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Thanks for your order - Lincoln Christian University

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28spirit and truth, <strong>for</strong> they are the kind ofworshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and hisworshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24).Gerald Borchert expresses Jesus' concern <strong>for</strong> worship, stating that "he turned theconversation away from the place ofworship to the nature ofworship.T" Jesus does notstress specifics concerning the content ofworship here, which is precisely the reason thisdiscourse should be included in this study. Ifhe had laid down rules similar to those theJews had learned under the Old Covenant, churches today would have a much easier jobin planning Sunday worship. But as he, the very fulfillment ofthe New Covenant, stoodbe<strong>for</strong>e the Samaritan woman, he initiated a call <strong>for</strong> worship that is more concerned withthe heart ofthe worshiper than the <strong>for</strong>m that it takes. For churches from the RestorationMovement tradition that retain a firm commitment to the New Testament as the onlybasis <strong>for</strong> the elements and <strong>order</strong> ofSunday morning worship, this observation is critical.This passage provides a lens through which to view the picture ofthe church in the bookofActs and the Pauline passages that the founding fathers relied upon as prooftexts <strong>for</strong>what should transpire in the assembly.Spirit and TruthMost scholars agree that the word "spirit," translated from the Greek word,pneuma, refers to the human spirit. However, the word, coupled with theacknowledgement that "God is spirit," connects the human to the divine. ConsideringJesus' previous discussion concerning "living water," which Donald Guthrie denotes is "a80 E. Ray Clendenen, ed., The New American Commentary, Volume 25A, John 1-11, by Gerald L.Borchert (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers), 207.

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