Session 1: MATTER

Summary

The video script explores the concept of true worship, contrasting it with a typical concert setting and emphasizing that worship is a personal and passionate response to God's presence and revelation. It discusses the importance of sincerity and personal connection in worship, referencing biblical figures like King David and Jesus' teachings in John 4. The speaker encourages viewers to reflect on their own worship practices and to strive to be true worshipers who bring glory to God.

Takeaways

• 🎭 The session aims to distinguish between a worship setting and a concert setting, emphasizing the importance of understanding the difference beyond superficial elements like music style or lights.
• 🕊 The presence of God is the defining factor in worship, not the external aspects of the setting.
• 🏛 The location of the session, the Church of the Visitation, is significant as it symbolizes the importance of the visitation of Jesus, which is foundational to worship.
• 📜 Worship is described as a response to God's revelation, not just a musical expression but also including confession, repentance, prayer, and service.
• 🌟 D.A. Carson's quote highlights that worship is the proper response of the creature to the creator, indicating that worship is not something we create but a response to God's initiative.
• 📖 John 4:23-24 is a key scripture, teaching that true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth, which is rooted in the presence of Christ.
• 🙏 Personal relationship with God is essential in worship; it should be personal and not just a collective or impersonal act.
• 🔥 Worship should be passionate and sincere, reflecting the heart's engagement with God, as opposed to mere outward performance.
• 💧 Psalm 62 and Psalm 143 illustrate the personal and passionate nature of worship, showing the thirst for God's presence in the worshipper's life.
• 🌱 The script encourages introspection about the authenticity of one's worship, acknowledging that sometimes worship can be insincere or mechanical.
• 🌟 John Calvin's quote is used to emphasize that the ultimate goal of human existence is to be counted among the worshippers of God, highlighting the centrality of worship in the believer's life.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the study 'True Worshipers'?

The main theme of the study is to define and understand the difference between a worship setting and a concert setting, emphasizing that worship is about the presence of God and is not limited to musical expressions.

Why does the speaker describe an auditorium and a stage at the beginning of the session?

The speaker describes an auditorium and a stage to set the scene and prompt the audience to think about the setting of worship, challenging them to consider the difference between a worship setting and a concert setting.

What is the significance of the church of the visitation in the context of this study?

The church of the visitation is significant because it is where the sessions are being filmed, and it symbolizes the importance of the presence of Christ in worship, as depicted in the mosaic of Mary's visit to Elizabeth.

How does the speaker define worship according to the script?

The speaker defines worship as a response to God's revelation, where God reveals Himself and people respond. Worship is not limited to musical expressions but can include confession, repentance, Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and serving in ministry.

What does D.A. Carson say about worship and its relationship to the creature and the Creator?

D.A. Carson says that worship is the proper response of the creature to the Creator. It does not create something new but is a transparent response to the recognition of our creaturely status before the Creator.

What does the speaker emphasize about worship in John chapter 4?

The speaker emphasizes that worship begins with the presence of Christ, as illustrated in Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, where He discusses the importance of true worshipers and worshiping in spirit and truth.

What qualities does the speaker suggest are important for a true worshiper according to the script?

The speaker suggests that true worshipers should be personal and passionate, engaging their hearts sincerely in their worship of God.

How does the speaker interpret Psalm 62:1-2 in relation to worship?

The speaker interprets Psalm 62:1-2 as an example of personal worship, where David demonstrates that for him, God is a personal God, and his worship is deeply personal and individual.

What does the speaker mean when they say 'we have to own our own worship'?

The speaker means that each person must engage in worship in a way that is personal and heartfelt, rather than simply participating in someone else's worship experience, such as that of a performer on a stage.

What quote from John Calvin does the speaker find particularly impactful?

The impactful quote from John Calvin is that we should consider it the great end of our existence to be found numbered among the worshippers of God, emphasizing the ultimate purpose of life as worship.

How does the speaker describe the role reversal in worship compared to a concert?

The speaker describes the role reversal in worship as being 'flip-flopped' from a concert setting, where in worship, the congregation are the performers offering their worship to God, who is the audience.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Defining True Worship vs. Performance

The session introduces the topic of distinguishing between a worship setting and a concert setting, using the imagery of an auditorium and stage to prompt reflection on the presence of God as the key differentiator. The speaker emphasizes that true worship is not about style or external elements but about a response to God's revelation. The setting is established at the Church of the Visitation, symbolizing the beginning of worship with the visitation of Jesus. Worship is defined as a response to God's self-revelation, not limited to music but including various forms of spiritual engagement.

05:00

🌟 The Essence of True Worshipers

This paragraph delves into the biblical foundation of worship, highlighting Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman as a pivotal moment that underscores worship's reliance on God's presence. Key verses from John 4:23-24 are discussed, emphasizing that true worshipers worship in spirit and truth, seeking a personal and sincere relationship with God. The qualities of personal and passionate worship are explored through the examples of King David's Psalms and the teachings of Jesus, urging participants to engage in worship that is heartfelt and genuine.

10:01

🙌 The Role of Worshipers in God's Plan

The final paragraph focuses on the role of worshipers in God's grand narrative, suggesting that being a worshiper is the ultimate purpose of human existence. It challenges the traditional roles of performer and audience in a worship context, proposing that worshipers are the performers and God is the audience. The speaker encourages personal ownership of one's worship, aiming to please God in all endeavors. The section concludes with a quote from Danielle Franklin, highlighting the importance of trying to worship God, despite the enormity of the task, as an expression of love and devotion.

Keywords

💡Worship

Worship, in the context of the video, is the act of showing reverence and adoration for a deity, specifically God. It is central to the theme, as the video aims to distinguish worship from other forms of performance and to explore the nature of true worship. The script uses the term to discuss the difference between worship settings and concert settings, emphasizing that worship is not about the style of music but the presence of God.

💡Presence of God

The 'presence of God' is a key concept in the video, indicating the divine influence or manifestation that initiates worship. It is mentioned as the fundamental difference between a worship setting and a concert setting. The script suggests that worship begins with recognizing and responding to God's presence, as illustrated in the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth from Luke chapter one.

💡True Worshipers

The term 'true worshipers' is used to describe individuals who engage in worship that is genuine and deeply personal. The video script explores the qualities of true worshipers, such as personal connection and passion, and contrasts them with superficial or insincere worship. It is highlighted in John 4:23-24, where Jesus speaks about the kind of worship God seeks.

💡Spirit and Truth

'Spirit and truth' is a phrase from John 4:24, used in the script to describe the nature of worship that God seeks. It implies that worship should come from an authentic, heartfelt place (spirit) and align with the divine truth revealed in scripture. The video emphasizes that worship is more than just external expressions but must be rooted in sincerity and alignment with God's word.

💡Revelation

Revelation, in this context, refers to God's self-disclosure or the unveiling of divine truths. The script defines worship as a response to God's revelation, meaning that when God reveals Himself, believers respond with worship. This concept is foundational to understanding worship as a reaction to encountering God's character and actions.

💡Personal God

The 'personal God' concept highlights the intimate relationship believers can have with God. The video script uses examples from King David's Psalms to illustrate how worshipers should have a personal connection with God, making worship deeply individual and heartfelt rather than a mere ritual or performance.

💡Passion

Passion is described in the script as a key quality of true worshipers. It is the fervor and intensity with which they engage in worship, reflecting a deep longing and desire for God. The script contrasts passion with mere external compliance, emphasizing the need for worship to be heartfelt and genuine.

💡Sincerity

Sincerity in the video refers to the genuineness and authenticity of a worshiper's devotion. It is tied to the concept of 'spirit and truth,' suggesting that worship should not be hypocritical or insincere. The script warns against going through the motions of worship without genuine engagement of the heart.

💡Worship Setting

A 'worship setting' is the environment or context in which worship takes place. The script initially uses the description of an auditorium and stage to challenge the viewer to distinguish between a worship setting and a concert setting, ultimately concluding that the presence of God, not the environment, defines worship.

💡Concert Setting

A 'concert setting' is used in the script as a contrasting concept to a worship setting. It helps to illustrate the superficial similarities between the two and to highlight the importance of the presence of God in worship. The script suggests that without God's presence, even a setting designed for worship can become indistinguishable from a concert.

💡John the Baptist

John the Baptist is mentioned in the script as part of the story from Luke chapter one, where he leaps in Elizabeth's womb upon Mary's visit, symbolizing the beginning of worship through the presence of Christ. His reaction to Mary's pregnancy with Jesus illustrates the script's point that worship is a response to divine revelation and presence.

Highlights

Introduction to the study of true worshipers with the aim to distinguish between worship and concert settings.

The importance of recognizing the difference between worship and a concert setting lies in the presence of God, not the style of music or other external factors.

Worship begins with God's presence, as illustrated by the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth in Luke chapter one.

Definition of worship as a response to God's revelation, not limited to musical expressions but including confession, repentance, bible study, prayer, and more.

D.A. Carson's view that worship is the proper response of the creature to the creator, emphasizing our creaturely status before God.

The scriptural basis for worship starting with the presence of Christ, as seen in John chapter 4.

Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well highlighting the necessity of worshiping in spirit and truth.

Bob Coughlin's perspective on why God seeks true worshipers and the value He places on sincere worship.

The qualities of true worshipers as seen in King David's personal relationship with God and his passionate worship.

The necessity for worship to be personal and owned by the individual, reflecting a deep connection with God.

The importance of worship being passionate and sincere, aligning with the truth of God's word.

The challenge of maintaining heartfelt worship and avoiding mere outward performance.

John Calvin's quote emphasizing the ultimate goal of existence as being numbered among God's worshippers.

The transformative idea that in worship, we are the performers and God is the audience.

Danielle Franklin's insight on the value God finds in our attempts to worship Him, despite the enormity of the task.

The overarching theme of scripture focusing on God bringing glory to Himself through Jesus Christ and the role of the worshipper in this narrative.

Transcripts

so

i want to welcome you to session one of

the study true worshipers i'm glad that

you've joined us for this study

i want to begin by describing something

for you and i want to see if you can

guess what it is

i'm just going to use a few words

the words are an auditorium

and a stage

i want you to imagine a performer

an audience

the stage lights are turned up

the house lights are turned down what

have i just described

well if you've been a christian for any

number of years in the western world

maybe you're going to assume because of

the study that we're in that i've just

described a worship setting

if you're a non-christian or you're new

to faith maybe you're going to assume

that i've just described a concert or a

show

and it begs the question what's the

difference between the two how can we

tell the difference between a worship

setting and a concert setting well i

hope that by the end of our nine

sessions together you'll be able to

define with laser clarity the difference

between the two but not just in that

example i hope that by the end of our

study you'll be able to define with

laser clarity what is a true

worshiper because there is a world of

difference between those two paradigms

that i just described and that

difference has absolutely nothing to do

with with style of music or dress or

lights or technology or location or

anything like that

what makes the difference in worship

is the presence of god

and that's what i want to talk about in

this session worship begins with god's

presence

we are shooting these sessions from the

church of the visitation

this is a chapel that is owned by

cornerstone church here in springfield

missouri they do a lot of weddings here

there's a mansion just on the other side

of this building it's a really great

location

this was owned by an order of nuns of

the church of the visitation there's a

mosaic behind me that depicts the scene

from luke chapter one where the virgin

mary comes to visit her cousin elizabeth

both of these women are expecting inside

of mary is jesus the messiah inside of

her cousin elizabeth is john the baptist

so when mary goes to visit elizabeth we

find that elizabeth breaks out into

praise she blesses god and she blesses

mary and even john the baptist gets in

on the action and he leaps and he jumps

inside of elizabeth because worship

begins with the presence of christ

worship begins with the visitation

of

jesus

it's kind of hard i think to define

worship

in our western world we like to do that

we like to define things we like to put

parameters around things because if we

can understand it then we can usually

conquer it you can't do that with

worship worship is bigger than that but

of all the definitions that i've heard

one of the best i think is that worship

is a response to god's revelation

worship is a response to god's

revelation god reveals himself and then

we respond this would be a good point

just to make sure that we get this out

of the way as we get started in this

study and in the other nine sessions

that the understanding of worship cannot

be limited to just musical expressions

we do that a lot we say when the worship

is over then we hear the sermon and i

think we all know what that means we're

talking about the music but worship is

not limited to musical expressions of

praise

worship can be confession it can be

repentance it can be bible study prayer

studying god's word

it can be the fellowship of believers it

can be serving in ministry there are all

different ways that we can respond

as acts of worship to the way that god

has revealed himself and that's how

we're going to refer to worship

throughout this study so whenever you

hear that word we're not just talking

about musical expressions of praise

we're talking about ways that we can

respond to god's revelation

i really like what d.a carson says

worship is the proper response of the

creature to the creator

worship does not create something new

rather it is a transparent response to

what is a recognition

of our creaturely status before the

creator

himself

you see what carson is saying is we

don't have the power to create a worship

experience

we don't have the power to do that only

god can do that he's the creator we

facilitate those moments through the

power of the spirit but god is the one

that initiates worship it begins with

his presence

and you can't study worship without

turning to john chapter 4 where jesus

has this encounter with the samaritan

woman at the well

and in verse 4 of that chapter it says

that jesus had to go through samaria he

had to go there he had to go there to

have this conversation with the

samaritan woman he had to go there to

have this conversation about worship he

had to because worship begins with the

presence of christ it always has and it

always will

now hopefully you took some time in your

group to read this section of scripture

before we got started if you haven't i'd

like you to pause the dvd and read that

scripture together but i want to

highlight just a couple verses in john

chapter 4 verses 23 and 24

but the hour is coming and is now here

when the true worshipers will worship

the father in spirit and truth for the

father is seeking such people to worship

him god is spirit and those who worship

him must worship in spirit and truth

worship begins with the presence of god

and i really like how bob coughlin says

it in his book true worshipers

why is god seeking something

surely the all-knowing all-seeing one

doesn't lose things

and it's not as though a self-sufficient

god has any needs why would god seek

anything

we seek what's important to us

we seek what has value

and god is seeking true worshipers

because true worshipers matter to god

so what kind of worshipers are we

supposed to be if god is looking for

worshipers people who will honor him

what kind of qualities is he looking for

let me just pick on two

next to jesus probably the best

worshiper in scripture is going to be

king david david wrote about half of the

psalms that we have in our bible and one

of the qualities that you see in david's

writings is that for david

god was a personal god

so worshipers

get

personal worshipers get personal

we see this as an example in psalm 62

verses 1 to 2.

for god alone my soul waits in silence

from him comes my salvation

he alone is my rock and my salvation my

fortress i shall not be shaken

you see for david

god is a personal god

and so his worship got personal i mean i

get it we should be reverent in worship

god is holy

god is set apart from us god is

transcendent

but that doesn't mean he's distant

god wants to be close he wants to be

personal i love this promise in james

chapter 4 verse 8 where it says draw

near to god and he will draw near to you

that's because god wants worshipers who

will worship him personally

one of the ways that i've said this here

lately is that we have to own

our own worship we can't own somebody

else's worship like on a sunday morning

you can't own somebody's worship on the

platform you have to own your own

worship because god is a personal god

and he wants his worshipers to get

personal the second quality is that

worshipers get passionate

psalm 143 6

says i stretch out my hands to you my

soul thirsts for you like a parched land

and then reflecting on jesus comment in

john 4 24 bob coughlin writes this

broadly speaking worship in spirit and

truth is worship that springs from a

sincere heart and lines up with the

truth of god's word god is looking for

passion and sincerity in the worshipper

let me be transparent with you

sometimes my worship is not always from

the heart

sometimes i go through the motions i

don't think i'm alone in this

i mean

have you ever had like a morning bible

study and then when you're done like

moments later you're struggling in an

area of sin that that scripture directly

spoke on

have you ever

prayed with a selfish motive

have you ever sung the song sung the

worship songs and

and

not really engaged the heart i think

we've all done that

jesus identifies those kinds of

qualities

in the lives of the pharisees

they look good on the outside but

they're not engaging the heart

what god is looking for are people who

will worship him passionately with

sincerity

from the heart

our bibles begin with this

in the beginning

god

and from beginning to end the theme of

scripture

is all about god bringing glory to

himself through jesus christ

is that true in your life

from beginning to end is it about

being a worshiper being a true worshiper

this has become one of my favorite new

quotes it's not a new quote but it's new

to me

because 450 years ago john calvin said

this

we should consider it the great end of

our existence to be found numbered among

the worshippers of god

think about that the great end of our

existence

just to be around the throne just to be

worshiping god that is the beginning and

the end of who i was created to be and

that is the beginning and the end of who

you were created to be

i want you to go back to the scene that

i described at the beginning of this

session where you had an auditorium and

a stage and you had a performer and an

audience

in your mind's eye maybe you put the

performer on the stage

and the crowd of people

in the room

in worship it's flip-flopped

in worship it's flip-flop

because

we are the performers

and god

is the audience we're the ones

that are offering our worship

to him

and i hope that every day in your life

that's true

i want to close with this quote from a

former professor of mine danielle

franklin she wrote this

when we attempt to worship god

whose vastness and superiority are

incomprehensible

he knows that the task is too big for us

but much of worship concerns wanting to

please him

and i believe he loves us

when we try

you