You know, it's interesting to me that perhaps in American evangelicalism and now spreading around the world, the idea of worship has almost become backwards. That we go to worship so that I can create some sort of good feeling, so that I can feel better. I need to go to church so that I can feel better.

Now, there is a sense in which you might need to go to church so you can feel better because you've been unfaithful. But actually, this is exactly backwards.

We need to come to worship in a way that is humble, in a way that is pure, in a way that indicates confession of sin. That's the pattern all throughout Scripture. Jesus even said that if you bring your gift to the altar and you have a problem with another person, with a brother, you leave the gift there. You go deal with the problem first in order to come worship. Worshiping God is never an act of emotion. It is an act of the will. It is a command.

Sometimes we get wonderful feelings, and we love that. When we sing the truths of the hymns of our faith, our hearts soar with those truths. When we hear the Word of God preached, we're elated at those truths. But sometimes we come to worship in brokenness, in sadness, in depression, even in anger, and we come confessing sin, confessing our impurity, and coming to the Lord in humility.