In this sermon, we looked at the connection between serving God and worshipping God. The book of Malachi opens with God referring to Himself as a father and Israel as His son. In verses 3:13-18, God confronts Israel's vanity in serving. The people had ceased to serve God out of their love for Him and had, instead, come to a place of complacency and contempt in which they were going through the motions of worship while their hearts were bitter and rebellious. God reminds Israel that He hasn't called them to serve Him like a slave serves a master but like a son serves His father. Just like Israel, we can drift away from serving God out of our worship. The good news of the Gospel is that God doesn't give up on us or turn His back on us but loves us as a good Father who invites His children to return to Him.
