Worship Around The Cross : Worship Is Warfare

This is our Sunday teaching from Senior Pastor, Tom Thompson. Recorded live at our Sunday Service in Harris Academy Purley, Croydon on Sunday 23rd March, 2025. Below you can find the full talk audio, and a summary article.

Want to lead a connect group session on this teaching? The notes are here.

Worship is a Fight: A Vision from Matthew's Gospel
Sunday Teaching Recap

This week, we kicked off a new series exploring worship — not just what we do, but why we do it. Rooted in the Gospel of Matthew, Tom shared how worship moments in the lead-up to the cross are like snapshots of light and order breaking into growing chaos. These aren’t just poetic images; they’re intentional, Spirit-breathed revelations of what worship really is.

Many of us may have grown up seeing worship as just singing songs in church. But Matthew invites us to see something deeper: worship as a prophetic act of allegiance to the coming King. Whether it's the crowd laying down their cloaks at the triumphal entry, the woman anointing Jesus' feet, Peter pledging loyalty at the Last Supper, or the centurion’s awe at the cross — each is an act of worship. Each says, “You are the Son of God.”

Tom reminded us: worship is a choice. It’s a fight. A fight to lay down our autonomy (our cloaks), to wave our palm fronds (our praise), and to align ourselves with Jesus — even in a world full of competing kings and agendas. Worship may feel like a small act, but it’s a battleground of the heart.

And here’s the challenge: are we choosing to show up — not just physically, but spiritually — ready to honor Jesus? Or are we distracted, disengaged, or pursuing our own ‘profit of pigeons’? Matthew warns us through Jesus’ actions at the temple and the fig tree — there is no fruit without true worship.

But there’s incredible hope too. When we worship, we step into Jesus’ victory parade. We join the procession of the King who conquers through love, humility, and resurrection power. As Tom shared, this is not about guilt but invitation — to become a church marked by life, glory, and fruitfulness because we take worship seriously… even if we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Worship is a fight. So let’s fight — joyfully, expectantly, and with hearts full of praise.