. [43:01] And that is you’re a sinner you go into hell God wants you to worship him and spend eternity with him believe in Jesus. [43:08] That’s offensive folks.

[43:13] But quite often Sunday morning is less of a revelation of the righteousness holiness gracefulness beauty of God and his gospel. [43:28] And it’s mostly more about how holy righteous special perfect set apart from culture good old fashioned we are.

[43:43] So does it matter what we do on Sunday mornings absolutely.

[43:51] Straight up that’s what got me into church planning.

[43:56] Because I believe that the gospel is too important for me to sit in deacon meetings for ten years convincing people that no one knows the hymnals.

[44:11] Put some screens up. [44:14] Maybe make the tune sound less 1950 and a little more 2010.

[44:21] Every church contextualizes the gospel when we speak English we’re putting it in the culture. [44:28] But the problem is most of us are contextualizing to a culture from 1956 instead of 2010.

[44:41] And I’m not hating.

[44:45] I’m just saying this is important. [44:49] And you know what a lot of you are going to fall in love with the way we do it up here. [44:54] And then culture is going to change. [44:56] And we’re going to change what we do up here. [45:00] Because Jesus came to remove every barrier imaginable so that we could come into the presence of the holiness of God. [45:09] So what we do is we want to remove every barrier possible so that people can be comfortable to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[45:17] Because that’s what Jesus did in John chapter four. [45:20] And you’re like, well I think it needs to be more about discipling believers than reaching unbelievers because this is the gathering of the body of Christ. [45:29] Okay, first Corinthians chapter 14. [45:31] It’ll be up on the screens. [45:33] If therefore the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and we’re not going to talk about tongues, but it’s in there. [45:39] And outsiders or unbelievers enters, they will not say that you, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

[45:45] But of all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed. [45:55] And so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. [46:00] What then brothers? [46:02] When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. [46:08] Let all things be done for building up. [46:10] If any speak in tongue, let there be only two or at the most three.

[46:15] And each in turn, and let someone interpret. [46:18] But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God. [46:25] Let two or three prophets speak. [46:27] And let the others weigh what is said. [46:29] If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. [46:35] For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

[46:43] For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.

[46:52] And you’re like, that was a lot of verses. [46:54] I have no idea what any of them meant. [46:56] Here it is.

[47:00] Even in Corinth, in this first century, when the believers got together, they needed to be mindful of the believers and the unbelievers.

[47:14] That’s why we preach the gospel.

[47:20] That’s why we do it.

[47:23] Because it’s not just what saves you. [47:26] It’s what keeps you saved.

[47:29] You never outgrow the gospel.

[47:33] So when we come to here, together on Sunday mornings, we set an atmosphere where everyone’s comfortable. [47:38] Because let’s be honest, none of us want to wear suits. [47:39] So all of us come together and we’re comfortable in what we do. [47:43] But then we sing and we preach the whole council of God in a way and in a format that not only does the believer hear, [47:52] and then is challenged, edified, and exhorted to go out those doors and live a lifestyle of worship in the culture of Midlothian, [48:00] in a way that is relevant to them, but also the unbeliever who comes in here can hear the gospel clearly,

[48:11] find an atmosphere where they can get the questions answered that they have, [48:15] and be challenged, convicted, and drawn by the sovereign Holy Spirit of God to come to faith in Jesus Christ, [48:23] so that they can worship and find satisfaction in God.

[48:29] And I think that we should start strategizing about the best way to do that, rather than saying, [48:38] well that’s not the way my last church did it.

[48:42] I don’t care. You left there. [48:45] So clearly I don’t want to be like them.

[48:55] We come here and set an atmosphere in such a way, catch this, [49:04] so that you can walk out the doors and strategize about how you can leverage your life, [49:12] the way we’re leveraging Sunday mornings to reach the lost, [49:18] and teach believers how to want to reach the lost.

[49:23] That’s why we do the way we do.

[49:29] Because not only does God want worshippers gathered,

[49:34] and we’ve already said this, but let me just be blunt, the mission of Jesus is worship.

[49:41] That’s the vision that I want you to grab ahold of this morning, [49:44] is that Jesus is worshiped. [49:48] The corporate worship gathering exists to glorify God, [49:53] by propelling those gathered into lives of mission, [49:57] by raising the name of Jesus high, to draw us into lifestyles of worship. [50:05] We started out this morning, what did I say? We are here to worship Jesus.

[50:11] And we’ve been doing it, however long we’ve been here.

[50:15] But the point isn’t that you need to come here to worship. [50:19] The point is that you come here to start your week in such a way, [50:23] so that the rest of the week you will just stay white hot for the glory of God, [50:28] you will saturate yourself in scripture, [50:30] and you will live a lifestyle in which you find satisfaction in nothing other than worshipping Jesus [50:36] and proclaiming Him to all those around you.

[50:39] Because God has said the fields are white for harvest, worship me by gathering them.

[50:45] Because the mission is the means and worship is the ends. [50:49] Worship is the ends of absolutely everything that we do as a church, [50:54] and everything that you need to be doing as an individual. [50:57] Because if you believe in Jesus, it’s not going to be about just coming here [51:01] and getting you filled up and getting you satisfied and getting you to feel such a way, [51:05] but rather it’s about you coming and getting tools to go out there

[51:09] and live the mission to gather more people to worship Him. [51:13] That’s what this is about. That’s why we take communion every week.

[51:18] Because there are certain things that God has said, do this. [51:23] But He doesn’t just say do this, rather He says do this because this is a reflection of the Gospel. [51:29] This is a reflection of how you find satisfaction. [51:31] When you come up here week in and week out and you take communion, [51:35] and you take the bread and you take the cup, [51:37] you’re proclaiming to each and every person in here, even those who don’t know Jesus,

[51:42] you’re saying, I have Him, I love Him, and He satisfies me. [51:47] When you are preached to, you’re saying, I need the Word, I need to know how to live, [51:57] I need community, we need life on life, teaching us how to live for the Gospel. [52:05] When we sing, we’re praising the name that satisfies us. [52:14] When we give financially, we’re saying, my satisfaction is not in materialism. [52:22] My satisfaction is in the Gospel being furthered.

[52:25] So I joyfully give of my treasure so that the mission of Jesus may go further, [52:33] so that God may have more worshipers.

[52:40] You’re sitting here and you’re saying, but God doesn’t need me or my money. [52:44] No, He doesn’t. [52:45] But sovereignly, He’s chosen that that is the means by which you worship Him [52:50] so that you propel the mission further and further.

[52:57] Finally, that’s why we pray.

[53:02] Because we know we’re insufficient, we’re incomplete, we have no strength. [53:13] We can’t do it on our own. [53:15] So when we pray, what we do is we take the greatest posture of worship that we can.

[53:23] Because when you pray, the posture that you take is a posture of saying, [53:28] I cannot and I am not, but you are and you can.

[53:36] I struggle to live the Gospel. [53:39] God, give me strength.

[53:42] I’m not holy, God, but you are.

[53:50] So behind everything that God has said, do this,

[53:57] the reason is because I’m worshiped through my mission. [54:03] Because through the mission, I’ll have eternal worshipers forevermore.

[54:13] Does God prefer one type of church service over others?

[54:22] I believe He does. [54:25] He does. [54:26] The type of worship service that God prefers is the worship service that lifts high [54:33] the name of Jesus so that all may come to believe the Gospel [54:41] and worship Him forever in the best way possible in the culture that we live in.

[54:53] Because that’s why the Scripture never spelled out how many songs we sing, [54:58] how long the sermon needs to be, what type of music. [55:06] Because the Gospel is for every culture and for everyone.

[55:13] And we have the privilege and the joy of strategizing to reach this one and beyond. [55:23] Because the field is ripe for harvest. [55:29] And you are the missional worshiper to go reach them.

[55:41] Joey’s going to come up here.

[55:44] Just for a couple of minutes, he’s going to play.

[55:49] And I just want you to spend a minute or two.

[55:54] I just want you to ask God where you are in your life of worship.

[56:00] I just want you to reflect on what it is that satisfies you. [56:04] If you’re anything like me, at 3 o’clock you’re going to be struggling.

[56:12] But I want you to just sit there and I want you to be honest about it. [56:17] And say, oh God, might I find satisfaction in you through the Gospel.

[56:22] And then we’re going to take part in one of the most beautiful things the Body of Christ can take part in. [56:28] And for those of us that believe and trust in Jesus as our Savior, I want you to come [56:32] and I want you to praise Him by reflecting on His beautiful death [56:36] where He took our sin from us and then rose and gave us His righteousness. [56:41] If you’re a believer this morning, these tables are wide open for you. [56:47] But if you’re struggling, or if you don’t believe in Jesus and you know you need Him,

[56:54] why don’t you step out, come down here and talk to me for a few minutes.

[57:00] Because life isn’t meant to be lived apart from God.

[57:07] It’s meant to be lived connected to Him through the hope that’s found in Jesus. [57:12] He’s done all the work. You just need to believe.