Off the Menu: God Serves What You Didn't Order

Introduction

Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church, preaches Acts 10: Peter goes up on the roof around the sixth hour (noon) to pray, he's hungry, food is being prepared, and God shows him a vision that doesn't match his menu at all. The message is simple: what God prepares for you is not always what you ordered, but it is what he has "pre-paired" you for all along (the wordplay on prepare / pre-pair). While you're praying on the roof, your answer is already at the door.

Message outline

1. Pray your pressure instead of carrying it

• Peter goes up on the roof around the sixth hour (noon) to pray, a prayer time that wasn't even required in the Judaism of his day, a "bonus prayer."
• Pressure either pushes you to pray or drives you to hide in dangerous places; you need to learn to pray through what you cannot solve.
• You don't need a long prayer or a focused prayer: Peter is half asleep and God still speaks to him. All it takes is turning your heart toward God.
• Stop talking to God as if you're negotiating a hostage release: he wants to give you wisdom, opportunity, and the right people even more than you want to receive them.

2. God isn't just preparing the meal : he's preparing you

• "While the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance" (Acts 10:10), the meal isn't the only thing God is preparing; Peter is being prepared too.
• God has "pre-paired" you for what he's calling you to do: your experiences, your gifts, your encounters are ingredients he assembled in advance for today's mission (Furtick illustrates this with his AirPod Bluetooth: he doesn't need to connect the earbud to the phone when he walks on stage, it's already pre-paired).
• For the connection to hold, you need to stay close: keep Jesus in your heart throughout the day; don't leave him at church when you go home.
• Disconnect from every device, every voice, every website, every app, every mental loop that doesn't belong to your destiny and that pairs you with the wrong narrative about yourself ("Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh," Galatians 5:16).

3. While you're praying, what you're waiting for is already at the door

• "The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray" (Acts 10:9), the "they" are not Peter's companions; they are the three men sent by Cornelius the day before from Caesarea.
• While Peter is puzzling over the vision (v. 17), the men sent by Cornelius find the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa and stop at the gate.
• You don't need to see the proof to stop worrying: the proof may be on its way while you're praying. Don't stop praying because you don't see the evidence.
• The "them" you need (the partners, the mentors, the inner healing), are already at the door.

4. Let the Spirit speak to your Simon, so that Peter can come down

• There are three men at the gate and two men on the roof: Simon (the old man, the Jewish tradition, the limited experience) and Peter (the new man named by Christ). The Spirit first addresses "Simon" (v. 19).
• If Simon comes down, he sends the men away saying, "I can't eat with Gentiles." If Peter comes down, he says, "I am the one you are looking for" (v. 21).
• The Spirit's new menu replaces the old one: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Furtick plays on the word: Me new = Menu, the Spirit wants to reveal to you the "new me" that God has prepared for you.
• Stop playing "Simon Says" with yourself and sending Simon into situations that require Peter: stop presenting yourself as a baby Christian before God when you've known him for years.

Key takeaways

• Pray your pressure, or pressure will push you to dangerous places: prayer doesn't need to be long, it needs to be directed toward God.
• God prepares the meal, but he also prepares you: your past and your experiences are ingredients he has "pre-paired" for your mission.
• While you're puzzling over what your situation means, the answer may have already arrived at the door.
• Your inner "Simon" tells you what you can't do; the Spirit calls you by your new name (Peter) and asks you to come down.
• What God has in mind for your life is often off the menu: not in your tradition, not in your senses, not in your past, not in your calculations, but already on its way to you.

Personal application

1. What "pressure" are you trying to carry alone this week, without going up to the rooftop to lay it before God?
2. What device, voice, or mental loop have you been "paired" with for a long time that keeps repeating a narrative contrary to your destiny in Christ?
3. Before what call from God are you saying, like Peter, "No, Lord, I have never done that"?
4. Where is the Spirit trying to speak to you while your Simon calculates, reasons, and self-protects?
5. If you came down from the roof today as Peter and not as Simon, who would you find at the door that God has prepared for you?

Verses cited

• Acts 10:9-20 · Peter on the roof, the vision, the men from Cornelius
• Galatians 5:16 · Walk by the Spirit
• Galatians 5:22-23 · The fruit of the Spirit
• 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 · What no eye has seen
• Romans 8:28 · All things work together for good

Further reading

• One-Year Bible Reading Plan
• Taking Notes During Your Bible Reading
• How to Prepare a Personal Bible Study

Frequently asked questions

What does "off the menu" mean in Steven Furtick's message?

"Off the menu" refers to what God prepares for you that doesn't appear on your list, in your tradition, or in your calculations. Furtick draws from Acts 10: Peter has a very clear menu (the clean foods of his Jewish tradition), but God presents something else, a call to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. The message: what God has in mind for your life goes beyond what you ordered, and you need to accept being served differently.

How do you recognize the Spirit's voice when your "Simon" speaks louder?

Furtick distinguishes Simon (the old identity, fear, reasoning) from Peter (the new man called by Christ). The Spirit addresses the Simon in you to remind you of your new name and to bring you down from the roof toward the mission. Practically: stay close to God daily so the connection is ready when the vision comes, pray even when you don't have the words, and stop playing "Simon Says" with yourself.

Why is this message translated from an English sermon?

This message is translated from an English sermon by Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church (Charlotte, North Carolina). It was preached on May 19, 2024, Pentecost Sunday, as the final episode of the Ghost Writer series on the book of Acts. We translated it into French, with Bible verses from the Louis Segond version, to make the teaching accessible to a French-speaking audience.