Steven Furtick's Blog, page 70

The Orange Initiative

It can be easy for us to say we love our city, but how are we doing it? How are we making a lasting impact for Christ on the people we live next to? At Elevation, we believe that you don’t have to go around the world to find the mission field – you can find it in your own backyard. In 2011, we made a year-long commitment to the city of Charlotte and our former mayor, Anthony Foxx, to serve 100,000 hours of community service and give $1 million to help to the sick, the hurting, and the lost. We called it The Orange Initiative, and in this clip, we take a look back and remember God’s faithfulness as we continue to reach a city with the love of Jesus.

Elevation Creative: What Can You Do In An Hour?

One of the biggest times of the year for our church is Love Week. During Love Week, we challenge everyone in our church to pour love and generosity into our city, serving the lost and reaching the least of these with the love of Christ. In this video from our creative team, we visited one of our outreach partners, Urban Ministry Center to decorate lockers, freshen up their facilities, and show just how much can be accomplished through one hour of service when we all serve together.

How to Know If You’re Living a Life of Honor

In Hebrews 13, the writer asks for prayer that we would live honorably in every way. But what does that look like? How do we know if we have a heart of honor? In this clip from our series Honorology, Pastor Steven teaches us what honor looks like, and how to recognize if our lives are honoring to others.

God’s Extraordinary Work Through Our Ordinary Obedience

As believers, we all have these prayers and desires to see God do great things in and through our lives. To make an impact and to change the world for Him. But these things don’t just happen. Faith isn’t a wishlist, it’s a work order. And when we begin to follow Jesus through our simple obedience, He begins to work in our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Moses Mawa understands that. In this clip, from our Beyond the Banner documentary, we learn how Moses uses an ordinary act of obedience – teaching children soccer – to begin an extraordinary move of God in the streets of Kampala, Uganda. Beyond the Banner was created to kick off Love Week 2013, sharing the stories of the lives changed by Jesus through the generosity of the people of our church, and the impact their giving is making around the world.

You Can’t Un-sin. Only Re-pent.

Sometimes it can be very difficult to process your own sin. When we sin, there is usually an element of regret. Which is a good thing. If there was none, we should probably be worried about the condition of our hearts.

But usually we focus this regret on the desire to undo the past action. We wish we could go back and change what we’ve done.

But we can’t. It happened, and there’s no changing it. So we have to face an important truth if we don’t want to perpetually live in a state of regret and self-condemnation:

You can’t un-sin. Only re-pent.

Those words you shouldn’t have said…were said.

That guy you shouldn’t have slept with…you slept with.

The compromise that you made at work…you made.

What’s done is done. You can’t un-sin. And while it might be good that you wish you could, ultimately there’s no going backwards.

But there is a way forward. And the way forward is the path of repentance. You can’t un-say what you said, but you can re-pent of what you said. You can’t un-sleep with that guy, but you can re-pent to God for doing it.

As far as the past goes, what happened, happened. But as far as your future goes, with God it could be as if it never happened. You can get a fresh understanding with God. A chance to not let your past mistakes affect your future possibilities.

Un-sinning has an orientation towards the past. Re-pentance, on the other hand, is about the future. It’s dealing with your past disobedience towards God so you can walk towards your future relationship with Him. And that’s what He wants for you.

So if you’re dealing with the regrets and guilt of yesterday, or last month, or even ten years ago, don’t waste any more time playing the scenario over in your head and imagining doing it differently. It’s done.

Embrace the truth that God preempted your past faithlessness in your life with his past faithfulness on the cross. Re-pent of what you’ve done. And move on towards the future God has for you.

This entry was originally published on July 14, 2011.

When You Can’t Escape the Pain of Your Past

For many of us, our pasts are littered with painful memories and experiences we’d rather just forget. But for some reason we can’t. Our past hangs over our heads like a dark cloud, stealing our joy and hope from today. But this is not the life that Jesus has called us to live. In this clip from our series Killswitch, Pastor Steven encourages us that, no matter what has happened in our past, Jesus has called us to a greater future in Him.

Elevation Creative: All Creatures of Our God And King Remix

The great hymns of the church are filled with some of the richest words and confessions of praise. But often we overlook the power of these songs because of our perception of them. Occasionally during our weekend worship experiences, like this video from the Code Orange Revival, our worship team will take a new approach to a timeless hymn to break free from the familiar and help our church gain a fresh perspective on these incredible songs of worship.

The Ingredients of An Unhealthy Spirit

Even as Christians, we have bad days. We’re sad. We’re depressed. We’re angry and antagonistic. Something in our spirit is off. So we bring our requests to God. We ask Him to fill our hearts and improve our attitudes. But it’s not just a magic switch we can flip on. Often times, as Pastor Steven shows us in this clip from our series Ghost Stories, there are parts of our lives preventing us from experiencing the fullness of the life Jesus has called us to live.

How To Respond When You Feel Like Giving Up

We all start out so strong. Passionate with the message of Jesus and and driven by the mission God has given us. But inevitably, it begins to fade. We start to slow down. We grow weary of the struggle and begin justifying an easier life; settling for simply surviving. How did we get here? And what are we missing out on in the life God planned for us? In this clip from the sermon “Pound The Ground,” Pastor Steven teaches us through the life of Elisha, that there are still victories left to be won, if we are willing to keep pounding.

How Our Differences Can Make Us Stronger

Thank God we’re not all the same. What a boring and monotonous and unaccomplished world we would live in. But just because we’re all different doesn’t mean we don’t all have the same mission as Christians. Jesus knew the motley crew He was working with when He started His church. And God knows what He’s working with now. And in this clip from our series E, we learn that when we follow one vision – to reach people far from God with the Gospel of Jesus – our differences actually can make us stronger, and allow us to use many different channels to make the same impact for Christ.