Want To Start This New Year Right Pastor Steven Furtick - Steven Furtick

And what I wanted to challenge you to do with

this year that we're leaving and we're going into a

new year, but be very careful that.

You remember it right. Your memory is a mess, you

know that.

You've been memorizing all the wrong stuff. You've been memorizing

all the things.

That went wrong.

That's why you're miserable, because of your memory. I'm going

to come to this side and see if I can find.

Anybody, anybody at all at the praise party at Elevation Church.

If you would start recalling to your mind all of

the ways he's made, all of the promises he's kept,

all of the things he's carried you through, all of

the valleys.

That he walked you out of. If you would remember,

you would rejoice.

If you would remember, you would open your mouth.

And praise God.

That's just.

I recall it to my mind.

I call it.

I call it. Master your memory.

Don't let your memory master you. Paul said, I'm not

chained to this floor. I'm chained to the faithfulness of God.

He was faithful this morning and he's faithful at midnight.

I'm not memorizing my pain this year.

So I want to get you in the right.

Atmosphere tonight because you're sitting there at Rock Hill, you're

sitting there at Lake Norman, and you're going over and

over and over and over again.

I saw something on my phone.

It was called a memory movie. Did you know that

you can do that now? If you have an iPhone,

you can go on and set all the memories that

you want and make a video out of it. Well,

I'm going to make a movie about this year, but

I'm going to skip some scenes.

And it's not that they didn't happen.

It's just that I'm not putting them on my plot line.

It's my memory. And I've been remembering it wrong. That's

why you keep messing up relationships. You only remember the

one time that they said that rude thing to you. 27,942

times they were nice to you. You remember the one.

Manage your memory. And it's your movie. Paul had mastered

his memory.

Here's how I know.

Not only did he sing the hymn at midnight, which

indicates the fact that he knew that God was going

to deliver him, because maybe God had done it before.

Maybe once you beat a lion, beat a bear, Goliath

ain't so bad. Maybe it's not so scary to go

through the Jordan when you've been across the Red Sea.

Memorize memorize memorize memorize memorize.

Muscle memory muscle memory did you know that the same

way you can develop muscle memory in the weight room

you can develop miracle memory in.

Your spiritual life i got all night i got all

night i got all.

Night so so so paul 10 years later is writing

to the philippian church remember i told you that he

wrote a letter to them philippians and he's he's talking

to him and he says uh This is Philippians 1,

Philippians 1:3

verse 3. I don't have it memorized, so I need

it on the screen. He's writing to the church that

was founded when he went to a woman named Lydia,

and he ended up going to prison. Yet when he

goes to speak to them a decade later about what happened,

what he has to say.

About it in his memory, he says, You know what?

I thank my God every time I remember you. Some

of us, if we're writing this … We say, every

time I remember you, I think of that night I

spent when they beat my back. Paul said, no, no, no.

When I remember you, I remember the outcome, not the opposition.

The way I respond has to do with the way

I remember. I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers with you, I thank my God.

I remember you with joy when I remember. I don't

remember the pain. I remember the purpose. He doesn't even

mention the prison, because by this time, the purpose is so.

Big that that night in prison seems small. It's just

one night.

Memorize.

I was talking to Eric this morning.

I said, do you remember what happened when they sang

praises to God? He said, yeah, the prison doors opened

and everyone's chains came off. Because I've preached that before now.

I mean, any preacher can preach that. If you're trying

to preach the Bible and you can't preach on this passage,

you should definitely sharpen your other skills and resume out there.

But he said.

I said, yeah, and the prison door slew open.

Right.

And I asked him, I said, and then what? He

didn't know. He didn't remember. He remembers his fantasy football lineup,

but he didn't remember. Come on, that's my best friend.

I'm just having a good time. I've been friends since

high school.

But that's, you know, what I want to happen next

in this story, and I know I don't get to

write the Bible, and Luke is writing this, right?

He's recording it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

What happened here?

And it would be great to end the sermon on

what happened at midnight, because they praised him at midnight.

Chains came loose, which represents freedom. Doors flew open, which

represents escape. But what happens next? Well, I know what

I'd do if I'm Paul.

It's not hard. First, you've got to memorize. And then

you got to mobilize. So I'm out.

Because God answered my prayer.

And that's what the earthquake was for. And there's the

door open and look in the Lord.

Good.

I'm out. How many of you are with me? You're out.

But remember how you always had that one kid in

your class that would raise their hand at the end

of class and the teacher forgot to take up the

homework assignment.

But that one kid, that one kid would raise his

hand and say, ah, Ms. Smith, are you going to

take over my homework? Because I totally did it, Ms.

Smith.

Look, look, what's this?

I love finding the church people who aren't used to

having fun in church. Paul is that kid.

Because the doors fly open, right?

This is amazing.

We're out. god is good praise the lord hallelujah.

But watch.

Watch paul is that kid huh the jailer woke up

verse 27 and when he saw the prison doors open

he said oh crap tried to kill himself he said

it in greek um Because he thought the prisoners had escaped. Well,

of course he did. Because that's what you do. But apparently,

Paul is better at preaching than he is at prison breaks.

Paul messes up the whole thing.

Because what I want to see next, I either want

Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne crawling through the sewer, coming out

like this in the rain on TBS.

Or I want Paul with his shank.

Maybe I watched one too many Quentin Tarantino movies. I

shouldn't confess that on the stage.

But I want to see some action. The doors are open.

Earthquake.

This is anticlimactic. I'm just warning you.

Because we always preach about what happened at midnight. But

the miracle isn't what happened at midnight. The miracle is

what happened after midnight. It was what Paul had put

in his heart before midnight that gave him the hymn

to sing when midnight hit. And the way that he

went through the midnight is what gave him the credence

and the validity to have a message to share. The

way that you go through your trials, the way that

you go through your dark seasons, the way that you

go through the confusing times and the crucible of the trial,

the testing of your faith.

But Paul baffles me, man. Because the doors fly open.

And instead of running, Paul shouted, shut up, man. Look

what he shouted. Don't harm yourself. We... Listen to that.

It's anticlimactic, right?

Why were you singing and praying if you were just

going to stand in the same place when the doors open?

But maybe Paul had the kind of faith.

That doesn't only give.

You the way of escape because that's what a lot

of us really want when we talk about a new

year a new beginning what we really want is a

new situation I want out. I want out. God, get

me out. Get me out of this debt. But what

if God wants to get in your budget? I'm just

trying to preach something helpful.

Because I don't want.

You to watch the dot disappear, go home, wake up

with a headache, and think nothing happened. No, it's not

what happens at midnight. It's what happened after midnight. When

Paul said, I know you were expecting me to get out,

but I didn't come to Philippi to get out. I

came to Philippi to get the gospel in.

Paul wasn't trying to get out.

He was trying to bring the word of God in.

I bought three people.

To bring it in, bring it in, bring it in,

bring it in.

Bring it in. I'm not just trying to get out

of a sad situation. I bring it in my joy.

I'm not just trying to get out of a hard situation.

I bring it in God's strength. Bring it in.

Bring it in. Bring it in.

Bring it in.

I'm bringing it in. I'm not getting out.

I came to Philippi to preach, and now I've got

a captive audience.

Don't kill yourself, Mr. prison guard.

I know you were supposed to be guarding me, but

what happens when the one who was a hostage becomes

the host? And Paul turns around and says, don't worry

about it. I've got good news for you. Paul saw

an opportunity. Paul didn't see an open prison door. He

saw an open door for the gospel. I want to

declare over your life.

There is an open door of opportunity. Hey, thank you

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