Don't Blow It! | Waymaker | Pastor Steven Furtick

something God told me very clearly as we begin this series called waymaker is that before we can change the world we have to change our ways would you please turn with me if you can find it in your Bible to the Old Testament book of Haggai give you about 15 minutes to find the book of Haggai after that the screens will kick in and give you assistance and what we want to look at today we want we want to take a look at give me just a moment I got my new notebook every series I get a new notebook I got the one with the the whole world on it it's a vision series so I figured well we're gonna touch the world we're gonna start with a notebook with the with the whole world [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he's got you and me brother gotta if you permit me real quick just uh he's got the Clemson Tigers okay now let's look at how God chapter 1 I'm ready now touch somebody say we can't change the world until we change our ways this is the message of haggai the prophet I'm having you seated because the long scripture today 15 verses we will endeavor to preach in the second year of King Darius on the first day of the sixth month the word of the Lord came through the Prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of she LTL governor of Judah and to Joshua son of Jos attacked the high priest JJ you know how we text about preaching all the time I would have skipped that verse in my first five years of preaching one thing that I want you to do this will help you develop your preaching skills take the verses that you naturally want to skip over and make yourself preach them what I did I went back and I figured I'm not going to do it but I could preach verse 1 for a whole sermon and what I would do if I was going to preach it and you might want to preach it sometimes JJ because every once in a while let you get up here and if your beard keeps girl and you might get another shot but I figured you could preach that verse using only the prepositions so watch this in the second year of King Darius on the first day the six month the word of the Lord came through the Prophet Haggai to saruba bel so what I was thinking is it was in the second year that's the that's the setting okay it was the word of of the Lord that's the source it came to Zerubbabel now he's the he's the he's the servant and it came through Haggai and he was the server now all of those start with the letter s and what's cool about it is it didn't come from Haggai it came through Haggai so the word of the Lord came through Haggai he said I'm saying this is how God speaks to people God will speak to you through others God will speak to you through life God will speak to you through hardship God will speak to you to through of the Lord through the Prophet to the people of the Lord through the Prophet to the people in the second year of Darius because God's Word is not spoken in abstractions and theoretical constructs God's Word is designed to speak to specific situations so this is not a history lesson that we came for today we came for a word from the Living God and His Word is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword now so if anything ever comes out of my mouth that helps you it might have come through me but it wasn't from me because I have nothing of substance to offer you you are way too desperate for me to be able to help you of my own accord but if God speaks through me to you then anything can happen verse 2 this is what the Lord Almighty says these people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house then the word of the Lord came through the Prophet Haggai it's at a time for you you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin now this is what the Lord Almighty says give careful thought to your ways there's that word ways give careful thought to your ways you have planted much but harvested little you eat but never have enough you drink but never have your fill you put on clothes but are not warm you earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it you are drowning in information and starving for wisdom you have 24 hour news feats and 24 hour ignorant this is what the Lord Almighty says give careful thought to your ways go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored says the Lord you expected much but behold it turned out to be little and what you brought home I blew away why declares the Lord Almighty because of my house which remains a ruin elites of you is busy with your own house therefore because of you the heavens have withheld their due and the earth its crops I have a very challenging message for you today and I hope you're ready for it and I'm gonna need your help to preach it so look at the person next to you and say neighbor God has given you a great opportunity now look at them and give them my title say don't blow it don't blow it don't blow it I think God presents himself in the form of opportunity and when you look at Haggai chapter 1 you are seeing a people who are responding to an opportunity is interesting because Haggai has a very hard job as a preacher he has to deliver a message of urgency in a time of discouragement often it's difficult to motivate or inspire people to action when they are already discouraged about the outcome of their life in order to create a sense of motivation he gives the people a contrast between their effort and their outcomes he has them have evaluate the results of their lives relative to the effort and so thinking about this passage of course made me begin to think about 7th grade South Carolina geography class because apparently the people were saying something in hey guys time dad is saying and God overheard them talking and they would say verse 2 the people would say this is the people from Judah which is the southern kingdom of Israel the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house notice that these people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house now different cultures have different sayings you know this right and if you did not grow up in the South perhaps from time to time it is shocking to you to hear some of our sayings and to try to decipher the meaning of them I will never forget Miss Taylor I probably should have given her a pseudonym but I've said her name now the day that she corrected my southern slang in front of the whole class now granted I deserved it I was such a punk in seventh grade granted I deserved it because she had told us to pull out our books and begin our silent reading time granted I was talking to somebody instead of pulling out the book like I was told to do but did he give her the right to say the following I'll let you be the judge Steven Furtick did you not hear me say pull out your book now Miss Taylor was northerner so what I said next she had no context for I said I'm sorry miss Taylor I'm fixing to she said Steven Furtick she said before you leave my class I am going to make sure that you understand how ignorant you sound when you say things like I'm fixing to nobody else in the world outside of South Carolina says things like I'm fixing to and if you go anywhere else in the world in your life and say I'm fixing to it is going to automatically cause people to question your intelligence not only do you not have your book out you are not even able to speak intelligently to deliver an excuse about why your book is not out I said I'm about to is that better and it really doesn't matter what you call it the the problem was procrastination and I found out we have a lot of different things we say to disguise our procrastination can I give you one thing we say in church we don't say I'm fixing to we say I'm praying about it I will preach this word until three people are left in the first two rows of elev Ballentine and it's cool because you do need to pray about some things but some things that God just told you to do get your book out do not require prayer they require action and that guy has a hard job because the people on one level are making progress at least it seems to them like progress and the question becomes this is point number one go put these on the screen is it progress or is it procrastination because apparently there was some really nice subdivisions going up in the suburbs of Judah the exiles have been back from Babylon now 20 years and that was a god thing wasn't it I mean they didn't know if they'd ever come back and only because Persian control took the territory of Babylon back were they able to come back and rebuild their homeland and when they first got back they thought they'd rebuild the temple because it had been destroyed it was the preeminent place for the presence of God to be manifest among his people so that he would have a dwelling place you and I understand that now this temple is not a physical building but it is you and I the Temple of the Holy Spirit where God dwells and where God lives but in the midst of rebuilding this place where God had appointed his presence to dwell something was lacking in their perseverance or perhaps it was just that they got distracted this has helped me so much in trying to minister to people and challenge people and call people higher to God's standard is that often people are not willfully disobedient they are just distracted you know what I mean I don't think that people always decide to live in this obedience sometimes life just creates such a scenario in an innocent with what a guy said he said each of you is busy with your own house I thought that was an interesting phrase that he said you're busy with your own house he didn't say they were bad people just that they were busy people I don't think those of you who don't serve in the church don't serve in the church because you're satanic I just think your kids probably have soccer it's not Satan it's soccer I'm not sure that you are that much different oh I hate soccer yes it's not a secret people III I'm not sure in a couple of weeks we're gonna take an offering and I don't think there's anybody that will be in the church who will not appreciate the offering that is given because it's the very offering that was given a year ago or five years ago or 10 years ago that built the church that you were a part of today where God blesses your life it is the very sacrifice that happens this time every year and not just at the end of the year but weekly and monthly as people give to God and put him first I think everybody values that on one level especially the business owners I was talking to a business owner one time he said I'm so glad I don't have your job I said why is that you don't like to speak he said no I don't mind speaking he said I just can't imagine running a business where people came and decided whether they wanted to pay for the service or not I would go broke if I ran my business like that but here at our church over and over again people have stepped up sacrificially and consistently and here's the key word systematically to put God first because I understand that my harvest is connected to God's house now this is where the word gets rich sometimes you are struggling in your life in ways that you do not understand but you are not directly discerning the source of the dysfunction such as the case for the people in hey guys day he said you're disappointed aren't you I know you are it's August it's the season for figs and grapes and pomegranates and you planted a lot of seed but when you went to get the harvest it was only half of what you expect him have you ever invested in something or someone keep eye contact with me when I say what I say next only to wonder how could I put so much into it and get so little out of it have you ever [Applause] have you ever this is the scene and how guys they remember this is a specific word to specific people but I think it has universal application and it is a timeless truth is that when you do not start your process with God at the center it will always end in disappointment and it will not matter how much energy you give it or how much talent that you have or or or or or how sincere you are in your efforts I'm telling you man I have sat with rich people famous people people with great status and no satisfaction great prosperity and no peace because any process that does not start with God ends in disappointment write that down teach it to your kids put it on your mirror any process that does not start with God ends in disappointment you plant much you reap little you get dressed you're not warm you drink you drink you drink you drink you drink you drink but you are bottomless and even the blessings that God gives you will be will be can I say it this way hallo it's a hollow harvest and while the people were busy building their own houses busy building their own bodies busy building their own dreams busy planning their own future they they neglected the place of God's presence I was praying about this message I said god I can't preach that I don't want to make him feel bad their lives are already hard enough and God told told me what I didn't I didn't hear this out loud just depression I okay so let's get that straight right now but the impression that I got is if you don't ever make that connection you will live in a continual state of frustration and wonder why am i doing so much and receiving so little why am i fishing all night and catching nothing that's what happened to Peter you know fished all night caught nothing but the moment he gave his boat to Jesus his biggest problem was breaking Nets because God is in charge of the harvest there is a certain part of success and a certain part of life that you don't control you can decide how much to plant but without the cooperation of the elements it will only grow to be so much it takes a little a little while to learn this that you can do everything in your human strength that you know to do to guarantee a happy life but there is a certain dimension of life that is outside of your control touch your neighbors say don't blow it here here are these people it's been 20 years I understand they come back from Babylon they're really trying to get acclimated to being back in a place that has been so ravaged they're settling into their towns maybe two years maybe five years but it's been 20 you it's been 20 years now which has a significant number for me let me tell you why this summer I was going back and watching some of the sermons that inspired me to be a preacher they're all on YouTube and it's cool because I don't have to pay for him I can boot like them now and I've long since lost the cassette tapes but they're all online now and so I was online watching some of my favorite preachers that were inspiring me as a boy these were my heroes I was watching them just to kind of get in touch with 16 year old Stephen who used to walk around the block with the Walkman and I would preach with the preachers and I would I would hold an imaginary microphone I've said too much okay and I was listening to them preach and I was watching them on YouTube and I thought man these guys looked so much older to me and then I did some math and I realized that the guys that I used to watch when I was 16 were the age then right that I am now you talk about a broken heart you talk about a wake-up call because see I still feel like I got all this time you know I still feel like we're just getting started the church is just getting started I mean in my mind this is still the IPO but it was a wake-up call for me to realize that what they were to you then you are to somebody now in other words you don't have any time to waste touch your other neighbors say don't blow it you only got so much time I know you keep telling yourself one day win and we're gonna get around to it and I'm fixing to but you might find yourself one day running out of strength what is in your heart to do you better do it now some of your neighbors say do it now this is your wake-up call that was 20 years ago man if we're gonna build it we gotta build it now but sometimes the devil will tell you you're being patient when really you are procrastinating and if he can get you to mistake procrastination for patience he can keep you locked out of the blessing that is on the other side of your obedience [Applause] [Music] yes it's the process I mean yes it takes time but really twenty years and after all Haggai says it looks like somehow you found time to build your own house I'm so glad pastor Mickey taught me that he beat that into my head he said boy you find time for what you want to do he said that cuz I told him I didn't have time to do something he told me to do he said boy you find time for what you want to do you find time for what you want to do you you you find passion and energy if I could get some of you to apply the same energy to serving God that you apply to sin we would turn every county in the United States of America and it looked to them like progress but the Prophet Haggai says wait a minute progress is more than just effort progress is effort in the right direction consider your ways consider your ways he gets into a vivid description the sound is so modern when I was reading it I don't know if you had the same experience because I thought about all the the streams that we live in now and the feeds and when he said you you eat and are never full and you scroll and are never entertained he didn't say that but that's what it made me think of he said you YouTube but now you're over in cat videos and you don't even know how you ended up how did I how did I did here on a minecraft tutorial I'm 37 years old and then it it gets kind of dramatic I don't apologize for God's Word he said when I saw that you were so busy with your own work when I saw that you were so busy with your own interests I didn't mind you building your own house I didn't mind you driving a new car I didn't mind you enjoying yourself on the weekend and telling your friend who's always trying to use you that you didn't have time to help them move it was fine because they're always asking you and they're there but what I minded was what I minded was that you lost your sense of what was really important and so now God says I I had to take action I had to frustrate your process to remind you of your priorities you know how sometimes you'll be doing something that used to be fun for you and it's not fun anymore and you can't even explain why sometimes that's God sucking the fun out of something that is keeping you from your calling in purpose it is getting frightening ly quiet on the week one of waymaker good news is if I keep preaching like this you will have plenty of seats for the rest of the four weeks of waymaker this is a space maker that's what this sermon is no nobody said I had to do something about it I had to interrupt you in order to get your attention because I brought you back from Babylon I made a way for you and I gave you an assignment to rebuild my temple but but you took what I gave you and you spin it on yourself and so here's what I had to do and I watch this you might not like this view of God it's okay God is not running for any office he does not need your vote I said he does not need your vote he is not on any ticket you expected much verse nine but see it turned out to be little this is the part and what you brought home I blew away well that's not nice Heavenly Father I thought sir I was on the sparrow I thought you had the whole world in your hands I thought you would give me this day my daily bread I didn't know you would blow it away touch somebody say don't blow it what you brought home I blew away why would you do that why would you why would a good God cause something to leave your life I blew it away it wasn't the devil this would be my first assumption anytime anything that I don't like happens it was the devil the devil made me do it the devil gave me a flat tire the devil gave me a stomach flu the devil gets more pressed I'm in a lot of pulpits than Jesus Christ us God said no I did that I let it go bad I made him break up with you I made her not call you back this is this is crazy stuff here now this is this is the stuff that you get in the parts of the Bible like Haggai flip pass to get over to the good stuff my God shall supply all your knees according to his glorious riches can we get back to that no not this week this week is Haggai and Haggai said God blew it away why why would you do that why would you blow it away why would you blow it God said so you wouldn't it was not to punish you it was to protect you if I allowed you to depend on your stuff you would forget your source so when I see you getting too attached to something that I gave you sometimes I gotta make sure that you remember that I give you breath and if I don't breathe out you don't breathe in touch somebody say don't blow it don't blow it when I see you building your house on sinking sand sometimes I gotta set the storm to check your foundation and the rains came down the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house because God would rather have you go through a season of frustration and to build your whole life on the wrong foundation [Applause] well I'm fixing to they didn't say they wouldn't you never say you won't you say you're gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna this was the craziest can't tell y'all crazy story crazy people go to this church sooo I'm saying right on cue good crazy bad crazies is bad crazy I told the man he kept saying I love the church I love the church is the grace I love the church you had a lot of money too I love the church I'm so successful I love that Search Search is so great I love the Lord I love the church I checked the record he never gave anything to what he said he loved now in my universe God so loved the world that he gave I said it real respectfully and I don't check everybody's record this was a long time ago I just got so tired of it because he always loved the church love the Lord love the word love the worship love what y'all are doing for the community I love it I love it he's a baller yeah I love it I said um I said there might be something wrong with our records but we have no recorded gift you ever made this is when I was a younger preacher I wasn't as sophisticated I said um is that correct he said oh yeah Oh Doug Bob somebody to hold on he was a Baptist but he started speaking in tongues I was so confused I didn't know what to do about that I'm sorry to get the hombre so long he said you know what he said to me he said he didn't say I'm fixing to but he said he said all right when I die I'm gonna put the church in my will and I'm gonna send you a hundred thousand dollars I wish I would have told him what I thought but I I didn't think of it right then Holly does this all the time she'd come home to me and should tell me about somebody who says something to her and they just say I was like that but i but i but Santa but I'm not done it's time to talk and she just slices and burns them Rosalyn Tom I told him about it I was like dad I said yep I'll be like yes at that cuz she's so nice I'm like you said that she's like no I was like that oh I was like it means huh I mean I would have said it I mean I'm fixing to I mean when I when I die I'm gonna get my money over here my checking of my savings and I got this thing over here on my money market and if someone and then jabba home to Santa come here surrender here while Santa we don't say never we say not now and 20 years pass and you were gonna and you were gonna and now the kids graduated and you were gonna you were gonna we were gonna we were gonna build it how about my son Thomas and you say I'm fixin to and your whole economy is broken maybe not your financial economy I mean you can financially succeed without God but you can't have significance not without God there is no significance to any process that God is not the center of I don't believe anything more than I believe that there may be short-term success there may be illusion of of happiness but there will be no deep-seated fulfillment in any process that God is not the center of whether it's your money whether it's a marriage and God doesn't want you to blow it he does not want you to waste the opportunity I don't think there's any greater pain than the pain of a wasted opportunity to neglect your priorities is to forfeit your provision and what struck me about the text is that there was no lack of resource natural or spiritual that prevented the people from prospering a guy said you planted plenty there was nothing wrong with the seed but I interrupted the cycle of the harvest so that you would not depend on anything that was disconnected from me so now here's what I want you to do very simple very strategic so basic that you cannot you can't you cannot refuse to do it because you didn't understand it here's what I want you to do verse 8 go up into the mountains that's the position cuz you got to be in the right place you've got to be in the right place for God to bless you you've you've got to stay planted to flourish so go up into the mountain when you get there bring down timber that's the potential that's the potential this is the temple in potential this is this is the dwelling place of God but right now it looks like simple timber bring down the timber which represents the potential we're the place where my glory will dwell right now it looks like timber the temple is in the forum you got it that's my dude right there that's my dude right there how did you know where I was going that the temple looks like timber until you bring it down and build my house that's the process so there's the position there's the potential and there's the process here's the thing there was no shortage of provision there never is there never is when God made the earth and spoke it into existence when God breathed the breath of life into man he gave everything that would be needed in the form of seed there's no there's no shortage in God you think the unlimited God of the universe has shortage do you think there's anything in your life that is too hard for God even when you see a nation ravaged by poverty it's not because there wasn't enough stuff it's because the system's did not allow the stuff to be distributed there's never a lack of provision in God never everything that you need is already here there is never a lack of provision so the problem of the people in the way they experienced it was a problem with provision a guy said it's not provision consider your ways what you think is a lack of provision is a lack of priority because if you will seek first the kingdom of God and make this your foundation if you will seek first his righteousness oh these things will be added to you everything you need and everything you don't even know that you need and everything that you really want beneath what you think you want all of these things will be added to you but if you seek the things you'll miss the kingdom but if you seek the kingdom you'll get the things thrown in if you will seek God first everything your heart desires will be made manifest in his presence and so often we are asking God to send provision but God can't send provision where there are no priorities and if I can be just this basic about it as pastor Miki was you find resource for what you want to do how come people who can't afford to tithe can afford a iPhone 7 I'll descend back down now just to write it down just to write it down when we when we take an offering at the end of the year in our church this year and I want every campus to hear this especially the newer ones the only reason that you're sitting in their seat is because somebody brought down timber for the temple somebody did that somebody did that and this is the time of year where where we develop and demonstrate our faith as a family for those who have not yet been reached for those who do not yet know the ways of God this is the time where we go up to the mountain our church is called elevation after all we go up to the mountain we don't stay down in the in the muck of the of the current viewpoint of our culture we go up on the mountain we access the resource after all the same resource that God was calling them to build his house with was the resource they were already building theirs with because you find timber for what you want to build and why I love to seek God first is because when I prioritize my life God's provision has a place to land if you really remember some of the miracles in the Bible where God did something great for someone the first step was for their priorities to be ordered the first step when the woman needed a miracle from the man of God in the book of first Kings do you remember this story the Prophet said I know you don't have much left I know you lack provision in your own eyes right now but if you will first give me a little cake and prioritize the purpose of God if you will sustain God's work in the earth God will sustain you if you remember the little boy with the lunch that Jesus had Peter go over beat him up take his lunch pass it out to the crowd creative interpretation what started with a lunch ended in leftovers but it was because of the prioritization to bring it first to Jesus and put it in his hands that's what we do every time we tithe it's the first 10% of your income it's setting it aside for God and saying God before anything else you be the foundation of my finances you be the foundation of my family you be the foundation of my future I want to build my life on you and when you bring that first fruits to God when you do it every time you do it God says I can build on that but how can God build on a foundation that you don't lay and you are waiting for God to send something and he's waiting for you to lay a foundation that will sustain what he sends when you seek God first all these things will be added to you and that's why I'm not afraid of what I might face in the future because I have a foundation because God is the bottom-line of my life now when you can't say that you live in constant fear and suspicion and paranoia and emptiness and even your blessings seem Hollow and you expect much and you come up empty but God says go up bring down and build I love the Lord because even when he has to correct me he still gives me another chance to get it right God said you've had 20 years to do it but I'm sending my prophet haggai by the way you might be interested to know that hey guys name means feast so God is preaching to a people in a famine about a feast and if you will have the faith to go up bring down and build this is what the Lord Almighty says I am with you I sent my word through my prophet to give you another chance another chance to build your life on the foundation of the solid rock of Jesus Christ this is your second chance don't blow it and some of you have had the kind of year that Haggai described eating not filled drinking not quenched dressed not warm and God is sending his word to you today saying that the storm that I brought you through was to check your foundation everything you've been through was about establishing a foundation for your future and I want to take a pastoral privilege right now and agree in prayer with all of God's people on every location and I need you to join your faith with me everybody who's been coming up empty and reaping in disappointment and reaping in tears and reaping and frustration and wondering why and God is now bringing you to a point of prioritizing his presence above all else I want to pray with you right now mass that we stand at every location this is the word of the Lord coming through the sermon to your life to your famine to your frustration to your Berenice this is the word of the Lord go up bring it down and let's build don't blow it God has put you in this season for a reason God put you in this church for a reason God put you in this city for a reason God gave you those children for a reason on that job in that school for a reason now don't you blow it [Music] God kept you alive this long for a reason God delivered you from sickness for a reason brought you out of sin for a reason kept you from going down for the last time for a reason don't you blow it don't waste his grace don't waste your opportunity weeping over what you didn't do let's get building we've got a kingdom to build people let's get building now is the time God said I want to be your highest priority and when I see you giving your best self to lower priorities but if you will bring your best self and make God your highest priority I guarantee you you've never experienced deep peace like this before now I'm gonna pray in just a moment after I pray there will be a little bit more for setting up of what's gonna happen over the next few weeks I'm excited about the journey how many are excited about the journey God is gonna do some things in your life like never before that's the phrase I hear like never before a blessing like never before even now making a way away in the wilderness doing a new thing in your life in this ministry and I come into agreement with you right now in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God the Eternal Word made flesh to dwell among us full of grace and truth and I come into agreement with you today that God would become the highest priority in your life so that you can receive the deepest peace the piece of knowing the peace that passes all understanding the piece of knowing that my house is built on the rock Father give us a passion for your house give us your heart for your world we want to see the things you see we want to know the things that you speak we want to walk in your ways after all that you've done for us and after all that you've been to us and in consideration of all that you're going to do we give you our full and total lives our complete selves we repent of all the ways that we've put everything else ahead of you we repent of the excuses that we've made we repent of the spirit of procrastination there are some things you called us to do that we keep putting off we're fixing to but today we declare that what you have spoken we shall obey because you say so we will let down the nets and we believe for a great catch a great harvest more than we can ask or imagine according to your glorious riches in Christ do it God you are a wave maker [Music] you are do it in their life thank you for joining us for today's message if god is impacting your lives through this ministry join us in reaching others by investing today you can give at elevation Church org slash gift or by downloading our app and selecting gift and don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more bonus messages like this one [Music] you [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Elevation Church

Views: 1,092,969

Keywords: Elevation Church, Pastor, Steven Furtick, Sermon, Second chances, Provision, Progress, Procrastination, Punishment, How to gauge your progress, Process, Priority, How to set the right priorities, Protection, Change your ways, Examine your routine, Giving, Opportunity

Id: 1PTRsZWnRLU

Length: 50min 40sec (3040 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 06 2017