RE-fromed from the Inside Out: How Worship Forms Our Hearts and Lives
Everything Around Us is Shaping Us
Everything around us is trying to shape us. From commercials and work demands to sports, social media, and daily routines, the world constantly influences our hearts and minds.
But the world doesn’t just shape our behavior—it tries to shape our identity and the ways we pursue that identity.
James K. A. Smith reminds us:
“The orientation of the heart happens from the bottom up, through the formation of our habits of desire. Learning to love God takes practice.”
Learning to love God—and to live as his people—doesn’t happen through information alone. It happens through formation.
The World’s Liturgies
Think about the mall. It isn’t just a shopping center; it’s a kind of religious site. It isn’t theological, but it is liturgical. It trains our desires, not just our minds.
Everything around us works in similar ways:
Advertisements and billboards shape what we value.
Schedules and routines dictate how we spend our time.
Social expectations influence our priorities.
All of these aim to form our hearts—often without us even noticing.
Why Worship is Vital
This is why worship matters. We don’t come here just to get information. We come to be re-formed.
In worship, God is like a potter at the wheel:
Shaping our identity
Directing our purpose
Molding not just our behavior, but what drives our behavior—our loves, desires, and habits
Each week, God:
Gives us a new identity
Empowers us with his Spirit for a new purpose
Forms us to live “God first, others second, me third”
The Transformative Power of Worship
When we gather for worship, God actively shapes us by:
Welcoming us with love and forgiveness
Feeding us with his Word and Sacraments
Teaching us how to love him and others intentionally
Worship isn’t just about doing the right things—it’s about being rightly shaped from the inside out, so that our desires, habits, and identity align with God’s purposes in the world.
Come and Be Re-Formed
Worship is where we are re-formed by the Spirit. Just as clay is shaped on a potter’s wheel, so are we—molded, guided, and empowered by God.
Come to worship this week and allow God to:
Shape your heart
Form your identity
Direct your purpose
Live rightly in the world, bring glory to God, and love those around you as you are re-formed from the inside out.