Speak Jesus: Returning to the Main Course

Jun 29, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Main Course You’ve Been Missing

The Christian life isn’t about moral improvement or surface-level habits. Just as a Thanksgiving meal without the turkey leaves guests hungry, faith without Jesus at the center starves the soul. Evangelism becomes empty when reduced to good advice instead of introducing people to the living Christ. The church’s mission isn’t a fondue pot of ideas—it’s a feast where Jesus is the only sustenance. [37:24]

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
(1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV)

Reflection: When have you settled for “appetizers” in sharing faith—good deeds or vague spirituality—instead of Jesus? What practical step can you take this week to center conversations on Him?

Day 2: When Peanut Butter Covers Everything

Mission drift happens when the church chases secondary goals, spreading itself thin like peanut butter. Organizations like Harvard and Yahoo lost their founding purpose by prioritizing trends over truth. Similarly, believers drift when they treat Jesus as one option among many rather than the foundation. The antidote is returning to the “testimony of God”—Jesus crucified, not human wisdom. [42:17]

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”
(Hebrews 2:1, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you allowed busyness or cultural pressures to dilute your focus on Jesus? What one commitment would recenter your life on His supremacy?

Day 3: The Slow Fade of “Remember When”

Like a runner sidelined by injury or a marriage cooled by neglect, faith atrophies when we step back and stay back. Mission drift in the church starts with individuals who disengage, trading vibrant relationship for nostalgia. The Corinthian church reduced Jesus to a philosophical label, forgetting He is the glue holding all things together. Revival begins when we “step back in” to active dependence. [45:00]

“But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.”
(Revelation 2:4–5, ESV)

Reflection: What “remember when” moment in your walk with Jesus stirs your heart? How can you practically reengage with that passion today?

Day 4: God’s Testimony Isn’t a Soundbite

Paul rejected polished speeches to preach “Jesus Christ and him crucified”—the raw, unfiltered heart of God’s message. Jesus isn’t a religious mascot but the Creator who holds atoms and galaxies together. To present Him as less—a moral teacher or cosmic therapist—betrays the “word of the cross.” His crucifixion isn’t a footnote; it’s the lens through which all life makes sense. [50:47]

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… and in him all things hold together.”
(Colossians 1:15–17, ESV)

Reflection: How does viewing Jesus as the Sustainer of all things change the way you speak about Him to others?

Day 5: The Unfair Advantage of Knowing Your Friend

Believers hold an “unfair advantage”: we know Jesus personally. While others debate ideologies, we introduce a Person—the resurrected King who walks with us. The disciples couldn’t stop talking about Him, even under threat. When our speech flows from intimacy, not obligation, evangelism becomes as natural as sharing about a close friend. [57:46]

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
(Philippians 3:10, ESV)

Reflection: Is Jesus more like a distant acquaintance or a dear friend to you? What would help you know Him more deeply this month?

Sermon Summary

Paul refuses to let Corinth turn Jesus into just another option in the marketplace of ideas. The city prizes slick rhetoric and competing schools, so the church starts saying, I follow Paul, I follow Peter, I follow Christ, as if Christ were one more brand. Paul answers with a question that cuts: Is Christ divided? The word of the cross will not play along with Corinthian status games. It makes the world’s wisdom look small because it announces something categorically different, not a method or a philosophy but the testimony of God, Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The logos names Jesus as the answer behind all answers. John says the Word was with God and was God, which means that when the church speaks Jesus, the church speaks God. Colossians then lifts the veil: Jesus is the image of the invisible God, before all things, creating all things, holding all things together, the head of the body, the fullness of God, making peace by the blood of his cross. If that is who Jesus is, silence makes no sense. Acts shows a people who cannot be shut up about the name, even when threatened. They obey God rather than men and keep teaching that the Christ is Jesus, rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer for the Name.

Mission drift stalks any community that forgets the main thing. Harvard’s motto shrank from truth for Christ and the church to just truth. The YMCA traded discipling young men for buying treadmills. Yahoo spread itself thin until its own leaders could not say what it was anymore. The same drift slides into churches and into lives, not all at once but by a series of small steps, stepping back and never stepping back in, until people are left saying, remember when. The church is called to be the fullness of him who fills all in all, indistinguishable from Jesus.

Donald Miller’s experiment exposes the ache: a room full of Christians hears a gospel without Jesus and does not notice. That is why this moment is the main course. The appetizers of contact, connection, questions, and story only make sense if they aim at speaking Jesus. The New Testament gives the church an unfair advantage. It does not have to defend a system. It gets to point to a living person. Carl Medearis says it straight: people speak about what they know; know Jesus and Jesus will come out of their mouths. The Spirit’s work is to reintroduce the church to Jesus so that love for him turns into speech that sounds like him and names him, openly and gladly.

Key Takeaways

1. Make the main course explicit: Jesus [37:57] The church does not offer a set of tips or mere moral uplift. The main course is a person who lived, died, rose, and now reigns. When Jesus is named, the conversation shifts from advice to announcement, from self-improvement to rescue. Evangelism becomes honest when the center is obvious. [37:57]
2. Mission drift dulls a living witness [42:44] Communities do not deny Christ in one day; they forget him over time. The center erodes as events, upkeep, or reputations take the spotlight, and the Name becomes an afterthought. Vigilance looks like naming the drift, repenting of it, and returning to the thing itself. The bride remembers her Bridegroom and starts speaking his name again. [42:44]
3. The word of the cross centers everything [50:22] Paul calls the cross the testimony of God, not the slogan of a faction. The logic of God does not flatter human power; it unmasks it and saves through weakness made strong. When the cross is kept central, boasting shrivels and Christ is heard. That center keeps the church from chasing whatever sounds clever this week. [50:22]
4. Knowing Jesus fuels natural speech [56:50] People talk easily about what they actually enjoy and know. The remedy for fear is not technique first but communion, a fresh knowing that warms the heart and steadies the tongue. Names like Shepherd, Redeemer, and Radiance of God’s glory gain weight, and the mouth simply follows the heart. Speech becomes overflow, not performance. [56:50]
5. The early church would not hush [54:50] Acts shows ordinary saints who were ordered to be quiet and yet rejoiced to speak. Pressure did not silence them because a living Christ had seized them. Their courage did not come from bluster but from obedience and joy in his name. That same Spirit animates the church today toward open, glad witness. [54:50]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[31:58] - Don’t Be Weird series setup
[33:23] - Contact, connection, questions, story
[34:53] - The main course: Speak Jesus
[36:41] - Fondue outrage and the point
[38:55] - A gospel without Jesus
[40:03] - Mission drift: Harvard, YMCA, Yahoo
[42:44] - Drift in church and personal life
[46:56] - Church called to mirror Jesus; Corinth
[49:59] - The “foolishness” of the cross
[50:22] - Testimony of God: Christ crucified
[52:29] - Colossians 1: who Jesus is
[54:50] - Acts: the unstoppable witness
[56:50] - Know Jesus, speak Jesus
[60:02] - Invitation and prayer to know Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (ESV)
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Acts 5:27-29, 40-42 (ESV)
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
... and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

Observation Questions

In 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, what specific problem does Paul address in the Corinthian church, and how does he use the example of division to challenge them?
According to Colossians 1:15-20, what seven truths about Jesus’ identity and role are listed?
In Acts 5:27-29, how do the apostles respond to the threat of punishment, and what does their reaction reveal about their priorities?
The sermon mentions examples of mission drift in institutions like Harvard and the YMCA [40:03]. What common pattern do these examples share?

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul ask, “Is Christ divided?” in 1 Corinthians 1:13? How does treating Jesus as a “brand” or faction undermine the gospel’s power?
Colossians 1:15-20 calls Jesus the “image of the invisible God” and the one who “holds all things together.” How does this description of Jesus shape the way we speak about Him to others?
The apostles in Acts 5 rejoiced after being beaten for preaching Jesus. Why would suffering for Jesus’ name be a cause for joy rather than shame or fear?
The sermon states, “Mission drift happens incrementally over time” [42:44]. How might gradual shifts in priorities (even good ones) distract a church or individual from Jesus as the central focus?

Application Questions

Reflect on areas of your life (work, relationships, hobbies) where Jesus has become an “appetizer” rather than the “main course.” What practical step could you take this week to re-center Him? [34:53]
The sermon warns against reducing Jesus to a “philosophy” or “moral uplift” [37:57]. How can you intentionally shift conversations with friends from general advice to speaking about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection?
The apostles in Acts 5 kept preaching despite threats. What fears or pressures currently make it hard for you to speak openly about Jesus? How could focusing on His supremacy (Colossians 1) help you overcome those fears?
The YMCA and Harvard drifted by replacing their original mission with lesser goals [40:03]. Are there habits, routines, or priorities in your life that have slowly crowded out time to know Jesus deeply? What would repentance and returning to Him look like?
Carl Medearis says, “Know Jesus and Jesus will come out of your mouth” [56:50]. What specific practices (prayer, Scripture, worship) could help you know Jesus more intimately, making Him a natural topic in your daily conversations?
The early church “did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus” (Acts 5:42). Who is one person in your life you could intentionally share Jesus with this month, and how might you start that conversation?

Sermon Clips

52s

“This outrage over discovering that what I thought was the appetizer was actually the main course. Now I hope you carry that sort of outrage if we were to end the sermon series where we're at now because we haven't got to what it's all about. What today is literally is the sermon that is in every single sermon that will ever be preached. I get upset when I go visit a church and I'm with those that I love and they leave we leave and they might be like, well, was that was good. And if it's just moralizing, I'm outraged and you should be as well. Meaning, if the sermon is just about doing better, being better and you end going, okay, let's get after it, That's a bad sermon.”

48s

“He wasn't trying to put this Christian bible college on blast. What he was doing was he was doing an experiment. An experiment is you assume there could be an outcome, so you take a sample test and the test sample proved to him what he had already thought, that Christianity identifies oftentimes with its perceived benefits than the one who makes it all possible, which is Jesus. often, get talkies way easier to talk about the things that are good or the good outcomes. They're all and we forget Jesus. Very very easy to do. In businesses and institutions, losing sight of the main thing has a name and it's called mission drift.”

48s

“We know what that looks like in the business world, but that also has a look in the church. Churches, Christians, we can experience mission drift as well. You might be in the place where you have been attending, and I put that in quotes, just attending, showing up, being present for years and then one day you wonder what is this really all about? What is this about? Why are we doing this? That's a question that comes not all of a sudden, but incrementally over time. At some point, YMCA started buying treadmills in bulk instead of bibles in bulk.”

53s

“Let me make this personal for us. I think this happens not necessarily because it's easy to point at institutional decisions, but I think oftentimes this happens because of the individual decisions that we make. Let me give an example that will probably hit many of us close to home. We maybe, for good reason, entered a season where we needed to step back. Kids, marriage, work, retirement, we're busy this summer, whatever it is. We stepped back and we stayed back. We never reengaged. We never stepped back in. And so we find ourselves now on the outside thinking of Tom's maybe when it was beautiful and we were a part of it and we were investing and it was lovely, and now we're just out of it.”

44s

“Instead of this excitement, this literally a conversion to Christ that they claimed Christ as Lord and Savior and now they had just reduced it all to just another thought concept on the streets of Corinth. That's what they really I belong to Paul. I belong to Peter. I belong to Jesus. And so Paul addresses this. He recognizes it and addresses it here. He says, where is the wise one? Where is the scribe, the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of this world? They would have all known what he's talking about. God has made foolish of this.”

41s

“And he recognizes in calling them back to Jesus, it's gonna appear like foolishness to everyone else. He goes, be ready to just accept that. And the foolishness he's talking about isn't silliness. Don't read it like that. The foolishness is literally an impossibility. Everyone's gonna look at what you're saying and be and say this, it's impossible. And they view it as impossible because it is categorically different than anything that they are offering. See Jesus can hang with the philosophers and the religious scholars but he offers something altogether different which is Paul describes the testimony of God.”

42s

“It's not the testimony of Peter. It's not the testimony of Paul. It is the testimony of God. This is what God is saying and that's what he says here in first Corinthians two one. When I came I did not proclaim to you the testament of God with lofty speech. I decided to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is the testimony of God. Jesus Christ and him crucified. In verse 18 in chapter one, he calls it the word of the cross. Literally, the logos of the cross which means this is the logic of God. Logos in the Greek way of thinking was the answer behind all answers.”

47s

“You could not shut these people up about Jesus. In Acts five, a couple of them have been thrown in prison and they were given this ultimatum by the high priest. We strictly charge you not to teach the name. And then Peter responds in this way. He says, we must obey God rather than men and he sweeps into an explanation of who Jesus is. We've got to obey God. We've got to obey We're gonna keep speaking. We're gonna keep speaking. You cannot shut us down. And then that chapter, Acts five, ends in this way. It says, then they left the presence of the high priest in the council rejoicing rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

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Speak Jesus: Returning to the Main Course

Devotional

Day 1: The Main Course You’ve Been Missing

Day 2: When Peanut Butter Covers Everything

Day 3: The Slow Fade of “Remember When”

Day 4: God’s Testimony Isn’t a Soundbite

Day 5: The Unfair Advantage of Knowing Your Friend

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Speak Jesus: Returning to the Main Course

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