Dysfunctional Comfort

Summary

Elevation with Steven Furtick – Episode: Dysfunctional Comfort

Release Date: March 7, 2025
Podcast Series: Elevation Church
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction to Dysfunctional Comfort

In this compelling episode of Elevation with Steven Furtick, Pastor Steven delves into the concept of "Dysfunctional Comfort," exploring how our desire for comfort can hinder our spiritual growth and calling. He emphasizes the importance of stepping out of our comfort zones to fully embrace God's purpose for our lives.

Biblical Foundation: Mark 1:14-20

Pastor Steven begins by examining Mark 1:14-20, where Jesus calls His first disciples by the Sea of Galilee. He highlights the immediacy and urgency in Jesus' call:

"Once they left, their nets followed him."
— Steven Furtick [04:15]

He explains that Jesus did not wait for His disciples to undergo extensive training or confirmation; He simply called them to follow Him, prompting an immediate and decisive response. This act serves as a model for how believers should respond to God's calling—swiftly and without hesitation.

Understanding Dysfunctional Comfort

Pastor Steven introduces the concept of "Dysfunctional Comfort," explaining that it arises when we misunderstand the purpose or function of something in our lives:

"When you don't know what something is for, you won't know how to use it."
— Steven Furtick [06:00]

He shares a personal anecdote about his children misusing a treadmill as a toy, drawing a parallel to how people often misuse aspects of their lives when they don't understand their true purpose. This misuse leads to dysfunction, both in personal lives and relationships.

The Role of Jesus and the Holy Spirit

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on differentiating the roles of Jesus and the Holy Spirit:

• Jesus: Primarily a figure of confrontation, challenging existing systems and personal complacency.

  "The primary role of Jesus when he was on the earth was not comfort. It was confrontation."
  — Steven Furtick [10:24]

• Holy Spirit: The true Comforter, providing solace and encouragement.

  "The Holy Spirit not only convicts, he comforts."
  — Steven Furtick [09:48]

Pastor Steven emphasizes that while Jesus confronts and challenges, the Holy Spirit offers comfort, serving distinct but complementary roles in the believer's life.

Calling vs. Comfort

Pastor Steven challenges the listener to differentiate between seeking comfort and pursuing their calling. He argues that true calling often requires discomfort and stepping into the unknown:

"Coming into your calling means coming out of your comfort zone. No certainty, no contract. Follow me and I will show you as you go."
— Steven Furtick [12:45]

He draws parallels to Abraham's call, highlighting the necessity of obedience despite uncertainty and the absence of guarantees.

Dysfunction in Relationships and Personal Life

Exploring personal relationships, Pastor Steven discusses how misunderstanding the nature of relationships leads to dysfunction. He shares the impact of trying to fulfill roles improperly, such as acting like a parent to a parent, which disrupts the natural dynamics.

"Most of the dysfunction in my relationships came because I violated the nature of the relationship."
— Steven Furtick [06:45]

This segment underscores the importance of understanding and respecting the intended roles within relationships to maintain harmony and effectiveness.

The Strategy of the Devil

Pastor Steven identifies the devil's strategy as keeping believers comfortable in their dysfunction to prevent spiritual growth and fulfillment of their calling:

"The devil wants to comfort you in your dysfunction so you will never see your destiny come to pass."
— Steven Furtick [38:58]

He warns against seeking comfort from the wrong sources, which leads to stagnation and prevents individuals from experiencing their full potential in Christ.

Scriptural Encouragement: 2 Corinthians 1

Turning to 2 Corinthians 1, Pastor Steven reinforces the idea that comfort from Christ is meant to empower believers to comfort others, not to serve as a personal refuge that fosters complacency:

"The comfort of Christ comes into our lives not so that we can only be comforted, but that we can comfort others."
— Leah [29:41]

Call to Action: Breaking Free from Dysfunction

In the latter part of the episode, Pastor Steven and Leah lead a powerful exhortation, urging listeners to confront and release their dysfunctions:

"Come out in the name of Jesus. I will not become comfortable in the darkness when God has called me into the light."
— Leah [38:54]

They encourage listeners to actively seek God's intervention in areas of their lives that have become sources of dysfunctional comfort, promoting spiritual liberation and growth.

Prayer and Declaration

The episode culminates with a fervent prayer session where Pastor Steven and Leah guide listeners in declaring freedom from their dysfunctions. They invite participants to physically express their surrender and commitment to overcoming personal challenges:

"Chains are breaking. Miracle-working power is in this place. Evil spirits come out."
— Leah [47:03]

This interactive segment serves as a practical application of the episode's teachings, fostering a sense of community and shared spiritual pursuit.

Conclusion

Pastor Steven Furtick wraps up the episode by reiterating the necessity of confronting discomfort to fully embrace one's calling. He reminds listeners that true comfort comes from aligning with God's purpose, which often requires stepping beyond familiar and complacent patterns.

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Notable Quotes:

• "When you don't know what something is for, you won't know how to use it." — Steven Furtick [06:00]
• "Coming into your calling means coming out of your comfort zone. No certainty, no contract." — Steven Furtick [12:45]
• "The devil wants to comfort you in your dysfunction so you will never see your destiny come to pass." — Steven Furtick [38:58]
• "Chains are breaking. Miracle-working power is in this place. Evil spirits come out." — Leah [47:03]

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Final Thoughts:

"Dysfunctional Comfort" is a profound exploration of how seeking the wrong kind of comfort can impede spiritual and personal growth. Pastor Steven Furtick effectively combines biblical teachings with real-life applications, challenging listeners to reevaluate their priorities and embrace the transformative discomfort that accompanies God’s calling. This episode serves as an inspiring reminder that true fulfillment lies beyond our comfort zones, in the active pursuit of God's purpose for our lives.

Transcript

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[Matt]

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[Leah]

And I'm Leah and we're from the.

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[Steven Furtick]

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[Steven Furtick]

Sh the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card. Visit wells fargo.comactivecash Terms apply Hey, this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Let's pick up right there at Mark, chapter 1, verse 14 with the second installment of Savage Jesus. After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, he said. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon. That's the guy who got his name changed to Peter. Because God doesn't call you what other people call you. He doesn't call you what you call yourself, you call yourself a failure. He calls you a masterpiece of grace, a canvas waiting to be painted on. That's who Simon is. We believe that Peter gave Mark the recollection for this Gospel account. Mark was writing down a lot of the memories of Peter. That's what scholars tell me anyway. I wasn't there. Let's continue. He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men. Once they left, their nets followed him. When he got a little farther, he saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat preparing their nets, getting ready to go do what they did without delay, which is Mark's favorite phrase in Scripture. It's translated different ways, but it's immediately or suddenly. He writes that way. It's breathless. The account he gives of the life of Christ, knowing that he has no time to waste in getting to the cross. He can't really take a lot of time with trivial details. So he's just giving us, not the whole exchange that happened. I don't think Jesus just walked by and said, come, follow me with the fisherman, and they went with him. I think there was a conversation. But we are given the essence of the conversation so we can know that Jesus did not come to give us cute cliches and Hallmark cards, but instructions and commands that are best for our life, to lead us in the way everlasting. Without delay, he called them. He did not wait for them to understand their calling before he gave it to them. Isn't that interesting? He did not wait for them to go through confirmation classes. He did not give them ministerial training. He simply gave them a calling. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. There's a commonality. I'm going to read more than that, but I'll break it up. The commonality is that in both of these cases you have Andrew and Simon, who became Peter. You have John and James. Watch what they had to do to come into their calling. Verse 18 says, at once they left their nets. Then again in verse 20, without delay, they left their Father. The first pattern I see emerging here about following Christ, to really follow Christ, is that coming into my calling means coming out of my comfort zone. I want to preach this point fully, but I don't want to take long on it because it's not my main point. It is the context of Christianity, though, that Christ did not come to make us comfortable. I Think. In order to understand your relationship with someone, you have to understand the function. I want to speak to you for a few moments today on dysfunctional comfort. Dysfunctional comfort. When you don't understand the function of something, you are more than likely to get hurt or break it. Trying to engage him. So that's why I had to explain to my boys that the treadmill in our house is not a toy. It's a coat rack. When I saw them taking their little sister Abby, and they were putting her on the treadmill at speed 8.5 and.

[Leah]

Putting her on the treadmill, and they.

[Steven Furtick]

Told me they were playing checkout at Target.

[Leah]

This is not the function of the treadmill. Your sister is worth more than 15 cents. That's what they were telling her.

[Steven Furtick]

That's why she was crying.

[Leah]

You only Rang up for 15 cents?

[Steven Furtick]

Sorry, Abbey. You're not that expensive.

[Leah]

I had to shut it down. Why? That's not what the treadmill is for.

[Steven Furtick]

But when you don't know what something is for, you won't know how to use it. You won't understand how to relate to people if you do not understand the nature of a relationship. Most of the dysfunction in my relationships came because I violated the nature of the relationship. I either tried to get something from someone they could not give me that they were not designed to deposit in my life, or I tried to give to somebody something that they didn't ask for or didn't want to receive from me. But without understanding the nature of a relationship, you will have relational frustration and dysfunction because you don't understand what that person was in your life for. It's kind of weird how some of the people you try to help the most or that try to help you the most, there ends up being more hurt in those relationships than. Than any other relationship. When my dad first got really sick, and we did not know it was ALS yet, but we knew he needed some help. I started trying to pay for everything and I started trying to take care of everything. But in the process of trying to take care of his physical needs, I stopped meeting the emotional need. He had to be a dad to me. When I started acting like I was the dad, it created a dysfunction in our relationship that almost broke it apart. A lot of that was my fault because I was ignorant to the fact that when you try to give somebody something in a relationship, that is not the primary need they have of you, it will be a good intention with a bad result. How many know what I'm talking about? On some level, yeah. On some Level. Try to make your kids your best friends. They're not. They suck. Treat them like it. I love my kids. I'm just saying sometimes it's going to be. Sometimes it's going to have to be a dad moment and just not a buddy moment. I don't have any examples of that, because in our home, it's perfect. We pray a lot. But here's what I wanted to say about that. I think a lot of the problems in our relationship with Christ are because we do not understand his primary function in our lives. I think a lot of us associate Christ primarily with comfort. We come to church for comfort. People will leave churches sometimes because they'll say, I was uncomfortable. People left Jesus one time because he fed them food, comfort food. They loved it. Then he turned around and said something very uncomfortable. Eat my flesh, drink my blood. We're out of here. That made me kind of uncomfortable, that.

[Leah]

Cannibalism part of his sermon. Food was good, but it's not worth all that.

[Steven Furtick]

It made them uncomfortable. Now the Holy Spirit. Can I teach a little theology class? I paid $80,000 to go to school and learn this stuff. I have to share it sometime. When the Holy Spirit was coming, Jesus said, I'm going to send you a comforter. So the Holy Spirit not only convicts, he comforts. The primary role of the Holy Spirit is comfort. The primary role of Jesus when he was on the earth was not comfort. It was confrontation. I know you don't like that.

[Leah]

I know you want Jesus to speak.

[Steven Furtick]

To you in aphorisms that cause you to feel better about yourself each day. But the primary function of Jesus. I'll show it to you here in the Scripture in a moment. Was not to comfort the people, but.

[Leah]

To confront the systems that kept the.

[Steven Furtick]

People in bondage and in captivity. It's important that we understand this, because if we misunderstand the reason Christ came, we will be confused about how we come to Him.

[Leah]

We will begin to associate the presence of God in our lives with comfort.

[Steven Furtick]

And we will associate the devil with confrontation and conflict.

[Leah]

But sometimes it is the devil who is giving you comfort, and it is God who is putting you in conflict. What if I just dropped the mic, walked off the stage right there, and.

[Steven Furtick]

We thought about it for 45 minutes?

[Leah]

Because you have been blaming the devil for God's handiwork to come into your.

[Steven Furtick]

Calling will require you to come out.

[Leah]

Of your comfort zone. Peter had to leave his nets. James had to leave poor Zebedee in the boat. See ya, Z. I have to go.

[Steven Furtick]

I'M going to fish for men.

[Leah]

Notice I'm going to be doing the.

[Steven Furtick]

Same thing, fishing, but for a different purpose. Not for profit, but for people.

[Leah]

When God calls you, he doesn't always make you change your career. I'm so tired of people quitting their job and starting a coffee shop because they like coffee. You need to be good at business. If you like coffee, you can go to Starbucks. You need to be good at marketing to start a coffee shop. Calling is not about address and it's not about vocation. Calling is about vision. It is about the level at which you see the gift God has placed in your life. Jesus said, I see a gift in you to fish. You have tenacity, you have a certain set of skills. But I am going to apply your aptitude to a higher avocation. In other words, come follow me and I'm going to enlarge your capacity. I'm going to bring you into calling. But in order for you to find your calling, you have to forsake your comfort.

[Steven Furtick]

We typically want both simultaneously. Abs and no planks. A divine calling and no discomfort. But coming into your calling means coming out of your comfort zone. No certainty, no contract. Follow me and I will show you as you go. That sounds almost exactly like Abraham. Go to the land. I will show you. That's an uncomfortable proposition. But if I'm going to bless you so you can be a blessing, you're going to have to learn to be uncomfortable. I'm not going to call you to do something that is outside of your competency. I'm going to use what you're good at. I'm not going to put you on the Voice if you can't sing. Please bless us by keeping it in the shower if you can't sing. You see what I'm saying? It's not beyond your competency, but. But it's going to be beyond your comfort. You're going to feel stretched by this. They didn't move. One interesting thing is they didn't move or relocate. Instead, the call of God was for them to repent. This word does not mean feel really bad about yourself. It means change your mind. To change the way you think about the reason you're here and to change the way you think about what you're going through and to change the way you think about who really is in the seat of authority in your life. So follow me. Forsake the familiar and walk in faith. The greatest enemy of faith is not fear. It is familiarity. Fear is an ally of faith. Fear puts you In a place where you know you need something greater than yourself, which makes connection with God possible. Fear can lead to faith, but familiarity can keep you stuck in predictable cycles that are pitiful, but because they're predictable, you will stay in them unless something calls you out. What was interesting to me about this introductory context is that if you'll remember one time, Peter had been fishing all night and he caught nothing. And Jesus said, throw your nets and you'll catch a lot of fish. And they did. I thought this was that same time because there are four different Gospels. I did my research and found out this was the first time they were called.

[Leah]

Jesus did not call them out of.

[Steven Furtick]

Their failure or frustration. What they were doing was working, but.

[Leah]

There was a higher purpose.

[Steven Furtick]

A lot of times it's easy for us to give all we have to Christ when we've come to the end of ourselves.

[Leah]

But when God calls you out of.

[Steven Furtick]

Your success into something sacrificial, will you still obey?

[Leah]

Will you come out of your comfort zone? They knew how to fish. They were good at fishing. They had a system set up by which their fishing could put food on their table. And he called them out of their comfort zone.

[Steven Furtick]

Where they went next is really critical to our understanding of the nature of God's calling on our lives. Verse 21 says, they went to Capernaum. I've been there. I've actually been to Capernaum. Our guide Arye, said I was saying it wrong. He said, not Capernaum.

[Leah]

Kepher.

[Steven Furtick]

Nahum. It took me seven times to say it until he was satisfied. He said, kephar, Kephar Nahum Nahum Kephara. Village Nahum Comforter. Like the minor prophet Nahum. He said, say it again. Kephar Kefar. Nahum. Nahum Kefar Kefar Nahum. Stress on the kef.

[Leah]

Doesn't matter what it matters.

[Steven Furtick]

Village of the comforter. Isn't that cool? He said, you call it Capernaum and you missed the whole point. It means Kephar Village. Nahum Comforter. Village of the comforter. They went to Capernaum.

[Leah]

Hold that.

[Steven Furtick]

It's really important to what I want to say. Kephar Nahum.

[Leah]

And when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach as a guest speaker.

[Steven Furtick]

This was customary.

[Leah]

The people were amazed at his teaching. Ooh, this is good.

[Steven Furtick]

Preach, Pastor.

[Leah]

Amen. Because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Remember I told you last week.

[Steven Furtick]

The.

[Leah]

Greatest proclamation of the Gospel is not explanation, it's demonstration. I said, that in case you're not good with your words, you might preach the gospel louder than me without saying a thing. Just by how you do your business or how you treat people or how you respond to your wife. Jesus is proclaiming the word of God, explaining or teaching, and they're amazed.

[Steven Furtick]

Wow. Amazing authority, this guy.

[Leah]

Just then a man in their synagogue. Whose synagogue? Whose synagogue?

[Steven Furtick]

Jesus is just a guest preacher. He's not the senior pastor. He's just getting to Capernaum now.

[Leah]

He's going to base his whole ministry.

[Steven Furtick]

Out of Kephar Nahum. He's going to do a couple dozen miracles. 22 biblical miracles are in Kephar Nahum, village of the Comforter. Jesus comes and calls the disciples. He gets his circle right. He does not call the people who make him comfortable. He calls the people who will make him effective.

[Leah]

Even to say that coming into your.

[Steven Furtick]

Calling means coming out of your comfort.

[Leah]

Zone should be validated by the fact that for Jesus to save you, he had to step out of heaven. For Jesus to fulfill his calling as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, he had to lay the riches and glory of heaven aside. Here we stand. Sometimes we will not step away from our heated seats and luxury lives and broken beliefs long enough to get outside of our comfort zone and step into our calling. Well, now Jesus is in Capernaum. But he does not come just to comfort the people. He comes to confront the system that has imprisoned the people. What happens next has never happened to me in a sermon. And I pray it doesn't just then.

[Steven Furtick]

I've had a lot of stuff happen while I preach. I've had people get up and walk out. I don't know if they're mad or had a full bladder, I don't know. But I've had people get up and walk out. I've had people say weird things during my sermon, do weird things during my sermon. Never had this, and please don't try it today. Just then a man in their synagogue.

[Leah]

Who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out. Just then a man who was in their synagogue. Now listen, you don't just go to.

[Steven Furtick]

Synagogue because you feel like it every.

[Leah]

First Sunday or on Easter and Christmas. He was a part of of their synagogue. So it stands to reason he had been there many times before. He had sat and listened to the teaching and instruction. As little as we know about him, we have reason to believe he was a regular. A man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit or an unclean spirit. Or maybe your version Bible Says a demon, or the King James says a devil. It doesn't matter what you call it. It was dysfunctional. Something dysfunctional in this man stood up when Jesus spoke. Something dysfunctional in this man cried out. When Jesus spoke with authority, an evil spirit cried out, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Be quiet. Jesus said sternly, come out of him. He didn't need a seance. He didn't need seven steps. Just the virtue of the power.

[Steven Furtick]

I feel like preaching the Bible today.

[Leah]

The power his Word made flesh in this man drove the dysfunction out of the man. Come out of him, you unclean spirit. I don't think Jesus screamed it.

[Steven Furtick]

I don't think he had to. Real power can whisper and get its point across.

[Leah]

The evil spirit shook. Jesus didn't touch the man, but he started shaking.

[Steven Furtick]

The man was violently convulsing on the floor.

[Leah]

But even though the demon put up.

[Steven Furtick]

A fight, it had to come out when Jesus spoke. I can't tell if y'all met me in church today or if I'm doing this by myself.

[Leah]

I think we need to speak to.

[Steven Furtick]

Some things in the presence of God.

[Leah]

Today that have occupied space in our.

[Steven Furtick]

Spirit and in our minds and in.

[Leah]

Our families and in our schools and in our generational bloodline. Somebody shout, come out. The spirit came out with a shriek. The power of God is not always pretty. See, this man is shaking on the floor. We just want a nice clean path with roses and chrysanthemums and we walk down the aisle and accept Jesus and everything, everything is all right. But some stuff in your life will not come out unless it is confronted. It has to be confronted or it will not come out. Shout it again in the back. Come out. Come out. The spirit obeyed Jesus. What I can't figure out, this is.

[Steven Furtick]

What I've been studying this week in preparation for our time together, is why.

[Leah]

This man was able to sit in their synagogue for so long. The evil spirit was comfortable in church. But when Jesus showed up, I said, when Jesus showed up, when the Son of God showed up. I'm not preaching this one for everybody. This is just for a few of y'all. When Jesus shows up, power shows up. When Jesus shows up, demons tremble. When Jesus shows up, dysfunction has nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. We came to declare today to every evil spirit in our city, come out in the name of Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

How many times had he been to.

[Leah]

Church.

[Steven Furtick]

Possessed by this demon? Don't get caught up on demons. I know some of y'all are so scared right now looking for the exes. We're not going to do anything like that. If you make this Bible passage about demons, you missed the entire demonstration. Authority. Because we don't call it demons anymore. In the ancient world, everything was a demon, runny nose demon.

[Leah]

I'm serious. Mental illness was demon. They didn't have tests and pills and all this. So it was just a demon. Now do demons still exist today? Yes.

[Steven Furtick]

But do we call them dysfunctions instead? I won't do it, but I was thinking about having you raise your hand if you came from a dysfunctional family. The reason I won't do it, number one, might cause you some tense conversations on the way home. I'm looking out for my teenagers.

[Leah]

I did it one time.

[Steven Furtick]

I said, how many of you came from a dysfunctional family? And I thought I would minister to 20% of the room. Every hand went up. When I think about the dysfunctions in my life, I have to be honest with you. I don't like to say this, but some of my dysfunctions I've really learned to love. I don't love the dysfunctions. I don't love the devil. I don't love sin. But sometimes I love the way it makes me feel. That was too real for them. You know how church people are. If you say anything that resembles real life, they stop shouting. If you put Jesus on a horse coming out of the clouds, they shout. But when you say stuff like this, dysfunction can be comfortable. Dysfunction can be a snuggie. I mean, if you really want to feel good, quick, let me tell you the best way to do it. Criticize somebody. Can we talk about how fun it is to be critical of others?

[Leah]

It is amazing how quickly my dysfunction is swallowed up when I pick somebody who has a different dysfunction that I don't happen to struggle with and put all of my energy rather than confronting my own dysfunction. If I can spend five minutes judging yours. Come on. Can we be honest? It's fun. Listen, it's fun. That's why they call it this fun, son. It's fun. It's fun to talk about how other people should parent. It's amazing to talk about how other people should spend their money on what you would do if you were dying. It's amazing.

[Steven Furtick]

I love it.

[Leah]

I love my dysfunction. The way that it. It comforts me.

[Steven Furtick]

Here's my favorite dysfunction. I love to indulge my insecurities. It feels humble, but really what it does, it gives me an Excuse to not fulfill my calling, but it's comfortable. So rather than come up to the level God has called me to, I indulge the insecurity. That's just the way I am. What did you say?

[Leah]

What did you say? Come out of what? Come out of the insecurity that has imprisoned you. This is a word for somebody who has gotten comfortable in your dysfunction. In fact.

[Steven Furtick]

I want to take you.

[Leah]

To another passage really quick that shows.

[Steven Furtick]

You the devil's strategy.

[Leah]

How many of you would like to.

[Steven Furtick]

Know the devil's strategy for keeping you defeated? Three of y'all.

[Leah]

All right.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm going to do it for three of y'all. Paul writes something in 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, that I have always loved as a counseling scripture. When people are going through hard things, I will often share this verse with them because really, the whole passage is good. But two verses in particular, where it talks about how sometimes when you go through something in your life, you're not going through it for you, but there is somebody who will go through something that will need what you will have after you get through what you're going through, and you will have it to give them.

[Leah]

It is the function of comfort.

[Steven Furtick]

It is the function of comfort.

[Leah]

Comfort has a specific function.

[Steven Furtick]

The comfort of Christ comes into our.

[Leah]

Life not so that we can only.

[Steven Furtick]

Be comforted, but that we can comfort others.

[Leah]

If you search the scripture for comfort, you will find many commands to comfort others, and you will find many promises.

[Steven Furtick]

That God will comfort you, but you will never find permission to comfort yourself.

[Leah]

What the devil wants us to do is to learn to run for comfort and cover to places outside of our calling so he can keep us comfortable in our dysfunction so we will never see our destiny come to pass. When Paul says it, he says, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. Well, see, Pastor Steven, you said Jesus didn't come to comfort us, and there Paul says he did.

[Steven Furtick]

So I'm going with Paul. Hang on for another verse and see if you still want to sit there and argue with me after I've been all up in these books all week.

[Leah]

Verse 4 says, who comforts us in all our dysfunction?

[Steven Furtick]

No, see, that's what the devil does. The devil wants to comfort you in.

[Leah]

Your dysfunction until you no longer see it as a problem, until it becomes so normal that you can go to church with an evil spirit and take it to lunch and take notes, but not take action. But Christ came to confront your dysfunction Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of compassion, who comforts us in all our. All our trouble. Comfort can become dysfunctional when we get it from the wrong place. Some of us have comfort foods.

[Steven Furtick]

Why are you looking at me.

[Leah]

Like you never ate the whole bag? Okay, let me try another route since.

[Steven Furtick]

You'Re going to be all dietary about this point.

[Leah]

Some of us have comfort friends.

[Steven Furtick]

Here we go.

[Leah]

Help me, Holy Ghost.

[Steven Furtick]

I feel demons shrieking while I preach this word.

[Leah]

Some of us have people in our lives who are good to us, but they're not good for us. I don't mean to call you out, but could it be possible that your comfort is keeping you from your calling, that you have put yourself in a space that seems safe, but you are.

[Steven Furtick]

Sabotaging, silencing the power of God in your life because you love comfort. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of all compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles. In all our troubles. You mean God will use trouble to bring me comfort? Yes. And not only that, but God will disrupt my comfort to confront my dysfunction. So when I'm going through trouble, let me be a little slower to ask God to rebuke the devil. Maybe the trouble is the means of transformation. When God calls you out, sometimes it is uncomfortable. Sometimes. The way I gauge the presence of God when I'm preaching is by how uncomfortable people look in their seats. I didn't do that when I first started preaching. When I first started preaching, I thought if they clapped, I was doing good. Now I understand when you squirm. My favorite is when the Holy Spirit has you pinned so up against your chair, and I'm about to send the medical team to check your pulse. That's when the presence of God came, when you got most uncomfortable.

[Leah]

As long as we associate Jesus with.

[Steven Furtick]

Comfort, we will miss him. Because Jesus comes to confront, not to condemn. There's a difference. Confrontation has the intent and the means to change you. Condemnation does not. God so loved the Word he gave.

[Leah]

His Son not to condemn the world.

[Steven Furtick]

But that the world through him might be saved.

[Leah]

The spirit of Christ is not to.

[Steven Furtick]

Condemn, but the spirit of Christ will confront.

[Leah]

My question today is what have we allowed to become too comfortable in our presence to occupy space that belongs to God? That man sat in their synagogue week after week, day after day, and the demons said nothing until Jesus came. The evil spirit, the dysfunction stayed silent. But the proof of the presence of God is not always comfortable feelings. Sometimes the proof of the presence of God is disruption. Sometimes the proof of the presence of God is that one thing in your life dies so that something else can come alive. I don't think we recognize him when he comes because we don't understand what he came for. But I'll show you one thing. The demons knew more about who Jesus was than the church people did. When Jesus spoke, they said, oh, you came to get rid of us. Uh oh, this is our eviction notice. Uh oh, this is the promised one. The church people were still taking notes, and the demons were popping Prozac because the demons know the name at which every name must bow. The name at which every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And if he is Lord, fear has got to go. And if he is Lord, darkness back up. And if he is Lord and has the keys of death, hell, and the grave, there is nothing.

[Steven Furtick]

I think we get too comfortable sometimes with our dysfunction. I do. I think the devil doesn't want us to get uncomfortable because then we would change. So he will make it so comfortable for us to be dysfunctional that we don't seek anything different. I don't hear a lot of people get in the baptism tank and say, you know, I have a raise. I got married. The ring was seven carats. I went to Elevation. I hear a lot of times where they say something shifted in my life. I lost something, I went through something. I faced the consequence of something. At that point in my discomfort, God.

[Leah]

Used my trouble to confront my dysfunction. Can I say something to everybody who's in trouble today? This is not just a test. This is a confrontation. This is an opportunity God wants to use to confront what you have called normal and to call you into something greater. I believe the spirit of Jesus Christ is in you. If the spirit of Christ is in you, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So we're going to take 18 seconds and issue the command to every insecurity, to every fear, to every doubt, to every regret, come out in the name of Jesus. I will not become comfortable in the darkness when God has called me into the light.

[Steven Furtick]

That's what the devil is telling his demons. Keep them comfortable.

[Leah]

Keep them comfortable. Keep them so comfortable that what I.

[Steven Furtick]

Died to set them free from will take up residence in them. Keep them comfortable. One of my friends gave me some good advice because I was telling him something somebody said about me that I heard through somebody else, how dysfunctional is this? He said, how did you find out? They said it. I said, well, the person told me. Somebody told them. He said, oh, okay, well, here's what to do about that. Don't ask the person what the other person said about you. Next time, ask them why that person felt comfortable saying it about you to them. I never had anybody say anything bad to me about Holly. I don't think they would feel very comfortable. So what did I do?

[Leah]

What was it?

[Steven Furtick]

Capernaum, the Village of the Comforter. Were they so comfortable in their religion that they missed the revelation of Jesus Christ?

[Leah]

You know what's sad?

[Steven Furtick]

Capernaum is the place. Kepher Nahum. Sorry? Kepher Nahum. That's how we say it. That's the authentic way we say was the place where Jesus based his ministry, and it was the place he cursed before his ministry was over. In Matthew 11, he gave some woes. I actually wanted to give them verse 20 too, because it's important to the context. Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed because they did not change their minds. They saw the miracles, but they did not change their mind and their direction. The third city he renounced or denounced is a city called Capernaum. The place where he lived, the place where he based out of, and the place where he most mightily displayed his glory. Look what he says about them in verse 23. And you, Capernaum, Kephar Nahom, Village of the Comforter. Will you be lifted up to the skies? After all that you've seen, after all you've been exposed to, after hosting the presence of the eternal living word of God, will you be lifted up? No. You will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, that wicked city that was judged for its pride and arrogance, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you, it would be more bearable for Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you. Why? Because you got too comfortable. You got too comfortable. Your name was a prophecy of what would ultimately be your undoing. When I love comfort more than I love Christ, and I run for comfort, I run from calling. You will not be lifted up. You will be brought down. Because you ran to comfort outside of Christ, you ran to religion, you ran to others, you ran to familiar fears, you ran back into insecurity. And you will not experience your calling because you got stuck in your comfort. Are you stuck in your comfort? Has it become dysfunctional? Have you learned to tolerate things in your life? The works of the devil Jesus came to destroy. He came to Save us from our sin, but he also came to set us free from it. The spirit of Christ is in this place. You don't have to stay stuck in comfortable dysfunction another day. I don't think it has to be loud and I don't think we have to scream and shout sometimes. Sometimes I think the loudest response is a decision in your heart to say, I am going to confront this. Come out. Come out. For you who have been living in the year 2011 and 2012 and the relationship that didn't work. Come out. For you who have been living in the trauma of an event that has passed. Come out. For you who have been living in a complacent place of mediocre faith and lukewarm commitment to Jesus. Come out. He's in the place. This is an eviction notice. To let everything in our lives that is keeping us from the high calling of God in Christ Jesus know. We serve notice on you this day. We serve notice on you this moment. We serve notice on you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We're coming out of our dysfunction. We are coming out of our excuses. We are coming out of our complacency. We are coming out.

[Leah]

I don't want the comfort that comes from dysfunction. I want the comfort that comes from God. If the spirit of the Lord is here, there is liberty here to break every chain. Come out in the name of Jesus. If he came out of his grave, I'm coming out of mine.

[Steven Furtick]

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort. He is in this place. I want to pray for you right now on the level God is speaking to you. I pray the Holy Spirit will give me accuracy. Yes. Thank you for standing. I want you to stand right now. If there's something God is speaking to you about in your life that is dysfunctional, that you have become comfortable with and you want to pray a really crazy prayer today that God would disrupt your comfort to confront your dysfunction so you can be whole and have life more abundantly and not just go to heaven when you die one day, but know the fullness of the power of God on this earth. The Holy Spirit is in this place. The comforter is here. So if it's you, I want you to lift both of your hands in the air like you're not ashamed of the presence of God. See, when you did that, you said something. You said, I'm coming out with my hands up. I'm coming out in full surrender. I'm not coming out in my own opinion or my own strength, I'm coming.

[Leah]

Out in the power of God.

[Steven Furtick]

I declare and decree in this moment that the name of Jesus and the.

[Leah]

Blood of Christ is greater than all that I've done. I declare that the blood of Jesus has spoken a better word over my life. Now.

[Steven Furtick]

God, by the authority you have invested in me, by the power of your.

[Leah]

Word and the name of Jesus, and the gift of your Holy Spirit to.

[Steven Furtick]

Preach the gospel, I command everything that.

[Leah]

Is not like you to come out of your sons and daughters. Everything that has kept them bound, everything that has kept them broken, everything that has kept them depressed, everything that has kept them in cycles of dysfunction. They cannot break. We declare right now in the name of Jesus. Chains are breaking. Miracle working power is in this place. Evil spirits come out. Evil spirits come out. Thoughts of defeat come out. Discouragement come out in the name of Jesus. Chains are falling in the presence of a mighty God, one greater than Abraham, one greater than Moses. The name of Jesus, the name in which every knee will bow, every tongue confess. Jesus Christ is Lord Jesus. Declare that name.

[Steven Furtick]

Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to Give now or visit elevationchurch.orgpodcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us evationchurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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