This Is A Season of Preparation | Steven Furtick

destiny is always driven by your distinctives the things about you that make you different are the things that will drive you into your destiny often the things that embarrass you about yourself are the very things that God has empowered you with to make a difference in your world come on Blakeley I know I'm not normally on the screen but you can clap because a lot of times we spend our time running from the things that God wants to use to lead us into our new season and into our greatest effectiveness touch somebody next to you and say be distinctive Israel was always meant to be different than the other nations God never intended for them to fit in in fact the reason that he called Israel was so that he could have a special possession something different than all the surrounding nations a nation on which his name could rest he wanted them to be distinctive and it broke God's heart more than anything when his people tried to pretend like they were what God had called them out of it broke his heart when they wanted a king for themselves a human king when God wanted to be their king and I think it still must really break the heart of God when we try to get out of other people something that God Himself desires to give to us something that only he can give if you're if you're a business owner raise your hand or if you're an aspiring business owner and entrepreneur of any kind one of the things you've got to do if your business is going to succeed or be great remember we said that greatness is a product of separation preceded by separation preparation and separation both work I mean I screwed it up but the other one were too even my mistake was anointed just now that's how great University City is now watch this there's something to that separation preparation there's something to that in there that's because Moses had to spend 40 years in Midian in the desert separated from his people in order to go back to his people and lead them to a place that they no longer believed they were fit to go into sometimes God has to pull you away from people and sometimes God has to pull you away from from comfortable circumstances to propel you into your calling separation is preparation Jesus often had to go away it when it was early and he had to go away and pray away from Peter and away from John and away from James I love y'all but I can't be with y'all all the time cuz I got a calling and in order to fulfill my calling I gotta be separate I got to be consecrated that's the church were consecrated what does that mean separate set apart another popular spiritual term is sanctified it means set apart for a purpose sometimes God has to pull you away from people to set you apart for purpose and you see it in Moses life God was preparing him to be a deliverer but in order to prepare him to be a deliverer he had to give him a distinctive feature so Moses is born in at 3 months old he goes through his first separation where his mother had to actually send him down the Nile and and the reason she had to do that is because Pharaoh was so afraid of the Israelites because they were becoming so numerous that he started killing all the firstborn boys and so so Moses's mom had to send him out and then when he was taken up he was taken up by one of Pharaoh's daughters so now he's an Israelite by birth but he's living in an Egyptian culture he's no stranger to separation he knows what it means to to be living in one place but to have come from another place and some of you know that feeling as well it's to be separated from your background is to be separated from the things that that that are in your blood is to be separated is just to say you know everybody on my family didn't go to college but but I think I might get a degree you know all the males are in my family ran off and left but I think I must stay and raise my kids you know my father was an alcoholic but I don't think I need that I think i'ma find that different addiction I think I'm looking at Ignat to fulfilling my purpose loosing the calling there's a separation [Music] separation so he's born in Israel I pour Hebrew he's raised in Egypt but then one day he murders an Egyptian because the Egyptian is beating the Hebrew and he's torn between the people that he came from and the people that he's had to live with and he doesn't know what to do so he responds in the wrong way because sometimes it feels like life is pulling you apart between your past and your present between who you were and who you can't be and you don't know what to do and so he does the wrong thing but but he ends up on the run and that's why he went to Midian and that's why he ended up in Midian tending sheep for 40 years and and that's why he ended up separated not only from what he was born into but what he was raised in and then God speaks to him about what he was called to do in a scene called the burning bush and that's where God said take off your shoes Moses take off your shoes take off here I'm not taking these off cuz I know there's some sneaker heads come up and grab him he said I want you to separate yourself from who you are so you can see Who I am the place you are standing is holy ground and notice I are chosen you and I've made you distinctive I've set you apart I've given you a destiny and Moses has all these excuses you know it's like well I can't talk very good and God said you know your distinctive feature isn't your ability to talk to distinctive feature is the words I'm gonna put in your mouth [Applause] so I need you to separate your view of yourself from my view of you I need you to separate yourself from your excuses for a minute so you can embrace my purpose what was God doing he was creating a separation between what Moses was not and what God certainly was he was creating a separation so that Moses when he went back to Egypt wouldn't think like the people who were still there that's what the loneliness was about the separation was preparation for purpose I didn't preach this to be a dating seminar but I just felt God say that there are some people who are holding out for a person that will complement your calling and you're not giving yourself up and you feel kind of weird about it and you feel kind of strange about it but I needed to tell you to hold on because if you compromise what's distinctive about you you will disrupt your destiny by joining with something that doesn't look like you they won't walk with you that won't work for you I wanted to tell you you're separate on purpose you're here for reason in this season and many scholars have have postulated that that the exodus account where where Moses is leading the people out of Egypt is meant to parallel or mimic the Genesis account when God created the earth and that gives us a further insight because the scripture says that when when God was getting things started how many feel like God is starting something in your life how many want God to start something in your life in your family in your business in your career so it said in the beginning God created everybody say created he created the heavens and the earth hey separate in the beginning God created what's the title of my sermon creating separation you get it in a minute because it said he created the heavens and the earth now watch this now the earth was formless and empty darkness was over the surface of the deep I need to show you something cuz if I don't show it to you I'm afraid to and pick up on it it says the darkness was over the face of the deep it doesn't say God created the darkness first John 1:5 says that God is light and in him is no darkness at all God didn't make the darkness God didn't create sin God didn't create shame God is not the author of confusion so the darkness was there but then something happened the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters and God said how did God create what you see by what he spoke so he said let there be light and there was life how many know God wants to speak some things over your life today some distinctive features it was to speak some things about what he put you here to do about what he gave you your gifts for him about what you were created for so he spoke that watch watch watch that's not the good part that's not the good part tell somebody that's not even it and he saw that the light was good that's what he spoke and he [Applause] [Music] he saw what was there that he didn't create then he spoke what he wanted to see and then he said I need to separate what was there before I spoke from what I spoke here's what I think about that I think God wants to create a separation in your life today a separation between what was there before God spoke what people said about you what your masters saying about you what's your weakness informs about you and the better word that he's slinging all the way our live let's get all that other stuff out of here all that darkness all that down all that dysfunction I got up if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation [Music] what God did in Genesis with the earth he did through Jesus born and now he said they all is gone has gone [Applause] come on get the phrase on every campus [Music] [Applause] that's what God's doing in this place today he's separating the one from the darkness he's separating your carpets from your past he's separating his words over your life from you're worried about your future he said I gotta create a separation so that the only thing that shines is what I spa play my own organ of bridges so good [Applause] Thank You future let's think the feature stand out child of God stop trying to be so similar stop trying to look like what you came from why you so scared to stand out why you so scared to stand out I didn't start a church to be like all the other churches in the area how many no that's why you're here not because it was so similar but God wants to do a special thing don't trade in special for similar and this is this is the the process by which God creates separation you not heard that term before but I never heard it in a sermon I heard it in sports they talk about basketball players who have the ability to create separation so they can take a shot with a higher percentage and and and they talk about it in even in fighting they talk about a reach advantage they talk about you know if this guy can create separation he's gonna make his opponent miss one of my friends plays football I told him I said would preach about creating separation and I said what would you say about this cuz he's a receiver he said well tell tell the people that creating separation isn't always about being fast it's about knowing your route [Applause] I'm running out of time but let me take a moment and hit on the comeback round it's interesting the way that God leads us out of situations and into purpose isn't in its it's not usually a straight line that was one of the things that was so confusing to Moses is that God gave him some instructions that seemed insane he said I could take you straight into the Promised Land this is where the people of Israel were headed they were headed and I know a lot of you may not have a ton of Bible background you don't need to know all this to get what God wants you to have you just need to embrace at the level that you can and I'm using the promised land that they were going to to talk about all the promises that God has established and has spoken over your life but the way God took them was unusual the way he led them wasn't in a straight line he told them to kind of go around an interesting route and I want to read you this in in Exodus 14 demand a backup before that point where the water separated and they went through on dry ground it says in verse 1 that when God was telling them where to go he said to Moses tell the Israelites to turn back and encamped near pi hyah Roth between Migdal in the sea and and I could stop right at tell the Israelites to turn back that's what's unusual to me about the instruction they leave Egypt after ten plagues after Pharaoh has resisted because God gets the greatest glory out of your life in the face of the greatest resistance so it's not always easy it's not supposed to be a campaign people can see how strong your God is if your battles are never fierce but when they finally leave and they weren't walking out and and they're there they're leaving Egypt they start going and god says tell them to turn back do a mini arm football fans in big football fans you can help me help me you can okay just come help me real quick just with this one point coming up both you guys who's some you know these guys I love these guys I look just real quick we don't have long I'm really evening into my my sermon time here and they'll start leaving at the other campuses if I go long and and I don't want that all right so come here we're doing a little mock-up football scenario you know you know a comeback route in football yeah so just demonstrate real quick cuz a lot of people out here on football fans and you know they don't know what I'm talking about but that's what my friend was telling me about so just just run a little comeback route you be the defenders go so watch that's that's a comeback from it means before I want to preach this so bad because where he's trying to go the goal is over here but he's got a defender on him and if the defenders too close watch go out go out go out go out if the defender is too close he can't get what he's supposed to carry so in in order to make progress in order to get to the goal eventually he has to come back in the wrong direction momentarily let's do it again because I think they're starting to get it so what I'm saying is what I'm saying sometimes Hut sometimes you're going out and God will say come back so I can hit you let's do it again let's reenact that instead replay God says sometimes I'm gonna send you up right but I'm gonna bring you back to create separation thanks negative at the level that we talk but I said what we just sit on that stage what the receiver does on a football field sometimes I need to do in your life that is sometimes when it looks like you're going backwards all I'm doing is making a space did someone leave your life recently it's alright God's got you on a comeback round you lose your job recently it's alright it's a comeback route [Applause] there's somebody break your heart sweetheart that's okay there's somebody better catch this way I'll set it on her uterus see hey thank you for watching make sure you subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a single video or live stream and share this video with a friend and don't forget you can join me live every Sunday thanks again for watching

Channel: Official Steven Furtick

Views: 470,459

Rating: 4.9596343 out of 5

Keywords: steven furtick, pastor steven furtick, steven furtick sermons, steven furtick short sermons, steven furtick sermon clips, elevation church steven furtick, steven furtick sermons 2020, steven furtick 2020, steven furtick creating separation, creating separation, sermons about preparation, sermons about separation, spiritual growth, this is a season of preparation, purpose, finding your purpose, separation, preparation, how to prepare, preparing, loneliness, lonely, get prepared

Id: eCP8ZNRR4R4

Length: 20min 42sec (1242 seconds)

Published: Fri May 08 2020