Louie Giglio - At the Table with the King (09/21/2025)
Well, an invitation is a powerful thing, and Shelly and I figured that out this week. We had been invited by some friends to go to Vegas. Now that sounds like a good invitation, right? You’re probably thinking, «Oh no, we don’t need our pastor going to Vegas!» However, these friends of ours are actually doing a residency in Vegas for a few weekends from last year through this spring, and they said, «Why don’t you all come along? We’ll pick you up on Thursday morning,» and we were like, «Okay.»
They mentioned, «Yeah, we have to come through Atlanta, so we’ll fly through, we’ll pick you guys up, you’ll jump on the plane with us, and we’ll go to Vegas. You’ll stay with us; we’ve got this penthouse that they put us up in during the residency. It’s a three-story penthouse in this hotel; you go up in an elevator to the penthouse, but then in the penthouse, it has its own elevator for the three stories. This place has two butlers, has all the stuff stocked that you could ever want, has an amazing indoor-outdoor pool, a sauna, a steam room, and even a bowling alley! They said, „You’ll stay with us; the whole thing will be amazing. We’ll go to the show. There’s going to be a reception one night that Garth Brooks is hosting, and you’ll get to come along with that; that’ll be amazing.“ And we were like, „Yeah, we’re available.“
Then, all of a sudden, we met these people in DC last week. We went to Passion City DC, where we met some crazy people under unexpected circumstances. They told us, „We’re North Carolina University fans, and we made it to the Sweet 16, as you know.“ They called this week and said, „Do you guys want to come to Philly for the games? We’re playing Friday night. If we went Friday night, we’d be playing on Sunday.“ I said, „Well, I don’t know; we can’t come on Sunday because I have to preach, but maybe, you know, I’m not done working on my talk yet, so I don’t know if it’s going to be worth coming for or not.“ They said, „Well, we’ll come through. Apparently, a lot of people can just come through and pick you up. More people than I knew! They said, 'We’ll come through, pick you up on Thursday, we’ll fly to Philly, and if necessary, we’ll fly you home on Sunday. If we’re still playing Sunday, we’ll fly you back home, and then the pilots will come back, and then we’ll go, you know, after the game.'“
I thought, „What kind of world is this?“ Oh, and by the way, in between the games, we’re doing a reception to honor coach Roy Williams, this legendary coach of Carolina, and it’s going to be at the Liberty Bell, like, a private dinner, and Michael Jordan’s going to be there! I was like, „Wait a minute! We’re supposed to be going to Vegas with these people, staying in the penthouse while they’re doing their concert, and now…“ Shelly said, „We can’t do that; we can’t go to either one. Willis, our pet hamster, already had a play date scheduled with his hamster friend Jethro on Saturday morning at 10:00.“ It’s been on the calendar for like three weeks—play date! So, no Vegas, no Philly; we’re just here with Willis. But it was amazing to be invited! That’s the power of an invitation. The invitation is powerful, depending on what it is. So, that’s what we immediately think: What is it? Do I want to go? Is it that big a deal? Is it cool, or is it not cool?
Secondly, the invitation is powerful because of who invites you. You’ll go to something you don’t want to go to if the right person invites you, but you’re not going to go if the wrong person invites you. And an invitation is powerful if you can go, if you don’t already have a play date scheduled for your pet hamster, and if you’re available and it works out. You can go! Invitations are powerful, and we all want them. We just want to get invited to something, amen?
Now, to clarify, there was no Vegas in our story, by the way, and there was no Philly, and we weren’t going to dinner with Michael Jordan. I’m sorry, and we don’t have a pet hamster, so let’s just clarify all that. I’m just trying to get you to lean in with me a little bit so I can tell you something incredible: Yahweh, who is the Lord of Hosts, the maker of heaven and earth, the creator of everything that exists, including you. He is the one who holds history together and will ultimately bring everything to its conclusion. He’s the smartest, wittiest, funniest person you’ve ever been with. He’s the most caring, compassionate, and loyal person you’ve ever met. He can flex at any moment he wants, raise people from the dead, heal people, move things, or change things, and He is inviting you to come and sit at the table with Him. I’m not kidding you.
We tell Him, „I’m sorry, Willis has a play date with his hamster buddy Jethro; we’re not going to be able to make it this time.“ But it’s incredible to be invited! Psalm 23—we talked about it a few months back when we released the book. „You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.“ Psalm 23:5. You, meaning the God of all creation, prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. In other words, you are inviting me to sit down at the table with the King. When we released „Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat,“ we talked about who we don’t want at the table. We don’t want anxiety, fear, or all these negative thoughts and voices at our table, and that’s true. But the flip side of that is, who do we want at our table? For sure, we don’t want the enemy—capital E—at our table, but we do want Jesus at our table.
For these next few weeks together—and hopefully, you’ll join me for the next few weeks—we want to be at the table with Jesus. We’re releasing a resource titled „At the Table with Jesus,“ and the subtitle says, „66 Days to Draw Closer to Christ and Fortify Your Faith.“
In other words, it’s not enough that you try to fight or I try to fight against the negative thoughts to protect the table of my mind from what the enemy is trying to put there. It’s more important that I invite Jesus into the moment, that I accept His invitation to the table, and that I sit down with Him consistently to build truth and a relationship with the King of the Universe. You might wonder, „Well, why is it 66 days? That’s a weird and random number.“ Because in 2009, a research paper by University College London stated that it takes, on average, 66 days of repetition to form a habit.
We’ve kind of stuck with the norm we picked up somewhere that it takes 30 days to change a habit, but that’s not actually the science. So, if we follow the science—and we hear that phrase all the time now, „If you follow science"—neuroscientists are telling us it takes, on average, 66 days for you to form a new habit. I was talking to a neuroscientist a few months ago, and she explained to me how this works, and I’m not kidding you—it blew my mind, no pun intended. She was talking about neural pathways in the brain and how there are countless neural pathways in everyone’s minds. The neural pathways are formed by thoughts.
So, when you think a thought, you’re starting a path. Imagine you live on some land in the country, and you have pastures and a creek, a house, and a driveway. Occasionally you’ll take a walk down the pasture, around past the creek, circle around that tree, and back up the hill toward the house. If you make that path long enough—or if the cows in your pasture walk that path every day—you have some country people who know what I’m talking about; they form a path to where they drink from the creek. If you have a vehicle on this land and you drive a certain way, you create tracks. If you drive on it long enough, it turns into a little dirt road. If you get real serious about your little dirt road, you can put gravel on it and make it a little more substantial, and if you really want to commit, you can pave that road, right? If you want to really go all out, you can build a highway.
That’s what we’re doing in our minds every single day. When you think a thought, whether positive or negative, you start walking through the pasture of your mind. If you only think it one time, it’s just footprints in the grass, and they don’t last; they go away. But if you walk down that same path again, and again, and again, a little dirt trail gets formed, and now that dirt path starts to draw you to it. The more you walk on it, you put gravel down, then you pave it, and eventually, in 66 days—this neuroscientist is telling me—you can build a road in your mind, a neural pathway in your mind.
Well, how would that work? It works like this: say someone told you somewhere along the way that you don’t matter, that you’re not valuable, that your life doesn’t count. Maybe they told you that God doesn’t love you, or somehow the enemy got at your table and told you that you don’t matter to God. You might think, «I’ve never mattered to anyone else. I don’t know if I matter to God or not—probably not. I’ve got a lot of stuff in my story.» And as soon as you thought that, you put footprints in the pasture of your mind. If you thought that again and again, you created a little dirt trail in your mind that has become a pathway for thoughts to travel.
«I don’t matter to God.» If you’ve been thinking that for a couple of years or living that out for a while in your story, you’ve built guardrails on a freeway in your mind, where big semi-trucks are regularly saying, «I don’t matter to God.» But here’s the thing—are you ready for this? You are not stuck as you are.
So the subtitle of this book, «Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table,» thanks to Shelly, says, «It’s time to change the way you think.» Now, that sounds like some rah-rah book that you might find on the self-help aisle in a bookstore, but it isn’t—it’s real, and you have the power to start thinking positively about your life right now. You may think, «Yeah, but I’ve always had a negative attitude about this.» I know, but right now, today, you can start thinking positively about it.
You might believe the lie, and you’ve perpetuated that lie, and now you’ve got a paved road in your brain of that lie, and thoughts just travel down that road, but today, you can start a brand new path in your mind. You can change the way you think. You may not be able to change your whole life between now and 66 days from now, but you can create a new pathway in your mind by believing what’s true.
For example, you could wake up to the revelation that Jesus Christ gave His life to invite you to this table. He has the scars to prove it. He took on your sin and shame, and He traveled from Heaven to Earth so that He could invite you to a table with the King of Kings. There’s a cross in the story that defies every reason you can come up with to believe that you do not matter to God, and you could have an awakening to that.
You could have a light bulb go on in your mind and say, «You know what? I’m going to step into that truth. I’m going to repeat it, say it, stand on it, and believe that I matter to God. I didn’t matter to them, and I didn’t matter to them. Some days I’m not sure I matter to me, but I guarantee you I matter to God. Jesus has proved that I matter to God. In fact, I’m going to put that on a card and stick it on my mirror. I’m going to repeat it every hour of the day. I’m going to go to bed, and when I go to bed at night, I’m going to say, I matter to God. I didn’t feel like it, but you know what? I’m not living on feelings. I’m not making a pathway on feelings; I’m making a pathway based on thoughts, and thoughts determine feelings. So, I’m going to think what is true right now, and I’m going to confess it out loud: I matter to God.»
Then, 66 days later, you’ve made a road in your mind, and now true thoughts can travel on that road. The more they travel on that road, the grass grows over the paths of the past. Now, this is the greatest news of all time! I mean, I’m just trying to read people’s faces—this is the greatest news ever! When Scripture tells us that we can renew our minds to the truth, God understood neuroscience before we did! He knew that you have more power than the enemy wants you to believe you have. You are not the permanently formed product of the negative things that have been spoken over you or the paths that other people have tried to plant in your mind. You are not the permanently formed product of the negative things that you have thought in your mind. You still have time—praise God—to change the way you think, accept the invitation of Jesus, and sit down at the table with Him.
A few things about that I want you to know: You can rest easy because Jesus is the one prompting this relationship; He’s the one inviting. It says in the verse we just read, Psalm 23:5, that «You prepare a table before me.» See, religion says that I have to prepare a table before you, but Christianity says that you prepare a table before me. So, you’re not on the clock thinking, «Somehow, I’ve got to figure out how to get in a relationship with God, get enough of the right things on the table, and get the invitation just right to see if God will come meet with me.» No, God’s already in motion, thank you very much. God has already prepared the table before you right now in the presence of your enemies.
This is going to be true of you whether you accept the invitation and say yes to the RSVP or not. Right now, there is a table prepared before you because God is the mover in this equation. He’s the initiator; He is the one who has started this process, and He wants you to know that He is prioritizing a relationship with you.
Now, within this, there’s something powerful. I want you, if you have your scripture, to look at Hebrews 11. Your Bible should fold there pretty easily because we’ve spent several weeks in this chapter. But there’s one more character I want to surface that we can focus on regarding faith, and we’re going to see two things in the life of this person. One, we’re going to see what God’s looking for in your life and in my life, and secondly, we’re going to see something that, I mean, if creating a new way of thinking didn’t blow your mind, we’re going to see something that is truly mind-boggling.
We’re looking at a person named Enoch. We find him in verse 5. It says, «By faith"—that’s when you’re supposed to tap your neighbor, but I know that was a long time ago—"Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death.» Now, this is pretty great! He could not be found because God had taken him away, for before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. You’re like, «Well, how do you please God?» Verse 6: «And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.»
So what is God looking for? Well, we know in the case of Enoch, who’s in this chapter among people who did great things—and Enoch also did great things, by the way; you can find that in Jude 14 at the end of the Bible—this guy was a legend in an ungodly era. He stood up and held fast to the things of God. He wasn’t just a mystic living out in a desert cave pleasing God—he really did live a life of faith. The reason he’s commended for faith is that he understood two things: number one, by faith, he believed in God, and number two, by faith, he believed that if you seek God, you’ll be rewarded.
Now, let’s talk about the first one quickly because that seems like a big barrier: God exists. Please, I welcome anyone to seek whether God exists today. I welcome that question; God welcomes the question. We all have it. Everybody on planet Earth wants to know if there’s a God, but the answer to the question is not as complicated as we make it. Someone might say, «How can you prove God exists?» And I’m like, «Yes, I can! How? By the fact that you just asked me that question.»
Now, this is not Christian simpletons trying to belittle people and shrink arguments down—people are legitimately trying to find God, and I am legitimately saying that because you asked me the question, «Can I prove God exists?» Yes, you just proved God exists! How did I do that? Because billions of neurons in your brain just organized in such a way to move all the muscles in your mouth and tongue into motion. You formed a thought, then you spoke words, and your words traveled on sound waves through the atmosphere into my ears. The little teeny tiny bones and eardrum in my ear processed the sound waves, converted them to information, and communicated them to the millions of neurons in my brain. I understood the language you were speaking and the question you asked. Additionally, I could assign meaning to the sounds that were coming my way, and we were having communication about an existential question that sought meaning outside of Earth. Thank you for proving that God exists!
Now, if I were to respond to you—millions of other things just happened! If I were to reach out at the end of our conversation and shake your hand and say, «It’s nice to meet you,» millions more miracles just happened! If you were to go your way and I were to go mine, millions more miracles would happen, and we would both still be wondering about the existential question of all, and stuff that just bubbles up out of the soup doesn’t ask existential questions about the meaning of life.
Secondly, by faith, I believe this God who does exist will reward you when you seek Him. In other words, if you realize there is a table that you know who’s sitting at the table, and you respond, saying, «I’m going to join you at the table because I believe being with you at the table is the greatest choice I can make in life,» then you’re going to go down in the record books and the annals of history as someone who was pleasing to God.
Now, all of us are going to live. That’s not the goal. All of us are going to do good things. That’s not the goal. Genesis 5 is where we find Enoch, and we’re barely a few pages into the scripture, and here he comes on the scene. Chapter 5 of Genesis is one of those chapters that you just want to get into and get all the details of. Isn’t it fascinating to know the lineage from Adam to Noah? Let’s save time and just jump to verse 9: «When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.» That’s your part!
When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, then he died.» When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. Jared, as we know, started a jewelry business that has been very successful. After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters, and altogether, he lived 895 years, then he died.»
There’s a theme developing here: «When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. All together, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.» Are you with us? Cumberland? Thank you! Awesome!
Feels good! When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. And here’s one of the greatest verses in scripture: «Enoch did not die.» Spoiler alert! We already know this because we just read it in Hebrews 11. Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more because God took him away.
Now, you can continue on down to the guys below. What is the theme of their lives? They lived, and they died. They lived, and they died. There’s nothing wrong with living and dying; that’s what we’re all going to do. Only a few people in the story of Scripture were taken away, and Enoch was one of them. It says about him not that he lived and died, but that he walked with God.
What will be said about you when you are gone? Will it simply be said that you lived, or will it be said that you walked? On your tombstone, will it say that you lived and died, or will it say that you walked while you were here? I went and dug into this word «walk,» and I wanted to understand it. I found the Hebrew word—it’s the word «halak,» and it means to go, to come, to walk. The first time «halak» appears in scripture is not in Genesis 5; it’s in Genesis 3. Remember Adam and Eve? Adam was created, and by the way, he was given work so work is important. We’re not saying that today. He was given work: «You’re going to run the garden; you’re going to steward all of the creation I’ve made.»
But then Adam and Eve messed everything up, and it says in chapter 3 that God came; He came walking in the cool of the day. All along, He had intended work and walk—work and walk, work and walk—right in the very first part of the story. So, He’s not preparing a desk before us in the presence of our enemies, just saying, «Sit down and do the job.» He’s preparing a table before us in the presence of the enemy, saying, «I want to have a relationship with you.»
To walk means to go, to come, to walk. Some other usages of the word include to accompany, to attend, to come near, to follow, to continue, to flow, to get up, to go at once, to lead, to be led, to live, to march, to move, to parade, to press heavier, to proceed steadily, to surely go, to travel, to walk around, and to go along continually.
It could be said that Enoch walked with God—Enoch had access to God; he accompanied God. He attended to God; he came near God. He heard when God said, «Come, let us go,» and he continued with God. He desired God; he was in flow with God. He followed God; he got away with God. He went at once with God; he was led by God. He lived with God; he marched with God; he moved with God. He was in God’s parade; he prayed heavily into God. He proceeded steadily with God—surely went with God; he traveled with God, walked around with God. Enoch went along continuously with God; he didn’t just show up at the house of God occasionally! He didn’t just scroll through the verse of the day on the Bible app a few times a week. He continually marched, came near, accompanied, had access, traveled, and walked around with God.
One day, God said, «You know what, Enoch? I love you so much; you’re just coming up with me today!» That was it! A little too tight of a squeeze, and Enoch was gone. He was commended as one who is pleasing to God. I don’t know if you get a marker if you’re just taken up by God into heaven, but if you do, it’s going to say on it: «She was pleasing to God.» «He was pleasing to God.» Why? What did he do? He walked with God.
Again, we’re not talking about being mystics out in la-la land because if you walk with God, guess what? God’s going to walk into the places on Earth that need light and hope, and you’re going to be walking right beside Him, right? He’s going to build up His church, and you’ll build alongside Him. If you walk with God, you’re going to be busy, but you’ll be walking with God, and that pleases Him.
In other words, this is not a one-way street. «Oh, I’m going to come to the table for 66 days because I’m going to be pleased by Jesus.» No! Jesus can be moved by you! When He created us, He created us for communion, for relationship—for a table. When we sit down, it makes Him happy, and when we talk to Him, it makes Him laugh. When we think about things together, He says, «Yeah!» He says, «I like you! I love you! I like spending time with you.» It pleases me!
So yes, we’ll be changed, transformed—new neural pathways, truth—not enemy, the best, not the worst, gain, not loss, more, not less. Yes, all that’s on the table because Jesus is more than enough, no matter what the circumstances externally or what’s going on internally! There will always be enough at the table with Jesus.
So, I’m just wondering if anybody’s willing to step in and say if it takes 66 days to create a new habit, I need a stronger habit of meeting with Jesus every single day! I need a stronger habit of sitting down at the table with the Prince of Peace every single day! I’m in! I’m committing; I’m going for it. I’m going to lean in for 66 days at the table with Jesus!
I think the only reason we wouldn’t is that maybe someone in the gathering today is already at another table. You’ve already got another shepherd, and somehow you’re convinced—even though it’s not working—that that’s the place for you, and you’re bypassing the invitation that’s right in front of you. Maybe it’s a relationship or something you’re into, but you’re just like, «I’m already committed to this thing,» and you don’t have space and time, or even the desire honestly, to sit down at a table with Jesus.
I’m just praying today that God will stir something in you; maybe it’s just a simple question: Has this table really been that good to me? Is this table really shepherding and leading me? If the honest answer is no, then just say to God today, «I need to change the way I think, and I’m going to step in. I’m going to start that process.»
Maybe for you, it’s just not a priority. You’re not against God; it’s just not a priority, and maybe you need to say that to Him today: «I know you’re fine, and I believe in everything this guy is talking about, but it’s just not a priority for me. Getting to the gym is a priority for me. Getting my protein shake is a priority—don’t catch me in between my powders! Me getting up and being the first one to work and knocking stuff out early, putting that first report on my boss’s desk? That’s a priority! Me finishing this Netflix series I’m in right now? That’s a priority!
The point is I’ve put those things up as priorities, but sitting down at a table with Jesus every day is just not a priority for me.» Maybe you just need to say that to Him today because it’s kind of the obvious. «Jesus, I’m sorry to say this, but it’s really the truth. If I’m being honest about it, you’re not a priority for me, so I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry I left you hanging on your invitation. I’m over here with my hamster playdate. I want to change that. Will you put a new desire for a better priority in my heart today?»
It’s not a big promise, okay? «I’m going in for 66 days.» Maybe your prayer today would be to say, «I’m just going in with God. Will you give me a new desire for a better priority?» Some of you might not take Him up on this because there’s too much shame in the story. It’s like that first time you went back home to your family dinner after everything that went down, and you kind of sat in the driveway for a minute, thinking about it before you went through the door because you knew how that was going to go down. Maybe that’s what you’re thinking right now: «I love the idea that Jesus is at this table, but man, when I get there, I’m a wreck.»
The good news is Jesus got there before you and prepared the table before you. When you sit down, He’s going to welcome you with nail-scarred hands. Shame doesn’t rule the table that Jesus prepares before you! Shame was undone at the table Jesus prepares before you. The blood of the Lamb is in the cup, and the broken body of Jesus is on the platter. The Prince of Peace who paid the debt is waiting for you at the table, and you can start building a new road there.
I’m forgiven, and guilt has no claim on me! I’m starting anew—a new road at the table with Jesus! Guilt has no claim on me—why? Because it took Him out, and then He prepared a table for me!
Some of you might not come to the table because you’re new here, and I just want to say to you, I’m so pumped that you’re here! So many people in pandemic world found church online. So many people we’ve met here—I bet there’s someone in this room right now, here in Cumberland, and you’re here at Passion City Church. You didn’t know anything about us until the pandemic, and then somehow, you found us online and thought, «Well, that doesn’t look terrible. God might be kind of speaking to me; I think when I can, I’m going to show up at that place.»
So many new people and so many new faces! I’m just saying to you: «Come on. Here we go! Welcome to Passion City Church; we are so glad you are here today! Welcome to church! You are totally welcome to step in with your questions and your investigations.»
There was a guy in the New Testament story who heard Jesus was coming through his town, and he couldn’t see over the people, so he climbed a tree, just trying to get a glimpse, just checking it out. Jesus looked right at him, called him by his name, and said, «Come down from the tree; I’m coming to your house, and I’m going to sit at your table.» Awesome! And then everybody murmured, «He’s the worst guy in town!» Jesus said, «Well, I’m the best guy in town. When the best guy in town sits down with the worst guy in town, that’s a good table right there!» And He did sat down at his table, and everything changed right in that moment.
So if you’re thinking, «I don’t even know enough to know if I can get into a devotion about Jesus,» come on—step in! I promise you the worst that could happen is at the end of the 66 days, nothing could have happened, but I promise you if you step in and tell Him, «Jesus, if you’re real, show me who you are,» He’s going to open your eyes to see.
I think the last thing I’ll say is this: It’s why somebody’s going to pass by this table today—it’s because you’ve been there and done that. I get it! We’ve all been to enough camps, thrown enough sticks in the fire, written all our sins out on a piece of paper, wadded it up, thrown it in the lake, drowned our sins under the waters. We’ve all come down aisles, we’ve all raised our hands, we’ve all stood up, and we’ve all repeated, «Repeat after me.»
I know for some of you, you want this so bad, but you’re thinking, «You know what? I’ve been there, and I’ve done that, and I don’t know. I’ve got a voice telling me right now this ain’t going to work.» You do have a voice telling you that—100%. The enemy is telling you that! Do not believe that! If you earnestly seek God, He will reward you! You have a choice right now to start making a new path in your mind. «No, I’m not going to believe that! I’m going to agree with God.» He said if I believe He exists—which I do—and if I believe He rewards those who earnestly seek Him, then I will.
I do believe at the end of this journey, I am going to be different! I believe my relationship with Jesus is going to be different! I believe He’s going to be delighted with me, and I will be delighted with Him! I am stepping into the truth and the invitation of God. I am going to decide today not to ignore the invitation, but I am going to click on the RSVP, and I’m going to respond. If you prepare a table before me, I’m sitting down with you!