So from time to time people find out that we're not currently going to any church. Um And they ask what we do instead. So I'm going to talk about that a little today. But my main focus is I want to read to you something that my daughter wrote, uh which I think is quite good. Um So what we do on Sundays
, I, I scurry off to my normal daily routine of locking myself in a room with the Lord for hours till I'm exhausted from uh the things that I do in there writing for the most part is the product of that. Um And uh it's a little longer than usual since it's Sunday, but I have a hard cut off at 2 p.m.
and that's when I go out. And uh as a family, we, we spend some time together. Um not spiritual time, just, just quality time together. Uh We usually, we go for a walk. It's really pretty where I live. So that's a nice time to just kind of decompress and talk and let them decompress too because what
they do is my wife, um my wife supervises all of them sitting around the living room with laptops and they are uh coming up with questions and then researching them from the scriptures. And so what we, we have an odd number of kids, but what we do is we split them into two groups and one group reads
the scriptures kind of freestyle during that time. So from when they get up, they eat breakfast normally and they have their, their daily jobs because we have animals and things. Um and uh and then they uh when they're not eating or doing chores, they're reading the scriptures, either freestyle or trying
to find answers to a question. So the group that's working on questions, their task is to write up their answer and then I read these answers at dinner time on Sundays and then we discuss them as a family. And so this is nice because not only does it give them self oriented topics to research, but they're
practicing uh learning what they believe and why they believe it and expressing those beliefs to other people. And that's something that if you spend a few hours every other Sunday on this, by the time a child's 15 or 18, they are going to be really good at this. And of course, there are residual benefits
for communication in general and writing, which people today are terrible at. So it's helpful if you've read my books, maybe you think I'm terrible at it. And that's fine. So we're all practicing I'm practicing a lot more than most people. So here's something that my nine year old daughter wrote and
I was quite impressed with the quality and content of this and it just so happens that this is a question that I have thoroughly explored in a book that has not been published yet. And um, as is my habit, when I find things that overlap those topics out in the wild, I like bringing them to people's attention
as sort of a free sample of what is to come. And so if what I had was ready to go, I would share that instead, unless what I found in the wild was better than what I had prepared. And then I would just sort of throw that away and pivot my time to something else. So this question is what does it mean
to worship God? So from this point, I would just read what is written. It's not too long. Christians emphasized the need to, oh, and I'll say upfront, I don't endorse 100% of what's here. But I think it's so good compared to the common understanding that it's worth whatever, whatever points I might clarify
if I were so inclined, which I'm not going to do today. Christians emphasize the need to worship in a church. They understand worship is going to church and doing good to others. The Pharisees also had a similar understanding of what it means to worship. They would go to church. Keep the law strictly
. I will add here. I asked my daughter what she meant by that because the Pharisees did not keep the law. Uh And she said their version of the law. So all their traditions mixed in with parts of the actual law. And I said, OK, perform animal sacrifices and they believed they were helping others. I'm
going to discuss what true worship is. It is important to know that the Bible often uses the word worship to mean to give respect to someone. See Matthew 82, Matthew 918, Matthew 1433 Matthew 1525 while paying respect and reverencing someone is important. There is so much more to worship when Jesus was
talking to the woman at the well, he offered her living water. This living water is the spirit. The woman complained that the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. But she as a Samaritan woman was not allowed to worship in Jerusalem. The Samaritans had traditionally worshiped in Mount Gy. She said our fathers
worshiped in this mountain. And ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. John 420 Jesus replied that no one would be worshiping in Jerusalem nor the mountains in Samaria instead, Jesus said, but the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit and they, that worship him must worship him in spirit. And in truth, John 423 to 24 Jesus was explaining to her that there would be a time which was after his death, that a geographical place would not matter. Rather, Jesus
said that the state of the heart of the person who worshiped would matter the most. Jesus taught the difference between worship and false worship. This people drawe nigh unto me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain, they do worship me teaching for
doctrines, the commandments of men. Matthew 15, 8 through nine people worship by talking, but they don't really mean it. Their worship is vain or meaningless. Their doctrines are made up by themselves and they are not from God. The point is that your heart has to be directed towards God. If we are going
to truly worship God. Paul wrote. Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters by the mercies of God to present your bodies dedicating all of yourselves, set apart as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God, which is your rational, logical, intelligent act of worship. Romans 12 1 amplified version
. The King James version uses the word service for worship. Paul is saying that we worship by becoming holy to God and sacrificing ourselves to God. This is what it really means to worship God. When Jesus was in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan, Satan told Jesus to worship Him. Jesus responded
, get thee hence Satan for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve Matthew 410. The one we serve is the one we worship. Paul said that when we crucify ourselves, we don't serve sin any more. Romans 66, Paul then wrote, know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey his servants. Ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin. But ye have obeyed from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you being then made free from sin. Ye became the servants
of righteousness. Romans 616 through 18, if worship and service are connected, then serving God would mean that we no longer serve sin. True worship means we have to become sinless. We then become more like Jesus. This involves following Jesus and laying down our lives on the altar. This is true worship
. Worship is not about outward actions that only point to true worship. It is not about putting on a show for others to see. It is about the heart and loving and obeying only the Lord.