Play to Win: Worship John 4:19-24 · Join the Journey

Imagin if you will the following people: A man in traffic praying through frustration. A mom packing lunches at 6 a.m. A husband and wife raising their kids with patience and love. A man checking in on their co-worker that he knows is struggling because of recent lost. A person choosing honesty in a workplace full of compromise. A teacher encouraging a student. A nurse showing compassion during a 12-hour shift. A teenager resisting peer pressure and choosing to do what’s right. A believer choosing to praise God even in the middle of grief. Someone faithfully showing up to serve others, even when it’s hard.

What do all these moments have in common? They’re all acts of worship. Paul Says “I urge you, brothers and sisters… to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice—this is your true and proper worship.” So why does worship sometimes feel confined to a setlist and a Sunday service? Why is there a Sunday You—hands lifted, heart stirred, God on your mind. And then there’s the Monday You—rushed, stressed, distracted. But what if those weren’t two separate people? Today we are going to see that worship is not an event we come to. But worship is a life that we lead. This is the discipline of worship!

We live in a culture that loves the idea of success but resists the discipline it takes to achieve it. Spiritually, we can fall into the same trap—wanting the results of a close walk with God, power in prayer, clarity in calling—but without the training required to get there.

But Paul reminds us: the Christian life is not aimless. It's not a spiritual jog in the park—it’s a race. A fight. A pursuit. And if we’re going to run this race well, if we’re going to fight the good fight of faith, we need more than inspiration—we need discipline. We need to train.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be in a series called "Play to Win"—because we’re not just going through the motions of faith. We’re stepping into a lifestyle of spiritual disciplines, not to earn God’s love, but to walk in the fullness of it. Like an athlete in training, we’re preparing ourselves to win the prize—a life that reflects Jesus and brings Him glory. We’re not just living for the moment—we’re living for the crown. We’re not playing to survive. We’re playing to win.

We started by looking at the foundation of these Spiritual Disciplines, Prayer. This morning, we are going to look at the Discipline of Worship.

Our Key Verse for this whole series is

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

1 Corinthians 9:24–27

Lets read that line together: Run in such a way as to get the prize.

What is Worship? What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Music? Is it what we just finished? Well yes that is part of worship. But it is not the definition of worship. Worship is so much more.

Have you ever heard the saying that “What you focus on shapes who you become”? When you concentrate on something long enough, you begin to conform to that thing. You talk like it, think like it, and act like it.

Basketball fans out there may remember hearing about the GOAT Michael Jordan. He had a commercial in the ’90s “be like Mike. Drink Gatorade” Young, aspiring basketball players would attempt to play like him. And we have seen the impacts that has had on basketball. Players like Kobe and Labron have taken that to heart and played like Mike. Not as good, but like him. But what is more interesting and funnier is that many would mimic how MJ often stuck out tongue while he played. This is an example of concentration breeding conformity. But the truth is, we naturally imitate what we concentrate on. What you focus on shapes who you become.

So what are you focusing on? Because I would say that what you are concentrating/focusing on is not only what you will become like, but it is also what you are worshiping. This principle of focus shaping who we become is at the heart of worship—and Jesus shows this in His conversation with the woman at the well. And gives us a great foundation of true worship is.

John 4:19-20

John 4:19–20

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

This woman could see there was something different with Jesus, so she asks, where should we worship. To this woman, and to many still today this is the question about worship. Where should we worship. Is it in a church building? A sanctuary. Christians even ask the question what style of “worship” is it? Traditional or contemporary. But all these questions are trying to define worship as simply what we do on Sunday mornings. And so, like this woman at the well let Jesus remind us what worship really is.

John 4:21-24

John 4:21–24

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Worship is not confided to a certain place or time. Worship is not defined by music style or even dress codes. But as with all these Spiritual Disciplines, the heart of the matter is our heart.

Jesus shows us that true worship of God the Father is done in spirit and truth. The central truth about when we meet Jesus in baptism, God’s grace has been given to us, and His Holy Spirit moved into us. Worship is our response to God’s grace, and His Spirit working in and through us.

God is actively seeking those that will worship Him in spirit and truth.

Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. Anything about hymns or contemporary songs, choirs, or bands, just voices, or even music at all. Music is not the only part of worship, nor the central focus of worship. Also notice that our feeling or emotions are not motioned. What’s crazy is that type or quality of music and the felling’s it evokes or doesn’t have become the central points that we use to judge worship. But God doesn’t. Worship is much more than music and more than our felling’s.

AW Towzer said “There is little danger that we shall become merely worshipers and neglect the practical implications of the gospel. No one can long worship God in spirit and in truth before the obligation to holy service becomes too strong to resist. Fellowship with God leads straight to obedience and good works. That is the divine order and it can never be reversed.”

God is the object of our worship. Not us.

Jesus when He was tempted to worship the devil and he would be given all earthly kingdoms. Jesus responds with truth.

Matthew 4:10

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

God is the only object that is worthy of our worship. He alone should we worship. God command us that we shall have no other gods before Him (Ex 20:3). God has a clear hatred for idolatry, or having other gods before Him, that you don’t have to look to far into the Old Testament to find. We often think of idolatry as bowing down before an idol or statue. But A.W. Tozer points out.

Exodus 20:3

“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.”

We must think rightly about God and respond accordingly. This is what worship is. To think rightly about who God is, because He is the object of worship, and then to respond accordingly. So Thomas when I love my wife as Jesus loves the church I’m worshiping God? yes. When I go and share the gospel with my co-worker I’m worshiping God. Yes. When I am sacrificing self for others as Jesus has done for me I’m worshiping God. Yes. When we have the right thinking about God and we respond accordingly this is worship.

Here at Journey Church we want to live lives that are Pleasing God and that means that Every day (not just Sunday mornings) we joyfully give God the best of everything we are and everything we have. We trust that Jesus is all we need, being transformed by who He is and what He has done. This is what it means to worship. To worship is to give the best of everything we are and have to God joyfully. Not just on Sundays but every day. Why do we do that? Because of who Jesus is and what He has done is transforming us.

Richard Foster COD -“we desperately need to see who God is; read about who God is from His self-discloser with His people Israel in the Old Testament. Mediate on His attributes, gaze upon the revelation of His glory and nature through His son Jesus Christ shown through the New Testament. When we see the Lord of hosts “high and lifted up”, when we ponder on His infinite wisdom and knowledge, wonder at His unfathomable mercy and love, we cannot help but be moved to worship God for who He is.”

We worship God alone, not only for who He is, but for what He has done. His goodness, faithfulness, justice, mercy. This can all be seen in all that He has done through scripture and etched into history, but it can also be seen in what has been engraved in our own lives as well.

Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Notice Paul says “in view of God’s mercy”. Worship to God is done with every part of our lives and is the only reasonable response to who God is and what He has done. Paul then tells us how we offer our lives as living sacrifices.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For us to worship God with our lives. For us to worship God in sprit and truth. For us to joyfully give the best of everything we have and are everyday to God. For us to worship God. We must be transformed. God is the object of our worship. Not you.

Secondly No Matter what, Worship

Hebrews 13:8

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

God the Father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit are unchanging. The same yesterday, today and forever. Yet our lives filled with ever changing situations, circumstances, and events. Highs and lows. Thomas you don’t know what I’m going though. How can I worship God in the midst of this. I am not going to say that I can even begin to image all that you have or are going through. I know that for some of you feel like every time you take a step it feels like the ground crumbles under them. You don’t know how much more you can take, how much more you can go through, deal with, handle.

Psalm 46:1-3

Psalms 46:1–3

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Maybe you can relate to the Psalmist. Our ever-changing circumstances, seasons of life, with loss of loved ones, sickness, hurt, pain, financial struggles, depression, anxiety. I know for some of us our mountains are sliding into the sea. The storms of this life are raging around us. Friends our circumstance are ever changing. James tells us that we have no idea what tomorrow will bring, and this life is like a vapor here now, gone later.

But friends no matter what you are in, what you are facing, or dealing with we can still worship God for who He is and what He has done.

Last week I mentioned praying through scripture and through the Psalms. This week I want to encourage you to read through and worship through some of the Psalms. Because no matter what you are going through, there is a Psalm for that. Read and worship through psalms like:

Psalm 88

1 LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.

Psalm 69.

1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. 3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Maybe you can relate. Friends we can worship God no matter what we are going though in our lives. But we can also worship God no matter how broken we are. God isn’t afraid of the dark. God is the object of our worship. And No matter what is or isn’t going on in our lives we worship. Because…

Life is Worship

Worship isn’t just Sunday mornings. Worship is our lives in Jesus. So we worship with other believers and we worship when we are alone.

Paul sums up worship in the life of Christian in

Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12–17

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This describes our Sunday morning gatherings. But it should also describe our everyday lives. All day every day, in this room, or at work, or at home, or the ball field, at the store, everywhere we are in everything we do. Whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Jesus!

Every day we joyfully give God the best of everything we are and everything we have. We trust that Jesus is all we need, being transformed by who He is and what He has done.

Worship is everything we do in spirit and truth in response to who God is and all that has done in history and is doing in our lives. We worship no matter what changes about our circumstances.

Let us have lives of worship. God alone is worth it. He alone is the object of it. Worship is not an event we come to. Worship is a life that we lead. Worship is how we train our souls to focus on what matters. This is how we play to win.

Pray

Maybe today you need come and respond to who Jesus is and what He has done for you for the first time. Jesus has died taking your place, your bill to sin, to give you everlasting life! Come put your faith in Jesus, repent and be baptized today! Come and Worship God by giving your life to Him today! I’ll be in the lobby.