Steven Furtick's Blog, page 100

What are you waiting for?

Pastor Steven was back in the house this weekend and this was the third installment of our four week series, Waiting Room. So far, we’ve learned how to turn our waiting rooms into work rooms and how to stop waiting for forgiveness by learning to “let it go.” Continuing this theme, Pastor Steven taught us this week that waiting is active, not passive.

Pastor Steven used Isaiah 40:27-31 and Luke 15:28-32 as his Scripture references this week. Both parties in these passages have seemingly been put on hold as they wait on God for something that hasn’t been completed in their lives. However, Pastor Steven gave us a challenging message on this “Already/Not Yet” tension, teaching us how to recognize what God has done that hasn’t yet manifested itself in our lives.

Isaiah 40 shows us five elements of waiting:

What we want (v.27): We want God to hear us and respond immediately.
Who God is (v.28): He is the everlasting God. He doesn’t grow weary. We’ll never be capable of fully understanding His works or His timing.
What God gives (v.29): He gives power to the weak and increases strength in those that have no might. That’s us.
How we feel (v.30): We get weak. We get tired. Even the strongest of us do.
What we do (v.31): Be less concerned with what God can do for us while we are waiting and more concerned with what we need to do while we wait. What we call waiting is actually a form of spiritual procrastination.

Are you really waiting on the Lord? Isaiah 40 suggests that waiting involves action, effort, energy, and obedience. Those who wait on the Lord don’t sit around, they move forward. Don’t use the excuse, “I’m waiting on God, therefore I’m not going to do anything.” Procrastination often puts on a mask and pretends to be patience. God wants you to do something–don’t just sit back and hope for something to happen! Don’t wait on Him passively. Serve Him proactively.

“When you think of waiting on the Lord,” Pastor Steven said, “I want you to think about a waiter or waitress in a restaurant.” In a restaurant, a waiter doesn’t necessarily wait on you, they serve you. Perhaps “waiting” on the Lord has been contaminated to think that it simply means sitting back and waiting on God to serve us.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the older brother stood with his arms crossed, lamenting that his father never even gave him a goat to have a party with. His father’s response was essentially, “What are you waiting for?! You know where the goats are and you can have any goat you want any time you want! Go get your goat! Have your party!” God doesn’t want to send stuff down, He wants to work stuff out. Often times, as Pastor Steven said, we don’t need to wait on God to send something down from Heaven. He’s already given us everything we’ll ever need. He can’t give us what’s already ours!

In Exodus 14, Moses told the Israelites to wait for God to save His people. God asked Moses what he was waiting for and pointed back to Moses’s staff. Don’t stand still, move forward! You already have what you need! Change the way you pray for peace, joy, and forgiveness. Instead of waiting for God to give you joy, rejoice in the Lord. Instead of waiting for God to give you confidence, go build someone else up and you’ll find what you need in what God has already given you! Let your fear dissipate in the faith in what God has given you. Take access of the fruits He has already given you seeds for.

What are you waiting on God for that you should be taking hold of instead? What has God already given you access to that you have been neglecting through procrastination?

To watch the entire message from Pastor Steven click here. To learn more about taking hold of the life God has given you and recovering your spiritual momentum watch the entire Get Back series.



 

What Are You Waiting For? (Get your own goat)

We’re all in a waiting room of some sort – between where we’re at and where we’re headed. It’s how you respond in those waiting rooms that determine where you’ll go. Join us for our new series as we learn why God chooses to make us wait and how to make the wait worth it.

Find The Exception

God can take your exception and do something exceptional through it.

To learn more about staging your comeback and recovering your momentum, watch the entire Get Back series.

For 24/7 inspirational content from Pastor Steven and Elevation Church, visit the

What do you need to let go?

Each week at StevenFurtick.com, the Elevation Staff will be walking through the weekend sermon to apply the teachings to our lives. This week, we revisit the weekend sermon from Bishop T. D. Jakes. Bishop Jakes is the Lead Pastor at The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, and is back at Elevation Church after preaching to us during Code Orange Revival in January.

Holly Furtick taught us last week that God can develop us extraordinarily if we allow Him to turn our waiting rooms into work rooms. Like Paul and Silas, He has a purpose for our prisons. Bishop Jakes continued the Waiting Room series with a timely message on forgiveness. As Pastor Steven said this weekend, “Not all waiting rooms are a result of God trying to teach us something. Sometimes, they are a product waiting for things that we need to let go of.

Bishop Jakes referenced Matthew 18:20-35, where Peter asks Jesus the question, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus responded with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

You owed God a debt that you could not pay.

The servant in Jesus’s story owed a sum of money that seemed impossible to repay. However, when he simply begged for time to repay his debt, his master responded in overwhelming compassion and simply forgave the servant of his entire debt. As Bishop Jakes reminded us this weekend, God has done the same for us. He has forgiven us and washed us clean from our sin, despite knowing each and every secret sin in our lives that we try to hide. Bishop Jakes challenged us by asking, “How can we receive such flamboyant mercy and not extend it to those around us?” The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 says, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Do you really want God to treat you the same way you treat your mother-in-law? How about the co-worker that you just can’t stand? Or the sister you just can’t get along with? As Bishop Jakes concluded, “Where it really counts, sometimes we have difficulty giving the grace and mercy that we have received.”

Spend some time thinking today – what are you going to let go? What is dammed up behind that unforgiveness that is going to flow through after you let it go?

To watch the entire message from Bishop Jakes click here. To learn more about living a life of forgiveness watch the entire F-Bomb series.



 

The True Test of Honor

Can you honor someone from your heart when their actions are not giving you a reason to honor them?

To learn more about the meaning of showing honor to others, watch the entire Honorology series.

For 24/7 inspirational content from Pastor Steven and Elevation Church, visit the

Let It Go

We’re all in a waiting room of some sort – between where we’re at and where we’re headed. It’s how you respond in those waiting rooms that determine where you’ll go. Join us for our new series as we learn why God chooses to make us wait and how to make the wait worth it.

Get Some Attitude About Your Faith

Stop searching for a faith that will help keep you from the fire, and start embracing the God who is with you in the fire.

To learn how to live a life full of faith and trust in God, watch the entire Give Me Faith series.

For 24/7 inspirational content from Pastor Steven and Elevation Church, visit the

My Father Says I Am

When the devil asks you, “Do you really think you are forgiven after all the things you’ve done?” Look back at him and say, “My Father says I am.”

To learn more about breaking free of anxiety, depression, addiction and insecurity through the healing power of Jesus, watch the entire Treatment series.

For 24/7 inspirational content from Pastor Steven and Elevation Church, visit the

If I Have To Wait, I’m Gonna Get To Work

We’re all in a waiting room of some sort – between where we’re at and where we’re headed. It’s how you respond in those waiting rooms that determine where you’ll go. Join us for our new series as we learn why God chooses to make us wait and how to make the wait worth it.

Every Number Represents a Life

Seven Mile Miracle Easter at Elevation Church was an amazing experience. Pastor Steven took us through the story of the road to Emmaus, a seven mile journey Jesus walked on the day of His resurrection with two disciples who didn't recognize Him, and the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross. You can watch the whole worship experience here.

Our church was so impacted by this worship experience that we plan to launch a small group DVD curriculum available for churches to use next Easter season.

Easter 2012 was a banner weekend for Elevation Church. With 21,730 people in attendance for our seventh Easter, it was our largest weekend ever and we saw over 1,480 people make public professions of faith in Jesus. As Pastor Steven said this weekend, "Every number represents a life and there's more work to be done."

We'd like to take a moment and share some of those lives that were changed forever this Easter through a few of the #7MileMiracle tweets.

Christy Seay tweeted her joy this weekend when two of her daughters accepted Christ, one in our eKidz program, and one as first time guest, a VIP, at Elevation.

Larry Brey, our University Campus Pastor, shared the story on twitter of Deondra, who almost lost her life last year, saw Pastor Steven in the ICU, decided to come to Elevation for Easter, and gave her life to Christ.

And finally, proving that it's never too late for Christ to change a life, Heather Dooley, the wife of our Blakeney Associate Campus Pastor, Nick, tweeted this photo of Grace, who gave her life to Jesus this weekend at 102 years old.

At Elevation Church, we exist to see those far from God raised to life in Christ, and every statistic, every number, is a life changed, an eternal destination altered. Join with us, as there's so much more to do!