Show Gift of Worship Video Here

What Worship is not:– A building– A service– A place– A day and time in the week– An hour in the week

• Every believer has a concept of what that word means.

• Some are correct, but most are not.

• Worship – What it is . . .• Worship is about a Person—Jesus!• wor ship – reverent honor and homage paid to God ⋅

or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred. (www.dictionary.com)

• Worship belongs to God alone.• It is all about Jesus and not about us.• It is the attitude of the heart. • Our body language mirrors what is in our hearts.

• Is worship singing? 1.You can worship God with singing. 2.You can also sing and not be worshiping God. 3.You can just stand there and not sing or worship.4.Singing is not worship in itself, but it is how we

express our worship to the Lord. 5.Come before the Lord singing with joy. (Psalm 100:2)

6.The outward expression of our praise is just a reflection of the attitude of our heart.

Several important points concerning Worship—1. If you think about it, the very essence of Worship is

about who or what you serve because you will worship what you serve.

• That is a key point in this whole discussion. • You will worship what you serve. • You will either worship the King of kings or you will

worship something else.

2.Did you know that worship was in existence before God created man.

• Lucifer or the devil was first created as the worship leader of heaven.

• But, he became jealous and desired worship for himself instead of for God.

• There was a literal battle for worship in heaven.

• The 1st Star Wars was actually a battle for worship. • The devil tried to get all the angels on his side to

worship him. • He succeeded in convincing a third to rebel and

began to worship him instead of God.• This Trans-Galactic War over worship is still raging

here on planet earth today! • The real issue in the struggle between God and the

forces of darkness is worship.

3.Why did God create man in the first place? • He created us for: 1.Relationship/fellowship 2.Worship• It has been programmed into our being to worship.• So, when the devil was cast out of heaven, he

brought his war over worship to earth.

• Worship was the real issue in his temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

• When they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve exchanged worship for God with worship for Satan.

• When you travel down through the pages of history, you see a common denominator in every major civilization—worship.

• Many worship the creation rather than the creator.• Why? • We were created for worship!

• Even atheists worship. • They worship their ideas and themselves. • They worship man. • To them man is the center of the universe. • But, to us Jesus is. • He is the Sole Object of our worship.• It is ALL about Him and not at all about me!

• Show Made for Worship Video Here

• At its core, worship is about the throne of our heart. • What or who is # 1 in your heart?• Who is your king?• Who or what has your allegiance?• Who or what are you the most devoted to?• What is it that you spend the most of your time

thinking about?• That is what is seated on the throne of your heart.

• This is still the devil’s strategy: if he can unseat Jesus from the throne of your heart, then he can replace it with himself.

• You may not worship the devil, but anything in your life that you are more devoted to than you are to God is an idol.

• All idolatry has its roots in the demonic. • It can even be a good thing, but if you are more

devoted to it than you are to God, it is an idol!

• That battle rages on for our hearts.

• Who or what has yours?

• That is the object of your worship.

• The devil even tried to get Jesus to worship him!• During the Temptation of Jesus, the devil took Jesus

to a high point to show Him the world. • The devil told Jesus, If you bow down and worship

me, I will give you all of this!• What was Jesus’ response? • Get out of here satan, because it is written, ‘You are

to the worship the Lord your God and Him alone.’

• The devil’s M.O. has always been to get people to worship him and to turn them from God.

• Think about this: if he went after Jesus and Adam & Eve, he is going to come for you!

• Guess what? • He already has!

Exodus 20:1-6 – And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. (NIV)

• The first 2 commandments deal with Worship.

• We are to worship the Lord God and Him alone!

• We are to have no other gods or idols in our lives.

• Notice what He says in verse 5? 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me.

• Those who turn to idolatry and do not have God on the throne of their heart hate God!

• There is no middle ground with God. • You are either totally for Him or against Him.

• All mankind is worshiping something. • It may be a literal idol, but for most of us:

– sports or sports teams – money & jobs– power – stars—sports or movies or music – spouse – children or grandchildren – fishing & hunting – shopping & name brand clothing

• It can be anything. • But, the point is: • Everyone worships something because we were

created to worship. • But, the real question for us is what or who are you

worshipping?

• Don’t forget that there is Trans-Galactic War going on for the hearts of men and women!

• The Battle for Worship rages. • You are going to worship. • That’s not the question. • The question is who or what?

• When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan Woman at the well, the central point of her question to Jesus was about worship.

• Let’s pick up this conversation right after Jesus had revealed to her that she had 5 husbands and she was living with a man now.

• This amazed her, so she asked:

John 4:19-20 – 19 "Sir," the woman said, "You must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?“

• Jesus put His finger on the root problem in her life.• It made her feel uncomfortable, so she shifted the

topic of conversation to the proper place of worship.

• The Samaritans, who were half-Jewish and half-Gentiles worshipped on Mount Gerizim while the Jews worshipped in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.

• This was a major sticking point between the 2 groups.

• Since she perceived He was a prophet, she wanted to know what He thought about it.

• Even though she was living in sin, worship was important to her.

• John 4:21 – Jesus replied, "Believe Me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

• His response brings us back to the question of how do you define worship?

• There is a time coming when the place or the worship hour is not going to be the issue.

• God is everywhere, and we can worship Him at anytime and at any place.

• Worship is about the attitude of the heart.

• Do you need a physical building or just the right environment before you can worship God?

• God is a spirit, and He cannot even be confined to a building.

• The location is not as important as the attitude of the heart.

• Look at it from God’s perspective, He created heaven and earth and created us to worship Him, and we confine it to a building and give Him just one hour on Sunday?

• No, we are to always be in an attitude of worship.

• John 4:22 – You Samaritans know very little about the One you worship, while we Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

• The Samaritans only believed in the Pentateuch or the first 5 books of the O.T., so they did not have a full revelation of God and of worship.

• Salvation came through the Jewish people. • That fact only should cause us to pray for the Jewish

people.

• John 4:23 – But the time is coming—indeed it's here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.

• The time is NOW! • Under the New Covenant, we no longer worship

only in a build made with human hands or just in a specific location.

• We now worship God in spirit and in truth.

• Here’s how Jesus defines real worship. 1. We worship Him in spirit: What does that mean?• Worship is to be from the heart. • Our place of worship or a worship order is

secondary to a relationship with Jesus. • If we are not worshiping Jesus in the spirit or

through a relationship, it runs the risk of being dry and lifeless.

• Worship in the spirit reminds us who we are really worshiping—Jesus!

• A key to understanding this conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan Woman is found in an earlier portion of this passage.

• John 4:13-14 — 13 Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."

• This is key to worshipping in the Spirit.• Why we can worship God at anytime and any place.

2. We worship in truth—What does that mean?• There is no pretense in our worship. • Not trying to impress anyone or con God.• You worship God because you love Him, and your

worship is one of the best ways to express it.• If you do not worship God in truth, your worship

runs the risk of becoming deceitful and irrelevant.• In truth, shows the need for genuine, authentic

worship.

• Putting the two together: True Worship is to be genuine and from the heart. You give it expecting nothing in return.

• The last part of this verse (23) is a very important thought: The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.

• It is not that we are seeking God for worship, but He is seeking us.

• Those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. • This is so important to Him that He is looking for

those who are doing it! • That is why He created us in the first place!

• You will never find true fulfillment in life until you learn to worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

• Why do I say that? • Because we were created to worship.• It is a part of who we are, and we will never find

true peace, joy and fulfillment until we connect with the Lord through worship and fulfill our destiny.

• Revelation at David Crowder Band Concert.

• John 4:24 – For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

• In the Greek, this literally says, Spirit is what God is.• God is a Spirit, and He not confined to the

limitations of time and space. • Therefore, He can be worshiped any time and at any

place.

• As a Spirit, God fully relates to us without the limitations of the physical world.

• Because He is Spirit:– He is never tired.– He is never distant.– He is never distracted.– He is not limited by time and space.– He is present everywhere.– He cannot be defeated or overpowered.

• Jesus left where He was to come here to experience all that we have and yet was without sin.

• Some day we will leave here and go to where He is.• I have heard it said that our worship is simply

saying, Thank You, Lord, for understanding where I am, and I can hardly wait to be where You are!

• Conclusion—Jesus is the only true King, and the only One worthy of our worship.

• It is time that we decide that He be the One who gets all of our worship and praise.

• And you don’t have to wait until Sunday to worship Jesus either.

• You can worship Him at work, at school, in the home, while you are commuting from place to place and everywhere you go.

• Time to purpose in 2010 that you are going to worship God and Him alone.

• And the only way to do that is by making Him #1! • Remember that the battle rages on for our worship.• Who’s side are you on in this real Star Wars Battle?

Light or Darkness? • Who are you going to worship? • It is either Jesus or the devil. • To reject Jesus is to worship the devil in whatever form

that takes in your life.