How do we stop hating and start loving?

Gulf Coast Community Church - Sunday Sermons

Preacher: Jerry Cisar

After a 12-year relationship with Mia Farrow, Woody Allen (then 57) trying to explain his controversial relationship with his lover, Mia Farrow’s 19-20 year old adoptive daughter, said “The heart wants what it wants?” I’ve heard similar reasoning as a spouse explains why their new love relationship must be God’s will because it makes them happy. Referring to Allen’s explanation, Cornelius Plantinga says, “That’s the conversation stopper. The imperial self overrules all” (emphasis mine).

In Ephesians 1:3—4:16 Paul painted a glorious vision of a whole new world. One in which walls of hostility that incite rage between humans have been broken down. One in which the people of God, Jew and Gentile, have made the love of Christ their own and walk in all the fullness of God. One in which the church has been given by God as a gift to the world. But there’s a catch.

I know. There’s always a catch. The catch is our destructive desires. We keep harming one another instead of loving one another. Paul knows that its because, “The heart wants what it wants.” He speaks of a new way… a new humanity rooted in Jesus that we must become.

Join us in worship as we explore Ephesians 4:17-32 in our series: Imagining the Kingdom, answering the question, “Why do I keep doing the things that I do?”

Handout: https://gccc-recordings.s3.amazonaws.com/handouts/20230820.pdf