Here We Are to Worship

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 5th of October, 2025.  This service is the first of our hybrid series - part traditional and part modern.  In this service, held on World Communion Sunday, we also participated in Holy Communion with our Lord Jesus.  A recording of our service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Jesus passed a loaf of bread and a cup of wine around His twelve disciples and commanded them, and us, to eat and drink in remembrance of Him.  The bread is His body, broken for our sake – Jesus taking our punishment upon Himself.  The cup is the new covenant God made with us, sealed by the blood of Jesus, the Spotless Lamb whose blood washes us clean of our sin.  When we share the bread and the cup in remembrance of Jesus, we worship our God for His grace and mercy.  That is why we are here this morning, to worship our loving, gracious, merciful God.

We all know about the meeting and conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in Sychar.  Jesus asked for a drink of water and she scoffed at Him, for a Jew would never even talk to a Samaritan woman, let alone drink from her cup.  So Jesus told her a little about her life, things He had no way of knowing, and she began to believe.

Please listen as the Apostle John picks up the story from there, as recorded in the 4th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 19 through 26, and as read from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you all say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 Yet the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.”

25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

--John 4:19-26 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You are so very good to us and we thank You for all Your many blessings, including the blessing of our bible and everything in it that tells us about Your Son Jesus and Your great kingdom.  Father, even though we are disobedient children, prone to stumble and stray from the path of righteousness, we still plead for Your continued blessings, for we know we cannot get through another day without You.  Please help us ignore and avoid all the ways of the world that try to pull us away from You.  Help us return hatred with love, violence with prayer and forgiveness.  Help us be more like Your Son Jesus as we walk through this life.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us.  Tell each of us what we need to hear.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Pastor Rick Warren wrote a book titled The Purpose Driven Life, and A. W. Tozer titled one of his books, The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship.  Both books answered the age-old question:  “Why am I here?”

Why are we here?  Why are we here on this earth?

I imagine each of us has posed that rhetorical question ourselves at one time or another, or had it asked of us.  Warren and Tozer both say that we are here, at this place in this time, to worship and serve God.  But then the world forces its way in and pushes all that aside.  And, at best, we’re left with an hour or two on Sunday mornings.  So each Sunday morning I open our service with a call to worship: “Come, let us worship our Father God”.

That is why we should be here, each one of us, to worship God and for no other reason.  There should be no personal agenda involved, nothing that would dilute just spending a little time with God, in the presence of His Son.  We’re not here to show off, or just to see our friends.  We’re certainly not here to be mindlessly entertained.  We are here to worship God, in words, in songs, in giving, in prayer.  In all things and all ways, let us worship our God, for He is an awesome God.

Now, someone may ask how do I worship?  What is involved with worship?  Am I doing it right by being here, by sitting here, by listening and maybe trying to sing a little, or at least speak the words?  Well… maybe; it really kind of depends.

Remember what Jesus told the Samaritan woman?  The time is now here when true worshippers will worship our Father God in spirit and truth.  Whether our worship is true depends on what is in our hearts, in our spirit.  It gets back to that question of why are we here.  And that word “here” can apply to here on earth as well as here in this building at this very time.  We are here – on earth and in this service – to worship God with all our heart and for no other reason than to be with Him and give Him all the glory and praise.

And looking at the question of are we doing it right, in a righteous way, we need to realize that there are many ways to worship in a manner pleasing to God.  Let me give you an example that some might not consider a form of worship.  Immediately after concluding His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was confronted by an outcast with a highly contagious disease.  Listen to how the Apostle Matthew relates this brief encounter as recorded in the first 3 verses of the 8th chapter of his Gospel account…

1 When He came down from the mountains, large crowds followed Him. 2 And then a leper came and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I will. Be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

--Matthew 8:1-3 (MEV)

The leper came and worshipped Jesus.  How?  How did the leper worship Jesus?

We aren’t told much about the scene, but we can imagine that he stopped the distance away from our Lord that the Jewish law required of a leper.  And we can envision that he probably got down on his knees, bowing before Jesus, which could be seen as a physical sign of worship.  But it is in his spirit, his heart, where the true worship is found.

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”  He had no doubt that first off, Jesus was Lord over him, and second that Jesus could cleanse him of this terrible disease if He was only willing to do so.

We don’t usually think of asking God or Jesus to help us as being a form of worship, do we?  It seems more self-serving than worshipful.  But this is what God wants, for us to put all our faith and trust in Him, knowing without a doubt that He can do anything, anything we might ask, if it is in His will.  Knowing and fully believing that God works all things to the good for those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose, this is just one of many forms of righteous worship.

Back in Capernaum, a crowd had gathered to hear Jesus teach and to be healed.  Among them was a pair of disciples of His kinsman, the imprisoned John the Baptizer, who had grown impatient waiting for Jesus to really do what He came to do, who wondered why he was still in chains when Jesus was supposed to free the prisoner.  Jesus told the two to go back and tell John, what they had seen, that Jesus healed the sick, cured the blind, made the lame to walk, and preached of the kingdom of God, all things according to Messianic scripture.  As they departed, He returned to addressing the crowd when…

I’ll let Matthew continue this story, as he recorded in the 9th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 18 and 19 and verses 23 through 25…

18 While He was speaking these things to them, a certain ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, “My daughter is even now dead. But come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus rose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

23 When Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the musicians and the mourners making a noise, 24 He said to them, “Depart. The girl is not dead, but is sleeping.” And they laughed Him to scorn. 25 But when the people were put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

--Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25 (MEV)

The ruler came and worshipped how?  By asking Jesus to bring his daughter back to life, knowing without a doubt that He could do it.  So here again we see this form of worship, just asking for things we want to happen, and believing they will happen, if it is in God’s will.  The worship is in the belief, the faith.

Oh, and in between verses 19 and 23, Jesus also healed a woman who had suffered a bleeding illness for twelve years, when she just reached out and touched the hem of his robe.  She had faith that just touching His hem would be enough to cure her.  There was no doubt in her belief, her faith.  This too was a form of worship.

So yes, family, we are here to worship.  And it doesn’t matter what form our worship takes, as long as it is in sprit and in truth, that our faith and our belief drives our trust in our God.  We can pray, we can sing, we can just sit here and listen, as long as we are sincere in our faith, believing without a doubt in our Lord’s authority and ability.

But family, let’s remember that here, in this beautiful building, is not the only place and this hour together is not the only time we can stop and worship.  We are here, on this earth, to worship our God.  So let us extend our worship to any hour, any place, no matter the circumstance, no matter who we’re with.  Non-believers need to see the power of faith, and showing them is a form of worship.  Pray, sing, and preach if you can, all in the blessed name of Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, we are here to worship You.  We know that is what we are here to do, but Father, it is not something the world finds worthwhile or important.  Non-believers scoff at our faith.  Worse yet, they persecute us for it, even here in the United States.  So Father, sometimes we are worried and afraid to let our faith be seen, to worship in public.  Please forgive us, Father.  We thank You for the faith You have given us, to believe in You and Your Son Jesus, and to put all our trust in You.  Please help us be more open with our faith, more trusting that our service in Your name will work to our good, knowing that the world cannot take what is truly important from us.  You are our God and we love You and worship You.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us ways to worship our God, both through Your own living and in Your interactions with others.  You tell us that true worship is in spirit, trusting and believing in the power and the authority of God.  Still, Lord, we worry about our safety and the safety of our loved ones if we let our faith be seen in public, for the world has become a dangerous place for believers.  But we can take heart from those who are now being more open in showing their faith, daring Satan to quieten their worship.  Please help us, Lord Jesus, to become one of those.  And forgive us when we struggle to love others like You want us to.  We know it disappoints You when we let our fear keep us from approaching others and showing Your love as we walk through each day.  Please help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, sharing Your love as we go.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.