Michael Todd - Anchored, Destined For The Deep
Hey, what's going on everybody? I am so pumped that you decided to join us today for this week's message, and we've been in a series called anchored. And the reason it's so important that we're anchored is because the truth is we all have storms in our life. I don't know about you, but I'm in a couple of storms right now, and I don't know what your storm is. It may be financial, it may be spiritual, it may be emotional, but we have an anchor that will carry us and sustain us through every storm. So today I want you to open up your heart 'cause this message has the opportunity to change everything, if you allow it to go in deep, and to be transformative for you. Open your heart as we go in today's message.
Today, we are in week four of a series we're calling help me... you need to say it again... Today, we have decided that as a church we are going to be anchored. And last week we decided that it's not safer in the shallow. And we decided that we were not going to be kitty pool Christians anymore. And we decided that we were going to be ones that were destined for the deep. Somebody needs to write that down. I'm destined for the deep. Yeah, write that down because some of you have been putting a limit on what God can do with your life, but you are destined for the deep. Somebody say that one more time, "I'm destined for the deep". And I found a scripture that parallels this perfectly.
So if you're going into deep waters if you're going past your comfort zone, if God's taking you beyond the place that you've been, I want you to know that God promises that he will be with you. Look at Isaiah 43:2 as an anchor scripture. Look what it says. "When you go through the deep waters, I will be with you". Do you know what kind of encouragement that is? That when God tells you to step out in crazy faith, and start the business, and now you're in the deep, God says if you go through the deep waters, I will be with you. It reminds me of another scripture that says, if God, before us who, who can be against us. And too many of us are so caught up in who's not for us, when we're not looking at who is with us. You missed it. You want somebody to be for you and you forgot who's with you.
There are more times than not that everybody around you will not co-sign the thing that God has said in your life. But it doesn't matter who's for you. Who's for you, if you don't remember who's with you. And if we're going to the deep, somebody say it, "I'm going to the deep". Then we have to be ones that remember when I go through deep waters, God says, I'll be with you. When I go through rivers of difficulty, you, look at the encouragement, will not drown. If God said it, and he's with you, and you can't swim you will not drown. Somebody just prophetically say that over your life, "I will not drown as long as God is with me". Say it again, "I will not drown as long as God is with me". Let's say it in the inverse, "I will drown if God isn't".
Now my question to you is how many things are you saying God is with you in, that he's nowhere to be found. And could the drowning that's happening in your life relationally, the drowning that's happening financially, the drowning that's happening even emotionally, could it be because God is not with you in that. One thing I found out a long time ago, is God does not co-sign things that he doesn't say. If it's not in his word, and if he did not give prophetic utterance to that thing, he is not jumping on your vision board making that stuff happen. If you have not sought him about what his plan is for your life. And so our encouragement should be, and our admonishment should be we need to figure out where God is because if God's with us, we will not drown. And it says, when you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you.
I just want everybody to know that deep is where we will dwell all year. I'm just telling you right now. And some people are like, what is the deep pastor mike? It's deeper than where you are now. So if you feel like you have a prayer life now, deeper! If you feel like your relationship if you feel like you love people good now that don't feel the same way you feel about the political things that are going on and you feel like you're doing a good job, deeper. If you are one that doesn't really watch all the stuff that entices your senses and all that other stuff and God's saying, it's good to just reflect it. But now I need you to be one to help other people out of the same situation that you now have overcome. I'm calling you deeper.
So all I wanted to tell you is welcome to the deep. Like for the rest of the year, do not be frustrated if it doesn't feel secure. You're in the deep. They're missing it, I'm trying to give you the code to be able to be okay this year. It won't feel comfortable and you won't be in control. That's how you know, you're in the deep. You see how little the claps are getting, because this is the part where people want to know what are we doing in march God? What are we doing in February God? God, give me a word for may. And God says, yeah hold on. Hold on, because you have now entered the deep. I want to give you my first point, and it's a little unconventional, but this is something that you're going to have to get used to saying all year in every aspect of your life.
First point of today, you're going to say so we out here! You missed it. You thought it was going to be a deep thing but God's going to call you to places that all you'll be able to say is not, oh I've done this before, oh, I've seen this before, oh, I know what happens next, oh, that's how that's going to work out. The only thing going to be able to say is, so we out here God, you're calling me to lead a small group, so we out here. God, you're calling me to start writing a devotional, and I don't even got nobody to read it, so we out here. Say, this is the most spiritual point some of you all could ever have. So we out here, is going to be your crazy faith statement of 2021.
I feel that thing right there, that you're going to begin to obey God and do things. Do you know, every week I come to this organization and I have a meeting with Bree, our chief of staff, and God tells us to do stuff and we're looking at different things and going through budgets and all that. And somewhere in the meeting, we look at each other and say Bree, so we out here. There's no one, there are people depended on us staying in the same place of hearing God's voice. It was small five years ago, six years ago and it didn't impact that much. But now it's impacting thousands, what are we doing, we don't know what to do. So we out here. And if you make this your prophetic anthem of 2021, it is your faith speaking that if God was gracious enough to trust you to go to the deep, he will be good enough to sustain you in the deep.
Somebody shout at me, "So we out here"! You all, ain't even say it like you all mean it. Somebody say, "So we out here"! It don't matter what's going on. It doesn't matter what it looks like. It doesn't matter if you have the finances. We out here. It doesn't matter who comes. It doesn't matter who goes. It doesn't matter if I don't have it. We out here. "I'm out here in the deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep". I said, "I'm out here in the deep, deep, deep, oh, deep". You all help me say, "I'm out here in the deep, whoa, deep, deep, whoa, the deep, deep". Nobody understands, "I'm out here in the deep, deep, deep".
You all help me I feel this thing, I say, "We're out here in the deep, deep, deep, the deep, deep, deep. My family's out here in the deep, deep, deep, the deep, deep. Transformation nation out here in the deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep. I ain't got the money, but I'm in the deep, deep, deep, the deep, deep, deep". Just one more, "They can leave me but I'll be out in the deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep". We're out here in the deep, somebody give God. Oh, if you're going to be deep this year, I dare you to give God some praise. So all I want to say to you is welcome to the deep. No, no, no, you all don't understand. I said welcome to the deep. I'm in the deep. We out here. I'm in the deep. You know what the deep is. The deep is lonely, the deep is isolated, the deep is not where you find the crowd, the deep is where you find the committed. Welcome to the deep.
The deep is where you find the committed. Welcome to the deep. This is a prophetic picture of the rest of 2021. Your friends can't save you out here. People that don't hear from God don't stay in the deep. What are you saying pastor mike? If you're committing to the deep in 2021, you're going to have to make sure you have an what? Anchor. Ooh! So we can't just be deep, we have to be prepared for the deep. Why would God give us the word to be anchored in 2021, call us to the deep, and then we're supposed to just drift out here. God said no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I need you to come to the deep but I'm going to anchor you myself. And I don't like just saying these things and making analogies out. I want to find everything in the Word of God.
So go to Mark 4:35. And this is a situation that the disciples find themselves in, like many of us find ourselves in is that God's calling us to go to the deep but then some unexpected things happen on the way. And I just want to walk through this biblical story and see if we can find out some things that will help people who will dwell in the deep. Somebody say, "I will dwell in the deep". Now, what I'm asking you right now is to make the decision that you're going to go deeper this year even before you know any of the obstacles that are in the deep. I need you to make a decision before you detour. And that's what God I believe is asking us on the first week of the first month of the first series of 2021, is decide before you detour.
Do you know most of the dumb things that I did were because I had decided and then I detoured when an obstacle came up. And God is telling somebody right now, that your decision is stronger than the detour. If you would stay committed to your decision the detours can come, but you will keep going forward. And in this moment, the disciples are going to be faced with a decision in the midst of a detour. Let me just read it. It says, as evening came, Jesus said to the disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake". So they took Jesus in the boat and started out. Today I'm talking to people who are deep dwellers and I want to give you some points if you're going to dwell in the deep. If you're going to dwell in the deep, don't ever forget your anchor.
Now I want you to see this. We learned last week that Jesus is our anchor. Somebody just say, "Jesus is my anchor". Okay, so if Jesus is my anchor, and we're the disciples, and Jesus said, let's cross to the other side. It didn't says something that trips me out. I thought verse 36 would say so they went to the other side. But look at the first four words it says, so they took Jesus. Now, what that makes me understand is even if God gives an instruction, and he's the one that told you, start that job, he's the one that told you, take your kids to that school, he's the one that told you to get into that relationship, you still have a decision if you're going to take him to the place he instructed you to go. I need you to see. It said, and Jesus said, "Let's set out and go to the other side".
So the disciples then said, they took Jesus. And the question that I have for you is that Jesus gives you an instruction that was taking you to the deep, but you forgot your anchor at the shore. What I'm telling you, is you take Jesus with you. Take him to school, take him to work, take him to the basketball court, take him to the boardroom. All I'm telling you is you is do not go anywhere and forget your anchor. And the problem is there are many people in the deep with no anchor. You're screaming, "I'm going to dwell in the deep"! But you forgot Jesus at 21 days of prayer and fasting. As soon as the 22nd day came, you were back to everything that you used to do and worse before. I just got to be honest with you that you went 21 steps forward and you took 31 steps back in three days.
Why it's 'cause you went without the anchor. And the thing that you got to understand is your anchor or Jesus is not for attraction. Your anchor is always for action. Jesus does not want to be the impressive part of your life. He wants to be the impactful part of your life. He doesn't care that everybody's impressed that you know, scripture, that's what Sadducees and pharisees were. They are people who knew the law, and knew what the right thing were doing, but it didn't show up in their life. And what I'm telling you today is God saying, "Let me be the anchor that actually makes a difference in your life. Let me be the anchor that actually changes the way that you forgive people. Let me be the anchor that actually allows when your nature is to be selfish". Jesus doesn't want to be impressive. He wants to be impactful. And if that's Jesus's stance, that might need to be yours.
Some of you all are trying to be so impressive and doing nothing. And God said, I'd rather you be impressive to nobody and impactful to everybody. We've made a decision as a church, pastor mike why you all ain't came back yet? Why you ain't done this? You need to start doing this, and you need to start doing that, and da, da, da, da, da. Do you know all the opportunities that are out here and what the church could be doing? And da, da, da, da, da. Baby, we're not listening to you. I'm sorry. If anybody needs to leave the church 'cause we're not open yet, God bless you, I will send a letter of recommendation to the next church that you go to and tell them you have very strong opinions. But what I'm telling you right now is that I'm not moving 'cause I'm not trying to impress you. I'm anchored on what God has told me, and he knows how to get my attention and tell me something different.
And so until he tells me to do something different, I don't care if you're not impressed. But I promise you, you can't stop me from being impactful. You can't stop, there's thousands of people right now in their home, getting delivered the Word of God so that they can transform. What would the world look like if we stopped caring about being impressive, and doubled down on being impactful? I got to move. God doesn't want to be the anchor in your life for just attraction. Can I show it to you? I saw this picture of a yacht. Could you put it up for me real quick? Now this is a yacht that costs more than all of our houses put together. Let's be very clear. All of our houses were together in this room and probably some of y'all's online. This yacht costs more than that. Now, when you look at this yacht, millions of dollars, there are very sexy parts of this yacht. Like the sexy part is the glass, and that little nose, and the upper decks, and the lower decks, and they got even another little boat off to the side. But do you know the most impactful part of this boat is the anchor.
Now I want you to look and see where the anchor actually is at this current moment. Look at it. The anchor is positioned not to impress anybody. It's positioned to hold you in the midst of a storm. I'm asking you to be a husband that is not trying to impress his college buddies. Aah! But be an anchor for your family. That may not be as impressive on the gram. But you're impacting the next generation to love and lead their families. I'm about to preach this thing right now. I'm asking you young lady not to do the silhouette challenge and be impressive with your body. They don't even want to know what's in your mind no more 'cause you've shown them everything that's under your clothes.
But what I'm telling you right now is that you can be more impactful than impressive. And it's time for the church, I'm about to preach right now. It's time for the church to make a decision that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if anybody thinks what we're doing is good or not. It matters that we actually do what God's told us to do. Somebody say impact! That's what 2021 is going to be prophetically for many of you and I really need to move on. But I just found out that Jesus was more intentional about impacting the disciples in this moment than he was about impressing the crowds. He had just left the crowds, and now he's about to take the disciples, everybody say deeper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mark 36, part b it says, "Leaving the crowds behind". See when you're going to not be impressive. That means you're going to have to divorce your identity from the crowd.