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from “What Was The Real Issue?”

generation, but he understands in this moment that the promise God has made him is bigger than the inhabitants of the land that oppose him. I just came to remind you what Romans 8.31 says. If God is for us, if God is on our side, if God has purposed it, if God gave you a word, if God gave you an assignment, if God gave you something to do in the earth, if God promised this is bigger than them… Say it. This is bigger than them. That's what Holly realized. Wait. We're the adults here. We're the grown-ups here. They're the kids here. Here's what Caleb realizes in a very, very similar sense. He realizes, if it's either me possessing what God has promised or the people who are there staying, God will help me drive them out. But I thought about that moment in the car, and I realized was the real issue who was in the car or was the real issue what was in me? Is it that they needed to get out or is there something that needed to get out of me that would keep my 43-year-old self from getting out of a moving vehicle? The car wasn't even at a complete stop. I forgot to tell you that part. What was in me that made me? I'm talking about belief now. They made me. Notice what Caleb said when he's describing it. Back to Joshua before he possesses the land. He said, The Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear.

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from “New Response: What Then”

The people say, "'Why?' Moses says, "'Stand.'" God said, "'Move.'" And you have to learn how to respond in real time. You might need to put this message that I preached, that one part, as your alarm at 8 31 tomorrow morning. Remember Romans 8 31. I don't know if y'all forgot it already. It's pretty powerful, because the Romans 8 31 kind of is my whole message. Put it on the screen, please. Then shall we say in response to these things… He goes on to name them. Danger, pestilence, nakedness, famine, sword, trouble, anything you can name. Paul says, Then shall we say in response to these things… Show them again. It looks like the end. It looks like it's over. But what… Change it. Then shall we say in response to these things… That's my question to you today. What then do you need to say in response to these things? Because if you don't get to then, you don't make it. You might not make it if you don't get to then. So, it looks like this. My dad pulled me aside when I was a young boy. He said, Son, alcoholism runs in our family. It is a genetic disposition for you to be an alcoholic. My father was an alcoholic. I struggle with alcoholism. As far back as I can see, there were alcoholics on the verdict side of the family tree. But, son, you have the opportunity to do this different. So, what he's saying is, even though I made some mistakes, you don't have to make the same mistakes I made if you get to then. What then? Look at your neighbor and ask him nicely, What then? That's what the children of Israel have to decide in the moment. I know you don't like the chariots chasing you. I know it wasn't fair how your story got started, but you can change the end. There you go, Jared. Change it, change it, change it. What then needs to come next in your life? Because there are no fresh starts, but there are forward steps. What then? That's the only thing you have to figure out in this season of your life is where to put your foot next. What then? Not three years from now. Three minutes from now. What then? Not three minutes from now. Three seconds from now. What then? I see people getting tattoos all over this church that just say, What then? See, because you are a story that is still unfolding. You are a masterpiece in the making. There is something God is doing in your life that your eyes have not seen and your ears have not heard, and it has not entered into your heart. The things God has planned for them that love him. What then shall we say in response to these things? Because one day your story will be told. What then do you want to be in the story when you tell it? Because it doesn't have to end like it is right now. It doesn't have to end like it is right now. It doesn't have to end like it is right… You can change the end. You can't fix the beginning. You don't have to. Jesus died for that. Oh! Jesus died for that! Everything you ever did! He took nails in his hand so you would never have to pay for your sin. Yeah, but now we are in a moment in your life where it's not what's in his hand, it's what's in yours that's going

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from “You've Got A Word For The Wind”

to you is to prepare you for something you didn't even know you were going to face? I came to tell you you have the word you need for the wind you didn't even know you were going to face. You've already got the word you would need for the wind you didn't know you were going to face. See, while he was teaching all day, Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. The reason he was surprised at their lack of faith is because he had given them so much word. How can I give you so much word and you still have so little faith? How can I invest so much? How can I bring you from so far? How can I do so much? You look at your life. You already beat the odds. You look at your life. You already should have been a statistic. You look at your life. There have already been such darknesses in your life. You look at your life. There have already been so many things you were uniquely qualified for…not unqualified for, uniquely qualified for. Now you think God can't use you, and now you think God doesn't got you, and now you think this storm is going to stop something you didn't even start to begin with? So, Peter is panicking, and John might be even a little freaked out. Everybody is rocking on the boat, and it's like, Whoa! It was awesome on the shore, but now we have to take what God gave us on the shore and apply it in the storm. Here's what I know. Here's what I know. If they would have pulled out their notes on the boat… Not just on the shore. It's wonderful to study the Word of God in here. It is wonderful to quote this. It is wonderful. Make a graphic and like this sermon, but don't just like it. Live it! Take your notes on the boat. Take your notes into the storm. Find the feet of the master in the storm, because he said something. Touch three people and say, He said something. Come on. It's an interactive sermon. Touch three other people and say, He said something. Come on. Touch 12 people like 12 disciples and say, He said something. He put it in the chat. He said something. Maybe Matthew speaks up about this time. Peter is panicking. We're going to die! He doesn't care! Fear will start shouting crazy things to you when you start taking on water, when your boat starts to get swam, when the depression starts to flood back in, when you read the doctor report. I thought it was going to be better. I've been on this treatment. It's not any better. How am I going to live without my mom? She's getting sicker. She doesn't even remember me. Maybe God has forgotten us. That's what the disciples said. You don't even care that we perish. You don't even care. You taught us all day. You said the kingdom was like this, and the kingdom is like this, and then here comes the storm, and the storm in that moment is louder than his voice. Have you ever had a storm that was louder than his voice? Now I can't hear the voice of God because it's drowned out by the doubt. The storm gets louder than the Lord. Oh, I wish they would have taken out that notebook, because I know one of them. I don't know who. I think it might

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from “Finding Jesus in Your Darkest Moment”

of Jesus can minister to you. And I see my, my, my friend Manuel here and he lost his, his daughter a couple of years ago to cancer, his 16 year old daughter. And then just a few months ago, he loses his wife to cancer and known this man for more than a decade. And when you sit with him and you see the suffering he's walked through, he talks about getting to a place that Jesus sat with him and Jesus wept with him. There's a suffering that you and I go through that only the person of Jesus can occupy that space. It says of Jesus, he was a man of suffering, familiar with sorrow. And Paul would say in the book of Romans that there is a pain that happens on the earth that there are no human words for. And the Holy spirit will intercede with just groans. And I'm so glad that my friend Manuel tells me about meeting with Jesus in that place. And you ask him, how are you getting through it? It's because of Jesus. But purpose is discovered through partnership. Some of you have a suffering and you felt like God is punishing you. And rather than inviting the person of Jesus into it, you've closed the door on it without inviting the person of Jesus in, it will only be pain. But when you invite Jesus in who wore our suffering by a stripes, we are healed. It doesn't mean he answers all my questions, but I can find purpose in it. And now I see people in this room become a part of a club. You never wanted to join. And the relationship you get with Christ, you would never trade away, but you didn't would have, you wouldn't have chosen that way to get there. But now as soon as somebody else goes through what you went through, you immediately identify and you step in and you partner with them in their pain. That is called the church. I wish suffering were not a part of our condition, but God enters into it with us. He wants to partner with us. And this church of Philippi has partnered with Christ and it's just beautiful. And they're separated by 800 miles. Paul is in Rome. The Philippian church is 800 miles away. And here's the thing, partnership fellowship. It's not about being in the same building. It's about being in the same spirit. That is one of the reasons I love this ministry here at elevation, because we are not limited by location. We got somebody watching in Cambodia. You're a part of this ministry just as much as somebody else sitting in the room because Paul is in a different room than the church in Philippi. And they're sharing in the partnership of the gospel. And I love this Philippian church. It's let me, let me kind of illustrate what this church would have looked like. It would have been one of Paul's smallest churches because you read in the book of acts 3000 were added to the church of Jerusalem. One day he would launch churches in Ephesus. That would be hundreds to thousands in Corinth. The same thing, but Philippi, this is probably his smallest church. It would have been dozens. It would have been this little section over here in about five rows back, one, two, three, four. That would have been about the size of this ministry. And here we are 2000 years later, talking about a partnership with the smallest thing. Significance

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from “Carrying The Weight”

of the yoke that Jesus is talking about, we could think that the yoke is sort of like this weighted vest, and inside the vest are all of the weights that we carry. So I've got some weights here. Amy has severe allergies. Amy's allergic to chicken. Who's allergic to chicken? Amy is. So Amy carries the weight of allergies and of a health issue, okay? Amy's the mom to two young adults who also text, I got you. So we're going to give her a weight for that. Amy is married to Chunks Corbett, so I mean, obviously, this is a weight that Amy carries. Okay. I don't know if you know this. Amy works full-time at Elevation. Her job, one of her jobs, is to get Elevation worship songs on Apple Music and Spotify and radio. Aren't you grateful for Amy, okay? But she carries the weight of the responsibilities of her job. Here is a weight to represent Amy's sin and her mistakes. Amy doesn't have a lot, but we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so we've got a weight for all of her sins and her mistakes. This is the things that Amy's worried about that are keeping her up at night. She carries that weight. This is a weight for grief. I know that Amy's lost several loved ones, and that's something that she thinks about and that weighs her down. But here's the thing that I want to illustrate to you today. Most of us think that God is another one of these. A lot of us have gotten the wrong impression about God. It's easy to confuse having a relationship with God with religion, but Jesus did not die so that we would be weighted down by a different, more modern set of rules. Jesus came to set us free. Romans 8 says, Romans 8 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The enemy wants nothing more than for you to think that you need to try harder. He wants you to think that you need to pray more. He wants you to think that you need to clean yourself up. He wants you to think that you need to prove that you are worthy, and I want you to know that that is not from God. Jesus is not another weight in your vest. First John 5.3, look at this. It says, We know we love God because we keep his commands, and his commands are not burdensome. Listen to this. God's way is meant to make you lighter. It says, Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Put those weights down right here, and let's take this vest off, because as long as we have this

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from “John 12”

The Lord has been speaking to me. Open your Bibles. Stay standing. John, chapter 12. You're like, well, Pastor Stephen, we were only in John 1 last week. How did we get to John 12 so quick? Easter's coming. We had to hit fast forward. We're skipping a few scenes, but we're going to see the Lord ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, and we're going to see what that means for me and for you. John chapter 12, verse 12. I want to give a couple of birthday greetings. It is the 13th birthday of our Toronto campus. Let's thank God for Elevation Toronto. Praise the Lord. Stephen, Kristen, the whole crew at Toronto. Y'all go crazy. Y'all celebrate today. It's a big birthday. Our Raleigh location is moving into their brand-new building today. Let's go, Raleigh! We're going to have Resurrection Sunday in Raleigh in a brand-new building. It's going to be amazing. Praise the Lord. This occasion that we celebrate today, of course, is mitigated in his joy by the fact that for Jesus it would represent his sacrifice as he rides into Jerusalem to give his life for you and I. Now, let me read the passage from John chapter 12, verses 12 through 16. Picking up right here, mid-flow. The next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel.'" Now, watch what Jesus did, a study in contrast. Here are these loud shouts from the crowd, and Jesus, verse 14, found a young donkey and sat on it as it is written. "'Do not be afraid, daughter Zion. See your King is coming.'" Isn't that good news? Your King is coming. Doesn't that bless you to know your King is coming? Tell somebody next to you, "'The King is coming. The King is coming. The King is coming. The King is coming. The King is coming.'" "'See, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.'" That's unexpected. Last week we talked about the staying Jesus. Week one we talked about the seeking Jesus. This week we're going to talk about the seated Jesus, seated on a donkey's colt. Now one more verse I want to give you, then you can be seated. This is what I want to talk to you about today. At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only after… See, some things only make sense after. Only after. Don't worry too much right now about what you don't understand. Some things only make sense after. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

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from “Do You Need A Miracle Today?”

Hey, this is Stephen Furtick, I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. I just want to take a moment before we jump into the word. Anybody excited to get into the scripture today? We're going to open up God's word, but two things. I want to pray for anybody that needs a miracle today. Anybody that needs healing today. Anybody that needs finances, you know, the Bible says all Lord God, nothing is too difficult for you. If you've got a prodigal today, I know the God that can wake him up with kindness. If you've got a situation, I know the God that can remove that mountain and put it into the sea. Come on, anybody believe today that God is who he says he is? Anybody have faith that he can do what he said he would do? Come on, clap. Let's lift up some faith and thanksgiving today. Do me a favor. If you need a miracle, just lift your hand. Lord, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your power. We trust not in riches or mammon or chariots or horsemen, but our trust is in the name of the Lord. We thank you, God, that you are who you say you are and you can accomplish what concerns us today. We cast all of our cares onto you because we know you care for us in the name of Jesus. And everybody said together, come on, clap one more time and thank God. Come on, Elevation, 20 years, 20 years. And I just want to say, thank God for Elevation Church. Thank God for all that he's done in this place. Thank God for all that he's done through this place. And the Bible says not to us, not to us be the glory, but to his name. So we give God some glory for 20 years of his faithfulness. Come on, anybody believe the best is yet to come for Elevation Church. And I just want to say, thank God, not just for Elevation Church, but anybody love your pastors today, Pastor Stephen and Holly Furning. Come on. Oh, come on. You can clap louder than that today if you love your, my goodness. We thank God for Pastor Stephen and Holly. Thank God for their faithfulness, for their continual, yes. Anybody could say yes for one year or maybe 10, but 20 years of faithfulness, serving, giving, preaching, writing, oh, come on, let's give honor where honor is due to our pastors today. Thank God for Pastor Stephen and Holly. And you know, they just been out on tour. They've been out on tour. Sewing into Chicago, sewing into New York. I believe they were in Columbus, Ohio sewing in. You know, I've always believed that when you sew into somebody else's field, you're going to reap it in your own. And I pray that we would be a church that covers them in prayer. Amen. Why don't we take a moment and pray for our pastors right now? Lord, we thank you for our leaders, our pastors that you've given to us. What a gift to have pastors like them. We pray that their soul would be refreshed. Their soul would be encouraged. Thank you, God, for protection over their home, over their children. We thank you that you're speaking to them, giving them vision, dreams, allow signs and wonders and miracles to continue to break out through their ministry. We

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from “So Be It God”

Hey, this is Stephen Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. Hope you're blessed today. Give me one, so be it, God! So be it! Yes, God! Yes, God! Yes, God! Yes, God! Yes, God! Yes, God! Yes, God! Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us. Jesus is in this place. Deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Not for five minutes, forever and ever. Right here I want the whole church to say, Amen. Amen means so be it. Amen means I'm coming into agreement with God's plan for my life. Amen means that no word from God returns void. Amen means that my Father has the final say. Amen means that I read to the back of the book and I know how this ends. Heaven wins. Amen means I'm born again. Amen means no weapon formed against me will prosper. Amen means I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You didn't know Amen meant all that, did you? Say it again. Amen. If he says I'm blessed, I'm blessed. Say Amen. If he says my family will be saved, my family will be saved. Say Amen. If he said I'm more than a conqueror, I'm more than a conqueror. Say Amen. Come on, everybody in the comments right now, even watching this on social media, put an Amen in the comments. Let the Devil know I agree with God. I belong to Jesus. He's the one who never lets go. On every mountain I belong to him. In every valley I belong to him. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I'm guided. I have a good shepherd. I'm guarded. He's the gate. He's the light of the world. He is my risen, resurrected King, and I'm getting up out of this situation. I came to praise the Lord. I did not come to feel sorry for myself. I came to praise the Lord. I did not come to impress my neighbors with proper church behavior. I came to praise the Lord. If you knew what he brought me through, you wouldn't call me crazy. You would lift your hands and praise him too. Say Amen. What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of this? We can get out with a hallelujah! With a hallelujah! Last one for real, men. That's it. Glory to God.

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