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Family, we gather today not to be filled with fluff—but to be fed with fire.

This is a call to unlearn what has kept us small, and to reclaim what was always ours:

direct communion with the power of God. No intermediaries.

The Wrapper Is Not The Revelation

Let me ask you a question.

When you buy a candy bar…do you eat or even preserve the wrapper?

Of course not.

The wrapper is just the outer layer. It protects. It presents. It brands.

But it is not the thing.

Yet for generations, many of us have been fed the wrapper—

Told the form was the function, the ritual was the revelation,

The rules were the relationship.

We’ve been taught to cling to what God never told us to cling to.

We’ve been told:

• “Wear this to be holy.”
  

• “Sit here to be righteous.”
  

• “Say this to be accepted.”
  
  

But Jesus didn’t die to preserve a wrapper.

He came to awaken the raw, living power of God within us.

2 Timothy 3:5 says, “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

This verse isn’t talking about atheists.

It’s talking about the church folk who love the form,

but fear the fire.

Jesus Hated The Wrapper

Jesus’ greatest opponents were not the wicked.

Not the Romans. Not the prostitutes. Not the tax collectors.

It was the Pharisees—the religious elite.

Matthew 23:25–28 – “Woe to you… You clean the outside of the cup, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

Jesus didn’t come to tidy up wrappers.

He came to expose what was buried underneath.

He spoke plainly. He healed openly. He forgave without a temple.

Because He was the temple.

And now… so are you.

Why We Cling To The Wrapper

Let’s be honest: the wrapper is comforting.

It gives us structure. Predictability. Social belonging.

But it also becomes a cage.

A wrapper protects—yes.

But it also conceals.

And if we’re not careful, we’ll spend our entire lives protecting

what was only meant to transport the truth.

Isaiah 29:13 – “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Lip service is wrapper talk.

Heart transformation is what God is after.

The Wrapper Must Be Torn

When Jesus died, what happened in the temple?

Matthew 27:51 – “The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”

That curtain—the ultimate wrapper—was the divider between

God’s presence and the people.

And in one moment, it was torn.

God made a decision that religion never fully accepted:

“I will no longer be wrapped.”

How To Discard The Wrapper

This is where you must make a decision. Not someday. Now.

Ask yourself:

• What traditions am I clinging to that no longer serve my relationship with God?
  

• Who told me I needed someone else to interpret what God is saying to me?
  

• What practices feel holy… but leave me empty?
  
  

The power of God doesn’t come from performance.

It comes from proximity.

You don’t need robes.

You need relationship.

You don’t need approval.

You need alignment.

The Wrapper Served Its Purpose…Now Let It Go

Hear this:

The wrapper was never meant to be eternal.

It was always meant to be temporary.

The law was a wrapper.

The temple was a wrapper.

Even Jesus’ body was a wrapper for the Word.

But on the third day, even that wrapper was discarded.

And what came forth?

Power. Resurrection. Authority. Clarity. Sonship.

And now it lives in you.

Call to Action

If you’ve been clinging to the wrapper—today is the day to tear it.

Close your eyes.

Speak out loud:

“God, remove every layer that keeps me from you.

Remove every wrapper I’ve confused for Your presence.

I want the real thing.

I receive You within me—fully, completely, now.”

You don’t need another sermon to qualify.

You don’t need a church to permit it.

You’ve just said yes to direct access.

Now go live it.