You Can Skip This!
Pastor Steven Furtick
Sermon Summary
Some hard things are part of growing. Others come from staying stuck in patterns God is trying to lead us out of. You may not be able to skip every difficult season, but you can stop letting fear, doubt, or disobedience keep you there longer than you need to be. When you can't skip what you're going through, praise can help you keep moving forward.
Sermon Highlights
We need to do away with this idea that faith in God means you never have to go through anything hard.
A summary is not a story. Stop judging your story by other peoples' summary.
When you get through this test, all that's going to be left is a testimony.
What you're going through is not bigger than the God who is bringing you through it.
Watching isn't working. You cannot skip a stage of development, but you can skip disobedience.
If you skip the uncomfortable thing, you'll still be dealing with the dysfunctional thing.
With God, what should take years takes days. Without God, what should take days takes years.
God can do in a moment of favor what a lifetime of labor could never accomplish.
You may not be able to skip the difficulty, but you can skip the unbelief.
Are you going to murmur or march?
Your tongue is getting you in trouble, but your trumpet (praise) can get you out.
The reason I don't have to stay in my wilderness is because Jesus went to His.
One of the greatest ways that I have found to deal with my wilderness is through worship.
Scriptures
Read this week’s Scriptures. Ask your group what stands out to them.
Sermon Discussion
Conversation Starter
Choose the one that works best for your group!
Football season is back in the US, and Pastor Steven joked about praying for the Panthers. Are you someone who watches every game, casually keeps up, or couldn’t care less?
Pastor Holly thought she might be a better tennis player after watching several matches. What’s an activity you’ve watched so much you’re convinced you could probably do it yourself?
Highlights Questions
“The summary is not the story. Stop judging your story by other people's summary.” How have you let someone else’s story hinder your faith?
“Watching isn’t working. You cannot skip a stage of development, but you can skip disobedience.” Share a time that God used something you would've skipped to develop you.
Bonus: Share about something in your life that you need to skip this week in order to be obedient to God.
“You’re figuring without your Father. With God, what should take years takes days.” Share about a season where it felt like God suddenly accelerated something that you had been waiting on.
Additional Questions
“If you skip the uncomfortable thing, you'll still be dealing with the dysfunctional thing.” Where might God be asking you to face something uncomfortable so He can grow you through it?
“Your tongue is getting you in trouble, but your trumpet (praise) can get you out.” Where have your words been reinforcing fear or frustration lately, and what truth about God could you start speaking over your situation instead?
“One of the greatest ways that I have found to deal with my wilderness is through worship.” Share a time when worship helped change your perspective in the middle of something difficult.
Prayer Prompt
Ask your eGroup if they have any prayer requests or praise reports they’d like to share, and include them in your closing prayer.
Pray this prayer over your eGroup to close, and/or send it to them throughout the week to let them know you’re praying for them!
Lord, You see everything we’re going through. The uncomfortable things we want to avoid, the steps we want to skip, the wilderness we want to complain about. Today, we declare that You’re bigger than all of it, and You can do in a moment what we can’t do in a lifetime. Please make Your presence known to us, especially in the situations we’d rather avoid, and give us the faith to believe that You’re turning these tests into testimonies, even when we can’t see it yet. We love You and we trust You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Additional Content
Here’s some additional content you can use to encourage your group this week.
Listen to this song from Elevation Worship throughout your week when you need to “blow your trumpet” and remember that God is bigger than your situation.
Read through Hebrews 11 (“The Hall of Faith”) with your eGroup and learn more about some people in the Bible who had to walk by faith through difficult circumstances. Whose testimony in Hebrews 11 resonates the most with you right now, and how does their story encourage you?