Sermon Insights
“Don't get so blessed that we forget to bless him. Don't get so comfortable that we forget to worship. Don't get so elevated that you forget the valley.”
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Pastor Grant McCrae challenges the congregation at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church to examine whether they are merely going through the motions of church or truly engaging God with an open and honest heart. Drawing from Joel 2:12-13 and Psalm 124, he urges believers to remember God's faithfulness in past seasons of struggle so that gratitude, not routine, drives their worship. The message calls each person to rend their heart before God rather than maintaining a polished outward appearance that conceals what God already knows.
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“Don't get so blessed that we forget to bless him. Don't get so comfortable that we forget to worship. Don't get so elevated that you forget the valley.”
Read the full insights report →Six sermon moments, automatically clipped, subtitled, and sized for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts.
Unlock with your sermon →“Have you ever gone through the motions of something so familiar that you stopped actually feeling it? Like saying "I'm fine" before you've even checked?”
Read all 5 days of the devotional →“Let's Have Church Small Group Discussion Guide Based on the sermon "Let's Have Church" by Pastor Grant McCrae Franklin Avenue Baptist Church "Rend your heart and not your garments.”
Open the discussion guide →Scroll-stopping captions, strategic hashtags, and posting strategy with best times to share.
Unlock with your sermon →“In his sermon, Pastor Grant explained that the veil in the temple was ripped 'from bottom to top' rather than 'from top to bottom.' Why did he say this distinction matters?”
Take the sermon quiz →“This session explores the difference between doing church and having church, between religious performance and authentic encounter with God. Pastor McCrae challenged us to examine whether comfort and blessing have quietly dulled the desperation for God's presence that once marked our worship.”
Open the deep study guide →Algorithm-optimized posts with discussion prompts built to spark comments and reach beyond your followers.
Unlock with your sermon →“Joel is a prophetic book, and chapter 2 belongs to the genre of prophetic lament and call to repentance, sometimes called a covenant lawsuit or divine summons.”
Start the individual study →Ready-to-post messages written in the pastor's authentic voice. Copy, paste, connect.
Unlock with your sermon →“Have you ever walked into church, sung all the songs, said all the right things, and walked out feeling like nothing really happened? I want to ask you something honest today: are you doing church, or are you having church?”
Read the pastor's blog post →“There's a difference between going to church and having church. And this Sunday, Pastor Grant McCrae made sure we understood exactly what that difference looks like, and why it matters more than we might realize.”
Read the guest perspective →Talking points that let elders, deacons, and volunteer leaders share Sunday's message from their own accounts.
Unlock with your sermon →“If we can sit in different sections and different places in the sanctuary and still be in the same church, right? We can sit in different places and still be in the same building.”
See the golden moments →Fine-tune any piece, regenerate with one click, and send devotionals straight to your congregation's inboxes.
Unlock with your sermon →This sermon teaches that many people have learned to 'do church', knowing the songs, the cues, and the language, without truly 'having church.' Real worship requires dropping the performance, being honest with God about your needs, and remembering how desperate you once were for His presence.
The sermon warns that as blessings increase, praise can decrease. The remedy is intentional remembrance, regularly asking yourself, 'Where would I be if God hadn't stepped in?' Recalling past deliverance keeps gratitude alive and prevents comfort from replacing dependence on God.
According to this sermon, God already knows your struggles, your fears, and what kept you up last night, yet He still woke you up. Rending your heart, not your garments (Joel 2:13), means coming authentically, dropping the polished exterior, and bringing your real praise and real need to God.
More sermons on Joel, worship, gratitude, faith.
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