Michael Todd - Mo' Money, Mo' Purpose
This series is about stewardship and generosity, and it’s week one. Over the next five weeks, I am going to take you on a journey. This series is going to get all up in your business; it’ll feel like I had surveillance on some of your thoughts because it’s going to confront your heart issues through your wallet. You see, most people don’t understand that their finances, their generosity, and their giving—whether they don’t have much or they’re balling—are all connected. Everything you are doing right now, your money and your heart, are attached to each other.
What God wants for you in this life is not to be attached to a tool; He wants you to manage that tool but not love it. I am the best person to talk to you about this because I was completely blinded when it came to money—cash, guap, give me some more terms: cheese, dinero, loot, what is it—cheddar, pesos? Come on, type a couple in the chat! What did you say? Fatty? Bread? Tortilla? I don’t know, I’ve never heard of that. Lettuce, chips—well, I have these food analogies: coins, the bag, benjamins. Give me two more—what do we have? Moolah? Paper? There it is, bacon—I’ve never heard of that one! Okay, bring it on—let’s go!
So, whatever you call it, I’ll start with a confession: money used to control me. It dictated my thoughts, my actions, my associations, and my self-worth. I’m not going to talk about you today; I’m going to talk about me. Money made me feel better about living and worse when I didn’t have it. Most of us get a small dopamine hit on payday, so don’t act fake with me today! You know the first and the fifteenth, or whenever you get paid, your breath is still stinking, you’re still crusty that day—you don’t check Instagram first! «Today’s gonna be a good day!» Why do we feel that way when we get a tax return? Why does life seem better when we find an extra twenty dollars? It was your twenty to begin with; you just lost it. But when you find it, it’s like, «Oh shoot, God is blessing me!»
The truth is, many of us are attached to this thing that God called us to manage, steward over, and, watch this, give away abundantly. It’s very hard to give away what you’re attached to; it’s hard to let go of what holds you. Through this series, I want to walk us cautiously through a subject that many churches fumble. The reason the church doesn’t like to talk about this, and I’m just putting all the disclaimers out here first, is because I’ve thought through everything we’re about to do. The end of this is you living a blessed life—somebody say, «Blessed life!» Not a blessed wallet, but a blessed life! He wants every area of your life to be blessed, but there’s a connection between your resources and your relationship with God.
As we walk through this, I’m going to do it delicately, but I want to give you a few disclaimers, everybody. First off, take a deep breath in, let it out, and everybody say, «Relax!» There will be no second offerings; we’re not in a building campaign. You don’t have to look for the bait and switch—like, «What is he doing? What is he doing?» There are no hundred-dollar lines, no prophetic prophecies that you need to pay for, and no oil from Israel that you just paid $333 for, with a little bit of Jesus’s spit in it! Let’s not talk about spit; all I’m saying is, there’s no gimmick with this. My heart’s passion is that God’s people would form a right relationship with resources, and there are too many people in God’s house that have a wrong relationship with resources.
If you have a wrong relationship with resources, you can never be a conduit to give those resources away. All the things God wants us to do as the kingdom of God require us to have resources to be able to be a resource. You cannot be a resource without a source, and you cannot be a resource if you don’t give resources to other people. So we have to get a biblically principled idea and thought process around generosity and stewardship, or we’re stuck. Most of the church is stuck when it comes to finances, generosity, and stewardship. I’m going to be so real with you through this whole series that it will make you confront yourself. And when you confront yourself, with God’s help, I’m praying it will bring—everybody say transformation!
Let me just tell you my goal up front: Through this series, along with God’s help, I want to break generational cycles of poverty, and we want to break generational cycles of selfishness. Uh-oh! Both are evil—poverty is evil, and selfishness is evil. Most of us do not want either one of them, but we live at one of those poles. I need us to get principles that help us live a—everybody say it with me—one more time: blessed life!
Let me tell you where this came from. I was a broke 25-year-old, and I went to a conference in Dallas, Texas, with Pastor Robert Morris and Tim Ross, our current oversight pastor. He took me to a bookstore and bought me $300 worth of books, CDs, and DVDs. He told me, «Don’t call me until after you read and listen to all this stuff.» I felt like it was kind of rude at the moment because I wanted mentoring and help, but he wanted me to make an investment. He said, «I’ve spent time with you, I’ve made an initial investment, but don’t talk to me again until you read these things.» A month went by, two months went by—he was serious! He reached out to me, and I thought, «Maybe I need to read these books.» In the middle of those books was one called *The Blessed Life*.
As a 25-year-old with debt and credit card problems, having been around church and God all my life, I had seen money manipulated as well as seen people with millions of dollars who were unhappy in both scenarios. I was trying to find my way out of this, and I began reading *The Blessed Life*. These principles jumped out at me in such a way that I started telling everybody about it. I even came back to Transformation Church, where at the time I was the executive pastor. I told the bishop, «We have to do a series called *The Blessed Life*.» He read the book and said, «This is good!» I said, «Let’s do it.»
In 2014, this week, as I was going through the archives, I found the DVD box set of *The Blessed Life* that we did here at Transformation Church. These DVDs contain some of the raggediest footage in history, but as I was going through week number five, for some reason, the bishop let me preach. The title of the message says, «Transformation Church Sunday Morning: Michael Todd—Seed, Need, and Greed.» I looked at this and said, «God, what were You saying?» I went and bought a DVD player this week; let’s just say they aren’t easy to find. When I bought it and put that message on, I began to listen to myself when I was broke, in credit card debt, trying to tell a group of people who looked at me cross-eyed, like, «What does this little boy have to say?»
The faith I stood with to declare I would live a blessed life inspired me and gave me a passion to come to you today with a word that has the potential to change the trajectory of your life. As I watched myself, knowing my situation and seeing what God was saying to me eight years ago in March 2014, I stood on this same platform and preached *The Blessed Life* for the first time—a year before I became the pastor. To look at my life eight years later and to know that everything I’m going to say in this series is not from an idea, a theory, or an experiment—the person standing before you has lived out these principles. I have watched God turn my life from something broken, dejected, and really ugly to something—somebody shout, «Blessed!» I live a blessed life!
Does that mean I don’t have problems? No. Does it mean there’s not suffering and situations I wish would change? No. But because I’ve honored God in finances, stewardship, and generosity, He has—everybody say—transformed. My prayer for you, I’m just saying it up front, is that by the end of this series, if you would not be distracted by things that feel better but would dial into this series, I promise you the principles we’re about to talk about will transform your life. Are you ready to receive right now? I said, are you ready to receive right now? All right, let’s go!
Now, why are we talking about this? And for all the people who are thinking, «Oh God, here we go,» during this series we’re not asking for any offerings additional to what people already do in this church. As a matter of fact, because of the generosity of the people who have already bought into this message during this series, we’re giving away one million dollars! Okay, y’all are not shouting, but I am because I know what God has done! This is Million Dollar March! We’re giving away, with no strings attached, a million dollars in one month!
Why am I saying that, Pastor Mike? Because I want you to know we’re doing the opposite of what people would think we would do in this season. Why? Because we’re called to represent God! I don’t want you to have any distractions while receiving this message. The reason we’re doing this is because Proverbs 11:24 tells us: «The world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.» How big is your world? Look around and evaluate how much God has allowed you to manage. The key to expanding that is to be more generous; the key to shrinking it is to be more selfish and stingy. Many people, because the paper is a priority, or they’ve made a mountain of money, or they think cash is king, do not follow God’s principles.
That’s why in this thing, we have to make the kingdom of God a priority—everybody say «priority»! That’s why Matthew 6:33 says, «But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added.» Everything we need, resource-wise, will be added if we seek first the kingdom of God. And God doesn’t have a problem with paper; He just wants priority! My question to you today is: What priority is God in your life?
Can I say it in a simple point? Money should never be the focus; it should always be the fruit. If money is your focus, on social media every day, I see all these entrepreneurs, hustlers, and grinders, and most of us follow them. They have made money the focus and not money the fruit. If you make money the focus, you will start to make it your idol and worship that thing. For us as a church, we said we’re not focusing on money; we’re focusing on what God has called us to focus on—transformation in Christ. Can I say it simpler? We focus on people! And when you focus on people, God always provides for those focused on other people; it is literally His modus operandi.
If you would give to somebody else, help when they are in the hospital, meet their needs when they have a baby, and put yourself in the position of being an extension of God’s hands and feet on this earth, He will always supply your hands. But most people are trying to hoard or be a reservoir when God wants you to be a river. Somebody say, «Flow!» God wants you to flow from Him to others. But if money is the focus, it can never be the fruit.
So today, I’m challenging everyone—there is an authority coming over me. I’m fighting principalities right now; I can feel it. I’m fighting things that have been generational. I can sense people’s mindsets, like, «That doesn’t apply to me; he doesn’t know my situation.» Well, God does, and I’m telling you, I’m standing flat-footed; I ain’t never scared! I promise you I’ve dealt with this in my own life, and I’ve broken the back of poverty over this church. And I’m coming for you because you have to live a blessed life to help your family, get them out of drug addiction, and reach back to help people just like you. You’ve got to get these principles!
I’m not going to let any intimidation spirit come upon me. I promise I’m ready to fight for your family, I’m ready to fight for your freedom. I’m ready to fight for your financial mindset. I’m ready to fight because you deserve to live a blessed life, but it comes from having the right principles. That’s why, in an age and culture where most people have at least seven thousand dollars in credit card debt, one hundred ninety-six thousand dollars in mortgage, twenty-seven thousand dollars in auto loans, and fifty-six thousand dollars in student loan debt—while many wish they had that little—some don’t have one thousand dollars in savings and are one check away from being broke.
That’s the society we live in. But Deuteronomy 28:12 says you will lend to many nations; you will never need to borrow from them. Culture: Kingdom culture; finances: Kingdom finances; culture: generosity; Kingdom generosity. What I’m saying to you right now is that there are always going to be two kingdoms wrestling for your allegiance, and many people, when it comes to finances, would rather listen to a guru with no spiritual backing; yet because they arrive in a Lamborghini, you think they somehow have the knowledge to help you do what God has called you to do. For this series, can we go back to the principles of God and make them the priority in our lives as we look at our finances, generosity, and stewardship? Can I get one big yes?
Okay, so these are two words you need to understand: they aren’t glamorous, but they will provide clarity as we move forward. Preparation—write that word down. Preparation is the first word I want you to focus on because the blessed life is not going to come instantly. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme or a fast way out of debt so you can do something crazy. Preparation took me eight years to achieve, and we live in an instant gratification culture where we won’t invest now to experience freedom later. But the bishop told me that a moment of discipline can produce a lifetime of freedom. So, I’m asking people to get in their minds that this is a time for preparation.
The other word is stewardship. That’s managing something that isn’t yours. We have to address this because many of you think it’s your money, your house, and your breath—give somebody else one breath. You can’t give someone your breath because God gave it to you. When you understand that everything you have—every good and perfect gift—comes from the Lord, you realize you’re never an owner; you’re just a manager. Everything I have isn’t mine; it is under my management or stewardship. He is the owner, and I am the manager. Say it with me: He is the owner; I am the manager. Why would He ask you for something if you’re acting like He’s doing something to you instead of for you?
When you say, «But, God, you know I work hard for every dime,» remember that He said, «Hold on, I asked you just to manage this life.» You know you have another life, right? What you do in this life will prepare you for what you receive in the next life, depending on how you steward right here. What is the phrase of this year? Here is so maybe here. How you handle finances, generosity, and money here is more important to your purpose and destiny than anything you’re thinking about in the future. God is saying here is holy. Your debt here needs to be dealt with; your mindset here needs to be eradicated; your ability to give here needs to increase because you’ll never do it there if you don’t commit to it here.
Oh my God! Okay, write this down: Preparation releases provision. The only way God releases provision is if He sees preparation. But then, watch the last part of this: Procrastination releases poverty. I’m about to get in your business. Some of you have been waiting to do what God already told you to do, and you’re so arrogant to think that you have another week to do it. He told you to make the budget last year, yet you’re so arrogant that you’re telling God, «I have time. I have time to make the business plan, I have time to go to the bank and open up the account.» God said, «You don’t know who told you that you have time. You don’t know what I’m trying to do and how I’m trying to do it.» Procrastination has led to so much poverty that the church now needs organizations that don’t even believe what they believe to give them a handout because they will not obey in the seasons when God gives them wisdom and a word of knowledge. Now you’ve been put in a compromising position: do you keep a standard or take the money?
I know of so many people—I’m not just talking about churches; I’m talking about you, you are the church. Some of you have accepted money that was dirty money; you knew, for a fact, that the resources came from a source that did not honor God. But because you looked at your bank account and what you needed, you didn’t trust in what God was doing in your life, but rather in a system that God uses to provide us tools. You compromised your integrity for a little cash. I pray for a church that raises up; that money can be thrown at your feet, and you still choose faith in God.
For some of you, for a thousand dollars, you’ll slide down a pole. You’d give up your own child. I’m just telling the truth—this is the truth. Everybody has a number. I don’t know if I can be this real in this series, but some of you would give up your Christianity for fifteen thousand dollars; a hundred thousand would literally turn you out. You might give up your family by making a wrong decision with someone who offered you money for a cool two hundred fifty. There is no amount of money in this world worth losing my relationship with God. As we start this series today, I want you to confront yourself and ask how much money has become your god.
Oh, I know it’s strong—it’s strong because, at the end of the day, this is the stuff nobody talks to you about. Do you know how private we are about our money? Some husbands and wives, you’ve got secret accounts, you’ve got money stashed away in purses and bras, and you won’t even let each other know! You know it’s the truth! You have all these things set up because if something goes wrong and God doesn’t answer, money will. And today, I came to confront that thing in you because God wants us to prepare to receive a fresh revelation or a new truth regarding everything that God has given us around money.
Somebody say, «More money, more problems.» Say it again: «More money, more problems.» Does anyone remember when that song came out? Diddy, Mase, Kelly Price? I was eleven years old when it came out. Faith Evans was the featured artist. Okay, all right; faith, God bless you. I was eleven years old in 1997. I literally was changing to channel thirty-nine, which was MTV when I was young, and channel forty, which was BET. I only watched four channels when I was a kid: Disney, Nickelodeon, thirty-three, and then, jumping to the extreme—thirty-nine was MTV, and forty was BET for late nights. Oh God, I’m just telling on myself; maybe someone can relate.
You don’t need an «after dark» segment; y’all are nasty! That was my life. I saw Mase and Diddy in those shiny suits, and they kept saying, «The moment we come across… my problem.» Diddy didn’t dance; he just did his Diddy thing in the video. After that, «more money, more problems» became something stuck in my head, giving me a theology not based on the Word of God. A lot of the things we believe don’t originate from scripture; they come from moments in our lives where something seemed right and repetitive, eventually becoming something we adopt as truth.
So, as I grew up, I thought, «More money, more problems.» Then I went to college and saw how much it cost to attend a community college, and I thought, «This is a problem,» which reinforced «More money, more problems.» I got into church and watched people struggle to teach others how to give. I saw, «Dang, more money, more problems!» Then, I became a pastor and had a decision to make: was I going to take a concept given to me by culture and bring it into kingdom work, or was I going to filter it through the Word of God? I searched the scriptures, and guess what I found out? «More money, more problems» is not biblical. It’s not in the Bible!
It was something I believed because it was repeated, something I heard others say, and it became my gospel truth. Okay, write this down because it will apply to you in any area of life: What is repeated and regurgitated becomes gospel to you, even if it’s not the truth. There are things your family has twisted ideas about, the most backward, broken notions in history, yet it’s what you do and say now because it was repeated and regurgitated. Racism—this is how it happens; it’s repeated and regurgitated until it becomes your truth, although it’s not the truth.
Regarding stewardship and generosity, God is saying to stop believing that more money means more problems. Write it down like this: «More money, more problems» is the confession of the poverty gospel. Come on! Everyone talks about the prosperity gospel and how it has a bad reputation; and yes, it does. But it’s not the only wrong gospel we suffer from. People are not suffering from the prosperity gospel; they are suffering, struggling, and raising kids in the poverty gospel. Today, I need you to identify where you are. Everybody say here: God can only bless you from where you are.
So today, I’m going to present a few options, and I need you to identify: Am I here, am I here, or am I here? Because wherever you are is where we are praying for God to transform you from. But if you do not identify, God will not take you or heal what you do not reveal. There are tons of people under my voice right now suffering from the poverty gospel. You think «more money, more problems,» «more money means more responsibility,» or «more money means more taxes.»
«I want a tax return!» No, you don’t! Do you see how many people didn’t even know that a tax return means you gave the government more money than you should have throughout the year, and they’re giving you your money back—money you loaned them for free? Yet if you need a thousand dollars, they will charge you interest! We are so poverty-minded; we want a four-thousand-dollar tax return so we can show off, buy a TV, or get rims for the truck, take a vacation.
The «poverty gospel» is fueled by dysfunction. Let me help you: it is motivated and fueled by fear. When you live in the poverty gospel, it is motivated and fueled by fear. What do you mean? «I can’t get government assistance if I actually get a job. I have to report my income, and then I might not get that housing for three hundred dollars!» You’d rather—I’m in somebody’s business right now—you’d rather not have the freedom to live wherever you want, put your kids in whatever school you choose, do good by other people. You’d rather have a three-hundred-dollar payment and brag about it.
«Look, I only pay three hundred, and water and cable are included!» You know what that is? You’ve sold your life out to the poverty gospel. You’re using seven people’s Netflix accounts, but you want everyone to support your business when you start it. But remember, you reap what you sow! Some of you have been stealing because they are a big company. What happens when you become a big company? Do you want someone like you as a customer? Someone is feeling convicted right now! Someone is signing out right now, like, «Oh my God, my great uncle Bill!» You know what that is? It’s the poverty gospel, and that poverty gospel has you so messed up; it has you not believing God and looking at situations that really think more money means more problems, and it’s rooted in fear.
«I need a hookup on everything!» «I need a discount on everything!» That’s the poverty mindset. I don’t care what gas prices go to; God is the supplier of everything. I know everyone is tripping out right now over five-dollar gas. I will always have enough money to pay for gas because I am not rooted in a fear-based poverty mentality. Drive out of town for a concert that’s going to lay you on your back with somebody. Uh-oh, did I? I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry about the poverty gospel.
Yeah, yeah, Charles, come here. Stand right here; I want everybody to see this because what ends up happening with the poverty gospel is it’s passed to you by your family, and they tell you to hold it. And something inside you is like, «No, I don’t want to live like that.» And they’d be like, «No, boy, this is our family.» And it’s like, «But I can’t apply for the school even though we don’t have the money; who’s going to pay for it?» Well, you know what I’m saying, like, «Dad, I think I can get a scholarship.» «Well, you better get a scholarship and a job; you better take care of everything else.» And you start holding these ideas and mindsets, and then, because your earthly father told it to you, you think now your heavenly father is saying, «Struggle; you gonna start that ministry?» «Well, God, I felt like you told me to start it.» «Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you gotta earn your dues; go through what I went through.» Like, «Hold on, if your earthly father knows how to give good gifts, how much more does your Father in heaven?»
But when we have built up the poverty gospel so much in our heads, we willingly receive the struggle because we believe, watch this, it’s what we deserve. So now, oh, but you know because some people are sitting here all bougie and hysterical, «I’ve never been on welfare; nothing’s ever been cut off; God is good to me.» But the truth of the matter is: let me tell you what the poverty gospel is—not spending money on the counseling you need and buying a new Louis bag—that’s poverty, that’s a poverty mentality. Because you care what somebody thinks about you rather than actually being whole. Let me tell you something else that’s a poverty mentality: never being able to pay off your actual bills but walking around stunning people and judging them because they don’t drive the car you drive—poverty. And there are a bunch of people holding on to the poverty gospel, and it’s fueled by fear. You’re bootlegging everything. Y’all remember Napster and LimeWire?
Come on, some of y’all are too young for that. Y’all remember when literally the CD would come out, and you’d be like, «I ain’t paying for that.» It took me five years to break the poverty gospel off my mind, and some of y’all are living better than you’ve ever lived, yet you crawl up in bed every night with a poverty mentality. You better shut that door; you’re letting my air out of this house. Your kids are literally scared of you; you’re damaging them forever based on seventeen dollars of air conditioning. But where’d you get it from? It was said to you, and you held on. I’m not talking about being frivolous, but I’m saying like, is it really worth damaging the relationship with your legacy over a couple of dollars? Many of our actions have been fueled by the gospel of poverty. I’m not going to ask you to raise your hands, but I need you to identify: are you here? Because here the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear.
See, fear is the motivator; it’s the fear of running out, the fear that I won’t have enough. This is very human; it’s the fear that I’ll lose the job. The only reason you’re holding on to this mentality for so long is because it’s fear. Hold it up over your head, Charles. It’s a 20-pound ball. This is what many of you feel like every day you go to work. It’s really work because you’re holding a poverty mentality over you everywhere you go. You literally can’t talk without it; you can’t love without it. You don’t meet nobody; you won’t even order the amount you need to actually have your business flourish. You always have to do just a little less, just in case God doesn’t come through. He gave you the plan and showed you the vision, but you still are overlaying your poverty gospel over the plan of God. No, no, no; keep your hands up, baby.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no; you’re worshiping with the poverty gospel. You’re serving with the poverty gospel. You’ll walk nine miles in the snow instead of getting valet because it doesn’t make sense to spend that money to keep your wife safe. She’s pregnant; why is your wife walking that far to save ten dollars, but you’ll still buy a $120 pair of shoes? $300 on the resale market? Spot. No baby, keep your hands up. The reason he’s struggling is he was never meant to carry this weight. The poverty gospel is too heavy for God’s children, yet many of us not only hold it but we pass it to our family members.
Let’s stay right there—there’s an example of this in Matthew chapter 25, verse 14. You struggling? Are you just holding on to it now? So you went from holding it up to now just holding on. I’m trying to show you that the only thing that’s keeping him up now is the ideas of poverty. He went from being able to handle it to now not even being able to stand up unless he’s holding on to it. So when he hears the blessed life, he’s like, «I don’t want to talk about none of that because I know what keeps me stable; I know what I can go through.» You can talk about giving offering; you can talk about generosity, but I know what’s made me survive the last fifteen years. That’s why I work, and I grind, and I hustle, and you still have nothing at the end of the month, and you’re still just barely getting by. Somewhere along the way, we have let fear motivate us to the place where we believe in the prosperity—the gospel of poverty.
And there’s an example of this in Matthew chapter 25. Just hang out right there, Charles. Y’all laughing at him? This is how you look for fifteen years. You got more clothes than you know what to do with, but more debt than you can handle, and you’re still going to the mall this weekend? Why would you even put yourself in that position? People are offended. Matthew 25, verse 14: there was a man that God gave a talent to steward over, and he gave three men different things according to their ability to handle it—one, two, five. The one with two doubled it; you can read it in Matthew. The one with five doubled it; but the one that God gave one, all he wanted from that man was to double it.
But look what this man said in Matthew chapter 25, verse 25. He said, «I was afraid I would lose your money; I would fumble this opportunity, so I hid it in the earth. I dug a hole.» Because of fear, I’m digging a hole. What do they call going into debt? I’m going into the hole because of fear. Whoever has been living in this idea of poverty and has been holding on to a gospel that is rooted in fear, today is your day to be transformed. Because «more money, more problems» is an idea that God is not pleased with, and you’ve got to change your thinking. But, oh shoot, there’s an extreme to this. Abby, come here. Because one day Charles came in with the poverty mentality, but you go on over here. Because the extreme of the poverty mentality is the prosperity gospel, and this is where most people in church have gotten the wrong idea—that it’s give and you’ll get; give and you’re getting.
God is not a slot machine; this is not Las Vegas. He’s trying to teach you principles, and there are results from giving, but it is not the motivation of my giving. And what ends up happening is the pendulum swings, and now Abby is holding on to the idea of «more money, more pleasure.» This is how people think about the prosperity gospel: if I can create some more pleasure—put it on the screen right here—if I can create some more pleasure, if I can have more possessions—the more things I have, the more significance I have; the more square footage I have, the more designer I have. And people will manipulate to stay in this place so they can live in the prosperity gospel. And the truth of the matter is: God is not pleased with that either. Take the middle one off the screen. I want them to see the dichotomy right here between the poverty and the prosperity.
Both of them, God is done with; he’s sick of them. He’s sick of them dividing the kingdom because we’re either on one of these ends of the spectrum. And some of y’all think your lake house is something to be enamored by, but you got a lake house and you escape your children who need you, and they’re developing habits right now that you gave them. Oh, when you feel bad, go to the bar and drink as much as you want; when you feel bad, go buy designer clothes; when you feel bad, go buy a new car. And hold it, Abby. Keep it over your head. And it doesn’t matter who you are and where you are, if she has to hold that for any length of time—did you work out this week? She said, «You know I didn’t work out this week.»
This is where people live every day, and somebody’s like, «That’s not me,» but it’s someone. And there are ways that you can move from here to here and still be out of the will of God. Oh God, watch this: «more money, more pleasure» is the confession of the prosperity gospel. And let me tell you what the prosperity gospel is fueled by. See, the poverty gospel is fueled by fear, but the prosperity gospel is fueled by futility. Futility. Let me tell you what it means: pointless or useless. All the stuff we’re buying right now—pointless. Yeah, all the places we’re going—useless. It’s not going to produce anything in the long run for you, and you’re steady holding it up.
Can I give you an example of somebody who bought into the prosperity gospel? Real close to Jesus because this is where religious people live; religious people judge other people and tell them what they should be doing with their money when they are actually the ones who have not found the heart of God around generosity and stewardship. Keep it up, Abby. Stay right there, baby. You’ve had three kids; you’re strong. In John chapter 12, verse… all she’s thinking about right now is how can I hold this up another day? The same way that there are many people watching that say, «How, if one more bill comes in, if that medical actually comes back and collects, if I lose my job, what are we going to do?» And God said, «I never meant for you to live in either one of these extremes of pressure. I want you to find the gospel that will transform your life and help you live a blessed life.»
I’m going to go there in a second, but I gotta show people who are holding this up. Are you okay, Abby? She’s not okay. I need to show people who are living in the process. Oh, y’all didn’t know they’re married, so now when they have children, these two are married. So now the conflicting views that they came from are what Arlo, Luna, and Jade have to wallow through. Because in conversations about the house, it’s the prosperity gospel, but when it comes to where the kids get educated, it’s the poverty gospel. And when it goes from us buying designer clothes, it goes to the prosperity gospel. But when it comes to us getting the counseling we need because I was touched at a young age and nobody even talked about it, it costs too much for counseling. And we swing back here. We are.
And guess what happens? Store it to me; I’m your kid. I’m getting hit. And then mom takes it back, and she talks about how I can’t play on the basketball team because it costs too much money for uniforms. And then dad takes it back and says we’re going on vacation, but you can’t go on an airplane; we gotta drive. It’s too many of y’all. You had all them kids; you can’t believe God that he would give you the resources so you could spend more time at the place instead of driving two days to California. 28 years old, never been on a plane, yet got every Jordan?
Wow. Come on, come on. Do you see how confusing it would be? Yeah, yeah. And how many hits do we take because we’re raised in two cultures that are not kingdom, and we believe in the poverty gospel or the prosperity gospel? Just keep holding it right there. John chapter 12: why wasn’t the perfume sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor? Um, pop quiz: does anybody know who said that? Judas. One of Jesus’s disciples had a prosperity gospel mentality. He was over the money, but when Mary came to pour oil on Jesus’s feet as his only burial, Judas stands up religiously and says, «We should have used that to help the poor.» And the Bible literally says in John 12:6, Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. As the keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.
The poverty mentality and the poverty gospel will make you judge what other people do, knowing that you’re a thief. They gave to what they were doing; they don’t even do nothing right with them—it’s a prosperity gospel. And this is the beautiful thing; keep holding it up, Abby. I want you to keep holding it up. Hold it up! The reason why this is a problem and the reason why we have to identify where we’re at is because God continued to give Judas a chance to transform his heart. You don’t think Jesus knew that he was a thief? But he let him steward over the money. Who’s giving out the positions in Jesus’s squad? Jesus. He said, «Judas, you take the money.» And for two years, he let him steward over what he knew he was stealing. Why? Because of his love for Judas. He said, «I’m trying to give him an opportunity to change,» and it was the very thing he sold Jesus out for—30 pieces of silver—because he had the prosperity gospel running through his veins.
Okay, so can I tell you why? Abby, you gonna be okay? She said, «No, Judas, along with many of us.» I’m just laying—uh, I’m trying to be calm in this first one. I’m trying to just give you a little bit to sit with: Judas, along with many of us, has the spirit of mammon. Y’all just stay up here. You gonna struggle. You just—I’ma hold this for you for a second. No, I’m gonna give it to your husband, and the reason I’m gonna give it to him is because, honestly, what ends up happening is we start picking up the characteristics of the people we’re around. There are people that God has brought into your life that you need to ex out of your life because they have been giving you lessons from a gospel that is not rooted in the Kingdom.
Okay, I’m gonna just leave it right there. Most of us have the spirit of mammon, and now I know this is something that’s big. You see how I’m teaching flat-footed? Because I just need you to learn today that there are things going on in you that you’ve never had language for, but today I want to give you language to figure out why you’ve been where you’ve been. Luke chapter 16, verse 10, thank you, Lord. «He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is also unjust in much.»
This is stewardship. Verse 11: «Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon"—underline that, circle it—"that’s only used three times in the Bible, and two of them are in this verse—who will commit to your trust true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?» No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Now, this is one of the only places in the Bible; now I need you to hear me, that God directly compares Himself to something because nothing else is even worth being compared to Him. But He says it’s either Me or mammon, and most people just translate it as money, but it’s way deeper than that. So I’m going to take you on a journey to figure out what mammon actually is, if God’s saying we should not serve that.
Okay, mammon is an Aramaic word for riches. It was a Syrian god actually named Mammon, and it came from the people in Babylon. Babylon comes from the Tower of Babel. Y’all remember when the people were going to use their own strength to build a tower up to God? And if you need to remember Babylon, just think of Babel. Have you ever met somebody who just babbles on and talks a whole bunch? That’s how we remember this, okay? Babel or Babylon means confusion. This word together means sown in confusion. Babylon is a group of people who felt like they did not need God. Let me tell you what the spirit of mammon is, and write this down: the spirit of mammon is a belief that we don’t need God if we have riches.
Most people feel, «If I got money, don’t need God.» I am God; I can pay for it. You have cancer? We’ll get the best treatment. Wow, you left me? It’s fine; I’ll get somebody else. I’m flying to Miami tonight. It’s, «If I have resources, I don’t need God.» It’s an arrogant and prideful spirit that wants you to look to other things rather than God, and write this down: mammon promises everything; only God can deliver. Mammon promises you identity, it promises you security, and it promises you significance, and only God can give those things. It promises happiness, and only God can give those things. It is a lie when we believe in the spirit of mammon: «If I have more money, then people would listen to me.» That’s a lie. «If I have more money, I would be more loved.» That’s a lie. «If I have more money, I would be accepted.» «If I had more money, they would approve me.»
And I’m about to prove to you that everybody has dealt with the spirit of mammon because all of us at some point have said, «Either I need God to come through, or I need somebody to give me some money.» And if you’ve ever said that, you have dealt with the spirit of mammon. But today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I believe that God is coming to break the back of that spirit that has been over your family, over your household, and over your life. God wants you to live a blessed life. God wants you to be able to be a resource and do things that nobody’s ever done, but we got to identify where we are here. And the truth of the matter is, most of us are hanging out at either «more money, more problems,» or we’re hanging out at «more money, more pleasure.» But where does God want all of us to actually be?
See, because just because you have experienced prosperity does not mean you’re in purpose. People who have money—it doesn’t mean they’re fulfilling God’s plan for their life. And in our culture, we have equated success with acceptance from God. «Oh, you were built to do that.» No, he wasn’t; he was actually built to be a father, but now he’s replaced finances for fathering. And I need everybody to know the number of zeros in your account has nothing to do with the purpose that God has placed on your life. And the reason that this is so hard for many of us to even accept is because we’ve attached our identity to money, and you don’t see your value outside of your value.
If I could tell you anything through this series, it’s that you’re worth more than anything you’ll ever make. I know you don’t believe it yet, because I didn’t believe it. It took me years just to know that—that spirit of mammon that was all over my house, that poverty that was on me. Oh, did you not know that you could be living in both of these worlds at the same time? Yeah, I lived in the prosperity gospel and the poverty gospel. I know when God saw me coming, all He saw was this. Whoa! Why did He see that? Is it because I would go from here in one instance and then I would be over here in another instance struggling, hurt? I think I just did something to my back. I came in like a wrecking ball. This is what you look like.
What is God saying? I don’t want you at either extreme. I don’t want you to believe the prosperity gospel or the poverty gospel. I want you to believe in the purpose gospel. More money, more purpose. When I have more money—because my money is directed by God—more money means more purpose. I can reach people; I can help people; I can rescue people; I can send family members into rehab. More money, more purpose. I can go buy somebody else some shoes that doesn’t have them. I could be able to be one to go into North Tulsa and ask the educators, «What do you need?» instead of asking for a government official to do what they’ll never do because it doesn’t make dollars and sense. The body of Christ is supposed to raise up and be the answer to the problem. More money equals more purpose. Say what you mean: more money, more money.
The sad truth is, most of us do not have purpose for our resources. Most of our money is used for selfish reasons. So that’s why God stops flowing it to you. Why do you always just have enough? Because you haven’t found the purpose yet. More money, more purpose; more money, more problems (poverty gospel); more money, more pleasure (prosperity gospel); more money, more purpose—this is purpose gospel. I spent my whole message trying to get y’all to see something real simple: to identify where you are. Is this based in fear, or is it based in futility, or the purpose gospel? It’s based in faith. I have faith that my God will supply all of my needs according to—so it’s not my pleasure, and it’s not my poverty; it’s His plan. When He has a plan for my life, all of my resources have a purpose. Proverbs 19:21: «You can make plans.»
I love this because God is so gangster in the scripture. He’s like, «Go ahead; you can make prosperity plans, and you can make poverty plans, because many are the plans of a man, but it’s God’s purpose that will prevail.» And I’m asking everybody to never think again, «More money, more problems.» That’s a poverty mentality based in fear! And never again think, «More money, more pleasure,» because that is a gospel based in futility. It doesn’t mean anything. When we think of more money, we think of more purpose. Okay, the purpose gospel is fueled by faith. And I’d say crazy faith. But this is the thing I need you to understand: if your paper doesn’t have purpose, it’s pointless anyway. The paper without purpose is pointless, because the whole goal is God’s saying this has to be held up. If it’s in poverty, you hold it up. If it’s in prosperity, you hold it up. But if it’s in the middle, this is what it looks like to live a blessed life.
None of this weight is on me because it’s right in the middle of the will of God. The budget for this church is over $20 million. Guess how I sleep at night? Like a baby. Why? Because I’m not living in the prosperity gospel, and I’m not living in the poverty gospel. You can’t get paid here, do it for the Lord. Let Him honor you. I got to feed my kids. I have decided that this church will live in the purpose gospel; that as long as we’re doing the purpose that God called this church for, there will always be, watch this word, provision. This is where provision is: I’m not holding this up; I’m just touching it. I’m not trying to make sure this stays in place; God has this in place. I don’t have to finagle and manipulate and make a way for myself and create a new plan and allow somebody to see the vision. As long as I stay in the place of purpose, God will be the God of—everybody say, «Provision.»
This is what I want you to get in this blessed life series: if you commit to the purpose of God for your resources, He will always give you provision. Let me say something that we started saying: «Oh, you know this is crazy.» I’m not even touching it no more, and it’s not damaging me. It’s associated with me. Yeah, people look at me and be like, «Dang, he’s got the MMP; he got more money, more purpose.» Like, how did he write a book and become a New York Times bestseller? Purpose! I wrote a book out of my pain and me and Natalie’s problems and tried to encourage people so they wouldn’t go through the same thing we went through. I did something in purpose, and God provided provision really well. Present, Mike! How does that work?
Well, the first thing that God blessed in this church—I’m just giving you real examples—was YouTube. And when you get a lot of views on YouTube, YouTube pays you money. And one of the things that happened—one of my offerings to God before anything happened—is God—we were trying to figure out how much money goes to the church, how much money goes to you, because it’s content that you made and all this other stuff? And the Holy Spirit said, «Michael, give the first back to Me.» Huh? Don’t take one penny from YouTube. Every message you preach goes back to the church.
Now, Lord, I swung over to the—I swung over to the poverty because I saw money in the moment and I thought that’s the only way God could provide for me. It’s already working; we might as well get blessed from there. That’s how I’m gonna live the blessed life. And God said, «No, get in My purpose.» Okay, so give all of it—not even a percentage. I can’t give ten percent? You’re telling me I don’t— I’m just being real, y’all. He said, «Give it all.» So the first—not one year later, God tells me to put out «Relationship Goals» in purpose. It sells almost a million copies!
Now, I don’t know who’s good at math, but I got paid more than two dollars a book where I was going to be getting cents on the dollar in poverty. I got in purpose, and God sent provision. But I didn’t go ball out and get to the prosperity gospel. I hired somebody to help me write my second book so I could stay in purpose. So I wrote my second book, and God said, «All right, Michael, I want you to buy somebody a car.»
Now, Lord, I don’t—I mean, You have been good, but I don’t know if poverty Michael can do it right now. Why are you fighting when I gave your money a purpose? I’m telling you what to do with it, and you’re fighting me! Oh, it’s fear, because you can be a pastor with fear, and you can be a small group leader with fear, because really it’s the fear of failure. And God said, «Trust Me; buy him the car.» Ah, bought him the car! You feel better, Michael? Honestly, no. But I don’t have to feel better to be obedient. And every step of the way, God has continued to increase. This ball is huge over my head now! Huge! It still feels the same because I’m in purpose.
I don’t care, no matter how much paper you make, there are athletes and celebrities watching this. I love you, but who you are is not based on how much money you have, because there are tons of people who have killed themselves with tens of millions of dollars in the bank. Obviously, something didn’t fill them up. What I’m encouraging everybody to identify is: where are you at today? Have you believed in the MMP—more money, more problems—or the MMP—more money, more pleasure? Well, what I believe for everybody by the end of this series is that you will be dead set on «more money, more purpose.» Can I give you an example of this in the Bible, and then we’ll go home? Solomon—you all remember Solomon in the Bible, David’s son? Okay, I have to show you real quick.
In First Kings chapter 3, it says, «At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said—now check this out—ask for whatever you want me to give you.» What if God came to you tonight, you fell asleep, Netflix is on, and the Lord comes to you and says, «Stephen, ask me for whatever you want?» Solomon answered, «You have shown great kindness to your servant my father David because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, but I am only a little child and don’t know how to carry out my duties. I don’t know how to fulfill purpose. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen. I’m just like all of them, and these are great people, too numerous to count or number.»
So, this is what I’m asking: if I can have whatever I want, give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong, between the poverty gospel and the prosperity gospel. Give me the ability to discern what your purpose is, to administer justice, and to know what to do with my enemies. Verse 12 says, «I will do—watch this—I will do what you ask.» This is God’s response to somebody who said, «I just want to know my purpose, God. If I can have anything, help me do what you purposed me to do.» No, no, go back to verse 9.
«Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?» Verse 10, I love it: «The Lord was pleased with his cry to fulfill purpose. He was pleased with what Solomon had asked. So God said to him, 'Since you have asked for this and not a long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked.'» Because you chose purpose, because you were going to be one that bought into the gospel of doing the purpose that God has called you to do, I’m going to do everything you asked me to do. Plus, oh, I love this: «I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never—oh my God—so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.»
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for because you asked to do your purpose, right? I’m going to give you the thing you didn’t pray for. Oh my God, this blesses me! «I’m going to give you both wealth and honor so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.» And if you walk—watch this. So He already promised him all of that, but then He gives him, «Let me up it for you,» and if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees, commands, and principles as David your father did, I will give you long life.
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for; He said it again—both wealth and honor. Watch this, so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. What He was trying to give him through obedience was a blessed life, but look what he asked for: purpose. I don’t need money; I need purpose. I don’t need prosperity; I don’t need poverty; I need purpose. More money, more purpose.
Let me leave you with this: obedience equals a blessed life. Next week, I’m going to get us all hyped and excited, but I had to give you where you may be at because some people are driving really nice cars while still in the poverty gospel. But like, it doesn’t matter what you have; it matters what’s in your heart, and that’s what I have to talk about next week because our heart is the place where God makes and sees what’s really in there.
But if your money doesn’t have a purpose, there will be a problem. If your money does not have a purpose, and the purpose can only come from God, you can’t make a plan here and call it purpose. So many people on their Twitter are making plans that they made purpose, but you’re in a degree that you’ll never use when you get in purpose. That’s why I tell young people: pray now about what God is calling you to because you’ll be «more money, more poverty» or «more money, more pleasure,» but God said «more money.» And this is what I’m praying for every person under the sound of my voice: that we would stop going back and forth between poverty and prosperity, that we would lean—this is easy for me.
This is comfortable, Abby leading how I’m leading now, from when I started preaching this eight years ago to right now, just being in purpose; it’s more comfortable. It actually is something I can lean on when I get more opportunity for resources and God doing something in my life and in your life. I now have a filter. Yeah, is this a part of my purpose? Do you know how much money I’ve given up to stay in the middle of purpose? What I’m telling you is there’s nothing that you will give up in purpose that God will not give back to you because you’re doing it His way. And for everybody who’s tired of holding it up, Charles is the perfect picture of 90% of the people watching today, and Abby, throw it over there, is the perfect picture of everybody else.
Until we submit to God and say, «You know what? I’m going to live in purpose today,» I want to pray for you, and I pray that this picture never leaves you. I pray when you go to make decisions, when you go to buy things, when you go to decide if you’re going to honor God with the tithe and offering, I pray that you see this picture and you literally filter: am I walking out the poverty gospel right now, the prosperity gospel, or the purpose gospel? By the end of this series, I promise you if you stay with us in this, you are going to be so clear about why God gives you resources and how He’s going to use your resources. God has no problem with money as long as it has His purpose.
And I’m talking to somebody who doesn’t have much right now: God, because your heart is open to this message right now, is about to trust you with a whole bunch. Somebody needs to receive that right now, where you’re at right now, and the enemy’s trying to convince you that this doesn’t have anything to do with you. Oh no! Remember preparation and stewardship? God is giving you this message for what He’s about to do in your life in the next six months. He’s saying, «I need you to hold on to purpose right here. I need you to grab hold of it right now because I’m about to teach you what MMP really stands for: more money, more purpose.» Hands lifted everywhere!
God, I thank you that I’ve done my assignment for today—that God, I’ve shown people very clearly the difference between a poverty gospel, a prosperity gospel, and the gospel of the kingdom, which is a gospel of purpose. God, I thank you that You’re going to align all of our resources around a purpose that is bigger than us. God, we ask You to break the cycles of poverty in our minds right now, and we ask You to break the cycles of selfishness in our minds right now. And God, I thank You that wherever we are, we can say, «Here I am.»
Come on, somebody say that: «Here I am.» This is something you probably won’t show everybody, but I need you to identify—just say, «Here I am, God"—the parts of us that have been living on the extremes that You are not pleased with.
God, today we repent, and God, any time we think of more money, we will think «more money, more purpose.» Give us a purpose that’s bigger than anything we’ve ever seen before. Give us a purpose that eclipses our fear. Give us a purpose that is rooted in faith and give us a purpose as a church, Father, that touches the world. I’m praying; I’m speaking prophetically over every person that is under the sound of my voice, Father, that You would give us purpose in a way that outlasts us. Yep, God, give us purpose that outlasts us. Give us resources to pass down to another generation. Your Word says that a good man and a good woman leave an inheritance for their children’s children. God, let us get the mindset, Father, to be so trusted that You would give us the ability to actually live out «more money, more purpose» today. God, I’m asking You to change our hearts, change our minds, change our actions, and let us trust You. You are Jehovah Jireh, the God who will provide. So today, we honor You, and we decree money no longer for us is rooted in fear, and money no longer is rooted in futility. Every resource that You give us stewardship over is now rooted in faith. We will trust You, God, in Jesus' name!
Somebody say, «I trust You, God!» I want you to be very sensitive to what’s happening right now. You’ve just become sensitive to something that you weren’t aware of before. Remember what we did in the last series when we said, «Here is holy»? You said, «Here I am.» Somebody say, «Here I am!»
And then what did you have to do? Take off your shoes! You had to take off your protection! Some of you have been guarded this whole message; you’ve been mad this whole message. But all God’s saying is, «Take it off!» And all I want you to do now is have sensitivity. Feel what I’m trying to do in you right now. Ask this very common question that you can ask the Holy Spirit: «Holy Spirit, what are You trying to say to me through this message?» Come on, just ask Him right now. «Holy Spirit, what are You trying to say to me through this message?» Over this next week, God’s about to make you sensitive. «Oh shoot, that’s a poverty mentality.» «Oh, that’s a prosperity mentality.» «Oh shoot, I’ve been doing that based out of fear.» «Oh shoot, I’ve been doing that, and it means nothing. It’s futile.» And God’s going to help you recognize that I make plans in faith!
I speak life in faith! I speak faith over my kids; they can go to whatever college God’s called them to go to. It doesn’t matter how much money it costs; if God gives a vision for that, He will send provision for that. We can live in whatever neighborhood we’re supposed to, and we can have faith to downsize to obey the purpose of God. Uh-oh! Because some of you are living in more for Fourth of July and Christmas—those are the only two days your house is utilized. Then God said, «Would you go down in people’s idea of you to fulfill purpose?»
I promise you I’m not going to play with you in this series because I know the freedom it is to actually live a blessed life. And as your pastor, I want nothing more for you and your family than for finances to only be a tool. It no longer is the reason why I wake up; it no longer is the reason why I work. It is no longer the thing that dominates my mind during worship. It is only a tool, and the only way you get there is by committing, and when I see money, more money has no control over me. I divorce the spirit of mammon—more money, more purpose! Say it with me: more money, more purpose! Say it with me: more money, more purpose! One more time, strong: more money, more purpose!
I can’t wait to see the purpose that God starts to reveal to you just because you have this mindset now. I told Charles earlier, it’s crazy to never need a hookup again, that now God would take you from being a person who needs a hook-up to being Master P. It’s been coming up in my spirit several times, but there was a song that Prophet P said, «I got the hook-up; holler if you hear me!» Okay, some of you all, I’m not all the way saved. Okay, this church is going to live a blessed life! I feel very strongly right now. The reason I’m standing here is that I’m just telling the devils that are clouding your mind that I’m not backing up. No, no, no, no, no! I need you all to hear me say this: sometimes you know when you can tell somebody’s scared, like, they’re timid? All you got to do is get here every week—I’m going to fight for you!
I can see poverty and prosperity fighting; he’s beating the crap out of some of you right now. But as your pastor, I’m about to get in the ring with you, and I’m going to challenge you because the decisions you make here can change the rest of your life. How do you know? Because I had to make a decision eight years ago, God, I want to see Your purpose. Thank You, Lord. I see some people right now; there’s a cloud over you of debt, devastation, and disappointment from decisions you made, and the enemy is trying to wear you out. Whoo! That compassion is coming. I feel you. You’re saying, «God, is there something You can do?» And God said, «Today, I did the greatest thing I could do for you: I changed your mind.»
How are you going to be transformed? By the renewing of your mind. Some of you need to play this message every day this week—not because there’s some crazy revelation, but because it has to go deep in you. Here is holy, thank You, Lord. If you’re in this moment or under the sound of my voice, somebody needs to start praying because there’s real healing happening right now. There’s real deliverance happening right now. I’m not doing it; I’m not laying hands on you, but I’m telling you, God’s changing people from the inside. You’re seeing yourself differently than you saw yourself. You’re divorcing some of the ideas that you said, «I would always do this.» And God’s saying, «No, no, no, you can have something better than that.»
God’s telling you right now, «I’m softening your heart to know you can live without that,» and you thought you could never live without it. God’s doing a work on people right now. I’m telling you, mindsets are changing. I see it right now; I see kingdom and culture whirling in so many people’s minds and hearts. But today, we serve the God who gives you victory. And if you’re in this moment and you need Jesus to come and help you in every area of your life, oh, I feel the presence of God. If you’re watching right now at home, if you’re in this room and you know that there has been another god, other than the true and living God, that has been controlling your life, today I want to get you from under the pressure of holding that up, and I want to give you the opportunity to rest in purpose. It was God’s purpose that every person born would have a loving, intimate relationship with Him, and today is your day of salvation.
I want you to know that God loves you so much that He gave His only Son before He asked you for anything so that you could have an opportunity to be in relationship with Him. And all you have to do is receive. In this moment, I want you to receive Jesus. I don’t care how broken you think you are. I don’t care what you did last night or what you’re planning to do tomorrow. Church, I need you all to pray; there are lives in the balance right now.
Father, I’m asking You right now that You would soften people’s hearts and allow Your word to go in, because today You are rescuing people—not for a moment, but for eternity.
If you are under the sound of my voice and you want to put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ, if you want to enjoy the actual step of walking in purpose, today is your day of salvation. And on the count of three, I’m going to ask you if you want to be included in that prayer. I just want you to raise your hand. It doesn’t matter who’s around you; it doesn’t matter who you came with; it doesn’t matter how much money you have or how much money you don’t have. Right now is a moment of purpose, and God’s saying, «I need you to make a decision to walk in purpose.» Here is holy.
I want you to believe in the true Gospel, the Gospel of purpose. Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, God knew you, and He had a plan and a purpose for you. And today is the next step of walking in that. If you ask God to come into your heart, you’re making the greatest decision of your entire life. Two, I’m proud of you, but forget all of that; your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s book of life.
If you want to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I want you to raise your hand right now. Three! There are people in the room; I see you, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, that are online watching right now and on rebroadcast. Come on, your church family is excited! Why? Because now you’ve embraced purpose. And today, I want to pray for you. I want to pray that now, as you invite God in according to Romans 10:9, everything in your life starts to align. Now, Transformation Church, we’re a family; you know nobody prays alone. So I want everybody to say this prayer of purpose out loud and strong for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ. Let’s pray. Everybody say:
God, thank You for making me a part of Your plan and purpose. Today I give You my life. I surrender to whatever You want to do. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again just for me. So I’m asking You, take my life and use me for Your purpose. Change me, transform me, renew me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, amen.