Come Let Us Adore: Worship With Everything You Have

Devotional

Day 1: Come with full hands, ready to be emptied

Advent invites you to approach Jesus not with a shopping list but with adoration. The Magi traveled not to get, but to give—time, honor, and costly gifts. In the same way, you’re invited to come with full hands—your gratitude, resources, and energy—ready to pour them out before Him. This posture breaks the cycle of consumer faith and re-centers your heart on the One who already gave you everything in His Son. Choose to worship as your response, not your request, and let generosity become your song [29:38].

Matthew 2:2 — We saw His star rise and set out to find the One born King of the Jews; we have come for one purpose—to bow down and honor Him.

Reflection: What specific “full hands” gift—time, encouragement, resources, or praise—will you intentionally bring to Jesus this week, and when will you offer it?

Day 2: God our trusted refuge; pour out your heart

Everyone runs somewhere for safety; where you run most reveals what you truly worship. Jobs, money, or opinions make poor shelters, but God is a steady refuge in celebration and in strain. Scripture invites you to pour out your heart before Him—not tidied-up, just honest. Bring your joy, grief, anxiety, and even your questions; none of it intimidates Him. Give Him more energy than anything else this week and discover how secure worship feels when your shelter is the Lord [37:07].

Psalm 62:8 — Trust Him at all times, people; open your hearts wide before Him, because God alone is your safe place.

Reflection: When stress spikes, where do you instinctively run first, and what is one concrete way you will redirect that reflex to God as your refuge this week?

Day 3: Remember God’s faithfulness in dark seasons

Hard seasons try to pull your eyes sideways to circumstances, but worship lifts your gaze upward. Like the psalmist who ate tears day and night, you can still remember when you used to sing boldly and lead others in praise. Tell your soul the truth: “Hope in God; I will praise Him again,” and let memory tutor your present. Rehearsing God’s past faithfulness breaks despair’s spell and makes room for courage to rise. Choose one “I remember when God…” story today, speak it aloud, and let it escort you back into praise [45:15].

Psalm 42:3–5 — My tears have been my food all day and night while voices ask, “Where is your God?” I remember leading the crowd to God’s house with glad songs. Why are you downcast, my soul? Put your hope in God; I will praise Him again, because His presence helps me.

Reflection: Name one concrete moment when God carried you; how will you retell that memory (to yourself or someone else) today as an act of worship?

Day 4: Persevere and trust God’s future for you

Trust grows when you keep praying, even when the answers are slow or different than you wanted. The God who abides forever hears the desperate and does not despise their cry; His constancy steadies your next step. Spiritual perseverance is not flashy, but it is holy—keep showing up, keep listening, keep obeying. You were made on purpose and for purpose, and worship keeps you aligned with His future rather than your feelings. Don’t quit; plant your feet in His faithfulness today and take the next faithful step [52:24].

Psalm 102:1–2, 12, 17 — Hear my prayer, Lord; don’t look away when I’m in distress. When I call, answer quickly. But You, Lord, remain forever, Your name enduring through every generation. You notice the helpless and do not turn away from their prayers.

Reflection: Where have you been tempted to quit spiritually, and what small, non-dramatic step will you take in the next 24 hours to keep going?

Day 5: Turn cries into worship; shape generations

When words run out, let your tears and songs become prayer—pour out your heart like water before the Lord. Lift your hands not only for yourself, but for your children, your students, your church family, and those watching from the edges. Turning cries into worship reorients your heart and quietly shapes a culture where the next generation learns where to run. This Christmas you have reasons to sing: God has been faithful behind you, good beside you, and present ahead of you. Offer Him all you carry, and let your worship write a different story in your home and community [59:22].

Lamentations 2:19 — Get up in the night and cry out; empty your heart like water before the Lord’s face. Lift your hands to Him for the lives of your little ones who are growing weak at every street corner.

Reflection: Who in the next generation might be encouraged by your visible worship, and when will you intentionally pray and lift them before the Lord this week?

Sermon Summary

What a day. With our kids leading the way, I invited us into a Christmas posture that looks more like the magi than consumers—people who see where Jesus is and go there with worship. This season isn’t about coming with empty hands looking to be filled, but with full hands ready to be poured out at the manger. I asked us to bring our energy, our attention, and our affection to God—men and women, students and parents—giving nothing else in life more effort than His presence. It’s childlike wonder we’re after: the simplicity that sings freely, dances honestly, and forgets to perform because the King is in the room.

We anchored ourselves in Matthew 2:2 and then moved to Psalm 62:8: God is our refuge. We all worship where we most deeply trust for safety. If our refuge is money, success, or people’s opinions, our worship drifts there. But when God is our refuge, we can pour out our hearts to Him in every season—joyful or heavy—and nothing we carry intimidates Him. Worship then becomes a holy refocus.

I laid out three refocusing moves. First, worship helps us remember God’s faithfulness. David models this in Psalm 42, letting memory rebuke despair: I will praise again. Jeremiah does the same in Lamentations 3—he calls truth to mind until hope rises. Second, worship helps us trust God’s future. Psalm 102 shows us honest lament that refuses to quit; perseverance is a spiritual discipline we need. Sometimes the right answer is “no,” and faith stays anyway. Third, worship turns our cries into worship. Lamentations 2:19 invites us to pour out our hearts like water and lift our hands—often not even for ourselves, but for the next generation. Our worship builds a holy memory for our children and students; it teaches them where to look when the night is long.

So we responded in song—lifting hands, opening hearts, and for many, giving lives to Jesus. Not because the feelings lined up, but because He is worthy. He has been faithful in our past, He is good in our present, and He is with us in our future. We have a reason to worship.

Key Takeaways

1. Worship reveals your true refuge. What you trust most for safety quietly becomes what you praise. If money, status, or people’s opinions are where you run, your heart’s liturgy will follow. Choose God as your refuge, and you’ll find yourself pouring your whole heart out to Him with freedom. He alone can hold what you hand Him. [37:56]
2. Remember to re-member your story. When despair grows loud, memory must grow louder. Rehearsing God’s past faithfulness stitches you back together and confronts the lie that you’re alone. Call truth to mind until hope has weight again; then choose to praise before you feel like praising. [48:13]
3. Perseverance is discipleship in motion. We quit too easily when prayers aren’t answered our way, but “no” can be a loving answer from a wise Father. Staying with God when outcomes disappoint forms a sturdy soul that doesn’t revolve around self. Perseverance is worship that says, “You’re God—I’m not—and I’m staying.” [53:14]
4. Turn your cries into worship. Don’t silence your pain; aim it. Lament is the doorway where tears become trust and honesty becomes offering. Pour out your heart like water and lift your hands—your worship won’t just steady you, it will teach the next generation where life is found. [58:04]
5. Bring full hands to Jesus. Resist the consumer reflex; arrive ready to pour out gratitude, obedience, and love. The wise men didn’t come to get; they came to give. When you empty yourself before Him, you discover the freedom of worship that isn’t bargaining—it’s belonging. [33:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[25:19] - Ready for Christmas and Kids Celebrate
[27:21] - Christmas at Radiate Details
[28:34] - Opening Prayer and Invitation to Lean In
[29:18] - Series Vision: Come Let Us Adore
[30:39] - Wise Men Came to Worship
[32:59] - Worship Is Giving, Not Getting
[34:25] - Give It All You’ve Got
[36:31] - God Our Refuge: Psalm 62:8
[40:08] - Remembering God’s Faithfulness (Psalm 42)
[49:36] - Trusting God’s Future (Psalm 102)
[53:14] - Spiritual Perseverance Over Quitting
[56:25] - Turn Cries Into Worship (Lamentations 2:19)
[61:56] - Salvation Invitation and Response Song

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Matthew 2:2
- Psalm 62:8
- Lamentations 2:19

Observation questions

Read Matthew 2:2. What does the magi’s statement “we have come to worship him” show about their posture and priorities when they found Jesus? [31:30]
Read Psalm 62:8. What does “pour out your heart before him” suggest about the kinds of things people can bring to God (fear, praise, need, gratitude)? [37:07]
In Psalm 42 the writer remembers past worship in the midst of despair. What memories did the psalmist call to mind, and how did those memories change his posture? [41:04]
Read Lamentations 2:19. What images does “pour out your heart like water” and “lift up your hands…for the life of your little ones” create, and what do those images say about who worship can affect beyond the worshiper? [58:04]

Interpretation questions

If God is our refuge, how does shifting ultimate trust from money, success, or people to God reshape where a person invests their energy and attention? [37:07]
The psalmist intentionally calls past faithfulness to mind in the middle of pain. How does rehearsing specific past acts of God function as a rebuke to present despair and a fuel for renewed praise? [41:04]
Spiritual perseverance is described as continuing to trust when outcomes are disappointing. What does perseverance look like in ordinary, weekly life (church, prayer, relationships) when the immediate answer seems to be “no”? [53:14]
Lamentations invites people to pour out their hearts and lift hands “for the life of your little ones.” How does honest, public worship and lament form a holy memory that teaches the next generation where to look in dark seasons? [58:04]

Application questions

Jesus draws people to himself with worship, not with a shopping list of wants. When have you recently chosen activity because you expected to get something rather than to give worship? What is one specific change you will make this week to “go where Jesus is” and come with hands ready to give? [33:32]
God is our refuge. Identify one thing you presently run to for safety (work, money, approval, performance). What is one concrete step you will take in the next seven days to re-orient that trust toward God? (Example: a short daily confession, a budget change, a conversational boundary.) [37:07]
Remembering God’s faithfulness rebukes despair. List two specific ways God has been faithful in your past. How will you rehearse those memories this week (write them down, tell a friend, post them as reminders)? [48:13]
Perseverance is a discipline. Where are you tempted to quit spiritually (prayer, service, a relationship, a group)? What is one practical next step you will take and who will you ask to hold you accountable for it? [53:14]
Turning cries into worship helps form the next generation’s memory of God. Name one way you can make your worship or lament visible and teachable to younger people in your life this season (sing openly, share a short testimony at home, bring a child to worship). What will you do this week to act on that? [58:04]
Bringing full hands to Jesus means offering what you already have rather than coming empty to be filled. What is one specific gift (time, talent, a story, an item to give away) you will bring to Jesus this week as an act of worship, and how will you follow through? [33:32]

Sermon Clips

God is a refuge for us, Selah. In other words, there is nothing more that I can get protection from. There is nothing more that I can get grace and joy and peace from than God. And here's the truth about us. We tend to worship where our most trusted refuge is. Come on. We tend to worship where our most trusted refuge is. Here's the truth. Like, jobs are not bad, but we worship them when they become our refuge. Money is not a bad thing. Thank God. It touches all of us in the room. Right? Money is not a bad thing. [00:37:33] (36 seconds) #GodIsMyRefuge

But when it becomes my trusted refuge, I'll begin to worship money. Power and success. None of that's bad until it becomes my trusted refuge. Are you seeing the correlation here? People's opinions are fine. But when I begin to... My trusted refuge is in relationships more than anything else, then I'll begin to worship their opinion. And now I'm people-pleasing, not God-pleasing. Come on, y'all. [00:38:09] (26 seconds) #DontWorshipMoney

And like the reality is, hey, I get to pour out everything I have to God. Why? Because God's my trusted refuge. God's the one I can run to in difficulty. God's the one I can run to in celebration. God's the one I can run to no matter where I am in life. Because He's my trusted refuge. So, therefore, I can give Him everything that I've got. [00:38:36] (22 seconds) #RunToGodAlways

Whatever you walked in with today, you can give it to God. Wherever you are in your life today, I need you to know He wants it. God welcomes it. God's ready for it. Your circumstance does not intimidate God. Your thought process does not scare God. God's not sitting there going, oh man, I don't know what to do with that. God's going, I got you, man. Just come on. Let me walk with you in this. [00:39:05] (27 seconds) #BringItToGod

My pastor, I've told you his definition. I love his definition. My pastor says it like this. Worship is what gets your mind's attention and your heart's affection. I love that. Because it's this refocusing back to God. Worship, whenever I go through difficult seasons or even in good seasons, I get to remember God's faithfulness. Sometimes, how many of you know, sometimes it's good to go back and remember where you came from? It's good to remember what you were in whenever you found God. It's good to remember where you were in those moments. [00:40:35] (31 seconds) #WorshipRefocuses

Actually, you know what, I want to fix that. Not just in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of all life. In the midst of celebration too. Because here's what can happen. We can get in a good season and still forget God's faithfulness. We begin to worship the blessing more than the blesser. And man, I just want to remember God's faithfulness in my life. [00:48:59] (20 seconds) #RememberGodsFaithfulness

God, I don't even know if God loves me. He didn't answer my prayer. He didn't come through like I thought he would. I can't read the Bible. I don't even understand what it says. And here's the thing. We quit so easy. We stopped so easy. And it's like, y'all, there's so many translations. Just go get one you understand and start there. Go get one you understand and start there. What translation should I start with? The one you understand. [00:53:51] (27 seconds) #ReadABibleYouUnderstand

There's something that happens whenever we begin to turn our cries, and our cries out into worship. And we begin to go, you know what, God? I'm broken, but I can still worship because you're good. God, I can still worship you, that even though I'm broken, you're put together. Because when everything, here's a truth for you to know today, even when everything feels like it's chaotic, God still stands strong. [00:57:10] (25 seconds) #WorshipInTheBrokenness

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