Steven Furtick's Blog, page 89

Finding A Fresh Faith

How do we pray in the hard times? When our situation is bleak and it seems like God is nowhere to be found. How do we strengthen our faith in the midst of our pain and begin to pray with expectation? In this clip from our series Sun Stand Still, Pastor Steven challenges our prayer life with a new perspective on our faith in God.

The Prodigy Program At Elevation Church

One of the questions we get asked the most is, “What is your secret to your success?” The honest answer is there isn’t one. There isn’t a marketing machine or a boardroom full of church-growth experts. We are simply a church with a singular vision on reaching people far from God, a faith that is fully reliant on Him moving on our behalf, and an obedience to Jesus’ call on our lives.

We’ve learned a lot over the past seven years and we feel like we have plenty of experiences to share and teach other new young leaders. Not necessarily the best way or the only way, but the way we do ministry. That’s the heart behind the Prodigy Program. Check out this short video as Pastor Steven explains our new six-month, hands-on apprenticeship beginning in January 2013.

Click here to apply and find out more about the Prodigy Program.

From the Archive: Prioritize the Presence of God

Your best innovation flows from revelation. You must prioritize the presence of God in your life.

More can be accomplished in a nanosecond of prayer, worship, and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit than a month’s worth of strategy meetings in the flesh.

Many leaders have created virtually no margin to make room for the kind of divine encounters that birth true vision and revolutionary concept. I can trace the genesis of many of the most important ideas in the history of our church to a specific moment in the presence of God. I can trace my most frustrating seasons to a deficiency of time allocated to my most important task: seeking the wisdom of the Lord.

What would Moses have missed had he never turned aside to see the burning bush?

If the leaders in the church in the book of Acts had neglected prayer and the Word to serve tables, how might the influence of the Gospel been impeded worldwide?



What revelation, inspiration, imagination and innovation is left undiscovered in your life because you’re failing to prioritize the presence of God?

Originally posted October 1, 2009

Why You Don’t Deserve The Credit

We all have our different skills, gifts, and abilities. Those things we’re good at. The talents we get noticed for. That “special something” that we bring to the table. And when we’re in those situations where we were designed to succeed, it can be easy to crown ourselves and congratulate our individual achievements. But in this clip from our series The Prodigy In Me, Pastor Steven teaches us the true source and greater purpose behind all we accomplish.

Elevation Creative: Connecting The Dots

It’s inevitable and unavoidable. We will all go through difficult circumstances in our lives that don’t make sense from our perspective. But God is always teaching us something through the battles and the trials. Through the victories and defeats. He uses these experiences to ultimately draw us closer to Him. “Connecting the Dots” is a motion graphics piece that we used during our series The Prodigy In Me. It helped our church gain a broader perspective on our lives and reminded us of our security in the sovereignty of God.

What God Promises With His Protection

Here’s a reality we all must face as Christians: Our salvation in Christ doesn’t mean our lives will be free of trial, pain or attack. The Christian life will never just be sunshine and happiness. Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are equipped with the full armor of God. But our armor is more than just decoration – it’s protection. The armor of God has a purpose in our lives because we still have an enemy and God has equipped us for battle. And in this clip from the series Grapes & Giants, Pastor Steven teaches what God promises us with His protection.

The Primary Purpose of the Holy Spirit

Many Christians struggle with not only defining who the Holy Spirit is, but what His purpose is in our lives. Is He supposed to be our life’s good luck charm? Is He the road map we should follow for life’s directions and decisions? Is He our long-distance connection to God in Heaven? Or does He do something else altogether? In the second part of our series Ghost Stories, Pastor Steven redefines for us the true purpose of the Holy Spirit and the cycle the Spirit follows in our lives.

From The Archive: An Ounce of Anointing

I tweeted last night:

An ounce of anointing is more precious than a thousand tons of talent.

When I say anointing, I’m talking about the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit.

If you’ve got it, you’ll do greater things for God than you can imagine, and live a remarkable life for His glory.

If you don’t, you won’t.

If you’re anointed by God, you’ll do things far beyond your capability. You’ll live in a constant state of humility, because you need the Lord for every step, every breath, every situation. You’ll live in constant amazement at all the ways He comes through for you.

If you’re not anointed by God, even your strengths will become weaknesses in time. You’ll still do good stuff, maybe even impressive stuff. But it won’t have eternal power in it, and it will be just a small slice of what you could have done, if the Lord was doing it through you.

Talent is a great thing to have. It’s a gift from God.

But having talent without anointing is kind of like having seatwarmers in a car but not having an engine under the hood.

God can work in spite of our lack of talent. Through the anointing, even our weakness can become a playing field for the Lord to show off His strength.

Ask Moses.

But talent alone isn’t enough to get the job done if you don’t have God’s power behind it. You’ll come up short in the end.

Ask Samson.

I’m asking God today for a fresh anointing on my life.

This blog post was originally posted on November 3rd, 2011

Locating The Presence of God

Our Christian lives are marked by mountains and valleys. Times when we feel close to God. When our daily time with Jesus feels connected and powerful. When our prayers are full of worship and passion. And then – there’s the other days. When God seems distant or inconvenient. When we choose comforts over calling. When we ignore God’s voice in our lives. So how to we get back to the mountain top? How do we climb out of the valley? In this clip from our series Storytellers, Pastor Steven uses hide-and-seek and King David to teach us the power of living in the presence of God.

Elevation Creative: “I Am Loved”

Strong. Patient. Loving. Just. These are the kind of words that God uses to describe Himself. But what about the words God uses to describe us? “I Am Loved” is a video created for our series I Know He Is But What Am I? Through the short story of a boy facing a challenging week, we wanted to visually show the way God see us, His children.