Sunday Service or Lip Service

Kennedy draws a stark contrast between performance-driven, large-scale churches and small, authentic communities of faith. Sharing his firsthand experience visiting a prominent megachurch, he highlights how spectacle—smoke machines, pre-recorded sermons, merchandise, and social media influence—has replaced meaningful worship and personal connection. He warns that these churches manufacture emotional highs and false acceptance while leaving spiritual emptiness behind. By referencing Scripture, Kennedy emphasizes that God desires justice, sincerity, and true relationship over hollow rituals and public displays. His message is a call to action for smaller churches to stand strong, build real community, and offer a space for the lonely and searching to encounter genuine faith.

Matthew 21:12–13

"12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it ‘a den of robbers."

Isaiah 29:13

"
13 The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
"

Amos 5:21–24

"21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!"

Revelation 3:15–16

"15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Main Points

1. Spectacle Replacing Substance

Kennedy critiques the entertainment-style worship of megachurches, where lights, fog machines, and marketing gimmicks overshadow God’s Word. These performances aim to impress rather than to spiritually nourish, leaving congregants with temporary emotional highs but no lasting foundation.

2. False Community and Performative Faith

He calls out the artificial sense of belonging promoted through tightly-controlled “small groups.” These aren’t true discipleship communities but social clubs designed to retain attendance and status—creating pressure to perform faith rather than live it authentically.

3. Hollow Worship Displeases God

By referencing Amos and Isaiah, Kennedy emphasizes that outward rituals and offerings mean nothing if the heart is far from God. Megachurches may draw thousands, but God is not impressed by numbers or flashy production—He desires justice and truth.

4. Manipulation and Spiritual Consumerism

Kennedy compares these churches to emotional predators, manipulating the lonely and spiritually hungry into a cult-like dependency. Tithing becomes a game, worship becomes a brand, and salvation is sold as a service—with prosperity gospel at the center.

5. Lukewarm Faith and the Danger of Comfort

Revelation’s warning about being lukewarm is used to describe many in these churches—people who show up weekly but are spiritually disengaged. Kennedy believes this epidemic of casual faith is nurtured by a system more concerned with attendance than transformation.

6. The Power and Calling of Small Churches

The sermon ends with hope: small churches are equipped to provide what megachurches can’t—real relationships, spiritual depth, and community impact. Kennedy urges his church to embrace this calling and be a refuge for the searching, especially younger generations.

Quote

“You can have the biggest church with the weakest faith. What matters isn’t how many show up—what matters is who shows up with their heart ready.”
-Kennedy