This past week Pastor Mark told us that one of the primary reasons for our anger is not anger itself, but rather what we love. It is when our loves are “disordered” that we begin to have sinful anger. And it’s not just anger that results from our disordered loves. Disordered loves are really at the heart of all of our idolatry and sin. We love wrongly, therefore we worship wrongly. Another way of saying this is that we worship what we love and, likewise, we become what we worship.
This may seem like a confusing statement, but it really is true that our loves and desires are at the heart of all of our brokenness. Because of sin our “loves are disordered.” This is why God says this in Ezekiel 36: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection we can have a new heart and along with that comes new desires. Through this we learn to have rightly ordered loves.
What’s even greater is that God, in his infinite wisdom, has given us the amazing gift of the church so that we can experience new life together. He has called us to gather together to worship him and to experience his grace in the community of believers. One of the primary tools he uses in our transformation is the weekly gathering of believers to worship God in a service that is centered on his Word. As we gather week in and week out we are being transformed by his Spirit in the midst of his body. God does not primarily use mountaintop, high intensity experiences to transform us, but rather the regular, habitual means of grace over long periods of time. In these “holy habits” he is giving us new desires and rightly ordering our loves.
Do you view the worship service in this way? Will this help your perspective as we look forward to gathering together once again this Sunday?
For this Sunday:
This Sunday we will be continuing our series on Wisdom with a look at Pride and Humility. Pastor Jamie will be preaching. The songs we will sing are:
All Creatures of Our God and King
Not In Me
And Can It Be
Lamb of God
Just As I Am
The choir and orchestra will be presenting a new song called The Blood of Jesus Speaks for Me as the offertory anthem. Please pray for God to prepare our hearts once again as we gather. Please pray for Pastor Jamie as he prepares to preach and that we would all have receptive ears and hearts to hear the Word of God proclaimed faithfully. Remember to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.
See you Sunday!
