Steven Furtick - Fix the Flow (01/28/2026)
This sermon from Malachi 3:6-12 focuses on the principle of tithing as a way to «fix the flow» of God’s blessing. The preacher uses the analogy of 11 trillion gallons of rain falling in the wrong place during a drought to illustrate how a broken connection to God leads to shortage despite His abundant supply. The conclusion is that prioritizing God first in our finances and lives through faithful giving opens the «windows of heaven» and releases His provision.
The Unchanging God and Our Call to Return
One of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible is Malachi chapter 3, and the Lord gave me an assignment from that passage today. I want to refer to verses 6 through 12. Malachi 3:6 through 12. No need to break out in a rash. You don’t have to find this in your Bible. But it’s coming on the screen. And if you should choose to impress your neighbor, it’s the last book of the Old Testament. Find Matthew. Move to the left. You got it. You’re there. Malachi chapter 3, verse 6 through 12. «I, the Lord, do not change.» How many are glad about that? All the unstable, unreliable, undependable people in your life. It’s good to have one factor in your life that is constant.
«So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.» Remind me, Joel, to preach a whole sermon on that verse sometime in the future. But I got to keep moving for today. «Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, how are we to return?» How do we make our way back to a God who is invisible and whose love never left us to begin with? And God poses a counter-question. «Will a mere mortal Rob God, yet you Rob me? But you ask, how are we robbing you in tithes and offerings? So you’re under a curse, your whole nation, because you’re robbing me.»
That’s an interesting verse. He says, it’s me that you’re robbing, but it is you who are getting robbed. Because I’m still the Lord, and I don’t change, and I don’t lack, but there are some things that are missing in your life. Because you have broken your connection to me. «Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you won’t know where to put it.» Touch somebody and say, «you need storage space.» «There won’t be room enough to store it. I’ll prevent pests from devouring your crops. And the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will look at what I’ve done for you and call you blessed. For yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty.»
I feel faith in the house today. How about you? This is the word of the Lord. I want to speak from this subject. Fix the flow. Fix the flow. There are some things in your life that can only come to pass when you fix the flow. Touch your neighbor and say, «let’s fix this. We can fix this. We can fix this.» It’s essentially what God is saying, speaking to a people who have broken faith with their covenant-keeping God and have suffered the consequences of that broken connection. They have broken the flow and lost their hookup to heaven. The theme of the book of Malachi could be summarized in one word, return. Return. Come back. It’s an invitation. Return. Because there is a broken flow and the solution is faith.
Shortage in the Presence of Unlimited Supply
I want you to understand today that God has a solution for every shortage in your life. And Malachi comes into our Fulfilled series, week two, to give us some instructions as we gather around this word «full» and this word «filled», which is normally one word, but we made it two because we realized that your schedule can be full and your heart’s still not filled. Your bank account can be full and your heart not filled. And we talked about that last week. All of the faithfully committed Christians were here for that week. We’re launching a new season, and I want you to know that year-end is maybe the most impactful opportunity that you have.
You get a head start on all those suckers who wait till New Year’s to try to turn their situation or their life around. You get a head start because the way that you end one season determines the way you begin the next one. And it’s really important to me in a pastoral role, let’s end the year with God first. Let’s don’t wait for a calendar to tell us to put Christ first. Let’s end this season with him in his rightful place. So we pick a word every year, we gather around it. One year our word was miracle, one year it was dominate. And we bring an offering to expand God’s kingdom. December 12th and 13th, everybody who calls this church home is bringing an offering to God.
There will be some that may be able to bring $1,000, $100, $10,000, $100,000, $1 million. One gentleman one year gave $1,110, $1,111, $111, was his gift. And that was his faith. And then alongside that may have been a 14-year-old giving $100. And all that comes together and something beautiful happens. So we’re believing for that at the end of the year. I love at the end of each year going through the annual report. Do you have a copy of the 2014 annual report on you? Anybody bring it to church with you today? Carried it around in your purse? Or your pocketbook, as some people say. Pocketbook. That’s old school right there. Put it in your pocketbook. Is that a Southern thing? Pocketbook. Is that a 1984 thing? Pocketbook.
Look at this, how good God is. I just marked one page. There’s a lot in this. But you can see through the faithfulness of God how he’s always grown his church. Just year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year. That’s the faithfulness of God. I’m not bragging. I’m boasting in the Lord. I’m not smart enough to do that. That’s God. Touch somebody and say, «it must be God.» It sure ain’t furtick, but as faithful people believe in God, up and to the right, look how good God is, up and to the right, just every year, and I believe that as it is with our church, so it should be with your faith, that every year that you walk with God ought to be up and to the right, more faith, more trust, more love, more understanding of who he is, that you might grasp the height and the depth and the width and the breadth, the fullness of God and his love for you, up and to the right.
A Sign God is Moving: Stories of Impact
And I know God is moving in this church, because I went to Red Lobster on Friday. Friday is Furtick Family Lunch Club Day. Red Lobster is one of our mainstays, tradition. I ordered the Admiral’s Feast, the shrimp scampi, and some scallops and some broccoli, but I dipped my broccoli in the garlic butter that came with the shrimp scampi. That’s how you eat broccoli, by the way. You’ve been looking for a way to enjoy broccoli more. There’s an option. But I know God is moving, because a server that wasn’t even serving at my table came up and said, «I’m sorry, I’m not a creepy stalker, but I’ve got to tell you what your church has meant to me.»
And while she was talking, she attends our Providence campus. Shout out, Providence campus. She was talking to me, and I saw a tattoo on her wrist. I said, «what’s on your wrist?» I’ll show you a picture of Kelly. And on her wrist is «surround.» That was the word of our last year’s series. And some people write their word at the end of the year on a sticker. This girl put it in ink on her body, right there where you can see it. And she said, «but I had to. That’s where things turned around for me. That’s where my marriage turned around. That’s where God got things going in the right direction.» So we’re believing that in this season, that God is about to pour his glory into your shortage. And Malachi has a solution for shortage.
The Problem: Abundant Supply, Wrong Destination
And two words that I think will help us put this in context on the screen here, shortage and supply, shortage and supply. God promises to supply all of your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ. Everybody shout supply. Then why is there still so much shortage in the lives of his children? It’s a good question. October 1st through October 5th, 2015, the state of South Carolina was pummeled with rain, rain associated with Hurricane Joaquin. And between the Carolinas, for those of you outside of our area, we’re in the southeastern United States, between the Carolinas, they tell us that we experienced a cumulative 11 trillion gallons of rainfall. 11 trillion gallons. Sounds like I’m making this up. I’m not. I’m not making it up.
And I have a few little illustrations to put it in perspective, because you’re all wondering, well, how much rain exactly is 11 trillion gallons? Well, I found out that 11 trillion gallons is enough water, according to USA Today’s Doyle Rice, to fill 636 million swimming pools. That’s how much water the Carolinas got in that five-day period. Or over 130,000 Rose bowls filled all the way to the top with water. Shove your neighbors say «that’s a lot.» Coincidentally, the state of California is currently experiencing a drought. On the other side of our country, there’s a drought. And do you know that NASA did a calculation back last December to figure out how much water would it take to end the drought in California? And their calculation came to approximately 11 trillion gallons of water.
Can I preach this? There was more than enough water to end the drought, but it didn’t get to the right destination. See, you can have more than enough of what you need, but if it doesn’t go in the right direction, you’ll have a shortage even in the presence of abundant supply. And that’s what’s happening to Israel in Malachi. God says, the heavens are heavy with the rain that you need. The heavens are heavy with the peace that you need. The heavens are heavy with the purpose that you need. There’s an abundance of supply where I am, but I can’t get it where you are. How can we experience such dramatic shortage in the presence of God’s unlimited supply? There must be a problem with the hookup. It must not be flowing right.
It’s in heaven. It’s needed on the West Coast. And it’s coming on the East Coast. I wonder, was there a hearing impairment in heaven? Is there an angel that didn’t turn up his hearing aid? And God said, «send 11 trillion gallons of rain to California.» And the angel comes back after sending it to South Carolina. «Oh, you said California. I thought you said Carolina. I’m sorry, boss. Can I try that again?» Like, the question is, how does that happen? How does it get… You can look at this sometimes in a nation. There’s more than enough wealth, but it’s not getting to the right places. You can see this in your day. You have as much time as the president has. You have as much time. You have every hour in every day that the most productive person that you know has. Then why is it not getting there is a question.
The Power of Fixed Values in Your Life
So, if you were getting married and you came to me and said, «I just need your one-shot marriage advice.» I think I would tell you about fixed values. Fixed values. There’s tremendous power in fixed values. Like, one fixed value in a marriage could be, «Hey, be the first to say I’m sorry.» Something like that. And one fixed value in a marriage that you could say is, «You know, never go to bed angry with each other.» But that might be a problem because some of y’all might not sleep for three days. One thing I would tell you is just real practical. This is not deep, but it’s practical. Is to have a fixed date night with your spouse. A time of reconnection.
And even if it’s not fancy, go eat some food together. You better get some chips. Some free chips. And some waters. And sit down and split a number one. And just talk about what happened this week. And try to do it. Me and Holly try to do it once a week. We don’t always hit it on the head. We’ve been weeks without doing it. Sure, I mean, life happens. But we try. Still, you know, 13 years in. Woo! Took me a minute to remember that. 13 years in. We try to go out every week and have a date. In every season. Sometimes it’s nicer restaurants. In some seasons, it hadn’t been a restaurant at all. Sometimes it’s been a picnic, but we fixed it. Shout, «fix it.» There are some things in your life that if you don’t fix it, you won’t do it.
Exercise would fall into this category. How many of you have ever successfully exercised consistently just exercising when you had some time to do it? Just like, «if I have time, I think I’ll go exercise today.» Say, no, for fitness to happen, it has to be a fixed priority in your life. No way around it. It’s got to be one of those things that you show up for. For your spiritual growth to happen, it’s a good idea to have a fixed time that you spend with God. It doesn’t have to be a whole lot of time even. It can just be fixed that the first five minutes of every day, I’m going to seek the Lord because I need him in my life. And I can’t do this day without him. Touch your neighbor and say, «fix it. Fix it. Fix it.» You didn’t look at your neighbor. You need to look your neighbor in the eye and say, «fix it.»
Taking Responsibility for Your Flow
Fix it in your finances or you’ll always be broke. You need to learn how to make a budget. You need to tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. A lot of the people that are stressed in their marriage don’t have any fixed priorities in their finances. So what begins to happen to a person, to a married couple, is that you start to analyze your life and your life is leaking and you’re in a place of shortage. And so you start asking for more provision from God when it’s not a matter of provision, it’s a matter of priority. Sometimes what you perceive as a lack of provision is really a lack of priority. You had enough time. You watched a whole half season of Scandal with the… That’s fine that you did it, but I’m just alerting you to the fact that God gave you the hours you needed.
He deposited it in your account and you misappropriated it. Take responsibility for the flow of your life. Control the flow. If they analyze your business, they’re going to look at your cash flow. If they analyze your body, the doctor’s going to want to know about your heartbeat and your circulation because he’s checking your blood flow. No, it’s about the flow. And when your life is in a place of shortage, it’s because you’ve got to flow. Show my diagram. You’ve got to flow in the wrong direction. That’s what’s happening in Malachi. The people have broken the flow of faith and their lives aren’t fruitful because they’ve broken the flow.
So I bet if you would ask God today, he would show you that place in your life where you’ve broken your flow, where you’ve broken your flow, where he’s given you what you need. The heavens are heavy, but it’s not making it into your hands because you’ve broken the flow. So, God help me teach this. If I can help somebody today with this one principle, it’ll set your life on the right trajectory. And sometimes you don’t have anybody to teach you this stuff. I had a mom who taught me about the tithe. Did you notice Malachi said, «you’re robbing me in tithes and offerings»? I said it real funny because I preached it one time and a guy thought I said, «tides», like the waves. He said, «I like that, man, the tides. The tides of God. I get it, man. I get it. That’s deep.» I said, «no, bro. It’s the tithe.» It literally means tenth. What? Tenth? A tenth of everything I have comes back to God. I couldn’t have without him. Woo, I’m preaching to the top row.
The Tithe: A Lesson from a Dime
Elijah came to church with me last night. He said, «let’s argue, daddy. You give me a viewpoint and I’ll take one. Let’s argue.» I said, «all right, you argue that we don’t have to tithe and I’ll argue that we do.» He said, «can you give me something to argue that I actually believe? That’s ridiculous.» He’s ten. Ten. Everybody shout ten. Tithe. Ten. The first ten comes back to God. Is it coincidental that I have ten fingers on my hand? Or could it be that when I give the first ten back to God, it opens my hands for everything that he has to make its way into my house? Somebody said, is it hard for you to preach on this subject? Not at all. I believe it. And I’ve lived it. And I had a mom who used to… Let me illustrate this. Does anybody have some change, loose change on them? I know not many people carry cash, let alone coins. May I have some change? This is what my mom used to do. Don’t have it? Got a dollar? Give me the dollar. Dime. I need a dollar and a dime.
Because what my mom used to do when I would go to church, this is perfect. She would give me a dime. And I was only about probably younger than you. And she would put a dime in a church envelope to teach me that out of every dollar that God gives me, I return a dime on every dollar belongs to God. And a lot of us haven’t had that taught, and so when we hear it, it’s shocking. Like the most expensive cover charge ever, that to come to church is 10% of everything that you have, and you’re looking at it wrong. You’re looking at it wrong. He said, bring the tithe into the storehouse. Perhaps we would see the New Testament equivalent of the storehouse as the local church. The place where you are fed spiritually. The place where outreach happens. The place that Jesus established by giving his life. And something so small can block the blessing of God. That’s what Malachi said.
Trusting God First with Your Finances
This is not my opinion, and it’s not just an Old Testament principle. Jesus even spoke favorably of the tithe. Saying that you ought to do the weightier matters of the law, but not forget the tithe. Because this represents trust. If you sit down after I preach today, and do what you need to do in your life, to put God first in the flow of your finances, it will change things. It will release things. Just to say, that first 10% is going back to God. I’m going to trust him before I pay the rent. I’m going to trust him before I upgrade my clothes or my wardrobe. I’m going to trust him before I need to go out to eat five days a week. I’m going to trust him more than I trust the caffeine from my Starbucks. I’m going to trust him because he is the God of unlimited supply.
I told Elijah, if 10% is too much, then you keep the 10 and give God the 90. If you make so much that 10% is too much, let’s pray that God would decrease your income so your tithe will be less. You better touch your neighbor and say, «fix the flow.» You got more going out than coming in. And everything that God sends down into your life, you send it back out. Down and out. Down and out. That’s the condition of the life that has not learned to trust God. And this principle, I know it seems simple. Do you know how stupid I felt when I went out to play tennis and the man started showing me how to hold the racket? The whole first lesson, I thought he was going to teach me how to get it between my legs and stuff because I’m paying him. And the man said, «let’s see how you hold the racket.» I said, «okay.» He said, «because if we don’t get your grip right, the tithe is the place where God gets your grip right.» and opens your hands so that you don’t hold on to stuff to the point that stuff ultimately has a hold on you.
Fixing the Source, Not Just the Symptom
Fix the flow. It’s a faith flow. It doesn’t take faith to give God what’s left. It takes faith to put him first. I will never forget last Christmas season, going home on a Sunday afternoon to hear the sound of rushing water coming from Holly’s closet. I will never forget the sight of water pouring through the air conditioning vent. And we had been gone for hours preaching to you while our house was being flooded with water. And Holly and I both had different responses to this discovery. I went to the bathroom and found the trash can and put the trash can under the leak. And then I went looking for more trash cans because that trash can would be full. In five minutes, I’m telling you, the water was pouring out so quick. That was my response.
Her response, you can judge which one was smarter, was to go upstairs to where the washing machine had gotten unhooked from the source that was causing the leak to begin with. I fixed the symptom. She fixed the source. She turned off the water. I grabbed a bucket. I came to tell you today, and God sent me as your friend. You can grab all the buckets you want. Make all the money you want. Tighten up all you want. Be greedy all you want. But you’ll never get enough buckets to stop the leak till you go upstairs and fix it at the source. Fix it at the source. God says the heavens are waiting to pour out rain. But you’re not hooked up right. You’re not hooked up right. Because I send it into your life, I send it down, and you send it out. And you don’t even consider me. You send it down, you send it out. And then you wonder, «why am I supposed to be able to do this?» That’s what you say. «Why am I supposed to be able to do this? Why do I have this shortage?» Excuse me. Water real quick. Don’t have… This water doesn’t work. There’s something wrong with this water. I’m still thirsty. Christy, I need more water. Maybe it’s not a shortage. Maybe it’s a stoppage.
Removing the Lid Through Faithful Giving
God said, the heavens have what you need. And if you will release what you have, you will receive what you need when you fix the flow. And I’ll open the windows. I’ll open the windows. I’ll take the lid off. I’ll take the limits off. And I’ll pour out so much. There’s not a limit on what God can do in your life. There’s a lid to what God can do in your life. And only you can remove it. Malachi said, let’s turn this thing around. Touch your neighbor and say, «turn it around.» Return to me. And let’s show them what happens when you turn it around. Because when you turn it around, you’re no longer in a place called down and out. But now my life is up and to the right. Shout. Come on, shout somebody. Shout even if you’re not experiencing it. Just shout by faith. Shout Concord. Shout University. Shout Gaston.
God said, I got what you need if you offer it up. There it is. That’s the flow God wants for my life. That’s what tithes will do. That’s what it does when I seek him first in my day. That’s what it does when I come to church. When I come to church, I offer the first part of my week up to God. And then God makes sure as all of the hours of my week go out, that he can do in those other hours what I couldn’t have done. I’m more productive when I make time for God, when I prioritize his presence, when I send it up, he makes sure it gets right where it needs to go. Malachi said, we can get this thing going in the right direction if you’ll send it up. Send it up. Send it up. Send it up. Send it up. Don’t just give it out. Send it up. And when you send it up, God’s going to flip the flow on your life and begin to show you his favor and his faithfulness in ways you’ve never known, because there’s been a lid on your life. But now it’s time to flow.
Jesus and the Principle of Lifting It Up
Jesus is late. There’s big crowds and no food. We got a shortage. Show them side by side. We got a shortage. So send the people away so they can get some food. Jesus said, they don’t need to go away. What they need is in seed form in what you already have. And so after they had beat up a little boy and stolen his lunch, the disciples brought Jesus some bread. You know what Jesus did? He took the bread and he lifted it up to the source. We’re going to fix this at the source today. You’ve been dealing with the symptoms and you haven’t yet made connection with the source. And he lifted it up like Holly went upstairs. And he lifted it up like Malachi called the people to do.
And when he lifted it up and blessed it and broke it, God supplied the need of everything. As a matter of fact, he didn’t just fill the bellies of the people who were there. There were 12 bags of leftovers. God will send you home with a doggy bag. He said, «you won’t have room enough to receive it.» The difference between me and Holly on date night is I never need a box. The server doesn’t even have to ask me. In fact, the only thing the server ever says to me is, «you didn’t like that much, did you?» That’s a, you know, server 101. They must teach you that in job training. «You didn’t like that very much, did you?» And then they look at Holly like she’s barely touched it. «You need a box?» God said, I want to bless you so much.
The Four-Part Flow: Faith, Love, Obedience, Worship
And if you think I’m just talking about money, you haven’t been paying attention to a word I’ve been preaching. I want to bless your life with so much meaning. I want to give you a connection to purpose. I want to give you fruitfulness in areas of frustration. But you’re blocking the very blessing that I promise. And if we could get this thing opened up, if we could get your heart opened up with something as simple as a tithe, I will pour out so much blessing. You won’t even have room. You’re going to need more bottles. Your biggest concern right now is how to get it full. When I start showing up in your life, your biggest concern is going to be how to keep it flowing. We started the church. How can we get it full? And now God has been so faithful. Our question is, how do we keep it flowing? And I believe God is inviting you into this kind of life.
Write these four words down. Faith, love, obedience, worship. That’s your flow. Faith. It takes faith to offer up to God. It takes faith to put him first in a busy, crowded day. It takes faith to go online and say, «Okay, God, I’m starting this now.» It takes faith to trust him with the tithe. It takes faith to turn to him when all around you is shaken. But it expresses love. Are you going to say you love God with your lips and not prioritize him in your life? Love will always give. Love will empty a bank account to buy a girl a diamond ring. You will go broke trying to express your love to someone who is in your life. And if God is first place in your life, this tithe—I’m talking about the starting point—from there, you go beyond. You get more jars.
We started with 10%. We didn’t end with 10%. Even from when I would make $20 from going to preach at a lock-in in Barnwell, South Carolina, I would send two back home to my church. Two out of 20. What difference does it make if it’s $20,000 or $200,000 or $200,000 or $2 million? God’s priority doesn’t change in my life. But if I stay at that level, if I’m always staying on that level, how can God trust me on the next? And that’s where the offering comes in. 20%. God’s looking to see how much you want him to fill. That’s the test. He said, «this is a test.» A test of trust. And when you offer it back up to me, it lets me know not only that you trust me, but that I can trust you.
You know what the country preacher said, that if God can get it through you, he can get it to you. But if he can’t get it through you, you’ll always be stopped by shortage. It expresses my faith. It expresses my love. It expresses my obedience. To do what he said to do. And most of all, it’s my act of worship. To bring back to God the first fruits of all that he’s entrusted to me. It’s the most spiritual thing I do. The most spiritual thing I do isn’t lift my hands. That’s cool. The most spiritual thing I do isn’t even pray my prayers. The most spiritual thing that I do is engage my faith by giving God the first place in my life. And when I do, God shows me his supply in ways that I never even knew to imagine, in places that I didn’t know to look.
The Invitation to Return and Send It Up
But this is an opportunity for your life. If you’re in a shortage of any kind, to open your life to God’s supply and get in the loop. Get in the loop. That God says, when you give back to me out of what I’ve given to you, it will be given to you because I know you can be trusted. And when I find somebody who will give back to me faithfully, when it’s up, when it’s down, when it’s good, when it’s bad. When I find a giver, I can give. When I find a truster, I can trust. When I find someone with open hands, there is no limit to what I can pour in their life. And this is the decision point, because today, the Word of God has come down to you. Malachi speaks from the ages preceding hundreds of years of silence from heaven, and his words still reverberate today. Return. Return. You can turn this around if you send it up.
If you keep on looking out for your answers, you’ll never find them. But if you send it up, if you send up a prayer of faith, God will send down the peace of heaven. If you send up an offering of sacrifice, God will send down his shoreless supply. And I invite you today to send it up. Send it up. Let’s get this fixed in your life. Let’s get beyond the place of never enough, when our God is more than enough. Why should there be 11 trillion gallons of rain in heaven and a drought on earth? We’ve got to get this thing moving in the right direction. It is your act of worship.
Prayer for God’s Supply in Every Shortage
And so, Father, I pray today in Jesus' name for your supply to reach every area of shortage in the lives of your children. We’re praying now at all of our campuses for those who are in a place of drought. We understand that there will be seasons of shortage, but these seasons are not meant to be cyclical so that we go through life with no purpose and no joy and no hope. We come today to break the cycle in Jesus' name and declare that my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory. We declare today that where there is a shortage of joy, there will be glory. Where there is a shortage of peace, there will be glory. Where there is a shortage of provision, there will be ample supply. We declare it now in Jesus' name. Everybody stand on your feet. The Spirit of God is in this place.
Look at your neighbor and say, «My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory through Jesus Christ.» Give them a big hug and seal that word. Give them a big hug. Turn to your other neighbor and say, «My God will meet all your needs too. All your needs. Every need. Emotional needs. Spiritual needs.» How many know our God is a need-meeter? The heavens have been opened. And if you lift your hands, and if you get your life going in the direction of God, I declare increase over your life in Jesus' name.