Pastor Steven Furtick

Last weekend at Elevation I strongly urged our people to invite people who are close to them but far from God to church this coming weekend. We believe very strongly in the power of a simple invite to church. We’ve seen thousands of people place their faith in Christ through our weekend worship experiences. And the reason most of those people came was because someone invited them.

So I wanted to issue one final challenge to our Elevators: don’t come alone this weekend. God has been setting the stage for an incredible finish to the Invitation. And all you have to do is say a simple sentence that could have a profound impact: Will you come to church with me this weekend?

We’ve made all the preparations. Now you just have to come and bring as many people as you can. God wants His house to be full. And He’s asked us to invite people in to fill it.

Below I’ve included a tool to help you. Take a moment and send an e-vite. Or send 20. We have ten worship experiences spread out over three locations. Find one they can go to, and accommodate to their schedule if you have to.

To show you the kind of impact you have the potential to make, I’ve also included a very compelling testimony detailing how Kat Crawford, one of our volunteers, received a simple invitation to church that changed her life forever.

We’re partners in the Gospel. You give your invitation. I’ll give mine. And we’ll see hundreds of people be filled with life in Christ.

Click here to send an evite.

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.
Job 42:12, 16-17

When most people think of Job, the first picture that enters into their minds is of a man marked by misery. That’s natural, considering it’s the theme of Job 1-41. But it’s also misguided because it doesn’t take into account Job 42.

Job’s story doesn’t end on a note of misery. The final word on Job is not on his pain. His loss. His questioning. Or really anything on the forty-one chapters that precede. It’s an affirmation that Job lived a full life. An affirmation that despite appearances, God never for a second abandoned Job or changed His mind about Job’s final destination.

The story of Job is more than a story about a guy who lost everything he cared about. It’s also about a man who regained it. A man who ended up dying the way he wanted. The way any of us would want.

But not the way he or any of us would have planned.

He died surrounded by family. But it was a family that God had to recreate after he lost his first.
He regained all of his possessions, and even had them doubled. But not before he had to lose everything he had worked his whole life for.

Job’s final destination did not come without detours. And it’s the detours that have the chance to derail our lives more than anything else. Not because God is incapable of handling them or can’t see them coming. But because we cling so tightly onto the path we think we’re supposed to take to get to where God wants us to be.

The single greatest thing standing in-between you and God’s plan for your life is not just your preconceived notion of what that life itself should be. It’s also your preconceived notion of the road you should take to get there.

And it’s a notion you have to let go of.

You might lose your job. You may go through a period of marital unrest where it looks like everything is going to unravel. You may have to move to a place you hate for a season. And you may even have to face an unforeseen illness that threatens your life or the life of someone you love.

Whatever it is, detours are inevitable.

But just because God takes you on a detour, it doesn’t mean He’s changed His mind about your destination. The final word on your life is not going to be the detours you experience. It’s going to be the destination God uses them to take you to.

A common expression that you’ve probably heard in times of opposition or difficulty is “the battle is not yours. It’s the Lord’s.”

It sounds great. It’s encouraging. Reassuring. Empowering.

But it isn’t always true. The battle isn’t always the Lord’s. Not because He is incapable. Or unloving. But because sometimes we’re fighting battles He doesn’t intend for us to fight.

In context of the passage this expression comes from (2 Chronicles 20), the Israelites are facing an unprovoked attack by their enemies and God intends to rescue them. In this case, it is definitely the Lord’s battle. What matters is His strength. Not theirs. His might to face their opposition. Not their inability to. And so Israel can have the confidence that comes from God having their back.

But there are other places in the Bible where God does not fight for Israel. Where they are defeated. Crushed and humiliated even. Sometimes it was because of their unrepentant sin. But other times it was because the battle was really of their own initiative and they tried to sanctify it on the backend with God’s approval.

Not every battle we face is God’s to fight. There are times in our lives and ministries where we are fighting our own battles. It’s about our ego. Our agenda. Our purposes. Our glory.

Maybe it’s a conflict at work that if you were honest, you have just as much responsibility for creating as your opposition.
Or marriage difficulties that you could claim equal blame in.
Or a ministry initiative that found its origin more in your own desire and ambitions than in God’s will.

In these moments, we can’t have the confidence that God will fight for us.We can’t just depend on the Lord’s strength.

Make sure that whatever battle you’re facing right now is something God intends for you to be in. Otherwise your expectation that God is going to fight for you is ultimately going to lead frustration when you find yourself still fighting in your own strength.

God isn’t interested in prolonging battles He wants no part in.

As a leader, sometimes there’s a temptation to think that when you don’t act on an idea, it’s a wasted idea.

The sermon you didn’t preach that you had spent hours preparing.
The initiative you abandoned after months of development.

But I’m as proud of the ideas I’ve said no to as I am of the ones I’ve acted on. I’m as proud of the sermons that I didn’t preach that made way for the sermons that God did want me to preach. Of the ideas we abandoned as a church that made way for better ideas for us to pursue.

Every idea is worth recording and pondering. But not every idea is worth implementing.

Maybe it’s because it steals you away from your focus and your vision. Or maybe because the idea in question is really just a stepping-stone to a better, more refined idea.

Either way, often it’s the ideas that are canned that make room for the ideas that make the greatest impact.

Don’t ever be afraid of letting go of a mediocre idea for a good one. Or a good one for a great one. When you look back over your leadership or your life, some of your proudest accomplishments will be not what you did but what you chose not to do in favor of something better.