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Motion Church · Madison, Alabama — September 13, 2026

Altitude.

Three verbs from the lips of Jesus — deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me — because God is specific about how disciples are made.

Speaker: Pastor Corey Sanders
Scripture: Matthew 16:24-26
Message length: 41 min
Clips: Five montages

Watch the clips Sermon notes

Pastor Corey Sanders preaching the ALTITUDE sermon at Motion Church — Pastor Corey Sanders · ALTITUDE

THE KEY MESSAGE · FROM SUNDAY

God is specific.
He tells us exactly how to follow — then walks it with us.

Jesus does not just invite us to follow Him. He shows us exactly how: deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Him. A new altitude starts with one honest step.

Sermon-derived summary · not presented as a verbatim quotation

01

The ascent in three verbs

The climb, exactly
as Jesus described it.

01

Deny yourself

The old way of thinking will hinder you in your new season. Before the climb, there is a letting go — of the habits, the idols, the self-made plans.

02

Take up your cross

Very specific language. Before Jesus, a cross meant death — your own. The way you live will hinder you in your new season, so the old way has to end at the cross.

03

Follow me

Reorient your life around Me. Not around your husband, your wife, your kids, your wealth, your career. Me. The climb is not toward a thing — it is toward a Person.

02

Five montages · speaker-tracked · 9:16

Start with the one
that sounds like you.

We cut the sermon into five vertical moments that each carry one idea — pick a lane, watch, and send it to the person it describes.

MOVE WITH JESUS.Pastor Corey opens with the climbing gear on the table and names the thing we all carry: old shoes, old ways, old captivity. You cannot climb to a new altitude with the old weight still on your back.

EVEN SLOW MOTION IS STILL MOTION.The line the whole room leaned in for: even slow motion is still motion. Crawl, walk, run — just do not stand still. Improvement with Jesus is not religious performance; it is forward motion.

CAN DEAD THINGS LIVE AGAIN?A cold-open question — is it possible to give life to something that is dead? — carries the whole clip. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and walk by faith, not by sight.

GOD IS SPECIFIC."See, God is specific." The screen reads Matthew 16:24 and the sermon gets its name: whoever wants to be His disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow. This is the moment the series is called Altitude.

SIN CANNOT CONTROL YOU.Sin cannot control us unless we allow it to. The same Holy Spirit that lived in Jesus lives in us — and the fruit of that Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. Becoming is the Spirit’s work in an open heart.

03

The scripture trail

Four passages,
one climb.

Matthew 16:24

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

The key text of the whole message.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

Shown on screen during Walk by Faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

The clip takes its name from this verse.

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…

Read over the Becoming montage.

04

Sermon notes

Truths to carry
into the week.

The big idea. Jesus never offers a vague invitation. In Matthew 16:24 He gives three verbs — deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me — because God is specific about how disciples are made. A new altitude always begins with a surrendered first step.

Truth 1

Deny yourself — the old way of thinking will hinder you in your new season

Jesus says "my disciple", not "a disciple" — a disciple picks the route, His disciple takes His.
Old shoes are comfortable and wrong at the same time: old captivity, old trauma, old baggage cannot make the climb.
Denying yourself is not self-hatred; it is finally refusing to be your own boss.

"That old way of idolizing things will hinder you in your new season."

Truth 2

Take up your cross — the way you live will hinder you in your new season

Before the crucifixion, Romans made criminals carry their own cross — Jesus chose that image on purpose.
The cross is where the old you ends, so the new you can begin.
It is daily, not dramatic: pick it up again today, and again tomorrow.

"Pick up your cross, because the way you live will hinder you in your new season."

Truth 3

Follow me — reorient your whole life around Jesus

Not around your husband, your wife, your kids, your wealth, your career — around Me.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you want to get to God, you go through Me."
He does not just ask for followers; He models the life first, then walks it with us.

"He just did not tell them. He modeled to them how He wanted it done."

Discuss it together

What "old shoes" do you keep retreating into — and what would it cost to finally take them off?
Which of the three verbs (deny, take up, follow) is hardest for you right now, and why?
Pastor Corey said even slow motion is still motion. Where is God asking for progress, not speed?
What does it practically look like to reorient one area of your life around Jesus this week?
"You cannot do anything good enough to make Him love you more." How does that truth change the way you climb?

ALTITUDE — Sermon Notes

The big idea, three truths with quotes, the scripture trail and five discussion questions — two clean pages for your group.

Download the notes

ALTITUDE — Five-Day Devotional

Five days, five montages, one climb. Each day pairs a clip from Sunday with a verse, a short reflection, and one small step.

Download the devotional

05

Read all week

Five days, five montages,
one daily yes.

Hebrews 12:1 · Day 1 of 5

Take the old shoes off

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

On Sunday the climb started on the floor of the stage — old shoes, a climbing harness, and a question: what are you still carrying that God already asked you to set down?

Everyone owns a pair of old shoes. They fit the old life perfectly, which is exactly the problem. Pastor Corey talked about captivity, trauma, and baggage — the things we protect because they are familiar — and how the old way of thinking quietly hinders us in every new season God tries to give us.

Notice that Hebrews does not say the hindrance is always evil. It says "everything that hinders." Some of what slows your climb is just heavy: an old identity, an old grudge, an old way of surviving that God never asked you to keep. Denying yourself begins with an honest inventory, not a dramatic gesture.

Here is the good news hiding in the hard word: you only take off what God has promised to replace. You are not losing the old shoes. You are being fitted for new ones.

REFLECT

What one thing are you still carrying that God has already asked you to set down?
Is it sin, or just weight? Be honest — both have to go before the climb.

PRACTICE

Write down the one "old shoe" you keep returning to. Tell one trusted person about it today. Naming it out loud is the first step off of it.

PRAY

Lord, I have been protecting things that are hindering me. Today I set them down. Give me the courage to climb light. Amen.

06

Share the word

Save a verse.
Send it higher.

Matthew 16:24 — Scripture card — Scripture cardMatthew 16:24

Proverbs 3:5-6 — Scripture card — Scripture cardProverbs 3:5-6

2 Corinthians 5:7 — Scripture card — Scripture card2 Corinthians 5:7

Galatians 5:22 — Scripture card — Scripture cardGalatians 5:22

Slow Motion — Quote card — Quote cardSlow Motion

Pastor Corey Sanders preaching at Motion Church

THE SPEAKER

Pastor Corey
Sanders.

Pastor Corey Sanders leads Motion Church in Madison, Alabama, and preaches the way this page is built: plainly, warmly, and straight from the text. In Altitude he walks the room through Matthew 16:24 one verb at a time — and leaves the invitation open for anyone ready to take the first step.

"You cannot do anything good enough to make Him love you more, and nothing bad enough to make Him love you less."

coreysanders.tv