Why Church? 3

John 4:24

A speaker at last year’s annual conference was wearing a suit and tie when he got up to address the gathering of two-thousand who were wearing shorts, jeans, t-shirts and polo shirts. As he removed his jacket and loosened his tie he commented that good speakers should be more like their audience so that there is no mental separation between the two that might hinder the understanding of what is being said.

In John we have Jesus explaining our worship of God. What does he say of God? What must the worshipers do?

Just as a good speaker tries to imitate the audience so a good connection can be made, so a good worshiper will try to imitate God to make a similar connection. If we are to spend time in church worshiping God, then we must understand something about God. He is not an object that can be brought out and looked at. He is not some distant entity that we cannot reach.

Rather, God is spirit. God is that power and eternal flow of love and compassion that seeks a place within our hearts. To approach God properly, to make our time of church a holy time, a time of connecting with the Almighty, we must adopt a spiritual attitude.

Worship is not merely a social activity and opportunity to converse with one another. It is not merely a peaceful time of gathering where we can find our own comfort and strength. It is a time where we bring our own souls near to the eternal soul of God. It is a time of communing with the Lord, a time of adoration and connection.

To achieve this holy time and holy experience, to truly worship and adore God, we must center our attitudes in our spirits. As we prepare for worship and enter into the time and place to be with our God we must ready ourselves for the experience. Outward distractions, worries, concerns, and personal interests need to be put aside so that we can approach our Lord with our own spirit.

We must approach God in truth. And that truth should be that we love God and desire to honor Him and praise Him. In truth we must also open ourselves up to receive the Holy Spirit and presence of God that we might be changed for Him.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you be certain that you are worshiping God in spirit and in truth?