Out of the Overflow of the Heart (Worship Lesson)

Downloadable Now!A CMT Exclusive!

Thanks for Sharing!

Theme Verse:
Psalm 44:20,21 If we had forgotten God or worshipped a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart? (paraphrase)

1 Samuel 16:7 Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (NIV)

Matthew 12:34 For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. (NIV)

Objects Needed:
a multicolor candied cereal box, spaghetti, large bowl

Application:
(Show the box to the children.) What is this? It’s a box of ______ cereal. This box of ______ will help us understand a little more about praise and worship. Where do praise and worship come from? They come from your heart. Remember what Jesus said. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. When we really love God with all of our heart, it will show in what we say. It will show through our praise and worship of Him. It’s important that when we sing praise to God, or spend a few minutes worshipping God here together, that we praise and worship Him from our heart. It’s easy just to say the words while everyone else is, but God wants more than for us to just say the words. He wants us to mean it what we’re saying. We know that if we are just saying the words, the only people we may be fooling are those around us. We can’t fool God, because, He looks at our heart. God knows what we are like inside. Imagine that this cereal is a person who comes to church every week. They shout, sing, and pray just like everyone else does. But there’s something different about them. (Open the box and pour the spaghetti into a large bowl. Be sure the children can see the spaghetti pouring out of the box.) This isn’t a box of _______ cereal, it’s a box of spaghetti. If this was a person trying to hide his, or her, heart from God, he couldn’t do it because God sees his heart. He knows whether or not a person’s praise and worship is sincere.

The Bible has another interesting verse that we don’t hear much. Psalm 44:20,21 says, If we had forgotten God or worshipped a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since He knows the secrets of the heart? This verse talks about the secrets of our hearts. Though we may not worship idols, we may be guilty of the first part of this verse. We may forget about God. I don’t mean forget who He is. I mean that we may forget to think about Him, talk with Him, pray to Him, or praise and worship Him throughout the day. It says that if we do, we can expect God to know about it. If we truly love Him, we will want to spend time with Him, talking, worshipping, praying, listening. If we truly love Him, we will mean what we say when we praise and worship. Are you pretending to be someone you aren’t? Do you try to fool others and God by pretending to praise? Is your heart filled with secrets, like the cereal box was filled with spaghetti? If so, now is the time to confess that to God and begin to worship and praise Him from your heart. (Pray.)