GATHERED – TO WORSHIP

Why Are We Here #3

Pastor Brandon Cross

Woodland Church

Sunday, July 26, 2026

“Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24)

MAIN IDEA: 

We are instructed to gather together to collectively and individually praise/acknowledge God for who He is, surrender our expectations of Him, and to reflect His magnificence in how we care for one another and the lost. 

1.  Worship is not a location-based activity. (Verse 21)

• When we make “worship” about the time, place, speaker, pastor, music style, etc., we take the focus off of God.

• We cannot allow “issues” to come between us and our worship of God when we gather. He must be the main attraction.

APPLICATION: 

We need to make sure that our gatherings are centered around worshipping and adoring God as well as building one another up, and not because it is our routine or what is expected of us. 

2.  Genuine worship requires growth. (Verse 22)

• We have to be willing to accept or understand that we do not fully comprehend the full revelation of who God is or the meaning of His plan of salvation for us. 

• Our understanding of God should come from how He reveals Himself to us during worship, prayer and through His Word.

• Genuine worship requires us to desperately pursue Him to learn more every day and to share that with others. 

APPLICATION: 

We need to come to our gatherings with an expectation of “pursuing” Him and allowing ourselves to experience things differently than we expect them. Our goal must be to draw closer to Him, not to worship in the way that we want or is most comfortable. 

3.  Genuine worship requires intimacy and relationship with God. (Verse 23)

• God is looking for us to have an inward, heart-level connection with Him, not a punch list or scorecard of spiritual or moral practices followed.

• We are to avoid extremes: Spirit without truth can become a shallow, purely emotional experience, while truth without Spirit can lead to dry, passionless legalism.

APPLICATION: 

We are instructed to pursue a true heart connection with God through regular time in prayer, praise, His Word and His people. We are to avoid chasing emotionalism as well as rigid formality/rituals. Reverence and hunger for Him are what should drive our “lifestyle of worship.”

4.  Genuine worship focuses on God, not our expectations of Him. (Verse 24)

• True worship means praising and acknowledging His true character—such as His grace, justice, and holiness—and aligning our life and reverence with the truth of Scripture and Jesus Christ.

APPLICATION: 

We are to not worship God for what we get out of it. We are called to honor and praise Him for who He is and our focus is to be on Him alone when we gather. We cannot allow external cultural, political or personal preferences/ideologies to hijack our worship of God. 

CALL TO ACTION / ALTAR TIME TODAY:

1. Praise Him – Commit to taking a posture of humility and surrender and just praise God for who He is to you and who the Bible declares Him to be. 

2. Repentance – Take some time right now to ask God to look at our hearts, our actions, our priorities and repent of anything that does not honor Him. 

3. Worry or Anxiety – Let’s take a few minutes to share those worries and fears with Him right now.