Michael Todd - The Garden (Easter at Transformation Church)
Happy Easter, Transformation Church! I’ve got good news for you: He has risen! Let’s give God some praise—come on, in your house, at the job, on the track! Hallelujah! Today, we are so excited that you decided to join us for church because today is the biggest day of our faith. It’s where we celebrate the amazing, sacrificial, loving gift that God gave for all of us in His whole life. And today, no matter how you got here, I want you to know that we prayed for you—that a whole community of people have been praying, inviting, and believing that you would be here right now. I don’t care what you did yesterday, and I don’t care what you are planning to do tomorrow. Today is a beautiful day for you to experience the good news of Jesus Christ. I’m not pulling any punches; I want you to get to know Jesus.
I don’t care what you heard about Him—I’m proof right here that He can transform your entire life. I’m sorry, I’m a little passionate right now, but the thing I know is that if you would ever get to know the real Jesus—not the one that religion introduced you to, not the one that you see in angry preachers or people who believe in the prosperity gospel or people who are trying to mislead you—no! I want you to meet the real Jesus, and that’s why our church and community have been called to represent God to the lost and the found. I mean, everybody is welcome here, but for one reason: what is it, y’all? Transformation in Christ! I just want you to know that’s what we’re believing for you today.
Today, we are going to experience the greatest story ever told. And I’m going to be real with you: I can’t understand how people get up here and are unauthentic. I’m going to share honestly, humbly, openly, and transparently about how God has transformed my life. Hopefully, through my transparency and the honesty I feel in this moment right now, I can’t shake this: y’all, somebody’s life is about to be transformed and changed right now! In this moment, I’m just asking for a few minutes for you to open up your heart. Somebody, if you feel comfortable, lift your hands and say, «God, I’m ready to receive!» Come on, just one more time: «I’m ready to receive!» I know you had a hard week. I know the kids' hair wasn’t right for the Easter pictures; I know all the things are happening right now. But I just want you to say, «God, I’m ready to receive.»
And at this moment, God, I thank You that You would do something in my brother’s and my sister’s lives that would change them forever. Speak to all of us, and God, I’m just a little vessel who’s flawed, but Your grace has seen me and changed me. And God, here I am to serve You today. God, let something that’s said and done give You all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise, in Jesus' name.
Somebody said we agree, we expect, amen! I want to welcome you to the garden. Glory to God! Is anybody ready for the Word this morning? All right, all right, all right! Everybody, take your seat. If you’re at home, I want to let you know that God has been really downloading a word for every person who would be watching, and again, I am excited for the opportunity to share with you what I consider the greatest story ever told—the story that has changed humanity, the story that has changed history, and the one that I care about most—the one that has changed me. Like, I know who I was, and I know a lot of times people get up here and, on Easter, they try to act like they’re something they’re not. I was busted and disgusted. Let me start from the top: I was addicted to pornography; I was a liar; I was a manipulator; I was somebody who didn’t have his priorities straight.
Let me tell the people for real who I am and where I was because a lot of pastors get up here and think that just because they’re in a suit, it ain’t sloppy. Listen, there are areas in my life that, before Jesus, were so sloppy! And can I be real? There are areas that God is still working with me on. Okay, let me come for all the people who are going to be fake. How many people in the room and around the world have an area that God is still working on you in? Thank you! I think some of y’all need to have both hands up and feet, okay? Thank you! But as you allow God to come into those sloppy situations, He brings His Spirit, and when the Spirit of God comes into the situation, it changes everything.
And today, I believe in your home, whether you’re watching this on rebroadcast or with your friends or family, whether you’re in the middle of the worst situation of your life, I believe the Spirit of God is here to bring you encouragement and life! Somebody shout at me, life! See, that’s the reason Jesus came—that we would have life and life to the full. And today, as we go into this message that God has given me, that’s what I’m praying for you and your family: life! See, life is the thing that Jesus gave us to have. And as I sit here today on Resurrection Sunday, I don’t know if you know, but today, the reason we celebrate this is because in every other religion, whoever the deity is that they worship, they died.
And when they died, they died. But in our relationship with Jesus Christ, when Christ died on Friday—I’m about to get hyped in the place right now! —when He died on Friday, they thought He died too. But on Saturday, He was working for me and you. And on Sunday morning—ah! —on Sunday morning, somebody’s about to understand what I’m saying right now. On Sunday morning, when they checked to see if He was still dead, He had risen! Somebody say He is risen! He has risen indeed! And so today, when I minister to you, I’m ministering to you from a place of knowing what it’s like to be dead and God bringing me back to life. Okay? And I know there are a lot of people watching right now who, in some area of your life, feel dead. Relationally, it feels deceased; financially, it feels decrepit.
Let’s be honest—there are areas of our lives where it feels like it’s never going to breathe again. But today, I have… somebody shout at me, good news! Did you know that’s what the word «gospel» actually means? All it means is good news! It’s not a genre of music; it’s not a clothing brand. What it means is good news! And we have… somebody type in the chat, good news! And today, I want to share this good news, but I want to frame it creatively as I am in… everybody say, the garden! See, the garden is a special place because the garden is the first gift to humanity. Now, I want you to go back all the way with me to the beginning, and I want you to see that out of everything our loving God could have given us, He gave us a garden. And it was the place where God… and I love this… He reached down into dirt and He actually put His hand on us.
Now, I want you to think about that just for one second because everything else God created in the six days of creation, He spoke it into existence. He said, «Let there be light,» and there was light. He told the ocean where to go, and He told this animal what it could do, and He told all of this stuff. But when He created humanity—me and you—He said, «This is my most special creation; I need to put my DNA on it.» And He reached down in the dirt, He breathed the breath of life, and then He gave us a place. He didn’t just make a people; He gave His people a place. And what place did He give them? He gave us the garden, and it was called the Garden of Eden.
And this was the place that God wanted to have an uninterrupted relationship with us. I want to give you a point because this was God’s first gift to us: all people were created to be in a place of God’s presence. If you’re breathing right now, I need to do a check. Everybody take a deep breath in, let it out. If you just did that, you were created to be in the presence of God! Now, I know that a lot of things have happened to you, and I know you were born into a crazy family. Come on, how many of us were born into a crazy family? Some of y’all are sitting next to them right now! But what I’m telling you is, if you’re breathing, you are God’s creation, and you’re His people, and He designed you to be in His presence. Your physiological makeup desires the presence of God more than alcohol, more than weed, more than sex.
Oh, y’all want to be real today? More than money. Your body desires the presence of God, and the crazy thing about it is when we don’t feel the presence of God, and when we don’t feel, watch this, worthy of the presence of God or too ashamed, we then pick up counterfeits. And my question to you is: how many counterfeits have you been using to try to replace the thing that you really need, which is the presence of God? Every person who is listening to me right now has something that they tried to put on the throne of their heart that is not God. And the truth of the matter is, for me, as I look back over my life and all the things that God has done for me, I have to acknowledge that the beautiful, amazing place that God made for me to be in with Eden is what I desire, but it is not where I always end up.
See, Adam and Eve allowed sin to come into the beautiful place that God built for His people. In the original garden, the OG garden—okay, that usually stands for Original Gangster, but today, if I say OG, it means Original Garden—okay? Everybody, or Olive Garden, where we’re all going to eat after church. Amen? Pasta! Glory! But in the OG or the Original Garden, God created Eden for us and Him to have a relationship. But then God gave us choice, and when He gave us choice, we made the wrong one. Now, everybody gives Adam and Eve a very hard time. Yeah, and I know we’ve all judged their decision for thousands of years, but if we’re being honest, how many of us have made a bad choice before? Uh-huh!
And when we make a bad choice, hers was something very simple, but it went against the idea of God. She took an apple, which represented something that God said, «I don’t want you to do.» And what she did was she put her lips on something that God gave limits to. Okay, I’m about to start walking through this now. I need you to understand that God sometimes gives limits, and He doesn’t want our lips to be on the place that He made limits for. He literally tells them, «You can eat of every other tree, but I need to give you a limit.»
And there’s something in us that desires to put our lips right where God gives us a limit. I’m not just talking about eating something—I’m talking about talking about something. I’m talking about the gossip; I’m talking about the things that we recite in the songs; the things that we… okay, let me stop. Nobody wants to be real today. But God is saying, «The reason I gave you limits is because I want you to have life.» And around Transformation Church right now, we’ve been in a time and a season where we’ve been acknowledging the word of the year or the phrase of the year that God has given us. It’s here; it’s holy, and the subtitle to that is, «This is the Year of Intentional Limitation.»
And when I began to look at this story in the garden, I realized that sin came in because they overstepped the intentional limitation that God set. And my question to you in the place that God has put you: somebody say, «Here!» Are there any limits that you’re overstepping right now? Are there any relationships that you know you’re not supposed to have right now, but you continue to entertain? Are there any companies and businesses you started knowing that God’s hand is no longer on that, but it looks good on your Instagram bio? Is there anything or any place that you still go for a feeling that God said, «I told you I need to limit you there because I’m trying to give you…»
Somebody shout at me, «Life!» Adam and Eve aren’t the only ones who reach over limits. I’ve reached over limits, and if you’re honest, you’ve reached over limits. And do you know when we go past the boundary that God sets? He has a name for that. It’s called sin. Sin is something that people don’t want to talk about. Sin is not something that is politically correct. But sin is what the Bible defines as missing the mark, going over the line. And God said when you go over the line that I set to protect you, it doesn’t just keep you in the place; it separates you from My presence. The whole reason for the garden was to walk and talk with us every day—a place where all provision was there, all peace was there; all the things that we needed were God’s priority to us.
That grind and that hustle and that thing you always feel like you’re chasing, in the OG garden, it was all there. But it was the limit that we crossed that created a separation between us and God. And even when I think about this in the original garden, sin robbed us of God’s greatest gift to us—a place where we didn’t have to worry about what was next. Adam and Eve were never trying to figure out what the next thing was. They were always focused on here—uh-oh! They never had to focus on there. What am I going to eat? What am I going to do? Who am I going to meet? All they had to do was focus on here because they understood that here—is where God placed them. And the reason why most of us feel this unending anxiousness is because we’re longing for the garden. We’re longing for His presence.
The reason why you can go from relationship to relationship, the reason why you can go from drink to drink, the reason why you can go from career to career, the reason why—and you’re still thirsty—is because you’re longing for the presence of God! That’s the God-sized hole that will never be filled unless you put God in it! And today, if the story ended right here, it would be horrible because in a moment of sin, everything changed. And isn’t that what can happen in our lives? That literally, in a moment, it can go from something that seems like paradise, and it can be changed into pain. Yeah, just like that, everything perspective changes. I thought my life was going one way, and then it gets darker.
See, in the garden, we didn’t just lose plants; we lost peace. See, sin makes you lose peace, but you don’t just lose something; you gain something too. So we lost peace, and we gained paranoia! See, when you invite sin in, you lose provision and you bring in problems. In the garden, we lost purity, and we got perversion. In the garden, we lost patience, and we got panic. Isn’t that what our world looks like right now? When we let sin in, when we overstep the limits, when we do not do it God’s way, we lost perspective, and we got petty! Oh, y’all better not be fake with me today! Some of y’all are petty, petty Bettys is what I’m gonna call you! You’re focusing on the wrong things! But can I blame you? Because we lost it when we lost His presence!
See, when sin came in, we lost partnership and traded it for pride. When we let sin in, we lost paradise and got pain. And when we let sin in, we lost His presence! And watch this—we settled for our preferences! This one hit me hard when I wrote it down because there have been so many times that God says, «Hey, it’s going to either be your preferences or my presence.» Well, God, I really like this person. Yeah, but the thing is, I’m not in that relationship, so it’s going to be either your preference—what you want, what you like, what you desire—or it’s going to be my presence. And some of us are at that precipice right now in our lives where we’re trying to figure out God, are we going to do what we want to do or what we like to do, or are we going to have Your presence?
I’ve decided that I don’t want to go anywhere without His presence. I feel like Moses: if You ain’t gonna go with me, we’re gonna stay right here. Some of y’all need to make that decision right now. If God’s not with you in that business deal, we’re gonna stay right here. If God is not with me moving to that new state, I must stay right. My preferences don’t matter more than His presence, and when we don’t understand that, we move in our preferences. Write this down as a point: your preference is never better than God’s presence. Oh, this checks me so hard, because there’s a thing—has anybody ever wanted to do something that you knew God didn’t want you to do, but you just really wanted to do it?
Come on, hands in the air. Okay, I’ve come to the point of understanding that God’s presence being with me at the job, in the gym, at school, when I’m talking to my wife and raising my kids—His presence is more valuable than my preference. Most people have lived in this selfish bubble, thinking that what they want—y’all ever heard somebody say, «I’m just doing me»? This is my truth. Saying «this is my truth» doesn’t mean it’s the truth. The Bible says that the ways of Jesus are the way, the truth, and the life. I just came to tell you what I wish somebody would have told me when I was 17, 18, 19, 21, or 25. Don’t act like it’s because you get to a certain age and graduate.
Oh, come on, I’m 56; don’t nobody tell me what to do? You’re still living off your preferences. Uh-oh, let me stop. God says the reason why you can’t sleep, the reason why you have to keep grinding and hustling, is because you have lost—everybody say presence. And I know it’s Easter and everybody’s looking good, but let me help you: your wardrobe is not more important than worship. Yeah, yeah, your Instagram is not more important than integrity. That’s what you get in His presence. Your career is not more important than the character that God is trying to develop in you in His presence. Your success is not more important than His Spirit, and the number of commas in your account is not more important than your calling. Your plan—this one’s gonna hurt—is not more important than His purpose. You have a plan; He has a purpose. I’ve got a plan for my family; God has a purpose for my family. That’s why we have to sell out to God’s purpose, and that’s why I’m up here today. Because at the end of the day, what happened in the garden is our sin messed up God’s plan, but it would not stop His purpose. See, at the darkest moment, this is when Jesus comes into the story.
Look at 2 Corinthians 5:19: this is the purpose. And God said, «Now I have a plan.» Adam and Eve, we were only supposed to do this one take; this was supposed to be a one-take situation. You were supposed to be fruitful and multiply; you were supposed to go, and now the Director has to step back in and write an alternate ending. He came into the garden and said, «Cut! They can no longer be in this place, so I’ve got to remove them from this place. I have to take all the beauty that I created them for. I’ve got to take all the things that I wanted them to have. I’ve got to take them east.»
Do y’all know women weren’t supposed to labor in childbirth? All my ladies are like, «What happened?» You said it’s Eve, but it’s actually you, because Eve is in you. The thing that God told you to stay away from—come on, let’s be honest—is the very thing that we allow somebody to slide into the DMs and tell us that night. «Oh, God is saying that I created all of this for you, but you decided to choose your preference.» So now what I have to do is remove you from the place that I created, but I still want a relationship with you. When people talk about a loving God, this is the ultimate example of love on display. You disobeyed what I said, and there’s supposed to be a consequence. I’m a holy God and a good God, so I have to give you the consequence, but I’m going to make a way for you to still experience the blessing that I created for you. So God sends—everybody shout His name—Jesus! I said shout His name—Jesus!
2 Corinthians 5:19: «For God, this is His plan, was in Christ reconciling the entire world to Himself, not reconciling Christians, not reconciling people who do all the right things.» This scripture says He was reconciling who? The world to Himself! Watch this: no longer counting people’s sin against them! Oh, with all of the climate going on in our society right now, everything that’s happening—God said, «I see your sin, and I’m no longer counting that against you.» And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. I’ve got good news in the garden today; somebody say, «I’ve got good news in the garden!» When God removed us from this garden, then in another garden—somebody say, «another garden"—He redeemed us.
Most believers don’t know about the other garden; they only know that we got kicked out of the presence of God. But there was another garden that changed the scenery of our lives. Just like that, it can go from being dark and gloomy, hurtful and hindering our sight, to turning into something that changes our view. I think I want to take this to another level: one, two, three! That’s how your life is about to change! I know somebody has to hear me: that’s how your life is about to change as you accept the plan of God, and His name is Jesus! I’m feeling happy right now. See, when you allow Jesus to come into your dark situation, when you allow Jesus to transform your life, when you allow Jesus to see your brokenness, He can take what’s dark and turn it around just like that. But Jesus transformed my life in a different garden, and it’s the garden of Gethsemane.
See, we lost something in Eden, but we gained everything in the Garden of Gethsemane. I love the Word of God; I get excited! Matthew chapter 26, verse 36: «Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'» Now, I can’t read into this scripture anymore until you understand what the word «Gethsemane» actually means. Gethsemane means «oil press» or «the place of pressure.» Why in the world would God allow the Son of God to go into a place of pressure? Why, of all people, would Jesus have to endure this? I mean, literally, if I were God, I would think, «He’s going to come to the earth, mosey up to the cross, and say, 'You know what? You aren’t even going to nail me; let me just go ahead and lay down.'» I would have given a very easy pass, but for some reason, He made Him endure a place of pressure.
Now, I don’t know about you, but 2022 has been a good year; it’s also been a place of pressure. It’s been a Gethsemane; it’s been a garden that has pressed on me, pressed on my comfort. Am I the only one? Y’all don’t leave me out here like this! Has anybody experienced pressure—relational pressure, financial pressure, emotional pressure—from things you never thought you would have to deal with? Maybe you had an outburst in a situation and thought, «Where did that come from?» The pressure you’ve been pressing down since you were seven is now at a point of eruption—a place of pressure. I began to think about this in my own life. If God allowed Jesus to go to a place of pressure, how could I think that I was exempt from experiencing the Garden of Gethsemane?
I came to give you good news today, but the good news usually starts off in a hard place. The best place of your life usually never starts out as the best place of your life. The best places of your life are usually wrapped in pain, wrapped in persecution, and wrapped in a place of pressure. This man literally goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. Write this down: The place of pressure always produces. This is your encouragement today: if you feel that everything is coming at you from every side, if you don’t have what you used to have and the money is acting a little funny, and the people who used to be in your crew are acting a little different right now—you used to be filled up by certain things, but now you feel pressed on every side—know that you are in a process right now that is about to produce something in you for your purpose.
See, that Garden of Gethsemane has something in it. It was a garden of olives, and now most of y’all only use olives in those strong drinks you like. Ain’t nobody just popping olives! I had the team get me some olives, and the reason they brought olives is that when an olive is in a place of pressure, they aren’t just trying to get the olives; they’re trying to extract what’s inside. There are so many of us who don’t want to go to a place of pressure, but if you would stay—everybody say, «here» —if you would stay at that job, if you would stay in that place, if you would keep serving at that school, what God is trying to do is get the oil out of you. It’s the oil that’s valuable; it’s not just the olive; it’s what’s inside of it. Oh, it’s not just who you are and what your last name is; it’s the oil inside of you. The reason why it’s been so hard and why God hasn’t snatched you out of that place is that the most valuable part of you is the pressed version.
Nobody would want to hear from Mike Todd if I hadn’t allowed God to press me. Uh-oh! Nobody would be encouraged by my failures if I hadn’t stayed in the place where God pressed me. This is where you might think God is mad at you, that He doesn’t love you, or that somehow He forgot about you. But maybe the place of pressure is a sign that you have purpose. The reason the past five years have looked like this is that what’s coming out of you is the thing that is about to change the world—the thing coming out of you right now. You’re saying, «God, I’m so disoriented. I don’t even remember how to have fun. I don’t even know who I am,» and He said, «That’s right. You’re not supposed to remember that; you’re supposed to produce this.»
Oh, I feel the presence of God right now! Do not leave the place of pressure. I don’t know who I’m talking to, but prophetically, somebody is about to make a move—somebody’s about to get into or out of a relationship that they were supposed to stay in. God is saying, «Don’t leave here until I produce what I created this garden to produce.»
It’s the opposite of Eden. See, when we were with God, the oil was just on us, but when we sinned, we got it buried deep inside of us. So what God says is, «I gotta let you go through it, or you’ll never get to see the real version of who you are.» The place of pressure, someone says, «always produces if you allow it to.» Oh, do you know how many people ran from their marriage? How many dropped out of school because they got one bad grade? Come on, let’s be honest. How many disowned their family because they didn’t want to confront the real issues? You left the place of pressure; you stopped therapy because it actually touched the issue. Uh-oh! God really revealed something, and you said, «I ain’t going!» and «I sure am not paying 160 dollars an hour to do that!» «I’ll talk to myself. 'Self, huh, I like you! '» And God said, «I created that place because if you had stayed—everybody say, 'here'—Jesus had to decide to stay in the place of pressure.»
Now, I think about this Garden of Gethsemane. When we read through this, I see three things that, if you are in a Garden of Gethsemane or a place of pressure, you need to do, as our Lord and Savior did, to stay in that place. I want you to get this, write these down: three things you need in a place of pressure in the Garden of Gethsemane. The first thing you need to do is select your partners. Some of y’all have the weakest team around you. Some of you are «we» is weak. We coming? No, just leave all of them, because at the end of the day, they do not have enough strength—or excuse me, enough spirit—for the place of pressure.
Jesus intentionally selects partners. Look at Matthew chapter 26, verse 36. It says, «Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, a place of pressure, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'» Then taking with him—here’s the selection process—Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John. Okay, get the picture. Right before this, all of them were in the upper room, and God was doing amazing work. Everybody was in the equivalent of us being at a conference, and God was just moving—Tasha Cobbs and Elevation Worship were there, and oh, He’s here! Fire of God, fire of God—all of this stuff is happening—and then Jesus says, «Hey y’all, we gotta dip to go to a place of pressure.»
The first thing is, if you announce that you’re going to a place of pressure, you’re automatically going to cut half of those people off! But Jesus had some disciples who were ready to roll with Him. So, it goes from the crowd to His community. When He gets to the place of His community, He says, «Y’all stay here.» Now, it’s crazy when you have to tell people who are there to help you, «Y’all are not ready for this next level, though.» I’m just trying to get y’all this. This is Jesus, our example, saying, «The crowd is great, but I need my community.»
So, community, come with me this far, but now they got to the Garden of Gethsemane. The community was with them—their church family, the people who prayed for them, their moms and dads—they were right there. But then Jesus said, «Peter! James!» Where’s John at? «Tell John to come here!» This is why God put us together, because I need y’all! I’m selecting you because I’m about to go into a place of pressure, and I’ve got to have the right people around me while I’m walking into this. «You three, come with me.»
And literally, the Bible tells us as He selects them, this is something we have to do: know when to look for the crowd, know when to lean on the community, and know when to activate our core. There is a core group of people you will need in the garden of pressure that will help you make it through, and how do you know that they’re the right people? Jesus tells us! We’ll reverse engineer it in Matthew 26:38. He said, «Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.'» What did Jesus do with His core? He got vulnerable. The only way you know they’re your core is if you can actually be completely vulnerable with those people.
Let’s get into the point: there’s value in being vulnerable! There is value—somebody say that! There’s value in being vulnerable! And I know in a society where everybody’s telling you to protect yourself and do your thing and don’t share too much, God says that for the pressure you’re about to go through, there are a group of people I’ve assigned to your life that you’re going to have to select. God didn’t select them; Jesus did. Uh-oh! That means the people you’ve been friends with, the ones you have all your birthday pictures with, and those who have been there may not be the ones you select to go into the second garden with.
And God is saying, «If you’re going to go to this garden, you’ve got to be vulnerable. You’ve got to really say what it is.» Imagine a man who is God in human form saying, «I am so sorrowful I want to die.» This is a beautiful picture to me because God is being humble, open, and transparent in the form of Jesus, which allows us to know that no matter how we’re feeling, even when we feel like we’re about to die, it’s okay to say it to the right people. So many people act like you don’t have faith if you tell the truth. «How are you doing today?» «Blessed and highly favored.» No! «Today sucks! I’m hurting! I don’t want to do this!» But we have been so conditioned to live in the veneer that we won’t become vulnerable, and we don’t see the value.
But Jesus says, «My soul is very sorrowful.» The soul is the mind, the will, and the emotions. Can we be honest? After COVID, it has kicked some of our aspirations for the things that you thought you were going to do. And what the result has been is our souls being sorrowful. «I can’t think about that!» Have you ever said that to yourself? «I don’t know! Don’t even bring it up! I can’t even…» Your mind is weary; your will—the reason why you pick wrong—is because your will is weak. It’s your mind, your will. You’ve been so beat up because you haven’t had community or a core to be vulnerable with, to pray with you, and to watch with you. That’s what He said! He said, «Watch with me. You may not be going through it, but I need you with me.» Their wills have been weak, and their emotions—can I be honest?
This year, there have been so many things that have happened to me that have come to sucker-punch my emotions. And this is crazy for me, because if you know anything about your pastor, I’m an eight on the Enneagram. That means emotions seem kind of irrelevant and actually unnecessary. Up until this place in my life, until I got to this garden, this place of pressure, I would always bottle my emotions. I would always say, «Why is it important to let you know how I’m feeling?» And God said, «For you to be healthy here, you’re going to have to deal with how you feel.»
And Jesus does this, and that’s why He says, «Get vulnerable around the core group of people that you select.» Why? Because that’s where your healing is going to come from! Look at James chapter 5, verse 16: «Therefore confess your sins one to another—not to a pastor, not to a preacher, not to a prophetess, not to your bishop—but to your core, to somebody who’s walking with you with the same level of weakness but believes in a God who is infinitely strong.» It’s a person of faith—I dare say crazy faith—not someone who has it all together, but knows who holds it all together!
It says, «Confess to them. Be vulnerable with them. Pray for each other and watch the result so that you may be,» everybody say it, «healed!» If you want to be healed here in this place of pressure, you need to start valuing the vulnerability with the community that you’ve selected. Because this is what Jesus had to do, because the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. The old-school saints would have said it like this: «The prayers of the righteous avail much.»
I don’t know about that «th» on the end of it, but it does something to me. The prayers of the righteous avail; they work, and they make a difference. Another criterion you need for the people in your life is: Can you pray for me? Uh-oh, hold on. Let me come to the garden for a second because the thing that I don’t want you to do is complain with me, to wild out with me, or to protect me in situations where I’m even wrong. Y’all know those friends who don’t even have to know what’s going on; they’re ready to knock if you buck. They are ready to go at any moment. But my new criterion because of the garden I’m in is: Can you pray for me? There are too many people in the garden of Gethsemane, or the place of pressure, who have opinions but no prayer. Everybody can make a post about it, but they have no fervent prayers. Prayers have to be offered by people, and people have to be connected to God’s presence. When you find the right people connected to God’s presence, they will help you endure in the place of pressure.
So many of us are in this spot right here. Jesus tells us, if you’re in a garden of Gethsemane, select your partners. But then, if we continue with this prayer piece, the second thing you need to do is sow prayers. He asked for people who could watch and pray with him, but it wasn’t so they could do it for him. Many of us depend on people in our lives who seem more godly or further along in their faith, but that does not exempt you from making your own requests known to God. When you are in a place of pressure, you have to pray. Prayer is talking and communicating with God. Look at Matthew 26:38: «Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death. Remain here and watch with me.'»
Going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, «My father, if it is possible, if there’s any other way, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless…» We jump to the «nevertheless» so fast, but we don’t know how long he prayed that little prayer. He could have been saying that over and over because I know I’ve said that before. «God, I know I said let your will be done, but I was being dumb. This hurts; this sucks. This is uncomfortable. If you could figure out a different way for me to reach purpose than them leaving, if you could figure out a different way for my wife and me to get through this issue of infidelity, if you can find any other way, I’m ready for it.»
I want us to sit there for a second because the truth of the matter is, some of us were born into families that left us uncovered. Because we were sexually abused, all the things we did in our teenage years were reactions to a violation. It’s not even who we want to be. Now I have to deal with all of this stuff. Is there any other way? Some of us were put into situations where we had no idea they were stealing from the company. We had no idea they were maneuvering and conniving their way using our name. We had no idea our parents opened credit cards in our names. I’m talking about real stuff. I had no idea that I couldn’t communicate how I really felt, so I run when someone actually loves me. Is there any other way? Is there any other way for me to be exposed on a national platform to ensure I’m still humble? Oh, y’all thought I was talking about you? I’m talking about me. I’m talking about God allowing me to go into a place of pressure. The only thing that would get me through this place of pressure is prayer with the right community. It’s okay to express pain to God in the place of pressure.
I want to give you permission because everybody says just pray, and it should be gone. No, there are some things that progressively get better and progressively change. When I come to this place of prayer, I want to pray my pain until it changes my perspective. Okay, I’m trying to give you a formula. You need to pray your pain until his presence— that communication— changes your perspective. At some point, if you stay persistent, uh-huh, say that word with me: persistence. If you stay persistent in prayer, it’ll change your perspective to the «nevertheless.» So many people want you to just jump to «nevertheless,» but I can’t just jump to «nevertheless» because it actually sucks here. I’m actually hurting here. But God says: Pray the pain; pray the disappointment; pray the problem, but stay here. See, this is what most of us would have done: we would have prayed and not seen an answer, and then left the garden.
The Bible tells us that three times Jesus is in a place of prayer. He literally has to go from this place of prayer. Something in him says, «Go check on your boys; see if they’re watching and praying with you.» He says, «Hold on—hey God, I hate this. God, I hate this. God, I hate this.» But then he goes and sees his boys, and what happens when your prayer partners are pathetic? I’m just trying to be real with you. Sometimes the people we select as our core are not godly, so they may fall asleep in places where you needed them to be awake. He says, «Could you all not watch with me for one hour? You couldn’t?» But this is the point where most of us get so frustrated at our situation and circumstance that we leave the garden.
«I’m in pain, I’m frustrated, and my partner’s asleep. Forget it, I’m out of here.» But watch what Jesus does. He goes back, and verse 40 says, «And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping.» He said, «Peter, could you not watch with me for one hour, bro? That’s less than a documentary. Watch and pray.» But watch this: It wasn’t just for Jesus, «That you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but my flesh is weak.» The reason I’m trying to be authentic with this message is that if we take off all the makeup, if we take off all the clothes, if we take off all of the likes and Instagram, the truth is we want to do the right thing, but our flesh is weak.
So what did God do in the form of Jesus? For a second time, it says he went and prayed, «My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink this bitter cup, nevertheless your will be done.» He took a break and went to check on his friends again, and they were napping. I thought about how much Jesus had to stay focused on his purpose to endure all this pain.
Jesus teaches us that we have to be persistent in our garden. Write this down: Persistence in prayer keeps you in place. It’s not some deep prayer that sounds amazing: «God, thou Father, who is now the one that holds the stars.» No. «God, I’m mad. Matter of fact, I’m pissed off. You said you would never leave me or forsake me, but right now I’m feeling real alone.»
Can I say something to you? He can handle your hurt. I started to tell you a little bit, but I’m going to go more in depth right now. Earlier this year, probably about eight to ten weeks ago, I was giving my first message of the year, and I did an example where I used some saliva to paint a picture of what happened in the Bible. Before we got out of service, the spit had hit the fan. Every news media outlet, every social media platform basically used this one misunderstood moment to sum up a lifetime of service. Immediately, I went from everything looking bright and blooming—DJ Khaled playing in the background, «All we do is win, win, win, no matter what"—to in a moment, it went dark.
Yeah, in that moment, my life started to look like this, and people didn’t want to be associated. In the moment I got to the garden, people started unfollowing and distancing themselves, telling me that maybe God’s purpose for my life—I just want to be real with y’all—may have been premature. That’s why these young preachers, and I mean not just people who don’t know God, I’m talking about people who claim to love Him, find themselves in the middle of a garden full of pressure.
When I was sitting here, I was in a hotel right up the street with my wife, getting all these text messages and calls, and I was like, «What is going on?» God said, «I’m about to put you in the press because I need new oil.» Is there any other way? No, you asked to be used by me. The only way to get the oil out is to turn the pressure on. I’ll say that one more time: The only way to get the oil out is to turn the pressure on. God said, «You know what to do. I gave you the example. Get your people, get your core.»
Me and some of the people in my core got on a plane and flew to California, went to the hotel. None of us had ever been out there; we were looking at the scenery. Every morning on the balcony of that hotel, after deleting Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, after making an apology, after doing all of these different things—things like, «Why am I even having to do this?"—God says, «Because I got you in the press.» It’s crazy. My name was going crazy in the press, but God had me in the press.
He literally named it «the press» for a reason. «The press is going to go crazy over this because I have to get oil out of you.» Sitting on that balcony every morning with the people in my core, I cried, «Is there any other way? Could you please just make it act like it didn’t happen?» I woke up one night, and I was like, «I must be dreaming.» I realized it wasn’t a dream; it was part of my destiny. But I had to stay here long enough, and literally, as I began to pray, as I built up my spirit in the place of pressing in the garden of Gethsemane, God said, «This is the thing that’s going to keep you in place.»
I contemplated not preaching the next Sunday. I contemplated leaving the garden. I contemplated walking away from my spot. Can I be real in this place right now? I contemplated not even confronting the issue. God said, «No, the press is creating fresh oil.» So the next Sunday, I got up, out of the thing that was trying to keep me down, and I said, «I will not let what has happened to me in the press keep me from the platform that God has called me.» And I’m not talking about a stage; I’m talking about some of y’all. The platform God gave you is in that kitchen raising those kids. For some of you, the platform is in that schoolhouse. For others, it’s in the boardroom, and for some, it’s in that college. God said, «Do not abdicate your platform because you feel pressure.»
As I went and prayed, I felt the unction to stand up, and this is the third thing you have to do when you’re in the garden. This was the hardest thing for me to do: I had to surrender power. See, it’s not enough to select the right people when you’re in a place of pressing, and it’s not enough to just pray; you have to surrender power. That’s what Jesus did. Going a little further, he said, «Nevertheless, not my will,» which means he could have done something this whole time. You can do something. Is it the right thing? Probably not, because it’s your will. But God wants His will to supersede your will, which means you have to surrender.
Everybody say it: power. You have power even though you act powerless. This mouth is power; your fingers are power; your stubbornness is power—uh-oh, your pride is power. God says, «Could I have it? Could I have your plan? Because that plan is power. That plan you’ve wanted since you were in ninth grade is keeping you from My purpose. Could you surrender power?»
Jesus said, «Not my will, but yours be done.» I got a revelation from this that I want to share with you; it will change your life forever. At the pinnacle of Jesus’s purpose in this garden, it was not defined by his strength; it was defined by his surrender. The strongest thing God ever did was surrender. The most powerful display of His power was not in what He could lift; it was in what He could let go. I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but the pinnacle of your purpose is defined by your surrender, not your strength. You could talk yourself out of this situation, but God said, «Shut up. Surrender to what I’m trying to do with you.»
You could make excuses for why you are the way you are—it was my family, then it was that case, then it was them not giving me a chance—and God said right now, you could be strong, but I need you to surrender. Because in your weakness, that’s when I get to step in and actually be your strength, and if I’m honest, it’s hard to surrender. Oh my, am I by myself right now? Y’all, when I was going through that thing, do you know how many rebuttals—how many? Um, I’m good with my words; I get paid to talk. I had so many things that God said, «You’ll never say it, they’ll never know it, you’ll never even talk about it.» Because for you to make it through this place of pressure, you’re going to have to surrender your power.
There’s a mother that has been using your kids as power over your husband—surrender your power. There’s a husband that has been using money and trips and things as a replacement for your presence, and God’s saying to you today, «Surrender your power.» There’s somebody that has been using their creative genius to make other people feel small for an insecurity that you actually have inside of you. That’s why you never ask for anybody else’s opinion, and God says today you need a team to do this—surrender your power.
Some of you have been following the plan for your life in this garden that’s dark, and God is saying today, «Will you do like Jesus and surrender your power? Surrender is strength,» and what I’ve found is that many times, the place you find so hard is the place that God calls holy. Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane; partners can’t stay with Him, God has gone silent on Him, and He decides to stay. Everybody say «here,» because somewhere on the inside of Him, He knew «here» was holy. If I can just make it through this place of pressure, this is going to change purpose forever.
We never hear about anything else Jesus does—saving our sins and doing all of those things—if He does not last in the place of pressure. Can I say that the history you’re going to make is actually being made here, in the place that’s so uncomfortable? Oh, I feel the presence of God right now as I’m watching and saying this, and while you’re watching this, I feel God saying don’t call the place that’s so hard the place you hate. Change it and call it holy! It’s going to be from this place of pain, from this place of despair, that God will get glory from your life.
Jesus surrenders His power, and He stays in the garden. As He’s in the garden, He allows God to use all of His pain, all of His frustration, all of the lack and the loss to get purpose. What are you trying to say to me in this message, Pastor Mike? Don’t give up in the garden, because this is where most of us are. Bishop, we’re in a place that feels like nobody else is in—this place—I’m here all alone, and I did not see it going like this. And I came to encourage you with good news: Don’t give up in the garden.
When Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, Judas then came to betray Him. When Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, the Sadducees and the Pharisees persecuted Him. When Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, He took 39 lashes for you and me. When Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, He carried His cross. Isaiah 53:5 says, «But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.» He was trying to get us back to the place of peace that we lost in the OG, the original garden, and He had to pay for it. It was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.
The only reason we can say scriptures like that is because He endured the place of pressure. He did not give up in the garden. I don’t know who you are, where you are, or what’s been pressing you, but I’m begging you: Don’t give up in the garden! Don’t give up because it’s hard. Don’t give up because you can’t see the future. Don’t give up because it hurts. Don’t give up because it feels like a hindrance. Don’t give up in the garden!
Jesus didn’t give up in the garden because He saw you. Jesus didn’t give up in the garden because He saw me addicted to pornography. He saw me being a liar and a manipulator. He saw that I would be in need of a Savior. And because Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, He hung on a cross for crimes He didn’t commit. Because He didn’t give up on the plan and purpose of God in the garden, He died on a Friday, and we call it Good Friday, but it wasn’t good for Him.
On Saturday, there wasn’t a sound; the earth stood still. But I have good news: Saturday was a setup! I feel this right now in my bones—Saturday was a setup! In the darkest moment, when there’s nothing happening, when you hear nothing from heaven, when nobody’s around, when it looks completely dead, Saturday is a setup. The Bible tells us that on Saturday, He was working for us, that He snatched from the devil the keys of death, hell, and the grave, that He was warring for us to get back to a place of relationship with Him. He said, «I lost my children in one garden, but I promise you, I’m not going to lose them again. So I’m going to do everything. I’m going to defeat depression. I’m going to fight anxiety. I’m going to come against suicide. I’m going to talk to every lie that the enemy would tell, and I’m going to defeat it.»
Then, early Sunday morning—I’m feeling churchy right now—early Sunday morning, when they went to the stone to see if He was still there, the stone was rolled away, and Jesus had risen with all power. The power in Him surrendering gave Him the power to save. The power in surrendering gives you the power to save somebody else. Jesus surrendered His power in the garden so that He could gain power to save us. That’s why we celebrate Easter—it’s because He didn’t give up in the garden.
When Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, it’s because He knew Michael, Bree, Charles, Brenda, Scott, Tammy—He knew Paul. Come on, put your name in there. Say your name right now! He knew, come on, say it one more time: He knew you would need Him. He surrendered so I could be saved. The Bible tells us He could have called legions of angels to save Him; they didn’t kill Him. The Bible tells us He gave up, He gave up the ghost—He surrendered so that He would have the power to save.
And that’s why Hebrews 12:2 says, «Because He saw me, He fixed His eyes.» We fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, for the joy—that’s how God sees us, we’re His joy. For the joy of the fact that we could be in relationship with God, that we could go back to the original garden, that we could be in relationship with Him again, for the joy that was set before Him—that’s why He endured the cross, scorning its shame.
And then, when He defeated death, hell, and the grave, and rose again with all power, what did He do? He took a seat! I love this picture of Jesus—not that He’s up every day fighting a battle; no, no, no, the battle’s already won. See, when you step into this relationship with Jesus, this is not an everyday fight—we’ve got the end of the book; we win! He has already done everything that needs to be done; we just have to receive it. How do we know? Because He’s seated! He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, because He accomplished purpose, because He didn’t give up in the garden.
Let me give you my last point: I feel the presence of God. Jesus didn’t give up in the garden, so you don’t have to give up in the garden. In this fallen world, where it looks like the garden is filled with weeds, filled with all kinds of things that take away from the beauty of life, God said, «I want to give you beauty for ashes. I want to take this burnt-up situation.» Oh, I feel the presence of God in the burnt pieces of your life! I want to take the places where you thought you could never come back from, and I want to allow you to bloom. I want you to grow, but the only way you can do that is by accepting what I did for you. Don’t give up in this garden because I’ve already made a way for you to have a relationship with God.
Today, I need everybody to begin to pray because people’s lives are in the balance right now. I know you hate the garden you’re in right now because the garden you’re in is so hurtful. The garden you’re in, where there’s abuse, has been hard. The garden you’re in, where they don’t see your value, it seems like you’re a hindrance everywhere you go. You feel like you’re taking hits you don’t deserve, and it feels like you’re bleeding out for people who don’t even care about you.
And it feels like your handicap here does not feel like what I think it should feel like, because here, I feel helpless, and even worse, I feel hidden. But today, God says, «Don’t give up in the garden.» I feel the presence of God coming into your home, coming into your life, and more than anything, coming into your heart right now! Don’t give up in the garden, no matter how bad it is! Don’t give up in that place, no matter how bad it hurts. Don’t give up even if others have given up. Don’t give up in this garden! There’s something on the other side of this for you.
The reason why Jesus went to the cross was so that your past would not define your future. When Jesus looks at you, when you accept His Son, He doesn’t see you—He sees His Son who endured the garden for you to be in relationship with God. And I’ve got to say this because somebody is confused right now: Don’t give up, is what I just told you. Somebody say, «Don’t give up.» Say it like you mean it! Don’t give up! Speak to your soul—say don’t give up! Speak to your mind—say don’t give up! I’m telling you, don’t give up! But please do surrender! See, some of y’all think I said the same thing. I’m telling you, don’t give up, but I am telling you to surrender.
Let me break it down for you: Giving up comes from weariness; surrender comes from willingness. Oh, that’s powerful right there! Giving up comes because we can’t take it anymore, but surrender—so in the same garden, in the same place, with the same situation, and the same pain—it all comes down to perspective. I don’t want to do this anymore. Do I give up or do I surrender?
I can’t take raising these kids by myself. I’m a single mother, and he acts like it’s not his responsibility, and I’m trying to search for love and all this other stuff. Do I give up or do I surrender? There’s no way I’m going to be able to get from under this financial strain. There’s no way they’re going to be able to help me pass this month. Do I give up or do I surrender?
But these drug charges— I did that ten years ago, and I can’t find a job, and nobody will hire me, and I’m not that same man, and I’m about to go back to the streets. Do I give up or do I surrender? I’ve been raised in church all my life, but I don’t feel this God thing anymore. I’m tired of watching pastors fall and people abuse sheep, and so I’m about to walk away from all of it. Hold on! Do I give up or do I surrender? Today, that’s what I want to ask everybody: Don’t give up in the garden—surrender in the garden!
Wherever you find yourself in life right now, surrender. And it’s funny when I think about the international sign of surrender all across the world—whether you’re in California or in Cairo, if you’re in Dallas or if you’re in the deserts of Egypt—if somebody comes to you who has authority and says, «Freeze! Put your hands up!» What is the international sign of surrender? Hands going up! Come on, put it in the chat! Yeah, in the room right now, just put your hands up. God’s saying this is the sign of surrender! Oh, I feel the presence of God right now! He said if you surrender, if you would just not give up but give in to My plan, I’ll do something in your life that you could never ever think was possible.
Galatians 6:9—this is for all the people who are about to give up because of weariness—He said, «Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time, due season, the right moment, you will reap a harvest if you do not…» What does it say? Kim, today I came—I’m sweating in this pink suit—to let you know that in whatever garden you find yourself, no matter how dark it is, don’t give up in the garden! Because if you don’t give up in the garden and you invite God into the garden, then you get restored back to the original garden He wanted us to have!
Then we give back problems and get back provision; we give back being paranoid and we get back peace. Somebody’s going to get happy right here! We give back perversion and we get purity. We give back panic and we get patience. We give back pettiness and we get perspective. We give God our lives; we give back pride, and guess what we get again? Partnership! If you don’t give up in the garden, you give the pain back to Him! He literally tells us in His Word, «Trade!»
I’ll take your sorrow; I’ll take your shame.
This is what I want—trade with me, and I’ll take your pain and give you back paradise. What God wants to do is take your garden. Listen, listen to this: He doesn’t want to take you out of the garden; He wants to change the scene in the garden. He’s not asking you to divorce your story. All of these roses, all of these flowers, even the thorns, are part of your testimony. Everything I’ve been through is something that God will use. Where there has been pain, I can now pick that pain up, and I can deliver it to somebody, and it can be a sign of purpose. The reason I’m sharing my testimony with you today is that these flowers have thorns from my life, but now I’m giving you the manicured version, the purposeful version. If I literally show up to my wife with a bouquet of these, she looks at what caused me pain as a sign of me having pleasure in her. God can take your pain; submit it to Him, and He can turn it into something that’s pleasurable for somebody else and give them perspective.
Today, God is saying, don’t give up in the garden because I want to take your pain and make something beautiful. The scene is changing—I feel this for you. The scene literally, when Jesus rose, took what was dark and suddenly started changing into something that literally highlighted. Oh, I feel this! This is a prophetic picture of what your life and your family are about to look like. Somebody better grab this by faith! He’s going to take what looks dark. Oh, I feel this! He’s going to take what wanted to take you out a year ago and turn it into something beautiful. In one garden, we were removed from His presence and will; in another garden, we were redeemed back to relationship.
Today, I want you to surrender. Could everybody just for me, just for one second, do the international sign of surrender again? Come on, at your house, no matter if somebody sent you the link to this. This is purpose right now; the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. Oh, today, I want to give you the opportunity to surrender your will, your way, your ideas, and your parents' ideas that you now live out. Surrender it! Surrender your plan. God, I surrender! There’s a prayer I want us all to pray together—a prayer of surrender. Somebody just say, «God, I just want to be right where You are, striding at the beat of Your heart.»
Come on, this is a prayer of surrender: I’m going to follow Your will no matter how far, because everything I need, God, You are. It’s easy to surrender when you know that God has everything you need. Today, as the worship team ministers this next song, I want you to ask the Holy Spirit, «What are You trying to say to me through this message?» I believe that right now, this is not weird or spooky; it’s just going to be a moment of silence and solitude as ministry goes forth in your home or in this room, wherever you are, that the Holy Spirit’s going to start whispering to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Surrender that! Surrender that! Oh, yeah, yeah! I know you always thought you were going to be like that, but give it to Me, too. As you surrender, you’re going to realize that everything you need, you’re going to be able to say, «God, You are.» Let’s worship God.