How beautiful to hear that our God is real. That we don't just come to sing, we don't just come to jump because we have nothing to do. But because here, deep in our hearts, we know that God is real. And we are here because He has called us. Not because we were born of ourselves, but because He has called us. Do you realize how incredible that is? That it has been God among so many people. Surely there were other people better than us, but He has called us. You who are here today listening to His Word, receiving His love, amen, how could you not be grateful?

That's why I love that song which we were singing just now, the last one. Who would have thought we were going to be here, that I was going to be in this place—you know, church? I want to share a couple of verses with you and continue a bit with what our sister Veronica was talking about because she has said a very important truth. She says she learned, “It's necessary to have a relationship, not a religion.” Religion doesn't save anyone, no matter what religion it is. Religions don't save anyone, it's the relationship. The Word of God says that salvation is knowing our Father, having a relationship with our Heavenly Father, that's truly salvation. But the problem is that many of us have been to church, we've gone to other places, or maybe not, but we don't have that relationship, we haven't experienced it. There are many people who haven't experienced that relationship with the Heavenly Father. And we stick to religion, we stick to the rituals, we stick to coming on Sunday, as our sister said: “On Sunday, we have to go to church.” Okay, so what happens next? What happens on the other days? What happens with that relationship with God?

"Religions don't save anyone, it's the relationship... with our Heavenly Father, that's truly salvation."

You know, a few days ago I was reading something that stayed in my heart. A phrase—I don't know exactly who said it, but a phrase that has stayed in my heart. And it says, “Idolatry isn't just making up false gods...” Because we as evangelical Christians often criticize other religions for worshipping idols or whatever. But this one says, “Idolatry isn't just making up false gods, but idolatry is also falsely worshipping the true God.” Falsely worshipping the true God. And when I read this, I said, “Wow, Lord, is it possible? Is it possible, Lord, that even within Your house, we who have Your Word, who have the truth, may be idolaters, may be giving You something false?” False worship. Are we falsely worshipping God? I want us to go quickly to the book of 1 Kings, chapter 12.

1 Kings chapter 12, verse 25. Today we want to see in the Word what the Holy Spirit is teaching us. In our hearts, if at some point in our lives, if that moment is today, if it has happened where there is idolatry in our heart or if we are falsely worshiping the true God who is real—how does that happen? How is it that we falsely worship the true God? I'm going to tell you just quickly what this story is about. King Solomon has passed away and the kingdom has been divided. Now Israel is divided into two kingdoms: The southern kingdom, which is Judah, and the northern kingdom, Israel. So Jeroboam is named king of Israel, but you know God appointed him despite everything, despite the evil, despite everything. A prophet went and gave a word to this man and said, “If you follow My commandments, if you follow My way, if you are faithful to Me, I will sustain your kingdom and I will lift you up. Just stay faithful to My Word and then I will guide you.” And Jeroboam's journey as king begins.

In verse 25, “Jeroboam fortified the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and settled there. Then he left Shechem and fortified Peniel.” In other words, he began to do many things, right? Because imagine starting a kingdom from scratch, right, after the great kingdom of Solomon. So he has to make many administrative and military arrangements, right? Commercial, just so many things. But look in verse 26. He began to work, he began to do things very well, and the Lord was with him. But 26 says, he reflected.

“What if now the kingdom reverts back to the house of David?” Doubts begin. Verse 27. “If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” What's happening? He starts working and is doing very well until doubts begin to appear in his heart. Brother, many of us begin like this in the Gospel and in church. God has called us—right now, that's what we're talking about—God has called us. Amen. God has called us and given us a word, but we have to be very careful because the enemy will always come with those doubts and then man begins to move in another direction, and he begins to think, "What if this? What if that? What will happen?" And then fear began to take over his life. And when man is filled with fear, he generally begins to make bad decisions, decisions apart from God, decisions that are not in accordance with the will of the Lord.

People begin well and want to follow the Lord, but doubts begin, and suddenly they begin to wonder where they're going, and if they'd rather do it here, or if they'd rather do it there. Then, look—the problems begin. In verse 28, the problems begin—what we can call a religion of convenience. God had already given him a word, God had already told him what he should do. But the king went to the people to seek advice. Look at the "good advice" they gave him. Look! "After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. And he told the people, ‘Israelites, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'”

Is that true? No, right? It's not true. They didn't go, but what is the king doing here? What is he doing? He's afraid that people will go to the temple in Jerusalem because the law says you have to go to the temple, no matter where the Israelites are. There are three sacred dates, three sacred festivals where Israelites from all over the world had to go to the temple. But the king tells them, “It's no longer necessary.” Say, "It's not necessary. It's not necessary." Church, that's where the religion of convenience begins: “It's not necessary.”

The brothers and sisters of the church say that we have to pray every day, but...“It's not necessary.” They say that we have to read the Bible, but I don't like it, I don't understand it. Why? “It's not necessary. It's not necessary.” A sister came one day from the church and said that we had to have a relationship with God, but I go to church every Sunday anyway. “I don't see it, it's not necessary.” We see in our family that things are happening outside of God's will and the Word tells us to denounce the works of darkness, but brothers, we don't want enemies, we don't want to get involved with people, we don't want problems, we don't want to do this. Oh, you know, humans are too extreme, anyway, it's not necessary to do those things. One day I went to an evangelistic campaign and someone said, “Come forward if you want to receive the Lord and be saved,” so everything else is not necessary, and little by little we begin to accommodate ourselves. Little by little, people begin to accommodate themselves to their convenience, to what seems best to them.

Today too, that's what today's Gospel is—a comfortable gospel, a Christianity without a cross, a Christianity without commitment. People would say to Jesus, “Master, I'll follow You, I want to follow You.” And then Jesus would say, “Of course, come with Me, but I have nowhere to sleep, I have nothing.” And then people would say, “OK, I'll let You know tomorrow, I'll send You a message.” And they would turn around. “Master, I want to follow You.” And He would say, “Fine, but everyone who follows Me must hate their father, their mother, their child. What's more, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Me.” And the Word says that everyone turned away and left. But that's the Gospel. There's power there because there's no comfort, no convenience—no deception in that either. We were saying, there's life in the Gospel. He is a God of the living. And the most incredible thing about all this is that He doesn't do it out of selfishness. He isn't asking for these things because He wants to leave us in nothingness. He does it because He wants to give us a new life—to take away this absurd life we've had and give us a new life.

The rich young man said to Him, "Teacher, how can I inherit eternal life? I have kept all the commandments." And He said to him, "Excellent, just sell your things and give the money to the poor. Then come, follow Me." And the young man became sad, turned around, and left. People today want to follow Jesus, but they don't want to give up their things. And we're not talking about money. Because the young man's problem is, the Lord Himself said, "It's difficult for the rich because” in another verse it says, “Love of money. It's the beginning of all evil because it leads us to do all kinds of evils.” But the problem isn't just in leaving it, but in following. People want to follow the Lord in their own way. The young man believed he could follow the Lord by doing what he was doing in the same way—that the Gospel is like that. He had a burden, and the Lord told him, “You have to let go of that. Come, follow Me.” The problem isn't just in letting go of it, but in following Him as well. In his own way the young man wanted to, like he had done all his life.

The Son has fulfilled the law, all the commandments, yes, in His way. In His way, because it's not just about going to church, it's not about congregating, it's not just about the songs—it's something of the heart. The Lord knew the heart of this young man and that's why He asks him to leave the lifestyle we have today—what makes us accommodate ourselves. Or rather, it makes us accommodate the Gospel at our convenience.

Today we say, "We're so busy." We spend a lot of time working. And it's true. We don't have time. “How am I going to pray? How am I going to have that relationship?” Right? That's it. "Because I don't have time." You know what life is like now? You have to work. You have to do this. But you know, the lifestyle we have, it's not just about working. It's true that we do more and more and people say they don't have time now. Because it happens on social media. Now there are videos to watch—short videos, long videos—there are streaming platforms. So there are soap operas, movies, series, documentaries. There are videos, there are songs, there's music, right? There's this, there are video games, there's all that. And at the end of the day, you say, "I don't even have time to rest." But it turns out that it's all about me. Me, me, me, me, me. Of what I want, of my comfort. Of what's mine, of what's mine, of what's mine, of what's mine. I want it, because since I work, I deserve it. I deserve to come home, sit down, rest, and watch a nine-hour marathon of the series. Right? And that's why I don't have time. We don't have time.

I believe that if we stop focusing on ourselves, we'll have at least five minutes to begin a true relationship with the true God and, in the process, detoxify our minds and hearts. But today, people say, “Let’s talk about it." If the Gospel is like that, it's not about comfort. The one who gets comfortable is like that saying: ‘The early bird catches the worm." So to the Christian who falls asleep, tell him: "You're right next to me. Go to sleep and see what happens to you.” A comfortable Christian, a Christian living the Christian life his own way, that's Christianity today.

And maybe someone will say, "But I don't have any of that. I don't have that platform, I don't have internet at home, and I don't do any of that." And yes, but there's another place, there are other people who have needs, people who have material needs. And that also hinders us many times because our minds are focused only on obtaining the things of this world. Only on obtaining material things. So, those who have—they’re are led astray by their possessions. And those who don't have—they’re led astray by their desire for worldly things and their minds are focused on that. Jesus told the young man, "Leave that and follow Me." It's not about giving away everything you own. Remove those things from your heart, and you'll see that you'll have time to begin a relationship with God.

There's a promise in the Word of the Lord, because it's true that riches separate us from God—both those who have them and those who don't. But God gives a promise and says, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor their children begging for bread." That is the Word of the Lord for us.

"So this is God's promise: that those who trust in God will never lack anything."

So, why worry? Knowing the ways of the world, if the One who made the promise is faithful, He will fulfill it. He will give us everything we need. But not trusting in the promise makes us do things our own way. The king was given the promise that his kingdom would be strong, but he didn't trust it and began to do things his own way. He started getting involved in shady dealings, engaging in irregular activities, deceiving people, and lying. So this is God's promise: that those who trust in God will never lack anything. But when we don't trust in that promise, when we go out into the world and are at work, when we are asked to do something that isn't right in God's eyes, we are afraid. And then things start to change. We say, “Well, what if I get fired? What if I lose my job? What if I say this and lose my friends? What if my family gets angry and leaves? What if I do this?” And we begin to doubt. Trust in the promise the Lord has given! There is no one forsaken who is righteous because the Lord is faithful.

It's quite strange because we want to do things on the outside our own way, and then in the church too. As if life were separate in that respect. We want God to answer our requests so quickly, but when the Lord asks something of us in His kingdom, how do we do it? In our own way, at our own pace, at our own speed. “When I have a chance, Lord.” “When I have time, You know how busy I am.” But when it comes to me, it has to be this way, this way, and that causes a short circuit in our heads because we believe God will answer us that way, yet our response to Him is not the same.

Why are we talking about this whole situation? Because we're talking about a relationship. The kids today say, “He left me on read.” What does that mean? When they say that, do they want to have a conversation with someone? And what happens? What does that mean? That the other person is available? No, right? And how does it feel? It doesn't feel good. When they say, “He left me on read,” it means he cut them off. He was unavailable or uninterested. We often do that with the Lord. We want Him to answer quickly. However, our response isn't the same. We act in our own way, at our own pace, wanting to maintain that. It's about understanding that this isn't about the church's tastes or what songs to sing. Some people say, "Well, I don't like that kind of music." "I don't like that preacher, I like that other one." "I like this music, not that." "I like to jump." And others say, "I don't like to jump."

It's not about any of those things because worshipping God has nothing to do with singing, with the music, with whether we jump or not. It has nothing to do with that. The Word of God has already told us what true worship is, the worship that the Father accepts. That's why we said at the beginning that idolatry isn't just worshipping idols, but also falsely worshipping God.

So how does God want us to worship Him? In John chapter 4, we know the story of the Samaritan woman. John chapter 4, verse 20—we're not going to read the whole story, but the Lord is having a very interesting conversation with a person in great need. John chapter 4, verse 20—and you know what the most beautiful or interesting thing about this story is? This woman is someone who knows the Word. It's a woman who's telling Jesus, "My ancestors taught us that we had to worship on this mountain, and we do it this way. You do it that way, but we do it this way." She was trying to have a doctrinal conversation with Jesus, the truth about how to worship God. She wanted to teach Jesus how to worship God, but Jesus answers her in verse 20. The woman is telling him, "''Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.' 'Woman,' Jesus replied, 'believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know…'”

Look, it seems something is changing here. First, worship isn't about a place. It's not about being in a place. As much as I love being in church, as much as I love coming to the Lord's temple and singing and praising and playing music and doing all that, worship isn't about doing it. Here, Jesus tells her, “It's not about that; it's about something more. It's incredible, it's about knowing Him because you don't know Him, you don't know Him. You worship Him, but you don't know Him.” We do know Him—that's where worship begins, true worship, by knowing Him.

It's true, isn't it—when we praise someone. It's very difficult if someone says, “Give thanks to the Lord, thanks to God, because He is good.” Yes, He is good, but it's not the same as someone telling me that God is good, because I know it, because I've experienced that God is good. That's knowing God.

So that praise is completely different. It's not because someone has told me, "Do this," or "Look, that person is a nice person." They tell me, "They're a nice person, look how good they are." I don't know them, I can't say exactly. We say, "I wouldn't vouch for anyone," when we don't know them. But when we begin to know God, it's a different kind of praise, a different kind of worship—here in the heart—because we know that God is good, amen. We experience that God is good. And then Jesus says in verse 23, "Yet a time is coming and has now come..."

"Don't wait until Sunday to raise your hands to thank God."

When? Already? When is that time? It's not tomorrow. It's not about tomorrow. Don't leave it for tomorrow, don't leave it for later, it's now. That's why we sang at the beginning, “There is freedom in the house of God,” because it is now. Because He is doing His work now. Because He has opened the way now. Because we can enter His presence now. Because every man and woman who wants to know God can do it now. You don't have to wait for the holidays a month away to go to church. You can know Him now. You can worship Him now! You can do it in your home now. Not only here in the church. Don't wait until Sunday to raise your hands to thank God. Do it in your home; wherever you are. At work, right, go to the bathroom, raise your hands and say, “Lord, I thank You here where I am.”

Whether you're at the university, at school, wherever you are say, "Lord, I adore You, Lord,"—because it is now. Because worshippers worship the Father. When? At all times and in all places. The Word says that “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” And look, this verse is key. Perhaps some of us would like this verse to say, "True worshippers worship with piano, guitar, and drums. True worshippers worship on Wednesdays and Sundays. True worshippers worship with this style of music." No, it's not about any of that. It's about doing it in spirit and in truth. Why? Because that's what the Father wants. This isn't about a church saying or imposing this or that. It's what the Father wants. And if I try to offer something else? Why would He receive it if it's something different?

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? In spirit. Every man has a spirit, and there are many spirits, but there is only one Holy Spirit. There is only one Holy Spirit. There are many spirits. Here, there may be many spirits, including mine. And these spirits want many things, but there is only one holy one. The Spirit of God is holy. Holiness enters man, and then that Holy Spirit connects with God. Paul says, "Who knows the thoughts of God? Only the Holy Spirit who dwells in him, which is the same Spirit that dwells in us.” Only in that way can we connect with the Lord. So it's not about instruments, it's not about jumping around, it's not about emotions. It's about the Holy Spirit. About having the Holy Spirit. It's not about whether there are people here or not. It's not about whether I have problems or not. Because it says there, in the truth, in the Word, in sincerity, walking in truth.

How do we know that worship isn't about music? Because David worshipped God by tending sheep. There on the mountain tending sheep, he worshipped God. Because Paul and Silas were in prison worshipping God; they weren't in the temple. And when we sing that the chains are broken, Paul and Silas always come to mind. Why? Because they were in the church, looking around? No, they were chained! They were in prison, yet they were worshipping God. Why? Because God is good, because the worshipper worships everywhere—in every circumstance—because they know that worship doesn't depend on what's happening, but it depends on God being good. The true worshipper knows that God is good; it springs from the depths of his heart. From the heart of a grateful person—not grateful because of what they have or don't have because that's not being grateful, but grateful for having been saved—that's what we spoke about at the beginning.

God has brought us here. Some of us may lack, some of us may have need of something. That happens in life, but for Paul and Silas, when they were imprisoned, they were giving glory to God in the midst of it all. They were worshippers—and truly so—not because of their circumstances. And really, I don't want to seem hypocritical, jumping around in church while I'm going through this in my family. But the promise is that He miraculously turns my sadness into dancing, and whoever experiences that changes from hypocrisy to a truth that leads to genuine worship of God, to something real before the Lord.

Sadly, worship today has been reduced to traditions. We sing, we jump, we jump if the song is good; if it's not good, we don’t jump. We have customs and all these things that don’t matter. Jesus addresses this because it's become a habit in churches now—we come to church to jump around and then we leave however we want. Look, church, we are free!

The woman was saying, "Look, Jesus, we worship this way in my church. We jump all the way up." The Samaritan woman was saying, "In my church, we have those pianos that sound like space computers. You should hear how they sound. We have guitars. You should see everything we do, Jesus. We jump, we leap, we cry, we throw ourselves on the ground. We do everything for Jesus."

And then Jesus looks at her and says, "That's good. Go get your husband." "I don't have one," she says. “You've spoken the truth. Because you've had five. And the man you're currently with isn't your husband,” answers Jesus.

We talk about doing this, that, and the other thing, but just as Jesus says to her, "How’s your house?" We talk about worship as if it only has to do with what we do in church, but worship comes from the heart. Idolatry is in the heart of man. It's not in the churches. We don't come here to worship images, but in our homes we often have idolatry. We are idolaters because we want to worship God in our own way. This woman worshipped God in her own way. "That's how I want to do it and God will accept it because He knows my heart and I am a child of God and He will accept it no matter what." No, my beloved.

"This is how the Father wants to be worshipped: truly, guided by the Holy Spirit."

This is how the Father wants to be worshipped: truly, guided by the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Samaritan woman thought that worship was enough. People can go into church, any church, and see people jumping, people crying, and say, “Wow, look how they worship there. How they worship in that church.” But how do we know if we are truly worshipping God? How do I know if I am truly worshipping God?

1 John chapter 4, verse 1: “Dear brothers and sisters, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” You know the apostle is addressing a topic here where false teachers and false prophets have arisen and he's telling people to test the spirits because not everyone who says they are filled with the Holy Spirit actually is. You have to test those people, but I believe that each of us can do it ourselves too. In fact, I believe we should. Test ourselves, examine ourselves. And you might say, how do we do that? How can I know if the Spirit is there? Whether I’m jumping because of the Holy Spirit? And how can I know if I’m not jumping because of the Spirit? Because the Spirit tells me not to jump. How do I know if I'm praying because of the Spirit? That's the Spirit we need to test—whether I have the Holy Spirit. How do I know if I have the Holy Spirit? Well, the Bible tells me that when the Holy Spirit descended on those people, not one of them turned back. Not one. Not one went back to their old life. Not one went back to their old life after the service. How do I know if I'm worshipping God by the Holy Spirit? Because here, and I’m jumping to conclusions, but if I get home and do what I always do, then the Holy Spirit isn’t there. We like to say that we're in process, that our life is a process, but the Bible says that we go from victory to victory, from glory to glory, from battle to battle.

It's not by our own strength, it's by the power of the Holy Spirit. But that doesn't mean we're stumbling, stumbling, sinning, sinning, sinning, and saying, "Well, God, You know." No, that's Christianity in your own way, at your convenience. “The Lord knows, the Lord knows me. I'll still go on Sunday to praise You, but You know I'm weak.”

No! When the Holy Spirit comes—as Paul said, "when I am weak…" That's why we sang that song, "I Am Weak." When He comes, He is strong. That's why it says, "Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'" So it’s not about being here to sing louder, it's for when you're at home and you feel weak, then you can say, "I am strong in You, Lord, and I won't fall into the same trap of the enemy.” And there in that place, brother, the Holy Spirit will begin to do the work in each one of us.

There wasn't a single one who turned back. I tell you today, the Holy Spirit can enter your life and give you the strength you need not to turn back. We can't fix it. But He can, He can. There is no other way to worship Him, no other way to please Him except in spirit and in truth. I believe that is what we desire, amen? To truly bring an offering that the Lord can accept and that offering isn't about Sundays, but about a lifetime. From Monday to Sunday, knowing that He is with us. That He is by our side. Amen.