Title: Spiritual Worship / John 4:23-24
Content Spiritual worship / John 4:23-24
If you follow the history of the Korean church, you will discover some really interesting facts. The Korean church went through a period of incubation, the first ordeal, and the second trial, and there was the history of the first revival and the second revival movement.
If we call the period when Christianity was introduced and limited missionary work at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, it is said that after the annexation of Korea and Japan, Christianity in Korea faced a huge ordeal due to Japan's militarism. If this is the first period of ordeal, it will be called the second trial period, as it is subjected to severe trials in front of communist ideas through the Korean War.
And in the 1910s there was a revival movement, which was an inner revival. Thus, led by Rev. Seon-Joo Gil, there was a movement of repentance and early morning prayer. We call this the first revival movement.
The second revival movement was a quantitative revival movement through the united movement of Korean churches, and it was the history of great revival through [Expolo 74] in the 1970s.
At this time, in the Korean church, new churches will rise like bamboo shoots and grow tremendously in quantity. The members of the Korean church who succeeded in business and accepted it as God's blessing did not spare to give it to God.
As the pioneering churches began to decline beyond 1985, the churches that were unable to escape from them began to struggle.
In order to survive, the church must revive, and if the church is revitalized, we must do whatever it takes. Disordered tongues appear (not denying the tongues given by the Holy Spirit) and shamanistic prophecies.
He even deceived the phenomenon of falling and falling while showing good face through the revival meeting as the power of God.
In addition, a certain church, who thought that a church could revive greatly if the building was enlarged, committed murder and robbery and was put under iron bars.
This revival syndrome remains like a chronic disease of the church today, and it is confusing the Korean church. Of course, the church must be revitalized. However, I think it is time to not only cry out for quantitative growth, but to pursue inner spiritual revival.
We think that it is a normal church revival movement only when there is a quantitative revival that naturally follows as it becomes a spiritual revival.
However, there is a revival movement that we should be very wary of today, and it is a revival movement through worship. It is a movement against traditional worship services and breaking all existing worship services under the name of so-called open worship.
This is a revival movement in Canada and the United States today, and the Korean church, which loves revival, has just received it and is doing a similar movement.
Now, if there is a new wind blowing in the Korean church, it is to renew the worship service. It is to renew from the Word-centered to the liturgical-centered, from ceremonial worship to open worship.
The former means the sacraments. It refers to baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism cannot be done every Sunday, so instead, let's celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday. The goal is to do it at least once a month.
Also, we want to change from ceremonial worship to open worship. The idea is to ignore the existing order of worship and make it a worship service in which the members of the church participate.
That is the only way to attract young people who are outside the church to the church. And indeed, churches that do that now are showing a revival.
But our concern is that the sermon is no longer an important part of worship.
Everyone! What do you think these churches will be like in 10 or 20 years? How much time do you think the saints in a busy week have to listen to God's Word?
Therefore, today we need to re-evaluate the importance of worship. I believe that only when worship becomes spiritual worship will the church be revitalized.
1. First, let's think about the meaning of worship.
Worship comes from the word bowing down. It is only through the grace of Jesus that we can worship God. So, the essence of worship is [communion or meeting between God and humans through the mediation of Jesus Christ based on the covenant of grace].
Therefore, worship is only to God. It is to serve and to give glory. Worship is not something people enjoy. It's not about worshiping people to make them happy.
Also, we do not worship to gain anything. We make it easy to evaluate worship by whether we received grace or not. But worship is not like that. Worship is the act of giving ourselves to God, worshiping, praising, and glorifying Him.
And we receive it by humbly giving thanks for the grace that comes from God. That is why we must not put in any strange human order to feel, experience, receive, and obtain something in worship.
2. The Lord tells us to worship in a spiritual way.
To worship in the Spirit means to worship under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Life is a form of worship that passively participates in worship led by the Holy Spirit.
To do that, all of us who worship must be filled with the Holy Spirit. I must remove all obstacles in my will, greed, and humanity.
If the stumbling block is a sin, you must first repent. If it is a disagreement with your brother, you must first reconcile it. Spiritual worship is a purely spiritual activity. No human stumbling blocks should be allowed to hinder it.
Our members must prepare for spiritual worship. I would like to point out a few things for our spiritual worship.
(1) Those who attend the worship service will need to make special preparations.
Of course, I go to the morning prayer meeting and pray for the worship service of that day. This is because worship services may vary depending on the preparation of the pastor.
Then there are those in charge of prayer. Maybe they are standing in the place of the Levites. In the Great Worship, we all join in prayer and praise. However, especially when I see that those in charge of the afternoon service are so negligent, I am truly sorry to God.
It is very sad to see that an advertisement was advertised a week in advance and entered the order, but the precious order was abandoned.
Next are those in charge of donations. It was in charge of the dedication of the faithful offerings.
Those in charge of this order have a great responsibility for worship, so they should prepare at least Saturday evening. Please go to bed early on Saturday evening.
For God's sake, for the saints, for the Lord's church, I hope you go to bed early and go to bed. It is truly a shame that the person in charge of the order overslept in the morning and came out late and could not even be seated.
And please dress modestly. I hope that you will be virtuous to the saints. Please do not be ashamed of God.
Although God is invisible to the eyes of the flesh, I hope that you will be conscious of seeing God with the eyes of the spirit.
Church lay leaders must hold a Sunday morning prayer meeting. That's the principle.
If possible, those in charge of the worship service should hold the early morning prayer meeting on Sunday mornings.
(2) The members who worship together must prepare with all their heart and sincerity.
You do not come to worship, but to give. You must not come to watch the worship service, but to glorify God.
If you can't sleep, go to bed early. And do not fall asleep during worship. Please prepare a donation as well. It is not virtuous to humans and not gracious to God to be in a hurry on a Sunday morning, come to church in a dream, and doze off during the sermon time, then go back and forth during the offering time to find the offering.
You should come to church at least 10 minutes before, sit down, prepare all your offerings, find the Bible and hymns, and pray and wait.
When you pray, you must pray for the worship, for the leader of the worship, for the preacher, for all those who take the order, and to receive grace. Some of us need to pray to have a spiritual heart when we wake up with a dreamy [Goodbye to God].
When you come and pray during the Sunday worship service, you are not praying for yourself, your family, your country, or your business. You must pray for worship.
Worship is not meant to make me feel better. You shouldn't boycott any part you don't like. Worship is giving worship to God.
Conclusion: Dear Saints! I pray that it will become a church that offers spiritual worship that is pleasing to God. I pray that you will become members of the Holy Spirit worship service. So, I pray in the name of the Lord that the hearts of the members will be revitalized and the church will be numerically revitalized through worship.