Pastor Steven Furtick has delivered a powerful message, urging his congregation to embrace forgiveness and trust in God’s transformative power for the year ahead. He highlighted how just “one person” or “one moment” can shift everything, making past failures and rejections insignificant.
“God can send you one mentor to teach you everything your father didn’t teach you because he was too busy. He can send one experience that gives you a lifetime education in just three days,” he explained. “And that one idea, if you incubate it and trust God in it, can make up for 15 failures, 500 failures. Every rejection can be made irrelevant.”
Drawing from biblical stories, he encouraged his listeners not to be defined by their setbacks. “It doesn’t take everything going right. It doesn’t take a stadium full. It doesn’t even take long. The Bible says instantly, he got up,” he said, emphasizing the speed and immediacy of God’s work in one’s life.
He warned against the corrosive effect of bitterness, stressing the importance of forgiveness. “Bitterness will choke the seed of your hope and potential before it can be developed,” he cautioned. “Whatever happens this year, can you forgive it? Can you move past it?”
Encouraging self-acceptance, he reminded the congregation that they do not need approval from others. “You don’t need approval from a person. If the person gives it, they can take it away. But if you get it from God, it can never go away,” he affirmed.
In closing, he reassured everyone that with God’s presence, they are never truly alone. “I might look alone, but I’m not alone. With God, I will never be alone. That’s the blessing of letting go.”
