Louie Giglio - There's Nothing Better than Jesus
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This message is titled «There’s Nothing Better Than Jesus.» Amen. Above and Beyond is a special time for our house. It is a time of giving. It’s a time when we give beyond what we normally give so that our house can go further than we typically go. It’s been beautiful to witness miracles during every single Above and Beyond season—not just financial miracles, but miracles in the hearts of people. Apparently, everyone wants to be part of Above and Beyond throughout this past year.
I’ve been seeing these commercials on TV for this guy right here for the Land Rover, and apparently, they can take you into the Above and Beyond. There’ll be one of these Land Rovers driving through some beautiful landscape somewhere in America, and it’ll pass a road sign that says, «Above and Beyond.» They are literally taking you into the Above and Beyond. I think everyone wants to go into the Above and Beyond. For some, it means going down to a certain car dealership, plunking the money down, signing up for a payment plan, and driving off thinking this is part of the Above and Beyond.
What I want to underscore for us today is that there’s nothing better than Jesus, and He is the Above and Beyond. If you have your scripture today, we will look at an encounter that Jesus had that I think most people in church are familiar with, but it’s an Above and Beyond encounter. It says in Luke 17, «Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him.»
I think you understand that this is a horrible disease. Fortunately, there isn’t much leprosy left on the planet, but in the time of Jesus, it was very prevalent and led to the decay of a person’s extremities. Their fingers would rot off; their toes would rot off; their noses would rot off; their ears would rot off. Much of this was due to a loss of sensation and feeling. Eventually, they wouldn’t know when they had a wound on their hand that needed care, failing to notice it until it grew worse. Not only were they physically unclean, but they were also viewed by religious leaders as spiritually unclean.
So, a priest coming down the road and seeing lepers on the other side would go as far out of their way as possible to avoid them. The lepers were made to wear bells around their necks that rang to alert people of their presence, required to shout «Leper! Leper! Unclean!» upon encountering any other person. That was the life of these men, but Jesus was coming by, and it’s always a good thing when Jesus is coming by. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, «Jesus, Master, have pity on us.» When He saw them, He said, «Go show yourselves to the priest.»
Now, this was the most ridiculous thing He could have said to them. The priest wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them. But He told them, «Go find the priest and show yourselves to him.» They replied, «Okay, we’ll do what you say.» As they went, they were cleansed. I mean, come on, somebody! They are walking down the road, and one guy’s nose appears, and another guy says, «Your nose disappeared!» The first guy replies, «And my hand has fingers on it!» «Mine too! High five! We haven’t done that in a while!» They were healed as they went, and it was an unbelievable exaltation.
But one of them, interestingly, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice. When you get new fingers, toes, and ears, you’re not a quiet praiser. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. And he was a Samaritan. If you talk about people who hated each other, the Jews, Jesus' people, and the Samaritans did not like each other at all. This one guy who came back was one of them. But his encounter with Jesus overwhelmed and trumped his ethnic tension, and he returned to say, «That guy right there!» Jesus asked, «Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?» Then Jesus said to him, «Rise and go. Your faith has made you well.»
This guy got it. He realized it wasn’t only about what Jesus could do for him; it was about Jesus. He understood there’s nothing better than Jesus. He said, «Getting healed? Phenomenal! I’m thrilled! But that guy did that.» I pray that as we close today and reflect on this, it will be the story of our house at Passion City Church, and ultimately the story of the church, God willing, in America. It’s not just about the fact that 100% of the people got saved, but that 100% of the people say, «It’s not just what He did for me; it’s who He is.» And there’s nothing better than Jesus. I want to be in the 10%, don’t you? Not in the 90% who got the blessing and went on their way. I want to be in the 10% who turn around and say, «I know what happened, but you did it. And there’s nothing better than you.»
In this Above and Beyond season, I want to point us toward a few things that are true of our house and true of the movement that gave birth to our house. The first thing I want to highlight today is that God is moving. The move of God is all around us right now. It’s not just about now; although you’re going to hear next week, I think, some things that will blow your mind. We’re going to talk about the awakening happening around the world right now. For many of you, it’ll be mind-blowing because many of us have sensed that things are happening. But now the data is there to support it.
I’ll give you one data point; I’ll save it for next week, but here’s one for now: the category in the book world that is most notably up right now, for the last year to 18 months, is Bible sales—up by 20-something percent, more than any other part of the book market. New book sales are pretty flat right now, and backlist catalog sales are doing much better than new book sales. But the category of books performing better than any other is Bibles. And do you know what’s driving that? First-time Bible buyers. It’s not just someone saying, «Hey, I saw my friend got that, so I’m going to get one, too.» It’s first-time Bible buyers. And you know who’s driving the first-time Bible buyers? Twenty-year-old guys. Come on, church! I’m telling you, it doesn’t just feel like God’s moving; God is moving. He’s been moving for a long time, and He’s moving now, and we’re in it!
I want us to understand that a move of God is happening right now, and we are a part of it. We have friends who do amazing things. I can’t highlight everything, but just recently, a friend of ours hosted an evangelistic crusade in a baseball stadium every year in Anaheim, California, and they filled every single seat in the stadium a few weeks ago. Every single seat, upper deck, outfield, every seat! They gave people an opportunity to come down to the field to put their faith in Jesus, and so many people came down that the fire marshal, who was already a bit freaked out, said that no more people could come down. Six thousand people had already come down to the field to give their lives to Jesus. They had to use the QR code on the screen for follow-up and to provide them with a Bible and support.
Not too long ago, our friends in Miami held a conference for young adults, the largest conference they’ve ever had in its history, with 7,000 people packed into a basketball arena at the University of Miami. Passion Music led a conference in Birmingham last week, with 17,000 middle and high school students filling every single seat in the arena, pursuing God. At Passion Camp, two weeks ago, 6,500 high school and middle school students and their leaders participated, and I was in the middle of it. You didn’t need the bells and whistles to attract people to Jesus; they came hungry for Him. I’m telling you, there’s a move of God happening, and it’s not just in America—it’s happening worldwide and has been going on for a while. God has been planting seeds in our hearts for a long time, and we’ve fortunately had the chance to be part of something beautiful called Passion, from which we came.
I know you’re sitting at church today at Cumberland, Trillith, or here at 5:15, but Passion Church was born out of a movement that existed and thrived, seeking God long before there was a Passion City Church. I distinctly remember in 1972, as a freshman in high school, I loved Life magazine. Does anyone remember Life magazine? You have to be in my demographic. I would save my money and walk to the shopping center from the apartments we lived in to buy the latest issue. I still have some around.
I remember this cover when I was a freshman in high school. It was the zenith of the Jesus movement—a movement that came out of California. A bunch of hippies found Jesus, and a bunch of LSD users found Jesus and began revolutionizing the church. Worship made a significant impact in Atlanta as a junior high and high school student. I remember seeing this cover discussing the Great Jesus Rally in Dallas: Cotton Bowl 1972, hosted by Campus Crusade for Christ (now called Crew), an evangelistic training event calling people together to ignite a fire in them to share the gospel in their world. Eighty thousand young people were in the Cotton Bowl in 1972. When I saw it, a seed was planted in my heart. I had no idea I would later be part of anything like that. I just thought, «Oh my goodness, God is moving!»
Fast forward to 1996, I attended a youth event at the Georgia Dome where a video showcased the movement of God in the young generation in 1996. For a few seconds, it showed a gathering from the previous year in 1995, the same year God placed a vision in our hearts to gather college-age young people for what would become Passion. The next year, 1997, was going to be our first gathering. It was 1996. Sitting in the Georgia Dome, I saw a video clip of a gathering from May in Seoul, Korea, in the Olympic Stadium, where 70,000 college-age young people came from countries all over the world to pledge to take the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world.
When I saw that clip, we looked for photos but couldn’t find many. I thought, «God, that’s what You’re talking about!» I want us all to understand today that none of us are starting anything. People always say, «Man, this amazing Passion started this whole movement among college students.» In 1972, 80,000 young people gathered in a stadium in Dallas, Texas. In 1995, 70,000 were in a stadium in Seoul, Korea. And that’s been happening for centuries, because God is moving all around us. We’re not starting anything; we’re part of something big.
We always say that Passion is a grain of sand on the beach of God’s kingdom activity in the world. Most college students in America have never heard of Passion. Most Christian college students in America have never heard of Passion. We are a grain of sand on the beach of the kingdom activity of God. Above and Beyond is not a campaign we do here at church; it is in our DNA. From the beginning, we have stepped into visions that we didn’t have the resources to achieve. There has never been a moment in Passion where God placed a vision in front of us—whether it was a stadium like Mercedes-Benz or a field like One Day in Memphis, Tennessee—where we said, «Well, we have all the money in the bank, the team we need, and the assets necessary. So yes, we’ll do that.» There has never been a moment like that.
When I tell you that Above and Beyond is not a slogan, it’s not me trying to be spiritual, it’s not our church trying to create an ad campaign; it is in our very DNA. The DNA of the church you’re a part of is to step with God into the above and into the beyond. Number three is to believe that where God leads, God provides. I can’t go into the whole story today, and many of you have heard us share different versions of it, but one day in 2000, in Memphis, Tennessee, 40,000 college-age young people gathered from all over the world and every state in America—on their faces on the ground. We thought that was it, so we didn’t do anything the next year. Then God said, «No, there’s more.»
In 2003, we organized another outdoor solemn assembly in Sherman, Texas, north of Dallas, Texas. We invited people to a field out in the middle of nowhere. You literally had to travel down some country roads to reach this guy’s property. People were to arrive on Friday to set up camp, with the gathering taking place on Saturday. A lot of people arrived on Thursday and were camping—maybe 10,000 to 15,000 people. Then a horrific storm hit Thursday night; I’m talking about a purple dot on the radar sitting right on top of us. People were struck by lightning in their tents; everything turned into a quagmire. There were three miles of cars on a little country road trying to reach registration.
By midnight, I was riding in the sheriff’s car, going the opposite direction with his bullhorn speaker saying, «We’re going to come back in a minute and lead all of you. Trust us and follow us.» I, along with the sheriff, led them to a local high school that had kindly opened its doors. Those three miles of cars and people within them slept on the gym floor at the high school that night. There was no internet, no way to spread the word—no X, no «Hey, we can just post something.» The following day, the weather shifted, the ground dried up, and God performed a miracle right before our eyes. Twenty-four hours later, people were driving onto the property; however, we were unable to inform anyone it was on. I’d guess about 10,000 to 20,000 people probably turned around and went home.
The event was powerful. One of our team members told me, as we were walking off the field when it was over, that we were going to come up $100,000 short. We had only done five big gatherings up to that point when we were walking away, thinking, «Uh-oh.» The following weekend, less than a week later, Shel and I attended a wedding in Houston, where a well-known ministry leader was present. A conversation arose: «How did things end up with One Day?»
I replied, «Not great; we’re going to be $100,000 short.» About 45 minutes later, that person returned and said, «Our ministry would like to cover the $100,000 shortfall, and you’ll receive a check from us on Monday to cover the gap.» When the check arrived, the gap was covered, but we realized it was payday, and we had no money—like zero. We had put all our chips in and were $100,000 short, and it was payday. We had never faced a payday without funds before or since. If you are part of our team here, you’d understand how stressful that can be.
I went upstairs to my office, and the phone rang downstairs. I answered, and it was a friend of mine in Chicago. He said, «Hey, man. It’s going to be really awkward, and I’m sorry to tell you this, but I was moving some things on my desk today and realized that the foundation my family’s connected to made a gift to One Day in Sherman, Texas. I put the envelope on my desk, some stuff was placed on top of it, and it’s been sitting there for about three weeks now. I’ll FedEx it to you so you’ll have it tomorrow.»
A check for $75,000 had been sitting on his desk for three weeks! Where God leads, God provides, and He is going to do that for this church. He is going to lead us into the Above and Beyond. Our vision is not about events, books, or even Bibles, although all those are a part of what we do; the vision remains the same: standing on that field after that unbelievable storm in 2003 and saying what we still affirm today.
Passion posted something in their feed a few days ago. Some of you have heard Passion CDs, and some of you have heard the music that led you to today. Maybe in your heart you thought Passion is about singing worship songs. That’s really only an expression of what Passion is about. You might have attended because someone told you, «You don’t want to miss this amazing gathering of our generation.» But Passion is not merely about gatherings or events, although those are expressions of what we are about. Passion has a singular focus: to be used by God to spark an awakening in this collegiate generation, transforming an army of faithless men and women who will make the confession of their lives, the very confession of Isaiah 26:8: «Yes, Lord, we are walking in the way of your truth, and our hearts are eagerly waiting for you. For your name and your renown are the desire of our souls.»
Now, let’s talk about Above and Beyond just for a second before we wrap up. Last year, our financial oversight team said, «Let’s set a target for the first time ever.» And we did—$7 million was our target last year. Passion City Church is a generous church, and over the course of the year, Passion City Church gave $8.5 million to Above and Beyond! We’re adding up everything God has put before us, and the target we are presenting today is $10 million. It seems like a big, giant number, but it’s not that much bigger than $8.5 million. There are many more people around our house than were here last summer—lots of new faces that may not be part of our generosity story yet.
You might ask, «Why did we choose $10 million?» Some of the things this will help us achieve include moving into Trillith. I think I can confidently say this is the last Above and Beyond when we’ll discuss moving into Trillith Live. We hope to move in at the end of this year, and the building is nearing completion, stunning and amazing. However, just like when you bought a new house and had a few extra bedrooms compared to your last one, or perhaps a three-car garage instead of a two-car garage, you need to buy additional items. We must acquire all the furnishings and equipment needed to make the space functional, which adds up.
What’s left for us to do is $2.5 million worth of items—tents, cribs, kitchen equipment, desks, chairs, production equipment for Passion Students, and Passion Kids, all things that make a house a home. The team at Trillith is on a journey themselves called «Together We Move.» They have already given over $600,000 in six weeks towards the $2.5 million required to help us move into Trillith Live. But now we all have the opportunity to carry together a $1.5 million responsibility.
We want to ensure our young adult and high school senior crowd can attend Passion 2026 in Arlington, Texas, at Globe Life Field, where the Texas Rangers play on January 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. It’s about a $500 commitment for a young adult to say, «I’m going to get a ticket, arrange transportation to Arlington, find a place to stay for three or four days while we’re there, and pay all those expenses.» That’s quite a bit, and we want to be able to help reduce the costs for hundreds of young adults and high school seniors from Passion City Church to experience the power of what God will do there—we can achieve that easily from the $10 million.
Passion City Atlanta needs help, and some of this money will support our initiatives to serve your family as we are today. You might say, «Well, that’s not Above and Beyond.» I know; we would love to reach 100% Above and Beyond, but we aren’t there right now. You ask, «Why aren’t we there?» Simply put, what it costs to do what we do at Passion City Church exceeds the regular giving that comes in. You might think, «Well, you should be better stewards.» We’re doing our very best. We’ve spent two years tightening our belts and cutting costs. We haven’t hired any additional people for two years; we have backfilled roles but haven’t expanded our team.
If you have high school or middle school kids, you may have noticed a few fewer risings. We’ve tightened and tightened, but there’s still a gap. We met our financial goals last year despite the gap. How? Because God provides where He leads. Miraculously, we sold some of our property from this 5:15 building to the Atlanta BeltLine last year. When God placed us in this building, He was aware that the BeltLine would come behind us and run down Garson Drive. All that closed this past year was very beneficial for Passion City Church and our broader organization called Passion.
Yes, going Above and Beyond is important. All these things we want to be a part of are essential, but we’re at a crossroads—either cut more or see our regular giving (not Above and Beyond giving) significantly increase. This year, sadly, but hopefully for the last time, some of the $10 million will help us do what we’re currently doing to serve you and your families. We also plan to give to our partners—people doing amazing things in Atlanta, D.C., and around the world. We’ll support some friends planting churches because that’s God’s plan A for reaching the world.
You might think, «Hey, we have a gap; why are we concerned about them planting a church?» Because that’s the perspective we take when we’re in the Above and Beyond mindset. The first gift ever given to Passion City Church was $50,000 from a church in Singapore. We hadn’t even moved into this building yet, and during a preaching trip, a pastor announced, «We’re going to give $50,000 to Passion City Church.» I thought, «Amazing!» I shared this with our financial oversight team during a meeting in another part of the building, which was a PGA Superstore at the time that had closed. We were sitting around a card table among empty clothing racks and tennis balls on the floor, and the financial oversight team exclaimed, «Praise God for this gift!»
We allocated $25,000 of that to launch a new church in Atlanta, Georgia, and $25,000 to an upstart church plant in Australia. That was our first $50,000 gift to Passion City Church, which we distributed to support two other churches -this is Above and Beyond thinking! We’re also preparing for a Passion City Church network. I’ll discuss that further later. Passion Equip is impacting hundreds of thousands of people every year around the world through resources for theological training, teaching, and encouragement, all funded by Above and Beyond. We’ll keep funding that, as well as Passion Global Gatherings, like the recent gatherings we held in South Africa for two stadium events.
I believe we’re going to see a miracle, and God will do something extraordinary in the midst of this. But Above and Beyond, the main message today, is about much more than just money. Above and Beyond is about understanding that Jesus is the Above and Beyond. So yes, moving into a new building in Trillith is fantastic. Yes, helping a partner during a hurricane or flood is vital; all these things are crucial, but Jesus is the Above and Beyond. We want Jesus!
You know, the average organization like ours finds that 20% of people give 80% of resources. That’s the standard across the board, and it’s true at Passion City Church, too. Thus, two out of every ten people here contribute 80% of our giving, and I' m unsure if that’s good or bad. Honestly, I’m grateful that 20% of people can do that, but that percentage is declining. The trend suggests that 10% are contributing 90%. That’s happening everywhere right now. I believe we’ll see a turnaround due to the data I’m going to share next week regarding the spiritual awakening occurring globally. Those new believers will be disciples, become generous givers, and I believe there’s going to be a shift in this dynamic.
However, in the American church, there’s been too much of a consumer mindset: «What do I get out of this?» -instead of «God, I want to invest everything I’ve got.» The ten lepers had a percentage exactly the same as that of the American church. One hundred percent got saved, but far fewer are serving, showing up, staying late, leaning in, giving, and caring. I believe this will all change when our hearts fall in love with Jesus. It’s not a money thing; it’s a Jesus thing.
We’re talking about how God is moving worldwide right now. Many of you are like, «Man, I’ve sensed that in my spirit while praying.» A lot of you might be amazed to hear about this movement of God. But gently, as your pastor, I’ll say that if you didn’t know a move of God is happening worldwide, that’s concerning. It suggests you might be living outside of the realm of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and realizing that all these things will be added unto you. If you haven’t sensed that revival is breaking out globally, that is not good — you don’t need me to tell you that.
God is inviting us into a relationship with Jesus that resembles Acts 4, where «everybody considered that their possessions weren’t their own.» Every single member of the church said, «Why?» Because 60 days before Jesus died and rose again, and two weeks ago, the Holy Spirit arrived and radically changed our lives. Jesus died and rose again, gifting us with His Spirit to transform our lives in the very best way.
The last thing is for us to say together in Above and Beyond, «God, we want You.» Can you say that today with me?» God, we want You. More of You in my life. More of You in my family. More of You in this church. More of You in Atlanta, Georgia. God, we want more of You.» That’s why starting tomorrow at 7:00, this altar will be open. This house will be accessible, with some of our worship leaders leading. There won’t be any production or band -some of our pastors will be leading. It won’t feel like a Sunday gathering; you can come, kneel here, sit here, or stand here — come for half an hour or five hours. From 7:00 to 1:00 every day this week, even with school starting, many of you might wrestle with whether you can come tomorrow. Great! Let it be a toss-up. Get your kids off to school, do what you need to do as a family; we’ll be here on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. God willing, we’ll be here on Friday. Why? Because we want to tell God we’re not just focused on giving -we want You, God. We’ll create space to be with You, to seek You, to listen to You, to call on You, God, because You are the Above and Beyond, and there’s nothing better than Jesus.
It’s been interesting for Shelley and me this spring. A while back, a giant tree fell onto my neighbor’s yard, smashing into his fence and causing all sorts of issues. Two Friday nights ago, lightning struck the most majestic tree on our property, close to our house. When I say majestic, I mean this tree was around 120 feet tall — it was like four giant trees combined. It would take two or three or four of us to stretch our arms around this tree. It was so regal, and a lightning bolt hit it. When I saw it, it looked like a hailstorm of tree parts had occurred on our property -debris spread 50 yards in all directions. After three days of work, a team finally removed it, and now there’s just a big hole covered with debris.
Yesterday, while walking down the fence line to pick up a piece of trash, I noticed a couple of sizable pieces of that tree that had spilled into the neighboring yard. Using a limb from my yard, I pulled one close enough to reach over and grab it. Look at this! It has a lightning bolt mark on it. I didn’t put that there! I thought, «No way! They should have this at The Rising. We are praying for a lightning bolt to hit this house, scattering kingdom debris all over this city.» I don’t know how long that lightning struck-it probably lasted a nanosecond-but it only takes a move of God to change everything. There’s nothing better than Jesus.