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!"

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Here we go... conclusion

Well, it's Tuesday, I'm fighting off a sinus infection, my wife is outta town, my son has more energy than ten of those little bunnies running around banging on that stupid drum promoting batteries, and though I'd like to stay in bed today and do nothing but watch The Price Is Right and the Travel Channel (i love that channel!), I must get back to the grind. 

Two days ago (Sunday) we, The Journey, launched our second campus. We are now officially a multi-site church. If I were to go into the details of everything, we'd be here for three days... literally. Suffice it to say... it went splendidly. We had over 100 adults and I'm not sure how many kids... but there were a bunch! We had no technical difficulties, thanks to my awesome tech team that I mentioned in my last post, and as my Grandpa says, "No one passed out or threw up!", so it was a great day! I hope that if you live in the Nashville area, and you don't have a home church, you would come and check us out. You can visit us at the website to see what we're about, just click the link above. It really is a cool place. You'll see everything from people wearing shirts and ties to shorts and flip-flops. No kidding. It's very laid back and non-threatening. But know this... you may hear a message that will challenge you to think about your life, and music that will move you out of your seat and unabashedly praise the God of the universe!!

Anyway, finishing up. Who-or what- do you worship? That was the question that I asked in my last post. I hope you've had some time to think about that. And more importantly, I hope you've found an answer. Look guys, and gals... this isn't rocket science. God has specifically said that He is looking for those who will worship Him in truth and in spirit. In a nutshell, I believe that means this: we worship Him by living out the truth... that Jesus is the Son of God, that no one comes to the Father, but through Him. That means, that you live your life knowing, believing, and acting as if it were the truth. It means that you make every decision based on the fact that you've prayed about it, that you have a relationship with Him, that your life is recognizable that you don't live for yourself and you put others first. That you hold to the teachings of Jesus and love people unconditionally, that you love the Father with all your heart, soul and mind. That you expect people to hold you accountable to the things you say you stand for. That you don't walk away from conflict, but you deal with it in a loving, humble way. And finally, God's spirit, the Holy spirit, lives within you, bringing out all of the above listed traits. That when you gather with your brothers and sisters in a worship experience (i.e. church), nothing comes between you and God the Father. You don't worry about what John or Mary sitting beside you is thinking because you raised your hands during a song, or if people are noticing that you're singing off key. Those kinds of things are pride driven. And the greatest story of pride and it's results, is also the most famous one... the fall of Satan. For those of you who don't really know what that story is, here's the cliff's notes: Satan was the most beautiful, spectacular angel that God ever created. It is told that He was the angel of worship, that his entire body was one giant musical instrument. He was revered in heaven and complimented on his beauty so much that he became prideful. And then he started believing all the things he was hearing, to the point that he saw himself as equal to the Father, or perhaps even better. You've heard the saying, Pride comes before the fall.... well, guess where that comes from. Satan's pride caused him to turn from God and God allowed him to fall from grace, literally. 

So you see, pride can be the destruction of your life. I've personally witnessed it in my own life, and in others. I've watched entire families torn apart because of pride. I've watched as people have chosen enormous amounts of physical pain because of pride. And probably the saddest of all, I've watched people turn away from God because of pride. 

Now you know why that scripture bothered me the way it did, that day I read it. Because, like a light going on in my head, I got it. I'm not saying I mastered it. I'm saying I understood it, for the first time in my life. And it bothered me. Cause I was in no way worshiping God in truth and in spirit. I was worshiping Him on a superficial level. And I read it right there...."The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way". To me, that meant that He isn't looking for those who go through the motions, who superficially go to church on sundays and then live as though He doesn't exist the rest of the week. I don't know about you, but I want God to look for me, and see me worshiping Him, knowing that deep inside my heart, I love Him more than anything else in my life, and He is who I live for, and without Him I am an empty creation that has no purpose. But with Him, I am the only thing that, in the beginning when He created, He said was VERY good. Not just good, but VERY good. 

In the immortal words of Forest Gump.... That's all I got to say about that.

Love you all,

Robbie


Here's the song list from this past Sunday:

"How Great Is Our God" (Chris Tomlin), "Happy Day" (Tim Hughes), "Glory To God" (Fee), and "I Surrender" ( Lincoln Brewster ).