Louie Giglio - Put God to the Test (09/24/2025)
So we’ve been thinking about this statement that Jesus made, both to you and to me, during the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever recorded. In the context of all the things that all of us need in life, Jesus simplified and helped us prioritize. He said, «Yeah, I know you need sustenance, I know you need food, I know you need somewhere to live, I know you need shelter, I know you need provision, but here’s the priority.» This is what Jesus said in Matthew 6. We’ve looked at it every week during this journey together. He said, «For the pagans run after all these things,» even the people who don’t have a concept of the living God—they’re all going after all these things.
But He said, «Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first— that’s our phrase— seek first— that’s priority— His kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.» In other words, God is putting an invitation on the table today—that’s mind-boggling to me, honestly. Because we’re here, we’ve all found our way to a parking place, gotten into the building, or maybe you’re joining online from home and participating in church today, from who knows where. And we’re all here, but can we just wrap our heads around this reality today? The God of heaven is providing opportunities, placing invitations on the table.
He’s saying, «Look, if you will choose to prioritize my kingdom and my righteousness, I will add everything else you need in 2022.» So, the things on your list that you think you need this year—some of those you do need, and I’m going to provide those because I already knew that. But there are a whole lot of things you need in 2022 that you don’t even know you need yet, and I already know what all those things are, and I am working to provide them for your life. I’m just saying, if you will put God first, I will add everything else to your life that you need.
So, we’ve been looking at the simplicity in this: put God first. And honestly, it’s not a huge theological concept; it’s a simple, practical way of living. That’s what God wants for all of us—He wants this to become a way of life, like breathing. Sometimes you think about it, sometimes you don’t, but you’re always doing it. It’s a way of life, and that’s what God wants as we contemplate what it means to put the kingdom first and put the King first. So, this is part two of «Put God First,» super practical, and I believe God has a word for every single one of us today.
Number one: put God first in your rising. You might wonder, «What does that mean?» When you wake up, put God first. In other words, before you reach for your phone, or your alarm, or do anything else—just pause and be grateful. Like we’ve already heard today, «I’m alive.» Charline, I have a friend who works at a restaurant we frequent in our neighborhood, and I’ve known him for a very long time. He’s sort of a fixture in the Atlanta restaurant culture, and every time I see him, I ask him because I know what his answer will be. I say, «Hey Byron, how are you doing?» And he says, «I woke up.» That’s a whole summary of gratitude: «I woke up. Hey, I’m doing good, I’m here, I’m alive, I have a new day, a new opportunity. I woke up.»
So, when we wake up, I want to encourage you, in simplicity, before you do one thing, to put God first. In other words, acknowledge Him when you’re conscious that you have a new day. So, whenever that moment happens—whether you’re one of those people who wakes up immediately and is fully conscious, or one of those who takes about an hour to become fully conscious—when you realize it’s Tuesday and you have a new day, put God first. You might ask, «What would that look like?» It just means, simply, saying, «Before I reach for my phone to check whatever it is I need to check, before I step out of bed, or have my first thought of trying to organize what’s coming, I just want to stop and acknowledge God. I want to thank You for a new day; I want to worship You because You’re a good God. I want to put You first today, God, in this day.»
That’s what the psalmist was saying in Psalm 127 when he writes, «Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.» In other words, if you wake up and the first thing you do is start thinking about what you need to build that day, you may be on the path to having a day that, at the end of the day, doesn’t last forever. If you’re building the house, then all of that ultimately is going to be in vain. If you wake up thinking, «Here’s what I have to do at work today, here’s what I need to do to lead my people today, here’s how I need to organize my kids today, here’s what I need to get rolling today,» and that’s your first thought—if that’s what you put first—then you’re building the house. But if you can pause and say, «God, I want to put You first today. Before I go build anything, or watch anything, or try to protect anything, I want to put God first.» Look how the psalmist finishes this. He says, «It’s vain for you to rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat, for He grants sleep to those He loves.» So, I want to encourage you to put God first in your rising.
Secondly, put God first in your setting. When you wake up, put God first, and the last thing you do before you close your eyes—don’t go through the list again, don’t replay all the things you regret about the day, don’t think through all you have to do tomorrow. When you close your eyes, put God first. Say, «God, at the end of this day, I want to thank you for when we started this morning. I acknowledged You and worshiped You for being a good God, and now, as I close my eyes in sleep, I want to acknowledge You again, thank You for this day, and trust You in this night.» The text says that He gives sleep to those He loves. A better way of understanding this verse is that He gives to those He loves while they sleep.
So what if we just do those two simple things? We put God first in our rising and we put God first in our setting. You wake up tomorrow and say, «God, I want to put You first. Will You provide, guide, anoint, appoint, protect, and correct?» I think the third practical way we can put God first is to honor God in our wealth. Now, I know that for many of us, you might think, «Whoa, this seems like a left turn. I like starting and ending the day with God.» But we’re going to touch on a few different areas before we close today, and they may not necessarily correlate, but God has a specific word for every one of us today.
I met a guy this week that I was so excited to meet; he was this message in real life. His name is Richard. I went to speak at an event in El Paso, Texas, and Richard was our host. When we landed, he met us at the airport, helped us with our bags, and drove us to the hotel. He actually took us to lunch first, and we had lunch together. I started learning about his story, and he drove us to the venue, back to the hotel—you get the picture. He was hosting us during our time at the conference, and I thought surely he was a pastor at the church or on staff, but come to find out, Richard is just a door holder; he’s a volunteer at their church. He’d taken time off work to serve at this conference and to drive us around. He was a great host. I asked him, «What do you do?» and he replied, «I’m the distribution center manager for"—and then he named the national furniture chain. He said, «I run the distribution center here in El Paso, which is the regional center for our area.» As you know, El Paso is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so it’s like El Paso is the region.
I found out later that not only is he the head of the distribution center for that region, but he just got recognized as being the top region of all the regions in this national furniture chain. Chicago, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta—all the big cities, and he just got recognized as having the number one distribution center in the nation. He didn’t mention that right away, but that’s the real story and I’m not surprised; this guy’s got something going on. We spent time together, and just before he dropped us off at the airport, I wanted to know more about his story. I asked him what it means to run a distribution center. I had questions because I’m into operations. I asked him how big the distribution center is, how many trucks do they run in a day, how many deliveries can a truck make, the crew size on each truck, how much stuff can you put in a truck. You know, I was just curious. I asked him how they get feedback, how they avoid scratching up people’s floors when they bring in the furniture. I was eager to know how it all worked and how he became the best.
Then he said, «You know, my story is kind of interesting. At 28 years old, I had no concept of God because all I wanted was to make money and get rich. My family had no real faith; I had no faith. I was married, trying to get through life, working as a salesman at a smaller family-owned furniture store here in El Paso. All I wanted was to succeed financially. But my wife started tracking with God, and she told me I needed to start tracking with God. She said, 'Richard, you need to start reading the Bible.' I thought, 'Reading the Bible? I have no concept of what the Bible means, and I don’t understand any of it.'
She said there are different translations, and she got me one—the New Living Translation—so I could understand. I began reading the Bible every single day. One day, I was sitting in a coffee shop reading Galatians 5 about the fruit of the Spirit, and I saw the fruit of the flesh and thought, 'Oh, that’s me.' Then I saw the fruit of the Spirit and realized, 'Oh, that’s what God wants me to be.' I got saved sitting in that coffee shop reading Galatians 5 about the fruit of the Spirit. God came into my life, took over my life, saved my life right there, reading the Bible by myself. I was so moved and overwhelmed by God that I started sobbing in the coffee shop, gathered my things, and went out to sit in my car so I could sob. He said, 'God saved my life, changed my life, transformed me into the person you see now.'
He continued, „So I started going to church. I loved church; I had never been to church in my life and I was so excited to go. But here’s the next line—don’t take it personally—he said, 'I didn’t want to just be somebody who went to church. I looked around and saw people serving the church, and I said, God, I want to serve the church.' But I couldn’t because I was a furniture salesman. A lot of people want to shop for furniture on Sunday, so I could go to church, but then I had to leave to sell furniture for the rest of the day. So, I prayed and asked God if He would give me a job that would allow me to serve at church.“ The preacher sitting across from me got fired up; I was pumped. He said, „A few weeks went by, and the owners of this family business came to me and said, 'Richard, we’ve got a problem. Our warehouse is a wreck, our deliveries are a wreck, our service quality is terrible, the team is dysfunctional, and our inventory is all jacked up. We’ve recognized your abilities, and we think you’d be an awesome candidate to manage our warehouse. Would you take the job? '“
He said he went home and told his wife, „I don’t know what to do. I mean, I’m out on the floor wearing a suit selling furniture, and they want me to go back to the warehouse and take a warehouse job. That sounds a little like a demotion.“ He thought about it for a few days and said, „No, it sounds like an answer to my prayer because the warehouse doesn’t work on Sundays.“ He took the job and started serving God’s house, and he still serves God’s house to this day. He took vacation from his job so he could drive us around El Paso, Texas as a way of serving our house. Not long after that, they had the warehouse running perfectly. Their deliveries were on time, their service was incredible, and for 15 years, he was a warehouse manager, excelling. It wasn’t just that; he was doing such a good job that this national furniture chain recruited him and said, „We know you’re the best in town; we want you to be our distribution center manager.“ He said, „Louie, they made me a job offer so good I couldn’t turn it down. For the last 10 years, I’ve been the distribution center manager at this area warehouse, which is a much larger operation than what I was doing in that smaller company. I’ve just been blessed by God in such a way that I was recognized—we received the top quality and efficiency in the nation.“ He said, „God has blessed me.“ I thought, „Yeah, because you put God first.“
I’ve met so many people; I thought about it, and if this is you, I’m not speaking into your situation right now, but I’ve met so many people over time. That’s the leading question when I invite someone to come to Passion City; many will say, „I’d love to come, but I have to work on Sundays.“ I understand that in some professions, like doctors, nurses, or airline pilots, it’s difficult to navigate schedules. But I thought of Richard and wondered if anyone was asking God, „I have to work on Sunday right now. This is my field; this is what I’m good at; these are the doors I’ve opened. I’d really love to serve at church—can you help me use these gifts and still keep doors open while being more available to Your kingdom?“ Just see what God might do. God encourages us with our opportunities to put Him first, and specifically today, He’s encouraging some of us—really all of us, but I think particularly speaking to some—to put God first in your wealth.
You may say, „Well, Louie, I would if I was wealthy.“ To this I say, you live in America; you’re one of the wealthiest people on earth. Don’t you hate it when people say that? But it’s true; every one of us in this gathering is blessed. The writer of Proverbs says this in Proverbs 3:9: „Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.“ First fruits is the tithe—saying, „God, thank you that You gave me the ability to plant and harvest. I went and planted well and I harvested well, or maybe I planted well but didn’t harvest what I wanted to, or today we planted a little and harvested a little.“ But it’s recognizing that everything I have and everything I am is by the grace of God, and I want to put Him first when my crops come in. See how simple that is? That’s the tithe. We get tripped up because it’s church and nobody likes the church talking about money, but I’ll say it again—I’ll say it a hundred times here: Passion City Church has a new location in D.C., and some amazing things are about to happen there. We just opened a new location south of Atlanta at Trilith; we’re online all over the world right now. This building in Cumberland opened during the COVID crisis of 2020 and is still going strong today. All this is happening, and some of you have never given.
So the message today isn’t that we need your money, or that I want to make you feel bad so you’ll give money to Passion City Church. We are serving every one of you today because someone was generous; someone had that spirit of gratitude and sowed into building this house. So this is not Passion City saying, „You need to give.“ We want you to feel bad until you give; this is God saying, „If you will put me first in your wealth, I will blow your mind.“ That’s what Malachi 3:10 says: „Bring the first fruit, the tithe, into the storehouse. Bring it into God’s house.“ Then God says this: „Test me and see; try me out. Put me on the spot and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing too great for you to receive.“
Do you realize there are going to be people who reach the end of their lives and never receive the blessing God wanted to pour on their lives because they would not put God first in their wealth? They might say, „I made enough money; I made a lot of money. We have these great things.“ But they have no idea what God could have done if they had put God first. Now, they just have all the stuff they bought with their money and don’t have the eternal investment portfolio that far exceeds anything they could dream or imagine.
I felt led, so I’m going to be pastoral for a moment when I was praying through this message today, to encourage somebody that 2022 is your year to start tithing. In a few months, I mean just like that, we’re going to be at Above and Beyond Sunday. We’ll be telling amazing stories of God’s faithfulness, talking about people whose lives were changed. As a house, we’ll do something you only do when you’re saved and grateful to a great God; we’re going to give above what we normally give so that Passion City Church can go beyond where we normally go.
You were so generous in the last Above and Beyond season and the one in 2020, just a sign of God stirring the hearts of people. But a lot of you didn’t give to Above and Beyond because that’s predicated on the idea that there is a normal to go above. You can’t give above if you don’t give. So I want to encourage you in 2022—let it be the year you can tell your kids and grandkids, „You know, we were not operating in God’s economy when it came to our wealth until 2022.“ Your mom and I made a decision, or maybe I was single then and hadn’t met your mom yet, but I decided I was going to start honoring God with the first fruits of my labor. It was only $27 because my labor was $270; it wasn’t a lot. I thought, „What can God do with $27?“ But I took God at His word, I tested and trusted it, and I’m telling you, since that time until now, our whole financial world has been different. 2022 is our year when we started trusting God with our wealth.
Thank you for the amens; I appreciate it so much! Brother, you went out there by yourself, alone, and stayed by yourself; no one ever joined you. You just stood on your corner all alone for that entire point in my talk, and you gave me 15 amens; spread them out—that’s a fractional amen for everybody in all the gatherings. But thank you so much for that, Philip Engel, ladies and gentlemen, one of the great door holders at Passion City Church, Cumberland. Lastly, we honor God in your current season. This could go into a whole new series of its own, so I’ll just trust the Holy Spirit and allow this to land wherever it needs to. If you’re single right now and really want to be in a relationship, put God first in that season. If you’re married right now and trying to hold it together and keep the knot tied, put God first. Pause and stop and say, „God, our marriage is unraveling, so I’m going to kneel today and put You first. What do You want me to do? What’s the next step?“
If you’re young, put God first. If you’re living in a Snapchat world, put God first. If you wouldn’t know Snapchat if it was chatting at you, put God first. If you’re just getting started in life, put God first. If you’re in the latter stages of life, put God first. If you’re dating right now and trying to determine if the person you’re with is the right one for you, put God first and ask them to put God first. If they don’t want to put God first, you’ll have your answer right there; they’re not the right person for you. Whatever season you’re in, if you just got the best news, put God first. If you just got promoted, put God first. If everybody’s impressed with you right now, put God first. If you’re in the low, low, low—if you’re down in the valley, in the darkness, if you’re in a barren season or a place where it seems like everything is unraveling and it’s not impressive, but rather depressing—put God first. In the highs and the peaks, put God first. If you’re rewarded, acknowledged, elevated, or just received a blessing, put God first.
But I really want to speak to someone on the other side today. If you feel like you could not go lower right now, put God first. The psalmist said it this way in Psalm 42. David was at a really, really low place in life. That’s why I love the psalms; they give us highs and lows because life includes highs and lows, amen? God’s not afraid of the highs; He’s not afraid of the lows. God wants to meet you on the mountaintop, but He also wants to meet you in the valley low. The psalmist says it this way when he’s in this low: „As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?“
That’s one of the most well-known psalms in scripture, but that word „pant“ isn’t really like a gentle, „Oh, I see the deer out in the meadow wanting to spend time with God.“ No, this is a picture of a deer that has run its course, that has not found a stream, maybe been in a fight or fleeing from a predator, and now is at the moment of absolute desperation. This word „pant“ means to cry out. This deer is saying, „If I don’t get water, I’m going to die. If I don’t find what I need right now, I’m not going to make it.“ He says, „As that deer at the end of its rope cries out for water, God, I’m crying out to you right now from the low, low, low. I need you, and if you don’t come through for me, I’m not going to make it.“
Is anybody in that low today? I want to encourage you in that low to put God first. You see, normally, in that low spot, we quickly want to run to something or someone, or we want to run back to something, or someone, or run to a well we already know is broken and isn’t going to work. Or in that low, low, low, we just want to cash it all in, don’t we? We say we’re out and we give up, but God is saying, „No, in the low, low, low, with your last breath, panting and crying out, put God first. I can meet you in the low. When you’re in the lowest place, call out to the highest name and put God first in that season.“ That season might last a day; it might last a week; I don’t know. I’ve been through barren deserts, dried-up hearts, painful places, confusing times. It wasn’t immediate; it was a journey. But I just want to encourage you today—God wants to encourage you today. God knows where you are today, put God first.
The psalmist eventually turned around and said in verse 5, „Why are you downcast, oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me?“ Put your hope in God—that’s another way of saying put God first, „for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.“ David was in a low place; he was on the run and confused. But he reminds himself, „Don’t give up on God in this season; put your hope in God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore, I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, from the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love; at night, His song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.“ He’s saying, „I’m in a low, like a deer who has run to the end, crying out, 'God, if I don’t have You, I won’t make it.' But wait a minute, right here and right now, I’m going to put God first.“
Do you believe today that there is no low place in life that God cannot meet you and lift you, sustain you, guide you, restore you, and crown you with beauty? I want to show you a clip of a baptism from last Sunday at the 5. I don’t know if you know or not, but the 5 is back, and it’s going strong. Last Sunday at the 5, we had several baptism stories we celebrated; they were all amazing. But we came to one story—it was our thousandth baptism at Passion City Church, and it was Tiara’s story, a powerful testimony of how the ministry of Passion City Church, by the miraculous hand of God, found her life in our 515 neighborhood. Lauren Reedy from our team is sharing her baptism story, and I want you to take a look, and I’ll come back and wrap things up.
„I’d like you to meet my friend Tiara. Tiara grew up with amazing parents who love Jesus. She has fond memories of singing in the choir with her grandmother growing up, and she decided to put her faith in Jesus at a young age. She understood what that meant, but she grew up in a military family and moved around a lot, every three to five years, which made it harder and harder for her. By her sophomore year of high school, she was depressed and straying away from her faith. College came, and she went to California to study fashion. After graduating, she wanted to be closer to family, so when they moved to Atlanta, she followed. But when she got to Atlanta, Tiara fell into the hands of the enemy. It was dark—it became a life of greediness, partying, and working a job she wasn’t proud of.
One bad decision after another led her to rock bottom—living by herself in a hotel room, struggling to make ends meet, full of shame. But God drew her to a church through unique circumstances. She was invited to Passion City Church, where she was reminded of who she was and started her journey back to Jesus. For Tiara, it came down to a moment alone in her room, as no one was around. She heard God speak, reminding her of who He made her to be, and it was not the life she was living. In that moment, she decided she was done with that life for real this time, and she turned back to Jesus. That’s right; Jesus did not give up on her, nor did her parents. They had been standing in the gap and praying for her to turn from her ways to come back to Jesus.
As she stands here today to get baptized, she wants to take this moment to thank Jesus for what He has done in her life, but she also wants to publicly honor her parents, who are here today and never gave up on her. Thank you for praying for her; it’s so evident in your life that you have had praying parents. Tiara, because Christ died and rose for you and you’ve put your trust in Him, it’s my joy to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.“
Come on, Passion City. If you only knew half of it, only heaven really does; it’s miraculous. When Passion City Church was planted in the 515 neighborhood of Atlanta, our hope and prayer was to be a light in a neighborhood that has a lot of darkness. We wanted to be a city on a hill that people could see when they needed hope. There are peaks in our neighborhoods, but there are also a lot of low, low lows. But God—!
I was sitting right there and when Tiara shared her story, her parents were standing there. I thought, „Oh my word, all it takes is a simple prayer: 'Jesus, I need you.'“ I was driving home, and it struck me: Tiara—Tierra—it’s a crown! I thought, „When her parents named her, they were thinking, 'This is our princess; our daughter is a princess; she’s royal; she is going to live above and not below; she is going to have a future and a hope.' This is Tierra—we’re speaking this over her from the moment she was born.“
Then, suddenly, decisions and circumstances led her to living in a motel room by herself, at the very rock bottom. But you know what? She had a mom who was praying for her and a dad who hadn’t given up on her—and she had a God who was willing to come to the low. So, from that lowest place, she called on the highest name. From her lowest point, she called on the highest name—the One who came for that very thing.
I’ll say this and we’ll close. These are the words Jesus chose when He announced on earth what He had come to do. He reached back to the prophet Isaiah and read these words: „The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to reclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion.“ Are you ready? „To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness.“
A tiara for ashes—and that’s what God is doing today. I don’t know what your low season is; maybe it’s bad decisions or circumstances out of your control. Perhaps you received a diagnosis that you didn’t expect, or maybe you’ve been abandoned or wronged. Maybe depression has crept in and taken over; perhaps you’re just in the low, low, low. I’m telling you, even in the low, low, low, you still have breath today, and with that breath, you have a choice—not to go back to that thing or that person, or to give up, but to say, „From the lowest place, I’m going to call on the highest name.“
In this season, this barren season, I’m going to put God first. If you’re at the peak today, put Him first. Give Him glory, praise, and honor; humble yourself before Him, recognizing that He’s the one who elevated you to that peak. But if you’re in the valley today, God is in the valley, and He’s not expecting you to get out on your own—He’s expecting to meet you there. If you call on His name, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord shall be praised. With the first fruits of everything God has blessed me with, I will repay and invest in His kingdom and His righteousness. Whatever season I’m in, whether I’m waiting or longing, feeling like I’m on a detour or dead-end, whatever it is right now, I’m going to honor Him in this season.
I don’t love the season, but I’m going to put God first. This is the season I’ve always wanted, but I’m going to put God first. Whatever season, wherever I am, I’m going to put God first. I really believe that there are many Tierra stories God is going to turn around today because there are many prayers stored up. That picture in Revelation speaks of a golden bowl in heaven; it symbolizes something we don’t fully understand, but it says there’s a golden bowl in heaven filled with incense rising up to God. And listen, it’s filled with the prayers of the saints. You may be in a low place, but there’s a bowl, and in it are the prayers of those who’ve been praying for you. You might think, „My mom never prayed for me; my dad didn’t know the Lord.“ Well, I bet somebody has prayed for you. If no one else has prayed for you, this word says that Jesus has interceded for you. And His prayers? You know what they pray for? They pray that, out of the low, you will open your mouth and put God first. That from the lowest place, you’ll call on the highest name.