Title: The Thanksgiving of Cain and Abel
Contents
Bible: Genesis 4:1-9
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President Abraham Lincoln is famous for his political episodes. He also had more stress than the average president because of the Civil War. One day, an old woman came to his office. The secretary just wanted to send the old woman back, but she was reckless. In the end, the grandmother who faced the president said that she wanted to offer home-baked cookies to express her gratitude on behalf of the people. President Lincoln later wrote in his autobiography, "When I was under a lot of stress, my brief meeting with this woman was such a good meeting that it took my stress away at once." This is how I record it.
Gratitude is just that. Gratitude is the expression of the grace we have received from God to please our God. It can be said that the purpose of gratitude is to make the giver have a happy heart.
Today we read Genesis 4. Genesis 4 was the first worship service offered to God in the Bible. The first worship service was offered, but as we know, Cain worshiped God with the produce of the earth, and Abel was a shepherd, so he took the firstborn lamb and worshiped God.
Cain just offered some of the produce. However, while Abel was tending the sheep, he sacrificed the first lamb he gave birth to to God. What we have to think about here is that for Abel, God is in the first place. For Cain, God is one of many things. Their attitude toward God was so different. God created heaven and earth, God is the beginning, and God is the end. God is Alpha and Omega. Therefore, knowing God correctly and treating God correctly is what pleases God.
Proverbs 3:9 says, “Give to God the first of your produce.” We hope that you will always have our Lord in the first place in our lives and worship.
Also, in today's Bible, it says that Abel offered gifts and oil. Now I don't eat oil for health reasons, but in fact, oil is precious. The oil that Abel offered was the best that God had given. Worship is a living worship that gives devotion, and it is a worship that pleases God.
The life of the church depends on worship. A church where worship is gracious is a church where God works. A church where worship is gracious is a church where all members of the church focus on worship. A church where worship is gracious is a worship that is gracious when worshiped with sincerity. Please put God first and worship with all your heart.
When we give a gift, we are not only accepting the gift, we are accepting ourselves. If we only offer gifts, God will not accept them. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”
One day, African saint Livingstone held a special service at church for African missions, and while giving a donation, he was worried because he had no money to give. That was the opportunity to create an African saint. We must dedicate this time to worship. The worship service offered by Jesus on Mount Golgotha is an example of worship. Jesus Himself became the sacrifice. The example of worship in the Old Testament is Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah. If so, what is the model for our worship? It is to give ourselves.
Entrust yourself to the Lord at this time. The Lord is a lover of life. It never kills you. Rather, it makes you honorable. Let us offer ourselves to the Lord in worship, saying, “Whether you live or die, do as you will, my lord.”
Lastly, the most important thing in worship is Cain asking God. “God, why did you receive Abel’s worship and not mine?” God says to Cain. “If you have done good, why can't you lift up your face? Isn't sin lying at the door of your house? Worship and life are two completely separate things. Worship is worship and life is life. I don't accept that kind of worship. Your worship must be connected to your life. Worship should be consistent with life This is the worship that pleases God.”
Worship is abad in Hebrew. Also, we live a life of salt and light in this world. That is also Abadd. Worship has two meanings. It is Abadd that worships like this, and it is Abadd that we go out into the world to fulfill the mission of salt and light as children of God. The word 'Abad' means that worship is one with life.
We worship, but today we ask that we go out into the world and do good. That is the unity of worship and life. Going out into the world to worship, but not living like a child of God at all is absolutely not pleasing to God. We need worship and life to be one.
I am praying for our church to become a glorious worship service where we meet the Lord every hour, we are blessed by the Lord, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, full of grace, and empowered, just like the early church. That worship is the worship with the teachings of the apostles and the worship with the fellowship of the saints. That worship is like today's Holy Communion, the Lord is in me and I am in the Lord. That worship is today's worship full of prayer and praise. In the name of the Lord, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will always give yourself to God as a living sacrifice and fulfill the mission of salt and light when you go out into the world.
2010-12-09 11:53:09