The Gospel According to Krispy Kreme - Louie Giglio

The key phrase for me, and I'm not necessarily trying to push this for everybody coming through this collection in Joshua, is this, that we're talking about the difference between the profession of faith, right? You remember this part? And now we're talking about the possession of faith. Both are important. I hope that you have made a profession of faith in Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father but by Him. He's the Savior of the world, and He is Lord of all. And I pray that your eyes have been opened, that you have made a profession of your faith in the finished work of Jesus. But that's just the beginning. That's just the first step. That's not the whole package. It's not, oh yeah, I'm a Christian. I made a decision. I filled out a card. I prayed a prayer. I walked down an aisle. I shook the pastor's hand. That's the beginning point. What God is wanting you to understand, and wanting all of us to understand, is it's not just the profession of faith. It's the possession of faith. It's taking hold of all that is now ours because of our relationship with Jesus. And this comes screaming through today in Joshua chapter 5. If you have your scripture, look at this key text today. It says on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land. This is the promised land, the land of milk and honey. They ate unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna, remember this is what they've been eating every day for forty years, stopped the day after they ate this food from the land. There was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan. So they're in the promised land, they celebrate Passover, and after the Passover they eat food from the land. Now they've been out in the wilderness where there wasn't any food, and so God's been providing for them this miracle manna day by day by day by day. But the day after they ate from the fruit of the land, the manna stopped. Now I don't know how people felt about that. They're going out the next morning thinking there's going to be manna on the ground and there's no manna. But they had an incredible miracle nonetheless. That year

they ate the produce of Canaan. It's probably not going to end up being the title of this talk, but it could be in the running for sure. The title could be Room Service Is Over. And this is what God wants you to see today. A few things. Number one, that in the wilderness it was about surviving, but now that we're in the promised land it's about thriving. And so the manna was survival food, but now there's thriving food. And in this new land there truly is something marvelous. I want you to notice how this comes to us in Deuteronomy 8. This is really powerful. It says, There's our word, possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known. To teach you that man does not live on bread alone. Jesus is going to quote this later in the talk today, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And look what happened to them in the wilderness. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these 40 years. Now if you're in my demographic that means something to you and you're kind of happy about that. If you're not, just move on. Isn't that fun? I was hoping somebody would enjoy that. Younger people don't know. That's okay. That's fine. The Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the Lord your God. walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God, this is where I want you to focus, is bringing you into a good land. A land with brooks and streams and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills. A land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey. A land where bread will not be scarce

and you will lack nothing. A land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. This is about thriving in the promised land. Sure, in the wilderness God did miracles. There was manna every day. Your sandals didn't wear out. Your clothes didn't wear out. Your feet didn't swell up. But now you're in the promised land and there's all manner of bounty for you. The question God's asking today, are you surviving or are you thriving? A lot of people have made a profession of faith in Christ but they're barely surviving spiritually. And God is saying, I want you to come in. I want you to step into the promised land. I want you to step into a thriving life. The second thing he wants you to see today is that sometimes the things that are way better are also way harder. Come on, let's go people. I need an amen on that. Sometimes the things that are way better are also way harder. In fact, I would venture to say with a long track record of living life that most of the things that are way better are way harder. And that is the case here as well.

With the manna, all they had to do was to open up their tent curtain in the morning and take something to collect the manna in. The manna had arrived when the dew came on the ground in the night and there it was when they woke up in the morning. Same with the quail in the evening. And every day, all they had to do was just gather up what the Lord had provided. But now check it out. They have to till the ground. They have to plant the seed. They have to watch and wait. Now they're gonna get olive oil, which I think is better than manna. They're gonna get pomegranates, which are better for you than manna. They're gonna get vines and figs and they're gonna get wheat and barley. They're gonna get a whole lot more bounty, but they're gonna have to watch and wait. They're gonna have to prune. They're gonna have to nurture. They're gonna have to harvest. They're gonna have to prepare the food. It's gonna be way better, but it's gonna be way harder. And this is what I really want us to think about today. Do you want way better or do you want way easier? Because easy manna type spiritual diets are plentiful. And I wanna make sure that I say this with balance

because I'm a part of the verse of the day. I think I'm doing one coming up soon. Like it or not, I'll be on your phone. I love it, believe in it, am all about it. But if your diet is a soundbite, then you're probably not experiencing the way better of the promised land. And we're living in a soundbite culture, and it's not bad. I'm in it, some of you are in it, we're all in it. And it's not a bad thing to have soundbites readily available for us 24 hours a day, literally where we can grab our phone at 4.10 in the morning and go, hmm, got a soundbite. And all that's great. I just wanna encourage us today that there's something more than listening to your favorite podcast at 1.5 times the speed because you don't have time to listen to it as the person normally talks. And I'm just telling you, there's something different than getting the message from a gerbil than there is from getting it from a human being who's got ethos and pathos in the delivery of his message or her message. The social platforms have trained us. They are our teachers. The algorithm is your discipler. And that's another sermon for another day. I won't get into that for today, except to say this. It has learned you, studied you, watched you,

clocked you, and then it's taught you. And that's why our culture is going like this, because what sells is what gets the biggest reaction out of you. And so it watches you to say, what will get you fired up? Oh, not that, okay, not gonna see that. Not that, don't like that, okay, not gonna see that. Oh, that, I see. I'm gonna start giving you way more of that. And you're sitting on a row with somebody today who's being discipled probably more like that than like that, and you're going that way in your discipleship, and they're going that way with what the algorithm's telling them all day, every day. Because listen, we're not using social media, it's using us. It's teaching you. And the main thing it's teaching you is to have a short attention span, so that we decide, check this out, within one second, whether we want it or not, we decide in a second whether we, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, or whether we go, hmm, that's interesting. I think I'll watch that dog and see if it's gonna get up there onto the furniture or not. Come on, buddy, oh, that's so good. I'm gonna send that to Shelly. Oh, she will enjoy that. Isn't that true? We'll edit all that out, that's not the part

of the talk today. It's just, it's just that sometimes the things that are way better are way harder. And what does that mean for the message today? It means to have the spirit of Jeremiah 15. When your words came, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Lord God, Almighty. When your words came, and I just applaud everybody that's got a real Bible. I mean, not that that's not a real Bible on your phone, but what I'm trying to say, right there, right there, right there, right there, and right there, and right there, sorry, right there, right there. Okay, three dudes with Bibles. How old are you? 19, 19, three 19-year-olds with Bibles, right there. How old are you on the end? 22-year-old guy on the end. No offense to you, young lady, you are incredible, and all you young ladies are incredible. But when you got four out of five people right here, 22, 19, 19, 19, how old are you? 25, these guys, they've got like, like, this is it. I have one, we're gonna study it today? I'm gonna bring mine. That's a nice little knock on you if you didn't bring your printed Bible today. But it is the spirit of Jeremiah that we need to bring back into our lives.

When your words came, I ate them. I'll never forget Beth Moore speaking at Passion years ago. This was the greatest quote possibly of all time. She said, when the word of the Lord comes, we're more interested in tweeting it than eating it. Woo! Sometimes the things that are way better are also way harder, and the manna was real easy, but it wasn't the best for them. It was survival food, not thriving food. The third thing that's really interesting in this text to me is that the miracle, and sometimes I miss this, wasn't the manna. You know, we see something like some supernatural occurrence happen like manna, or someone gets healed, or a financial provision comes, or God works something out that's all knotted up, and we go. Wow, did you see that miracle? Well, that was a miracle and the manna was a miracle, but it wasn't the real miracle. The real miracle was the provider. He's the miracle. And he is providing manna on one day and then he says, watch this, I'm gonna provide for you all the abundance of the promised land. So let's don't get hooked up or stuck on the manna today because you have the manna maker in your life today. And he's the miracle.

I think the fourth thing that really stands out to me is that our daily bread is the bread of life. Jesus said in John chapter six, when they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here? And he said, very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give you. For on him, the son of man, God the father has placed his seal of approval. Then they ask him, what must we do to do the works God requires? And Jesus said, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent. So they ask him, what sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my father who gives you the bread from heaven. The miracle isn't the manna, and it wasn't Moses. The miracle is my father who gives you the bread, the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread

that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Sir, they said, always give us this bread. And then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the bread of life. Our daily bread is Jesus. And it's making that leap from the thing he taught us to the one who taught us. From the thing that we heard him say to the one who actually is saying it. It's taking the step from the information into a relationship with Jesus. He quoted Deuteronomy when tempted in the wilderness, and he said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord. And what he's inviting you to today, what he's inviting me into today is not just to get the nugget, but to get Jesus. And that's, I think, somehow what we've ended up with in our culture is we're transactional people who wanna tell everybody what we heard, learned, or saw. Versus actually experiencing Jesus and savoring him for who he is. And yeah, maybe sharing that a little bit later, but that's not my first thought was, wow, I gotta post that. You ready? Yeah. My first thought was I want to linger with you.

I just am asking again today, is there more in this relationship than you're experiencing? I was sharing about being a young speaker, youth speaker primarily decades and decades ago, and I went to speak at this youth event, and when the person came and picked me up at the airport, the first thing they said was, hey, we're glad you're here. Man, you're gonna love your hotel room. And I was like, that's a weird kind of opening, but okay, I'm a youth speaker. If it's a Hampton Inn, I'm flying high, man, so let's go. You know, if it's a hotel, if you open the door and you're in a hallway and not in a parking lot, okay, I'm already happy. So we drive for a little while, we pull up to this hotel. It's a pretty nice hotel, I don't know, 10, 15, story hotel a nicest one in town apparently and we get there and get my bag out of the back and the guy says you're gonna love your room I can't wait for you to see your room and I'm like man I'm all about seeing this room so he said we've already checked you in here's your key and I'm like great so I look at the thing go up the elevator he's standing there as I get on the elevator going so I'm like I don't know what's gonna happen next but we'll see go up go down the hall come to the door put the key card on the door door opens I'm like hello get ready walk in what do you know there's a bed the closet it's a bathroom it's clean smells nice I'm like maybe it's the view you know walk over it's parking lot okay they're coming to pick me up in about an hour so I get ready go back downstairs walk out of the front of the hotel what do you think the guy says how'd you like the room I'm like the room is great thank you this

is so nice of y'all we go to the venue so we get to the venue the people run guys that actually the running the whole thing we get to the venue walked right in what do you think he says how you like your room and I'm like wow this is getting real weird man I'm telling you I don't know what is going on with these people but yeah it's great we do the event the Lord shows up has nothing to do with the room amazingly people get saved young people give their lives to Jesus incredible night we we finally leave the deal we go get something to eat they drop me off the hotel guy drops me off what does he say I hope you enjoy tonight in the room planning on it I go up to my room zip key card open the door apparently the turndown services come seem I know what a turndown services have you ever been to a hotel where they had turndown people come in when you leave the room and go through your stuff you know I'm talking about and so the doors open there's a door between the closet in the bathroom and it's open and I'm like hmm I look through the door and about as far as you sir is a table with a giant looks like gift basket on it and I'm like hmm so I walk through the hallway into the den which is connected to the dining room which is connected to the small kitchen and in the middle of dining room is a huge gift basket with my name on it with all kind of treats in it to snack on tonight that I'm here and then I keep going and lo and behold there's another bedroom on the other side of the room and it has its own bathroom and closet also I'm staying in a suite there's a bathroom in the foyer just in case you had people up to eat out of the snack basket and you didn't want to go in your bathroom in the bedroom and apparently the key card was coded for the big double doors that I now see at the foyer and to every single other door that goes in the suite and I stopped one set of doors short key worked went in enjoyed my hours nap I had no idea the next morning they came to pick me up take me to the airport and the guy when he comes to pick me up he says to me how was last night in the room I said the end ending my speaking traveling career tonight this is it right here I

will never be put in a room like this anywhere else in the world now before you get all you know hung up on the details apparently the guy that managed or slash owned the hotel was a big supporter of this big youth event they were having in the city and he his way of pitching in was I won't put the guy that's speaking up in the suite that we have at the top of the hotel and all the way to the airport I'm telling the guy. Yeah, I mean, I've never even been in a thing like that before I've Shelly and I've lived in apartments That weren't that big. I mean, it's just a great fantastic experience I've got all the gift basket stuff crammed into my suitcase and I Way to go man, it's awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Drops me off the airport. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank everybody for the room fantastic room And it just made me think I wonder how many of us are living in a 12 by 12 and Don't realize that the door opens up into abundance That we have settled for Little spiritual sound bites and you know and for us in the gathering today folks at Cumberland you're like, hey I committed to like, you know 40 minutes to listen to you talk So I'm I'm ahead of hey, I got my little bitty nugget for the day but still I wonder if we understand that the possibilities of a relationship with Jesus are abundant Think the last thing and it's fairly tied to that one is that we were not created for Information only Information is important that the scripture applauds men and women of wisdom God wants to teach you he wants to show you how to run your business better

He wants to show you how to manage your relationships and healthier ways. He wants to Show you anything and everything about living a full and meaningful life, but we weren't created Simply for information we were created for an experience for a relationship with God And I think if we're not careful, we're gonna let social media shrink our attention span we're gonna be satisfied with a little bitty sound bite of spiritual information and we're gonna miss out on the relationship that God is inviting us into a relationship with the God of all creation I don't think there's any better way to see this than to see it through the eyes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts It's about that time and this might not be the healthiest choice for lunch, but It's never not a good time For a Krispy Kreme doughnut Look at that That is a lot of sugar went on the top of those I think the little conveyor was running a little slow when it went under the sugar fall Can you smell them I can Wow Amazing Anybody grow up in Atlanta Anybody remember when you were little going to the mothership of all Krispy Kremes in the world anybody on Ponce one One two, this is remark. Oh, okay. Now people are raising their hands. Okay, great No, not the current one the the older one the original one Yes, you're with me. This thing was like Disney World for doughnuts They made doughnuts for I think the greater Atlanta area at some point and they all go through the sugar Waterfall and then they would go up on these conveyor belts and go around the ceiling this place was massive and you'd walk in there and you just be like Wow What an experience You know what? I love most about Krispy Kreme doughnuts is that they have been the original since 1937 says it right there on the box

Yeah, I'll show you This guy Amazing he is the guy who started it all god bless him What a gift what a legacy Vernon Rudolph Opened the very first Krispy Kreme you want to see it in Winston-salem, North Carolina on July 13th 1937 and they were just making doughnuts in there But the incredible thing about the doughnuts were is that Vernon's family got the recipe from a French chef in New Orleans, that's why these doughnuts got that magic going on and they're just making doughnuts in here, but people would come by and they would knock on the door of the original, and they would say, hey, can we get a donut? And so eventually Vernon knocked a hole in the wall to the sidewalk and would serve hot donuts right out the window onto the sidewalk. 1937, isn't that crazy? We got one of the first Krispy Kremes here in Atlanta, and eventually it became part of the investment portfolio. Of Shaquille O'Neal. Then it burned down. Then it had a fence around it forever, and we thought, okay, those days are done. But then they rebuilt it. Not quite the glory and splendor of the original, but they still got Krispy Kreme donuts in there. The staple of life. Wow. I grew up going to church at First Baptist Atlanta, which used to be right next to the Fox Theater.

And that property got sold a long, long time ago. But it was like five minutes from the Krispy Kreme to our church in a car. If you were gonna skip big church and walk, take you a little bit longer, but it could be done. But middle school and high school, you know how they raised us up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord? Krispy Kreme donuts. Every Sunday, walk into Sunday school room, Coke bottles, real Cokes, on ice, Krispy Kreme donuts right here. That's what we had every Sunday. I don't know what they were thinking. Let's have these kids eat about 10 dozen donuts, drink four or five Cokes, and then stick them in a little room with some poor man that's gotta teach them Bible. It's terrible, awful. But you know, the most incredible thing about these donuts is that Vernon Rudolph. I learned that we share a birthday, me and Vernon. Isn't that cool? So I learned that Vernon didn't really care if you knew that the first store was in Winston-Salem. Their headquarters is there now. Half Winston-Salem, half Charlotte. He didn't care if you knew that. He didn't care if you knew they opened on July 13th. He didn't care.

What Vernon cared about was not the information. No. He was all about. Oh, oh. Oh! If you don't do gluten, you're real sad right now. Hmm. That's what Vernon cared about. That's what Mr. Rudolph was going for. Oh. You eat donuts? You do? Yeah. Would you like one? You would? That guy behind you does. Why don't you come have one? Put your big Bible down. You can take the whole box. Oh, wow. Make sure he gets one. Thank you. Mm. Oh, you get one? This is an interesting case study. It's a four nos, a yes. Awesome. No. Hmm. Yes.

Yes. Did you know that it's possible and I and I've been there to know that God loves you and to live unloved. It's possible to know that God is with you, but to feel alone. It's possible to know that God is omnipotent, all powerful. But to be completely overwhelmed by anxiety because you don't know if he's gonna be able to handle it. It's possible to know God is working, but at the same time, to be anxious about your future. And what God is wanting for all of us to do is to step over the Jordan River into the land of abundance, to understand that the quick fix of manna that allowed us to survive in the desert was only setting us up for the abundance of Jesus that will allow us to thrive in any climate. And he's inviting you into more. He's inviting you out of a relationship with him where people say, and what do you think about Jesus? And you're like, great. No, but how do you like Jesus? Great. No, but how do you like Jesus? Good, real good. It's clean, smelled good. Had a big bed, the bathroom, it's great.

To when people say, tell me about Jesus, you say, oh my word, how long do you have? Mind blown. I get what you're talking about now. I understand why you were asking me on and on and on about Jesus because now I'm realizing he's a suite of abundance. And he's doing something in my life that nobody else could do.