The Only Thing That Will Complete You Pastor Steven Furtick - Steven Furtick

You are about to get something from God that is

going to release you to love like you haven't been

able to love and enjoy the.

Life he died to give you.

So John says that near the cross of Jesus, remember,

he's on the cross. And now let's see who's at

the cross. First of all, his mother. The one who

carried him now had to watch him carry her cross that.

She deserved that he did not. And I think there's

a whole message.

Maybe I'll preach Mother's Day on this verse one time

because it'd be a great Mother's Day scripture. What kind

of strength does it take for a mom to stand

there and watch her son die? Completely unable to do

anything about it, just standing there. It says that near

the cross of Jesus stood his mother. It does not

record one word that she spoke, but she stood with him.

She stood with him. Sometimes the greatest testimony of your

loyalty is not what you will say to someone, but

how you will stand with them. Because we've all got

a cross. We've all got seasons that we will go

into that will divide those who are loud from those

who are really loyal. And who I see at the

cross isn't who I expect to see at the cross.

Here's Mary. mother of jesus there's.

Her sister there's mary the wife of clopas and there's

mary magdalene she had a rough life jesus really helped

her he cast some demons out of her that nobody

else had been able to deal with and that created

a kind of loyalty within her that she was like

even if all i can do is stand here and

cry i'm not leaving I wonder, could you get there

with God that even if all I can do is

stand here and wait to see what will become, you

can't run me off. You've been too good to me

and done too much for me.

I'm not going anywhere. You have the words of eternal life.

I'm staying near the cross.

And when Jesus saw his mother there, John tells us,

and the disciple whom he loved, John says, that's me.

Standing nearby, he said to her, woman, here is your son.

And then watch this. He looked at the disciple whom

he loved, the self-proclaimed favorite, and gave him a job.

Here is your mother. Let's skip the fact that none

of us.

In the room be able to put aside our own

selfishness enough if we were suffering like that to think about.

Anyone else because you know when you're going through.

Something you don't ask anybody how their day is and

if you do you really don't want to know and

you hope they don't answer you all you can really

handle is fine i'm telling you when you're going through

something and you really need to watch for this because

i went through something a couple years ago with my

dad and somebody gave me good advice they said don't.

Tell a lot of people what you're going through.

Find a few people you can tell what you're going through.

Most people are going to ask you, they really don't care.

That would have been worth your trip to church today

just to know that they really don't mean tell me

all about it. They really don't. They see you coming,

they dodge you because your knees have been hurting six

months and it's all you talk about. Your sore back,

it's all you talk about. How hard it's been with

your kids. Most people don't want to know all that.

Because they've got their own stuff.

They've got their own things they're dealing with. And to me,

the presence of mind of Jesus, and I want to

be more like this, because I'm really not here yet,

nor am I in the vicinity of this kind of Christ-likeness,

but that he was able to look to the needs.

Of others while he died for them.

Not after he got up. While he's bleeding for their sins,

he says, hey, look out for her and you look

out for him. And he's doing in his death what

he did in his life, bringing them together as he dies. Hey, John,

I need you to do something for me. Look out

for her. And he's your son now. That's crazy. Isn't

that crazy? Because I would have been up there. I

would not have even seen John standing at the cross

because I would have been so mad at Peter. I

would have been so mad at Andrew and don't even

get me started on Judas.

Oh my God, I would.

Not have seen John because I would have been making

up my plan for how I was going to get.

Back at Judas.

Sometimes we don't see those who are with us because

we can only think of those who left us. But

I want to declare over your life today, God will

always leave a.

John at your cross. You got who you need. You

got what you need. If they left you. What was

that for? Be honest about it.

You have been so upset about the encouragement that you're

not getting from somebody, you are tripping over the encouragement

of 16 other people because you're mad at Bob.

Well, what about Bob?

If Bob left the cross, reach out to John.

There's a John in your cross.

There's something happening in your heart right now.

That just sets you free. You don't have to worry

about who left.

If they left, they're gone.

If John is at the cross.

Besides, why would Jesus be mad at Judas? He needed

John to be there at the cross, but he needed

Judas to get him to the cross.

This is a hard one. This is a hard one.

You might have to realize that some of the people

that you hate the most actually helped you get to

the place where you needed to be to do what

God called.

You to do. Do you believe that? Can you receive this?

This is a hard say.

This is the kind of stuff Jesus would say and

people would just walk away. But Jesus wasn't cursing Judas.

It took Judas. It took a broken heart. It took

a betrayal. Some of the people that left you were

teaching you to love.

The people who are still there. It took that.

It doesn't justify what they did. But maybe I'm going

to get mature enough one day where I can be

like Jesus. And I won't miss John.

Cursing Judas.

Yes, it is. I'm going to say this about six

different ways before I close to make sure you get it.

Because that's my message. Is that it takes two.

It takes two.

It takes two. I want to rock right now.

Touch somebody and say, I'm not internationally known. And see,

when you got it like this, come on, somebody say,

I got it like that.

Jesus so knew who he was and he had so

received the affirmation that could only be given in the

baptism at the Jordan, this is my son, and I

am pleased with him.

That no matter who wasn't there, he was so convinced

about who was that he could look at John and

look at Mary.

And give like that.

And when you really get it like this, I mean,

when you wake up in the morning and know that

God has blessed you to see another day, you will

not be needy anymore.

Okay, I'll say it just like that.

You're too needy. And you're too blessed to be this needy.

I'm just telling you what God told me. You think

it's hard for you to hear? I had to hear

it all week. God kept me up all week getting

this message ready for you. And he said, I need

for your validation not to be in somebody else's mouth.

I need your validation to be in that cross. I

need you to be complete in that cross so that

if you don't get it from your mom, If you

don't get it from your daughter, listen, sometimes.

People are giving you all they can give you.

They can't give you any more. And if you don't

get it like this, you will never get it like that.

You need to set some people free today from not

giving you keys to your freedom that they don't hold.

You have got to release some people from the expectation

of perfection. They can't be everything to you. Even John

couldn't get him down. All he could do was stand there.

I don't want to look to people to do for

me what only God can. I don't want to be

grabbing for garments at the foot of the cross. If

I got it like this I can give it like that.

Whoever this is for, you've been trying to get affection

from the wrong direction. You've been reaching for validation in

all the wrong places. You're not going to get it

like this. That's where you give. That's where Paul said,

if there's any comfort from being united with Christ, what

he's drawing across, he's saying this Philippian church, you can

look it up, Philippians 1 and Chapter 2, verse 1

and 2, something like that. It's in Philippians somewhere. Google it.

It says, if there's any encouragement from being united with Christ,

somebody say, I got it like that.

Okay, that's the part we're good at in church. He

forgave me. He saved me.

He loves me.

He accepts me.

But Paul says, if you got it like that, any

comfort from his love, how many are comforted.

By the love of Christ in your heart today?

If you got it like that, having the same love,

being one in spirit and of one mind, I love

this next instruction. Then make my joy complete. If you

got it like that, give it like this. So I

want to wake up this week and I want to

see all of my shame, my need on that cross.

I want to receive all of my validation at that cross.

I want to carry whatever cross God has given me

and not resent the people who didn't give me what

I thought I needed. Because I am complete in that cross.

I don't need you to tell me that I'm loved.

Maybe it's time for me to tell you that you're loved.

Maybe I've lived my life doing this long enough. Maybe

it's time to live like he died.