Young People's Group

LEARNING TO OFFER THE RIGHT KIND OF WORSHIP

by Pastor Mitch
May 13, 2012

The Lord Evaluates Our Worship

God assesses our worship each time we come to Church. He personally looks at the internal and external aspects of how we worship Him. When Cain and Abel brought offerings before our Lord God, He did not accept Cain’s offering while Abel’s was accepted.

“Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering.” 
Genesis 4:3-5

Cain did not put in much thought into his offering. There was no special intent involved in this offering and God knew about this. He just conveniently brought the fruit that he had grown from the ground. The Lord looks beyond the surface of the act and sees the intent of the heart. Abel, on the other hand, brought a special offering to the Lord. He specifically planned to give a firstborn of his flock of animals and their fat. He sought to give his very best to the Lord. God evaluated the kind of person Cain and Abel were. He respected the latter and his offering but rejected the former and his offering. God evaluates both the internal and external aspects of a person’s worship

The Bad Example Of Cain In Offering The Wrong Kind Of Worship

“Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” 
1 John 3:12

From the text of 1 John 3, it can be understood further the kind of person Cain was. The apostle John explained that he was one who did not love his brother but hated him because he was of the wicked one. He was under the power of the evil one and was being deceived and influenced by him. He had a big problem of anger and allowed Satan to sway him into sinning against God by murdering his brother. He was envious of his brother because his brother’s works were righteous but his were considered evil and thus rejected by the Lord. Young people, let’s make sure that we are not of the wicked one. Let’s ensure that we do not have sin our heart as we worship.

The Good Example Of Abel In Offering The Right Kind Of Worship

“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” 
Hebrews 11:4

The writer of Hebrews gave us an insight into why Abel’s offering was accepted by the Lord. It was by means of faith that Abel offered an offering that was considered far more excellent than Cain’s. Through it, he obtained a wonderful testimony that he was righteous in God’s sight. In worship, God evaluates the gift and the giver of the gift. Because Abel was walking by faith in God’s sight and exercising his faith in his offering to Him, He continues to testify of his accepted offering. Even though he is dead, today, his testimony continues to speak to us. Let’s follow the example of Abel in offering a “more excellent” offering to the Lord. Let’s learn to offer it by faith.

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