John 4:19-26

"Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet. 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 replied, "Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on the tis mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 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. For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

The woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming-the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus told her, "I AM the Messiah!"

Monday, January 26, 2009

Here we go...cont.

Hello, everyone. Hope you're having a good day!

Yesterday was a great day at the Journey. We spent the week prior getting a lot of tech stuff fixed and changed out. We kicked off our catalyst service, holding our breath, and praying like crazy that it all wouldn't go kaputz! But, as always, God is good! And everything went off without a hitch... well, I hit a few clams on the guitar, and forgot a couple words... but outside of that, it was awesome!!! My tech team is phenomenal!!! These guys don't get the recognition that they deserve, most times. So, I want to take a minute and just let them know how unbelievably awesome they are. John Ayers, Jessie Dillard, Jason Harding, Kim Raffield, Kevin Burton, Austin Burton, and Billy Reed... you guys (and girl!) are the best. You always give above and beyond what anyone asks of you, and you do it selflessly and with determination. You guys literally make what we do on Sundays possible. Without y'all, we'd be standing in a room with an acoustic guitar and a megaphone. I love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So, when I finished last time, I think I was telling y'all about how we were created to worship. If you're saying, "What is he talking about?" right now, you need to go back and read the original post, "Here we go". 

So I have a question for you. Ready? What do you worship? Ahhhhh... don't answer so quickly. This is not something that you can just blurt out! You need to think about it. This is something that I had to think about for a long time.... months. Because it's not just the idea of "worship", as we think about it. See, when we think about worship, we think, "what do I give my faith to?", meaning, am I a Christian, a Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim...etc. But here's what the last year has taught me. Every act that we do; everything that comes out of our mouths; every conversation that we have, is an act of worship. We may not look at it as such, but ultimately, it is. If we were created for worship, then it stands to reason that everything we do is a contributing factor to it.  Man, this can get complicated! Not really. Here's the simple explanation for it:

IF... and that's such a big word for so few letters... if you do anything....anything!.... without God in the center of your life, then you are worshiping something other than Him. So what does that mean? Do you have to become a reclusive monk, doing nothing but reading your Bible and praying all day? YES!!!!    No, I'm just kidding! But that's what people think it means. It just means that God has to be infused into the center of your life, in every aspect of it. If the most important relationship that you have in your life is not with Him, then you're worshiping something else. Not to regurgitate every sermon that Pastor Erik Reed has given, but this is good stuff... "Why would you trust the most important thing in your life, your salvation, to a God that you won't trust for your every day life?"  That's a big question. I hope it disturbs you for awhile!!!! Don't dismiss it lightly. Think about it. Ask, "what does that mean to me?", and then ask yourself again, "What do I worship?" 

That's some pretty heavy stuff, so I'll leave you with that. We'll continue later. Have a blessed week, everyone. May the love of God and his Son surround you and bring peace to your life. And if you don't know what that is or what that's about, may They disturb you in every aspect of your life, until you're forced to confront it, and deal with it!

Here's the songs from our catalyst service yesterday:

"Let God Arise" (Chris Tomlin), "Beautiful Jesus" (Kristian Stanfill), "Healer" (Hillsong), "How He Loves Us" (Eddie Kirkland), "Indescribable" (Christ Tomlin)

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