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A couple of other things that 
are happening in February, 

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February 8th, we're going to 
have something that's sort of 

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like a men's freedom group. 
So if you have guys, I'll just 

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make that super clear. 
If you've ever been interested 

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in like the Conqueror Ministry 
or things like that, this is 

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much less time consuming than 
the conquer group itself, but 

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it's a good introduction to 
things that men struggle with 

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that maybe we want to find 
freedom from. 

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And so it's just going to be 
sort of like a, an open house as

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it were, after service. 
If you're interested in on 

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February 8th, men of any age, if
you're struggling with the the 

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same kind of stuff that most men
do, they'll just meet over next 

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door and they'll be able to kind
of roll out some tools to help 

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you there. 
It's a, it's an easier program 

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to get involved in. 
And so hopefully we'll see some 

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of y'all there. 
And then on February 15th after 

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church, we've got a Next steps 
class. 

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So that's a good way to get 
involved, investigate membership

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or a way to serve in the church.
It's a good chance to to 

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connect. 
So that's coming up. 

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We've got a pretty busy 
February. 

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All right. 
So if you all want to turn to 

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John chapter 4, we are going to 
talk about worship. 

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Seemed like a good time to do 
it. 

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Last week we talked about the 
power of baptism being made new.

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And so tonight we're talking 
about what it is to be made 

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free. 
Normally if I'm preaching about 

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worship, it's kind of an extra 
emotional message for me because

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worship is such an outpouring of
all of our energy and focus. 

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Something I've always told 
Pastor Anna and I, I tell Cassie

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and the worship leaders, when 
you lead worship up here, what 

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you're doing is you're, you're 
being a steward. 

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You're stewarding our focus. 
And it doesn't matter what the 

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worship style is, you are 
stewarding our focus on to 

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Jesus. 
When you think about it. 

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I mean, doesn't having worship 
before there's a word or the 

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Bible is cracked open? 
Doesn't it prepare your heart in

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a different way, especially when
you get to be together? 

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And there is something different
about when you worship alone 

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versus worship together. 
Wednesday nights are a great 

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opportunity to go a little bit 
deeper in some things. 

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And so that's what we're going 
to do tonight. 

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But I would just tell you, we 
live in a world where people 

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argue about worship all the 
time, even if they don't call it

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that. 
People debate different styles 

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and songs and volume and 
buildings and authenticity and 

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smoke machine or no smoke 
machine, by the way, they're 

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called haze machines. 
But nobody knows that unless 

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you're on the team. 
Do we have our hands raised 

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during worship or do we have our
hands folded during worship? 

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And most of us have opinions 
that were shaped by how we grew 

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up and what moved US one time or
what felt real to us in a 

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moment. 
But again, that's just a feeling

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once you think about a famous 
musician, Bono, from the band 

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U2. 
He's an outspoken Christian, and

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he openly talks about worship 
through some of his music, even 

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during a very Christian phase. 
Kanye West had a Sunday service 

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season where he blended gospel 
and performances and 

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testimonies, and people would 
debate if what he was doing or 

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what Bono was doing counted. 
If you want to go even further 

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back past you, too, you could go
all the way back to Bob Dylan 

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and he said, you're going to 
serve somebody. 

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And it may be the devil and it 
might be the Lord, but you're 

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going to serve somebody. 
And when this happens, we tend 

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to look at them and be like, 
yeah, but is it real? 

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That's the number one thing I 
hear. 

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Whenever a celebrity starts to 
put out some Christian words or 

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especially a musician, they 
start to create Christian themed

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or spiritually themed music. 
I'll always hear, yeah, we'll 

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see if it lasts, man, if that's 
what you think. 

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Like whenever I have a spiritual
moment, don't tell me that that 

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is like the least couraging 
thing you can say about anybody,

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whether you know them or not. 
We'll see if it lasts. 

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I wonder how often the devil 
said that about you. 

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We can't let him be right, and 
we can't join him to be an 

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accuser of the brethren. 
There is a specific pet peeve of

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mine that I'd like to just lay 
out here, and maybe you share it

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with me. 
I loathe that worship is 

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considered a genre of music 
because it's not. 

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It is not like, well there's 
country, there's rock'n'roll, 

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there's hip hop, there's jazz, 
and there's worship. 

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No, technically if you have to 
squeeze worship music into a 

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genre, there's a lot of genres. 
Depending on the song, you could

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probably squeeze it into and 
maybe some of it's not your cup 

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of tea, maybe some of it is. 
But it's not a genre and here's 

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why. 
I really don't like it outside 

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of me being slightly OCD and 
just words mean things. 

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It boxes it into something that 
it's not Remember, I remember 

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finding a Christian hip hop 
song, it's called Background by 

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Lecrae, just in case somebody 
knows it. 

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And just thinking like, man, 
what a moving emotional song is 

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a youth pastor. 
The whole vibe of the song is 

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God, I want you to be front and 
centre. 

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Whatever I can do for you, I'll 
just be the background and you 

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will take the lead. 
And honestly, what we did after,

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like unpacking that song in the 
youth group, we blindfolded the 

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whole room. 
And then we had, we had two 

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people play worship music live 
and they were blindfolded. 

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So now instead of them standing 
up and looking around or reading

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the words and having their hands
up, I said, I don't care if you 

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know the words. 
I don't care if you understand, 

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like, what song is coming up 
next. 

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I don't care if you know what 
your friends doing. 

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Listen to it and just lock into 
the Spirit of God and see what 

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happens. 
Oh, it was such a cool night. 

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And so then I remember telling 
this to a friend of mine, and he

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was like, yeah, all rap music is
angry. 

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I said, no, it's not. 
And I tried to play this and 

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he's like, sounds angry to me. 
It's OK. 

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Here's the reality. 
I'm not making fun of him. 

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But he won't enter into that 
moment of worship. 

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But it doesn't mean others 
can't, right? 

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So what is worship? 
Where do we worship? 

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That question didn't really 
start with us. 

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It didn't start with worship 
teams or church buildings or 

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sound systems. 
It's an ancient questions 

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question. 
And so we're going to go to 

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Jesus speaking to the woman at 
the well. 

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And just a little bit of 
background here. 

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This moment happens in Samaria. 
And this is a place that most 

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Jewish people would avoid 
whenever possible. 

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Jews and Samaritans, they shared
history, but the Samaritans were

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half bloods, basically. 
They were partially Jewish, but 

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also partially Gentile. 
And so they were frowned upon. 

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And they basically had their own
place where they had to worship.

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And they would get into a lot of
political conflicts over this 

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and have a lot of division. 
Samaritans believe the true 

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place of worship was on Mount 
Garism, and Jews believed it was

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in Jerusalem. 
And each side thought the other 

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one had corrupted worship, and 
neither one trusted the other 

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one's system of worship. 
Kind of sounds like 

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denominations today, right? 
Jesus doesn't just pass through 

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Samaria by accident. 
He stops and he's at this well, 

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and he's waiting. 
And when this woman arrives at 

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the well in the middle of the 
day, which already tells us 

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something about her social 
standing in isolation, Jesus 

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begins a conversation that 
crosses every boundary that is 

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imaginable, ethnic, religious, 
moral, social. 

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He talks to her like somebody 
who matters. 

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And as this conversation 
unfolds, Jesus gently reveals 

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that he already knows her story.
We're not preaching this part of

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it tonight. 
But if you remember this story 

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as she's talking to him, he's 
like, well, why don't you go get

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your husband? 
And she goes, well, I don't have

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a husband. 
He's like, that's right, you 

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don't have a husband, but you've
had a bunch of them, and you're 

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living with somebody right now 
that's not your husband. 

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And she goes, I perceive that 
you're a prophet. 

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You think this is where we're 
going to start. 

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But I'm telling you, this 
conversation was not Jesus being

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sassy. 
There's plenty of sassy moments 

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for Jesus in the Scripture. 
This was him just looking at her

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and saying, I've known who you 
are all along and I've not been 

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speaking to you any differently.
That's important to know. 

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Keep in mind that she shifts the
topic as soon as he says this. 

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She says, well, I perceive your 
profit. 

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If that's the case, let me ask 
you a religious question. 

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But I don't think she's trying 
to deflect it. 

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If she's trying to deflect this 
conversation, I think she would 

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have gone in a different 
direction. 

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Wow. 
What about the crazy weather or 

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whatever? 
She goes to something religious 

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and spiritual. 
Why she's desperate? 

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Who was she going to ask before 
this? 

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Who amongst the religious elite 
of that day was going to look at

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her and deem her worthy of their
time? 

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And she found somebody who was 
willing to engage her in a 

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discussion. 
And this is something she's 

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always wondered. 
She's basically asking a 

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question. 
We ask too, where do I belong 

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when I come to God? 
So we'll start in verse 19. 

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After he reveals that he knows 
everything about her, she goes, 

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Sir, you must be a prophet. 
So tell me, why is it that you 

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Jews insist that Jerusalem is 
the only place of worship, while

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we Samaritans claim it is here 
at Mount Gerizim where our 

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ancestors worship? 
By the way, she is lined this 

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with a little bit of 
justification for her side of 

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the argument, right where our 
ancestors worship. 

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And Jesus replied, Believe me, 
dear woman, the time is coming 

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when it will no longer matter 
whether you worship the Father 

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on this mountain or in 
Jerusalem. 

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You Samaritans know very little 
about the one you worship, while

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we Jews know all about Him. 
For salvation comes through the 

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Jews. 
But the time is coming. 

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Indeed, he says it is here now 
when true worshippers will 

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worship the Father in spirit and
in truth. 

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The Father's looking for those 
who will worship Him in that 

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way. 
For God is spirit, so those who 

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worship him must worship in 
spirit and in truth. 

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00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,240
And the woman said, I know the 
Messiah is coming, the one who 

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is called Christ. 
When he comes, he'll explain 

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everything to us. 
And Jesus told her, I am the 

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Messiah. 
What a cool conversation. 

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00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,720
Now isn't this interesting? 
I mentioned some worship at the 

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beginning, but I only mentioned 
it in one form and it's what we 

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00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,720
normally mean when we talk about
worship, and that is music. 

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00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,040
And music is not all that there 
is to worship. 

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00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,400
And since it's a Wednesday night
and since we can go deeper, this

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00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:55,240
won't be much of an emotional 
message. 

200
00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,040
But I'm going to challenge your 
intellect with this. 

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00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,840
I want you to see the origins of
where worship came from, what 

202
00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,440
worship is, what it has been, 
and where it's going. 

203
00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,960
She asks this question because 
she is afraid that she's not 

204
00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,560
worshipping God correctly. 
She's worried that what she's 

205
00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:14,400
doing is letting him down. 
She's worried that what she's 

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00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,200
doing isn't good enough for the 
King. 

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00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:21,480
And Jesus redefines worship 
entirely. 

208
00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,360
He refuses to play the game that
she invited him into. 

209
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,080
In fact, today we probably would
have been, I mean, to be honest,

210
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if we didn't know he's the 
Christ, we probably would have 

211
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:31,840
been like, come on, grow a 
spine. 

212
00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:35,480
Pick a side Jerusalem or Gerizim
where? 

213
00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:40,440
And he was like, guys, I don't 
think that's what it's all 

214
00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,600
about. 
Well, what is it all about? 

215
00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,920
This is the moment that worship 
was really unlocked publicly and

216
00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,960
made free. 
Free from the idea that access 

217
00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,400
to God depends on standing in 
the right place or belonging in 

218
00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,920
the right group. 
Y'all know that here at Liberty 

219
00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,080
Church is not the only place 
that you can encounter God 

220
00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:06,520
during worship, right? 
And yet too many Christians only

221
00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:11,360
encounter God in worship here. 
You can do it at home. 

222
00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,640
You don't have to have music 
playing either. 

223
00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,200
You can encounter Him and 
worship Him in a variety of 

224
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,040
ways. 
We'll talk about Him, but it's 

225
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,680
important that you understand 
this. 

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It's however you steward your 
focus on to Him. 

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When you go to Him first, when 
something amazing happens, when 

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you go to Him first, when 
something detrimental happens, 

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when you are looking at Him as 
your source of everything, it's 

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worship. 
So what Jesus offers this woman 

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is not permission to worship 
differently, but he does invite 

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her to belong. 
He says you've been worried 

233
00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,040
about how you've been doing 
this, where you've been doing 

234
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:46,280
it, if it's right, if it's 
wrong. 

235
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,200
I just want you to know the 
time's coming. 

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Actually, it's here now where 
your worship matters. 

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00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,920
So we talk about tonight, We're 
going to talk about what 

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happened before Jesus walked the
earth in human form. 

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00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,280
We're going to talk about what 
he's done through it, and we're 

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00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,520
going to talk about what worship
has looked like after it. 

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00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,080
First thing is before Christ 
will be in Exodus 40. 

242
00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,040
To understand how worship has 
really made us free, you have to

243
00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,040
understand how worship 
functioned before Christ because

244
00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,120
it looked nothing like what 
happens in a modern church 

245
00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,640
gathering. 
The beautiful 3 songs we just 

246
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,520
sang tonight. 
I mean, there were no worship 

247
00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,160
bands. 
There were no, there was no 

248
00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:27,640
congregational singing then, not
the way that we would have known

249
00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,840
it. 
No spontaneous expression, no 

250
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,360
moments of hopping up and down 
or clapping hands or whatever 

251
00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:35,680
you've seen in a worship 
service. 

252
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,640
And there was actually no sense 
that everyone had equal access 

253
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,920
to God's presence. 
And we take this for granted 

254
00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:45,040
now. 
We hear about it so much and the

255
00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,800
gospel being preached that for 
us, we know that we are the 

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00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,240
temple of the Holy Spirit. 
We all have equal access to 

257
00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,480
God's presence. 
And it could be easy to look 

258
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,480
back on these ancient and Jewish
people and say, oh, it's so sad 

259
00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:56,840
that they didn't realize that 
they had that. 

260
00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,600
No, no, no, they didn't have it.
That's the point. 

261
00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,520
It wasn't something that they 
could have and they knew it. 

262
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,480
Worship before Christ was very 
sacred, but it was structured 

263
00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,640
and regulated. 
And so at the center of Israel's

264
00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,440
worship life was something 
called the Tabernacle. 

265
00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,240
Eventually they were able to 
build up a temple, but before 

266
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:23,720
that it was a Tabernacle, and 
this was considered to be the 

267
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,200
place where heaven and earth 
were understood to overlap. 

268
00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,240
The Tabernacle was while they 
were travelling and they didn't 

269
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,200
have a certain place where they 
could be. 

270
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,560
Once they got to build the 
temple, then the Ark of the 

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00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:37,000
Covenant and other things were 
ushered into the Holy of Holies 

272
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,480
inside the center of the temple.
But they understood that to be 

273
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,640
the place where heaven and earth
had some overlap. 

274
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,960
And many of you know this, but 
eventually, once the temple was 

275
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,280
built, there was only one high 
priest that could go into the 

276
00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:49,920
Holy of Holies and it was only 
one day a year. 

277
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,160
It was called the Day of 
Atonement, but God's presence 

278
00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,680
was not assumed to be everywhere
the same way that we think of 

279
00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:57,920
it. 
Now listen to this in Exodus 40 

280
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starting in verse 34. 
It says then the cloud covered 

281
00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,600
the Tabernacle and the glory of 
the Lord filled the Tabernacle. 

282
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,320
Moses could no longer enter the 
Tabernacle because the cloud had

283
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,600
settled down over it, and the 
glory of the Lord filled the 

284
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,440
Tabernacle. 
Now, whenever the cloud lifted 

285
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,280
from the Tabernacle, the people 
of Israel would set out on their

286
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,400
journey following it. 
But if the cloud did not rise, 

287
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:24,320
they remained where they were 
until it lifted. 

288
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,520
The cloud of the Lord hovered 
over the Tabernacle during the 

289
00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,400
day, and at night fire glowed 
inside the cloud so the whole 

290
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,760
family of Israel could see it. 
Could you imagine how cool that 

291
00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,160
must have been? 
This continued throughout all 

292
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,200
their journeys. 
In other words, they lived this 

293
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,520
way. 
Wherever you go, God is where 

294
00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,520
I'll go. 
Is that not a far cry from how 

295
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,680
we are today, where we're like, 
well, wherever I go, I know my 

296
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,160
God goes with me and by the way,
He does. 

297
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,200
But I don't want to be one of 
those people where the Spirit of

298
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:55,680
the Lord leaves and I don't even
notice. 

299
00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:01,400
Worship will connect you to him.
Now, what the Scripture shows us

300
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,720
here is that worship was built 
around God's manifest presence. 

301
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,000
When the cloud filled the 
Tabernacle or fire came down, 

302
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,960
people knew that God was near 
and they didn't question whether

303
00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,800
or not worship worked. 
How many people here found it 

304
00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,320
easy to engage in worship as you
started your journey into 

305
00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:21,600
church, whether it was as a kid 
or as adult, how many worship 

306
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,800
was easy to enter into? 
OK, how many? 

307
00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,760
It's a struggle. 
OK, I get it because I'm going 

308
00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:30,920
to tell you what, I came up in 
two different denominations 

309
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:32,840
where worship was done 
differently and I can't tell you

310
00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:34,240
it was done wrong. 
I could just tell you it's done 

311
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,160
differently. 
So when I showed up here, I'm 

312
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,200
like these people love to sing 
and you all think we'd love to 

313
00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:39,600
sing. 
Now. 

314
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:45,480
We used to have 6 songs every 
Sunday morning, but I didn't 

315
00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,080
realize it wasn't singing, it 
was worship. 

316
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,640
It wasn't until I had a heart 
for worship that I understood 

317
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,480
worship. 
And so I have talked to people 

318
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,520
before where they're like, well,
I come in about 20 minutes late,

319
00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,600
try to avoid the music part 
because worship isn't really my 

320
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,520
thing or whatever. 
I'm like, oh, but it is. 

321
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,680
You just don't know it. 
You just don't know it yet. 

322
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,400
I never sing as loud anywhere 
else that I go as I do when I'm 

323
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,800
worshiping here. 
Thank you, by the way, for 

324
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,480
covering my sound of my voice so
I can do this. 

325
00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,360
This is where I sing the most. 
And yes, I sing other places. 

326
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,520
We sing in the car, we sing in 
the shower, we sing other 

327
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,080
places. 
We know this, but here I'm 

328
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,280
singing about the same thing. 
I mean, have you ever seen those

329
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,800
videos of like people out of the
Taylor Swift concert or 

330
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,640
whatever? 
They're all of 1 accord or 

331
00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,600
forget music for a second. 
Have you ever seen like one of 

332
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,920
those high stakes football games
whole one side of the stadium's 

333
00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,080
blue and then you've got like 1 
little pocket of red over here 

334
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,440
'cause they're obviously the 
away team or whatever, but you 

335
00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,440
see how they're all representing
one thing together. 

336
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,680
So there's already the sense of 
belonging. 

337
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,240
There's something about when you
feel like you're attached to 

338
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,080
somebody and you belong, it 
opens you up. 

339
00:16:57,680 --> 00:16:59,240
Sometimes it can be 
uncomfortable. 

340
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,640
I remember wearing a sports 
jersey when I was in a watching 

341
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,119
a sports game at a sports bar 
one time many, many years ago. 

342
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,240
Sports. 
I haven't said it as much as I 

343
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,119
said Tabernacle, so you're 
welcome but while I'm standing 

344
00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,319
I'm so sorry. 
It's a Wednesday night. 

345
00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:19,920
We can just be us, right while 
I'm standing at a urinal a 

346
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,400
stranger walks in claps me on 
the back and says go Colts. 

347
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,400
You broke the unwritten rule, my
brother. 

348
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,720
But something made him think 
that he had access to me and 

349
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,880
probably it was alcohol, but 
it's also the fact that we were 

350
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,360
there in a sports atmosphere. 
Listen to what I'm telling you. 

351
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,760
When you are gathered in a room 
or a location where the whole 

352
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:51,240
focus is the Lord and you love 
the Lord, there is a sense of 

353
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,000
belonging. 
We have the devotional for 

354
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:55,600
February printed. 
If you want to have it for 

355
00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,160
Sunday, I'd recommend it just in
case the service gets cancelled.

356
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,920
You can grab it on your way out.
But the really the whole thing 

357
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:02,640
we're talking about here is 
grace to belong. 

358
00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:04,720
You belong in the Kingdom of 
God. 

359
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,560
You belong in the family of God.
OK, That's part of what worship 

360
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,360
does. 
But for all the structure that 

361
00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:15,040
worship happened, how worship 
happened back in the original 

362
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,320
days, I want you to know that 
worship before Christ was not 

363
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:19,960
cold or lifeless to these 
people. 

364
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,160
The people of Israel would sing 
Psalms, they would celebrate 

365
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:24,600
with feasts. 
They had all sorts of other 

366
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,280
things they did that I'll go 
over in a moment. 

367
00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,680
But the benefit of worship 
before Christ wasn't access to 

368
00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,160
God personally. 
It was a benefit that they could

369
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,240
access God communally. 
And I want you to understand 

370
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,280
that that's the heart of worship
in a church service. 

371
00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:43,880
It's a communal access to God. 
It's remembering that we belong 

372
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,440
to one another, that we belong 
on the same team, that we belong

373
00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,680
in the same family and we are 
all pursuing this together. 

374
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,040
Is it not nice to just have 
those, what is it, 345 songs, 

375
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,920
whatever it is in a moment where
we're not even looking around 

376
00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,360
and thinking about the person 
that hurt our feelings 3 weeks 

377
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:00,920
ago. 
We're not wondering about how 

378
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,160
somebody voted. 
We're not like, I mean, we're 

379
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,640
just, we're just all centered 
around Jesus in that moment and 

380
00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,840
all the other problems melts 
away, even if they're going to 

381
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,400
rush right back in after. 
But in that moment, we're all 

382
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,240
united in it. 
Isn't that so beautiful? 

383
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,680
I want you to understand this 
because the ancient Jewish 

384
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,000
people understood it. 
That's about as close as you're 

385
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:25,360
going to get to heaven on earth.
Marriage doesn't exist in 

386
00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,320
heaven. 
Scripture is clear. 

387
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,160
Marriage is a wonderful thing 
that we're going to dress a lot 

388
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,400
this month, and it's a gift 
while you're here. 

389
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,120
But you know, it does exist in 
heaven, the family of God, the 

390
00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:38,880
worship of God. 
And when we come together and we

391
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,880
are at His feet and we're 
lifting up our praises to Him, 

392
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,320
we're actually practicing for 
eternity. 

393
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:45,680
Have you ever thought about 
that? 

394
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,640
We're practicing for eternity 
here and I'm going to tell you 

395
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,240
what, when I get up there, I'm 
not going to let him look at me 

396
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,760
and be like somebody's not been 
practicing. 

397
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,920
No, I've been practicing. 
Lord, I'm ready for this. 

398
00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,120
Worship gave them a rhythm and 
you have to understand a lot of 

399
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:03,520
things that we understand but 
really take for granted. 

400
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,960
Think on this. 
They were not travelling, they 

401
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,160
were not going out and exploring
new countries. 

402
00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:09,720
They weren't having a summer 
abroad. 

403
00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,240
They weren't texting, they 
didn't have pen pals. 

404
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,960
This was their community and 
they were centered around it. 

405
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:20,440
Worship was everything to these 
people, and so coming together 

406
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,440
and worshiping God together 
mattered a whole lot. 

407
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,080
Now that being said, even though
it wasn't cold and lifeless, I 

408
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,240
want you to know the limitation 
was always there. 

409
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,360
It was never going to be quite 
enough. 

410
00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,320
Access to God was restricted 
because worship depended on a 

411
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,360
place. 
You had to be near that pillar 

412
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:37,520
of cloud. 
You had to be near that 

413
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,640
Tabernacle. 
You had to be near that temple. 

414
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,440
Eventually you had to be near it
because that was how you were 

415
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:46,720
going to access His presence. 
God's presence was powerful, but

416
00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,240
it was distant for most people. 
So the system worked, but it 

417
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,160
also pointed beyond itself 
because every sacrifice that 

418
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,680
they would make, when they would
sacrifice an animal, was hinting

419
00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:58,800
that there would be something 
more complete and needed. 

420
00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,560
Eventually they'd sacrifice an 
animal. 

421
00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,440
The blood of an innocent animal 
would be shed at these festivals

422
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,240
and at these sacrificial 
moments, and they would all be 

423
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,840
looking at this like, I'm going 
to have to do this again, but 

424
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,200
one day there will be a 
solution. 

425
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,520
So I have a top 10 for you. 
For the average Israelite, 

426
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:19,600
worship was not a weekly song 
set. 

427
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,480
It was a lived response to God's
presence and covenant. 

428
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:27,040
The first thing that worship was
before Christ was sacrifice. 

429
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:29,160
Have you ever sacrificed 
something for the Lord? 

430
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,640
Something you wanted to read, 
watch, a friendship, a bad 

431
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,440
relationship, whatever it is? 
If you ever sacrifice something 

432
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,680
that your flesh craved for the 
Lord, it's worship. 

433
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,600
And they knew this, think about 
this, offering animals or grain 

434
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,280
or incense was the most visible 
act of worship. 

435
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:50,160
But if you are sacrificing a cow
that you've raised, that's one 

436
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,120
less cow that you're going to be
eating. 

437
00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:56,320
They were giving something that 
had value up for the Lord. 

438
00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,760
And this was worship to the 
ancient Jewish people. 

439
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,560
Giving us something valuable was
and still is an act of trust and

440
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,800
obedience #2 obedience to the 
law. 

441
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,120
Now, this was some really killer
peer pressure because in a 

442
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,160
Jewish community back then, 
again, you're not really going 

443
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:15,760
outside of the bounds of 
community. 

444
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:17,400
They're going to hold you 
accountable. 

445
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,840
But all that they knew as far as
the law went at any point in 

446
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,240
Israel's history was considered 
worship. 

447
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,720
Well, why don't you do that? 
Because it's worship. 

448
00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:28,880
Because I honor God, because I 
put him first, because I think 

449
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:30,840
of him. 
And for all of our jokes about 

450
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:32,880
being so glad that we live in 
the New Testament so we can have

451
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:37,280
bacon or pepperoni or whatever 
nowadays, for them or for people

452
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,080
who still adhere to that, yeah, 
that does taste good. 

453
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,080
But I don't do that because in 
my mind, I'm honoring God first.

454
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,360
And it's worship #3 prayer and 
calling on the name of the Lord.

455
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,000
And yes, I phrased those 
separately. 

456
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:54,520
Prayer is pouring yourself out 
to him. 

457
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,360
And sometimes you call upon you 
invoke his name. 

458
00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,720
Have you ever called upon 
Jehovah Jireh to be your 

459
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,960
provider? 
Have you ever called on God, 

460
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,320
your healer, or any of these 
other names that he gives you? 

461
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:10,160
They would call upon His name, 
and they would do this as an act

462
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,040
of worship. 
We are insufficient without you.

463
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:14,920
Again, we talked about it not 
long ago. 

464
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:17,760
Most Jewish people pray with 
their eyes open, looking towards

465
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,480
God's creation because they 
consider it reverent to look at 

466
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,280
His creation while they worship 
Him. 

467
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,920
Whereas most Americans today, 
when we say let's pray, we all 

468
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,040
go. 
It's like hypnotize you and you 

469
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,320
go to sleep. 
I'm just kidding #4 keeping 

470
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,200
feasts and festivals. 
And there's something, by the 

471
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,880
way, if you haven't taken a a 
spiritual gift test for the five

472
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,000
Fold ministry, we've got some of
those tests in the foyer too. 

473
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,800
Grab one of those with your 
devotional when you leave. 

474
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:46,640
One of the things that sometimes
people have a struggle with is 

475
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,320
they'll say, well, this church 
does a lot out in the community 

476
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,680
for the lost, but this one does 
a lot on the inside. 

477
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,400
And really the goal is you 
should do some of both. 

478
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,200
Keeping feasts and festivals. 
Who was at these feasts and 

479
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,960
festivals? 
Believers, Jewish people, their 

480
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:06,320
community, they weren't saying, 
hey, let's have God Fest and 

481
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,760
we'll name it after the year God
Fest 3 or whatever, OK? 

482
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,760
They weren't saying we'll do 
this and we'll do it in Central 

483
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,480
Park right in the middle of 
Canaan. 

484
00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,200
And that way all of the poor 
Philistines will see us 

485
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,840
glorifying Yahweh. 
And then they'll know that 

486
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:23,920
they're invited and we'll say, 
come on, we're having a kosher 

487
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,720
cookout and you can be here. 
This is not what it was. 

488
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,840
These feasts and festivals, they
were for them. 

489
00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,160
So like when we get together 
here at the church for a night 

490
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,240
of gratitude or for some sort of
special event where we're coming

491
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:41,000
together, it's worship. 
We're together to put God center

492
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,240
front and center, to enjoy each 
other's company, to learn about 

493
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,720
our brothers and sisters, to 
become more united, to become 

494
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,240
one unit together, which by the 
way, is the last thing people 

495
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:51,760
want to do, especially since 
COVID. 

496
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:56,840
I got actually got some stuff on
COVID in a minute, but this is 

497
00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,480
worship #5 something we're all 
good at in 2026. 

498
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,720
Sabbath rest. 
Sabbath rest is worship. 

499
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,760
Having a Sabbath and honoring 
the Lord in it is your way of 

500
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:15,400
saying my world is not going to 
fall apart if I stop striving 

501
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,400
for a day and you're the one in 
charge of it, not me. 

502
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:23,200
That is hard for me. 
I'm be honest with you, it's 

503
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:27,160
hard for me and I I work on a 
day that most people consider 

504
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,160
their Sabbath. 
Doesn't mean I don't need to 

505
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,720
have a Sabbath and I'm not 
always as good at it as I should

506
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:33,920
be. 
But for the Jewish people, 

507
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,320
Sabbath rest was something that 
was going to happen again when 

508
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,720
culture demands it. 
I mean, would would it not be 

509
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,960
easier for you to Sabbath if 
literally every store and 

510
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,480
restaurant was closed for 24 
hours? 

511
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,280
You're like, well, it's, it's my
Sabbath, so I'm not going to 

512
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:50,440
cook today. 
So I'm going to go to the 

513
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,040
restaurant and have them cook. 
Well, they can't. 

514
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:54,800
Sabbath. 
Go to the next slide, please. 

515
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,680
Giving and tithes. 
This was considered worship. 

516
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,240
They honored God as their 
provider and owner of all 

517
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,000
things. 
So giving supported the priests 

518
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,600
and the religious workers, and 
it also supported the poor and 

519
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,000
expressed gratitude and trust in
that small community. 

520
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,520
Everybody who was poor, if they 
needed something, they went to 

521
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,840
the priests. 
And so that was part of how they

522
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,360
said will help #7 singing psalms
and corporate praise. 

523
00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:20,880
Yes, it existed back then, 
although it may not be quite as 

524
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,960
invigorating as tonight was. 
Music did play a role, 

525
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,680
especially in temple worship and
festivals, but they were certain

526
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,960
Psalms that were sung to 
remember God's faithfulness. 

527
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,400
Who here has ever served at 
Vacation Bible School? 

528
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,000
You still have the songs in your
head, don't you? 

529
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,000
OK, so did they, and it wasn't 
VBS. 

530
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,200
But these songs existed for 
decades into hundreds of years 

531
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,040
because there was no worship 
band. 

532
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,680
This hot worship band's coming 
out of Mesopotamia, you got to 

533
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,480
hear them like there was no like
new business like that. 

534
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,560
So for them, these were ancient 
songs and these ancient songs, 

535
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,120
can they all contain their 
theology? 

536
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,320
It's really cool. 
I don't know, like Cassie, 

537
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,400
Sarah, was it 1 of you that set 
the set list tonight? 

538
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,640
Who you did it good. 
That was cool because like 

539
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,800
Christ be magnified. 
That whole thing is theology 

540
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,520
like and it talks about if if 
the cross brings transformation,

541
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,240
I'll be crucified with you. 
Some people take crucified out 

542
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,360
of that song and they say if the
cross brings transformation, 

543
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:24,600
then what is it? 
I'll be, what's that? 

544
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,560
You can hang me there with you. 
That sounds worse. 

545
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:30,120
It says I'll be crucified with 
you. 

546
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,440
This Bible that I read talks 
about crucifying my flesh daily 

547
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,960
because it's bad for my health. 
But then we're like, that might 

548
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,880
be a little icky for people. 
You remember How He Loves was a 

549
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:41,520
song that was very big a couple 
of years ago. 

550
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,720
He loves us. 
Oh, how he loves us. 

551
00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:46,760
And it talks about when heaven 
meets Earth like a sloppy wet 

552
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,800
kiss, right? 
That was controversial to some 

553
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,880
people who have never read Song 
of Songs. 

554
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:57,920
So when heaven meets Earth like 
a sloppy wet kiss was 

555
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,800
controversial to some people 
because they said it seems a 

556
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,880
little a little uncomfortable to
describe it that way. 

557
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:06,320
Do you know what they changed it
to? 

558
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,440
Unforeseen. 
When heaven meets earth, like an

559
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,040
unforeseen kiss, that is worse 
than sloppy wet. 

560
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,360
Because I'm going to tell 
anybody who's listening right 

561
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:24,240
now if I cannot see you coming. 
Theologically, that's just not 

562
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:25,520
how heaven meets earth. 
OK? 

563
00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:29,520
They were singing things that 
were theology. 

564
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,960
So guess what? 
They were solid with theology. 

565
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:38,440
They knew what they believed 
about God #8 storytelling and 

566
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:40,560
teaching. 
The next generation parents 

567
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,680
taught the children what God had
done and why Israel belonged to 

568
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,880
him. 
They passed on the story of 

569
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,200
God's faithfulness as a sacred 
act of worship in the home. 

570
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:54,080
Most of us were like, hey, Mama 
needs a few minutes, bluey. 

571
00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,480
OK? 
By the way, we do it too. 

572
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,280
It's OK. 
I'm a believer that blue is a 

573
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,000
gift, OK? 
It's nice, It's wholesome, and 

574
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,240
the inside of the car looks 
realistic because it's trashed 

575
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,760
and they have kids. 
It's good, but my point is this,

576
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,760
you better also be spending sit 
down time with your kids in your

577
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,400
home because they trust what 
you're teaching them. 

578
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,080
Teach them about the Lord. 
It is not just good for them. 

579
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,480
It's not just responsible 
parents, grandparents. 

580
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,640
It's worship to pass on what you
know about God to somebody else 

581
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,880
#9 acts of justice and mercy. 
They cared for widows and 

582
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,440
orphans and foreigners. 
There were rules on how to treat

583
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,240
people that wandered in there. 
And the poor were commanded to 

584
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,240
be taken care of as an act of 
worship. 

585
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,600
And the last one is repentance 
and humility. 

586
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,000
And this was very visible for 
most of us. 

587
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,960
We'll have a private moment of 
repentance. 

588
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,520
Maybe we're a little less joyful
one day. 

589
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:52,240
And somebody's like, I think 
they're going through something.

590
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,360
I'm going to pray for them. 
But you were going to know if 

591
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,360
somebody was repenting over 
something back then. 

592
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:57,760
Why? 
Because they were wearing 

593
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,400
sackcloth. 
So you're not coming in here 

594
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:02,520
wearing that cute new outfit 
that you picked out for Sunday 

595
00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:04,240
church. 
You're walking in here with a 

596
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,800
giant potato sack and somebody's
like, they're sorry about 

597
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,480
something. 
They would have known. 

598
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,160
And it wasn't embarrassing to 
say that you had to be repentant

599
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,720
over something because everybody
had their turn there. 

600
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,720
It's an act of worship and 
you're turning back to God and 

601
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,200
showing that you don't have it 
all put together. 

602
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,880
What I'm getting at with this 
top 10 is this worship for them 

603
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:30,680
was holistic and what I mean by 
that is it involved their body, 

604
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,160
their time, their resources, 
their family, their work, their 

605
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:37,640
rest, and their community. 
Music supported worship, but 

606
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,040
their life itself was the 
offering in worship. 

607
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,440
So what did Christ do? 
Well, we'll be in John chapter 2

608
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,440
in a moment. 
By the time Jesus steps into the

609
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,440
world, worship has not 
disappeared. 

610
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,760
However, it has drifted. 
Have you ever heard a song and 

611
00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,400
thought I know that's considered
a worship song, but it doesn't 

612
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,760
feel like it's worship to me. 
Have you ever heard that 

613
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,160
anybody? 
Some are considered more 

614
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,760
vertical worship, which they're 
just pouring out praises 

615
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:05,520
directly to them. 
Those are normally the ones that

616
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,560
we all feel safer with. 
And then there's some that are 

617
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,160
considered a horizontal worship,
which means you have made me 

618
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,960
this, you have poured this into 
me, you've created me into this.

619
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:15,640
Still a way of giving him 
praise. 

620
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,480
However, song wise, there is a 
difference in what you sing and 

621
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,280
what you sing in. 
Those words do matter. 

622
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,440
I won't go on a tangent over the
worship songs that I don't like,

623
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:35,920
but we don't sing them here. 
So their worship has drifted. 

624
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,880
Now they've got a temple in 
Jerusalem, the Second Temple. 

625
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,720
It is standing. 
Sacrifices are being offered 

626
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,440
daily. 
Priests are still performing 

627
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,640
their duties. 
There are pilgrims and travelers

628
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:47,600
that are coming in for these 
major feasts. 

629
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:49,920
And on the surface, worship 
appears alive and active. 

630
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,400
But underneath, something's gone
wrong, and Jesus knows it. 

631
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,080
What was designed to bring 
people into an awe filled 

632
00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,120
closeness with God has slowly 
become something that's really 

633
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:04,440
complicated and commercialized 
Worship is no longer simply 

634
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,080
about encountering the presence 
of God. 

635
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,040
It's about navigating a system, 
doing what you're supposed to do

636
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,520
so you don't get in trouble by 
religious standards. 

637
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,800
And your access to God depends 
on where you were born, how much

638
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,200
money you have, how clean you 
are, what your gender is, and 

639
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:18,960
whether you're allowed into 
certain spaces. 

640
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,800
Here's what I mean. 
You had the Holy of Holies, 

641
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:23,400
right? 
But then you had the area where 

642
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,080
the priest could go. 
You, you had the court where the

643
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,040
Jewish men could go. 
Then you had the women's court, 

644
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,440
and then you had the Gentile 
court. 

645
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,400
If you were a Gentile, guess 
where you weren't going? 

646
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:39,760
Anywhere other than the Gentile 
court. 

647
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,720
You sure weren't going to sneak 
into the woman's court, but they

648
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,000
sure weren't going to sneak into
the men's court. 

649
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,880
And you better not sneak into 
the Holy of Holies. 

650
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,600
Women could only go so far. 
And gentiles were restricted. 

651
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:54,760
The poor struggle to even afford
what's required. 

652
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,360
So the law was actually crushing
them and breaking them. 

653
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,400
And So what they did was they 
set up something there. 

654
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,880
And at first, this system was 
designed to help people, aren't 

655
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,560
they normally? 
So at first it was like, hey, 

656
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,480
you come on out here, it's going
to take you 3456 days, whatever 

657
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,600
to travel here to make some 
sacrifices. 

658
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,560
So we will provide animals here.
So instead of trying to provide 

659
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,520
your animals back where you are,
keeping your turtle doves alive 

660
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,680
all the way here or marching 
your cow and you're, you're kind

661
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:24,840
of, have you ever tried to move 
a cow that doesn't want to move?

662
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,280
I've actually been in that 
situation before in Guatemala. 

663
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,320
It is not pleasant. 
Instead of trying to drag them 

664
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,080
all the way here, we've got them
here. 

665
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:34,880
So you can just have the money 
and we'll provide it. 

666
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,920
It was a helpful thing until the
prices started to go up and up 

667
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:44,720
and up and up and up. 
This is where some churches air 

668
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,480
on one side or the other. 
Some say we won't ever sell 

669
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:49,880
anything because, you know, 
we're a church. 

670
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:54,440
Some say we're going to market 
the cow fodder out of 

671
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:58,120
everything, you know, and we're 
not a brand, right? 

672
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:02,000
But what was happening here was 
they were taking advantage of 

673
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,080
the poor. 
The poor knew that they had to 

674
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,680
have the sacrifice done one way 
or the other, and they couldn't 

675
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,600
afford it on their own. 
So they're stuck with these 

676
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:13,719
prices and this is what Jesus 
shows up for. 

677
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,320
And by the way, we still see 
versions of this today. 

678
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,880
Worship can become about knowing
the right language or fitting 

679
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,239
the culture or having the right 
background or understanding the 

680
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,639
unwritten rules for those who 
came from maybe a different kind

681
00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:27,199
of background. 
Be honest here. 

682
00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:29,480
Do you feel weird the first time
you saw somebody put their hands

683
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:31,719
up during worship? 
Anybody ever feel that? 

684
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:32,840
Seriously, I'm asking for show 
hands. 

685
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,520
OK, Same for me because where I 
came from, that didn't happen. 

686
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,120
And by the way, when I returned 
to those houses of worship, for 

687
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,159
whatever reason and worship is 
happening, I worship in the 

688
00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:44,360
style that worship happens 
there. 

689
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,080
It's OK. 
I had one person tell me one 

690
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,760
time, well, if I ever go, I 
think they said Catholic Church.

691
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:51,120
I can't remember. 
They're like, if I ever go to a 

692
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:53,159
Catholic Church, I'm going to 
put my arms up and I'm going to 

693
00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:57,480
jump. 
And I said, I I don't do bail 

694
00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,360
many. 
I mean, I'm just kidding. 

695
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:06,000
But what I really said was that 
would be disrespectful to that 

696
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,320
House of worship and that pocket
of your family. 

697
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:11,280
You honor the house that you're 
in, right? 

698
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:14,680
Early in Jesus's ministry, he 
goes to Jerusalem during 

699
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:17,000
Passover. 
It's one of the best times for 

700
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:18,360
the Jewish people. 
It's a time that's meant to 

701
00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,400
remember God's deliverance 
during the exodus and how the 

702
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,960
death Angel passed over the 
homes of the Jewish people when 

703
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,040
he delivered them out of Egypt. 
And instead of finding a space 

704
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:30,080
that was centered on prayer, he 
finds worship that's tangled up 

705
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,320
with prophet. 
And so this is be honest with 

706
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:34,360
you. 
It's most of us, one of our 

707
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,960
favorite Jesus stories, verse 
13. 

708
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:39,480
It was nearly time for the 
Jewish Passover celebration. 

709
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:42,120
Jesus went to Jerusalem and in 
the temple area he saw merchants

710
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,240
selling cattle, sheep and doves 
for sacrifices. 

711
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,520
He also saw dealers at tables 
exchanging foreign money. 

712
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,880
Jesus made a whip from some 
ropes, so he was good at 

713
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,000
crafting, in case you were 
curious. 

714
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:55,120
And he chased them all out of 
the temple. 

715
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:59,280
He drove, he drove up the sheep 
and cattle, scattered the money 

716
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:02,080
changers coins all over the 
floor and turned over their 

717
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,440
tables. 
Then going over to the people 

718
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,240
who sold doves, he told them, 
get these things out of here. 

719
00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:09,720
Stop turning my father's house 
into a marketplace. 

720
00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:14,200
Then his disciples remembered 
this prophecy from the 

721
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,200
Scriptures. 
Passion for God's house will 

722
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,920
consume me. 
But the Jewish leaders demanded,

723
00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:21,200
what are you doing? 
If God gave you the authority to

724
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,160
do this, show us a miraculous 
sign to prove it. 

725
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:26,240
All right, Jesus replied, 
destroy this temple and in three

726
00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:31,160
days I'll raise it up. 
What they exclaimed, It has 

727
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,840
taken 46 years to build this 
temple and you can rebuild it in

728
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,200
three days. 
But when Jesus said this temple,

729
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,520
he meant his own body. 
After he was raised from the 

730
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:44,120
dead, his disciples remembered 
that he had said this, and they 

731
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,400
believe both the Scriptures and 
what Jesus had said. 

732
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,080
That's what a good preaching 
will do. 

733
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:49,600
You'll believe the Scriptures as
well. 

734
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,440
This moment is not Jesus having 
a bad day. 

735
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,280
This is Jesus reclaiming 
worship. 

736
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,560
And by the way, amongst the most
vulnerable, what part of the 

737
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:04,760
court did this happen in? 
The court of the Gentiles, the 

738
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,440
people who would have been 
foreign to Christianity or 

739
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,840
sorry, Judaism at the time, the 
people that would have been 

740
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,760
foreign to this concept that 
weren't allowed to go any 

741
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:16,360
further. 
The most vulnerable, the ones 

742
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,720
who didn't really know if they 
had what it took to make it. 

743
00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:20,680
The ones who didn't really know 
if they'd ever really be fully 

744
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:22,320
accepted. 
The ones who were just trying to

745
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,840
get as close as they can. 
But there are four rings removed

746
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:29,320
from where the presence of God 
dwells, and those are the ones 

747
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:33,320
being taken advantage of. 
What Jesus confronts is not 

748
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,440
worship itself there. 
It's just the fact that worship 

749
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:37,480
has lost its heart. 
It's a system. 

750
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:42,400
I was talking to somebody a 
couple of weeks ago, and we were

751
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,000
talking about, you know, giving 
tithes and offerings. 

752
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,280
And you know, how controversial 
it is for some people because if

753
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,000
you want to upset people, talk 
to them about money. 

754
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,240
And she said one time she 
visited the church only once, 

755
00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,560
but on her first visit, she sat 
down with one of the pastors and

756
00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:59,400
they said all sorts of questions
to her. 

757
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:06,800
And one of them was, and how 
much do you make first visit? 

758
00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:08,840
And she said, why do you need to
know that? 

759
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,360
And she said she was told, we 
just want to be able to tell you

760
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,280
what you'll need to pay in 
tithes handed the bill. 

761
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:19,720
I said, I can't believe you 
never went back. 

762
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:27,440
They sound so friendly. 
When he speaks about destroying 

763
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,080
the temple and raising it again 
in three days, he's not just 

764
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,400
predicting his resurrection. 
He's redefining the center of 

765
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:35,600
worship again. 
He's saying, I know you're 

766
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:39,680
worried about this temple, but 
there is a temple that is going 

767
00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:43,000
to be torn down and rebuilt and 
he's talking again about the 

768
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:45,280
proximity of worship, just like 
when he's speaking to this 

769
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,360
woman. 
The temple is where he had to 

770
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,600
worship. 
By the way, there's a religion 

771
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,520
today that really insists that 
you go to a certain location of 

772
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:55,280
worship. 
It's very exclusive. 

773
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:59,000
We don't ascribe to it. 
Through Christ, worship is being

774
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,200
both restored and expanded at 
the same time. 

775
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,360
This is such a cool moment. 
He's restoring the heart of 

776
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,640
worship and making it much more 
accessible to a wider variety of

777
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,160
people. 
Doesn't that reframe like 

778
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:13,680
worship entirely? 
When you really look at that for

779
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:17,280
a long time, whether we meant to
or not, I think a lot of us 

780
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,320
connected worship to a building.
I mean, we would listen to 

781
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:22,320
Christian radio or whatever it 
was. 

782
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:26,640
But Sunday morning really meant 
a place, a sanctuary platform. 

783
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:28,560
If we were to tell somebody, I'm
going to church and then I'm 

784
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:33,720
going to this building, right? 
And then COVID hit and almost 

785
00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:36,000
overnight doors were locked. 
How many of y'all were going to 

786
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,120
church during COVID, right? 
And when COVID hit, oh, it's 

787
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,640
awful. 
And it was awful for all sorts 

788
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,120
of people and their jobs and 
careers and all of that. 

789
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,080
But do you know how difficult it
is when you're allowed to have 

790
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:51,760
10 people maximum in a sanctuary
and you've got some tech people,

791
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:53,720
You've got a couple people that 
are going to do a couple songs 

792
00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:56,800
because churches were forced to 
become live stream, you know, 

793
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,720
churches, whether they were 
doing it previously or not, 

794
00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:02,440
including us. 
You've got the preacher. 

795
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,840
And then you try to have the 
extra two or three people you've

796
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:08,040
got scattered somewhere out here
so that you're not just looking 

797
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,040
at a camera and you're looking 
around like people are in there 

798
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:13,600
and you're trying to. 
It's so difficult. 

799
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,360
It's not the same feel of being 
with God's people. 

800
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:19,600
And I understand the reasons we 
did it, but think about all the 

801
00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:23,040
things that we lost. 
We lost the sound of voices 

802
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:26,000
singing together. 
We lost the ability to lay hands

803
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,120
on somebody in prayer who was 
going through a hard time. 

804
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,040
Maybe people that were isolated 
except for church, they would 

805
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:32,400
only come to church and ask for 
help. 

806
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:37,240
We lost hallway conversations, 
bumping into somebody, seeing 

807
00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:39,960
that somebody was here for the 
first time, sharing meals with 

808
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,280
people at one of the 18 Mexican 
restaurants. 

809
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,960
We lost the spontaneous moments 
at the altar where something in 

810
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:49,760
a song really hit us. 
We lost group communion. 

811
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,960
In fact, it wasn't until less 
than a year ago that we even 

812
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:54,880
returned to regular communion 
here. 

813
00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,640
When I say regular, I mean 
actually having bread laid out. 

814
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,520
Faith felt distant for a lot of 
people because the rhythms that 

815
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,560
we were reliant on got broken. 
That's the same thing that was 

816
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:07,640
happening back then. 
They had systems that they 

817
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:11,200
relied on, and Jesus literally 
broke them to say no, no, no, 

818
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,480
get freer in this. 
So we lost a lot during COVID, 

819
00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,960
but something also happened. 
Some people discovered the 

820
00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,040
worship didn't stop when the 
building closed. 

821
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:23,480
Some people realized that their 
families could pray together in 

822
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,400
their homes when they knew that 
they didn't have kids, teachers 

823
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:31,560
to try to pour into their kids. 
Some people open their Bibles on

824
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,200
their kitchen tables and their 
couches for the first time in 

825
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,920
those locations. 
God met people in hospital rooms

826
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,280
and bedrooms and parked cars. 
And faith became really personal

827
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:45,040
to a lot of people during COVID.
Some people realized that they'd

828
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,120
been leaning more in the 
environment than on the presence

829
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,160
of God. 
If everybody seems like like 

830
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:52,040
they like it, if it's a loud 
Sunday where everybody's 

831
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:54,280
singing, maybe, maybe it was a 
really good day at church. 

832
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:58,080
But then it became, no, no, no, 
what is God saying to me? 

833
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:01,000
There's a plus or minus to all 
of it. 

834
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,160
Some people never came back to 
church after that COVID break. 

835
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,040
Some people couldn't wait to get
back into a church after that 

836
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,160
COVID break. 
But that moment forced the 

837
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:11,480
church, for better or worse, to 
remember something that Jesus 

838
00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:15,400
had already said at a well in 
Samaria, worship is not about 

839
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,720
where you go. 
That's about who you're 

840
00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:21,560
responding to. 
So where did we get our modern 

841
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:25,360
form of worship? 
Well, I'll join you in First 

842
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:29,960
Corinthians in a moment when 
Jesus ascends and the Holy 

843
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:33,480
Spirit is poured out amongst his
believers, worship undergoes its

844
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:35,800
most radical shift. 
A lot of things undergo A 

845
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,360
radical shift. 
God's presence is no longer 

846
00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:40,400
localized in a temple. 
As a matter of fact, there was a

847
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,440
thick curtain that covered the 
Holy of Holies and you all 

848
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:47,000
remember what happened to that 
curtain ripped right into from 

849
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:49,640
the top to the bottom. 
Important that you know that 

850
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:52,560
because no man could have done 
that back in that day and age. 

851
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:54,960
From the top to the bottom, 
completely shredded. 

852
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:56,960
God was saying, hey guys, I 
moved out. 

853
00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,240
This is why the New Testament 
speaks so carefully about 

854
00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:04,320
worship. 
It's not just an expression, 

855
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:06,000
it's something that is 
foundational for believers. 

856
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:07,960
Listen to this. 
In First Corinthians 14, verse 

857
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,920
26, Paul says a call to orderly 
worship. 

858
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:13,240
He says, my brothers and 
sisters, let's summarize. 

859
00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:18,120
When you meet together, one will
sing, another will teach, 

860
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:21,320
another will tell some special 
revelation God has given. 

861
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:23,400
Can you imagine if that's, you 
know, you're in the rotation. 

862
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,200
I need you to get a special 
revelation, Carol for Sunday. 

863
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,160
OK, Just let me know what God 
says. 

864
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,880
One will speak in tongues and 
another will interpret what is 

865
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:35,440
said. 
But everything that's done must 

866
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:38,320
strengthen all of you. 
No more than two or three should

867
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,120
speak in tongues. 
By the way, they must speak one 

868
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,240
at a time, and someone must 
interpret what they say. 

869
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,080
But if no one is present who can
interpret, then they must be 

870
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:47,200
silent in your church meeting 
and speak in tongues to God 

871
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:49,160
privately. 
So next time somebody tells you 

872
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,840
you can't have a private prayer 
language, be like, just read the

873
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,600
Bible, verse 29. 
Let two or three people 

874
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:58,760
prophecy. 
Let the others evaluate what's 

875
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:00,600
said. 
But if someone is prophesying 

876
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:02,800
and another person receives A 
revelation from the Lord, the 

877
00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:04,840
one who's speaking must stop. 
Why? 

878
00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:08,400
Because there's a fresh 
revelation in this way, all who 

879
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:11,280
prophecy will have a turn to 
speak one after another, and 

880
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:12,800
everyone will learn and be 
encouraged. 

881
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,680
Why is that important? 
Because everyone will learn and 

882
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:17,880
be encouraged. 
Remember that people who 

883
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:20,840
prophecy are in control of their
spirit and can take turns. 

884
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,320
And this is so important. 
For God is not a God of 

885
00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:27,800
disorder, but of peace, as in 
all the meetings of God's holy 

886
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:29,960
people. 
And verse 40, if you skip ahead 

887
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:32,280
just a little, he says, but be 
sure that everything is done 

888
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:36,040
properly and in order. 
A lot of that deals with tongues

889
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:38,840
and deals with things that don't
always manifest in a modern 

890
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:40,720
church service. 
But what he's getting at is, 

891
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:43,360
listen, it's not the Wild West, 
so to speak. 

892
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,560
It's not a free for all. 
It's not whatever goes, 

893
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:48,000
somebody's going to do this, 
somebody's going to do this, 

894
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:49,880
somebody's going to do this. 
If somebody's doing this and 

895
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:51,800
somebody gets a fresh 
revelation, tell them to wait. 

896
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:54,240
They're in control of their own 
words. 

897
00:44:54,240 --> 00:44:56,920
They can finish it later. 
If something is happening where 

898
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:58,920
God is speaking to somebody, let
them speak. 

899
00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:02,840
Do this in order why? 
So that everyone can be 

900
00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:07,040
encouraged and edified. 
What Paul describes here is so 

901
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,080
specific in a few ways. 
Worship is participatory. 

902
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:14,040
It's communal and it's orderly. 
It's not just a free for all, 

903
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:16,480
but it's also not highly 
regulated the way that it used 

904
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:20,440
to be. 
So in the early church, let's 

905
00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:22,000
talk about this. 
We're going to go down the we're

906
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:25,320
going to go down the the list. 
Anybody a big fan of church 

907
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:29,360
history? 
All right, come on, high five 

908
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:30,320
guys. 
All right, listen. 

909
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:33,320
So the early church, we'll start
with the early church. 

910
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:35,600
This is the church that's 
birthed right out of like the 

911
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:37,080
New Testament era and 
everything. 

912
00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:41,600
How did they worship? 
Well, they gathered in homes, 

913
00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:45,560
they shared meals, they prayed 
together, they read scripture 

914
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:47,920
out loud with one another, and 
they devoted themselves to 

915
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:50,440
teaching and fellowship. 
Worship was embodied and how 

916
00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:53,080
generous they were, how 
hospitable they were and how 

917
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:55,800
much they persevered. 
Music did exist, but you weren't

918
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:59,760
going to have music, probably 
with worship in one of those 

919
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:01,280
home gatherings. 
It was still centered around 

920
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:05,360
these feasts, but the church 
grew, continues to, and it 

921
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,360
became more structured. 
And so we had the Orthodox 

922
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:09,520
Church. 
Well, the Orthodox Church 

923
00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,800
emphasized reverence. 
So worship became what is this 

924
00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:16,600
is a fun word called liturgical,
and it was shaped around fixed 

925
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:20,120
prayers, scripture readings, and
sacred rhythms that were meant 

926
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:22,120
to reflect the holiness. 
They were actually taking a 

927
00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:24,680
little bit of what you see in 
the Old Testament and saying 

928
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:27,400
this structure helped them stay 
grounded to Christ. 

929
00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:29,320
Let's get some of this back in 
here. 

930
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:30,800
So they created some form for 
it. 

931
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:33,960
Well, then the Catholic Church, 
the Orthodox Church, they split 

932
00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:36,400
and the Catholic Church carried 
this forward with a very strong 

933
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:39,720
emphasis on the sacraments and 
sacred spaces. 

934
00:46:39,720 --> 00:46:42,760
So and the Catholic Church 
worship centered around the 

935
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:47,080
Eucharist, which is a fun way of
saying communion, confession, 

936
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:51,720
prayer and more of the liturgy, 
public work of the people and 

937
00:46:51,720 --> 00:46:54,160
all of this. 
So This is why there's so much 

938
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:57,160
stand, sit down when you go to a
Catholic service and so much 

939
00:46:57,160 --> 00:46:58,360
repeat after me and things like 
that. 

940
00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:00,440
And I'm not making fun of them. 
What I'm saying is this is 

941
00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:02,800
important to them. 
It's part of how they show 

942
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:06,280
structure and order in worship. 
Then there was the Reformation. 

943
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:09,440
Then you had a guy named Martin 
Luther who was like, hey, I got 

944
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:13,000
some problems split from the 
Catholic Church and now it's 

945
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:17,040
called Lutheran. 
Well, it was intentionally 

946
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,160
recentered on Scripture instead 
of the sacraments. 

947
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,920
And So what happened there is 
they emphasized grace and 

948
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:25,880
preaching and congregational 
singing. 

949
00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:28,680
And this is also where a lot of 
hymns started to get written so 

950
00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:30,560
that theology could be sung and 
remembered. 

951
00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:33,040
It had a purpose. 
Can you see how like each move 

952
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:36,120
of God has contributed to making
sure that people were connecting

953
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:39,360
to God, even if it's not, again,
your cup of tea where you go. 

954
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:42,040
And then you have the Methodist 
movement, which carried worship 

955
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,720
into daily life. 
Worship extended beyond 

956
00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:47,200
gathering into services into 
like acts of mercy. 

957
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:49,800
So much of the outreach in 
hospitals and things like that 

958
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:51,320
happens from the Methodist 
movement. 

959
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,440
If you enjoy a small group at 
this church, you got the 

960
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,520
Methodist movement to thank for 
it because they were really big 

961
00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:00,520
on having congregational 
participation, not just in 

962
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:04,200
singing, but in these acts of 
growing together and music 

963
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:08,080
supported, you know, a worship 
of course, but having that 

964
00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:09,720
interpersonal was really big for
them. 

965
00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:12,520
Well, then let's Fast forward a 
little bit to the Baptist 

966
00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:13,880
movement. 
Well, the Baptist movement, can 

967
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:17,080
you guess what they emphasized? 
How did you know that? 

968
00:48:18,160 --> 00:48:21,520
It's in the name? 
But here's why baptism matters 

969
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,040
to them. 
They really emphasize on a 

970
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:27,640
personal response to God. 
And baptism, while still being 

971
00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:30,520
important, is something that 
wasn't really highlighted for a 

972
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:32,360
long time. 
And they said no, no, no, this 

973
00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:34,200
is personal. 
Listen, if nobody else on this 

974
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:36,000
earth exists, this is about you 
and God. 

975
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:38,240
Will you say yes or will you say
no? 

976
00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:42,080
And buddy, they can get you to 
say, yes, I've been saved a long

977
00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:44,360
time and I know some Baptist 
ministers and they could get me 

978
00:48:44,360 --> 00:48:46,120
saved if I went to their church 
on Sunday. 

979
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,360
The charismatic movement that 
came throughout the 70s, 

980
00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:53,880
eighties and all of that, well, 
it highlighted the work of the 

981
00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:56,840
Holy Spirit and worship 
expression became freer and the 

982
00:48:56,840 --> 00:48:58,760
gifts of the Spirit were not 
just welcomed, they were 

983
00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:02,040
actually asked for. 
And worship was often marked 

984
00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:05,240
with things like passion and 
expectancy. 

985
00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:09,480
And, and that's where a lot of 
like our stuff came from out of 

986
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:13,200
the, the 80s from our, our 
church, not church, but our, our

987
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:15,800
Bible college background. 
And today in a lot of non 

988
00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:18,240
denominational churches, you see
that worship blends elements 

989
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:21,320
from all of these traditions. 
But here's the problem with it. 

990
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:25,200
The more modern stuff that you 
have where it's all emotional. 

991
00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:28,560
Have you ever like seen a church
promote something and say like, 

992
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:30,680
Hey, join us for a life changing
night. 

993
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:33,880
Come out for an encounter with 
the, with the most high God. 

994
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:36,200
Come out and get a fresh word 
from the Lord. 

995
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:38,600
You don't know that those things
are going to happen. 

996
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:41,000
Can they happen? 
For sure. 

997
00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:43,000
Why? 
Just a crazy thought. 

998
00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:47,040
Why don't you let God decide if 
he wants to speak to somebody? 

999
00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:49,400
Because I'm going to tell you 
what If you want to damage the 

1000
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:52,000
Kingdom of God, promise somebody
that they're going to get a word

1001
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:57,720
if they come to church. 
And if they don't, you think 

1002
00:49:57,720 --> 00:50:01,440
they're in a hurry to come back.
You can't promise it. 

1003
00:50:01,720 --> 00:50:04,120
These things do happen. 
We welcome the miracles, God. 

1004
00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:06,520
We want you to speak to us. 
We want you to give us fresh 

1005
00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:11,920
revelation, but in your way and 
in your time over the past few 

1006
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:15,160
years, there's been a, a really 
sobering moment in the wider 

1007
00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:16,880
church that's caught a lot of 
people's attention. 

1008
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:19,520
And it happens over and over 
again in a couple different 

1009
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,160
ways. 
I'll just, I'll just talk about 

1010
00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:24,240
the most recent one. 
Bethel Church. 

1011
00:50:24,240 --> 00:50:26,040
We sing some songs that came out
of Bethel. 

1012
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:28,880
It's not where most of our songs
come from, but we have, they're 

1013
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:31,480
known around the world for their
music, Jesus culture and Bethel 

1014
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:34,400
music and all that. 
But they really at their church 

1015
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:37,960
services have a heavy emphasis 
on spiritual experiences, public

1016
00:50:37,960 --> 00:50:40,960
miracles and all of this. 
And they just recently publicly 

1017
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,400
admitted that they mishandled 
concerns about somebody that 

1018
00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:46,280
they helped make famous because 
they gave him a platform. 

1019
00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:48,760
And as he would stand up there, 
he would give out false 

1020
00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:52,600
prophecies and there was sexual 
harassment. 

1021
00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:55,120
And when I talk about false 
prophecies, I'm talking about 

1022
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:58,320
like, OK, I'm not a false 
prophet. 

1023
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:04,320
But listen, one time I saw that 
somebody had checked in at 

1024
00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:07,240
Liberty Church on Facebook. 
This was, gosh, maybe probably 7

1025
00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:09,080
years ago or something. 
And they said, think I'm going 

1026
00:51:09,080 --> 00:51:11,400
to try out this new church. 
And this guy's name was Matt. 

1027
00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:15,920
Anyway, I come over here, it's a
Wednesday night, but I'd seen it

1028
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:18,840
because they tagged the church 
and I'm one of the managers of 

1029
00:51:18,840 --> 00:51:20,440
the page. 
And when I saw him here, 

1030
00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:23,080
somebody said, hey, Pastor 
Blake, I want you to meet him. 

1031
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:26,040
And I went Matt and he went, 
have we met? 

1032
00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,720
And I said, Holy Spirit told me 
and he went, what? 

1033
00:51:30,720 --> 00:51:32,480
And I went, no, I I saw your 
Facebook thing. 

1034
00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:35,120
And he went, oh, OK. 
And he was here for a long time.

1035
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:36,680
He's part of the singles 
ministry and all that. 

1036
00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:40,800
C2 But the reason I bring that 
up is because this guy that was 

1037
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:45,040
speaking at Bethel would look 
people up on social media, find 

1038
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:47,280
out things about them and then 
give them words. 

1039
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:54,400
And he would do it to increase 
his influence, especially with 

1040
00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:59,560
one of the genders, right? 
Here's what stands out here. 

1041
00:51:59,560 --> 00:52:03,200
Some people are so hungry for 
God, they don't realize how much

1042
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:06,280
access they already have. 
And they'll go to anybody if 

1043
00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:08,360
they feel like that person can 
give them access. 

1044
00:52:08,960 --> 00:52:11,680
When a church becomes known 
primarily for atmosphere or 

1045
00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:15,040
emotion or spiritual moments, it
can be tempting to look at it 

1046
00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:16,440
and say that church must be 
healthy. 

1047
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:21,320
It is not always the case. 
In this case, the worship for a 

1048
00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:25,600
lot of people was real, but 
there were still wicked things 

1049
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:27,280
that were happening behind the 
scenes. 

1050
00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:30,080
And I only share that to say, 
may that moment serve as a 

1051
00:52:30,080 --> 00:52:32,560
warning for all of us that 
worship is more than emotion, 

1052
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:34,920
but it's never less than your 
emotion. 

1053
00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:38,800
To some people come willing to 
crack their heart open because 

1054
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:40,720
they just, they want to pour out
their emotion. 

1055
00:52:40,720 --> 00:52:42,760
They want this. 
It's almost like it's catharsis.

1056
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:45,720
They got to get it out. 
Some people say, I don't want to

1057
00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:48,720
be fake, so I won't engage in 
any emotion at all. 

1058
00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:53,920
Both ways you're focused on 
yourself and just from what I've

1059
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:55,600
learned, it's really hard to 
worship when you're focused on 

1060
00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:58,520
yourself. 
So just remember that worship is

1061
00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:00,920
more than your emotion, but it's
also not less than it. 

1062
00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:05,880
Well, I'm just going to give you
a couple things as we leave. 

1063
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:09,480
What do you, if you really want 
to worship in spirit and truth? 

1064
00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:12,400
Couple things that I just want 
to share with you. 

1065
00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:14,720
The first thing is to see 
corporate worship worship 

1066
00:53:14,720 --> 00:53:15,920
differently than private 
worship. 

1067
00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:17,560
What's corporate worship? 
We're together. 

1068
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:21,440
It's not a corporation. 
When you worship alone, it's 

1069
00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:23,080
personal. 
You can bring your burdens, your

1070
00:53:23,080 --> 00:53:25,080
prayers, your questions. 
You can be as loud as you want 

1071
00:53:25,240 --> 00:53:27,440
when you come here. 
You are worshiping together as 

1072
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:31,120
the body and as the family. 
And so part of your worship is 

1073
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:33,560
to look out for one another, to 
follow up with one another, to 

1074
00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:35,600
make sure that you know when 
you're doing this, you're not 

1075
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:36,960
slapping your neighbor in the 
face. 

1076
00:53:36,960 --> 00:53:39,080
If it happens, say I'm sorry, 
it's OK. 

1077
00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:45,440
Sometimes that means when you 
show up, you sing when you don't

1078
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:47,360
feel like it because you're 
there together. 

1079
00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:50,480
That means sometimes when you're
here, you're sitting next to 

1080
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:54,080
someone that you'd rather not, 
but you're next to your brother 

1081
00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:56,280
or your sister. 
Sometimes that means that you 

1082
00:53:56,280 --> 00:53:58,240
stay engaged. 
Even if the song wasn't your 

1083
00:53:58,240 --> 00:54:00,280
favorite. 
They're doing that song again. 

1084
00:54:02,240 --> 00:54:04,680
But you weren't really here for 
the song selection, were you? 

1085
00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:06,200
You were here for the Spirit of 
God, right? 

1086
00:54:06,440 --> 00:54:10,680
OK #2 Give your body permission 
to respond. 

1087
00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:12,680
And here's what I want you to 
know. 

1088
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:16,040
Yeah, He gets it. 
Give your body permission to 

1089
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:18,640
respond. 
And here's what here's what I 

1090
00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:20,640
want to tell you. 
If you're like Pastor Blake, I'm

1091
00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:22,240
never going to be the guy to put
my hands up. 

1092
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:24,800
That's all right. 
As long as you feel like you 

1093
00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:29,000
have the permission to do it. 
Maybe like, I don't know, tap 

1094
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:30,360
your finger on the seat in front
of you. 

1095
00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:34,240
OK, Move to it a little bit. 
And the reason I say that is 

1096
00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:36,840
because when your body engages 
in something, your heart engages

1097
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:40,280
in it, too. 
Could you imagine if you were, 

1098
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:43,600
if you're playing, I don't know,
soccer or something, and you're 

1099
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:45,320
on defence and you stand there 
like this? 

1100
00:54:46,080 --> 00:54:53,080
Whoa, that one went real fast. 
How do I know how to play like 

1101
00:54:53,080 --> 00:54:54,000
that? 
That's how I played. 

1102
00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:57,480
I'm just kidding. 
Give your body permission to 

1103
00:54:57,480 --> 00:54:58,480
respond. 
Listen to me. 

1104
00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:01,440
The Bible is full of physical 
expressions of worship. 

1105
00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:03,680
As you read through it, it talks
about lifting hands. 

1106
00:55:03,960 --> 00:55:07,880
It talks about bowing, kneeling,
standing on purpose, singing out

1107
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:09,360
loud. 
Raising hands isn't a 

1108
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:11,360
requirement. 
It's also not a performance, but

1109
00:55:11,360 --> 00:55:14,480
it is a biblical expression. 
So when you read and you notice 

1110
00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:17,520
that it says lifting holy hands,
it's talking about something. 

1111
00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:20,520
I just want to tell you if 
you've ever thought about 

1112
00:55:20,520 --> 00:55:23,440
engaging in it, raising hands 
can feel awkward or unfamiliar, 

1113
00:55:23,440 --> 00:55:25,840
but a lot of times growth starts
with discomfort. 

1114
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:29,280
I remember thinking, I'm not 
putting my hands up here because

1115
00:55:29,280 --> 00:55:31,680
the two places I came from 
before, they don't do that and I

1116
00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:33,440
feel weird and everybody's going
to look at me. 

1117
00:55:34,360 --> 00:55:37,480
First of all, somebody said one 
time, no, everybody's looking at

1118
00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:38,680
you because you're not putting 
your hands up. 

1119
00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:40,960
Here's the reality. 
Nobody was looking at me at all 

1120
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:46,000
with my hands down or up. 
Nobody was looking at me at all.

1121
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:47,920
And if they were, they weren't 
worshipping. 

1122
00:55:50,560 --> 00:55:52,960
I love it because it's a release
for me, but it's not a 

1123
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:56,440
requirement #3 I would just tell
you, allow yourself to engage 

1124
00:55:56,440 --> 00:55:58,880
emotionally, but don't be ruled 
by your emotion. 

1125
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:02,600
Worship is not the sum of your 
emotions. 

1126
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:08,160
Right, But it's also not less if
you start to feel because of the

1127
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:11,160
words you're singing, joy, 
gratitude, repentance, peace, if

1128
00:56:11,160 --> 00:56:14,400
you start to have tears even, it
just means that truth is 

1129
00:56:14,400 --> 00:56:15,680
reaching your heart. 
It's OK. 

1130
00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:20,080
Let it #4 This is something most
Christians actually don't do. 

1131
00:56:20,600 --> 00:56:23,400
Prepare for worship. 
Don't just show up. 

1132
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:26,680
We'll talk a little bit about 
preparation on Sunday, whether 

1133
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:30,280
it's live or not. 
But one of the most overlooked 

1134
00:56:30,280 --> 00:56:32,240
aspects of worship is 
preparation. 

1135
00:56:32,720 --> 00:56:35,120
You can prepare your hearts 
throughout the week by prayer, 

1136
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:38,480
confession to the Lord, writing 
out your gratitude, and laying 

1137
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:41,400
out your expectations to Him 
when you've been talking to Him 

1138
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:42,960
all week. 
And then you get to sing 

1139
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:45,120
together. 
It's different than when you 

1140
00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:46,840
show up and you're like, well, 
here's the first part of church 

1141
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:50,200
service. 
This is especially important as 

1142
00:56:50,200 --> 00:56:52,160
we approach night of worship 
next week. 

1143
00:56:52,720 --> 00:56:54,560
I'm feeling like it's something 
special and I don't even know 

1144
00:56:54,560 --> 00:56:56,560
why other than it's always 
special. 

1145
00:56:58,280 --> 00:57:00,400
And the last thing I would tell 
you here is just remember that 

1146
00:57:00,400 --> 00:57:02,240
worship continues when the music
stops. 

1147
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:06,800
It flows from what you saying, 
if you meant those words into 

1148
00:57:06,800 --> 00:57:09,960
obedience and service and 
generosity and forgiveness and 

1149
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:12,000
love. 
It's how you speak and forgive. 

1150
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:14,400
It's holistic, just like the 
early believers. 

1151
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:18,040
Guys, we have so much more 
freedom to worship now, but it 

1152
00:57:18,040 --> 00:57:19,800
doesn't mean you get to do 
whatever you want. 

1153
00:57:19,840 --> 00:57:22,160
It should manifest in the things
that matter to God. 

1154
00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:25,400
I'm just going to leave you with
one scripture because the one 

1155
00:57:25,400 --> 00:57:28,800
area I didn't talk about is 
future worship. 

1156
00:57:29,680 --> 00:57:32,200
So I just want to read to you 
from the Book of Revelation 

1157
00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:38,640
Chapter 7, it says in verse 9 it
says, after this I saw a vast 

1158
00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:42,440
crowd too great to count from 
every nation and tribe and 

1159
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:45,160
people in language, standing in 
front of the throne and before 

1160
00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:48,480
the Lamb. 
They were clothed in white robes

1161
00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:51,760
and held palm branches in their 
hands, and they were shouting 

1162
00:57:51,760 --> 00:57:54,240
with a great roar. 
Salvation comes from our God who

1163
00:57:54,240 --> 00:57:56,360
sits on the throne and from the 
Lamb. 

1164
00:57:57,920 --> 00:58:00,320
And all the angels were standing
around the throne and around the

1165
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:03,040
elders and the four living 
beings, and they all fell before

1166
00:58:03,040 --> 00:58:06,520
the throne with their faces to 
the ground and worshipped God. 

1167
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:10,560
They saying Amen. 
Blessing and glory and wisdom 

1168
00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:14,280
and Thanksgiving and honor and 
power and strength belong to our

1169
00:58:14,280 --> 00:58:16,640
God forever and ever. 
Amen. 

1170
00:58:17,960 --> 00:58:20,760
What John is writing here is he 
is seeing worship without 

1171
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:23,600
barriers. 
There are no temple courts here.

1172
00:58:23,600 --> 00:58:26,480
There's no restricted access. 
There's no divisions by nation 

1173
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:28,760
or language or status or 
background. 

1174
00:58:29,120 --> 00:58:31,640
People from every tribe and 
tongue worshipping together. 

1175
00:58:31,880 --> 00:58:34,720
And by the way, not confused 
about how to worship or where to

1176
00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:38,240
go or if they belong, just being
fully present before God. 

1177
00:58:39,760 --> 00:58:41,520
So the last thought that I want 
to give you is one that I 

1178
00:58:41,520 --> 00:58:43,520
mentioned earlier. 
I just want you to think about 

1179
00:58:43,520 --> 00:58:44,840
this. 
What's so beautiful about all of

1180
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:46,680
this? 
The worship that you practice 

1181
00:58:46,680 --> 00:58:48,160
now is really just your 
rehearsal. 

1182
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:51,720
It's just your rehearsal for 
what we're going to do for 

1183
00:58:51,720 --> 00:58:55,440
eternity. 
So let's get strong in it. 

1184
00:58:55,960 --> 00:58:59,920
Let's get skilled in it. 
Train your hands for battle and 

1185
00:58:59,920 --> 00:59:01,880
then put them up here in the 
fight, right? 

1186
00:59:02,720 --> 00:59:04,960
We're practicing for eternity 
and it matters. 

1187
00:59:05,800 --> 00:59:08,040
Hey, God, I just, I just thank 
you for tonight. 

1188
00:59:08,040 --> 00:59:10,280
I thank you for people that are 
willing to come out in 20° 

1189
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:14,040
weather. 
God, thank you for your presence

1190
00:59:14,040 --> 00:59:16,280
tonight. 
Before we go any further, we 

1191
00:59:16,280 --> 00:59:18,960
just pray for protection and 
safety around Eastern Carolina 

1192
00:59:18,960 --> 00:59:22,320
this weekend as a winter storm 
hits and it it could provide a 

1193
00:59:22,320 --> 00:59:24,400
lot of conditions that a lot of 
people are unfamiliar with. 

1194
00:59:24,400 --> 00:59:26,520
Would you just take care of 
people and put the right people 

1195
00:59:26,520 --> 00:59:28,880
around each other so we can 
still look out for one another? 

1196
00:59:29,160 --> 00:59:31,880
Continue to gross into the 
church that you desire for us to

1197
00:59:31,880 --> 00:59:34,600
be. 
And God, we just thank you for 

1198
00:59:34,720 --> 00:59:36,600
the ability to talk about what 
worship is. 

1199
00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:38,840
And we are just looking forward 
to putting it into practice in a

1200
00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:41,440
week. 
Well, we're looking forward to 

1201
00:59:41,440 --> 00:59:44,240
putting into practice tonight, 
but God, when we come back 

1202
00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:47,120
together in a week for a night 
of nothing but worship, Father, 

1203
00:59:47,120 --> 00:59:49,120
we're already inviting your 
Spirit to be here. 

1204
00:59:49,720 --> 00:59:52,280
Do whatever you want to and 
don't feel like you have to do 

1205
00:59:52,280 --> 00:59:55,360
anything you don't want to. 
You're the King, and we love 

1206
00:59:55,360 --> 00:59:56,600
you. 
Father, in the name of Jesus, 

1207
00:59:56,880 --> 00:59:57,160
Amen.