YTHX: Choosing Your Chains | Pastor Steven Furtick

would you be okay if I preached you for a little while before we shut this down thank you worship team you've you've been incredible week haven't they been great you got to be in good cardiovascular shape to lead worship that you think's I think my son Graham was like dad are you gonna wear are you gonna wear cringy clothes to youth X it's like what you're talking about he's like are you 38 now so just just like it what he's saying I know it's terrible but um don't get it twisted I still I still can speak I started out speaking to youth before I was a pastor this is what I did all the time and it wasn't big groups like this it was usually 10 15 20 kids me and Holly traveled all over the state of South Carolina preach into little youth groups and I let the music and I did we didn't we certainly didn't have all of this but what you see here but that's how I started and I was a moon preacher back then I hadn't really learned much about grace yet I just telling kids don't have sex and smoke weed and so I just yelled at them for an hour and because that's all I knew to do and told him they're going to hell and it was effective [Applause] but now I get to be your pastor I know some of you are members of other churches and we're glad to have you but I really want to speak to if I can say it this way I don't I don't mean like I'm adopting you or I'm gonna help pay for your college but I want to speak to my kids tonight and one philosophy that I employ when I preach to you is I preach deeper to you than I would to your parents and that's counterintuitive because you would think that the younger people need to dumb down but I don't believe that I think the older someone gets the less able sometimes they are to really receive by faith what God's Word says and I've always found that I can preach my deepest stuff to younger people so when I prepared for this I certainly didn't put together anything sugar-coated and I think you'll see that but um it's a principle that I want to bring from Philippians chapter 1 now if you're watching online this weekend in church I'm gonna continue this message so this will be part one I'll be back in the pulpit I've been away for about six or seven weeks I would ask all of you to do everything you can to get some quick rest and be back in church this weekend because I'm gonna I'm gonna unwrap this throughout the weekend and so this will kind of be part one and actually Zack you've heard me preach from Philippians one a few times you remember I preached on a Piccard okiya stretched your head forward you remember I preached on New Year's Eve a message from Philippians one about I'm glad it happened and yet I saw something in this passage that I thought would be so appropriate and and really connect to what the other speakers have shared Pastor Mike on Carter one of my best friends in the world Pastor Mike the time [Applause] you really don't need another message they gave you enough to live off of for 12 months but let me see if I can connect some things that'll help us really anchor what God has already spoken in your group times and everything how are y'all doing over there by the way if I don't look at you much while I preaches discuss Hollies over there and typically my attention is diverted so that's the only reason why I rarely look at this side of the room but I'm conscious of your presence and appreciative of it as well let me read you a pretty long Scripture okay hey tonight if you want a shout you can shout you don't have to if you want to take notes you can take notes you don't have to but I do want you to lean in and I don't need you to cheer me on while I preach or anything like that so if something hits you shout but if something hits you in a different way and you need to just sit and think about it that's okay too or maybe while I'm speaking God will bring up an issue and you start taking notes and you quit listening to what I'm even saying but you're writing down something else God is speaking that's okay too I just want to give you permission to engage with this message the way that you need to for your soul tonight it's an important one Philippians chapter 1 verse 12 now I want you to know brothers and sisters that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel as a result it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in Chains for Christ and because of my chains most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and they're all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear it's true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry but others out of goodwill the latter do so out of love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel the former preached Christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in Chains but what does it matter see Paul's not young anymore he doesn't think everything is important he's not trying to get validation from people anymore he's been he's been serving God for over 30 years and now he's got that old man swag where he just doesn't care anymore if you like me or if you don't like me he says I'm not so consumed about that what does it matter the important thing is that in every way whether from false motives or true Christ is preached and because of this I rejoice yes and I will continue to rejoice I know you think I'm crazy for acting happy when my life gives me no reason to be happy but I'm gonna keep doing it for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance I eagerly expect and hope EPPICard okiya Greek word then I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always see when God has seen you through enough stuff you don't fear the future because you know God is already there and when God has already been faithful to you on one level you don't have to look around your shoulder to see if the devil's gonna win this time because you can know that God's past faithfulness is a predictor of his future faithfulness so you can walk in the confidence to know that God did not bring me this far to leave me and if the devil could have killed me he would have killed me by now but the hand of God is on my life I said you didn't have to stand up only if you want to if you want to so I know that what happened to me will turn out for my deliverance so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain man if I'm to go on living now that'll mean fruitful labor for me yet what shall I choose that's the that's the thing okay what shall I choose I don't know I'm torn between the two I kind of want to die cuz I'm old and I'm going to heaven and heaven sounds kind of nice cuz right now I'm in this prison and I'm awaiting trial before Caesar and I don't know if I'm gonna live or die and I got a lot of enemies so it'd be kind of nice to leave this earth so part of me wants to go which is better by far but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body I'm convinced of this I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me the title of this message is choosing your chains choosing your chains you know what I hated about being 15 I hated not having control over my own life I hated the sense that I didn't get to make my own decisions I hated the sense that somebody was always telling me what I couldn't couldn't do and I hated the fact that there were so many things that I didn't get a choice in like it went all the way from what time I had to be home I didn't get to choose that it went from even certain friends that I could and couldn't hang out with because every once in a while my parents would make a seemingly arbitrary decision that certain kids weren't good for me to hang out with and I hate it I think I'm a control freak because I always hated this sense that I wasn't in control I hated when I couldn't drive I hated when I was dependent on somebody else for a ride I hated that I didn't get to choose my own classes that they told me which classes to take I hate it something about being young didn't agree with me because I hated the sense of having no control how many of you were kind of like me and you're a little bit of a control freak and you don't like being in situations I mean even this week how many of you it was kind of hard for you to not have your normal routine because you like being in control it was hard for you to go along with the different schedule it was hard for you to show up in certain places at certain times because not what you're used to yeah there's something and it's not all of us I know some of us don't really mind but some of us really like to be in control and when our sense of control is threatened it makes us anxious it makes us irritable it makes us afraid and and only bring that up because we're seeing the Apostle Paul right who is like the most important missionary of all time and he's in a situation now at this point in his life where the circumstances are outside of his control and he's locked up as a prisoner and he's been falsely accused of some things that he didn't do and so now he's riding back home to this church that he started now this church that the church at Philippi was the first Church he started in Europe and the way he started it was one time he was there and he was having some meetings and they locked him up in prison and at midnight he was singing and praying and and and God sent an earthquake to the prison and when he started praising God the prison started shaking and his chains came loose and not only his chains but everybody's chains around him which by the way this is a side note that has nothing to do with my sermon I need you to know your praise breaks chains so the next time depression comes on you and and you feel bound and the next time you feel like your situation is bigger than your strength is I need you to know and touch the person next to you and say my praise breaks chains so I don't I don't just have to sit in situations and and pray for God to get me out of them I can praise God in difficult situations and if I keep my mind right and my spirit right and my heart set on things above my grace breaks James that's why some of you have felt the joy of the Lord in your life over the past three days because you've been praising God at a new level and while you're praising God James are falling off off of your mind chains of addiction chains of insecurity Saints break when praise rises I wish elev youth would take over elevation church this weekend she would show up at every campus with this same energy I wish you a jump I wish you would clap I wish you would holler I wish you a scream show your parents how to do it you might be an example for your parents now Paul is writing to this church at Philippi that he founded a long time ago and he's updating them on his situation and it's not good he's in prison he's been here for a while and nothing is changing he has to stand before Caesar and Caesar is either gonna let him live or kill him because he's accused of being a cult leader and from this prison cell he writes a book to the church at Philippi about joy and freedom you missed it he wrote a book from prison about joy and freedom you still didn't get it because when you get what I'm just saying you're gonna you're gonna understand that what happens next in your life is not dependent on your environment or your situation or your genetics and Paul's like I want you to know that even though I'm in Chains even though I'm I'm stuck here for a little while let me just see if I got the right message because I prayed about it waving me if you have a situation that you have to go back to where you feel stuck in it you know so so this is this is the message we need tonight because Paul is stuck in a situation he did not choose the situation but watch what he does and man when I saw this I was like some kids are gonna get set free on Friday night [Applause] no I'm serious he said verse 13 it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am say the next phrase out loud in Chains for Christ that's a strange thing to say because it's not like Jesus is the one who put him in Chains and it's not like God is the one who does bad stuff and it's not like God made your parents get a divorce or it's not like that God had your dad walk out when you were a little boy so you'd be raised without a father and it's not like God gave you the shame that you're carrying around Paul says I'm in Chains for Christ now I wasn't chained by Christ God did not do this but now that I'm in Chains I am making a choice everybody say choice that's really when your life changes not when you sing a song pray a prayer or even come to a experience called youth X but what has to happen tonight for this change that has started in your life to continue and move forward and make a difference you have to make a choice and I don't think you understand the power of a single choice Paul said I'm choosing in my situation to see my change as something God can use this makes no sense to the natural mind because Paul could preach to so many more people if he wasn't in these chains Paul could start so many more churches if he wasn't in these chains Paul could go and raise offerings for churches that were poor Paul could fight the good fight and take the Word of God forward all through the Roman Empire if not for these change but here's what he does he looks at the thing that seems to be holding him back and he says I didn't juice these things I didn't want to be here I don't like prison food I don't like this orange jumpsuit I don't want to be here I hope God gets me out I'd like to be back with you I did not choose these James and some of you have situations in your life tonight that you did not choose some of you have sickness in your body some of you have mental disorders some of you have panic attacks some of you have eating disorders some of you have learning disabilities it's not that God gave you those chains but now you have to choose if God doesn't take them away if God doesn't remove the chains will you use the chains to glorify his name and show the world that even in my chains I'm free even in my chains I'm saved even with these chains on my feet I have a Living Hope it's the choice you make he made a choice one little choice he could have chosen in this moment to assume that God did not love him because why would God leave me in this prison if he loved me and some of you will walk away from God because he won't give you the answer to the prayer that you wanted and you won't even understand that God is using the thing that you want him to take away to show the world who he is through you [Applause] and so you make choices now right now in your life about the kind of person you want to become you make some good ones you'll make some bad ones the kind of people you're gonna let into your life the kind of people that you're gonna that you're gonna really show yourself to the the kind of language that you're gonna use it's fine it's just little choice God ain't gonna give you a brain tumor if you cuss that's what I used to preach when I was a mean preacher but I don't believe that anymore I believe that the grace of God is good enough to cover anything you do but the grace of God does not cancel out the consequence of my choices and you got some choices to make and they're not gonna be big choices I clapped him he said four hundred people made decisions for Christ in our middle school and youth high school likes and look let's go ahead and let's go and celebrate it what's goin celebrating let's go in celebrating that's a big choice Oh theologically speaking you didn't choose God he chose you so it wasn't even your choice that saved you it was God's choice to call you out and to snatch you and to cleanse you and to call you but this is not a sermon about big choices this is not about who you'll marry I'm not talking about that tonight we got years to figure that out I'm talking about the choices you're gonna make tomorrow the little choices because though the way the enemy works he's so he's so smart he knows if he can get you to make little choices that compromise who you are today's choices will become tomorrow's chains little choices so if he can introduce you to something just a little something if he can just get you to experiment with porn right now it can lock something in your mind and it's not that looking at a little bit of porn will send you to hell or make you a bad person but if he can get you to make the choice to to do it once then maybe you do it again and so it was a choice you know we make these choices you make a choice to lie and you know you tell your parents you were there and and you weren't but it's just a little choice on what's a little lie the problem with choices is I want you to put choice on the screen is that choices become habits I'm not here to beat up on you look I I've made some really dumb choices that at the time it just seemed like you know a little thing it didn't seem like a big deal and maybe it wasn't but the problem is you become what you repeatedly do and so when you make the choice just to do the little thing whatever that little thing is it's not always porn or or lies it's anything I noticed this all the time in my eating because I'm not able to just enjoy a few chips for me is either broccoli or the whole bag of Doritos I have no self-control and no self-restraint so I don't have moderation in my life and not my choice becomes a habit and when something becomes a habit it becomes automatic and so now I'm not even really choosing to do it anymore I'm not even choosing to lash out anymore so I made the choice to be angry because I lose my temper all the time and if I respond in anger all the time and I just learned how to solve stuff with anger it'll work and it'll push people away and it'll get me through situations but then it becomes a habit and before I know it I'm not even choosing to get angry anymore it's just automatic and now it's no longer a choice it's not a choice anymore it's gonna be on a choice it's gone beyond a habit it's become automatic and now it's my identity now it's not even just what I do it's become Who I am and now I can't separate my identity as a child of God because he still loves me but I can't feel his love or see his love or since his love because I become more identified with my chains than his grace and it didn't look like a chain at first it was one choice but the choice became a habit the habit became automatic and then it became my identity and now it's my nature and I'm a choice uh-oh stuck No can you help me I just need somebody to help me I don't know who would you help me do you mind for this yeah you're mine oh yeah dad that leather guy you'd be good to up even though I need him I just he's first one I saw yeah let me use them he seems like the right one I'm not rejecting you or nothing like that it's just that his his wrist is the right size for this illustration yeah so that's the only reason why because I didn't I didn't realize when I was making those choices stand right there that while I was making little choices the enemy was trying to get me in this chain because now he knows held are you if I can get him to make some choices while he's 14 somebody come tighten this for me cuz I'm yeah here I got I got I got I got it guys just kidding just want to see if you're willing cuz now I got you cuz I convinced you that these little choices don't matter and then it became a habit that became automatic and you thought it was who you were and now second nature so now I can just now I got you let's see now if I came at you with this chain you would run because you would see it for what it was so I don't comment you with the chain I come at you with the choice but I got you so now you're not 14 anymore you're 18 but some choices that I got you to make that became habits and became so automatic and ingrained and you just did it over and over again because practice doesn't make perfect practice makes permanent and so now I thought that's who I was and I became ashamed and I'm just dragging you and so now you're 20 23 years old and you're going to get married but when you were 14 15 16 I got you chained by your choices so now walk this way you're gonna try to go love your wife but I'm not gonna let you cuz I got you on this chain some will pull you back into some stuff that's gonna keep you miserable and bound and down and out [Applause] and this is why we preach to you like we preach to you because I'm tired of seeing God's children and chains chains of fear and shame and regret to where you can't think straight and now now the enemy becomes your master you know you're gonna be a slave to something everybody in this room is going to serve something what are you gonna serve Paul called himself a servant of Jesus Christ I'm not a slave to sin any longer those chains are broken so now Paul says and this is the good part of the message Paul says because of my chains God is being glorified in fact he said if you gave me the choice to get out of these chains or to stay in these chains if staying in these chains means that God gets the glory I choose the chains so God if you can use me if you want to use my story even all the painful parts God you can use me cuz I'm not a slave to sin I'm not a slave to fear I'm a child of God [Applause] fact you know what Paul say him Paul says I'm chained to grace in that good this illustration is gonna take a positive turn right now my man cuz I was the devil but now I'm gonna be God let me show you what happens when you get chained to grace touch somebody say I'm chained to grace okay give me verse 17 again I think that's the one Paul says some people like me some people don't some people are helping me some people are hurting me but the important thing knows verse 18 the important thing is no that's the wrong verse - what's the one that says yeah there it is the important thing is this 18 the important thing is now whatever you put next after that determines what your chained to I picked the right kid he gets it he said the important thing is that I fulfill my purpose if if you get chained to popularity how people feel about you can always just jerk you around and if they like you you're good and if they don't you're you're you're down if you get chained if you make the most important thing in your life right now you know how much you're gonna have one day or or if you make the most important thing in your life how you feel at any given moment and the whole thing about your life is that you're chained to your feelings then the enemy is always gonna have you on it's chained and it can yank your chain anytime he wants and your faith will go up and down and in and out but if you say the important thing is and this is the choice this is the choice that I would love to see you make tonight while you're young right now before you're all bound up I know you've made some mistakes before but it's not too late God got you here just in time I mean just in time just in time to break the chains before it chokes the life out of you you made it just in time that's what this week was about it wasn't about a battle tone it wasn't about a dance party or a DJ thank God for all of it God brought you here to break the chains while there's still time so you could fulfill his purpose for your life shout it again say I'm chained to grace Paul said these chains on my feet don't determine my joy because my purpose is to fulfill God's calling on my life so now here's what happens what's your name you've been up here all this time Luke Luke let's say you try to get away from God and let's say you make a choice today that you know what the priority of my life is the presence of God not popularity not the opinions of people not some accomplishment that's gonna be empty when I get it anyway i'ma listen to my pastor tonight and he's telling me that the only thing that matters is what Paul said mattered the only thing that matters is the purpose of God in my life I'm chained to Grace I'm chained to purpose so now watch this Luke try to get away from me mmm-hmm I might be old but I live bro you change the grace come on I need you to celebrate that even if I want to get away try as parties no sir if you can't escape these things who the Sun sets free is free indeed great doctor see no God says I'm not done with you yet I'm not done with you yet I know about the addiction and I chose you anyway and I want you to I want you to stop tormenting yourself over things that you can't control [Applause] there you're choosing your chains tonight you want to be chained to the grace of God are you want to be chained to your feelings you're gonna be chained to fake friends who come and go look I went to my 20-year anniversary high school anniversary last month they're good people and I know that they're I know that they're important to God but what they think of me isn't important to me so I'm trying to preach this to you now why would you change yourself to people's opinions who aren't even gonna be in your life in 20 years that's it right [Applause] that's why something you tried to run from God and you couldn't you tried not to believe in God but that little thing won't go away because there's a calling on your life you were chained to the grace of God and if you make the choice to become a worshiper it'll become a habit and when it becomes a habit it'll become automatic and when it becomes automatic it'll be your identity worship is not what I do worship is Who I am I'm gonna be somebody in the back to jump up and worship God like you know who you are it's mine it's my nature I let you keep this remember this night [Applause] stand up God chose you he chose you to be in that seat he chose you to live in that house I understand some of you are in abusive situations Paul was 2 doesn't make the situation okay God is greater than the situation he's even gonna use those chains so I'm choosing today to chain my life to something bigger than what happens to me or what I feel about it I got to make this choice because I can't spend the rest of my life just getting dragged around the devil yankin might change anytime he wants to I belong to God I'm his I'm his servant and that means I can't spend any more time serving stupid stuff that doesn't matter the important thing [Applause] whatever you make important is what you change your joy to whatever you make important is what you change your peace to if you make this God my God the everlasting God the God of Abraham the god of Isaac the God of Jacob if you make this God Yahweh Emmanuel God with us if you make this God your God nothing on earth will be able to move you nothing on earth [Applause] you

Channel: Official Steven Furtick

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Keywords: Pastor Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, YTHX, YTHX2018, YTHX sermon, Steven Furtick YTHX, Elevation Church YTHX, Elevation Youth YTHX, YTHX choosing your chains, Steven furtick YTHX choosing your chains, Choosing your chains, elevation church steven furtick, furtick steven, steven furtick 2018 sermons, youth experience, elevation church 2018 sermons, student ministry, youth ministry

Id: vhm_Vqdqvjo

Length: 37min 46sec (2266 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 14 2018