The Secret Life

♪ Oh we are here for you ♪ ♪ Oh we are here for you ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ When we fail this road ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ Fill our love with praise today ♪ ♪ Lord, Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ We invite you here ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ You are welcome here ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ Come remember in our hearts ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ ♪ Come and stir in our souls ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit call ♪ Holy Spirit, come, Holy Spirit, come, Holy Spirit, come, Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, come, Holy Spirit, come. Take a few moments just to clear your mind while the business of life just melt away for a minute. Let's remember what a privilege it is to come to this house together. To kneel before the throne of Christ Jesus. To lay down our burdens freely, and give Him glory, give Him worship, give Him gratitude. What a privilege it is to be in this place today. I just pray against any distraction. Anything that would rob us of spilling out every ounce of praise we could muster up today. Let's freely worship. Let's freely give Him honor. Let's holy praise Him today for He's worthy of everything we have. God, give us songs, give us breath, give us revelation of who you are.

We don't just want to pay you lip service because what we do on Sunday's Father, we want to encounter you. We want to be with you. We want to worship you. We want to be with you. We want to be with you. We want to be with you. We want to be with you. We want to be with you. We want to be with you. We want to be with you. I'm... (Music) Can you feel it, something's changing? Something's stirring in the room? Oh, this only expectation, how the Lord has gone? Do you feel the bondage breaking? Freedom catching up to him? Do you feel the joy returning? He's gonna exchange it all for you? Wake up, wake up, he's in our midst, On our song he's riding, This only my own crushing wind, There's no containing it, The rain is coming here this hour, Feel his thunder, see the cloud, His glory is falling all around, Hold spirit, have your way, Do what you want to, Take your rightful place, Make this your throne room, Fire on heaven, we want your presence, Hold it on your day,

Spirit, have your way, Hold have your way, (Music) Do you feel that something's changing? Something's stirring in the room? Oh, this only expectation, How the Lord has gone? Do you believe it? And do you feel that bondage breaking? Freedom catching up to him? Do you feel the joy returning? You've got to exchange it all for you? Sing, wake up, wake up, he's in our midst, On our song he's riding, This only my own crushing wind, There's no containing it, The rain is coming here this hour, Feel his thunder, see the cloud, His glory's falling all around, Spirit, have your way, Do what you want to, Take your rightful place, Make this your throne room, Fire on heaven, We want your presence, Calling on your name, Spirit, have your way, Hold have your way, All we want to see you face to face, Want to see you face to face,

Want to see you face to face, Want to see you face to face, ♪ Holy Spirit, fill the flame ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on us again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, fill the flame ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on us again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, fill the flame ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on us again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, fill the flame ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on us again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, fill the flame ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on us again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, fill the flame ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Oh, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing away ♪ ♪ Do what you want to ♪

♪ Take your right love place ♪ ♪ And make this your throne real ♪ ♪ Fire of heaven ♪ ♪ We want your presence ♪ ♪ Calling on your drink ♪ ♪ Spirit, have your faith ♪ ♪ Spirit, have your way ♪ ♪ We wanna be here ♪ ♪ Spirit, have your way ♪ ♪ Have your way ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, Spirit, come ♪ ♪ Oh, Spirit, come ♪ ♪ Meet us here ♪ ♪ Thank you that your faith holds on me ♪ ♪ 'Cause every time there is ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Spirit, come on the rest ♪ ♪ On us, you're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, you're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, Spirit, come ♪ ♪ Yes, on us, you're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, you're all we keep singing it out, keep singing it out ♪ ♪ Holy, Spirit, come on the rest ♪ ♪ On us, you're all we want God ♪ ♪ You're all we want ♪ ♪ Holy, Spirit, come on the rest ♪ ♪ You're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, is that the cry of our hearts ♪ ♪ In the Spirit ♪

♪ Oh, it's just you, we're after ♪ ♪ Oh, it's just you, we're after ♪ ♪ Holy, Spirit ♪ ♪ Oh, you're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, Spirit, come on the rest ♪ ♪ You're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, Spirit, come on the rest ♪ ♪ On us, you're all we want ♪ ♪ Oh, you're all we want ♪ ♪ Wild, rushing red ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on us again ♪ ♪ Holy, Spirit, come on the rest ♪ ♪ We don't wanna ♪ ♪ I am rushing well ♪ ♪ I am rushing well ♪ ♪ I am beyond a two-year-old ♪ ♪ And if we speak with another thing ♪ ♪ We are all evil things ♪ ♪ I am rushing well ♪ ♪ We're here to be the water, sir ♪ ♪ We're the spirit and the pain ♪ ♪ We don't wanna touch us ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ We don't wanna touch us ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ Come and bring the water to me ♪ ♪ We're the only spirit that don't matter ♪ ♪ We are all rushing wet ♪

♪ No, we don't wanna be the same ♪ ♪ We don't wanna be the same ♪ ♪ No, we don't wanna be the same ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ Come and bring the water to me ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the same ♪ ♪ We're all rushing wet ♪ ♪ Come and bring the water to me ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ We don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪

♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, we don't wanna leave the sea ♪ [instrumental] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ And here's my life as a sacrifice ♪ ♪ I'll be the incense ♪ ♪ The sweetest fragrance ♪ ♪ Holy Yours consecrated for ♪ ♪ Holy Lord ♪ ♪ Just for You, Lord ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm Your temple ♪ ♪ A dwelling place for You ♪ ♪ And Lord ♪ ♪ Make my heart ♪ ♪ Easy, easy, easy, easy, easy, easy, easy, easy ♪ ♪ And all I will live on the altar ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worth what you ask for ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart as your reward ♪ ♪ Then I am your ♪ ♪ And in your house I will daily live ♪ ♪ Fixed on one thing ♪ ♪ To see your beauty ♪ ♪ 'Cause you alone are worth more than gold ♪ ♪ We'll trade the world for a day in your courts ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm your temple ♪ ♪ The dwelling place for you ♪ ♪ We will make my heart ♪

♪ A pleasing home for you ♪ ♪ And all I will live on the altar ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worth what you ask for ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are worth what you ask for ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I will live on the altar ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are worth what you ask for ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart as your reward ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart as your reward ♪ ♪ Then I am your heart ♪ ♪ I am your heart ♪ ♪ Everything I am ♪ ♪ It's our heart ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We'll all get to be all yours ♪ ♪ I wanna be the audio ♪ ♪ I wanna be the audio ♪ ♪ I wanna be the sacrifice ♪ ♪ I wanna be the lay down lover of my life ♪ ♪ I wanna be the audio ♪ ♪ I wanna be the sacrifice ♪ ♪ I wanna be the lay down lover of my life ♪ ♪ I wanna be the audio ♪ ♪ I wanna be the sacrifice ♪ ♪ I wanna be the lay down lover of my life ♪ ♪ I wanna be the audio ♪ ♪ I wanna be the sacrifice ♪ ♪ I wanna be the lay down lover of my life ♪

♪ And oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I will live on the altar ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are worth much in love ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I will live on the altar ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You are worth much in love ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart ♪ ♪ It's your heart ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart ♪ ♪ It's your heart ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart ♪ ♪ It's your heart ♪ ♪ Then I am yours ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ Oh, I am your Oh, oh, oh Oh, give me Jesus Give me Jesus You can have all this world You can have all this world Give me Jesus Give me Jesus You can have all this world You can have all this world Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do

I just want you Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do I just want you I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do

I just want you Nothing else will do Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else will do I just want you I just want you ♪ Oh, I just want you ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I just want you ♪ ♪ I just want you ♪ ♪ You were lonely, you were old ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, you were loved ♪ ♪ Born in Jesus ♪ ♪ True and loved, you were loved ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Born in Jesus ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) When the music fades, and all is stripped away, and I'll simply come, longing just to bring, something that's a word that will bless your heart. I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself, is not what you ever want.

You search much deeper within, through the way things appear. You're looking into my heart, and coming back. I'm coming back to the heart of worship, when it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it. When it's all about you, it's all about you. Let's sing one more time, I'm coming back. I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it. It's all about you, it's all about you. I just want you, and nothing else, and nothing else. Nothing else will do, oh, I just want you, and nothing else, and nothing else, nothing else will do, oh, I just want you, oh, I just want you, oh, it's all about you, it's all about you, what a holy God you are, what a worthy Savior, that we can fix our eyes on. Oh, just worship Him, you don't need to sing with me, just worship Him. 'Cause He's worth it, He's worth it all. Oh, it's all about you I just want you Nothing else is going on And nothing else Nothing else is going on But just Nothing else is going on [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] For all your goodness I will keep on singing See thousands of reasons through my heart, to lift my heart, to lift the world of my soul, oh my soul, worship this holy name, holy name, sing I've never before, oh my soul, I'll wait for you. ♪ I worship your holy name ♪

♪ Bless the Lord ♪ ♪ To bless the Lord of my soul ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ Worship this holy name ♪ ♪ Oh, sing like never before ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ I worship your holy name ♪ ♪ And all that death ♪ ♪ When my strength is free ♪ ♪ The end draws me ♪ ♪ And my time has come ♪ ♪ Still my soul will see your praise ♪ ♪ On an end day ♪ ♪ Ten thousand years and then pour it ♪ ♪ For more ♪ ♪ For ever more ♪ ♪ Come on, church ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord of my soul ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ Worship this holy name ♪ ♪ We'll sing ♪ ♪ Sing like never before ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ I worship your holy name ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord of my soul ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ Worship this holy name ♪ ♪ Sing like never before ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪

♪ I worship your holy name ♪ ♪ Oh, I worship your holy name ♪ ♪ Oh, I worship your holy name ♪ Come on, like one big choir, let's sing that just the vocals one more time. ♪ To bless the Lord of my soul ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ Worship this holy name ♪ ♪ Sing like never before ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ I worship your holy name ♪ ♪ Oh, your holy name ♪ ♪ Oh, your holy name ♪ ♪ Oh, your holy name ♪ ♪ We ate something ♪ ♪ We ate something ♪ ♪ We ate something ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We ate something ♪ ♪ We ate something ♪ ♪ We ate something ♪ ♪ You're worthy ♪ ♪ For you are worthy ♪ ♪ For you are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ One more time, you are home, you are home. ♪ You are home ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I was our aim today to please you, honor you ♪ ♪ We ask what happens in this room ♪ ♪ But then please as you father ♪ ♪ There'd be a suite of Rome as your leader ♪ ♪ Hmm ♪ ♪ God, I'm grateful for this place ♪ ♪ Teach us to love your church ♪ ♪ To glorify you in all that we do ♪ ♪ To live our lives as living sacrifices ♪ ♪ 'Cause you Christ, you Jesus ♪ ♪ Gave your life for me ♪ ♪ You gave your life for us ♪ ♪ Help us never to forget the wonder ♪ ♪ The beauty and the power of that truth ♪ ♪ And teach us what it means to follow in that sacrifice every day ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are holy, set apart worthy of our praise and our sacrifice ♪ ♪ Nothing else matters, Father ♪ ♪ We just want your presence ♪ ♪ We just want your peace ♪ ♪ We want to live in your grace, taste your mercy ♪ ♪ Not your holy and good, wonderful ♪ ♪ Jesus, amen ♪ Let me read this over you, Church. The Lord is my shepherd. Just close your eyes and receive the word of the Lord this morning. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me. You're rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you. Can we honor the worship team this morning? Pastor Mike, thanks for coming down from North Carolina and blessing us with your son Gabe this morning. The rest of you guys are incredible. Amazing. So good. Beautiful, beautiful morning. All right. I want to read with you one more thing this morning out of Matthew chapter 6. Jesus in the red letters here, this is all a part of the sermon on the mount when he let out his people there and spoke there on the mountain there in Israel. In verse 19, Jesus says, "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. but store up for yourself. and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And we read that verse oftentimes and think that God does not allow us to enjoy

the fruits of our labors, your salary, your job, your investments, et cetera. And if you attended the finance class earlier this year, we expounded on this in great detail, but I'll mention it here briefly. Jesus also spoke in Red Letters in Luke chapter 12, the parable of the rich fool. And the short version summarizing that parable is he says that there is a wealthy man and he had so much more than he could ever use for himself that he built extra storehouses and extra barns to hold all the grain as he was a farmer. And then Jesus said in verse 20 of Luke 12, he said, "But God said to him, 'You fool, "this very night your life will be demanded from you, "then who will get what you have prepared for yourself." And then verse 21, this cracks open the code here. Jesus says, "This is how it will be "with whoever stores up things for themselves, "but is not rich toward God." This is how it will be for whoever stores up things for themselves, but is not rich toward God. We have verse after verse after verse about Yahweh prospering his children and that prosperity flowing down, generation, sorry, to generation. And in that process, Yahweh commands us to be rich towards God. And so I wanna give you the opportunity this morning to be rich towards God with the first fruits of what he has blessed you with this week.

There's so much more here that you can crack open for yourself as you're discovering your own family or your own individual's personal finance, but this is just a great key in for you guys this morning. I wanna invite us to give this morning and the offering. So if I can have our ushers, we're gonna take the offering this morning. You'll see up there on the screen just the three ways that we can receive that. There's an envelope in the seat back pocket there that you can fill out and give by the methods there. You can scan that QR code or you can also use the Alter Fellowship app. And then I would just love to pray for each of us I'll invite us to stand. If you're preparing your offering or you gave online, this is the time and we're gonna pray for that offering this morning. So Jesus, we thank you. We thank you Lord for giving us the opportunity to store up treasures in heaven and to be rich towards you here on earth. Father, I thank you for that supernatural connection that we can store up treasures in heaven while we're rich for you here on earth. Father, I thank you for the ministries that we get to pour into this morning, for the children that we get to bless, for the missions opportunities we get to bless, for this house that we get to support

and for our leaders as well. And Jesus, I pray you to bless every individual and every family that's pouring into the offering this morning. We thank you Lord that they're bringing the tithe into the storehouse. Bless them, provide for their needs and continue to bless the stewardship of what you provide in this house to be a blessing for the community and the nations around us in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen. If you love Jesus, please stand in cheering for Jesus and welcoming my great friend Jacob Coyne as he comes to bring the word this morning. (congregation cheering) And let me just preface this. Jacob is gonna give you an amazing opportunity today to respond to God, but also to get something that will bless your life tremendously. Don't miss it. Go get 'em butter. - Thank you, thank you. Take a seat everybody. So yes, if you walked in and you saw this book, this is my new book, The Secret Life of Christians. And you could pay whatever you want for this book today. If you want to pay $3.99 for it, you could pay $3.99. If you want to pay $9.99 for it, $999. I'll take that as well, whatever you want. So yeah, I just want to make sure anyone gets a copy of this.

This book is a lot of my journey back to the secret place. And I'll touch on that today on a performative Christianity. But let's just start with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that you are here in this room. I thank you for the word of God. But I thank you that your word never returns back to you, void and without effect. So Lord, I pray that as I speak today, the word of God, it would pierce hearts and souls. And you would draw us back to the secret life, the secret place, Lord, where you're waiting for us, God. God, I thank you so much that you are waiting in hiddenness, in silence, in solitude for every person in this church. God, I thank you that you have a prayer closet marked out somewhere for every person in this community. So help us to go back there, help us to find that place and shut the door and encounter you one-on-one. In Jesus' name, and everyone said. Amen. life. One is really good and one is really bad. So do you want the good news first or the bad news first? I don't know. I think we should start with the good news because the bad is bad. In Matthew chapter 25 verse 21, Jesus tells the story of a servant whose master says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant.

You've been faithful over a little. Now I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." Now that's what we all live for, right? We all want to be greeted by Jesus at the end of our lives and hear Him say that to us, "Well done, Sam, well done, Nathan, well done, well done, Cody, well done, Rebecca. We want Jesus to say that to us, right, amen?" That's what we live for. We want to walk into the joy of our master and enjoy paradise forever, but then there's another option and this one doesn't make sense for the performative Christian. In Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 through 23, Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" What's fascinating about this passage of Scripture is that these people aren't rejecting Jesus. They're not saying, "Hey, we rejected you. We didn't want anything to do with you." They're saying, "Lord, Lord, they called Jesus Lord and they had an amazing resume. Some of us aren't even doing these things on this resume. They prophesied in Jesus' name, they cast out demons in Jesus' name, they did many mighty works all in the name of Jesus. They weren't spiritually inactive people. They grew up in the church. They were doing church-y things. They spoke Christianese. They were fluent in the ways of Christianity.

I love that Jesus in this passage doesn't say, 'You didn't do enough. He doesn't say you weren't gifted enough and he doesn't say, 'You didn't have enough impact.' He says, 'I never knew you. I never knew you. That terrifies me. That should terrify everyone in this room. It terrifies me in particular because I have cast out demons. I have prophesied. I have done many mighty works in Jesus' name. I've seen blind eyes open. I've seen deaf ears open. I lead an organization called Stay Here where we see on average every single day seven people cancel their suicide plans. I'm an author of Christian books. I have millions of followers on social media, all in the name of Jesus. I fit in to this resume with these people who say, 'Lord, Lord, we did all these great things for you.'" So this scares me reading this passage of Scripture because my resume in the Christian world is nice. It's great, but your resume doesn't matter. At the end of my life, there will be a day. It's called the Day of Judgment. And Jesus will look at everything that I have done. And if it was all for me, even though I was using the name of Jesus, the Bible tells us that every single bit of my resume will be burnt up in the fire of God. What remains at the end of our life is our relationship with Jesus. Does He know you? Do you know Him? In my book, The Secret Life of Christians, I talk about this quite a bit because I've

experienced this for myself. And I call it proximity without intimacy, proximity without intimacy. And there's nobody who lived this more than Judas Iscariot. Let's talk about Judas Iscariot for a few minutes. This man, I've just been meditating on him the last couple of weeks, this man spent so much time with our Lord. I was thinking about how many meals Judas ate with Jesus. he's cooking up some fish breakfast for the disciples. Could you imagine eating a cooked meal from Jesus Christ? They must have had thousands of meals together and snacks together and campfire conversations at 1 a.m. in the morning. They must have slept close to each other in the wilderness. They might have been cold and maybe Jesus warmed up Judas one night. I'm just thinking about all these moments where Judas was so close to Jesus, not just in physical proximity, but man, Judas was doing the stuff. We know that Judas was doing the same things. Peter, James, John, Matthew and the other disciples were doing because at the last supper, when Jesus says, hey, one of you 12 is about to betray me. None of the disciples point to Judas. Not a single disciple thinks, oh, it's totally Judas. This joker over here, he hasn't cast out one demon in his life. This guy's a faker. Now, all the disciples that says in the Bible, they are looking inward. They're pointing at themselves. They're like, oh, I hope it's not me. Even after Jesus says, Judas, go do what you need to do and do it quickly. The disciples are still like, Jesus, please tell us. Who's the guy? This is crazy. So that shows me that Judas was apparently prophesying, preaching, praying for the sick, casting out demons. And I call this performative Christianity. It is possible to do things for God and not have God. It is possible to grow up in the church and not grow in Christ. It's possible to sit in a pew from the cradle all the way to the grave and never talk to Jesus one time. It's possible. And that terrifies me. It terrifies me that you can have that close proximity to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit, to the Father, to the things of God, and never have an ounce of intimacy with him. It's possible to not be known by him or know him whatsoever. And that's the story of Judas Judas. Judas was close enough to kiss Jesus. And he did. Kissed him on the cheek. On the night Jesus was betrayed, but his heart was miles away from Jesus. It's possible to be that close. Judas was in the room.

Judas was there at Jesus' most intimate moments with God. And he missed the heart of God. He should humble all of us that familiarity can fool you. We could be so familiar with the holy things of God that they don't feel holy to us anymore. We could become so familiar with Scripture. We can read it day in day out, but Scripture can't read you because you're too familiar with it. We could worship today and think about lunch the whole time or it's football season. Whatever game's happening today. Don't get me wrong, church attendance is a gift. I love going to church. We've got five kids and we get our butts to church that there's no excuse. We are getting here. But church attendance is not intimacy with Jesus. Knowing theology matters, but knowing theology is not intimacy with Jesus. Listening to sermons can help you for sure, but listening to sermons is not intimacy with Jesus. Even being used by God is not the same thing as knowing God. Judas was in the room. He did all these things. What scares me is our generation has so many ways to feel like they're close to God. This generation uses AI statistically for their spiritual life or for therapy more than they talk to people or they talk to God. And if you've ever used chat, shoot BT, man, it talks you up. Hey, chat, is my spiritual life doing well today? Oh my goodness, you are the next saint. You are amazing. You are the next Charles Spurgeon. Keep going, buddy. Crazy. You can literally fall into AI psychosis. It'll just talk you up until you have such a crazy, deranged mindset that you think that this is your new reality. I am the smartest Bible nerd alive because chat tells me so. This generation has so many Christian influencers, so many podcasts to listen to. I'm doing it. I was just mowing the lawn yesterday, listening to another podcast, listening to another debate. We're all doing it, but what sets you apart is intimacy with Jesus. You could be in the room, but do you know Jesus who is also in the room? You can live on everybody else's revelation and never dig your own well. These worship leaders, that's not your worship. Do you have your own worship life with God, your own devotional life with God? When I was 16 years old, I gave my life to Jesus. And whenever I think back on my first few years following Jesus, it was so simple.

I had no suicide prevention ministry. I wasn't writing any books. I had zero social media followers because there was no such thing as Instagram yet. Thank God, no TikTok. And those were the good old days. So I would pray just to pray. I would go in my prayer room, my prayer closet, just to pray, just to talk to Jesus because I loved him. I would read the word just because I wanted to read the word. I didn't read the word because it's useful. It's scary when Jesus becomes useful to you. It's scary when Jesus becomes an ingredient for your best life. It's scary when Jesus becomes a means to the treasure you're seeking. When all along Jesus is the treasure. Jesus is the means. Jesus is the one we're called to. He is the one we should live for. And I live that way from age 16 to 20, seeking God for hours every day. No other responsibilities but to seek Him. And then I became a youth pastor and I got paid to preach the gospel. And as the years went by, then I grew a social media following. I started a ministry. I started writing and it's possible and I know many of them. It's possible to become a professional Christian and not know Jesus anymore. It's possible to act apart. It's possible to put on a mask as a pastor, as a preacher, as an evangelist, as a Christian author and not know Jesus. So many people in America, so many Christians are running on fumes because they have no secret life. I get no oil from standing on this stage.

I find oil in the prayer room. I don't gain an anointing or intimacy with God by standing here and speaking to anybody. I gain that by seeking Jesus alone. And in my seeking of Jesus alone, it should never be for another message. It should never be to write another book. It should never be to find another good liner for Instagram carousels. Jesus is not useful, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Savior, Jesus is our friend, but I made him useful for some time. I remember this was the wake up call for me. When I got to a million followers on TikTok, I did the whole thing every other influencer does. I go to my goals and I get the golden one M balloon and I take a selfie. A million followers for Jesus, everybody, literally that was my caption. A million Jesus followers. And Mariah, she had Instagram at the time. She is so blessed. She deleted Instagram. But at the time she opens up Instagram and she's like, wow, a million followers for Jesus. You've really led a million people to Jesus. I think that they—who do they follow? What's your tag on TikTok? Is it Jesus? I thought it was Jacob Coyne. It's a million followers of Jacob Coyne. And I was like, "Nah, they love Jesus." Have you interviewed every single one of those people and ask if they have a personal relationship with Jesus? No. So how do you know? I don't.

And when I got down to it, I really liked being liked. It feels good to have followers. It feels good to get invited to speak in places. It feels good to be known, especially as a Christian who follows Jesus. It makes you feel like you're doing something good. And you could trust in your own resume other than your relationship with Jesus Christ. And I begin to feel this on a deep level. I'm speaking at places and I am running on fumes. I'm so busy doing ministry and making content and writing and leading an organization and raising all these amazing kids that my relationship with Jesus began to dwindle. I began to lose the first love. I forgot how it all started. I forgot what it was like to seek Jesus just to seek Jesus just because He's the most beautiful treasure that you could seek. I forgot what that felt like because I needed Jesus for ministry. I needed Jesus just to wake up in the morning and do life. But I needed to go back. I needed to go back to the simple things. I needed to go back to the first love. And Jesus gives the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2 this rebuke. He's kind to them and He says, "I see that you're doing many amazing things, but you have forsaken your first love and that's the one thing I have against you. You have forsaken your first love." And I'm one of those people. I have once forsaken the first love. How many of us have slowly forsaken that first love? Maybe Judas started with Jesus having that first love. When we think about Judas, I don't think Judas on day one was thinking, "Ha ha ha, I'm going to totally thwart this whole thing. I'm going to betray Jesus."

I think the first couple of years, Judas is absolutely enamored with Jesus. I mean, how could you not be? He's Jesus. He's God in the flesh, the Creator of the heavens and earth. He is standing in front of you and He's loving you. He's calling you friend, but somewhere Judas begin to have small compromises away from the Lord and that's what the enemy does to us. The enemy, he doesn't try to get you to betray Jesus in a day. He's patient and he plays a game of inches with you. He just wants you, if you have a course running straight to Jesus, he wants you to just shift one centimeter every other day. And then sooner than later, maybe a year or two years go by, you were completely off course. You don't even realize it until you look back and you see Jesus is all the way over there and you've lost the first love. I know not everyone in this room preaches and not everyone in this room writes and posts things on social media. I'm not preaching just to those people. This is for all of us. Have we forsaken the one that matters most? Have we gotten too busy? And have we come to a place where we believe that our goodness, our own good works in Christianity is what saves us? The Bible says we're saved by grace through faith, not by works that anyone may boast. We're saved by the grace of God, your prophecy, your casting out of demons, your mighty works. They are nothing compared to knowing Jesus personally. [BLANK_AUDIO] This is what really started to get me to own up to some of my own mistakes. I'm in a green room about to preach a few years ago, and another pastor is there, and I'm praying, and he's like, "Jacob, you're about to be off the charts, man.

You keep this up. You keep saying yes to every opportunity, and you're about to be like Judah Smith one day, man. You're going to speak of passion one day. Just keep going. Keep saying yes. If you don't cheat on your wife, if you don't money launder or do something stupid, you're going to keep going higher and higher, man." And I'm like, "Is that really the standard?" Like just keep saying yes and showing up and preaching with a certain cadence that gets you invited to other churches. Is that it? Really? And I go and preach, and I felt so weird that night. That's my conversation I have with this other pastor, and then I'm preaching at this church, and it was just such a weird night. Two weeks later, the pastor that this guy's talking about, Judah Smith, calls me on FaceTime. Judah Smith and his wife, Chelsea, they're in their car, and I'm trying to impress Judah and Chelsea. I'm like, "Guys, you'll never believe it. Stay here as boom, man. It's just great." And I'm at like a million followers on this app and this app's close on YouTube. I'm at like 900,000 followers. It's crazy. I'm getting invited to all these places. And Judah's like, "Wow, wow, wow, wow. How's your wife and kids doing with all this?" And I'm like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, I have a wife and kids, totally, totally, let me tell you about them."

Oh, okay. That's really cool. And then Judah stops and he's like, "Man, really cool what you're doing. But I have a warning for you. You remind me." I don't want to say this other person's name, but it was another friend of Judah Smith that fell and sin. He said, "You remind me of him." I'm like, "That's not a compliment." It was a year ago, not today. You remind me of him. I was like, "How so?" He said, "Man, all he would talk about is the open doors. All he would talk about is all the things that God was doing in his life, never talked about the simple things, his relationship with Jesus and his family, his home. He said, "Here's my warning for you. You, Jacob, are on a rocket ship right now and you're flying high and you're going to the moon, but nobody builds homes on rocket ships. Your family's going to crash. Your life's going to crash if you keep going at this pace. This is not God's pace. You have outran God himself. God has a different pace than you and you're not walking with him right now." And I was like, "Shoot this stinks. Oh boy, that's not a fun call to get from a famous pastor, Justin Bieber's pastor. Wow. And I was like, "But don't you preach everywhere. Come on, man. This is hypocritical of you to do this to me." He's like, "No, actually, I'm slowing down.

I'm doing what matters most." Okay. I'm going to try that. And I did. I'm so grateful for that rebuke to slow down. We can't live at the pace of the world. Jesus is not walking at the pace of the world. We need to walk at God's pace. His pace is slower. It's hidden. The Bible says that it says Jesus often would withdrew. He withdrew to the wilderness to pray. He would often go to the wilderness in moments of peak ministry where people are wanting more and more of Jesus. Jesus would withdraw to be with the Father. He would go to the wilderness to pray. It's like every time Jesus had the opportunity to start a mega church, He blew it. I think we should take note of that. He ruined the plans to start the big ministry church. He would say, "Oh, this is great. 6,000 of you are here. Eat me and drink me. Come on. Wow. That's weird, bro. There's only 12 left after that sermon. That's crazy." And Jesus is like, "Where are you going to go, Peter? I don't know where else I'm going to go, so I'm sticking with you, I guess." That's crazy.

Every time Jesus had an opportunity, He would withdraw or He would say, "I don't know." So I withdrew. I started saying no to opportunities. I just got invited to the White House next week. Guess what I did? I actually said no. Because I have a wife and kids at home. And I don't want to throw them on the altar of ministry. I don't need to go there. I'm not going to go there anymore. Jesus is not the means to the treasure. Jesus is the treasure. He is the treasure. I look up to an amazing writer and theologian. He lived in the 13th century. His name is Thomas Aquinas. Thomas Aquinas, has anyone read any of his work? It's hard to read and understand. So many volumes, so many books, so incredible. Thomas Aquinas is very much responsible for shaping our faith today, how we see God. An incredible theologian. And at the end of his life, there was a man named William of Tocco who would watch Thomas. And one day in Naples, Thomas is in a chapel and he's kneeling before a crucifix and he's just praying. He's seeking the Lord. And he would often do this. And in this moment, as Thomas Aquinas is praying and kneeling before the cross, Jesus speaks to Thomas.

And Jesus says this to him, Thomas, you have written well of me. What reward would you receive from me for your labor? I want to say that again. Jesus says to Thomas, Thomas, you have written well of me. What reward would you receive from me for your labor? Just think about that question for a moment. If Jesus said that to you, if he asks you that question, what would your response be? More wisdom, Lord. I want to write more books. Lord, make my work spread all across the world for you. I want to make you famous. Lord, more years, more years. Give me 15 more years to write 15 more books for you. No, his response was, Lord, nothing but you. In Latin, he said it in Latin. He said, (speaking in foreign language) Nothing but you. That was Thomas's reward. It was Jesus. And after that moment, Thomas stopped writing. He said to another person, everything I've done is straw compared to him. And he would just go to church after that and just be in awe of Jesus. He got his reward. Nothing but you. Jesus is our reward. I want that same response.

Don't you? King David had the same response in Psalm 73. King David said, who have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire beside you. Nothing but you, Lord. We were singing that in worship today. Nothing else, nothing else will do. I just want you. My call for us today is to come back to our first love. To pray the same prayer that Thomas Aquinas prayed in the 13th century, nothing but you. So I just want to leave you with this question today. How is your secret life? Do you need to go back to how it was at age 16? That's what I need to do still to this day. I want to go back more and more to that first love. I didn't know much when I was 16, but I was hungry. I was hungry. I do not want Jesus to become useful to me and stop being beautiful to me. I want to get old with wonder. I want to be 80 years old and still have tears in my eyes when I talk about Jesus. "I want my wife to know that." "I want my friends to know that." Because eventually the people closest to you know whether or not this whole Jesus thing is real. And Jesus knows all along whether it's real or not. Do you just have a good resume or do you know him? What's all that matters is do you know him? So how is your secret life? Is it what everyone thinks it is? Do you have one at all right now? If nobody knew you were fasting, would you still fast? If your generosity stayed completely anonymous, would you still give?

If nobody ever applauded your obedience, would you still obey? If there was nothing to post, nothing to preach, nothing to teach, and nothing you needed God to fix in your life, would you still seek him just because you wanted him? How is your life with Jesus today? For some of you I know that the answer to that question may be difficult because you've been around Christianity for years, but you're not sure if you truly know Christ. I want to bring you back to the story of Judas as we close today. I want to remind you that Judas was in the room like we're in the room right now. Don't let proximity deceive you. Do you have intimacy with Jesus? Do you know him? Jesus doesn't want you to be nearly nearly near him. He wants your heart. He wants your whole self. He wants your full surrender. He wants you. And he's not shaming you into him. He's inviting you. There is an invitation. Revelation 3.20, Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock." He knocks on your heart, and he's waiting for you to let him in. He is the one that's pursuing you. He wants to know you. Maybe your life's become too crowded. Maybe you got busy. Maybe you got hurt. Maybe you got hurt by the church. Maybe you became successful. Maybe you got a little disappointed in prayer. Maybe your prayers didn't get answered. Maybe sin created distance for some of you. Maybe there's no dramatic moment at all. You just woke up today and you realized, "Man, I drifted. I want you to hear this again. Jesus is inviting you back to him." In Matthew 11, Jesus says, "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Hear this." He doesn't say, "Fix yourself. Clean yourself up." He just says, "Come to me. Come to me without the resume. Come to me without it all. Just come to me. Come to me as you are, and I will give you rest. You can come tired. You can come distracted. You can come disappointed. You can come ashamed. You can come numb. You can come successful, and you can come broken. Just come. Come to him." The answer to your spiritual dryness today is not more spiritual activity. It's not more spiritual gymnastics. It's just to come. Come to Jesus. Talk to him. And this is why I wrote the book, "I Needed to Come Back." I had lost the first love, and I was lying to myself saying that I still had it, and I've come back, and my heart burns. But you want your heart to burn for him? My heart burns for him. Who are you when nobody is watching? Do we look different here at the altar on Sundays than we do on Mondays? I hope that when you come to Jesus, you would learn what Jesus to live authentically with him is

So I don't have a three-step plan for you today. And I am not prescribing that this book is gonna do it all for you. Again, like I said, you could read this book and still have zero intimacy. I have tips and things I've done in the last three, four years that have changed my life and our prayer life at home, but you could just read it and not do anything in here. And then you're still within proximity without intimacy. At the end of the day, whether you read this or not or read the Bible or not, you have to make that step into the secret place and talk to God yourself. You have to come. So can I end with prayer? And then I just wanna make sure I can never preach the gospel and not give people an opportunity to come to Christ. But I just wanna pray for all of us first. Jesus, bring us back to you. Forgive us for the places where Christianity has become more public than personal, where we've grown familiar with holy things, where we've wanted your gifts more than your presence, or where we've turned you into a means to something else. Teach us again that you alone are the treasure. For the person in this room who spent years around you, but has never truly surrendered to you, draw them to you today, God. Pierce their heart, grab their heart, and bring them to you, God.

Let them move from proximity to intimacy now today, Lord, from knowing about you to actually knowing you. And for those of us who know you, but have lost some of our first love, would you call us home, restore our hunger, restore wonder, restore prayer, restore the secret place. Teach us to pray when nobody hears. Teach us to give when nobody knows. Teach us to obey when nobody applauds. Give us roots deeper than our public lives. And God, let us get old with wonder. After all, the years of serving, praying, working, raising kids, building great things, succeeding, failing, laughing, crying, and walking with you. Let our hearts still say the same thing. No nisi te dominee. Nothing but you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)