#392 - SPIRIT AND TRUTH (13/7/21)

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!

TODAY’S TEXT

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’” (John 4:23-24)

I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

MY REFLECTIONS

1. †GOSPEL

God has made us into worshippers. Like this woman at the well - who comes to worship God through this encounter - Jesus has reached out to us; His grace has transformed us. Our spirits and minds have been renewed. Through the truth of the gospel, we have been made alive to God by the Spirit.

2. UP

Some thoughts about God from this text: God is spirit. The Shorter Catechism declares that, as spirit, He is

‘Infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power holiness justice, goodness and truth’.

The Lord seeks worshippers who worship in ‘spirit and truth’; He wants our worship is to be full of truth - full of definition - full of ‘truth’ - as to who He is. He also wants our worship to be in ‘spirit’. He wants authentic worship from the heart - from a heart renewed by the Spirit.

This text also shows us that God has worked in different ways at different times in history; He reveals that ‘the time has come’ when He is building a ‘spirit and truth’ people from all nations.

3. IN

The Father wants our hearts and minds engaged in worship. In every context, we are to worship: every day, at all times, in every place, in everything we are to worship.

“Holy Spirit, help me to do this please. Please ‘seek’ our hearts and make us a Spirit and truth church.”

4. OUT

The Father is seeking to make more worshippers as He is doing with this woman at the well. like Jesus, We are to make the most of every opportunity that the father puts us in. The chance conversations are often God-given opportunities.

“Father, help me to see the opportunities that you are giving to me. Fill me with the compassion to make the most of every opportunity.”

5. DO

Here are a few examples of application that I’ve come up with:

God wants spirit and truth worship. Do we need restored focus and expectation when we come and worship with the church or privately?

We could pray to be more conscious of God’s presence and leading in our conversations.

A response could be a renewed confidence that the ‘time has come’ when the Spirit is at work in the world for God’s glory.

Maybe the Father would want to lead you in a new devotion to truth so as to enhance your worship.

We could pray for our worship in the church, that it would be more from our spirit and be authentic and pleasing.

The Father is seeking worshippers, maybe it’s a subject for you to study…

How does the Holy Spirit want you to respond?

COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series we are going to take a different approach to learning from the Bible together. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily Method’ together (Gospel, Up, In, Out, Do) - you will have to do all the work!

1. Icebreaker - How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week? (During this LEARNING TO HEAR series, we are seeking to develop a culture of listening to God out of His word)

2. Select a text of scripture. (You could use the text from Sunday’s message or something of your choice.)

3. Read and recall. (Read the text and ask each person in the group to put it into their own words.)

4. Please go through these questions together:

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray and share (if it’s appropriate) about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

5. SIV - Finally, it would be helpful to talk and pray about how we are doing in regard to Serve, Invest and Invite. Do you have any encouraging stories or any plans in this regard? How do you want to pray in regard to our mission?

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!

TODAY’S TEXT

I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

MY REFLECTIONS

1. †GOSPEL

God has made us into worshippers. Like this woman at the well - who comes to worship God through this encounter - Jesus has reached out to us; His grace has transformed us. Our spirits and minds have been renewed. Through the truth of the gospel, we have been made alive to God by the Spirit.

2. UP

Some thoughts about God from this text: God is spirit. The Shorter Catechism declares that, as spirit, He is

This text also shows us that God has worked in different ways at different times in history; He reveals that ‘the time has come’ when He is building a ‘spirit and truth’ people from all nations.

3. IN

The Father wants our hearts and minds engaged in worship. In every context, we are to worship: every day, at all times, in every place, in everything we are to worship.

4. OUT

The Father is seeking to make more worshippers as He is doing with this woman at the well. like Jesus, We are to make the most of every opportunity that the father puts us in. The chance conversations are often God-given opportunities.

5. DO

Here are a few examples of application that I’ve come up with:

God wants spirit and truth worship. Do we need restored focus and expectation when we come and worship with the church or privately?

We could pray to be more conscious of God’s presence and leading in our conversations.

A response could be a renewed confidence that the ‘time has come’ when the Spirit is at work in the world for God’s glory.

Maybe the Father would want to lead you in a new devotion to truth so as to enhance your worship.

We could pray for our worship in the church, that it would be more from our spirit and be authentic and pleasing.

The Father is seeking worshippers, maybe it’s a subject for you to study…

How does the Holy Spirit want you to respond?

COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series we are going to take a different approach to learning from the Bible together. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily Method’ together (Gospel, Up, In, Out, Do) - you will have to do all the work!

1. Icebreaker - How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week? (During this LEARNING TO HEAR series, we are seeking to develop a culture of listening to God out of His word)

2. Select a text of scripture. (You could use the text from Sunday’s message or something of your choice.)

3. Read and recall. (Read the text and ask each person in the group to put it into their own words.)

4. Please go through these questions together:

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray and share (if it’s appropriate) about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

5. SIV - Finally, it would be helpful to talk and pray about how we are doing in regard to Serve, Invest and Invite. Do you have any encouraging stories or any plans in this regard? How do you want to pray in regard to our mission?

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