In The Rough

Levi Lusko - Fresh Life Church

Exodus 20:24-26

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

God wants to see our worship in the rough.

Starting with the list of commandments and then directly after pivots and tells us how to build an altar. 

Individual/personal altars.

This altar is not a shrine.

Keep it simple.

Have a life of meeting God and seeking God. 

If you use stones to build My altar, use only natural uncut stones.

• 1. Supernatural effectiveness does not require superficial embellishment.

It's not what you bring to the table it's what Christ brings!

It's not about you - it's about Jesus!

Eugene Peterson 

The primary concern of life is not what we do for God, but what He does for us.

It was not about the cross (used + dirty) it was Jesus on the cross.

• 2. The power of Christianity is never the packaging, it's the person!

It's about the fact Jesus rose from the dead.

The moment we lose sight of that, there's no power.

The gospel isn't a ceremony for halo polishing it's an emergency room for life-saving!

Jesus didn't come to make bad men good, He came so dead men could live!

There has to be humility to it.

Pride reveals nakedness.

Luke 18:10-14

I failed. Forgive me. Amen.

The moment we remove the rough edges, the moment we remove the effectiveness.

There is no Christianity without our bloody Savior!

We cannot remove the gospel message from Christianity!

• 3. Your worship doesn't have to be pretty to be powerful!

1 Peter 2:5

I don't have to build an altar - I am the altar.

Bring Him your life as it is.

Right where you are turn that rock into an altar.

If you fall down, worship Him from where you lie.

All works in process. 

It's not always pretty.

It's better to win ugly than to lose pretty.

Charles Spurgeon 

Trembling sinner away with thy tools.

Put your tools away, Jesus is a carpenter!

Let Him fix you, build you, change you!

• 4. Stones don't have to be uniformly changed, just patiently arranged!

We are all uniquely made.

We can all serve God differently.

Ephesians 4:16

The goal isn't to be like each other.

Take off the masks.

Our differences make us dangerous to the darkness!!

What makes me different?

Honor God with it.

Living unmasked.

Living an authentic life.