08/16/2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXDaA2X4BGA
Sunday Worship
August 16th, 2026
“Cain: What’s Crouching at Your Door?”
1st Sermon of the “Villians” Series
We remember Cain as one of the Bible's first villains—the man who murdered his own brother. But Genesis introduces us to Cain before the murder. He is a worker, a worshiper, and a disappointed man whose hurt slowly becomes comparison, anger, and bitterness. Before Cain ever raises his hand against Abel, God sees his fallen face and comes looking for him. And remarkably, God comes looking again even after Cain's terrible act. Cain's story reminds us that unchecked hurt can lead us places we never intended to go, but it also reveals something extraordinary about the character of God: grace does not ignore sin or erase its consequences, but neither does God abandon the sinner. Even east of Eden, God still comes looking.
Reflection Questions:
1) Where does comparison most easily creep into your life?
2) What do you think God means when he warns Cain that “sin is crouching at the door”?
3) Have you ever allowed hurt or disappointment from one situation to affect how you treated someone else?
4) Why can it be difficult to accept that God's grace extends even to people who have caused tremendous harm?
5) What changes when we believe that God knows the worst parts of our story and still comes looking for us?
Prelude
Praise Song: “Broken Vessels”
Welcome & Announcements
Opening Prayer and Invitation of the Holy Spirit
Centering Music "I am Redeemed"
Call to Worship
Leader: We come before the God who knows our whole story.
People: And still calls us beloved.
Leader: God sees our joy and our disappointment.
People: God sees our faith and our struggle.
Leader: God knows the places where anger, jealousy, and hurt have taken root.
People: And God does not turn away from us.
Leader: Again and again, God comes looking for broken people.
People: Again and again, grace calls us home.
Leader: So come, people of God. Let us worship the One whose grace is greater than our failures.
People: We will worship the God who never stops seeking us!
Gloria Patri
Hymn: “Grace Greater than Our Sin” UMH #365
Congregational Joys & Concerns
Prayer for Rain
Pastoral Prayer
Lord's Prayer
Offertory Prayer
Offertory Hymn: “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” UMH #400
Doxology
Scripture: Genesis 4:1-16
Message: “Cain: What’s Crouching at Your Door?” Pastor Nick Talbott-Dixson
Closing Prayer
Affirmation of Faith
Leader: What do we believe about God?
People: We believe in the God who created us, knows us, and refuses to abandon us.
Leader: What do we believe about ourselves?
People: We believe that we are created in the image of God, yet we are broken people in need of grace.
Leader: What do we believe about Jesus Christ?
People: We believe that in Jesus Christ, God came looking for the lost, welcomed sinners, confronted injustice, forgave the guilty, and showed us the depth of God's love.
Leader: What do we believe about grace?
People: We believe no failure is greater than God's mercy, no darkness is beyond God's light, and no person is beyond the reach of God's grace.
Leader: How then shall we live?
People: We will love God, love our neighbors, seek forgiveness, offer mercy, and trust the God who never stops coming after us.
All: This is our faith. This is our hope. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Closing Hymn: “Just as I Am, Without One Plea” UMH #357
Parting Blessing
Postlude
Sunday WorshipAugust 16th, 2026“Cain: What’s Crouching at Your ...
