Steven Furtick's Blog, page 48

Elevation Creative: Give Me Faith

In the video from our series Give. Me. Faith. our creative team presents the stirring images of our prayers and the desires of our heart – security, influence, happiness, truth. We see these tangibles as expressions of a fulfilled life. But as believers in Christ, when we examine the root of all these pursuits, we discover that it is our faith in Jesus that is the defining quest of our lives.

What Jesus Can Do In the Middle of Your Mess

We all have our messes. The parts of our lives that feel chaotic and out of control. We try to do everything we can to make them look neat and tidy to the rest of the world, but there’s no fooling God. He sees it all as it really is. He knows who we really are. And He wants to be a part of our lives in spite of our dirt. In this clip from the sermon “How to Love the Mud“, Pastor Steven explains that when we invite Jesus into our worst situations, He will show us His purpose and grace in the middle of any mess.

What to Tell Yourself When You’re Under Pressure

Freddie Mercury was right – we’re all under pressure. When we look at our lives and all we see are minefields of potential explosions, worried about our next move, or worn out by the stress of our situation, it’s hard to hear God’s voice above it all. If we give ourselves over to it, pressure can blind us, making us feel alone and helpless. But if we change our focus to what God can do in and through our situation, that same pressure can have the opposite result. In this sermon, Pastor Steven gives us four practical statements we can preach to ourselves when we’re feeling the heat of pressure.

Grace Redefined

I used to wish I had a more dramatic testimony. I was sixteen when I gave my life to Christ. Although it was the most important moment of my life, it wasn’t something most people would consider dramatic.

Before then, I had been a pretty likable, relatively well-behaved kid. And since then I have never gone through a time of intense rebellion. I embraced my salvation. Became passionate for telling other people about Christ. And embraced His vision for my life.

That doesn’t make for the classic “road to Damascus, I used to use drugs, sleep around, and spent time in prison” kind of testimony that calls for standing ovations and leaves people in tears.

I’m sorry. But that’s not my story.

And it’s now something I praise God for. I’ve learned that while some Christian conversion stories may be more spectacular than others, that doesn’t make them any more significant. Sometimes we think the most impactful testimonies in the Christian life are those of people who praise God for the things He delivered them from. Sexual relationships. Addictions. Etc.

But perhaps the people who should praise God the most are the people who can praise Him for what He has kept them from. Perhaps these people should begin their testimonies by saying, “God saved me from pre-marital sex, drugs, alcohol, and a life of sin-when I was eight and gave my life to Christ.”

I wonder if the problem is that when someone is rescued from the edge of doom, we think it is because of the grace and power of God. But when someone never approaches it, it’s because of their own diligence and discipline.

This viewpoint completely misses key aspects of sin, grace, and God’s glory. God’s grace doesn’t just rescue you from a life engrossed in sin. It also keeps you from it. And God doesn’t just receive glory when He has to completely remake a ruined life. He’s just as glorified when someone commits themselves to purity and a holy life, and by God’s grace sticks to it.

Jude 1:24-25 gives us one of the most eloquent, powerful prayers of praise in all of Scripture. And look at what the driving force is: “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

If what I have been describing is your story, the next time you feel like you don’t have anything to praise God for, imagine what you would be addicted to and what you would have gone through if He had not kept you from falling.

Let’s not allow the most passionate praisers to only be the ones who have received God’s abundant grace because of their experiences. Let’s start learning to praise God for the parts of our testimony that we have never had to experience because of His grace.

This entry was originally posted August 5th, 2010.

When Our Prayers Don’t Look Like They’re Working

We are living in the instant gratification generation. We see something we want. And we want it now. And when we get it, we’re temporarily satisfied. For many believers, our approach is the same with our prayer lives. When we pray, we want answers. We think if God doesn’t respond immediately, then it must mean that it’s not working or maybe God doesn’t hear us – or if He does hear us, He doesn’t care. In this clip from the sermon “Don’t Stop On Six“, Pastor Steven explains that even when it seems like our prayers aren’t working, God is still at work – and the reward for our endurance and perseverance is far greater than our desire for instant gratification.

Elevation Creative: 10 Things We Love About Mom

For most of us, when think about our moms, there are a few words that instantly come to mind. Loving. Caring. Understanding. Encouraging. We remember the things she taught us and mistakes she loved us through. But how could we ever fully explain just how much our moms mean to us? To remind mothers of the impact they make day in and day out, our Creative Team asked a few kids to tell us the simple things they loved about their moms.

A Different Way to See the Ten Commandments

It’s easy to think of the Ten Commandments as God’s big list of things we shouldn’t do. But what if instead of seeing them as strict restrictions that hold us back, we saw them as the divine directions for living the life God intended for us all along? In this clip from our series (This Is Your) Permission Slip, Pastor Steven teaches us, that as Believers, following God’s instruction was never meant to hold us back, but instead lead us into the greatest life we could live.

The Problem We Have With Comparison

Compared to everyone else, it’s easy to see what we don’t have, where we’re lacking, and how we don’t measure up. We protect ourselves from vulnerability by projecting a flimsy, false perfection to the world around us. But what do we miss when we choose to hide our true selves? In the final part of our series The Hope of Glory, Pastor Steven shows us the pain comparison can cause, and teaches us to redirect that attention towards a far more beneficial pursuit.

No Other Options

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

John 6:66-68

When in difficult circumstances, you’ll sometimes hear people say, “I have options.” They don’t have to put up with “this kind” of treatment or conditions. They can walk. They can go elsewhere. They have options.

Peter was in this position. Jesus’ teaching was becoming difficult to understand. Opposition was starting to arise. All of a sudden, following Jesus wasn’t necessarily the thing he signed up for.

In a sense, Peter had other options. He could have left Jesus and gone back to fishing. He could have joined up with another rabbi. He could have done a number of other things.

But he didn’t. And that’s because unlike the people who left, Peter realized something: no other option could give him what Jesus could. Jesus alone had the words of life, even if they were difficult. He alone was worth giving his life to. He alone could give Peter what he really needed and wanted.

And for that reason, Peter had no other options.

In the same way, if you’ve chosen to be a follower of Christ, you really have no other options. Sure, you could sellout and walk away from God. Sure, you could take an easier path. But to what end?

What other option can work all things together for your good?

What other option is the Alpha before your circumstances and the Omega after them?

What other option has the words of eternal life?

What other option is even worth contemplating?

You have no other options. Even if following God gets difficult, you have no other options. Even if He asks you to do something that’s uncomfortable or costly, you have no other options.

But you also don’t need any.

This entry was originally posted June 21st, 2011.

Where to Look When You Feel Unloved

Whether you admit it or not, we all can be difficult to love at times. Whether we are hurt, needy, or broken, sometimes no matter how much people try to fill us up with love, it’s impossible for us to receive it. Our hearts are cracked, and the love of others leaks out. In the sermon “The Frustration of a Fixer“, Pastor Steven explains that we can look to a lot of different sources to get the affirmation we desire, but only when we fill ourselves with the love of Jesus can we ever feel completely full.