Sermon Notes : Pastor Steven Furtick – The Hard Work of Happiness

Hi friends! Here are my notes for Pastor Steven Furtick’s sermon titled The Hard Work of Happiness. This message is from Elevation Church on July 10, 2022.

Please note that these are not my own thoughts, simply the notes that I took while Pastor Steven was speaking. If you need to re-watch the message for context – click here for The Hard Work of Happiness on YouTube. Bible verses are also linked, so you can click on those to read.

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Sermon Notes : The Hard Work of Happiness

• If we always think about talking to others, we don’t have space to hear from God.
• Psalm 126:1-6
• A song of ascent.
• I’m happy to be here.
• Somebody near you is experiencing something in between the 2 extremes of the scripture : sowing with tears; songs of joy.
• There are some decisions that you can make in the dry seasons of your life that can lead you into a place of supernatural happiness.
• God is not willing to sacrifice Our long term good for our short term happiness.
• If; Then
• You can be on your way up, and still have to deal with being down.
• Sometimes you can’t even be settled into your own blessings because you’ve gotten so adjusted to a negative experience.
• Negative is not my normal.
• Do your patterns match your prayers?
• Pessimism might be your default setting, but it is not your destiny in Christ.
• We have a new nature. 
• How I wake up in the morning does not determine how I walk through the day.
• It’s a fact when you focus, when you focus it’s a fact…not a feeling.
• You ever get scared because you have what you asked for and you’re still not happy, so now you feel guilty because you’re not happy and God gave you what you asked for?
• Worldly happiness is a hallucination.
• If I had __________, I’d be happy.
• Genesis 30:12-13
• How long does it take you to unsmile?
• What does your happiness have to do with what they call you?
• You’re really going to put your happiness in someone else’s hands?
• People are crazy.
• There is no formula for happiness that starts with “if I had…”
• My joy is my job.
• You’ve got to be ready for the rain when it comes, otherwise the blessing will feel like a burden.
• Is your mood your master?
• Are your feelings your Pharaoh?
• Your feelings are not in charge of your obedience to God!
• God is restoring your joy, but it won’t look like it.
• Sowing with tears is the hard work of happiness.
• Faith is in charge, not feelings.
• Good things happen when I show up.
• Nothing good happens when I sleep in.
• We don’t believe that God has joy to give us.
• Jealousy is the enemy of joy.
• If I have peace and contentment in my heart with God, I am blessed.
• When you fill your tongue with praise, it fills your heart with faith.
• Matthew 25:22-23
• God only holds us responsible for what he gives us.
• You weren’t supposed to do it to be noticed anyways. God sees what’s done in secret and will reward it openly.
• Go to God everyday to get your joy where it needs to be.
• We can’t work out once and be in shape – same goes for joy.
• Stop blaming other people for where you’re at.
• You can run around blaming people for crap for however long as you want to, but you’ve got to fix it at the pump.
• We have God’s invitation to share in His happiness.
• The Lord has done great things for us.
• Stop taking the great things for granted.