The Momentum Of A Decision | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
We welcome you right now. Please be sure to let  us know right now in the comments or the chat   where you're joining us from. It's significant.  Then our prayer teams can start praying for you   by name that God's presence would reach you  in a powerful way. I also wanted to announce   to you what they didn't tell you on Fox News  or CNN. This is the year of the Lord's favor.   Breaking news! The Lord is good,  and his love endures forever. Just to give you a preview, we're going  to finish with favor. The Lord spoke   that to me. He said, "Finish with favor."  I'll preach about that in coming weeks.   That's what Jesus did. He said it's  the year of the Lord's favor. Yes,   there are blind eyes that need to be opened.  Yes, there are lame who need to walk. Yes, there are poor who need to be helped. It has  always been this way. But this is the year of the   Lord's favor. Everybody has an opportunity  to participate in this and believe with this   because we're receiving a year-end  offering. We set the date for December 13.   You can give anytime up until then.  You can go to elevationchurch.org. The best thing to do if you really believe  everything you have came from God is to set   up a recurring gift of a tithe. That's  our way of saying to God, "I trust you   and I thank you" all at the same time.   Listen. You get to thank him and trust him with  the same act of obedience, and that's a powerful   thing. Elijah, I've been tithing since 16. So,  for every $50 on a beat you sell, $5 is God's. Really, it's all his, but we return that top part  back to him. If you do it, it'll make room for him   to prove himself in your life. I promise you that.  How many have experienced that and can testify?   I know it's like, "Well, this has been a hard  year." Yeah, it has been a hard year. I'm not   going to make it harder by stopping trusting  God. That would be a really weird thing to do.   So we're just going to move  forward, expand God's kingdom. The offering is centered around the word favor. I  just called it the Favor Offering 2020. We always   choose a word. You can find out how to give there  and give above and beyond. Holly and I are going   to give our gift on December 13. I challenge  you to do the same all over the world. How   many are grateful for the givers who make it  possible for these gospel messages to go out?   Thank God for you! All of the givers, God is doing great  things through you, and God is about to   speak a great thing to you. How many believe  that? Say "Amen." You have great faith to   say "Amen" before you even hear my Scripture.  Today, I want to take one verse of Scripture,   and I'll launch from this verse. It's a very  powerful verse found in Luke, chapter 5. Thank you, God, for this little message.  Help me to communicate it in a way   that will make a difference in  somebody's life. In Jesus' name, amen. Luke 5:11. One verse. I promise you that  doesn't mean the sermon will be shorter.   This is the verse: "So they pulled their boats  up on shore, left everything and followed him."   You probably need to hear that another time to let  it sink in, just the magnitude of what they did. "They pulled their boats up on shore, left…"   I don't want to say it, because I don't want to  do it. I don't want to leave everything. I mean,   I want to leave some things, the stuff I'm  tired of. I want God to take that away,   but I guess I'd better preach how it says it in  the verse. "…left everything and followed him."   I want to speak to you today  about The Momentum of a Decision. God, you're already doing such an awesome  work in this place. I can feel it,   and I believe it's happening everywhere that  someone is connected to this word, whether it's   by Wi-Fi signal or whether it's in a campus with  a building that says church on it or anywhere in   between. Speak your word. We're listening,  and our answer is "Amen." In Jesus' name. Oh, Holly, I forgot to tell you. I had this  interesting conversation with Jennie Lusko.   After Holly did her Reflect sermon,  some of her friends who were here   came over to the house, and they were  roasting hot dogs and s'mores by the campfire.   I don't eat the s'mores. I'm a health food  kind of guy, so I ate hot dogs and sausages.   It's the low carb lifestyle.  You wouldn't understand. Jennie wrote a book last year,   and I thought the title of the book was so great.  I knew the story behind it, so for me, there's   even more power, because I've watched her and  her husband Levi live it. They pastor a church in   Montana. You've met them before. They've been here  before. Her book was called The Fight to Flourish. It's a great title. In fact, that's what  I asked her. I said, "Jennie, how did you   think of that title?" Because I'm a title guy. I  spend just…you can ask my family…notepads trying   to get a title for each sermon. So I'm a title  guy. I said, "I feel like that title The Fight   to Flourish is a whole sermon in itself. I  feel like you could charge $14.99 just for   the title and not even have to write the book."  I said, "When did you decide to call it that?" Awkward silence. She goes,  "Hmm. I don't really remember."   I said, "Well, try to remember. I'd really  like to know. I'm really interested.   Were you sitting outside? Were you sitting  inside? Were you with a group? Did somebody   else suggest it to you? Did it go through  some other titles and you chose that one?   Were you watching Rocky and there was a  flower on the table and you went 'Fight   to Flourish'? What happened?" She  said, "I really don't remember." She went all the way back, and she went through  the chain of events that led her to write the   book. Of course, the book was written  about how they lost their daughter Lenya   who went to heaven suddenly about eight  years ago. She never set out to write a book,   but somebody had suggested to her that God  could use what she had been through and the   way she trusted God through it to help them  through what they're going through. Of course,   you're resistant to something like that at first,  and that makes sense, but she eventually did it. She walked through that, and she knew  exactly where she was when someone said,   "That needs to be a book," and she knew exactly  where she was when she decided to begin. She went   through all of that, and she gave me the chain  of events, but she couldn't remember the moment   of decision when she said, "I'm going to call  it The Fight to Flourish." She remembered when   she saw the cover and she thought, "That's  how it needs to look on the cover," but she   couldn't remember when she made the decision  that that's what it was going to be called. That was interesting to me, because she  went back through all of these events,   but she couldn't remember the exact moment of  decision. She remembered, "Well, this led to that,   and that led to that, and that led to that,  and this was painful, and this was purposeful,   and this I knew in my heart, and this somebody  else said, but even though I can remember the   events that led to it with clarity, I don't really  remember the moment of decision specifically." I thought that was kind of interesting. There's a  difference between an event and the decision. One   thing I like to teach, since everybody now likes  to be offended all the time… It's our national   addiction. We are addicted to being offended as  a nation, and if you're offended I said that,   wouldn't that just finish my point? "Well, I don't think…" Okay. One thing I  taught years ago (it seemed to help people,   so I thought I'd put it in this sermon  up front) is that offense is an event.   That's something that happens to you, and it's  a real thing. Offense is an event, but offended   is a decision. Notice what we just did. We  just separated the event from the decision.   Somebody doing something to me that they shouldn't  have done might be something I didn't choose,   but my response to that is a  decision. The momentum of a decision. Beginning to separate this out is probably  important if we're parenting teenagers,   because unless you understand   what led to the decision, you will  always try to correct the behavior.   I was praying for one of my  kids one day, and I was like,   "Why do they keep doing that?" It was like the  Lord said back to me, "I don't know. Why did   you do the same thing when you were their age?"  I was like, "Oh! Right. It's called puberty." But isn't it easy to explain  somebody else's decision as unwise   while justifying your own as  completely warranted? I'm really good,   and I think I should get a professional job  at breaking down other people's decisions.   You know, "They shouldn't let their kids  do that. They shouldn't spend that. They   can't afford that. Why would they go there? Why  would they say that? Why would they think that?" I am so good at diagnosing your decisions,   but I have to be honest. There are some  things I do that if you press me for it,   I really can't tell you why or when. For instance,  I can't tell you when I became a cynical person,   but I just know that I am a lot. I never woke  up one day and was like, "Thursday, March 14.   This is the day." I didn't  make a declaration of cynicism. People don't make a declaration of depression.  "I think today I'll go into a deep state of   depression." It's not a decision. You don't really  remember exactly when you started feeling this   way. Maybe you could trace back some events, but  it's a different thing to understand the decision.   That's why we have to be a student of  how God works in our lives to understand   that every decision has a  parent called an emotion. Every emotion is a descendant of a thought.  If I don't deal with the thought that created   the emotion, I'll try to make a different  decision only to be overpowered by something   that is deeper than what I am dealing  with at the surface of my decisions.   Then I'll know why I bought a Peloton  and turned it into a coat rack   for my sweatshirts. When I decided to buy the  Peloton, I was in a certain state of mind.   I was in a certain state of guilt  and condemnation. (This is not a real   illustration about me. I'm just using  it. I heard this from some people.) You make a decision, and you make the  decision in a certain state of mind,   and then you encounter a challenge, and  the decision you made in the state of mind   where you saw clearly, the decision you made in  the state of mind where that better part of you,   where the Spirit of God lives and rules  and reigns and knows what's best for you,   gives into something deeper in you  that pulls you back into stuff. Every decision has momentum. I am not a  scientist, nor the son of a scientist.   There are people and books that can tell you the  mechanics of decisions you make. They can tell you   why you pick this over that, and they can tell  you about the neurology. I can't. But I chose   Luke 5:11 because where I live in the Scriptures,  that seemed to me like a very dramatic decision   to leave everything and follow Jesus.  What does it mean to follow Jesus?   For the people who did it right here, I'll  show you exactly what it meant. It was simple. See? That's what they did. For us it's abstract.   For them it was physical. He's not describing a  spiritual decision here. It's just a physical one.   They left everything. That doesn't mean  they left their way of thinking. That just   means they left their boat, their  nets, and their fishing supplies.   They left their bait, but they didn't  necessarily leave their beliefs. At some point, they set out, and they followed  Jesus. I kind of wish it was this clear for us,   that following Jesus was as simple as… Come here.   You be Jesus. Won't that be fun? Just for a  minute. No pressure. Just walk. That's all he did. I think I could follow Jesus better if it was that  simple. I mean, this is not so hard right now.   Following Jesus for me is not a physical  decision. Physical decisions are sometimes easier,   but to be a disciple… This is a passage about the  calling of the disciples. You know them. You love   them. They're famous. They're dysfunctional.  They're crazy. They're stupid. They blow it. They don't understand that Jesus is going to the  cross, so they try to stop him from going there.   That's who he chose as his disciples.  This is how he called them, and this is   what they did. "They pulled their boats up  on shore, left everything and followed him."   There's a hymn we used to sing called  "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus  I have decided to follow Jesus No turning back, no turning back. It's great. Singing it is one thing.   For most of us, to sing that,  all it costs us is breath.   For the people who did it in this Scripture,   it cost them their boats. I want to show  you in the Scripture… This is really, really   insightful to me, and I can't possibly show  you everything that's in this text because… Well, honestly, when they followed him, it led to  so much more than they could know in that moment.   When they started following Jesus… I want  you to think about it, because some of you   have stopped following Jesus, and some  of you are just starting to follow Jesus,   and some of you are in stride trying to  decide. So everybody needs this message. As they followed him, although it sounds  very dramatic what they did on the surface,   there was a chain of events  that led up to the decision,   and then there was a chain of events that  this decision set in motion that would be   very powerful. Think of all of the amazing  things they would see because of this decision   to follow Jesus. Think of what it must have  felt like to be there when blind Bartimaeus   for the first time started to describe  colors and sights and objects and shapes. Think of what it must have been like  to see a man come through the roof,   and you didn't even know what Jesus was going  to do, whether he was going to fuss at him for   destroying property or… Oh, surprise! He healed  him. That's what he wanted. He wanted the kind of   faith that would break through a barrier and  do whatever it takes to get to his presence. Think of how amazing it would have been for  them to see a woman who was caught in the act   of adultery, but instead of stoning her, the only  one who had the right to punish her instead sent   her away with a new reality of who she was.  Think of all they saw because of a decision   to leave everything and follow him. They didn't know when they left everything  that they would gain everything.   In fact, by human calculations… I know  this is going to be controversial,   and somebody is going to get offended when I say  it, but I studied it, and if you get offended,   you're the one it's for anyway. Listen to this. From a human perspective, this is a dumb decision.   I'll tell you why. Because the  boats they left were full of fish,   and fishing is what they did for a living.  So, Luke 5:11, from a strategic standpoint…I'm   not talking about a spiritual standpoint…is  the dumbest decision that Peter, James,   and John (that's who they are in the text)  could have made to pull their boats up on shore. This is their transportation. This is their  vehicle for their commercial activity.   This is their life. This is their way  of life, and they walk away from it   to follow somebody who hasn't even  proven that what he said is true yet. By any rational decision-making analysis, this  is dumb. At the very least, it's a little quick.   You don't have to do it with no net, do you?  That's a phrase that means you don't have any   safety net, any backup plan. They followed Jesus  with no net. They left everything. That's dumb.   "Isn't that disrespectful to the Bible?" It's  just a practical fact. That's a dumb thing to do. What gave them the confidence to make such  a bold decision? Now, in order to understand   this decision or your teenager's decision  or Jennie Lusko's decision or the decisions   you're making right now, the ones that are  sabotaging you and the ones that are causing   you to succeed… In order to understand those  decisions, you kind of have to work backward. This is why we keep trying to change  and can't change; keep trying to pray,   can't pray; keep trying to get up at 5:00 a.m.,  can't get up at 5:00 a.m. So then we try 4:30,   like that's going to fix it. Just get more  dramatic. "I'm going to do it. This is the time."   Maybe that's just my personality. I relate to  Peter in the text, because when I did decide to   do a low carb lifestyle, I just did it. I didn't  go shop. I didn't plan. I didn't stock the pantry. I just turned to Holly and said, "I'm fat, and  I'm done." I don't think I ate a carbohydrate   for 18 months. If I went to preach somewhere where  they were doing barbecued chicken, I'd sneak the   chicken in the bathroom and wash the barbecue  sauce off the chicken, because I have problems,   because something is wrong with me,  and I understand that about myself now.   That's not how you're supposed to do it, but  that's how I do it. That's how I do stuff. The craziest things I do… I just  do it. Just do the thing, you know.   Around the campfire with the ladies… I  have to be honest. I hadn't talked to a   group of four ladies in a while until  after Holly's Reflect the other day.   Ladies talk about different stuff. Some of it  is not mentionable on a worldwide platform for   the gospel, some of the things they were talking  about around the campfire, but I hung with them.   I sat around the fire, and I talked with them,  and we started telling marriage proposal stories. Mine is really embarrassing, because I had an  elaborate plan to do something really special   for Holly, but I wanted to do it so badly once I  bought the ring… Because I took all my money. I   mean, I left $5 in the bank account from the ATM  and took it upstairs to level 3 of this pawn shop   of a guy I could trust who was up there, and  I got a ring, and I asked her dad. I wanted   to propose that day, so I ended up taking her  to Pizza Hut. I didn't propose at Pizza Hut,   because I feel a really, really strong hatred  from all of the ladies in this church right now. But I took her to Pizza Hut. I proposed.  I wrote a song. I did it. I had to do it.   Once I realized I could do it, I had to do  it. I didn't have time to wait around. So,   I relate to this kind of decision. "I  just can't eat Cheetos anymore. Look   at me. Look at how I look. I can't do this  anymore. I have to do something different." How many of you are like that? Like, just this  ability… I can feel the rest of you judging us.   "There's wisdom, Pastor Steve…" "Pastor Steve" is  the name I use when I'm making fun of somebody.   I know there is wisdom, but there's also in here  an impulse to make a decision, and I think we'll   understand more why they made the decision if  we understand the events that led up to it. I think we'll understand more why they  did something so dramatic if we understand   the context, so I want to go all the way  back to verse 1, and I want to read this   Bible story that is called "Jesus Calls His First  Disciples." That's the headline of it in my Bible.   How did the disciples who decided to follow Jesus   and leave everything they knew before  that, that they depended on before that,   everything that was familiar before  that…? How did they decide to do it? When you understand the events, you can understand  the decision. When you understand the difference   between the two, you can understand that an event  doesn't have to define the rest of your life   unless you allow it to. God gives you the power  to make a different decision. You don't have to be   a drunk for the rest of your life. You don't have  to be mean and hateful for the rest of your life.   You don't have to be pessimistic  the rest of your life. So how did they do it? Why did they do  it? I want to understand the events,   and then maybe I can understand the  decision. It starts like this. The   decision to be a disciple. I will say  one more thing before I read this.   Giving your life to Christ is one decision,  and many have done that, and many will do it   today. I'm going to give you the opportunity  to do that at the end of my message today.   But deciding to receive God's grace and deciding  to be his disciple are two different things. One is an event. It's something God does. It's by  grace you're saved through faith, not of works.   That's not decisions you make that  earns God's grace. Then it's not grace.   That's what God does. But to follow him…  This is a decision. The Bible says, "One day   as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret…"  Sea of Galilee may be more familiar. Same thing.   Same body of water. It's where Jesus ended up  basing his ministry, and this is where it started. "…the people were crowding  around him and listening   to the word of God." So, no social distancing  going on in Luke, chapter 5, verse 1. They're   pressing in on him, and he needs a little space so  his voice can amplify. It's a very practical need. "He saw at the water's edge two boats, left there  by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.   He got into one of the boats, the one belonging  to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from   shore. Then he sat down and taught the people  from the boat. When he had finished speaking,   he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water,  and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon…" That's the name of Peter before he was called  Peter. His name was Simon. Jesus gave him   the name Peter, Cephas (petros, rock). "Simon  answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night   and haven't caught anything.'" "Besides, we're  professional fishermen. You're a good preacher,   and you were doing good with that sermon, but  the time to catch fish has already passed.   It's fine that you're using my boat to  preach, but telling me how to fish is   something different." Do you hear the attitude?  "We've fished all night but caught nothing." "'But because you say so,   I will let down the nets.' When they had done  so, they caught such a large number of fish   that their nets began to break. So they  signaled their partners in the other boat   to come and help them, and they came and filled  both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at  Jesus' knees and said, 'Go away from me,   Lord; I am a sinful man!' For he and all his  companions were astonished at the catch of fish   they had taken, and so were James and John,  the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then   Jesus said to Simon, 'Don't be afraid;  from now on you will fish for people.' So   they pulled their boats up on shore,  left everything and followed him." Now that you've heard the chain of events, do  you understand the decision a little bit better?   I do. It helped me. As someone who is  drawn to dramatic decisions…40-day fast,   30-day fast… I've done both of those. I haven't  done it in a decade, but I did it one time. I   just have to be honest about that. I haven't  done it in a long time, but I'm down with that. As somebody who wants to go deeper in God… I  want to go deep. "God, do something deep." God   has been speaking to me lately that the deepest  things he will do in my life start shallow.   I know this sounds like a contradiction of  everything you would normally hear in a pulpit,   because we want a deep sermon,   a deep word from God, one we can't  understand so then we don't have to obey. But when I was reading the text, I  was drawn to verse 11. I was like,   "Yes, Lord! I want to follow you  wherever you lead. Though none   go with me, I still will follow. Yes,  Lord! I just want to go into the unknown.   I will follow you, Lord. Yea, though I walk  through the valley of the shadow of death." The Lord was like, "Kid, you haven't even read  your YouVersion Bible plan. Start shallow."   That's about the deepest thing you could  do. Leave everything and follow him.   But notice in the verse. It's in the verse.   It's in the Bible. I don't understand  everything about decision-making science,   but I understand something about Scripture.  I understand a little bit about Scripture. It said that the boats were at the water's  edge. The crowds were coming around. In verse 3,   he got in a boat and asked him to put out a  little. I stopped when I read the word little.   I realized that before they left  everything, they did a little thing.   The reason we keep on deciding to do stuff, and  then we go from deciding to disruption to denial… It's a cycle. Deciding to disruption to denial.  The reason sometimes is because we stay too deep.   I want to give you a story I never had the guts to  share before right now, but something about this   year has made me a little bolder. I don't know if  it's just that I think Jesus is coming back next   Thursday and it doesn't matter anyway, so get me  out of here. Whatever. I feel a little conspiracy   theorist rising up in me this year. I don't know.  I never had all that before, but it's coming now. Anyway, when I was going through a period of  criticism… And I'm not going to live in it,   because God knows. It was about this time in  2013. Many were in the church. It was weird,   because it was more criticism than we had  ever experienced as a church. It kept coming.   That's all I want to say about that part. I lived in fear for six months. To really tell you  the extent of it, let me tell you the text I sent   to Chunks after about three months of it. I said,  "If anything happens to me and I don't make it,   you've got Holly and the kids. Right?" I wasn't  suicidal. I just didn't know if I could keep   day after day after day… I was trying to  preach through it, and I didn't know if I could   or something bad would happen. I  didn't know what bad would happen, but… So, during that time… That'll make you  pray, and it'll make you pray deep things.   "Lord, I need your peace. I need your vindication.  Many of the things they're saying are not true,   and they're twisted. I don't want to  keep having to deal with this, so, Lord,   deliver me." When I tell you what brought  me peace, you are not going to be satisfied. While I was praying the deep prayers… I  found some prayers in the Psalms where   David was praying stuff like "Smash my  enemies' heads against a rock." I found   some great Scriptures during that time that  I never saw before. Very meaningful to me.   But my answer wasn't on my Bible  app. It was on my Twitter app. When I decided to delete Twitter…   I know that sounds shallow, but that little… I  don't even know if people use Twitter anymore,   because I haven't really been on it in seven  years. They put stuff out. That's not me.   That's somebody on a computer somewhere putting  Bible verses out in my name. I can't go on there. I was telling my friend, "It's like  when I deleted all this stuff…" Now,   I'm going to tell you what God is going  to speak to some of you through this   sermon today. He's going to tell you to  delete something that is defeating you.   You think victory is so deep.  The battle is the Lord's,   but the app is yours. The brain  is yours. The decision is yours. When I deleted Twitter… I told  my friend, "It's like I thought   there were mountain lions in my yard waiting to  attack me, and then I saw it was just squirrels."   I thought, "I can't survive it"  because I was surrounded by squirrels.   I know it sounds so silly. I prayed. I said,  "God, I can't tell them to do that. There's   a lot of stuff going on in people's lives.  I need to go to the book of Revelation. The   mark of the Beast, 666, the number of the Beast." God said, "Some of the things they're praying  for me to deliver them from I have given them the   power to delete." Can I preach a shallow sermon?  Jesus didn't call them to leave their boats.   He called them to push out a little. It's a  little decision. I was talking to a friend   about depression. They said, "Have you gone  for a walk today?" I'm like, "You don't hear   me. It's spiritual warfare." They said, "No. I  said walk, not war. You're trying to be so deep.   You don't need God to give you the  victory; you need to go get some vitamins." I'm not saying the problem isn't deep. I'm  saying that sometimes the solution is so simple.   "Lord, give me a simple solution." Not just what  they did. "Put out a little bit from the shore."   Hey, leave a little bit of space. What one  thing are you willing to do differently   with this addiction that's so deep in your  life that you don't think you'll ever be   free from it? Will you do  a little thing different? That little event, that little thing, led to  something so massive Peter would be the one   who would preach the Holy Spirit into the earth in  Acts, chapter 2. If you read his sermon in Acts 2,   you'll be like, "This dude is deep." He  didn't start deep. He started shallow. I don't want you to think it's always that deep.   It was a little decision. How many believe  that's a little decision? "Just put your   boat out a little bit and let me use  it for a few minutes while I teach."   That's a little decision. "I think I'm  going to watch Elevation Church today."   That was a little decision, but God can  do a deep thing with a shallow start. I think if I were the Devil, I'd try to get you  so overwhelmed with something that felt so deep   that you wouldn't do something so simple.   I think that's his strategy, but God's  strategy was very simple. Remember,   these are the ones Jesus wants to use. It's  a little bit of a trick, because he's asking   them to carry him in the boat, but he  really wants them to become boats so the   gospel can go out through them. It's really  a picture of the purpose he has given them. This helped me. He put out a little bit,   and then Jesus preached, and then (verse 4),  "When he had finished speaking…" First the word.   "…he said to Simon [Peter], 'Put out into deep  water, and let down the nets for a catch.'" "Now let's go deeper. Put out a little. Now put  down the nets. Don't try to do too much at first.   Don't leave the boat yet. I need it right now.   Put out a little. Put down the nets." I think this  is really powerful. I don't think it's a small   thing. I really don't. The more I study it, the  more I realize that every decision that others see   contains millions of little  decisions that were invisible. "How could they do that? Why would they make that  decision?" There were a million little decisions.   When they said, "I do," they never thought  there would be a time when they didn't.   I remember early in our marriage getting  in a fight with Holly on the phone,   and one of us hung up on the other  one. I don't know which one hung up   on the other one. I really don't remember  the details of this. Maybe conveniently. But I remember one of us hanging up, and  I remember talking about that and saying,   "We're never going to do that again. We're never  going to hang up the phone on each other in the   middle of a conversation again." Because nobody  walks away from someone they gave their heart to   all at once. Decisions have momentum. So, today  I hang up on you; five years later I hate you,   because I put out a little.  See, this works both ways. Nobody decides, "I would like to be straddled  with an addiction that will follow me to the   grave." Nobody decides that. What I do decide  sometimes is "I don't want to feel the way I feel,   so if I do that, I won't have to feel  this." The decision has momentum. Isn't it a horrible thing for somebody  who's 11, 12, or 13 years old, that they   can look at something on their phone, and  out of curiosity they can see something   that will take them into a place that  will wrap them with something that   will limit them the rest of their life  from being able to be free mentally? Nobody decides, "I want to have something  that masters me the rest of my life."   That's not the decision. But decisions have  momentum. I was impressed by what they did.   "Push out the boat and let down the nets."  These are the nets they just got done washing. These are big nets. One guy said they were 25  feet in diameter. So, it takes a long time to   clean them, and they're made of linen, so  if you don't clean them, they're going to   rot and they're not going to last very long. I  thought it was cool that they were just fishing.   They didn't go out that day to decide to  follow Jesus. They went out to catch fish. Can we talk about daily decisions for a moment?   This is what they did every  day. What do you do every day?   This is not what they did on Christmas and  Easter. This is what they did every day.   This is not what they did on New Year's Eve,  like the calendar is going to change your habits. The point of the illustration is this is what  they did. What do you do? Just by being there. I'm   telling you, this is Bethsaida. This is a fishing  village. Bethsaida means house of the hunt. But   they fished. They were fishermen. They were from  Bethsaida. That's where Peter was from. So, guess   what you do when you grow up in a fishing village.  You fish. It wasn't deep. It wasn't a decision. Peter didn't go to a job fair, take an Enneagram  and a Myers-Briggs, ESTNJ, LMNOP, ADD, ADHD.   None of that. We want deep. "I want a  calling from you and a purpose in my life.   Deep calls to deep." He went  fishing, and he caught nothing.   Can you make a positive decision even  after you've experienced a negative result?   This is what amazed me. See, when I get on a roll, I can do amazing  things. When I get on a roll, it's like, Boom!   Knock them down. Boom! There's another one. Boom!  Another one. Boom! Another one. I don't mean to   bring DJ Khaled up here with me on the stage, but  I feel like sometimes I can get in a zone. This is   not the situation. This is not the event. It was  after the event of a failed night of fishing at   the point where they were vulnerable because they  were exhausted that they did what he said anyway. 2020 has been a year for us to have to learn how  to do what we know God has called us to do anyway   and to know that we can have a feeling and  not act on it and make a different decision,   have a temptation and not act on it. Do you  know how grace is the power to cover your sin?   It's also the power to change your decisions. Just because you're frustrated doesn't mean  you have to make decisions that create more   frustration. When they did what Jesus told  them to do, when they obeyed the Word of God…   That might mean a lot of different  things for a lot of different people.   That might not mean anything  having to do with a fishing net,   but it could. It could be a career thing.  I always get scared when I preach like this   that people are going to take Luke 5:11, quit  their jobs, leave their boats, and follow him. I'm going to tell you something. If you leave  your boat without a backup plan in this economy,   it's going to be a minute before you're going  to leave your apartment, leave your house too,   because they are not going to take the  message of the Lord as a mortgage payment.   So, you'd better be very careful that  you put out a little bit from the shore.   Praise him. Glory to his holy name.  And the 24 elders said "Amen." Decisions have momentum. Right? So, you  put out a little bit from the shore,   put down the nets. Boom, boom, boom.   And their nets were breaking, but the nets were  not the only thing that broke in that moment.   When I obey the Word of the Lord,  it breaks the flow of frustration.   "We fished all night and  caught nothing." Frustration. When he put down the nets, not only did the nets  break, because God blessed them so much because   they were just obedient. Not only did the nets  break, but so did the flow of their frustration.   So did the flow of their failure. So did  the flow of their fear. You do not think   your way out of the flow of fear, failure,  and frustration by thinking deeper about it.   It broke the flow when they  did something different. I'm going to have to talk to people  differently. I'm going to have to   manage my thought life differently. I'm going  to have to manage my time differently. I'm   going to have to manage my money differently.  We hear the truth, and we still won't tithe.   It would break the flow. It would break the  flow of everything that comes to me is for me,   and it would open me to receive the blessing  of God. We hear the truth, and the Word of   God speaks from our boat. Jesus gets done  speaking, and we still won't drop the nets. I heard the Lord say, "Drop it." That applies  to every offense you've been carrying.   Drop it. That applies to every empty net that's  in your life, where you've been failing and   carrying the failure around of fishing all night  and catching nothing and what you did last week,   even the fight you had before you clicked on  this YouTube video, and even the stuff you   looked at online before you came to online church  today. I heard the Lord saying, "Drop that." Sometimes we don't drop the net because  we're so busy. We're so caught up in   the discouragement. It's really hard to drop  the net when you're drowning in disappointment.   I make good decisions when I'm in a good  flow. "Oh, this worked, and that worked,   and this did good, and that did good." That is  not the occasion in Luke 5. That is not why they   left everything and followed him.  He got in their boat at a bad time. How annoying is this? He came  in their boat as a distraction.   You say, "Well, Pastor Steve, the Lord is  never a distraction." It was for Peter.   He was trying to wash his nets. He was still  dealing with a night of coming up empty,   and God was trying to fill him in that  moment with not only fish but faith. None of this was really my message.   I'm so sorry I tricked you into thinking  I was preaching about Peter's decision.   It would be irresponsible for me to tell  you Luke 5:11 and not tell you Matthew 26.   When they followed him with  the first step, they never knew   what the next step would bring. They never  really understood Jesus even though they were   attracted to him. They never really understood  why he came even though they were willing to   follow him wherever he went until he went  to the cross and Caiaphas put him on trial. Look at Matthew 26. It said they left everything  and followed him, but there were some things they   didn't leave…their concept about what  the Messiah would be, their concept about   what the Christ would be, their concept of  what it would mean to follow God. They left   their nets and their boats, but  look at what the Bible says. "'All this has taken place that  the writings of the prophets   might be fulfilled.' Then all the disciples   deserted him and fled." Receiving grace  is a one-time decision. Following Jesus   is a moment by moment… Like, "Am I following  him in this moment? Is this his thought? Am   I walking in peace right now?" That's  what we mean to say you're a disciple. There's a difference between the event of becoming  a Christian and the decision of being a disciple.   You don't make the decision of  discipleship once. You make it daily.   I'm preaching to somebody who stopped following.   I needed you to know that decision doesn't mean  God can't use you. I also wanted you to know   the disciples who started the movement of  Christianity made the same decision you did. Since you're wondering why Jesus  chose Peter, I think I'll tell you.   Because he knew he would do something dumb.   He knew Peter would cut off Malchus' ear in the  garden. He knew Peter would do something dumb. He knew Peter would speak up and  blurt out "You are the Christ!"   He knew Peter would do something dumb.  He knew Peter would drop his nets   after they were clean and put up for the  night. He knew Peter would do something dumb.   I know a preacher never told you this before,  but do something dumb for God. I don't mean   something that's contrary to wisdom. I don't mean  burn down your life. I don't mean any of that. You know I don't mean do something unbiblical. I  don't teach that. But do something that seems dumb   but is really what God is using to take you deep,   because sometimes the dumbest stuff on the  surface leads to the deepest stuff later.   It would be dumb for you to forgive them.  Do it. It would be dumb for you to trust   God and keep praising him although your  body is sick, but do it. Do something dumb. It would be dumb for you to sit and listen  to a sermon for two hours on the weekend,   but do something dumb. It would be dumb for  you to believe that God is still good while   you're going through hell. Do something  dumb. That's why he chose Peter. He said,   "I need somebody who will be dumb enough  by the world's standard to do what I say   and not care what anybody thinks  about it." Are you dumb enough? The message of the cross is foolishness   to the world, but it is the  wisdom of God, the power of God.   I want to tell you the reason he picked  Peter and the reason he chose you and the   reason you can have confidence to know  that there is no decision you can make   that will predate God's purpose for your life  is because he knew you would do something dumb. You did something dumb, and you learned from it,  and you grew from it. You did something dumb.   Peter denied Jesus, just like the other  disciples. The only one who stayed was John.   Peter did something dumb, and now,  if God's purpose for Peter depends on   Peter's decision, it's over. Do you  feel like that? "I screwed it up." Do you know what we do? We go  through things, and they're painful.   We don't take the opportunities, and we  weren't there like we should have been there,   and we go back and say things that make  absolutely no sense, like, "If I knew then   what I know now…" You didn't, but now you  do, and now you have different wisdom. Right now, in this moment, you have wisdom from  that painful experience. You have wisdom from that   dumb decision. I was talking to one of my good  friends the other day, and he was beating the crap   out of himself. He was saying, "I should have done  it differently. I would have done it differently.   I could have done it differently. I coulda. I  woulda. I shoulda. I'd have done it differently." I said, "You would have, and you will, but don't  judge yesterday's decisions with today's wisdom.   That's only going to paralyze you, and the  momentum of shame will carry you to an even deeper   place of despair." How many have experienced  this? I said to my friend, "You are literally…" This was a deep pain. This was not he wished  he would have bought $2,000 of Zoom stock at   the beginning of the pandemic. This was much  deeper than that. I said, "You would have done   it differently, and you will do it differently,  but you are using today's wisdom as a weapon   to beat yourself up for yesterday's decisions." God doesn't want you to do that, because  in the wisdom of God, he chose you   knowing you would do something dumb.   Do you believe that? I want to help you believe  that, and I want to help you from Luke, chapter 5,   verse 3, where the Bible says Jesus saw at  the water's edge… Isn't that a beautiful   image? I'm on the edge. I could do it this way.  I could do it that way. I'm making a decision. Jesus got into one of the boats,   the one belonging to Simon. He hadn't even  changed his name yet, but he chose his boat.   That's his old name. He hadn't even grown  yet. He hadn't even done anything right yet. In fact, we find out later in this story that  Peter said, "I'm a sinful man. Go away from me,   Lord." Some of you have been doing that. "Not me,  Lord; I'm not a good person. Not me; I'm not a   good parent. Not me; I'm dumb. I don't know what  I'm doing. Not me. Anybody but me." That's what   Peter said. This was the revelation I got: Peter's  destiny didn't begin with Peter's decision. It said there were two boats. That  means Jesus chose. Do you see?   This is a fishing village. There's  way more than one boat available.   And how did he choose it? I wonder. Did he go  "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"? I'm picturing Jesus.   Jesus is choosing, "Whose boat do I want to  preach from? I'm launching a ministry. Not   only am I launching a boat; I'm launching  a movement. I'm launching the gospel. Whose boat? Here's a boat. There's a boat. Eeny,  meeny, miny, moe. Catch a disciple by his boat."   I felt like God was saying, "I knew what  was in Peter when I got in his boat."   He got in your boat. He knew where I was broken  when he got into my boat. He knew what I didn't   know when he got into my boat. He knew where  I would fail when he called me to follow. So, it wasn't my decision that  started this. He got in the boat.   See, we thought it started when Peter let down  the nets. No. We thought it started when Peter   let out a little from the shore. No. You  thought it started when you were born. No. He said, "Before you were born, I formed  you. I knew you. I knew the good stuff,   the funky stuff, the weird stuff, the  perverted stuff, the twisted stuff,   the genetic stuff. I knew your dumb  stuff, and I got into your boat.   It's you I called, and it's you I chose.  I know whose boat I'm stepping into."   See, the momentum depends on who made the  decision, and if you think you chose God,   then it is dependent on you. But when you get a revelation that Peter got  much later in his life… It took him years.   He went back fishing in John 21 and didn't  catch fish again. He never really got it,   but he still preached. Why? Because Jesus knew  his condition before he called him. I don't think   there's anything more important than this to teach  you about the grace of God and the life of faith. God's decision predated your dysfunction.   He knew Peter was a cussing mess when he got into  the boat. He knew he was an impulsive idiot when   he got into the boat. He knew you were predisposed  to these emotions when he got into your boat,   when he came into your heart. He saved you  by grace. I just want you to know that. Where it starts determines where it  stops. If God's purpose for your life   stopped with your last bad decision,  it would be over for all of us.   Peter said something later in  his life that I think he learned   in that boat. This Scripture came to  me right before I came out. It was   the last thing God gave me, and it's  the last thing I want to show you. He said in 2 Peter…. He went  on to write some of the Bible.   That's pretty cool that God picked  him as an author of the Word of God   while he was cleaning empty nets. We get  so arrogant, and we get so crazy we think   something we brought to God drew him to us.  No, no. He chose you before all that, before   the achievement. Put all of those trophies back  in the basement. God doesn't need any of that. I didn't even know where this Scripture was.  I had to look it up. It said, "No prophecy   ever had its origin in human will, but  prophets, though human, spoke from God   as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  That's powerful all in itself. No prophecy   has ever had its origin… It  doesn't start with the human will. It didn't start when they left their  boats. It started when Jesus stepped in.   The momentum of that decision can carry you  through any season of your life, any failure, any   setback, any shame, anything you can name. He took  it all to the cross, buried it all in the grave,   and there's a resurrection that can  happen if you realize no prophecy   ever had its origin in the human will. The way I saw it… I asked  them, "Do you have anything   I can show the people?" I want you to  get this wherever you are in the world.   You've been praying for momentum in your life.  You have been very, very stuck and frustrated   and in a state of disappointment this year,  and the truth is some of us are drowning in it.   We fished all night. We fished all year.  We've caught nothing. Nothing is changing. I just said, "Give me something heavy on the stage  so I can leave them with an image." I know how you   are. You're like I am. We'll forget everything,  but sometimes if we see it, we can get it.   It hit me. I need somebody who's not very  strong to come here. You'll have to identify   yourself. I'm certainly not going to point  at you. I mean, I need you to be really weak. I need you to be like you haven't seen a gym since  COVID started. You haven't seen a gym since Y2K.   That's who I need right now. Do y'all  remember Y2K? Like, you have not seen it.   I mean, like, you really aren't strong.  Who's the weakest person in this section?   I wish you were all here so I could do a whole  poll. Who is the physically weakest person in the   room? Is it you? Like, for real? Okay. Come  here. Everybody in the room, stand up. I'm   going to show you this. I need you to just follow  my instructions. Thank you for volunteering.   I chose you because you said you were weak. I chose you because I said,  "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.   Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers…" I  could make a whole Christian song out of it.   "If he sins, I won't let go. Eeny, meeny, miny,  moe." I could do all this stuff. This is what   I do. Remember how we'd say, "My mama told me  to pick the very best one"? I know this is so   simple and so silly, but sometimes it's  the shallow stuff that sticks with us. How did he pick Peter? I heard, "My Father told me  to pick the very worst one, the weakest one, the   most impulsive one," and he got into that boat.  That gave me hope, because I make dumb decisions.   It's not my decision or my good  decisions I'm putting my faith in.   Not as a pastor, not as a parent, not as a  husband, not as a man. It's his decision. Give that one good push. All you're  allowed to do is push it as hard as   you can with one push. Don't keep  your hands on it. Three, two, one.   Who's the strongest person in the room? I mean,  the strongest person in the room. I need the   strongest person in the room. I'm going to have  to select somebody if somebody doesn't volunteer.   In fact, give me three strong people. Notice  I didn't just say "men." I am very, very   politically correct, y'all. I don't want to offend  anybody. Give me the three strongest people. All three of you, come on up.  I wanted to remind you of this.   Line up. When I say "Three," all on one  side, I want you to push it as hard as   you can with one push. You don't get to  lock out. You don't get to do anything,   but I just want them to realize… You can  be there for a backup in case we do it. I heard the Scriptures say, "At  the water's edge was a boat,"   and I was thinking about all of my dumb decisions  and how prophecy and the word of God over your   life don't originate with the will of man. I  was thinking about the momentum of the decision.   So, what I thought about is how far it  goes depends upon how strong you are   when you started. So, on three. One,  two, three! Push it! Look at that. Oh, look at that! It's all right,  because I wanted it to fall.   It's all right, because I planned for it to  crash. It's all right, because I set it up   for the illustration. I knew it would  fall when I called them, and I knew   it would break when I chose it, and I  knew what was in it when they pushed it.   So, the question is…Who started this? Who  brought you into the earth? Who chose who?   I don't think you chose Jesus. I think  he got into your boat a long time ago. If I'm the one pushing it, eh.   If it's Peter's decision, if it's  Peter's prophecy, if it's human will,   it stops when I sin, but if you understand that  no prophecy, no word God spoke over your life,   no assignment he gave you, nothing  he put you to do, started with you…   I hear the Lord saying the momentum is not  based in your decision; it's based in his. Clap   your hands and give him praise. A simple thing.  Clap your hands. A deep praise; a simple thing.   A simple illustration. If he started it, no one can stop it.  Sometimes I tell God, "It's your boat.   You made me. You know me. You chose me. I  guess you knew what was in my heart when   you got into my boat, so use me, Lord. I want  to go deeper in this season." I want to call   you right now to make a decision to receive  his grace. Bow your head and close your eyes. The presence of the Lord is in this moment,   and the presence of the Lord was in the moment  before that. It'll be in the moment after this.   This is a moment of decision for someone,  to place your faith in Jesus Christ.   The Lord spoke to me to do the invitation  myself today, which I don't always do. He said there was someone who needed  to stop trying to save themselves and   stop trying to earn his love and stop  trying to fix their life on their own   but to receive his grace. Let him in  your heart. It's by grace through faith.   Right now, I want to pray a prayer with you,  and I'm going to close my eyes and bow my head.   I just want us to think it's just you and  me and God. No crowds. No distractions. The Bible says everyone who calls on  the name of the Lord will be saved.   Will you make this your day to leave your  boat, your nets, your old way of life,   and be a follower of Christ? God has  already decided what he thinks about you.   He demonstrates his love toward us in this, that  while we were still sinners Christ died for us. He wants to get into your life. He  wants to come in and take over. So,   right now, if you'll pray this prayer  with me, I believe God will hear   and he will enter your heart and take your  sin away. The Bible says you will be born   again from above. I want you to repeat this  prayer after me. Everyone praying together for   the benefit of those who are coming to God or  coming back to God, who have stopped following   or who have never started following at all. This  is your moment of decision. Repeat after me. Heavenly Father, I am a  sinner in need of a Savior,   and I believe that Jesus Christ is the  Son of God and the Savior of the world,   and today I make Jesus the Lord of my life.  I believe he died that I would be forgiven   and rose again to give me life. I receive  this new life. This is my new beginning. On the count of three, if you prayed  that prayer, raise your hand. One,   two, three! If you're watching online,  put it in the chat. Say "I receive Jesus."   We want to celebrate with the angels. That's the  best decision of your life. God made that decision   a long time ago. You are accepted. You are chosen.  You are predestined. You are his child. Come on,   let's give him praise on every location  all around the world! Thank you, Lord.
Info
Channel: Elevation Church
Views: 870,017
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: elevation church, steven furtick, the momentum of a decision, elevation church sermons, pastor steven furtick, steven furtick sermons, 2020 sermons, preaching, preacher, decisions, momentum, action, identity, boat, get in the boat
Id: 77Tebh7Z220
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 76min 44sec (4604 seconds)
Published: Sun Nov 22 2020
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.