I’ve struggled all my life to fit in.

Tried to fit in the Church of Christ, but I like music. Most Pentecostals don’t want me, they want to shout and prophecy all the time, but I want to get out, knock on some doors, and win some souls. I travel and I am too strict for this one ever here, I have too much mercy for that one over there. I go to one place and they ask me why I speak in tongues so much, and go to another and they ask me why I don’t speak in tongues enough.

I’m going to talk about a few boxes.

So many of my friends have a worship box. They come into church, their mind is everywhere and then somebody hits a note on the keyboard and starts humming a tune. That’s when the worship box comes out. Worship to them is not more than a box.

Jesus will come if you let Him, but He isn’t looking for a hotel where He can check in and check out. He’s looking for a house He can dwell in. When worship time is over, they close the box up, and it’s on to the next part.

I never got a Sunday-morning-30-minute worship box. I fell in love with Jesus and found out that I could worship at a red light, in Walmart, or Lowe’s. I don’t even need a worship team or music. All I have to do is fall in love with Jesus. After all, how does He feel when the only time we touch Jesus is when the crowd is around? How does our Savior feel when the only time he’s important to you is when we open the box? A worshipper will come out of things that other people won’t come out of.

The Preaching Box

If I have to sell out Jesus to fit in with other preachers’ systems, I don’t want it. I thought you were supposed to share Jesus with the world. I didn’t know you had to keep him in a box. 

Before I started evangelizing, I worked at Duracell. Before I left I preached about a five-minute sermon. As I looked around that room, full-grown men were wiping tears from their eyes. No one told me you were supposed to preach only on Sunday. I don’t want a preaching box.

I saw some people in Lowe’s who looked like the weight of the world was hanging on their shoulders. I came up to them and asked if I could preach to them. Telling them that we go through a lot of pain, but If we are right with God, He’ll wipe all our tears away when we reach Heaven. Nobody told me you could only preach when you had a microphone. No one told me you had to have a box to preach.

The Prayer Box

Way back when in Acts, they had a big box for prayer. They knew the power of prayer. Then times changed and they kicked that box out of the way saying it was too big. Downsizing it, they went from praying without ceasing to a season of prayer. There were weeks of prayer meetings and days of prayer meetings for many, many years. Life got busier and they kicked that box out of the way, “We don’t really have time for prayer revivals. Let’s just have a night of prayer.” and they lay down a smaller box.

Nobody told me you had to have a box to pray. For a while, they kept just a prayer meeting. Tell me this, can you count on one hand churches you know of that are still having weekly prayer services? We need to turn back to the original foundation. That’s when Hell had to back up. That’s when Jesus showed up. We don’t need a new foundation.

The night of prayer was too much. They downsized to praying a few minutes before they dismiss the service. Then when you think they couldn’t do worse, some modern churches kick that little box out of the way and replace it with a box just big enough to fit some rings in. This box is big enough to hold a “moment of silence.”

For a God that can mend a marriage, heal the sick, and fix a broken heart, they just want to have a moment of silence. I don’t want a moment of silence. I want to knock until He answers and seek Him until I find Him.

Don’t keep Jesus in a box. You don’t need a box. You can worship, witness for Him, and pray to Him whenever and wherever you are. If you draw close to Him, He will draw close to you.

Be sure to watch the whole sermon down below and watch me kick those boxes you don’t need away!

— Pastor Anthony Wynn