Uplifting Worship Series

Chuck Swindoll tells the story of a typical American family driving home from church one Sunday. Dad was fussing about the sermon being too long and sort of boring. Mom said she thought the organist played too loudly during the second hymn they sang. Sis, who was a music major in college, complained the soloist was about a half note off key during most of her song. Grandma said she couldn’t hear very well, since they were sitting toward the back. As they pulled into the driveway, little Willie, who had been listening to all of this, started to fuss about the woman who sat in front of him with the big hat. Then he paused, nudged his dad, and said, “But dad, you gotta admit, it was a pretty good show for a nickel” (Chuck Swindoll).

Sad to say, that’s the way it is for a lot of people in our country. Their worship is just a poor, cheap show on Sunday morning. They put a little money in the offering so they can endure an off-key soloist and listen to a boring preacher. Then they wonder why their religion is so lifeless and why they get nothing out of it.

Yet worship can be so exciting. It can be so refreshing and uplifting. Now, a lot of that depends on what we do up here on the platform. But I’m convinced more of it depends on what you do in the pew. How you come to worship will determine how you leave it.

The question is: How can you come to worship so you leave refreshed? How can you approach worship in such a way that you leave uplifted and encouraged? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 4, Genesis 4, where we see two brothers coming to worship. One left blessed. The other left depressed. One left rejoicing. The other left in a rage.

Genesis 4:1-5 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell (ESV).

What made the difference between these two? Why did God accept one offering and not the other? Why did Abel go away blessed and Cain depressed? Well, for one thing, Abel came to worship humbly. Able came with a lowly spirit and a sense of his own sin. You see it in the type of offering he brought. It was a blood sacrifice, an offering of part of his flock. When his parents sinned, God slew an animal and shed its blood to cover their shame (3:21). So Able, knowing that he is a sinner, sheds the blood of an animal to cover his own sin.

Abel came to worship humbly, while Cain came proudly. Cain came with a high and mighty spirit, without any sense of his sin before God. You see, he brought no blood sacrifice. He simply brought “some of the fruits of the soil.” Evidently Cain thought he was OK before God. Maybe he thought he didn’t need any forgiveness.

Cain came to worship high and mighty, but he left low. Abel came to worship low and humble, but he left high. How about you? How did you come to worship this morning? If you want to leave worship uplifted and blessed like Able, Then like Able you must come low. You must…

COME HUMBLY BEFORE YOUR GOD.

Come with a keen sense of your own sinfulness and your own unworthiness before God.

When President Theodore Roosevelt entertained diplomatic guests at the White House, he often took them out to the back lawn at the end of the day. There, the president stood gazing at the night sky until everyone else cast their eyes heavenward, as his were. In his day, the city lights were not bright enough to dim the vast array of stars, and the magnificent display of God's brilliant creation would overcome Roosevelt and his guests. After a long moment, Mr. Roosevelt would say, “Gentlemen, I believe we are small enough now. Let's go to bed” (E-mail from the Presidential Prayer Team, 6-21-02; www. PreachingToday.com).

When you recognize how small you are before a big God, only then are you ready to truly worship Him.

J. C. Ryle puts it this way: “Forgiven souls are humble. They cannot forget that they owe all they have and hope for to free grace, and this keeps them lowly. They [see themselves as] brands plucked from the fire, debtors who could not pay for themselves, captives who must remain in prison for ever, but for undeserved mercy, or wandering sheep who were ready to perish when the Shepherd found them. [Therefore, they give up their] right to be proud [unlike those] proud saints, [who are] the most likely to stumble and pierce themselves with many sorrows (J. C. Ryle in Foundations of Faith, Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 4; www.PreachingToday.com).