Holly Furtick

It’s Friday and time for another Life Change Inbox! Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2-4 that our lives are living letters written so that God might be glorified. People often write in to Elevation and share the work God is doing in their lives through our church. When I read these stories, I am reminded that we serve a powerful God who still works miracles in the lives of everyday people. These stories inspire me to keep giving, keep serving and continue praying for those who are far from God. I hope they will do the same for you.

If you have a story you would like to share, email us at amencorner@elevationchurch.org

Check out this story….

Dear Pastor Steven & Holly,

I am from Norwalk, Ohio and part of the core 
team for Norwalk Extension site. From the very first time we heard you preach we have been blown away by the annointing, the power, and the clarity of God’s message through you. When asked to join the core team we felt that it was not the right time for us due to severe difficulties we were facing with my husbands business. We drove home from our core team invitation gathering excited by the vision & passion Billy Thomas had for bringing Elevation Church to Norwalk, Ohio but very sad that we would not be a part of what was about to happen. After we arrived home my husband was flipping channels on the TV when all of a sudden he yelled for me to come quick. As I walked into the living room I could not believe my eyes! There you were, Pastor, preaching at some conference I had never heard of. As I sat in my living room I listened to you say “don’t listen to the voice of doubt”. I looked at my husband and 
said, “I guess we are going to be part of the core team”. We have never looked back. We were part of a group that walked & prayed the entire city of Norwalk and prayed and prayed and prayed. My husband Cam & I made our first trip to Elevation Church the weekend before our launch. Wow! Blown away again! We love being part of Elevation Church! 
Our business is still struggling, barely hanging on, forcing me to take on another job to help out. It has been extremely difficult & continues to be a huge financial burden as well as emotional & health burden due to the stress we are both under. God is so good. He is with us always. He gives us strength for each day. We are seeking His wisdom & guidance. There are lessons to be learned in the wilderness and apparently we have a lot to learn! As much as I would love for us to be out of the wilderness, I refuse to go without my God. So, we will stay until He leads us out. You, Holly & Elevation Church have been just what we need. You have changed how we do church and we cannot imagine doing church any other way! We love you all!

God bless,

Lori & Cam

It’s Friday and time for another Life Change Inbox! Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2-4 that our lives are living letters written so that God might be glorified. People often write in to Elevation and share the work God is doing in their lives through our church. When I read these stories, I am reminded that we serve a powerful God who still works miracles in the lives of everyday people. These stories inspire me to keep giving, keep serving and continue praying for those who are far from God. I hope they will do the same for you.

If you have a story you would like to share, email us at amencorner@elevationchurch.org

Check out Veronica’s story….

I have been battling myself on sending this email for a long time, until I finally realized that this is really not about me, but about inspiring others with my story. I hope that gets accomplished and at least one person comes closer to God because of what I am about to share…

I grew up in an Atheist home. My father was one of those loud and outspoken Atheists that makes sure he expresses his negative and belittling feelings about people who believe in God. As I was growing up, God was never a part of my life. There were no prayers. No church. No Faith. End of story. 
I used to wish the rest of my story continued with a HUGE event, and LOUD voice talking to me, a MIRACLE opening my eyes….but now that I am starting to know better, I know that God came into my life at the perfect time and in the perfect way.

About 2 years ago I attended a business seminar hosted for women. I was a little apprehensive about going since I had heard one of the ladies before and she referred to God a lot in her speeches. Needless to say, I did not want to hear it. As the seminar began, the common denominator between all women that spoke was how they overcame incredibly hard and challenging struggles. To my not-so-much surprise, God was credited for guiding them through those tough times. However, this time as I heard that…. something in my soul just moved.

I KNEW I needed and WANTED God in my life. I was absolutely miserable. I was, and still am, married to the most wonderful man I have ever known, yet I felt the loneliest I have ever felt. But that day, God used those women to tell me that He was going to be a part of my life as well. And the journey started that day!

I was introduced to Elevation by a friend and the first time I attended I got a little scared! I am not gonna lie- coming from no church at all- ever in my life- to a full blown concert-like service was a little overwhelming. But there was something that made me come back…and it was Pastor Steven. His honesty, his AMAZING gift for speech and his PASSION for what he does made me come back to this church, even when I still felt incredibly scared and out of my comfort zone.

The sermon on Adam and Even opened my eyes even more. What Pastor Steven said about the devil posing a question of doubt… is exactly what I dealt with my life with my Father asking questions that instilled doubt in my head and in my heart towards God and Jesus. However, as I discussed this with my wonderful eGroup, I realized what was the most important thing I have done that changed my entire life during these past 2 years. I still hear the questions posed by the devil, and the doubt still comes, BUT the REAL answers come to me this time- and they only come to me because I am reading the Bible for the first time in my life. I am praying for the first time in my life. I am talking to God for the first time in my life. I accepted Jesus for the first time in my life. I am going to church for the first time in my life. And I will continue my journey until I die, because now when those questions come my way, my FAITH overrules the doubt and the fear. And even if I do not understand it all, I believe in Him and his word. And that is all I need now. The closer I grow to God, the less doubt that creeps into my life. Who would have thought that this girl, who only 6 years ago was making fun of and ridiculing someone else for believing in such “stupid” story as Adam and Eve, is now a woman that is growing in Faith more and more every day? Believe me, I would have NEVER in a million years thought I was going to end up on this path…and I thank God every single day now because he came into my life. 
“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken”.

Thank you Elevation for pushing me to grow my Faith!!!! 
I only hope I can pay it forward…

Veronica

This week my eGroup is discussing communication and forgiveness.  As I have been mentally preparing, an image has been replaying in my mind. The image of a fire.

Let’s say that fire represents an argument with your spouse.  In this case, when faced with a disagreement, how do you normally respond?  Do you throw water on the fire or gasoline?

Now, gasoline can be defined as anything that makes the argument bigger. So if your silence enrages your spouse, you have thrown gasoline, not water, even though you did not yell.  Gasoline can be a look, it can be a single word, it can be reminder of a past mistake, and of course, it can be a verbal or physical explosion.

Water diffuses a fire.  Throwing water could come in the form of an apology, or a confession, or an act of kindness, or the act of overlooking an offense (see this post).

My 7 year old, Elijah, brought home a paper from school the other day with this verse written on it…

Proverbs 17:14, It is hard to stop a quarrel once it starts so don’t let one begin.  

I saved the paper and planned to hang it up in my boy’s bedroom.  But it never made it past my bedroom.  I think the Lord wanted me to see it.

What if not letting an argument begin begins with me?  What if it begins with an act that is so counterintuitive for me that I have to pray my way through it?

As I work my way through this concept, I know it begins with prayer, and with letting the Holy Spirit work in me and on me before He can work through me.  And I know that small steps in the right direction are huge steps in my relationships.

It’s Friday and time for another Life Change Inbox! Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2-4 that our lives are living letters written so that God might be glorified. People often write in to Elevation and share the work God is doing in their lives through our church. When I read these stories, I am reminded that we serve a powerful God who still works miracles in the lives of everyday people. These stories inspire me to keep giving, keep serving and continue praying for those who are far from God. I hope they will do the same for you.

If you have a story you would like to share, email us at amencorner@elevationchurch.org

Check out Hayley’s story….

I’ve heard tons of stories like this ever since I started coming to Elevation in July 2008. I’ve always just thought they were really cool. Until it happened to me…….

I’ve been inviting a friend who works with me to come to Elevation since Christmas. He’d been to church before but wasn’t regularly attending anywhere. He’s someone close to me but far from God. Every time I’d invite him, he’d say he would come, but cancel on me at the last minute. This happened a number of times. He was supposed to come a few weeks ago, the weekend of the absolutely incredible Elijah on Mt Carmel opener, but bailed.  I showed him the opener after Pastor Steven posted it on twitter and he was blown away. I proceeded to tell my friend I was going to keep inviting him until he came. I told him if he came and didn’t like it, I would never bring it up again. I simply wanted him to come one time, knowing that if he came once, he wouldn’t leave the same way he walked in. He agreed, reluctantly, as a means to get me to shut up about inviting him :) 

With his track record, I was extremely surprised to see him walk through the front doors of Elevation Blakeney on Saturday night. The first few songs played and he stood there with his arms crossed. Then something neat happened. He’s a huge Star Wars fan, so God could not have timed the Jonah and the Space Whale element more perfectly. As the worship experience continued, he started singing the songs, nodding in agreement with what Pastor was saying, and by the end of the night, he checked the box on his connection card and received Jesus. 

I was blown away and cried tears of joy. Him accepting Christ makes all the let-downs worth it. He told me “now I see why you’re so excited about church.” It was timed just perfectly by the Creator of time itself. Thank you Pastor Steven for preaching the Word of God so boldly, in a way that captures people’s hearts and points them to Jesus. Thank you Elevation Creative Department for working so hard to provide our church with phenomenal elements executed with excellence. Thank you Elevation volunteers for making first time guests feel so loved, praying with those receiving Jesus for the first time, and everywhere in between. I could not be more proud to be a part of a church where this happens every single week. Thank you Elevation Church!

Hayley

It’s Friday and time for another Life Change Inbox! Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2-4 that our lives are living letters written so that God might be glorified. People often write in to Elevation and share the work God is doing in their lives through our church. When I read these stories, I am reminded that we serve a powerful God who still works miracles in the lives of everyday people. These stories inspire me to keep giving, keep serving and continue praying for those who are far from God. I hope they will do the same for you.

If you have a story you would like to share, email us at amencorner@elevationchurch.org

Check out this story….

I moved from Florida to Charlotte just 15 months ago. In the course of a year, I lost all my friends (by moving so far from my former town where I lived and worshipped for 10 years), my father died and my marriage fell apart. My life deteriorated to a place of hopelessness and thoughts of ending it all. In August our family started attending Elevation. At the Christmas service my two middle-school kids gave their lives to Christ, and then two weeks ago, a casual acquaintance of mine invited me to join her eGroup. She had absolutely no idea that I was anything but happy and healthy! I am a master of disguise when it comes to what has happened to my life – she didn’t even know I was separated from my husband. For no explainable reason, I attended her eGroup last week. I went back again this week & the group chose to pray over me. All I can say is Amen, Amen, Amen! I am not alone! God spoke through the Holy Spirit and put my silent troubles on the hearts of this group of strangers. They prayed aloud for things that only God could reveal to them about my life. In two weeks, that eGroup has changed my life. I was literally hopeless and alone and God sent an army of angel Elevators to rescue me.

It’s Friday and time for another Life Change Inbox! Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2-4 that our lives are living letters written so that God might be glorified. People often write in to Elevation and share the work God is doing in their lives through our church. When I read these stories, I am reminded that we serve a powerful God who still works miracles in the lives of everyday people. These stories inspire me to keep giving, keep serving and continue praying for those who are far from God. I hope they will do the same for you.

If you have a story you would like to share, email us at amencorner@elevationchurch.org

Here’s Charles’ story….