The sermon, based on John 4 and Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, explores the meaning of true worship and contrasts it with man-centered, false worship. The preacher begins by emphasizing that worship is not about personal preference, style, or emotional appeal, but about honoring God in spirit and truth. He critiques the consumer-driven mentality often found in churches today, where people attend with the mindset of “what do I get out of it?” rather than focusing on God’s glory.

Jesus’ deliberate decision to travel through Samaria, a place Jews avoided due to deep racial and cultural divides, highlights that his mission was intentional and necessary (“he must needs go through Samaria”). His conversation with the Samaritan woman begins with physical needs—water—but quickly shifts to spiritual realities. While she initially thinks in terms of convenience and personal comfort (“give me this water so I don’t have to draw again”), Jesus redirects her toward the deeper issue of sin and spiritual thirst. Her attempt to divert the conversation to worship locations (“our fathers worshiped in this mountain…”) provides the context for Jesus’ teaching: worship is not tied to geography, tradition, or form, but to a genuine relationship with God.

Jesus reveals that true worship must be both in spirit (from the heart, with passion and sincerity) and in truth (grounded in the knowledge of God and his Word, not just emotion). Worship divorced from truth becomes empty emotionalism, while truth without spirit becomes cold formalism. Both are required for worship that pleases God.

The preacher illustrates this principle with examples: singing hymns without heart is not worship, just as emotional excitement without truth is not worship. He stresses that God does not measure worship by musical quality or performance but by the yieldedness of the heart. Using Old Testament imagery (Exodus 30), he explains how incense for worship was made exclusively for God and forbidden for personal use. This illustrates that worship is sacred, belonging only to God, and not meant for self-gratification. He contrasts this with Mary’s offering of expensive ointment in John 12, which though costly and personal, was poured out entirely on Jesus, showing full devotion.

The sermon warns against false worship, which can take the form of idolatry (worshiping created things, philosophies, or personal preferences rather than God) or worshiping the true God in the wrong way (prioritizing feelings, production, or entertainment above truth). Romans 1 is cited as a picture of unacceptable worship, where people exchanged the truth of God for lies and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator. The preacher cautions that modern Christianity often leans toward this distortion, producing worship that centers on man’s desires rather than God’s holiness.

True worship, by contrast, involves bowing the heart, yielding affection, and offering oneself fully to God. It is not about pleasing self, gaining comfort, or achieving emotional highs, but about glorifying God through humility, submission, and alignment with truth. Worship is pictured as laying prostrate before God, fully vulnerable, without pride, giving all honor to him.

The sermon concludes with a call to the congregation: when gathering for church, they must engage not passively or half-heartedly but with genuine participation—singing with the whole heart, praying earnestly, and responding to preaching with passion. True worship is not about production, style, or outward excitement, but about a yielded spirit and a commitment to truth. Worship that pleases God is timeless, transcending traditions, and demands both heartfelt passion and doctrinal integrity.