“But I’ve Tried Everything!!”

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In “But I’ve Tried Everything,” Pastor Steven Furtick shows us how to unblock our potential — and it doesn’t involve trying harder! This is an excerpt from “Try Higher.” To watch the full message from @elevationchurch, click here: • Try Higher | Pastor Steven Furtick | … #faith #peace #hope #stevenfurtick #elevationchurch Chapters: 0:00 – Blocked 2:04 – Have You Really Tried? 5:00 – “I’ve Tried Everything!” 7:34 – Trying Harder Isn’t The Answer 11:46 – Would You Have Kept Trying? 15:18 – How Will You Finish The Sentence? Scripture References: Luke 5, verses 18-19

if you’ll be honest there are there are

certain things in your life right now

and areas of your life and I don’t know

if you’re going to look at me with that

really confused look like you do

sometimes where you pretend like

everything in your life is working and

everything in your life is straight and

organized and together I don’t know if

you’re going to do that to me this this

on this particular sermon or if you’re

going to be honest with me there are

some areas of your life where you are

blocked

there are some areas in your life where

you are running your head up against the

same habit

the same wall

the same way of doing it over and over

again and even if you experience

short-term Victory it seems to be just a

precursor to a deeper point of

disappointment when you fall back into

the same thing again

so y’all are going to do like that today

that that real that real confused thing

okay so this is okay it’s okay okay I

have areas in my life

where at certain times before I have

been blocked and that’s exactly the

scene here right they’re trying to bring

this man to Jesus and they are blocked

outside the door now here I should

differentiate what the Bible says here

is really important because this is a

specific word this is not just a generic

Bible sermon on you can do it you can

make it chin up you know this is not a

go get em uh tiger kind of sermon this

is a custom tailored message to a

certain type of block because in verse

18 put that back up there for me it says

that some men came four of them

carrying a paralyzed man on a mat

and tried to take him into the house

to lay him before Jesus

they did what they came care well back

all the way up they came carrying a

paralyzed man and

tried

they tried

there have been times in my life

where I said I tried

but I only kinda tried

there have been certain things that

certain tasks certain responsibilities

certain goals that I kind of tried at

and you know exactly the kind I’m

talking about

you know I tried to I tried to call him

you didn’t want them to pick up

so when they didn’t pick up it was a

sigh of relief just enough to say when

your boss asked I tried

or it’s me as a teenager I only had one

or two chores my parents didn’t make me

work very hard around the house but I

did need to cut the grass sometimes

and then guess what

tried to cut the grass dead

but there was no gas in the lawnmower

and that man showed me

he showed me the difference between

trying

and trimming the grass

you like that because he showed me this

is where the gas is this is how you put

it in until you put the gas that I

bought in the first place in the

lawnmower that you claim is empty don’t

say I tried but I was only 12. now now

I’m much more responsible

I’m much better at this

and this passage of scripture

not a teenager who said

well I tried do the test but my book at

the thing and then the dog and the thing

and the dog ate the my dog ate my mom so

I couldn’t do my homework

[Applause]

these men

I just need to give you this these men

carried

another grown man

who knows how many miles

to try

to get him to Jesus

so this is not they said oh yeah I’ll

pray for you about that problem in your

life knowing good and well you’re not

going to pray you’re just trying to wrap

up the conversation you just don’t want

to give them any money you just don’t

want to help them get in rehab you just

say I’ll pray for you this is not that

type of situation and I want to point

that out because there are some times in

your life

where you haven’t really tried

reading the first chapter of the book

about the diet is not trying the diet

[Applause]

come into church three times in 12

months

is not really trying to build your

relationship with God

that’s a frequent attender right there

she’s got the membership guard

[Applause]

I say that to shame you because I’m

telling you there are areas in my life

where I say I tried did I

where I say I listened did I

I have this friend who coaches

professional athletes CEOs he does all

this mental coaching and he says when he

hears somebody say this phrase he loves

it because he sets them up they say I I

want to do it

I’ve tried everything

and when they say that he goes oh

everything

you’ve tried everything okay let me see

the list

and they go

what list and he goes well I mean if you

tried everything

certainly you kept a spreadsheet

of everything you tried

because if you really tried everything

then you had to list everything so you

could evaluate what worked and what

didn’t

so if you tried everything bring me the

list because if you tried everything

then you had to combine certain things

in certain sequences to say I tried

everything

so you tried this and that and that

didn’t work so then you tried this then

that so then you tried this and that let

me see the list where you tried

everything and he said at this point

they crumble

okay

not everything

there are some things in our lives where

we have a desire I I like to call it a

cycle it’s a cycle where I get inspired

I try

I get tired

and now well I tried

let me walk you back through that real

slow

y’all can do this on digging deeper and

y’all can break this down I’m inspired

I’m trying

I’m tired

I tried

I talked to a lady I said you should

come to church she said oh I tried

I said you tried she said yeah I can’t

they made me go in a different room it

was like the room was full

I said what time did you get there she

said 9 43 I said you know it starts at 9

30.

[Applause]

so you know if you had tried like even

10 minutes earlier you probably could

have snuck in the top

but she tried

do you do you have an area of your life

right now

where you have said

I tried or you’re telling yourself

I tried everything to get through to my

kid I tried everything to make that

better I tried everything I I everything

and yet for those of you who are like

God I should have skipped today he’s

making me feel terrible

the message that I came to bring you

today

is not that I don’t think you’re

actually trying

or that you just need to try harder

because that’s where we take this a lot

of times right

like all right I’m gonna work out eight

days a week nine days a week with God

there’s always a way my faith I will

find it I’ll make another day in the

week I’ll put another star in the sky

I’ll do another one

y’all I don’t think you can try much

harder than these men try

They Carried a grown man all the way to

see this Wonder working Rebel priest

named Jesus who was healing people and

teaching the kingdom and laying down the

authority of the word of God in an

incarnate way that amazed everybody that

heard him and they bring this man on a

mat and he can’t do anything for himself

and there were only four of them and I

don’t care what you bench four people

carrying one grown man who can’t move

for any distance counts as trying so

they tried to get in and the Bible says

something very interesting it says

because of the crowd they couldn’t find

a way and so I don’t think this is a

passage talking about how more effort

will bring greater results and I think a

lot of times the reason we go from

inspired to trying to tired to tried is

because we try harder harder harder

harder what have as you try harder and

harder and harder and harder it gets

heavier and heavier and heavier and

heavier and some of you are here today

and you’re going well I did try or I

would try but every time I try to try I

can’t even try to try because I trip on

the things that I tried for in the past

and I’m trying now but it’s what

happened then that makes me unable to

try you don’t see the injuries that I’ve

been through to know that I’m trying

say trying

look I’m not preaching to a person today

who’s not trying because you chose to

bring your heart into an environment

where you could hear the word of God

[Applause]

even if you did skip church and watch it

later sometime you’re hearing this

because you are trying they tried to

bring him to Jesus they tried honestly

they tried valiantly I didn’t see

anybody else in the passage carrying a

paralyzed man

I didn’t see the Pharisees carrying

anybody on a mat

[Music]

I didn’t see the religious teachers

trying to help anybody you know the

truth of it is you haven’t really

struggled you haven’t really experienced

struggle until you stepped in to try to

bring somebody else with you along the

journey

[Applause]

they tried

and I want to do something right now

that may seem sacrilegious

but I need to do it to get the point

across because there’s somebody I’m

preaching to you and you are blocked

but you’ve tried

you blocked

you’ve been blocked but you have tried

it’s very different than I just didn’t

even try it I just didn’t even do it I

just didn’t it’s very different it’s a

different kind of tired when you’ve

really tried

that’s why I like to preach to youth

sometimes

because they haven’t even really tried

yet they haven’t even got tired of

themselves yet they’re not even sick of

themselves yet

you know I don’t even have to do all

half the work I have to do with you when

I preach to you

are y’all over 30 people over 40 people

over 50 people I’m tired of this I tried

everything you’re up there talking about

I tried all of that now look they they

tried and verse 18 says

that they couldn’t

get in but they tried to take him into

the house

to lay him before Jesus and here’s what

I want to show you in verse 19.

is what they did and what they could

have done when they could not find

away

to do this what to bring this man to

Jesus

because of the crowd they went up on the

roof and lowered him on his mat through

the tiles into the middle of the crowd

right in front of Jesus

now I love that

what I love about it though

is it says when they could not find a

way to do this

what they originally intended to do

because of the crowd

and then there’s a comma

it doesn’t say

that they started a fight

in the parking lot

so they’re Frank to get in I love that

because do something for me real quick

this this might disturb you but I want

y’all to take away the second part of

that verse so when they could not find a

way to do this because of the crowd

comma Now take away the rest

what would you do next in that situation

what are you doing

in that situation

because if we make a few substitutions

here we’re not talking about four men

that lived 2000 years ago anymore

we’re talking about you

when they could not find a way

because of the crowd comma

they looked at each other and said well

we tried

and turned around

and went home

this story would probably not be in the

Bible

if the men brought the man all the way

to Jesus

encounter resistance at the door tried

begged bribed I’ll do anything don’t you

see this man needs help now see you’re

wondering the same thing I wondered why

wouldn’t somebody else give him their

spot but paralyzed people were not given

special access in this time

there were no handicapped spots in this

time for people in this condition in

fact it was often seen as a sign of

God’s Divine displeasure on your life if

you had something physically wrong so

they assumed there’s something that you

are not doing right that has caused your

legs to not be able to work so they

would actually ostracize you rather than

including you they would exclude you so

the man on the mat didn’t get a special

spot for having no ability to walk in

fact he had more obstacles the one who

needed it the most had the least access

to it and might I just ask a question

Church why do we make it so hard for

people to come to God sometimes why do

we put up so many restrictions for

people to come into the presence of God

why do we judge others for struggling

with stuff that if we were in a

situation we might have the same

struggle or truth be told why do we

judge people for stuff that we haven’t

been even free from ourself from five

years why do we judge people for stuff

that if they showed everything we

thought about on a movie screen we would

be embarrassed about it too

so I’m glad these men didn’t start a

fight

cause if they start a fight they go to

prison and their friend doesn’t have a

ride home

how do you deal with it put the half

verse up again because I want you to

think about how you’re going to finish

this sentence in your life right now