Michael Todd - Welcome to the Deep
Good morning, Transformation Church! If you’re excited to be in the house of the Lord, can I hear one big hallelujah? Oh, come on! In your house, can you say hallelujah? I don’t know about you, but that worship just took me to a whole nother level. Somebody say, «God sustains!» We are in a series called «Anchored,» and I don’t know if you’re feeling it, but we are four weeks into this series, and we believe that divinely, God is beginning to anchor us to Himself like never before. I declare over your life— even if this is your first time watching, even if you were in the club last night, even if you were in someone’s bed that you didn’t need to be in, even if you made a wrong business deal or spoke badly to your children this week—God is saying, «I’m the one who will restore, and I am the one who will sustain.» Today, somebody needs to hear that today is the day God’s going to do something special in your life! I always tell people this: every time we come, it’s not about whether God is doing something or not; it’s about whether we are aware and ready to receive it.
So can we do something as a sign of being ready to receive? Will you just turn your hands like this? When my kids, um, when we go out of town, they know they always get a gift when we come back, and they like being surprised. What Bella will do is sit down on the couch and just put her hands out like this because there’s an expectation, and she’s ready to receive. Some of us, your posture right now is like this, and God says you’re not even ready to receive what I have for you. Some of you are holding on to other things, and God says you’re not ready to receive. But right now, in this moment, can we just put our hands as a sign of our heart? Lord, we’re ready to receive! Come on, say it out of your mouth: «Lord, I’m ready to receive!»
Come on; some of you are in the pit house right now, and some of you are in the trap house, but I dare you to say, «Lord, I’m ready to receive.» Everything is going well, and everything is going wrong, but just tell God: «I’m ready to receive.» God, today we come submitted and committed to whatever You want to say to us. Father, You have told us as a community, as a body of believers, that the word that we’re supposed to anchor our faith to is anchored. And we’re not anchoring to an idea; we’re anchoring to a man who came and won the ultimate victory. Our anchor is Jesus!
So today, Jesus, would You speak to us? Speak over the doubt, speak over the pain, speak over the anxiety, speak over the frustration. Yeah, some people have been really frustrated right now; it’s okay. God doesn’t care if you’re feeling it. He wants you to know that He’ll walk with you through it. Father, we bring the sexual temptations that have happened, the level of rage and anger, and the feelings of insignificance. Speak over all of that today! Your voice is higher and bigger, and today we are ready to receive in Jesus' name. Can I get about 20,000 people to put their hands together and add your voice to it and bless the Lord with me? Glory to God! Oh, I feel something happening in the room right now! Somebody’s joy is about to come back right now! Hallelujah! I feel this thing!
Well, today we are starting week four of a series we’re calling «Help Me.» Say it again, Hank! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been getting all these text messages from people seeing anchors everywhere. Has anybody been seeing anchors everywhere? I need some people to drop some anchors in the chat. Before we get into the message today, I want to tell you about something really special that’s about to happen. Every year, Transformation Church is intentional about remembering where we came from and that God didn’t just start something with us, but that He’s been doing it for a very long time. Next week is a special week at Transformation Church. This may be your first time watching, just tuning into Transformation Nation, but we have a culture code of fun, and we enjoy it all. We also have a culture code of honor; we honor—whoa, we honor down! Help me! We honor all the way around! Help me! We honor Lego! We honor! Okay, we honor! Some of y’all just got it. One more time: we honor! Let’s go! We are on, we are— we are— all the way!
I love our church because I know thousands of you were just doing that with me. The reason I say we honor is many of you may not know this, but Pastor Mike and Pastor Natalie did not start Transformation Church. This church was started 22 years ago by Bishop Gary McIntosh and Pastor Debbie McIntosh, our founding pastor. He’s in the building right now; can we give God praise for our founding pastor? Y’all will see him next week, but next week is Transformation Church’s church anniversary, and guess what, y’all? We are celebrating 22 years of this church being in existence and six years of me and Pastor Natalie being the lead pastors of Transformation Church. We are so grateful, and if there’s any Sunday you don’t want to miss, it’ll be next Sunday.
Check this out: you were once in darkness, but now you’re in the light. Live as children of the light! This is how you live. How am I supposed to live? We want a bunch of do’s and don’ts, but God said live as light! Live the life that I have put within you to a world that doesn’t know who God is. Be generous, be kind, be loving! Demonstrate who I am to the world, even when it’s difficult. I’ll give you the strength to do it. It’s easy to love the lovable; love the unlovable. It’s easy to touch those who are touched; touch those who haven’t been touched. It’s easy to give food to people who have; give food to somebody who doesn’t have. Be Me extended to a world that lives in darkness!
So next week is our church anniversary. We want you to invite everybody, and I’m telling you it’s going to be a powerful time in the Lord! We’re titling it, «What a Time to Be Alive!» Yeah, yeah! It’s going to be fun. I will hold all that until next week. Hey, listen, if this is your first time being a part of Transformation Church, we want to say welcome! We’re grateful for you! We’re a little rowdy around here, and we don’t apologize for it because you weren’t there when God saved us from all our mess. There was a lot of stuff that was really bad in me, and God did something amazing in me. So today, we are going to really give God glory, honor, and praise with everything we have, and I’m excited that you’re here. Are y’all ready for the word today?
What’s about to happen today? I’m going to forewarn you right now that this is a fulfillment of prophecy, and this moment, as I share God’s word today, is going to have a level of anointing that I believe is going to invade your homes, invade your sight, invade your senses, and I literally feel that chains are going to break off of you, and things are going to happen in your life. So I just want you to be prepared; if you’re driving, you may want to pull over because God has a word for you today that’s going to get you anchored. And today we are in week four of a series we’re calling «Help Me.»
Hey, you need to say it again! Today, we have decided that as a church, we’re going to be anchored. Last week, we decided that it’s not safer in the shallow. We decided that we were not going to be kiddie pool Christians anymore. We decided that we were going to be ones 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 could do with your life, but you are destined for the deep! Somebody say that one more time: I’m destined for the deep!
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 you’ve been, I want you to know that God promises He will be with you! Look at Isaiah 43, verse 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? 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 is for us, who can be against us?» 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. More often than not, everybody around you may not co-sign the things that God has said in your life, but it doesn’t matter who’s for you if you don’t remember who’s with you. And if we’re going to the deep, somebody said, «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 to rivers of difficulty, look at the encouragement: «You 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 reverse: «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 to make that stuff happen if you have not sought Him about what His plan is for your life. So our encouragement and admonition 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! 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 is good now, deeper! If you feel like you love people well, now—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’re 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 just to reflect, but now I need you to be one to help other people out of the same situation that you’ve now overcome— I’m calling you deeper!
So all I wanted to tell you is welcome to the deep! 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 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’m going 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. The first point of today is: 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,» but the only thing you’re 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 have anybody to read it; so we out here!
Say this is the most spiritual point some of y’all could ever have: «So we out here» is going to be your crazy faith statement of 2021! I feel that right there that you’re going to begin to obey God and do things. You know every week I come to this organization, and I have a meeting with Bri, our chief of staff, and God tells us to do stuff, and we’re looking at different things and going through budgets all that, and somewhere in the meeting, we look at each other and say, «Breathe.» So we are out here; there are people depending on us to stay 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 do we do when we don’t know what to do? So we are 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 are out here. Y’all ain’t even saying it like y’all mean it. Somebody say, «So we are out here.» It doesn’t matter what’s going on; it doesn’t matter what it looks like; it doesn’t matter if you have the finances. We are 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 are out here; I’m out here in the day, day, day. Y’all help me!
Say, «I’m out here in the day! Whoa!» Day, day, whoa! The day nobody understands. I’m out here in the day, y’all. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Y’all help me; I feel this thing! I said we are out here in the deep, deep, deep—the deep, deep, deep. My family is out here in the game, y’all. T, T, oh, the T, G, Transformation Nation out here in the T. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I ain’t got the money, but I’m in the—we’re out here in the deep. Somebody give God… oh! If you’re going to be in the 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, I don’t understand. I said welcome to the deep! I’m in the deep; we are 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! 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. Yes!
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 anchor. Oh! 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! I need you to come to the deep, but I’m going to anchor you myself.» I don’t like just saying these things and making analogies; I want to find everything in the Word of God. So go to Mark chapter 4, verse 35. This is a situation that the disciples find themselves in—like many of us find ourselves in—that God’s calling us to go to the deep, but then some unexpected things happen on the way. I just want to walk through this biblical story and see if we can find 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 lie ahead. I need you to make a decision before you detour. That’s what God, I believe, is asking us in the first week, or the first month, or the first series of 2021: decide before you detour. Do you know that most of the dumb things I did were because I had decided and then detoured when an obstacle came up? 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 moving forward. In this moment, the disciples are going to be faced with a decision in the midst of a detour.
Let me just read it: 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, 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,» then it says something that trips me up. I thought verse 36 would say, «So they went to the other side,» but look at the first four words: «So they took Jesus.» Now, what that makes me understand is that even if God gives an instruction, and He’s the one that told you to start that job, He’s the one that told you to take your kids to that school, He’s the one that told you to get into that relationship, you still have a decision about whether you’re going to take Him to the place He instructed you to go.
I need you to see that 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 I have for you is: Did Jesus give you an instruction that was taking you to the deep, but you forgot your anchor on the shore? What I’m telling you is to take Jesus with you. Take Him to school, take Him to work, take Him to the basketball court, take Him to the boardroom, take Him to the bedroom. Oh, y’all thought He wouldn’t come to the bedroom and bless that thing? Do you hear me? Y’all are too saved for me today, but the Lord meets me and Pastor Natalie in the bedroom anointing! All I’m telling you is do not go anywhere and forget your anchor. The problem is, there are many people in the deep with no anchor. You’re screaming, «I’m gonna dwell in the deep,» but you forgot Jesus after 21 days of prayer and fasting. As soon as the 22nd day came, you were back to everything you used to do and worse. I just have to be honest with you: you went 21 steps forward and took 31 steps back in three days. Why? Because you went without the anchor.
And the thing you have to understand is that 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 the Sadducees and Pharisees were. They were people who knew the law and what the right things were to do, but it didn’t show up in their lives. What I’m telling you today is God is saying, «Let Me be the anchor that actually makes a difference in your life. Let Me be the anchor that actually changes the way you forgive people. Let Me be the anchor that actually allows you to be generous when your nature is to be selfish.» Jesus doesn’t want to be impressive; He wants to be impactful. And if that’s Jesus' stance, that might need to be yours. Some of y’all are trying to be so impressive without doing anything, and God said, «I’d rather you be impressive to nobody and impactful to everybody.»
We’ve made a decision as a church. That’s why you might wonder why we haven’t opened back up yet. You need to start doing this and you need to start doing that. And do you know all the opportunities that are out here and what the church could be doing? Baby, we’re not listening to you. I’m sorry. If anybody needs to leave the church because we’re not open yet, God bless you. I will send a letter of recommendation to the next church you go to and tell them you have very strong opinions. What I’m telling you right now is that I’m not moving because 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. So until He tells me to do something different, I don’t care if you’re not impressed, but I promise you can’t stop me from being impactful. You can’t stop. There are thousands of people right now in their homes getting the Word of God so that they can transform their lives. What would the world look like if we stopped caring about being impressive and doubled down on being impactful?
I gotta move! God doesn’t want to be the anchor in your life just for attraction. Can I show it to you? I saw this picture of a yacht; can 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, if they were together in this room and probably some of yours online, this yacht costs more than that. Now, when you look at this yacht, which is worth millions of dollars, there are very glamorous parts of it, like the sleek glass and the little nose, and the upper decks and the lower decks. They even have another little boat off to the side. But do you know what 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 who is not trying to impress his college buddies but to be an anchor for your family. That may not be as impressive on the ground, 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 to impress with your body—because they don’t even want to know what’s in your mind anymore, because 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. 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 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! Mark 4:36, part B says, «Leaving the crowds behind.» See, when you’re not going to be impressive, that means you’re going to have to divorce your identity from the crowd. Leaving the crowds behind, I need to give you this point because some of you won’t be able to make it past this moment if I don’t give it to you. If you’re going to dwell in the deep, your boat is not built for everybody! Leaving the crowds—what did I say? —behind. The Bible distinctly says that other boats followed, but it said that the boat that Jesus had started them out on was not able to accommodate everybody.
I bet there were a lot of people in the crowd that wanted to get on the boat when Jesus said, «Hey, I have a mission for us. Let’s go to the other side!» And literally, they moved out, leaving the crowd behind. I keep saying «leaving the crowd behind» because I believe that God is asking some of you to do just that. If you’re going to dwell in the deep, leave the crowd behind. Who is on your boat? Who’s weighing you down? Not everyone is going to the deep with you, and you will delay your destination trying to bring a committee to what God called you to do.
Do you know where I would be right now if I waited for everyone I thought was supposed to be with me? Do you know how many people would still be wandering and drifting if I needed the co-sign of everybody else when I already had the co-sign of Heaven? Your boat is not built for everybody, and the most spiritual thing you may do this year because you’re going to the deep is delete them. I’m not talking about when you see them out, you don’t say hello and be cordial; I’m not talking about cancel culture; I’m talking about concentrated culture. Do you know that if you’re distracted, you cannot reach your destiny in a timely manner?
What God is telling you right now is: I don’t want you to enter into cancel culture; I need you to be in concentrated culture. Do you know when a thoroughbred runs in the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness? Those horses, worth millions of dollars, have a 15-piece set of equipment that they put on their eyes to limit their peripheral vision so they can concentrate on their lane and the finish line. I believe that this year God is asking us to concentrate on our lane and the finish line, and that means not everyone can get on the boat and go to the deep. Well, what do I do, Pastor Mike? I thought Bobo was going to come with me. I thought Tremaine was going to be able to make this trip. I already got a ring—I bought a ring already. Pastor Mike, are you asking me to get on this boat and go alone? Are you asking me to actually wait on you? Hello? Hello, anybody out there? I will trust you when I don’t trust you.
This is tough. This is tough! Eenie, meenie, miney, mo—catch a tiger by his toe. Miss Mary Mack, all dressed in black, like black was purified—very fine! I want to be concerned. You came from Heaven to Earth to show me something. Because the deep feels lonely. The deep doesn’t have friends. The deep is calling me to be separate, consecrated, refined, and sanctified. See, these are words in the Bible that we skip over. When we talk about the blessings, we talk about all that, but then He says He will be the one to take us through every storm in life.
Can I ask you a question? Have you ever been in a storm before when you were waiting on God—doing the thing He asked you to do—and then out of nowhere, a storm happens? How many of us can be honest—who’s hot at this church, humble, open, and transparent? How many people in some area of your life are in a storm right now? Come on, hands lifted all over the world: you’re in a storm right now. What happens when Mark 4:37 comes up: «I left the crowd; I decided to go to the deep, and this should be easy now because you are with me, right?» And look what verse 37 says: Soon, a fierce storm came up. No! That’s not possible! It’s not possible that I obeyed God! It’s not possible that the season was just calm! It’s not possible that I trusted God! I gave Him the crazy faith offering. I keep showing up. And then Jesus is the one that told me to go to the other side! He is the one that told me to move to Tulsa! He’s the one that told me to go to that school! He’s the one that told me to… And then, under Jesus’s instructions, a fierce storm came!
Has your life ever felt like a storm? Because right now, in many of your lives, that’s what it feels like, and that’s what it sounds like. It sounds and feels like, «How am I out here, and how am I going to do what God asked me to do, and what is going on in my life? I’m out here, and it’s dark now, and I’m out here, and there’s nobody helping me, and I’m out here, and I don’t hear a word from God.»
What are you saying to me, Pastor Mike? Something you need to know if you’re going to dwell in the deep is that the anchor does not excuse the storm. This is the lie that so many churches and people have told you for years, and I’m going to tell you straight: You can have Jesus and have a storm. It’s better to see it coming than to allow yourself to be fooled and then walk away. The storm is coming, whether you have Jesus or not. Your marriage will be tested, whether you pray in tongues or not. Not your children will have to be taught whether you fast or not; I feel God right now. You will have a challenge that you’re going to have to believe God for, whether you read the word every day or not. I’m going to keep the storm going because this is what many of your whole last year looked like. What we try to do is get down and make a better situation for ourselves.
Let me roll my way into another school; let me roll my way into a better relationship; let me roll my way into a new church. You’ve been to 42 churches, and the storm has not subsided. It might mean that God is trying to teach you something in the storm. I need to be even more transparent with you because I feel like many people have never done this for you, so I’m going to do it for you. Jesus does not excuse the storm, but can I tell you, Jesus usually escorts you into the storm? God, I thought — hold on, God! I thought you were doing something. I thought you were—oh no, no, no, no; I’m in the middle! Hold on; no, I’m in the middle! How do I get out of here? I’m your anchor — trust and know that I am God. Be still and wait on me. God, I can’t — I can’t see daylight! I don’t understand why you didn’t just tell me to stay on the shore because God said the blessing is in the deep.
Can I prove it to you? Jesus, after he was baptized in water, what ended up happening is that God came down and said, «This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.» And then guess what happened? He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. He was escorted by God. Some of y’all have been calling your storm a devastation; God said that this is just the destination that I have to create in you. I feel this thing—the character, the stamina, the wherewithal, the stick-to-itiveness that you need to be everything I called you to be. And right now, I bet on day 21, Jesus was like, «Yo, is the storm over yet?» And I bet on day 31, he said, «Is the storm over yet?» Some of you have been living in this place in your life: «Is the storm over yet? Is the storm going to subside?» And for some reason, God doesn’t take you out of the storm; he sustains you in the middle of it. I’m trying to show you a practical example of what having an anchor does.
Can I tell you something? If you’re going to dwell in the deep, listen and write this point down: the deep is not for devastation; it’s for preparation. The darkest and deepest places of my life have prepared me for the greatest victories of my life. I remember when Natalie and I had good credit, and we were in a place to be able to buy our first home. It was sunny skies everywhere, and we got hooked up with a bad contractor. What ended up happening is we found ourselves in the smack dab middle of a storm, and for three years, my credit went down. We were drained of tens of thousands of dollars. Nobody knew, Pastor Mike. I didn’t have no books. I didn’t have nothing. I felt like every day God was letting the storm continue to pound on my life, and I was like, «God, why? I’m praying, I’m fasting, I’m giving, I’m serving the youth, I’m serving Bishop.» And God said, «This is not a place of devastation; this is a place of preparation.»
It was in those moments that I learned the tools and trades I needed to be able to purchase the Spirit Bank Event Center that we sit in right now. He knew that if I went through the storm in a season where it was inconsequential, he would sustain me, and I would come out better. On the other side, it would be the very thing I needed to reach my purpose. Maybe you need to rename your storm. Yeah, it sucks, but this is going to be sanctifying. Yeah, it’s hard, but somehow healing’s coming out of this. John 16:33 says, «I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble.» Can I say it a different way? In this world, you will have a storm; but take heart! I, your anchor, have overcome. Somebody better help me shout in the place today if you know that our anchor has overcome the world!
So, dear brothers and sisters, James 1:2-4 tells us, «When troubles or storms of any kind—» oh, that means I can have a storm in my marriage! Any kind of storm! A storm of insecurity! Any kind of storm! A storm of financial poverty! Any kind of storm! Dear brothers and sisters, when storms or troubles of any kind come your way—uh-oh, you want to reframe it. Consider it an opportunity for great joy! Hold on! Is my storm a joyful situation? According to the word of God, my storm should bring me joy because I know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let me admonish you, like James: let it grow! For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
What I started saying to myself in the midst of the storm, because what happened is sometimes you think, like, «I got used to the storm,» and then the lights go dark and the stuff that used to be very, very clear and that you could see, then it gets a lot darker. Yeah, turn all of this off; turn this—yeah, yeah, because what you think is that now I’ve learned how to deal in the storm, and now I’ve learned how to communicate and work in the storm, but then it gets darker. And then come on, keep going; like, then all I see and hear is the voice of the enemy, and I see how they’re doing well, and I see their marriage succeeding, and this little light of mine is not shining.
And then Mark 4:37 said, «High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.» So the storm got more intense, and the lightning started to show, and the things began to become more intense. I’m about to lose my house, and my family doesn’t want to invite me places anymore, and things are starting to rock and reel, and things are not looking brighter, but looking darker. And I don’t know what’s happening—where is Jesus? Have you ever said, «Where is Jesus?» Look what verse 38 tells us Jesus was doing. Give me a little light on myself. Jesus was at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. No! Jesus was sleeping! This greatest storm of my life is happening, and Jesus had a flintstone pillow and took residence. I need you to see this: I’m trying to navigate in the midst of a shaky situation. Y’all know when the storm is happening; nothing’s sure.
Where’s Jesus? No Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, holy, holy, holy. Yeah, that’s gonna be a hit! That’s gonna be a hit! What happens when Jesus has decided to sleep? What happens when Jesus has decided to sleep in the midst of your storm? Do you still trust him? Will you still wait on him? People are saying «Yeah!» right now, but there’s a lot that goes into trusting a God who seems idle when your situation is so dark. The disciples woke him up, shouting, «Teacher, do you care that we’re going to drown? Don’t you care that everything around me is shaking?» And Jesus wakes up. «Is this what y’all woke me up for? Who told you to go to the other side?» Y’all missed it! «Is this what you woke me up for? The storm that when I told you we were going to the other side—I’m the God of all knowing, so I knew there would be a storm, and I decided to sleep in it.»
When I read this, God began to challenge me that any storm I faced was planned; it did not catch God by surprise. The storm in your life—the diagnosis, the hurt that has come from that situation—God may have not caused it, but he sure will use it. He knows that the storms are coming, and he slept. What this told me is that if I’m going to dwell in the deep, never trust an anchor with anxiety. If the thing that you’re attached to is scared too—if your governmental party that you’ve attached all your weight to is scared too—if your mama and your daddy, and your money is funny, and everything you’ve attached—if your anchor has anxiety, that is the wrong anchor. This scripture made me respect Jesus’s fearlessness like never before—that the storm did not take him off his game. That through the storm, he remained in a state of, everybody say, «peace.»
There is a way that you can have peace in the middle of the war. Y’all don’t want to hear the word today, but I’m telling you right now God is the only one. He gave us a forever picture of him sleeping and resting in a place where everybody else was freaking out, and God’s saying to me, I hear this so strongly: I will give you peace. Lift your hands all over the world right now. I need you to lift your hands. I feel this so strong. Some of you are in a storm that is challenging everything you’ve ever believed, and God said the storm’s not going to stop yet, but I’ll give you peace. Immediately, the storm is not gonna subside yet. Yeah, you’re still gonna have to go through marriage counseling, and yeah, you’re still going to have to take your children to therapy, and yeah, you’re still going to have to go back and build your credit.
And yeah, you’re still going to have to stay in that smaller apartment, and you’re not gonna get the house yet. And yeah, you’re still going to have to catch the bus. But I will be your peace in the middle of the storm. It says when Jesus woke up, «Hey, storm, stop!» Oh, y’all didn’t see it in the Bible. And it said, «Silence! Be still!» Suddenly, the wind stopped, and there was a great calm that came. Oh, I’ve got some encouragement for somebody today. If you’re going to dwell in the deep, through the rain, the anchor remains. I need you to hear me say this: the reason why I believe God gave us the word this year to be anchored is because we can’t rebuke the storm away; only God can do that. But I’m still here after the storm subsided! Are you telling me that after the situation, I may not have gotten to my destination when I wanted to, but I’m still here?
Somebody say, «I’m still here!» Could you think back over what the last five years has been for you, and then could you with faith in your heart and gratitude all over say, «I’m still here»? I’m about to start a revolution of thanksgiving and gratitude. Do you know what the doctor’s report said? Do you remember what was in your bank account? Do you remember when they told you that you would never be able to get into that school? And do I feel a praise rising up all over the world? And do you remember that God told you that he would sustain you? Somebody shout at me, «I’m still here!» As we’re about to celebrate six years of being a church, they told me that it would never amount to anything, and they told me that we wouldn’t be able to build a multi-ethnic and a multi-generational, multicultural church, but we’re still here! So your testimony should be, «God, you sustained that.»
The song we’re singing is a prophetic gratitude to what God is calling us to do as a church. Let’s put our faith in him! When I wrote those words, God told me, «I’m going to sustain you in the middle of it all.» And if you’re going into the deep, I need you to realize something: your trust needs to be more in your anchor, Jesus, than it is in the storm. Some of us trust that the storm is going to take us out more than we trust that Jesus is going to keep us through the storm. I’m asking you to change your focus. Do you remember when Peter was walking on water and he began to do something that nobody else had ever done? It was when he began to pay attention to the winds and the waves—the storm that was around him—that he began to sink.
What did Jesus say? «Oh Peter, why you got so little faith, bro? You don’t remember I told you I’m the one that said come! I’m the one that called you to be in that marriage! I’m the one that told you your son was gonna be healed! I’m the one! I’m the one who said your family would be saved! I’m the one who said this was the last year you would deal with depression! I’m the one who said anxiety will no longer have a hold over you! I’m the one who said that everything that happened to you in that molestation would not define everything that you would be in the future! I’m the one who said it!»
I feel the presence of God. I’m the one who said, «Though you have years of wrong images through pornography, I can purify your heart and make you somebody that will change people for the rest of their lives. I’m the one!» Today, God’s asking, «Why won’t you trust me?» That’s what he asked the disciples. He said, «Then he asked them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still not have faith? Do you still not trust that I’m big? ' You’re still here; I still sustained you. Why don’t you trust me?»
Well, God, 'cause I didn’t see you. Let me help you understand: the visibility of an anchor does not determine the value of an anchor. God, I don’t see You, He said, because I’m working it out right now. God, I don’t see You; it’s because I’m undergoing a work. An anchor doesn’t have to be seen to actually be doing the work, and God says some of the areas you want me to show up in, I’m not, because I’m doing a work that’s deeper. That’s what God is doing in my life; He’s doing a deep work. He’s making me confront things I don’t even want to talk about. He’s making me be transparent about the reasons why and the hurts and what happened and all of these things that said, «God, I don’t feel You,» and He just says, «Stay anchored, because I’ll sustain you.»
What, what are you trying to say, Pastor Mike? What I’m really trying to get you to understand at this current moment is in verse 41. It says the disciples were absolutely terrified when Jesus said, «Stop. Peace, be still.» Then they started looking at each other, like, «Who is this man? No, I thought we knew Him. Like when we left our boats, I thought we knew what He was going to do. I mean, we saw Him do the water into wine trick, and we were like, 'Oh, we’re going to get tipsy, ' but we thought that was going to be it. But who is this man that even the winds and the waves obey Him?»
I want to let you know, if you’re going to dwell in the deep, our anchor has authority. Jesus is the only one who can look at the wind and the waves. Can I break that down for you? Let me give you some revelation. He can look at the waves, which you do see, and look at the winds, which are invisible. He can look at the marriage that you do see and the underlying insecurity that’s undetectable. He can speak to the financial situation that you do see, but the mindset of poverty that you don’t see. My God is the only one that looks at the visible and the invisible, and He can say, «Peace, be still! Money, line up! Mindset, change! Pornography, go down! Perversion, be subsided!» God looks at what you do see and what you don’t see, and He has the authority to speak to both of them. That means God’s not working the situation out in one dimension; He’s working it out in 2D—what you see and what you don’t see. He’ll be the anchor in that situation.
Pastor Mike, we’ve been talking about being anchored. We’ve been talking about really just living in the deep. Why did you give us this message today? Because I felt there were a lot of people in the storm, and I know you try to fake it with everybody else like everything’s good. You can do that again today; you can act like this message wasn’t for you, but some of you are in the middle of a storm. Can you turn the storm back on just for one second? Because I don’t want them to forget that I can still be worshiping in the storm.
Your promises always come true, not depending on me, but relying on You. Your mercies are new every day, so I will trust You. Your promises are real; you can worship in the storm, relying on You. Your mercies are new every day, so I, in the middle of the storm, everybody say, «I will trust You.» Say, «I feel the presence of God.» You may be wet, and your situation may not be changing, but I dare you, in the middle of the storm, to declare. Come on, lift it up; say, «You are my source, God! You are my strength in the middle of the storm!»
Come on, somebody in your home right now, declare that you’re not going to give up on your anchor, that God is with you in the middle. I feel the presence of God; somebody needs to get up and declare that I will trust You, God. There’s no wind, there’s no wave, there’s nothing that will stop me from being anchored. There’s no sickness, no disease, no diagnosis. God, I will trust You; I am covered by the blood of Jesus, and my anchor is short! Together, all around the world, say, «You sustain!» Lift it up; come on, this has to be our posture. You sustain! Say it again.
Can I give you some good news real quick? God will sustain you! But my encouragement to you right now is that every storm—somebody say, «Every storm!» No, say it like you mean it: «Every storm! Every storm!» has an expiration date. That no matter what storm you’re in right now, at some point, the winds, the waves, and the rain have to subside. The marriage is going to have to turn around. The diagnosis is going to have to kneel at the name of Jesus. And there is a sense—a sun—that is rising out of the storm. The sun is beginning to come out, though the rain is moving. The sun is moving from a place of darkness; my situation is changing. The Son—Jesus—is rising in your situation.
The Son, our anchor—somebody say His name: Jesus! Say His name again! Say His name one more time while you’re running on the track at your home: Say His name! The Son of God has decided that no storm lasts always! Your storm has an expiration date, so why don’t you worship in the midst of the storm? Because at some point, every moment that goes by, we’re getting closer to the sun rising on our situation.
Oh, y’all don’t hear me! Y’all are not rejoicing like the clock is ticking down. Oh, I feel this right now—somebody, by this time next week, the storm is going to have subsided! Somebody should begin to rejoice right there! This time next month, the storm will have subsided! This time next year, what are you saying, Pastor Mike? Jesus will be your anchor in the middle of every storm!
And what should be your posture? Very simple: say, «I will trust You.» That’s it! All I’m telling you is, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but what I’m declaring is, «I will trust You!» I’m not exactly sure how this thing is going to work out right now, but God, I’m telling You right now—say, «I see it!» It’s not completely sunshine, but I see the sun beginning to come out of my situation!
Somebody said, «Hands lifted all over this place, all over the world.» I want to pray for you. I want to pray an anchoring prayer over your life. I am not going to lie to you and tell you the storm’s not coming this year and that you might not already be in the storm right now. What I’m saying is, you have an anchor in the middle of the storm. Welcome to the deep! I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m telling you, if you’re looking for some, «I want to be happy» messages, I’m sorry, that’s not here this year. I want you to grow this year. I want you to develop in the deep, so lift your hands all over this place. I want to pray for you.
God, I declare that as You asked me to speak this word—that You sent the disciples to the other side—you did it. It wasn’t self-initiated; it wasn’t something they did in ambition. You said, «Let’s set out and go to the other side!» But You knew the storm was in the middle. But God, for my brothers and sisters and myself who are in the middle of a storm, I thank You that we won’t forfeit the other side because we are afraid of a storm. I declare over your life that you will not forfeit the other side!
Oh, I feel that thing right now. The other side of the marriage, the other side of this pain; there’s something on the other side that has to go through the storm! Even when the children of Israel were to make it to the promised land, they had to go through the storm of the wilderness, and they had to trust You. You fed them with manna, God, but You were saying, «I wasn’t trying to get something or keep something from you; I was trying to get something into us.» And today, Father, we’re going to do something unusual: we’re going to praise You for the storm! I feel that right now! Right now in this moment, we’re going to lift our hands and thank God for every storm that has come. I know this seems completely different right now, but right now I want you to lift your hands and just begin to say:
God, I thank You! I thank You for every storm! I thank You, Father, that if it didn’t kill me, You’re gonna use it to make me. Father God, I thank You that the storm was not meant to devastate me, but it was meant to develop me. God, in the midst of the storm, I declare I will trust You, and I pray over every person that has the audacity to lift their hands and thank You for the storm. Father, because You are a God that sees all, sits over all, is the King of kings and the Lord of lords—you are the great God, the God who knows the beginning from the end. You’re the author and the finisher; You are the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and today we say, we trust You. For every person that feels like giving up in the midst of the storm, today, we send peace—the Comforter, the Holy Spirit—to you, and we declare, Father, that we will trust You in Jesus' name!
Somebody say, «I will trust You» all week! That’s going to be your declaration, because some of y’all are going to recognize a storm, and you’re going to say, «Oh no! I’m not going to be taken out by this!» Somebody’s just gonna say, «I will trust You.» I feel this thing in my toes right now, and I can’t even feel my toes right now. Somebody say, «Hey!»
Some of y’all getting tired, but you may not be in a storm right now. But for anybody that’s in a storm, they need this right now! They need to know that for anybody who has not made Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, I’m about to give you the greatest gift of your life. He’s an anchor; the storm’s coming; it doesn’t matter! But right now Jesus wants to be your anchor! If you’ve never received Jesus, I feel that my salvation is about to happen in this place! I need y’all to begin to pray right now!
If you’ve never given your life to Jesus, this is your moment! God has made this entire scene for you to get a visual picture of what your life has been like—drifting in the sea of darkness, and bad thing after bad thing—but God says, «I am going to be with you in the storm!» And right now, all you have to do, according to Romans 10:9, is accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior—that He lived and He died just for you! And by faith—not by facts, by faith—you can be saved.
And I’m telling you, this is the greatest decision I ever made: to anchor my life to Jesus Christ. It took me from being a liar, addicted to pornography, somebody who was a manipulator, someone that had dark things in his heart and mind. It didn’t make me a perfect man, but it made me a progressive man. The way that I love my wife and I love my kids and I serve this staff is because of what God has done. He’s done a deep work on the inside of me! Somebody say, «A deep work!» And that’s what God wants to do on the inside of you!
And no, you don’t have to change all your habits and hobbies today. God says, «Give Me your heart, and I’ll help you change your habits! Give Me your heart, and I’ll help you change your hobbies! Give Me your heart, and I’ll heal you!» And today, you’ve run to men and women; you’ve run to drugs and highs; you’ve run to vacations and Instagram posts; you’ve run to food, and you’ve run to binge-watching TV. And God says, «Has it filled you up yet?» Right now, He’s saying, «Give Me a try!»
And I’ve declared this almost every week of this series, but I’m going to say it again: This will be the best year of your life if it is your best year spiritually! And you cannot do this without God! So if you want to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I’m telling you it’s the best decision you can ever make, and today is the day of salvation! On the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands and say, «Pastor, include me in that prayer! I want to give my life to Christ today!»
One—you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two—everybody is not going to go with you on this boat, but God is with you on this boat. Three—lift your hands up all over the world if you are making Jesus Christ your personal Lord! I can feel it; there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people that have lifted their hands!
And let me help you—at Transformation Church, nobody prays alone! I need staff and team; I need y’all to start praying! Heaven is warring right now! The winds are raging over people’s lives right now, and we’re going to pray that God would do something so strategic in your life that by this time next week, there will be a difference in your situation! This time next year, there’ll be a difference! You won’t even recognize yourself 12 months from now!
I feel that so strongly—hands lifted everywhere because at Transformation Church nobody prays alone! We’re going to pray together! Father, in the name of Jesus, we declare that You’re doing something powerful in our friends' lives right now! And today we’re going to confess together. Everybody say:
Jesus, thank You for coming to be my anchor! Today, I give you my life. By faith, I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again just for me. Today, I’m going to the deep. Be with me every step of the way. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.