This Isn't What I Pictured

Summary

Elevation with Steven Furtick – “This Isn’t What I Pictured”

Date: December 19, 2025
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this Christmas devotional episode, Pastor Steven Furtick tackles the universal feeling of disappointment when life does not align with our expectations—when reality simply “isn’t what I pictured.” Using Hebrews 11:3 and the story of Jesus’ birth as his anchor, Furtick encourages listeners to reconsider where they get their image of how things “ought to be.” He challenges us to shift from our own limited perspectives to God’s greater vision, even when things feel confusing, disappointing, or completely different than what we imagined.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Carriage Ride Metaphor: “This Isn’t What I Pictured”

• Story: Pastor Furtick tells a story about a disastrous family carriage ride (03:17) where his young daughter Abbey, after begging to go, melts down mid-tour:
  • Abbey’s words: “But this isn’t what I pictured.” (06:12)
• Point: It’s easy to relate; we’ve all embarked on journeys—marriage, parenthood, careers, faith—with one image, only to experience something else.
  • Furtick: “Sometimes life takes you on a ride… and it didn’t look like the commercial.” (06:17)
• Insight: The pain of unmet expectations spans from trivial (a carriage ride) to life-altering (our deepest relationships, even with God).

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2. Where Do You Get Your “Picture”?

• Furtick critically examines where we derive our expectations—social media, culture, filtered stories, TV shows (“This Is Us”), or someone else’s highlight reel.
  • Furtick: “If you have your picture for what life is supposed to be like from the little glimpses other people give you… you will always be frustrated.” (09:20)
  • Warns that comparing our messy reality to idealized images leads to disappointment.
• Spiritual Parallel: We’re cautioned to reflect on whether our idea of God or life comes from Scripture or the world’s projections.
  • Furtick: “Did you get your picture from the world or from the Word?” (34:07)
• Analogy: Building a puzzle with the wrong box top—a recipe for frustration.
  • “God says, I gave you the pieces for the picture I have in mind for your life…” (22:03)

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3. The Birth of Jesus: Not As Pictured

• Scripture: Matthew 1 and Hebrews 11:3, emphasizing faith and God “framing” the world differently than we expect. (03:06; 11:18)
• Insight: Even the nativity story doesn’t match our Christmas card images—wise men arriving years later, Jesus not born in a quaint barn but possibly in a cave.
  • “How you pictured Christmas is probably wrong… What if it isn’t how you pictured it?” (18:52; 19:02)
• God’s Process: God often interrupts our plans. Joseph had “in mind” to quietly end things with Mary, but God’s angel told him the pregnancy was God’s plan.
  • “Why does God wait until after you have made a plan to interrupt it?” (16:40)
  • Key insight: The greatest hope—Jesus—came through the greatest disappointment for Joseph. (17:08)
• Message: God’s purposes may be hidden in situations that feel like letdowns. “The problem is not the situation. The problem is the picture.” (20:23)

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4. Living with the Unseen: Faith over Sight

• Hebrews 11:3’s principle: God builds from things unseen; faith allows us to trust His process even when we don’t see or feel it.
  • “Faith enables us to understand that God is with us even if we do not see him in the picture.” (31:50)
• Joseph and Mary:
  • Mary knew God’s work in her body; Joseph had only his faith.
  • “He had to believe what he can’t see, what he can’t prove… Maybe that’s the hardest job of all.” (30:20)
• Visual Analogy: Camera shots during the sermon—sometimes God moves out of the “shot” we expected, but He hasn’t left. We have to rely on His voice, not just what we see. (37:07–39:07)
  • “The only way for you to know I'm still here is to go not by what you see, but by what you hear.” (38:18)

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5. Reframing Life’s Disappointments

• Applying the Message:
  • “God isn’t building your picture. He’s building his purpose.” (41:52)
  • Let go of someone else’s expectations and embrace the unique “pieces in your box” for the picture God has in mind.
  • “Switch the picture… Be who God called you to be.” (43:04)
  • “Celebrate what he gave you. Pull everything close you still have left. Wrap your arms around it and make the most of it.” (43:20)

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6. Three Truths About How Christ Came (44:21)

a. Insignificance

• “He came through someone everyone else thought was insignificant.” (45:27)
• God regularly works through unlikely people and situations; there’s nothing “insignificant” about your story.

b. Impossibility

• “Impossible situations are the places where faith is born… If it is impossible for you, it is fertile for God.” (46:13; 46:27)

c. Intimacy

• Christ enters personally and intimately into our story—not to fulfill tradition, but to be with us (“Emmanuel—God with us”). (47:01)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “But this isn’t what I pictured.” – Abbey Furtick (06:12)
  The phrase that sets the tone for the message.

• “How in the world are we supposed to feel fulfilled about our real lives when we spend so much time getting our picture from other people’s pretension?” – Steven Furtick (09:20)

• “God says, I gave you the pieces for the picture I have in mind for your life…” – Steven Furtick (22:03)

• “It’s hard to believe it’s God when it doesn’t feel good.” – Steven Furtick (23:02)

• “God isn’t building your picture. He’s building His purpose.” – Steven Furtick (41:52)

• “If you don’t see it but He spoke it, and you will believe it by faith, it will come to pass.” (46:31)

• “Celebrate what He gave you. Pull everything close you still have left. Wrap your arms around it and make the most of it.” – Steven Furtick (43:20)

• “The message of Christmas is about His presence, not my picture.” – Steven Furtick (33:55)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment / Content | |-----------|------------------| | 06:12 | Abbey: “But this isn’t what I pictured.” — Launching the sermon’s theme | | 09:20 | Furtick challenges where we get life’s “picture” | | 16:40 | Joseph’s plan, God’s interruption — the gap between our plans and God’s | | 18:52 | Nativity scene inaccuracies and the danger of clinging to idealized “pictures” | | 30:20 | The difficulty of believing without seeing (Joseph’s faith) | | 34:07 | “Did you get your picture from the world or from the Word?” | | 37:07–39:07 | Visual analogy: When God moves out of your “frame,” you must listen for His voice | | 41:52 | “God isn’t building your picture. He’s building His purpose.” | | 44:21 | The three ways Christ’s coming reframes our expectations: Insignificant, Impossible, Intimate | | 46:13 | “Impossible situations are the places where faith is born.” | | 47:01 | The intimacy of Christ’s coming and invitation to be personal | | 48:55 | Closing prayer for reframing expectations and embracing God’s presence |

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Natural Flow and Tone

True to Furtick’s style, the episode blends storytelling, humor, audience interaction, and practical biblical teaching. Furtick’s candor—about his own parenting, ministry expectations, and even nostalgic jokes about “Joe Mama”—fosters authenticity and makes complex spiritual concepts relatable and accessible.

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Final Takeaways

• Everyone deals with seasons or situations that aren’t what they pictured.
• Our frustration often comes from comparing our reality to a false, idealized “picture” instead of trusting God’s unseen purpose and presence.
• Faith is essential—God’s purpose will rarely look the way we expect, but it’s always ultimately better, deeper, and more meaningful.
• Especially at Christmas, it’s about embracing God’s presence (“Emmanuel”), not our plans or pictures, and allowing Him to work through the pieces we actually possess.

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Listen if:
You need encouragement to embrace uncomfortable detours, are struggling with disappointment, or want to rediscover the meaning of Christmas beyond the expected trappings.

For Reflection:

• Where have you been frustrated because life isn’t “what you pictured”?
• Are you willing to “switch the picture” and allow God to build something new—even out of disappointment?
• Are you framing your story with faith or with fear?

Memorable summary quote:

“The message of Christmas is about His presence, not my picture.” (33:55)

Transcript

[Steven Furtick]

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[Steven Furtick]

Hey this is Steven Furtick.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

[Steven Furtick]

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. How many are ready for the Word of God?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I just have a Christmas devotional thought today from Hebrews 11:3.

[Steven Furtick]

It is not customarily seen as a Christmas scripture but let's look at the picture of Jesus Christ through this frame today. Hebrews 11:3. King James Version. Y' all thought I was playing this holiday season, but I am not. King James Version Hebrews 11:3. Ready?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Through faith we understand that the worlds.

[Steven Furtick]

Were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Through faith we understand. How many know there are some things you can only understand through faith. Through faith we understand that the worlds.

[Steven Furtick]

Were framed by the word of God.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

So that the things which are seen.

[Steven Furtick]

Were not made of things which do appear. Lord, I thank you that your word is already blessed. Open our hearts to receive it now. In Jesus name, Amen. You may be seated. A couple years ago, I took all three of the kids on a carriage ride downtown Charleston. And I took them on the carriage ride because I'm a good, good father. And Holly wanted to shop also. Another reason I took them on a carriage ride is because I'm an idiot and because Abbey begged me to. She was about 5. Her big brothers told her, this is a bad idea. You're not going to like it. It's going to be boring. But she insisted. We walked by this picture of a carriage ride. She said, can we go? I bought the tickets. I told the woman of God, I'm going to give you about an hour of childless shopping. She said, oh, thank you. Thank you, men of God. She said, I receive it in Jesus name. We got on the carriage ride. Within three minutes, Abbey had a full scale meltdown on the carriage ride. She was bored, she was restless, she was disappointed. Her brothers took the opportunity to remind her, we told you that this would suck. Of course, we don't say suck in my family. It's a preacher's family. But we were all kind of embarrassed because of course, we weren't the only ones on the carriage ride. Within 10 minutes, she was crying so loudly that I had to go into my. You know, if you're a parent, you have a yelling voice that's quiet, it's louder than a scream, and you have to use it in public when you want to convey urgency without raising decibels. I said, baby girl. With a smile. I said it, too. Baby girl, you're the one who wanted to come on this carriage ride. I'm going to need you to dry it up and enjoy this carriage ride. We have 30 more minutes. You're the only one who wanted to come on the carriage ride. So whatever is going on right now, I need you to deal with it. Listen to this man, tell us the history of all these houses. On this carriage ride, she goes. She's trying to stop crying. She goes.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

But this isn't what I pictured.

[Steven Furtick]

The title of my sermon is, this isn't what I pictured. Sometimes life takes you on a ride. Come on. Who is going to be real with me today? Looks like we have all angels in this section. Let me turn over here. Have you ever had life hand you a whopper? But it didn't look like the commercial. This isn't what I pictured. It is a very difficult thing to adjust your perspective when you pictured it.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

One way and the product turns out to be another.

[Steven Furtick]

Some of you came to church crying today. What I picture when we started 2019 or whatever year. You happen to be watching this in a time capsule in the future on the Internet. I just want this sermon to have a long shelf life. You started the year with a picture of transformation, new beginnings, restoration.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

This isn't what I pictured.

[Steven Furtick]

It's a real thing, even to this day. We'll tell Abbey it's going to be like the carriage ride. It's a way. When she wants to do something we don't want to do, we remind her. Carriage ride. Which is fine when you're only out of $85, but what about when it's your relationship? It isn't what I picture. Or even your relationship with God. Maybe you're saying I started one way believing that God would do certain things for me because he is my provider. And yet I came into deeper relationship with God and this isn't.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Is there anybody in the whole church?

[Steven Furtick]

If not, I can come to Gaston next week.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Is there anybody in the whole church who is living in a scene you did not picture in this season? That's why Hebrews 11:3 gives a contrast between what God sees and what you see to let you know that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

[Steven Furtick]

But I'm getting ahead of myself because.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

The fact of the matter is everyone has a picture of how life is supposed to go. When you are supposed to get married, when you are supposed to get a promotion, what kind of career your children.

[Steven Furtick]

Were supposed to be interested in. Some of you.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

You had your child's whole career. They were going to go to an Ivy League school, be a starting quarterback and a magna summa cum laude and all of that. And they don't even like sports. They don't even want to go to community college and study. This isn't what I pictured. Didn't you get the Memo, let me just ask you a question. Where did you get your picture? Where did you get your picture? Did you get it from the Instagram? If you did, I'm praying for you real hard. Catholic, Pentecostal, I'll do it all. Because if you have your picture for what life is supposed to be like from the little glimpses other people give you when they are posing perfectly, you will always be frustrated. While I'm on it, let me say something, something about the show. This is Us, which I love. Jack Pearson isn't real. I told Holly the other day, I said, please don't be offended. I hope you didn't bring a relative for this. I hope you're not bringing the relatives until next weekend for the Christmas program. But some shows we watch, I call it emotional porn. Because it is perfectly airbrushed. Then when you compare the real thing to a picture that was surgically altered and cropped and filtered, how in the world are we supposed to feel fulfilled about our real lives when we spend so much time getting our picture from other people's pretension?

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

Come on and help me preach. Five seconds. If you know he's a real God, he's the real thing, it means.

[Steven Furtick]

There.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Are all these things I see and.

[Steven Furtick]

All these things I don't see, and God operates from an invisible picture. While I am trying to make sense out of my life from what is visible, God sees something different. Enter Jesus.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Matthew, chapter 1, verse 18.

[Steven Furtick]

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. Matthew is done with the genealogy, now the part of the Christmas story that would put you right to sleep. If I read all of those names, not only would you be praying for my pronunciation, but you would lose your focus. Yet all of it is important because.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

It is all the backstory to help us understand how Jesus came into the world. Now, if you don't understand how Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

Came, you will misunderstand why Jesus came. If we think he came like our superheroes, we pay ticket prices to go and see.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

We will expect him to come in.

[Steven Furtick]

A certain way, and we will picture him in a way that will cause us to miss him when he really shows up. Where did you get your picture? Where did you get your picture of God? What do you picture when you worship God? Where did you get that picture? Is he white? Is he black? Is he perfectly dialed to be an exact representation of every ethnicity?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Is he a man?

[Steven Furtick]

Is he not a man?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Is your God King Triton off the Little Mermaid, just zapping stuff?

[Steven Furtick]

Where did you get your picture? What if he isn't what you picture. I'm really going to create some empty seats for next week because it's going to be crowded for Christmas.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Heaven is not going to be like.

[Steven Furtick]

You picture it right now.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Let me tell you why some of the people you can't stand are going to be there. Some of the people who don't believe the right stuff, some of the people who didn't share the same denominational dogma as you. When we get to heaven, a lot of us are going to be surprised because it won't look like the picture. This is how the birth of Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

Christ came about, Matthew says. John starts it differently. He says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was there with God in the beginning, and all things were made through him, Colossians says, by him and for him. But Matthew is starting with the human perspective of how Jesus Christ came about. Of course, in verse 17 he says, Thus there were fourteen generations, all from Abraham to David, from David to the Babylonian exile, and then 14 from the exile to Christ. 14, 14, 14. There's 42 generations of faith that brought Jesus into the earth. Yet the Logos or the Word was with God, pre existent, pre incarnate. God was the Word of God. I promise you this is important, so please stay with me. Because before Jesus was seen, he existed. Before he appeared, he existed.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Just like everything in your life, before it is seen, it exists. By the time it becomes a behavior, it was a belief for a long time. By the time it becomes a feeling, it was a thought. Just like there is a genealogy of Jesus, there is a genealogy of our emotions, there's a genealogy of our habits. There is a pattern where knowing how something started can help you to trust.

[Steven Furtick]

When you don't see it in the process. I'm preaching really good today.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with.

[Steven Furtick]

Child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace. He had in mind.

[Steven Furtick]

I love this phrase.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

He had in mind to divorce her quietly or to put her away quietly. He had in mind so much of the decisions we make in our lives that cause us confusion are because we do what we had in mind before we consult God to see what he has in store. Can I keep going? But after he considered this, why? Because the angel appears to him. But why did the angel appear at this point after Mary was already Bound to be pregnant. In other words, why did God let Joseph go several months without knowing what he wanted to do and what it was all about, and then appear after he had already made his plan and had in mind what he wanted to do? After he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what.

[Steven Furtick]

Is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Why couldn't you tell me that. Six months ago? Why couldn't you have told me that before I got the papers drawn up? Why does God wait until after you have made a plan to interrupt it? This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. The greatest hope the world was ever.

[Steven Furtick]

Given came through the greatest disappointment Joseph would ever know.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I wonder, is that happening in somebody's life today? This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When Joseph had made up his mind how he needed to handle the situation. And yet God interrupts Joseph's plan to fulfill a greater purpose. Now if you go by your picture, you will make your plan. The only problem is God might have a different picture than you.

[Steven Furtick]

I know y' all don't like it, but it's the facts. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. You know, we have our nativity scene, have baby Jesus and the wise men. Well, first of all, no record that there were three of them. Three gifts. I don't know how many magi were there, but I'll tell you this, they didn't get there when Jesus was born. Jesus could have been two years old by the time they got there. A two year old Jesus isn't as cute on a nativity scene in precious moments. Can't sell it. Toddlers aren't so adorable. So they had to put little baby umbilical cord Jesus on the manger scene.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

But he was older than that. Now the shepherds are there in your.

[Steven Furtick]

Nativity scene too, aren't they? The wise men and the shepherds weren't there at the same time. Now they want to sell you extra figures so they have to put them all together at the same time. It's a profit margin issue, right?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

It's not an accuracy thing. How you pictured Christmas is probably wrong. He wasn't even born in a manger.

[Steven Furtick]

That's how we translate it in English. It was, it was more of a guest room that would have looked more like a cave. But how are you going to sell a manger scene with a cave? What if it isn't how you pictured it? What if how God wants to use you isn't how you pictured it? What if the way he's going to work in your marriage isn't how you pictured it? Joseph has this. This word from God to go from, to understand by. If he understands by his eyes, his sight, he's going to miss it. We always will. If he understands by his senses, his feelings, his emotions, he'll miss it.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Emotionally and mentally. He has already decided.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm done with this. Some of you came to church today and you've already decided to quit. I'm giving up on this.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I'm giving up on joy.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm giving up on peace. I'm giving up on hope.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

That's why some of you aren't in the building. You're watching on a screen.

[Steven Furtick]

Because you gave up on even being a part of a church.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Because when you pictured church, you pictured perfect people who would never hurt you. But guess what? We are imperfect, just like you. So if you want to hook up, you have to understand we're screwed up, too. But if you picture it as perfect, this is the Lord.

[Steven Furtick]

I hear you, Lord. I love it when this happens. God showed me exactly what he said.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

He said, the problem isn't your situation, it's your picture. The problem is not the situation. The problem is the picture. Mary had her dress picked out, but now she's not going to get to wear it. She's going to be way too big for this dress by the time she walks the aisle. Joseph had his plan picked out, but now he's not going to get to do it, which is hard for a carpenter because carpenters plan. They make a living off of measuring and planning. But after he had measured it in his mind, God spoke to his spirit and said, what is in her is from me. I know it's not what you pictured, but it's me. I know it's not what you expected, but it's me. I know it's not your preference, but it's me. I know it doesn't fit your tradition, but it's me. I know you feel lonely and there are some missing pieces, but it's me.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

Are you trying to break, build your.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Life by the wrong picture of what.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

You thought it would be.

[Cosentyx Ad Voice]

Or what.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

You think you're supposed to be? Wouldn't it be dumb to try to buy a puzzle to build it according to a picture that was on the COVID of somebody else's puzzle? Try it. If you go over to a friend's house and they have a puzzle this analogy is a little weak, but bear with me. If you see a picture, go buy a puzzle that doesn't match the picture and try to open that box with those pieces and build a picture and.

[Steven Furtick]

See how much fun you have with it.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

God says, I gave you the pieces for the picture I have in mind for your life according to my purpose before you were ever born. So I have the right pieces, I have the right gifts, I have the right temperament. If I submit it to the Holy Spirit and don't let it get out of control. But this isn't what I pictured. Switch the picture.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

When you have a picture of yourself as worthless, you will build your life according to that picture. You will sabotage yourself because you build by what you feel.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

But now, if God says I'm righteous, if I switch the picture to what he sees, and if I assume he's.

[Steven Furtick]

Always working, if I switch the picture, Joseph is me. I started this. It's you who are going to take Mary home, but it's me. It's hard to believe it's God when it doesn't feel good. Joseph is like, are you sure? Because he had to think about it. He had to ponder it. Beautiful verse in the Bible. It says, joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. What's in her is from me. What's in her is from me. It's in her, but it's from me. God says, what's in you is from me. What's in you is from me. I'm just comforted by that because sometimes I feel pressure about what I perceive to be missing pieces. Even as a preacher, I always wish I could preach like other preachers. I see. I'll tell you exactly who I want to preach like. Do you know the guys that stand.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Still and they are just so profound, and they have one of the mics that never moves.

[Steven Furtick]

They just.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

They're so calm.

[Steven Furtick]

I like that.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I go on Amazon looking for robes and I think, man, that would be cool. Because it expends a lot of energy, all this moving around. Even sometimes I come up and I.

[Steven Furtick]

Try to preach like one of them.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

But then something just.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

I really don't plan to freak out and spaz out. I watch myself back and I'm like, why do you have to be like that? Why can't you be dignified? But something inside of me, when I start doing it, I just have to do it how I do it. I have to do it like the Pieces in my box are meant for the picture. Y' all won't help me preach. What's in you is from God. What's in me is from him. I have every piece. I have wisdom. I have strength. I have anointing. I have authority in the name of Jesus to overcome every wicked thing that.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Rises to oppose me.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

Now shove. Three people say, it's in you. It's in you. It's in you right now, and it's growing and it's kicking and it's meant to be. And you're not missing anything. You have it all. You have every piece for the picture. For in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Watch this.

[Steven Furtick]

The Word was God. Let me ask you a question. Let's take a vote. This is the first church vote I remember in the history of Elevation Church. But let's be Baptist for the next 30 seconds. Who had the harder job? Mary or Joseph? Before you answer this, because in just.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

A moment, I'm going to call on.

[Steven Furtick]

You to raise your hand at every location if you are married, I want to strongly encourage you to consider carefully the cost of answering this question honestly. But who says Mary had the harder job? There they are, all the women who have borne children into this world. Come on, let's celebrate Mother's Day early. Thank God for you.

[Rexulti Ad Voice]

Amen.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Raise your hand if you say, is Mary right?

[Steven Furtick]

Because she had very little choice. She was already pregnant by the time she found out about the purpose. Too late. If you don't like it, then you have Joseph.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Y' all my kids came up to.

[Steven Furtick]

Me the other day and said, do you know Joe?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Now here's what's hilarious.

[Steven Furtick]

I said, joe Mama.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

They said, how did you know that? They think they started Jo Mama. Boy, I was doing Jo Mama.

[Steven Furtick]

While.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Your unframed form was not even.

[Steven Furtick]

In the picture yet. I gave them a genealogy of Jomamma. I remember Joe Mama from the Golden Girls.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Do you remember the Golden Girls?

[Steven Furtick]

You too. But I promise you, Joe Mama is old. This didn't start with you.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I came to say that to somebody.

[Steven Furtick]

About what God is doing in your life. This didn't start with you.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

This doesn't end here. Joseph has in mind to walk away.

[Steven Furtick]

But God has something different in store because God is building with a different picture. Who believes Joseph had the harder job? Raise your hand. I applaud your courage. It's an unpopular stance. I kind of see where you're coming from. Verse 21 tells us Mary's job and Joseph's job. Let's Read it together. Matthew, chapter one, verse 21. She will give birth and you are to give him the name. Which one do you want to do? Give birth or give the name?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

So physically there's no argument. But see what is striking to me about Joseph? You never heard the Christmas carol?

[Steven Furtick]

Joseph did you know.

[Venmo Stash Ad Voice]

Now?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Mary knew. Mary knew because it was her body. Mary knew that this has to be God because she knows whether or not.

[Steven Furtick]

She has been with another man. I'm going to leave it at that. In case you didn't get your kids to eat kids this morning. I'm not going to details on this.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

But Mary knew this has to be God because I consulted my experience and I'm a virgin and I haven't been with a man. So if it's, if I'm carrying something, it didn't come from human means. I know it because it's my body.

[Steven Furtick]

Joseph didn't know and he would never really know. So he had to believe. Maybe that's the hardest job of all. To believe what you can't see, to believe what you can't be sure of, to believe what you can't prove. Joseph said, I never knew. You know, the rest of his life he would live probably halfway wondering was it really God that got her pregnant. You go into men's group and you're like, guys, it's good.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I was praying.

[Steven Furtick]

The Lord told me I was actually sleeping. I was in a dream.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

And the Lord told me, don't worry.

[Steven Furtick]

Mary saw a vision too. And we're going to work this out and we're going to go home.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Do you not think Joseph spent the rest of his life looking cross eyed.

[Steven Furtick]

At people trying to figure out now.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Your nose looks kind of like. That long nose with checking out those ears. You know, Ronnie has kind of long ears right there. I saw Ronnie and Mary. Because Joseph didn't know. Because faith does not operate by sensory knowledge.

[Steven Furtick]

Faith enables us to understand that God is with us even if we do.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Not see him in the picture. I need you to receive this by faith.

[Steven Furtick]

You are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Here's the culmination of the text. I want to share with you. All this took place.

[Steven Furtick]

Everything you didn't picture, everything you don't understand. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Then he quotes Isaiah 7:14 which says.

[Steven Furtick]

The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son. And they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I've been Listening to a song all week that says, even when I don't see it, you're working, and even when I don't feel it, you're working. I need you to make a declaration by faith. Every mouth in this room, open up and say, God is worth with me right now. God is with me right now. God is with me right now. Some of y' all at another campus are not saying that, but you're not saying it to me. So say it out loud for yourself. Say, God is with me right now. Remember, the things which are seen are not made with things that do appear. So God does not build with carpenter material that you can see, see, and fabricate your faith with your physical senses. When God builds something, it will not look like what you pictured. He has a different picture, and he builds according to his picture. Now, the message of Christmas is about his presence, not my picture. The message of Christmas says that the worlds were.

[Steven Furtick]

Framed.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I know they use it in a.

[Steven Furtick]

Construction way, but this is a visual term, frame.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

They frame it. They frame the world. Did you get your picture from the.

[Steven Furtick]

World or from the Word?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Did you get your picture of what a man is supposed to be? Of what a woman is supposed to be? Of what success is?

[Steven Furtick]

Of what fulfillment is?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Of what? Did you get it from the Word or the world? The Bible says that by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Framed. Are you framing this season of your.

[Steven Furtick]

Life with your faith or with your fear?

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Honestly now? Answer it honestly as you look at what you cannot understand in your life right now. Because every hand in the room that I saw went up when I said, is it different than what you pictured? Is it different than what you pictured?

[Steven Furtick]

This was an insult.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Someone said to me one time when.

[Steven Furtick]

I walked in, they said, oh, I.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Never saw you before. I listened to your podcast. You're not what I picture.

[Steven Furtick]

I said, what did you picture? They said, I pictured you bigger. I pictured you bigger.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I pictured at this age I would be past some certain things.

[Steven Furtick]

I pictured it different. I pictured parenting way different.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I thought we'd be doing drive time devotionals from the original Greek of Philippians. I thought we'd be doing Bible sword drills. I didn't know they'd be pulling out real swords, stabbing each other with forks in the kitchen before y' all are looking at me so holy.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

It's different than what you picture. It's better, but it's different.

[Steven Furtick]

Ministry is different than what I picture.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Let me go all the way. Adulthood is different than what I picture. Can we be real with one another for a moment?

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

It's different.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

They sold us something that isn't real.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

We're supposed to have it figured out. I'm supposed to have good sense. I'm supposed to be a fully cooked turkey by now. And I'm coming out the oven and I'm still raw. And I have mouths to feed. It's different than the picture.

[Steven Furtick]

So when they put the sermon online for the video, they have to switch between different shots. They have instructions to use of what shots they put on the screen. Even now, while I'm preaching, because I move around so much like the spastic preacher I am. These are highly trained, competent individuals. Somehow they always keep me in the center of the picture. But what if the switcher fell asleep.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Just real quick?

[Steven Furtick]

I'm going to do an example because I want you to see this. Imagine if the person on the switcher goes from the tight shot to the wide shot and moves the thing on the thing. That's the technical terms. What if they.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

First show them what.

[Steven Furtick]

You'Re supposed to do? Okay, let's say I do a lateral movement over here to the side. Look. You have to shop for that. But suppose they didn't put it on that other shot? For the maximum benefit of this illustration, if you are at Ballantyne, watch the screen. If you're at another campus, you have.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

The competitive advantage right now.

[Steven Furtick]

Sometimes God does this.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Watch the screen.

[Steven Furtick]

Sometimes God does this.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

The only conclusion you can come to if you are using your eyes is that the person who was in the.

[Steven Furtick]

Picture is no longer in the building.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

The only way for you to know I'm still here is to go not by what you see, but by what you hear. Right now, those of you who cannot see me on the screen, watch the screen. Y' all are disobedient. Watch the screen. You can't see me on the screen.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

But if you know my voice, You will know that I did not leave you nor forsake you. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was here before you were. The Word was spoken before you saw your father.

[Steven Furtick]

Frame.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

So when I don't feel him, he's with me because his name is Emmanuel. I can't see Him. But I trust him because he spoke it. And I will see it with the eyes of my faith.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

He's with me on my good day.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

He'S with me on my bad day. He's with me when I've got it. He's with me when I don't even.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Know where to look.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

He's with me when they like me he's with me when nobody will return my text he's with me when I'm married He's with me when I'm divorced He's with me when I've got a job he's with me when I don't see a way to put hand he's with me when I'm well He's with me when I'm sick He's with me with a clear sky he's with me in the storm he didn't leave. I just have to change my frame. If he spoke it, you will see it. Come on, praise him like you know he. He's with you. He's with me he's with me he's with me he's with me what's in me is from me and my God is for me.

[Steven Furtick]

He's with me. So don't be afraid to go home and do what God told you. Don't be afraid to face your fears with a frame of faith. Because the things which are seen were made by the things which don't appear. I know it isn't what you pictured. I know it isn't what you planned. Do you remember when we were in the nursing home for Thanksgiving? My dad was 62, something like that. 62 years old in a nursing home.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Not because we didn't want to keep.

[Steven Furtick]

It was so tense in our family that he decided he wouldn't want to live with any of us. We couldn't take care of him. He had Lou Gehrig's disease and we tried to take care of him. We couldn't take care of him. We were eating microwave Thanksgiving in the nursing home with my dad knowing good and well we wanted him in our house. Nobody was on speaking terms. You talk about awkward. Ham doesn't taste right when you try to microwave it.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

None of us pictured this.

[Steven Furtick]

I know you didn't picture this. God isn't building your picture. He's building his purpose. Joseph. Joe. Joe. Did you know Joseph would say no? I just believe I had one thing in mind. God had another thing in store. I went with God. God went with me. I have what I need in the box to be the picture he created in his heart. No, I'm not trying to build somebody else's life or somebody else's idea of what I'm supposed to be. Not anymore.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

I tried that.

[Steven Furtick]

It is so stressful. I can't afford the doctor bill or the stomach medicine for that kind of living. I have to build what God put.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Inside of me for the picture he.

[Steven Furtick]

Sees and the world's refrain. Switch the picture. Be who God called you to be.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Celebrate what he gave you. Pull everything close you still have left. Wrap your arms around it and make.

[Steven Furtick]

The most of it. Switch the picture.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Yeah, it's going to be a different Christmas for some. Some of us, I understand that. But God pictured it all along.

[Steven Furtick]

You know, when Isaiah said, a virgin will conceive. He saw that hundreds of years before it happened. God was already building the picture. 42 generations, and God knew the picture. If you get too tightly zoomed into this one scene, or this one moment, or this one struggle, or this one issue, you're going to miss the bigger picture. God knows where to put you. He knows what he put in you, and he knows what he wants to do through you. So take Mary home by faith and.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Do what the angel of the Lord.

[Steven Furtick]

Commanded you to do.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Not what you feel or what you thought.

[Steven Furtick]

Switch the picture. Everyone standing. I want to pray for people this Christmas season who need to switch the picture. Switch the picture and put God back in the center of the frame. Put his presence and his joy and his peace. See, when you understand how he came, you can understand why he came. Please answer me. Who was this message? It was just for you. It was just for you. It was just for you. I'm going to tell you three things about how he came. I'll give them to you so quick. Number one, he came through someone everyone else thought was insignificant. The first word you need to know about how he came is insignificant. He did not come through a matriarch of royal lineage. He came through through a little girl who was so scared. When the angel came, she said, how can this be? He came through someone who saw no way that what God wanted to do.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

For the world could happen through her.

[Steven Furtick]

And so it has always been. I know we get excited when an actor or an actress or a celebrity or a politician or rock star or.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

A rapper gets excited about Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

But Christ is born in every heart that will receive him by faith.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

God is born using you. If you are a coach, if you are a student, if you are a businessman, if you are a police officer, if you are nothing more.

[Steven Furtick]

You're like, I'm just a.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Stop saying that. God always chooses to use what people deem insignificant. So there is nothing insignificant about your pieces for your picture. That's number one.

[Steven Furtick]

Number two, it was impossible.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

It was a virgin womb. Because God wanted to let you know.

[Steven Furtick]

That impossible situations are the places where faith is born.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

If that is impossible for you.

[Steven Furtick]

It is fertile for God.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

If you understand how he came through a virgin womb, he didn't have to do that, but he wanted you to know if you are facing something where you don't see a way, if you don't see it but he spoke it, and you will believe it by faith, it will come to pass. That's how he came. He came for impossible situations.

[Congregation Member or Audience Participant]

Broken hearts, broken homes, broken lives.

[Steven Furtick]

But what I love the very most is that it was intimate. He came in the most intimate way. He was born of a virgin, and he comes into your heart when you receive him. By faith. He longs to be personal with you this season. But if you get somebody else's picture and try to put something together that's not in you, you will miss his presence. He wants to speak to you, use you, bless you, help you. This is personal. This is intimate. God of all grace, God of all comfort, I have delivered your word to the best of my ability with your help. I thank you for what you spoke in this place today. Your word is good seed. I pray it falls upon good soil today. I pray for those today who are living in a picture they never planned for. I think we all are. We're all moving through this life. We saw it one way and now we are experiencing it another. And yet you are here. Always here. Still Emmanuel, still with us, still for us. A good father, a faithful friend, wonderful counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Lift your hands. I receive your peace, God. I receive your assurance. I receive your presence in this season of my life. You are my king.

[Co-Pastor or Co-Host (Elevation Church)]

Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who.

[Steven Furtick]

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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[Steven Furtick]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.