All In, All Flame | Acceptable Sacrifice - Pastor Scott Silcox

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.

For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv.

Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Silcox.

The series has got me all you know teary-eyed and sniffling and snorting, and then my wife is doing it.

I told Bella back there, I was like, I said, hey, I don't I don't know what our problem is.

Uh and yet I kind of do.

I think it has everything to do when you when you take time to spend in the presence of the Lord and you allow Holy Spirit to wreck you, to really get in there and and touch things that maybe you've hidden for a long time, or maybe some things that you just neglected for a long time, and he'll just start, he'll just start rewiring you.

And uh, and that's what he's been doing in us, and in it, and um, yeah, so if you see some extra emotion and tears, uh, don't get nervous.

Uh, it's just God's doing something special in our and in us as individuals, as pastors, and I believe he's doing something very unique here in our church.

And uh, how many of you guys have enjoyed the series so far?

It's been pretty amazing, and I know we're coming to a close on it, but I I want to get into to kind of what we're doing today.

But uh I'd like to also say this that um we had a really cool experience.

We had this opportunity to be with Manna House last night as they celebrated their servant leaders and volunteers.

And as we just we just we just we just started to brag on all those hours of effort going in.

If you don't know anything about Mana House, it's a it's an outreach arm of something that uh of the Rock Family Worship Center.

It's a way for us to reach our community.

We feed a few thousand families every single week from that location.

Uh there are backpack programs, which we talked about last night, were so fantastic, uh, which come on on the heels of a real tragedy where some kids lost their lives because they starved to death in our city.

Can you believe that's possible?

And because of that, there's some great people who decided, you know what, we're gonna create a backpack program so kids never ever have to go home over the weekend without any food.

And so uh you, our church, and many others in this community have rallied around that mission, and we've seen hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kids be able to be fed on a weekly basis based off of the backpack program.

And last night we celebrated this incredible couple who I had no idea, I really did, I had no idea, had funded the whole thing secretly behind closed doors, had faithfully served it, and had been funding it.

And I've just the whole time been thinking, like, look at God providing.

Isn't amazing what he's doing through all these people.

Come to find out a couple very specific that have been given their life to that effort.

And oh I actually think I see her here today.

I did not expect to see you today.

I won't call you out, I won't point you out because you don't like that, you don't want that, but I see you.

She's dressed in purple and she's sitting in the center.

I said, no names.

Could be anybody out there dressed in purple, sitting in the center.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

A thousand times over, thank you.

A thousand times over, thank you.

What an incredible effort.

It's easy to celebrate all the great things that we're doing here in the city, but uh, can I tell you, and I said this in a prayer last night, and I sometimes I say things I don't think it really lands very well because it's just this deep conviction in my heart.

And that that conviction is this I never want to be in a place where I think I'm more compassionate than the Lord.

I serve, I give, I partner, I have vision for this city to be transformed, not because we're great, but because Jesus is great.

Because he transformed us.

It compels me to get out in the streets.

It pushes me out.

I must tell the story, amen.

I must share the good news.

I must give my life away.

Why?

Because my life is so radically transformed by a loving Savior.

Come on, touch your neighbor, say you don't know who I was before I got here.

Come on.

You don't touch your other neighbor, say, you're lucky.

You didn't know me before.

My BC years.

You don't want to know about my BC years before Christ's years.

Can I tell you, I am I am I am eternally grateful for the work that Christ has done in my life.

And it is an absolute pleasure and joy to get out beyond the four walls and beyond my comfort zone, beyond what seems normal to me, and to make sure that the world knows there's a God who loves you desperately.

And sometimes that looks like feeding somebody.

Sometimes it looks like a message, like I'm gonna do today.

And sometimes it looks like getting gas for my neighbor.

And it changes as we stay yielded to the Holy Spirit, He'll put you in the right place at the right time.

Amen?

And I just believe this.

God is doing something.

And in fact, I'm even gonna say this prophetically over you.

If you're in a place where you feel dry or you feel like, I I I just don't know that God's working through me like that.

I'm just telling you to re-engage right now.

I'm talking about don't wait.

Start today.

Start today, re-engage.

Asking Holy Spirit, what will you have me do today?

Don't say next year, don't say next week, don't say when you're when you feel convenient.

Don't say when you're less busy.

God knows none of y'all are ever going to be less busy.

Am I right?

This seems like it doesn't matter how organized you get as a family, that just yields itself to more things.

I go back and look at my life sometimes, Britt, and I wonder if we'd have just stayed chaotic, we wouldn't be so busy.

Instead, I started to fix all the chaos in the house, and that gave me more time to be more busy, to say yes to more things.

Come on, somebody.

But this is the Lord reminding us we're in partnership with him.

Amen.

I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about that today.

It's a little different way.

But if uh you have your Bibles open up to Genesis, we're gonna start from the beginning.

For some of you, that makes you very nervous because you know I haven't preached in a while, and that might mean I end up in Revelation today.

And I've got good news.

I'm going all the way through to maps today.

We're getting all of it.

But if you open up to Genesis chapter four, chapter four, let me just tell you what we're talking about today.

Acceptable sacrifice.

Acceptable sacrifice.

Come on, say it with me.

Acceptable sacrifice.

These are the things we're gonna hit today.

The character of God, the posture of worship, and what?

The battle for the human heart.

This is the biggest thing.

This is what we do.

It started at the very beginning.

The entire Bible is a record inspired by the Holy Spirit through men, documenting God's love for his people and his glorious pursuit of us.

If you could just narrow it down to a few statements, it's just man fell apart and God spent the rest of the book earning us back, fighting for us, pursuing us.

We messed what we messed up in just a few pages.

He spent the whole rest of the Bible fixing.

Anyone ever had a hard day at work?

Anybody had to let me just say it like this.

Anybody had to mow grass and weather like it is these last couple of days?

It's just hot, you're sweating, you're picking weeds out, you're doing the things that you know you're supposed to do.

How many know at that point?

I usually get upset at Adam somewhere around that time.

What's your problem?

You couldn't just stick to the scripts, sir.

The idea, though, is this this momentary lapse of judgment in mankind and Christ absolute emptying himself towards mankind.

Undeserved, Seth.

Come on, anybody just know who you are, anybody aware of who you are?

Come on, not what your neighbor sees.

Talk about who you are.

You and God.

And I'm just telling you, I feel like I'm in a place sometimes where it's undeserved.

So let's talk about this.

Let's read this passage of scripture.

Genesis 4.

It says, 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.

And now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

In the course of the 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.

The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry?

And why has your face fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.

Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up and against his brother Abel, and he killed him.

This is a story that just a quick show of hands.

Is everybody familiar with this story?

Cain and Abel?

Oh, good, the majority.

Online, everybody's familiar with this.

This was one of those wild stories I used to love in Sunday school.

I don't know why, just seemed as a young man.

It's just exciting.

It's like, man, what's going on?

The jealousy.

This is usually about when the teacher would usually pull this out when we've had a couple of weeks of us uh stealing toys from each other, getting jealous, having little fights and bickering, and then all of a sudden the next week we'd get this lesson on Cain and Abel.

How to treat your brother, how not to treat your brother.

And it was always, you know, we were we didn't have uh we didn't have the budget some churches had, so it was always the same character who played different things just depending on what you put in its hand or on the shirt, you know, like David with a sling.

David was also Joseph with a coat.

Also, he's also Cain.

He's a murderer, and he's a king.

We just we're it's all over the place.

You don't wonder there's a reason we're goofed up.

You know, I'm just thinking like, now I'm starting to piece it together.

Like our young theology has been torn up from the beginning, just seeing the same person doing the same thing.

But Cain and Abel is a very popular story, but I think oftentimes it's is a passage of scripture that we can overlook really easily.

There's some actually like very dense, very rich thing, eternity, but we read right over it because we're fascinating that I think we overlook.

And if you look here at the beginning, I'll just say right out of the gate, this is we almost never think about this, but the thing is, is this is the very first, this is the very first expression that value is worship.

There's to anchor ourselves to there that's insisting someone.

Every declaration of who God is in our life, or who we're allowing to be God in our life.

Worship matters.

I don't think an accident that Moses, who is the author of this book, which I just like, if you can just think about this with me for a second, Moses is writing this book like a long time after it's happened.

That's the author, and can you imagine?

This this the a lot has happened.

Abraham, his entire genealogy has happened to Moses.

We've already got uh Noah, who's had the world completely upside down, and we've started over again.

You've got Abraham, you've got his sons, and all of a sudden Moses is now taking the time to actually articulate and to write down the story.

How does he do it?

Two ways that Moses is doing it: the Spirit of God and the origin story that's been passed down orally from generation to generation.

Why don't you think about this for a second?

Is that sometimes it things like if those are hundreds and hundreds of years in between uh uh um uh uh Adam and Moses, you would think like this is crazy.

There's like thousands of years in between that.

The truth is people were living longer.

So the odd part is that if you live 900 years, there's a good chance you're gonna live in the same era.

So there are a lot of people that you think probably died, but the truth is they were actually very much alive.

Like Seth, right?

His other son, right, who eventually is alive in this era, and grandkids that are alive in this era.

So their storytelling has got like a shorter distance than it would be like with us.

Where ours could end in 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years.

They have a long span.

So you can see multiple generations coming through a lifespan.

So I just you gotta think like this and you understand how Moses got to this.

So he's got the narrative that's been passed down orally and it's inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And you have to think, why does Moses choose these words?

Why is it the Lord is trying to get us to pay attention to something?

And I'm just guessing it's not that Cain killed Abel.

I think that's that's noteworthy, but it's not the point of the passage.

And I think that's what I'm trying to get in us today.

There is an acceptable sacrifice, that's one thing he's trying to highlight.

So we're gonna go through this.

So check this out.

Number one, God's fire never falls on perfect people, it falls on surrendered sacrifices.

It doesn't follow perfect people, it falls on surrendered sacrifices.

What are you saying, Pastor Scott?

Well, let's just let's just call Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the first family.

We'll just call them the first family.

They are the first family.

But we're gonna call them the first family today.

So the first family is here.

Now, the first family's been rejected and kicked out of the garden, have they not?

Just a chapter later, we see the sons acting in a way that they had to understand.

Now, how would they know that sacrifice is necessary for God?

It would mean that Adam and Eve had to explain that nature of God to them.

Now we know that because how else do they get the clothes they take out of the garden?

Because there has to be a what?

So if the sacrifice was made and it was acceptable to God, don't you think it wise that Adam and Eve are paying attention?

This is something we need to, this is noteworthy.

And then they pass this down from generation to generation.

Now, this is interesting, right?

The first thing humanity does right after is worship, the first thing God does is pursue.

Are you guys tracking?

Is that the air blowing in?

I need to stay out from underneath the air, or maybe I'm just a bag of hot air.

I don't know.

Like, but I kind of feel that way when I see your face sometimes.

You're just like, What?

Here's here's a noteworthy thought here.

The garden was lost, but access to God was not.

The garden is not accessible anymore.

You're disqualified from this place, but you're never disqualified from the Lord.

Go back and I'll show you this.

Why?

Because he he look at what the Lord does here.

He he has this deal where he says, I'm gonna turn around, I'm gonna receive your worship.

Abel, Cain, they're gonna put this worship before you.

He's ready to receive it.

The fact that he received Abel's worship lets you know that there's accessibility to the Father still.

Just because you've been rejected in this season, you're not in this season.

He hasn't left you, he's reforming you, he's changing and transforming you into something.

Come on, somebody, can you say amen?

I mean, no, we're we're not who we're gonna be.

I'm not who I was, but I'm not who I'm playing to be, who God has intended for me.

Look at this right here.

It says the first fruit of the ground, and also he goes through the sacrifices, but then immediately after rejecting the sacrifice of Cain, what does he do?

What does he say?

The Lord said to Cain.

Now let's stop right there.

The Lord said to Cain, Micah, that's very interesting because the truth is that if he had really rejected Cain, he would have just turned his back completely on Cain, but he didn't.

He rejected Cain's offering.

He didn't reject Cain, and in the same way that he pursued Adam, he now pursues Cain.

Adam, where are you?

In the garden.

Remember that question?

This question is Cain, where's your brother?

He doesn't distance himself, he steps into the question with him.

Why?

Because he's given an opportunity.

How many know when God's asking you a question, it's not because he doesn't know the answer.

How many, anyone human enough to admit you've treated God like he didn't know?

Carter, why do you do this?

Why do you do that?

I don't know, Lord.

No, he knows why you're doing it.

He knows what he's trying to get to.

He needs you to get there.

Come on, somebody.

It's not, it's not just, it's not accidental, right?

Alright, so check this out.

So let's go to the second one here.

It says, faith is usually inherited before it is chosen.

Here's three questions I want to ask yourself.

What story are your children hearing from you?

In order for Cain and Abel to have a revelation of worship, they had to hear it from their mom and dad first.

The fact that they have any inkling of what to do and how to respond to God the Father has to be something that's been inherently passed down.

I need you to know something.

Is that what you tell, the story you're telling to your family, to your kids, to your coworkers matters?

It says here, is your faith becoming their foundation?

Is how you operate with God and God's using you in that measure of faith that He's given to you?

Is it causing them to be hungry for God or for them to run from Him?

Do they know how to worship because you know how to worship?

Do they know how to pray because you know how to pray?

Do they have devotional life because you have a devotional life?

Are they ex?

Do they run from accountability?

Do they avoid discipline?

Are they disciples?

It's probably a direct correlation to where you are concerning those three areas.

It's not going to be forever.

Can I just tell you that?

And I want to be very clear.

Like, we're we're we're not we're not holding our kids' salvation.

Do you hear what I'm saying?

But you are modeling something worth going after.

Christ will have to have that with them individually.

But what happens in the impressionable moments and times?

Why I'm so excited, our kids are at Ford Conference today.

All of our youth, they're all there, they're having a great time.

It's wonderful.

They're on their way back today.

I can't wait to see my kids.

Can't wait to see.

Thank you, Jesus.

I know you've done a deep work.

Hallelujah.

Come on, somebody.

Anyone else?

Any mom and dad out there praying for the deep work?

Thank you.

Two of us, three, awesome.

Four.

The rest of you?

You should have been praying.

You didn't know what you're getting back, but I know what I'm getting back.

Come on, somebody.

This exciting, I'm so fired up.

Why?

Because this environment is a high value for me and I want my kid around it.

Why?

Because it's it's going to impress upon them.

Will it bring salvation?

No, it'll bring an atmosphere where salvation is possible.

It'll bring the atmosphere.

And then I have to ask myself, I can't send my kids to a conference every week.

I could just model it in my house.

I could just model how I treat their mom, how I speak to her, is going to directly affect the way Jude frames how he is to speak to his spouse.

What I tolerate when they talk back to their mother is what they will tolerate in their own kids at a greater level.

Okay.

I know we didn't come here for I didn't come here for all this.

Well, I came here to get better.

I don't know about you, but I want I want to be more like him, and that's gonna take some refining.

And it's not me just reading over a passage of scripture and be like, oh, that was nice, yes.

First fruits.

We want a good sacrifice, right?

Like, come on, man.

Like, don't just blow it off.

There's there's something that God's trying to shape in you.

That if we'll give him an opportunity, he will.

So the last question I have here is what is your faith origin story and are you telling it?

What's your faith origin story?

Listen, not everybody's got kids here today, but you have a story of how you came to salvation.

Are you telling that story?

Or are you just been like, well, I'm good.

I got my salvation on block.

I'm good, just waiting for the the the victory call.

Blow the trumpet.

It's so interesting.

It's like there's this, there's this, there's this mood, there's a sense that that time is getting shorter.

Anybody else feel that in the spirit?

Time is getting shorter.

That that we I I've it feels this intersection between what God, that, that, that what he's wanting to do on the earth is coming to a close, and yet we're not getting better at telling the story.

We're getting quieter.

We're getting contemplative, introspective.

I just believe God is doing something different where He's saying, like, what do you know how I saved you and who have you told about it?

Well, I'm saving it for the right time.

That's so sweet.

That's so sweet.

I love it.

But there will never be a right time.

Or I should say it better this way.

Today is always the right time.

You ever been in that place where you feel like you should encourage somebody in the Lord, but you don't because you feel like it's inconvenient?

I'm just saying, if the Holy Spirit is nudging you, he's also in control of time.

If he's prompting you, don't you think he's probably working on them too?

See, that's so it's so funny.

It's like we think the Holy Spirit's talking to us, and it's like, he can't minister to them unless I'm obedient.

It's so stressful because I'm at work.

I'm not supposed to do that.

I gotta figure out how to do it on the lunch break.

Bro, if he's prompting you, move forward.

Know that he's already been there before you, he's already made way for that, made opportunity.

Amen.

You follow me?

Okay.

Alright, so check this.

Let's go to Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

These are, it's a gift given to us who we think Paul is the guy that did it.

That's who most theologians think wrote Hebrews, right?

He gives us a gift.

He finally brings closure to Genesis 4.

Why?

Because we're kind of left with Genesis 4, not really knowing, like, what is the deal?

Why did God accept Abel and not Cain?

What's the problem?

Like, where was the misstep?

Now there's all kinds of beliefs, right?

Because when Moses wrote about it, he gives descriptors that he doesn't give to Abel.

Right?

Or to Cain, rather.

He gives to Abel the first fruits and the fat.

So those are a couple of details that he put into it just to identify that that there was something special about what Abel was doing, where Cain just gave something, some of.

I think it's the way it's some of, or some fruit, right?

And so there's this there's this distance in that.

And so we finally get closure, and this is where we get it, in a very, very, very famous scripture for us, and it says, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the what?

The conviction, the evidence, the testimony of things what?

Not seen.

Why is this important?

He identifies, gives us definition for what faith is.

Now this is fascinating.

He gives us the definition, and then in true form, he goes all the way back to what?

Where we first see it.

Now he could have chosen any story and anything, but when Paul is writing, he goes back to the where do we see faith first?

Look at what he writes.

For by it the people of old received their commendation.

By faith we understand that the what?

Universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are what?

Visible.

Verse 4, by faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, and God commending him by accepting his gifts, and through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

One of the most powerful little passages.

Through his faith, though he died, still he speaks.

And here I'm trying to tell you, Paul's trying to let us know.

What made Abel so different than Cain was the heart posture in which he presented what he was giving.

Now we ain't we know this because it's implied, but but have you ever stopped to wonder how is it that I'm approaching my life, my day, and my work with him?

Is it just to get through?

Is it because this is how mom always did it?

Or is there something deeper rooted?

Is there a measure of faith attached to this thing?

And will it, and here's the beauty of faith, and I'm just seeing this right here, but it's it's awesome, is that that one single act of faith, though he didn't live to his full completion of life, is still resonating even today in Huntsville, Alabama, we're having this conversation about a man's life who really didn't get to live it yet.

Was taken too soon, but but why we still talking about it?

Because Moses and the Holy Spirit felt it was important that years later, centuries later, there's gonna be people who are gonna get off-kilter as to what life is really supposed to always be about.

The reason they put an emphasis on worship being the first thing that that the first family did when they were uh exiting the garden is so that we would know how to prioritize things in our life.

That's good.

Right.

You know, you just it's cool.

Trust me.

How about this?

Faith is a posture before it's in action.

Faith is a posture before it's in action, before it ever moves into some actionable thing, it's actually a position of your heart.

The posture that you take in engaging with the Lord, it is, it's the thing that's there before there's anything ever put to it.

This this contradicts, not contradicts, but there's there's a on the other side of this is is also something very similar.

I'll talk about it in a second.

But I'm trying to get you to understand that in order for us to really activate this faith work in our life, we have to recognize there is a posture that we're supposed to keep.

This looks like when you pause when you serve from a different motive.

This looks like when you when you give or you support or you support your spouse in a way that really is just about you getting what you want.

It's not really about serving your kids, it's just wanting them to be quiet.

The posture of our heart matters.

Here's why it matters, because that's what God's actually looking at.

The reason he found like Cain not acceptable is because he had a different motive.

What's your motive today?

Why'd you show up today?

Why did we get engaged in worship today?

What was the motive?

Because I want him, I want to move God's hand for me.

Wrong motive.

Right action, wrong motive.

See, the thing is, they both sacrificed.

They had both the exact same action, they had the wrong heart posture.

This is God calling us in a place to remember there's a heart posture that he's looking at for his believers.

There's something that he expects out of us, and to act like it's not a thing is really foolish on our part.

Amen?

You guys tracking with me today?

Here's what I know our calendars preach, our bank statements preach, our attention preaches.

Whatever comes first reveals who we trust most.

My wife actually said this in the little thing.

Like, that first fruits, that first step, that first and best, what is that saying?

It's an indicator about who and what I value the most.

So let me be super clear.

When we're preaching and talking and teaching about why it's important to bear first fruits first, it's because we want to be a people who our motives aren't confused or misunderstood.

My heart posture is in a place where he gets maximum glory.

Amen?

This is what we're attempting to do.

God, I'm I want to humble myself.

I want to be in the presence of the Lord.

I want to do this from a heart out of gratitude, not out of obligation.

You've heard us say that before, haven't you?

That's where we get this from.

It is a different heart posture.

Whatever comes first reveals who we trust the most.

Alright, I'm gonna move through this.

Back to Genesis 4, 1 through 8.

And I want to get to this idea.

When God comes back to Cain, he asks him a series of questions.

And we get this idea that first and foremost, we have to understand something.

God loves us.

You have to get a revelation on this personally because if you don't, there's gonna be a lot of reasons to disbelieve that.

There will be.

There'll be disappointment, there'll be hurt, there'll be betrayal, there'll be anxiety.

Those things that will want to crop out will cause you to want to question God's actual love for you and his care for you.

And the thing that that I think is oftentimes overlooked in this passage is how heartbreaking it is that God pursues Cain, but Cain does not reciprocate.

Cain is being pursued.

He was not rejected.

I want to talk about rejection for a second.

Is that okay with you guys?

So we asked him a few questions.

These are fascinating.

Why are you angry?

I love that.

God's just like, hey, Cain, why are you so angry?

You ever been in a room with somebody who was either corrected or dealt with something and they're just angry about it, but they were they were dead wrong?

And there's always gonna be somebody who's who's kind of like a smart electron, but why are you so angry?

And that that person you probably usually want to hit.

But God steps up and says, Hey Kane, why are you so angry?

Why is your face fallen?

Why are you angry?

Why is your face falling?

Why are you angry and why have you allowed it to change the emotional makeup of who you are?

What's what that disposition?

What why is that changing?

Isn't that weird, strange questions that God would be asking?

Not that God doesn't know, he knows exactly what it is.

He gives Cain an opportunity.

Why does it matter?

It's because God is always pursuing mankind, and there will be days where we don't get it right.

But when he corrects us, stop treating it like he's against you.

He might just be against it because of your heart posture and your motive behind some of the things you're doing.

And why is that?

Because he's going to expose something in you.

First and foremost, it's likely gonna be some sin nature.

Now that matters because you're gonna see this for the very first time.

Sin is gonna be exposed in a totally different way.

Sin is no longer gonna become an action, it's actually gonna be something more.

We'll talk about it in a second, but let's look at it this way: God always makes the first move.

Something you need to know.

God always makes the first move.

No matter what has happened or what has taken place in Cain's life, God moved first.

You notice that Cain didn't pursue God.

Abel didn't pursue God on behalf of Cain.

Eve didn't stand in the gap for her son.

What's the first move?

God says, Cain, why are you so angry?

I'm stepping into your dysfunction with an opportunity to get out of it.

So there's so many times when God is trying to step into your dysfunction and you don't want to hear it.

I don't want to hear it.

That's just how church people are.

That's just the way the church is.

That's just the way my mom is, that's just the way my dad's been.

All of a sudden, it's like all the reasons why you give yourself permission to shut the world out.

And yet God always steps in and says, Hey, I know this didn't go like you thought it was gonna go, but hey, tell me why you're so sad about it.

I want an opportunity to get it right.

I want an opportunity to help you see something differently.

That's what he's doing here.

Says, Why are you angry?

Why is your face fallen?

This is the last question he asks.

If you do well, will you not be accepted?

Isn't that great what he's saying to him essentially is this.

He's simply saying, It didn't work out in the sacrifice for you, Cain, but I haven't rejected you.

I've rejected the sacrifice in the heart that you brought, but I haven't rejected you.

And the proof of that is I'm standing in front of you with an invitation.

To do what?

To be accepted.

To be accepted.

I'm giving you an opportunity to be accepted.

You don't have to live in the in the place of rejection.

This is a dangerous place.

Don't confuse an unacceptable sacrifice with an unavailable God.

He's always available.

He's always pursuing.

He is not against you, he's for you today.

I don't know who that's for.

I don't know who came in here today feeling rejected and frustrated, beat up, and discouraged.

But I'm gonna tell you, he has been actively pursuing you.

And I'm just gonna take it a step further.

Me even saying this is yet again another confirmation to you.

Stop praying for another one.

Accept the one that's standing in front of you today.

He is pursuing you, he loves you.

Alright, there isn't a person in this room who has not fallen short.

Anybody?

Come on, this week.

No?

Okay, just me.

I stand alone, Lord.

Alright, I'm fine with that.

I'm fine with that because I'm learning something from the life of Cain.

That though I may fall short, he doesn't fall short in his love towards me.

He's compelling me into him even closer now if I won't reject him.

Because I carry a spirit of rejection.

You know what's heartbreaking is to see people who carry a spirit of rejection.

Those people are usually the people that you compliment and they think you're talking bad about them.

You look beautiful today.

You would say that.

Right.

Right, because you're beautiful.

Beautiful.

Huh.

You know, I wonder what kind of beautiful you're talking about.

And you're like, okay, seriously, what are we doing here?

Can we just take a compliment for once?

Right?

That's spirit of rejection.

Spirit of rejection looks like this.

Less less overt is more like um Reese and I get in a conversation.

And it's a good one.

Oh, and we're laughing.

Laugh with me.

Oh, you're the best.

Yep.

Steve sees that and's like, they're talking about me.

I know they're talking about me.

I know it.

They looked over here, they saw me, and they started talking about me.

Spirit of rejection.

Right?

Bro, we're not talking about you.

We're talking about how great we are.

Amazing.

Like it it's the humanity in us.

And I'm just here to tell you is that the Holy Spirit wants to give you victory over that.

You you you that that's kind of a funny one, but like you start to do that internally in your own home.

When you start to feel rejected because of the way life is going.

Look, God wants to heal you from hurts and pains and things like that.

But but but he sure doesn't want other people to pay for the sins of other people.

He's he's he wants to grow us up and to know that he can be trusted with the things we can place in his hands.

And with that, we don't have to speculate about everyone around us.

Come on, somebody.

We want to see the spirit of rejection come off.

You say, well, why?

Why?

I mean, why?

Because it's you know it's it's not rejection, it's me being cautious.

That's my favorite.

That that's called you putting an SOP around a lie.

That's you creating some little system to protect a lie of the enemy.

And I'm just gonna tell you, that that is you trying to be God.

And uh and yeah, that doesn't work.

That that that's how we got here.

It doesn't work.

You you're not you're not God.

That's why we have to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ.

And though I don't understand it, and though difficult it may be, I gotta trust him with it.

If you can get into a habit of allowing him to reshape and reframe that, it will help you to see people the proper way, and not in a way that filters them through your rejection.

You start to distrust people that God brought to actually bring life to you.

Though you pray every day, God send me somebody, and he sends you hundreds of people that you reject daily.

Okay.

I knew this would go so good.

I'm so excited, so encouraging.

Let's talk about it for a second.

Oh, sorry.

Here's the thing that's gonna happen in Genesis 4.

Uh tell you what, let me just so that y'all don't think I'm making it up and stuff.

So this is interesting.

Cain spoke to, I'm sorry, we'll go back up.

It says, uh, Christ says to him, Um, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is what?

Crouching at the door.

Its desire is for you, and you must what?

Okay, here's here's interesting, something very fascinating.

Do you realize this is the first time where sin is personified as an attacker?

This is the very first time where sin is not just you missing the mark, sin is actually something that's pursuing you.

This is the very first time we're ever going to see this.

What?

What are we doing?

Like, yeah, he brings new language because he wants Cain to understand something.

The way of opportunity, the way, the door is not closed on your life yet.

Cain, it's the door is not closed, but sin is crouching at the door.

What does that give you the imagery of, right?

We know it's the imagery of like a jungle cat waiting to pounce on unexpecting prey.

Right?

I I had the privilege of going on a safari a few years ago.

An amazing experience.

If you ever get a chance, you should really do it.

But I actually got to see like a live pursuit.

It was amazing.

And it was a lion, a big male lion and a couple of female lions.

Of course, the male lions, they're all lazy.

They are.

They're just big and mean and roar a lot.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

But the ladies, they're vicious.

They're hunters.

They're like wild hunters.

But they were pursuing.

It was interesting, they were using our vehicle as cover.

Not fun.

That part's not fun.

I'm just telling you.

You know, you're in the wild.

I don't care what.

I mean, like, if that guy decides I look like a snack, then that I'm just gonna have to.

Yeah.

I'd look like just a big drum chicken leg out there.

Just there I just sat, and but but this this this line was using us as as decoy, like to be able to kind of like use us for cover.

So he's like, he's like low to the ground, super low, and it's amazing when you see a cat, jungle cat like this.

It's amazing how slow everything is before it gets fast.

But it's like slow.

It's like a one little and then they freeze for it, it seems like ten minutes.

Right?

And it's like a and then they're like, I'm like, this is a giant game of uh red light, green light.

What are we doing here?

This is a safari red light, green light game.

That's what we're doing, and all of a sudden it's like stop, and it's right?

Just watch this over and over, and then all of a sudden, like, there there he is.

He's gotten just to the front of the vehicle, and now it's time to go because he's got the distance.

And he doesn't.

He doesn't do it because he's chasing a wild buck, and it was fast or way faster than the lion, and it was awesome.

But to see them tear out after one another, it was amazing.

Absolutely fantastic.

This is an imagery that we're getting, is to say, like, you need to be very careful when you carry a rejected spirit.

Because the enemy sits like a lion.

He sits there ready to devour, he's crouching at the door.

Sin is present, but it's not there yet, Cain.

Isn't that interesting?

He says it's present, but it's not in him.

Anyone find that interesting?

That he rejected the sacrifice.

He doesn't reject Cain, but Cain feels rejected personally, and so he's filtering, he can't even hear the father pursue him and warn him and warn him again.

He can't even hear it.

Does that sound familiar?

Boy, that sounds like me.

I don't know if it sounds like you, but it sounds like me.

I've been here.

I've been there where I've ignored those promptings, those warnings.

Scott, sin is at the door.

It's not taking hold of you.

The door isn't closed yet on your life.

Come on, I'm talking to somebody in this room.

Well, you don't know how I've lived.

I don't care how you've lived.

The door is not closed on your life.

The Father's pursuing you.

He's pursuing you, but it's crouching at the door.

Pay attention.

Pay attention.

This is what it says.

Sin is the soul's decision to live independent from God.

Sin is the soul's decision to live separate from the Lord.

Remember, I said this earlier, this is what Adam and Eve did.

They wanted to be their own God.

I don't need you.

I got it.

I got it.

I got it, God.

I'll take it from here.

When you do that, that's sin.

If you were defining sin, you'd all know this, is that in the Greek it it interprets it's missing the mark.

Right?

Would anyone agree?

You've heard that before?

What is sin?

It's missing the mark.

I'm gonna just take an added little touch to this because it's actually one other word that you're missing.

We say it's missing the mark.

It is missing the attended mark.

Did you see?

See, it's easy for us to say, oh, we missed the mark.

No, no, no.

See, you need to pay attention.

It's missing the intended mark.

What was intended for you to hit, you missed.

What does that mean?

God has purpose for you.

God has a very specific purpose that He's trying to do in you.

And you can't just say, I missed it this time.

No, no, when He says you've missed the mark, sin is there.

It's crouching at the door.

When it's there, it's meaning you're about to miss what I have for you.

What I've called you to, who I'm calling you into.

You're gonna miss what I'm doing for you in this hour if you're not careful.

Not just another, oh whoops.

No, this is your destiny.

From the beginning of time, before you ever knew you needed a savior, you had a destiny, a purpose.

And when sin is crouching at the door, it's to get you to focus on missing rather than hitting.

How about this?

There's grounds for murder.

Grounds for murder.

Like you would hear in a case.

What are the grounds for murder?

Casual worship, unchecked comparison, hidden resentment, unrepentant anger.

These are grounds, these are soils where hate and anger and murder can live.

Well, geez, Pastor Scott, I ain't out here trying to kill nobody.

That ain't my thing.

I don't, I mean, I'm I'm nice.

I love people.

Right?

Yeah, we're glad that's not your profession.

Yes, we are glad.

But that word is it when we say murder, what it is is there are certain atmospheres that you and I keep that are hotbeds for breeding and action and a reaction to some things that can be very dangerous.

Right, right.

And that's what these are.

I put these down on purpose.

Casual worship.

When you come in casually and worship, I believe that is it.

That is you and I getting comfortable with the Lord, so comfortable that it doesn't matter.

I just come into his presence any old way I want to come.

Any any older folks in here, come on, all our young people are gone.

Except for the few that are here, y'all plug your ears.

But for all of us older folks, you ever met a kid who just lacks like respect for authority?

And does that not drive anyone else up the blame wall?

Do you just you wish that you could go back to the 50s, right?

Where everyone had permission to spank each other's kids?

Huh?

There are times where I'm in the store and I see a kid lose their and then say things.

I watched a kid, and I'm I'm I'll be honest with you.

I am I'm the older I get, the weirder I get, I think.

And I'm kind of excited about where I'm going right now.

I just tell him about like I kind of feel like when I get into that 60s, y'all gonna just watch out, dude.

Cause I'm telling you, I'm gonna be on another level.

And I can already see myself amping up into this, and I can't excite Tom.

I'm telling you, it's gonna be special.

It's gonna be special.

It's gonna be special.

I can feel it, but I'm watching this kid lose his mind on his mom, and I just honestly, I just stood there and stared.

I just stared at mama's trying to adjust and deal, and I'm just staring at this kid like checking mama once, I'm checking the kid.

Checking mama again, I'm checking the kid.

Kid's yelling, but he's eyeballing side-eying me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm just like, one more time.

One just say it one more time.

Right?

I'm gonna roll this kid smooth across this room.

And this is not good.

This is not the healthy place to be.

But but if you know what I'm talking about, like there's there's something about disrespect that just sets me off.

Right?

But what we're talking about here is is oftentimes we approach God with that level of disrespect all the time.

Give me what I want.

You never bless me, you always bless them.

You always forget about us.

You didn't like us from the beginning.

Just stop it.

All that trailer talk.

That's ridiculous.

Come on, somebody.

Let's just say it.

That's the stuff they make shows, TV shows about that silliness.

Just at odds with everything.

Everything.

Just have to find something to get angry about and mad about.

And we just we come to the Lord so flippant like that.

Oh, you owe me this.

Oh, I'll give you this worship, but you know what I need in return.

It's like, what?

You're talking to God.

Oh, it's not as overt as that.

No, no, no, no.

That's just me saying what's happened in the psyche in your head or in your heart, maybe even.

I hope not, but it can.

You can get into this place where you start to become a consumer of what God's trying to do.

No, I am here to participate.

You know, when we come together, we don't come together.

You're like, why do we sing songs over and over again with the same words over and over?

Why all the repetition?

It's for a reason.

It's so that it gets in our hearts and our spirits.

It's that that we we depend on the people leading from the from the pulpit.

That there are times where they may go another round on it because they may sense, hey, there's still something left in us.

God, we want to be emptied and ready for you.

All agenda.

Are y'all tracking with me?

And then there are times where we we we consume the church at at our leisure.

It's like, oh, well, this is just like, yeah, I come over here, I try this, and then I go over there and I do another thing.

And yeah, I really like what they do over here, and then we kind of, I'm just kind of like a giant Ryan's buffet of church.

That's what it is.

I'm I'm I'm I'm trying to I'm just trying to tell you that there's got to be something different in the body again.

Where we're telling the how how I'm gonna tell you what kind of story it tells your family when you treat church that way.

I'm gonna tell you, it tells your kids it's not a priority.

It tells your kids, hey, you can just do whatever you want with the Lord.

He's obligated to give grace to you.

No, because those kids grow up to give spiritual temper tantrums later.

There's a way to approach him.

Why I put these like casual worship?

It's not casual worship like, well, what are you is is here too casual?

No, you need to be here.

I'm just kidding.

No, what are we talking about?

I'm not talking about where you lift your hands.

It's not talking about a plane of which this is really godly, this is kind of godly, this is casual.

That's not what we're talking about.

We're talking about your heart posture to the Lord, the things of the Lord.

Talking about your heart posture to discipleship, talking about your heart posture to accountability and brotherhood and sisterhood and connectivity and family.

Talking about your heart posture towards those things.

Well, I'd get involved, but no one's asked me personally.

I'd help.

I'd love to help.

But, Greg, nobody's even asked me.

They don't need anything.

Do you see where we how fast did we get there?

Look around.

We have a vision to reach our community, our city.

We're going into the nations.

What do you mean there's no help?

How if we're all waiting for somebody to come and personally ask us?

Nobody personally asked me to take this job.

Nobody personally asked me to be your pastor.

I engage with the Lord and He says it'd be good for you.

And I do this because He says it's good.

We didn't ask for a vote because I wouldn't have made it here.

Come on, somebody.

Man, we got smarter over the years, man.

Just kidding.

It's a joke.

I I need you to hear what I'm saying.

I'm trying to get in our hearts, man.

Like, there's the Cain and Abel in each of us.

Sometimes they're at war with each other.

And it usually means because we're living, operating from a seat of rejection.

Hidden resentment and unrepentant anger.

How about this?

Sin distorts our view of God.

Sin will distort your view of God.

The longer you're there, the less clear he looks.

The longer you're in sin, the less clear anything starts to make sense.

And that's when we become our own gods.

We start to make decisions that that then benefit our feelings and not what he really wants.

What is he actually doing?

And instead, we're just kind of going with what makes me feel good today.

Anyone else tired of having their life led by what feels good?

Yeah, I've had a really bad day, so let's go pound a tub of ice cream.

That'll feel good.

Yeah, for about 30 minutes.

And then lactose intolerant.

Now you're a problem for the house.

Come on.

Come on, it ain't just you.

You're affecting everybody with that.

But you felt good for 30 minutes.

Come on, I'm using ice cream, but you just fill in the blank.

Fill in the blank.

Right?

Sin distorts our view of God, which distorts our view of ourselves.

It makes me not be able to hear his voice and what he thinks about me.

And because I can't hear what he thinks about me, I start to think about myself negatively.

Cain got into a place where he was rejected, his sacrifice was rejected, but he took it as personal.

And now in everything that God's saying, all he can do is see that I'm no good.

I'm rejected.

I'm not able.

See, if he had just had the response, God would have responded, I didn't reject you, I rejected your sacrifice.

Cain, I love you.

But your sacrifice was no good.

Wrong heart, wrong motive.

And this is a great opportunity for me to teach you what I expect.

Instead, he doesn't respond, he goes inward.

Oftentimes, rejection for you and I will look like that.

You'll still feel like you're rejected by a person, by a thing, by a position, by an opportunity.

I wish I could have done this.

You didn't let me do it, they didn't let me do it, we can't do it, I must not be worth anything, I'm not worth anything.

And all of a sudden you lead with that message.

That's not what God's doing.

And that's why it's important because why?

Because the longer you stay there, the third one becomes more of a reality, and this is, which ultimately distorts our view of others.

When you start to believe those things about you, you can no longer celebrate what's happening in the people around you.

And this is what eventually ends up happening.

Cain internalizes so deeply that he can't even celebrate the fact that God did accept his brother's sacrifice, which, if he had been just moderately okay, he would have paid attention and said, What was it that you did?

Where was your heart at?

See, he could have easily just gone to his brother and said, Well, what made what you did different than what I did?

Instead, he didn't do that because he believed something about himself.

And because he believed something about himself, he created grounds for murder.

And in the same breath, now I want you to just see this imagery for just a second.

In the first worship service recorded after the Garden of Eden, the very first worship service, we have faith is instilled there.

We have the sense of sacrifice and worship is instilled there.

These are all first.

And then right in the middle of it, at the very same time there's worship, there's murder.

Murder.

Not like, not like a little whoops, murder.

Why?

Moses and the Holy Spirit are trying to get the readers to understand something.

Is that God is always pursuing and he is going after you.

He is always making a way of escape.

And for those who don't choose that way of escape, will inevitably turn inward on themselves and outward on others.

And sin will no longer be crouching at the door, but it'll be alive and well in your life.

And you and I, against all odds or against maybe all hope that we wouldn't do this, we would miss the desired outcome of our life.

I'm offering you something today.

It's for people here not to miss the intended mark for your life.

There are gifts and callings and anointings.

There are businesses and ideas, there are families that are yet to be made.

There are destinies that God has for you.

There are young men and women in this room sitting under the sound of my voice who don't even know what tomorrow's going to hold, but God absolutely knows what He has planned for you.

And his encouragement to you is don't miss the mark I've planned.

Sin is crouching at the door.

Can I tell you?

The longer we stay in resentment, the longer we stay in hate, the longer we stay in frustration, the longer we stay rejected, the longer we distance ourselves from the Lord, you'll start to believe something about yourself that isn't true.

It's not what he said, it's not what he's doing, and yet you can't see it.

You may be here today, God's been trying to pursue you.

You've been rejecting it because you don't feel worthy, and I'm here to tell you stop in your tracks, turn about face.

He is present, he is there, he is calling to you, he wants a relationship with you.

You do not have to live in misery or torment, you do not have to live in depression, you do not have to live in suicidal thoughts.

You do not have to carry this into your marriage, you do not have to pass this down to your children.

Tell Cain to be quiet.

Look inside and tell Cain to be quiet.

The rejected version of you.

You're not rejected, you're loved, you're cared for.

You're the head, not the tail.

Right?

You are seen and seen again and again and again.

You matter to him, you matter to the kingdom, you matter to this church, you matter to the people around you, even though they may not know how to express it.

Don't worry about what they're able to express.

You just lean in and let the Father define who you are.

Are you tracking with me this morning?

We want to have an acceptable worship.

And it starts by accepting that we're in need of a Savior.

We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful.

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Have a Jesus filled with