Michael Todd - Money Follow$ Ma$tery
Get your notepads out, get your smartphones and dumb phones ready, because this series is about to change everything. Most people will be like, «You always say that!» But I believe it, because anyone who has an expectation for something actually receives in the direction of what they are hoping for. I always believe that the last thing God gave me is the best thing God gave me because God gave it to me. Honestly, this is a topic that most people avoid because they do not want to offend anyone when it comes to the thing that has their hearts.
The crazy thing is that for many people, their spouse doesn’t have their heart as much as money does. The truth is that a lot of people value finances and resources more than they value the people in their lives. I want you to know that this is out of line in the Kingdom. So today, I want to start a journey. Everybody say, «Journey.» I want to walk us through what it looks like to actually live a blessed life. I want you to write that down on your piece of paper: «I will live a blessed life.» Somebody confess it! Somebody say, «I will live a blessed life!» A blessed life is not just tied to finances, but it includes them. It includes questions such as: What does God say about me having resources? How do I handle those resources? Who do I help with the resources? And how do I reach purpose with what God has called me to do? Somebody just say it by faith! «I will live a blessed life!»
I know that’s hard for some people to even think about right now because of the life you’ve already lived. How many people in this room—let’s be humble, open, and transparent—how many people in this room or who are watching right now have had a sketchy financial past? Let’s just acknowledge it—keeping it real! The truth is some people didn’t raise their hand just because they’re in denial. They think, «I look like I have it together,» but what does it matter if you look like something you don’t actually have? At the end of the day, let me ask another question: How many people could use more resources to do what God has called them to do? Okay, alright. So today, we are going to talk about what God—or the King—says about finances, generosity, and stewardship. Write those three words down: finances, generosity, and stewardship. These aren’t words you see on Instagram or Facebook; they are not in everyone’s everyday vocabulary, but they are prominent in the word of God. He talks about money as one of the top three subjects in the Bible. Jesus talks about money! But the church? All they do is ask for it.
Have you ever seen those building fund boards in old churches that tell you how much has been raised for the building fund? It’s been 16 years, and we’re still raising for the building fund. The number doesn’t change, and we don’t have a new building! There is a lot of distrust when it comes to the church and finances. So let me go ahead and pop that bubble right now. Relax! Everybody just take a deep breath in and let it out. Now say, «Relax.» Because some of you got tense when I said we were going to talk about money. You’re like, «What are they going to ask for now? Is there a building campaign? A fundraiser? Fish dinners?» None of that is a part of this presentation. In fact, if you’ve been around Transformation Church for any length of time, you know when we talk about generosity, we do the opposite.
This is a month of miracles where we want to see God bless people who aren’t even expecting it. We are in a month when people think we will ask for something. Instead, we’re giving it away! Let me say it like this: This month, we’re going to give over a million dollars away to other organizations. Go ahead and clap your hands for that! We’re coming alongside the things the Bible tells us to help with as a church because people have already bought into the principles I’m about to share with you. We don’t have to raise an offering because people are actually living a blessed life. So today is really an opportunity for all of us to walk in the blessing that God has provided for us when we understand these principles.
Let me be completely transparent with you: The reason I’ve done this series every single year for the last eight years is that the two things people struggle with the most, outside of their relationship with God, are their relationships with other people and their relationships with money. I can’t tell you how many times in a week we deal with a money issue or a people issue. That’s what pastoring is! Bishop lied to me; he didn’t tell me I’d just be able to preach. I didn’t know people were this complicated! Usually, those two issues are at the core of something. I said, «How do we change this?» God said, «You have to teach my word; it is the remedy for every problem in life.» Everything is found in the word of God.
As we’ve decided that this year we’re going to learn about the Kingdom and not be «king dumb» or ignorant of what the King says, I want to approach this series from the lens of what Kingdom currency, Kingdom finance, and Kingdom stewardship look like. Everybody shout «Kingdom!» The reason I’m qualified to talk to you about this is because eight years ago, when I became a pastor, I was broke—broke! I want everyone to know that because people see this splattered paint jacket and think, «It’s easy for him to say.» No, you don’t know my story. I had six months of TCC education right up the street, and when I left that, I became a producer who had to get money from anyone willing to pay me to produce their music. I was broke, broke! I had thousands of dollars of debt and a poverty mindset with rich taste. You know, you’ve got a dollar-menu budget but a Ruth’s Chris appetite. You can’t pay for that steak!
I was raised on MTV Cribs. Are y’all going to leave me out here by myself? But I still needed nurturing like I was in a crib. I didn’t understand finances, I didn’t know how to budget a checkbook—I was illiterate in finance and trapped because I was old enough to know but never taught. So I stayed clueless in an area I needed to ask questions about. Many people here are trying to hold it together, acting like you know, but you have all kinds of issues, like paying for stuff with Walmart cards. You can’t even use a bank account anymore. Cash App saved you! You’re overdrafting four banks. Okay, I’m in too many people’s business right now! Some of you are on the other end of the spectrum; you have so much that you’re greedy and actually think you’re better because you have zeros in the bank, but your heart is nasty. You walk into rooms with people who are less than you to feel better about yourself.
The whole spectrum is represented here today: people who may have been raised with a silver spoon in their mouth and those who stole spoons from the gas station. Y’all know? «Let me take some of these for the house.» Oh, y’all are going to play me in this room today! We have people who went on family vacations every year—headed to Destin, Florida again! «Girl, I’ll punch you in the neck! Florida again?» Mom and Dad wanted to go to the Bahamas. I grew up with boats, and the only boat I had was in the tub! What I’m saying is, regardless of where you come from today, I want us to humbly approach this topic. Take off whatever crown you wear and put it at the feet of Jesus. Let’s go back and see if there’s something He wants to teach us about the Kingdom way to handle finances.
Let me just say this: Many of you who have been in church for a while are suffering from the popular Prosperity Gospel—name it and claim it. It has nothing to do with God being a jackpot! If I position myself right and give 666.72 cents because the word says it, and page 660… we do all of these gimmicky things, but you might as well go down to the casino because that’s not our God! But on the other extreme, many have been indoctrinated by the Poverty Gospel: «God doesn’t want me to have anything; I’m martyred for Him.» How can you lend to many nations if you don’t have anything to lend?
If you’re on either one of those extremes, or have been turned off to the whole subject because of those extremes, I want you to meet me in the middle. Somebody say, «Meet me in the middle!» We are going to teach you the Purpose Gospel: that all money in the Kingdom has a purpose. The reason God is giving me more is because I have a purpose. We are neither going with the Prosperity Gospel nor the Poverty Gospel; we are going with the Purpose Gospel. When my finances have a purpose, God can trust me with more than enough. So write this down: Paper without purpose is pointless.
Having money, resources, finances, or influence without a purpose from Heaven is pointless. That’s why the Bible says, «What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his very soul?» It’s pointless to have millions in the bank, making it rain, driving more cars than you can use in a week, taking vacations everywhere, if you have no peace. There are people who have killed themselves with millions of dollars in the bank. Why would you do that? Because you think money solves problems. God solves problems!
I feel my health coming on! You think that money solves the problem? No, money is just a tool to help mitigate what we do on this Earth—it doesn’t solve the problem. Jesus solves the problems! And just by the amens, I can tell you don’t believe it because some of you are still operating in the spirit of Mammon. I don’t even have time to break this down right now, but there’s a spirit alive on the Earth today that says this: «I need God to come through, or I need some money.» Uh-oh! Whichever one answers first, that’s what I’ll serve. That’s why you disobey when God tells you to wait but get a job offer for more money and think, «I have peace about it.» He told you to wait, but the zeros in front of the paycheck are enticing you!
Only three hundred more dollars, and you’ll get out of the will of God for some Starbucks coffee every week! If you’ve ever said, «I need God to come through, or I need more money,» and you chose the latter, the spirit of Mammon still has control of your heart. It’s the spirit that says, «I can do it without God because I have money.»
See, this is why I want everybody to have more than enough, but I’m scared for some of you to have more than enough because you would stop praying! The only thing that makes you desperate is what you need. Most of us would not be devoted Christians if we didn’t have a need. Uh-oh! If you could pay for everything, you might not be in church today. What God is saying is that money only magnifies who you really are—it doesn’t change you; it just magnifies what’s in you. Today, I need you to understand through this whole series that I’m going to teach you Kingdom principles. Everybody say, «Kingdom principles!» that are going to help you live a blessed life.
Paper without purpose is pointless. Now that that’s established, every year when I come to this series, I try to figure out how to package it in a new way because it’s the same information. This year, I feel different preaching this. I need to be honest with you because this is not a test. Where I started from and where I am today is because I applied the principles I’m about to tell you. If you do not get this or want it, I don’t care! I need you to understand this: This year, I need to teach this Kingdom thing not to convince people, but for people who are already committed to what God is saying. So I’m telling you this right now because we don’t have a lot of time. Usually, I have six weeks for this series; I only have four. So I have to cram a bunch of the principles that have transformed my life into four weeks. I don’t have time to tiptoe around your feelings!
Get you to this point, okay? So today I’m just looking at my life, and I’m going to tell you stories. But people who know me know that God has changed generationally. Oh God, I can’t even—He has generationally changed the ability of my family to be generous to the Kingdom of God and to anybody He tells me to, not because I’m a pastor. I need everybody to hear me say this: not because I’m a pastor, but because I worked the King’s principles. So today, tomorrow, next week, and the next three weeks after that, I want you to listen to these principles, and I want you to put them into practice. I promise you’re going to live a blessed life. Okay, so watch this: I was in the gym, and I was thinking, «What am I going to call this series?»
I’ve been on a transformation journey, and what ended up happening is confession: I don’t like lifting weights. Okay, so let me be very clear about this. It is scary and brings me anxiety to think that my neck—okay, some of y’all are really strong—but to think that my neck is underweight and that I don’t know if I can press it up. And to think that if I let it go, that would be the worst way for me to die. So ever since I started working out, my trainer Vic would tell me, «He said, Mike, we got to get under that weight.» And I’m like, «Yeah, let’s jump! Let’s jump! I gotta get this fat off me!» So I was like, «Let’s jump! Let’s do cardio!» He’s like, «Yeah, but we got to get you stronger.» And I was like, «Yeah, but you know the thing about stronger is you need weights.» And he’s like, «Yes.» And I said, «Weights are heavy.» And he says, «Until you lift them.»
And I was like, «What do you mean?» He said, «The more you lift the weights, the more you get under it. What seems hard becomes easy.» And so then one day, we were about to hit a new level, and he would always say to me, «All right, Coach.» He would call me Coach, and I’d say, «You the coach, but why you calling me Coach?» He was like putting responsibility on me, and he was saying, «All right, Coach, easy money!» What you mean, «easy?» This is not easy! Do you see all these plates that you don’t put on here? He said, «No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Anytime you get under anything hard, tell yourself that it’s easy!» And I was like, «All right!» So I’m like, «Easy Money! Easy Money! Easy Money!»
And the more that I did this, I found myself getting confident, because there were many times I would get under weights that looked like they were too heavy. But I haven’t counted up all the times that I had lifted them, and it had made me stronger. It was the simple practice of doing the same mundane thing. Weightlifting is not rocket science. It’s the same stupid thing over, and over, and over, and over again. But then, when more weight was put on, what was hard became easy. I was in the gym about a month ago, and we were going for a record. He was not there; the coach wasn’t there. It was just me, my wife, and a few of my workout buddies, and they’re all women, so they called me big dog. I’m sitting under there like—like he wasn’t there. And I just looked at myself.
I said, «Mike, this is hard, but not too hard for you. You’re strong! I’m talking about you’re strong!» And all I said was «easy money,» and I went down. Yeah, I don’t even know what noises I made. I farted three times. I said it didn’t matter; it didn’t matter what had to come out of me for me to get that up. There’s a word right there, right now! Okay? But what was once hard now became easy. And when I started to think about the Kingdom of God, everything that culture makes hard, the Word of God and the Kingdom makes easy. So I said, «You know what? I’m going to call what most people find hard about finances 'easy money.'» I need you to say it with an attitude. Somebody said «easy money!» Put your swag on it at home! Everybody say «easy money!»
By the time we end this series, what has been hard for you, I’m believing by faith, this thing about money; it’s going to be what? Easy! It’s going to be easy! And as a matter of fact, I want to do something: I want to start this series out in generosity. Because a lot of people, when they get to this point, it’s like, «Pastor Mike, you don’t know how hard my finances are! You don’t know I’m on a fixed income and government assistance, and there’s stuff that I’m lying about right now!» No, come on! I know the real situation. I’m robbing Peter, John, and Paul to pay Dequante! Like, I need everybody to say «help!» So what we did at Transformation Church is we partnered with the people over at Dave Ramsey.
And if you’ve never heard of him, he has a program that helps people understand finances. He has a program that helps people understand where their money is, gives them a one, two, three, four guide of how to get to a place where they have at least a thousand dollars in savings and can be able to pay off your debt and all of that other stuff. So what we did is we called up Dave and we said, «Dave, I got like 20,000 people that want to do money right!» And Dave was like, «Okay, what do you want to do?» I want to buy your program for everybody! And Dave said, «For everybody?» And I said, «For everybody!» And he said, «Okay!» So for everybody that’s watching this right now at Transformation Church, if you want to learn educationally how to get your finances in order, we have partnered with Ramsey Plus. And for the entire year—you didn’t hear me! —for the entire year, you get to go through all their coaching programs and have financial assistance for your personal finances!
Now, watch! Now, watch! Now, watch! If I would have given everybody a hundred and thirty dollars in the service, they would have shouted! But because now I gave you the tools! So everybody—not just the people in the building—this is how generous we want to be. For everybody watching this on rebroadcast, I want you to say this! And there’s more than 20,000 people. Last week’s sermon, 160,000 people watched it! Everybody that wants to change your financial picture, you can go to transformchurch.us. This is a message all in itself. You can select Ramsey Plus; the code is already in there. Fill out the information; it’s like four little things, and you will have access for free for an entire year.
Now don’t see me next year looking like you sucked on pickle juice! Because now you have a practical step! What do I do from here, Pastor Mike? Go get your finances in order! That’s too practical for them! Okay, preach at me! Yell at me! We could leave right now! Why? Because now you got something to work with. Many people don’t even have a budget, don’t know what their numbers are, don’t know what—"Faith without works is…» Somebody said, «That’d be me!» I said «faith without works is…» What? If you want to see something different, you got to do something different. I’m asking you—I don’t care how old you are—and if your kids are in a different financial position than you, get your finances in order! Amen?
Okay, so that’s the first thing that we’re going to celebrate. Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 12. It says, «The Lord will send rain at the proper time.» Everybody say «proper time!» From His treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. Everybody say «work!» That is not a cuss word! I’m talking to a lot of different generations. For millennials and Gen Z, a lot of times we think work is a cuss word! «Mom, be quiet! My mama said that’s right!» But the truth of the matter is we think that work is, «I’m supposed to do all of this!» And the people that are Xers, Boomers, and if any of the Baby Boomers— I see you, Mama Chloe! Okay, if they’re still kicking, okay, this is true.
Okay, work is an idol! Work is an idol! It has taken the place of God! So people will work—I just want to show you the spectrum. People will work religiously to provide for a family they don’t know, while over here they won’t work at all because they don’t know if this is worth it. And the Bible tells us that God will bless from His treasury in heaven the work you do—okay, let me just say this because I got to set this all up. Work was given to Adam before Eve was. I’m not going to let you read too deep into this, but if you are funding a man that has a PlayStation addiction and doesn’t have a job, some of y’all know—two girls in the front were like, «Oh my God!» The rain before you get a woman! All men had—everybody say «word!»
Work was not a punishment in the fall; it was a prerequisite to being in the garden. And if you do not become acquainted with work, you will miss out on the destiny that God has for you! And a lot of people are allergic to work or have made work their idol, and we got to get the right relationship in the Kingdom with work! Okay? And then it says, «You will lend to many nations.» I love this part! «You will never need to borrow.» It doesn’t even say you won’t borrow; it’s just like «I don’t have to if I don’t want to!» It literally says you will never need to borrow from them. And so when I read that, then it takes me to Matthew 6:33. Okay, we’re talking about the Kingdom, okay? But first, I’m going to read this from the Amplified version; it blessed me this week. «But first and most importantly, aim at and strive after His Kingdom.»
Somebody say «His Kingdom!» «And His righteousness, His way of doing and being right; the attitude and character of God. And then all of the other things that you need will be given to you also.» When you do what God asks you to do in seeking the kingdom, He takes care of the finances in it as well! So then I said, «All right, if I’m going to teach people about how to have an easy money mindset, I need to give them some principles.» So I’m going to give you all four weeks in just a short synopsis so you can know what we’re going to do every week.
Everybody say «Easy Money mindset.» Write that on your paper. I’m just teaching you today. I’m going to preach to you in a little bit, but I got to teach you first. Easy Money mindset! This is the mind of somebody in the Kingdom that understands that money is not hard anymore. When I do money the King’s way, it’s easy money, and I have an easy money mindset! Everybody needs money! Put «money» on your page! Everybody needs money! I don’t care where you’re living, what you’re doing. If you need a lot, if you need a little, everybody needs money! But in the Kingdom—watch this—money requires—there’s your next «M» word—management! The only way that God gives you more money—you can see the parable of the talents—is if you manage it properly.
And God will take away from you as His child when you don’t manage properly! Don’t listen! Don’t look at me! He literally took away from His child that dug a hole and put his opportunity in the ground, and He took it away from him and gave it to the one that would actually do the right thing with it! What I’m telling you is money requires management. I’m going to talk to you about management next week, okay? And then the next thing I’m going to talk to you about is motives, because management—how you manage your money—always checks your motives! Man, ain’t nothing exposed my heart like money! Say «somebody» to your friend and they don’t pay you back! «I just—come on, my best friend! Yeah, let me loan me six hundred dollars, okay? When you pay me back in a month?» «In a month? I got you, bro!»
You see that person and it’s been one year, sixteen days, thirteen hours, and four minutes! You’re like, «Yeah, that ain’t even your friend no more! That’s Bobby who owe me!» You start describing him as «Bobby who,» oh why? It’s because what’s in your heart gets exposed when you actually start having to manage it! And God wants to check our motives because—watch this—motives determine multiplication! I’m giving you all—this is going to seem too easy, but I’m telling you, if you listen to these principles, it’s going to change your life! Money requires management! Management checks your motives! Motives determine multiplication! And then—watch this—multiplication blesses many others!
What happens when you don’t need to pray for something—you can be the answer to the prayer! Too many of us are praying for things that we should be able to solve! «Oh no, my electricity got cut off, and I don’t know what I’m going to do, and they’re about to repossess my house!» «How much is it? Fourteen hundred dollars?» «Let me talk to my husband! Let me talk to my wife! I’ll call you back!» «Baby, you know that account we— we have seven thousand dollars in to bless people with? I felt tugged on my heart to give to this person fourteen hundred dollars!» «There seems like there’s a little irresponsibility there! I saw on Instagram her showing her new Gucci shoes! Real conversation. She could pawn their mugs! But I don’t think—she’s not mature enough! I don’t think we’re supposed to pay the whole thing, but I think we’re supposed to give her five hundred dollars! How do you feel about that?» «Okay, hey sis!»
I know there are a couple of things you could be doing to get in the right place financially, but my husband and I felt led to bless you with five hundred dollars to help you on this journey. Whatever you use it for, it’s from us. If you use it towards something specific, we just know you’re in need right now, and we want to bless you. Now, hold up—when do you get paid? No, no, no, let me clarify: there are some things that God wants to bless others with, and the only way He’s going to do it is through you. Many of us are not even prepared; we don’t even care. Let me just give away all the secrets right now: I carry money with me in a specific place that is on my security guard.
Some of you are about to come and try to fleece me. Forget you! Scott holds onto my money, and he holds something else too—just to be clear. I just felt the spirit of the person might get, but I want to know—am I telling the truth, Scott? I go to the bank every week in preparation to bless whoever God tells me to. Not every moment do I desire to bless; it’s not my money. Oh God, I’m merely the manager of it, but He owns it. I have been places where, let me tell you, it is an inconvenience to give; giving is hard. Do you know how much red tape you have to go through to give a car away? Signing the title, giving someone the answer, the tag, all of that. And yet God placed it on my heart; He may be placing it on your heart too. He said, «I want you to do something, and it doesn’t matter what it costs you. I need you to be ready to be generous in all seasons.»
I’m trying to prepare the church for the blessing you think you want, because right now everyone thinks, «If I had it, I’d do it. Pastor, you know me; I’d give you the shirt off my back.» The truth of the matter is you have something right now you can give, and you don’t give it. You have something God is requiring you to practice the muscle of generosity with, and you will not do it. God is saying, «I’m watching how they manage what they have. Why would I trust them with more? Why would I trust them with true riches, which are people?» See, money is just a placeholder for the real thing that God cares about—people. When you handle money right, then He knows you can handle people right. And when He lets you start handling people, watch out, because then you actually get to experience what it is to live in your God-nature. Okay, let me stop; I’m too deep for some people right now.
So right now, I’m giving you what we’re going to do over the next few weeks. If these become your precepts—your pre-thoughts—they’ll turn into principles. Principles turn into disciplines, and disciplines turn into your culture. I want you to have a kingdom culture, but it starts with thinking the right things. That’s why Proverbs 11:24 is one of my favorite scriptures that got me out of poverty: «The world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.»
This is a universal principle on Earth. If you are generous—no matter if you don’t even love God—your world gets bigger! Oh my gosh, they don’t even believe me. You think you have to be speaking in tongues? God said there are principles in the earth. He said another principle is sowing and reaping. You don’t have to believe in me; you plant some seeds, and I have made it a principle that something’s going to come up. When you are generous, it is a principle. This is easy money: be generous, and your world just expands. Do you know that over the past eight years, I have become so generous that it raises questions? People who love me ask, «Are you sure? What are you going to do? That’s our last.»
I have become so comfortable in generosity, and I’m so grateful to do it because I know where I was. I was broken, lost, addicted to pornography, and addicted to poverty. Some of you are forcing your kids to eat food they don’t want. Okay, oh God, I just crossed the cultural line right there; I felt it. I felt the ancestral demons coming to get me! The truth is, because in your family you were told, «Don’t get up from that plate until you eat all your food,» that was fueled by fear and poverty. Now, your kid is a glutton, so they eat even when they’re full. You’re teaching them that this is proper stewardship of food instead of their body. Oh God! Now they get older, and whenever they go to a buffet, they load up and take a take-home box, doing all the things because Mom said, «Don’t waste any food.» But it was based on fear, born out of a lack of enough.
Now, they struggle with issues elsewhere because it was a poverty mentality based in fear. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. What I’m saying is there are all these things woven into our lives that we don’t even understand. God is saying, «That is not how I want you to live in the Kingdom. I want you to have more than enough, and that’s why I need you to start being generous with what you have.» Everybody say this with me: «What I have is enough.» You can be outrageously generous with what you’ve got! How many parachutes do you need? Oh, how many hoodies do you need? Come on, y’all! How many cars do you need? This is going to offend selfishness, and that is my goal right here: to make you understand that all you have is all you need to start being generous right now.
So, where did God start with me? He started telling me to empty my closet. I said, «Lord, I want a new wardrobe before I empty my closet. I need you to bless me indeed before I bless somebody else.» He said, «That’s not how I work. It’s seed time and harvest.» He said, «Find some young boys that like your style and give them the clothes.» No, no, no— not the ones you just don’t want anymore. I mean the ones with the tags on! «Well, Lord, that’s just a little much.» I’m sharing my real story. When I was in debt, I would go through my closet and give. And guess what else I gave? Not just money; I gave time. Bishop, remember when you had lost all that weight? I said, «Bishop, I’m going to take you shopping.» I took Bishop to the suit store when I didn’t have any suits, and God had me buy Bishop four suits that cost as much as my entire closet! He said, «I want you to sow into this man.» I wasn’t involved in pastoring yet; I wasn’t trying to be a pastor, let me be very clear. This wasn’t on my wish list, but I knew I had to start with what I had. I just started being generous. You can give your treasure, but you can also give your time or skills.
See, some of you are thinking, «Well, Pastor, he might be talking about money, and I don’t have any.» No, no, no! But you have a skill that you could use to show your heart and start doing something right now. You see people in need; don’t make them pay for it. What’s your attitude? «Oh, you didn’t make them pay money, but you made them pay with my time?» Where you at? Is this the level of expertise I’m working with? What I’m saying is, what you have now is enough to make your world larger! What if, in March, our world got bigger—not because of what we got but what we gave?
Oh my God! Think about a world where a church could actually be the giving center of the world. I’m going to throw out a bold vision: What if every need in our community could be answered within the people in this room right now and the people watching online, Transformation Nation? They won’t even clap for it—crazy, right? Yup, Evan! What if we could end homelessness in Tulsa—not because of the government, but because the church took a stance and said, «We’ll build the community. We’ll get them housing.»
They cheer for miracles, but they won’t cheer for helping someone. All I’m telling you is, the world of the generous gets larger and larger, while the world of the stingy has been shrinking for a decade. Today, I’m coming to open you back up! I know it’s been rough for you. I know the pandemic tried to end you. I know your business shut down. I know you were supposed to get a settlement and it didn’t come through. But God is saying, «In the Kingdom, we’re on a different economy.» Yeah, it might be a recession here, but not in heaven! Oh, I just felt that—not in heaven. For Kingdom kids, whatever is happening on Earth does not affect what God can do for me. When the pandemic shut everything down, God orchestrated the release of my first book during it.
I was in this back room crying when one of my friends called me and encouraged me. He’s in the room now. He said, «Bro, this is the greatest thing that could happen to you.» I said, «Why? I can’t go on a book tour or do anything!» He said, «God has captivated the whole world and given you an audience, and this message is going to go like wildfire.» I will call that man a prophet because as soon as that book dropped, it went everywhere! If it were dropped today, it probably would have done well, but it wouldn’t have done what it did. And I’m not ashamed of this; I give glory to God because I obeyed His steps every inch of the way.
That one book changed my family’s financial future forever. No, y’all, we don’t even rejoice with those who rejoice—that’s crazy! I don’t have to go speak anywhere. I don’t have to do anything. It’s an evergreen message! I didn’t ask for it; God gave it to me. I was just faithful to work it, and it changed everything! My daughter and I have a book about to come out—this is a love letter. Bella and I wrote a book about relationship goals that will help kids understand. It’s changed everything! But why did it change everything? Because I worked in a season where it might not have seemed worth it.
Okay, so somebody say «easy money!» I’m just trying to get you ready. Many remember: put the things back on, because they need to get it—this is class! Come on, put it back up there. Money requires management. Let’s say it together: money requires management; management checks motives; motives determine multiplication; and multiplication blesses many others. Does that make sense? Is that easy enough?
Okay, so now I have to tell you I forgot one thing, and this is what I need to talk to you about today. This is what I’ve been teaching every year, but the Holy Spirit convicted me. He said, «Michael, you’re teaching this assuming that people have money.» So today, I need you to go back and teach them the kingdom principle of—watch this—mastery. That’s good; I think it’s what you’re about to say. Okay, good. Mastery! I found throughout the Bible that there was nowhere the people of God went after money; nowhere! You won’t find it. There is nowhere in scripture where those that God called were like, «Hey, I gotta get on my grind; I gotta hustle; I gotta move.»
There’s nowhere you find the disciples setting up chicken dinners before they go into town to keep the ministry afloat. Y’all find it? There’s nowhere! Because in the Kingdom—write this point down if you don’t get anything else—money follows mastery. There is a biblical precedent that you need to master something on this Earth, and we have been teaching the church to pray and not to acquire a skill. Oh my God, I’m about to be in your business! I’m just over here praying, but you need to read something too, and you need to practice something, and you need to try and fail. You need to ask for help! We have strayed away from mastery, searching for miracles. Oh, I’m about to preach this thing!
The Holy Spirit came to me and said, «Michael, stop asking them to manage what they haven’t got.» You’re assuming they have money and resources, but they don’t have anything because they haven’t mastered anything. Mastery only comes when you, watch this, focus! Money follows mastery. Just think about it: Noah started off as a novice boat maker. After years of constructing this boat that nobody had seen—even when there wasn’t rain—515 feet of boat, gathering animals on it, and the biggest miracle was convincing his family to still work with him. There was a level of mastery in what Noah did to build something that actually floated! I’ve done some science fair projects that didn’t float, and he built a 515-foot boat. Everybody say mastery!
Think about Daniel. Y’all remember Daniel? It said that Daniel, in a captive situation, was seven times better than everyone born into that situation. He, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were so much more excellent; they were masters of the language, masters of excellence. When they walked into the room, you didn’t have to respect their God, but you had to respect their skill. Oh my God! Oh my God! I can’t wait for the day when believers are so skilled that you don’t have to believe what I believe, but you have to believe the results! Oh God! There is something in the Kingdom that develops in people who commit to mastery. I think about David: he was a master at getting the sheep to do what he wanted them to do. He was a master shepherd, but he wasn’t just one-dimensional; he was multi-faceted. He was such a good guitar player that when the king needed someone to soothe the demons haunting him, they called for Jesse’s boy.
He picked up that guitar and reached the palace before he would reign—not because of his spiritual prowess! Oh my God, what if God wants to take you into an area where you will be a king, but He wants to take you there disguised as your skill? You’re not good at anything, or you’ve decided to be subpar because, for many of us, it’s a decision. You could be better, but this job doesn’t pay me enough. My Bible says we’re supposed to do everything as unto the Lord, but you’ve been doing it as unto your boss. You’ve been doing it as unto your paycheck, and what you have done is cut the preparation God is trying to give you in mastery. That’s why your money is low! You can literally become a master at anything, and someone will pay you to do it.
Okay, okay! I see I’m going to have to work on this a little better. Alright, let me just give you… I didn’t finish with David. He was a shepherd, a guitar player, and also a sniper. That boy took some smooth stones and a slingshot; the whole army was out there! Sniper! He was skilled. He had mastery with what people consider insignificant items. What people call insignificant is just my little administrative gift. You’re a sniper! There’s someone looking for a sniper! I’m looking for a bunch of snipers! «I just make a little art.» Do you know how much people pay for a little art? But we’re discounting what God is counting on. You’ve stopped going after it altogether! «Oh, you’re older, your life is over.»
Well, I’m 56! What do you know? Quincy Jones wrote «Thriller» with Michael Jackson at age 50. He literally said his career didn’t start until he did that at age 50. Mastery! What were the other 49 years? Practice! Oh my God, it was preparation for a moment to work with an artist who could do all styles. If you go study Quincy Jones' history—and this is me, because I’m a producer—he did stuff in jazz, he did stuff in pop, he did stuff in rock; he did it all. But it was all preparation! So when Michael Jackson started a festival—like, «What is he doing?"—he knew what to do with that mastery, and money follows! Okay, Jesus… What was Jesus other than our Savior?
Why would our example give us His life as an example of ministry and mastery to give nobody an excuse? I don’t care how skilled you are; you still need to do ministry! And I don’t care how ministerial you are; you still need to have mastery! We literally see Jesus at 12 in the synagogue—oh, I’m feeling my help coming on! —and He’s doing ministry. He doesn’t know where He’s going; He didn’t put his GPS on. His parents find Him, and He says, «I’m doing my Father’s business.» He said, «But I’m about to bust you up!» We don’t see Jesus again for 18 years, but could it be that the 18-year hiatus was so He could develop mastery in the dark? Oh, not on a platform, not in front of everybody. We don’t hear they just always say that He was a carpenter, that He built things «That’s Mary’s son, the carpenter.»
He was so good that it was part of His title. Oh my God! What happens when people don’t have to use your name; they know your skill? Okay, this is only for half the church because some of y’all are just going to say, «Do it for me, Lord!» He’s asking you to do it; He said, «Do it for yourself! I put inside of you the ability to produce wealth!» This is the Bible! I need you to do something with what I gave you. You need mastery! Malcolm Gladwell says in his book «Outliers» that it takes ten thousand hours devoted to something specifically to become a master at it. Has anybody ever heard that before?
Okay, and a lot of people think ten thousand hours might just be able to amount to a million hours; I don’t know. I promise you, you’ve given ten thousand hours to movies! I promise you; you’ve given ten thousand hours to social media. It’s a new invention! I promise you, if you haven’t, you’re close to giving ten thousand hours to Instagram, Facebook, MySpace. Some of y’all might be MySpace freaks; I know y’all have given ten thousand hours to emails! I just want everybody to consider how many hours we’ve devoted to something. It said you literally could become a master at anything! I want everybody to think about this right now: Caleb, where are you at? Tell Caleb to come here; I need him to come and get on the piano real quick. Okay, I want you to see the difference between someone who’s messing around and someone who’s a master.
Okay, I’m going to show you me messing around. Turn the keyboard on? Yeah, come on; yeah, come on up here, and I’m going to show you. Okay, so I get the title of pastor at this church. Yeah, bring me over here where the camera is. Hello? Okay, here we go. So, I can fake you out… hold on one second. Okay, as soon as you ask me to go to another key, I’m going to have to move to the side because I’ve perfected something very specific at one level. Okay? Could you get on the piano please and make me look very bad, Caleb? If I just hum a random song that I’m going to make up right now, you can follow me, right? Because you’ve spent hours focusing on them white and black keys while I was playing video games and chasing girls. I’m going to tell the truth anyway. He’s been practicing.
So literally, this is how we write songs: I get with a master, and I just start humming stuff. Yeah! So do that again, honor; one more time. This is how I made all my babies. I want everybody to understand this right now! Nahida made a song: «Lord I love you now and Lord I love forever. Lord I love you now and Lord I love you!» Like, okay, y’all! I don’t know how far you want me to push this; I’ll come back next week with verses; I promise you! Okay, what I’m saying is when I got with a master, what was hard for me became easier. But it was the years of focus away from the lights. I know everybody wants to be famous now, wants their Instagram account to go up, wants everybody to know what they do now. But God develops mastery in the dark season! And if you’re going to have money to manage, you need to focus on mastering something right now! Okay, okay, okay, okay!
So Jesus is our example. They said that if you commit ten thousand hours to a craft, you can become a master. But then I saw this other study that my friend sent me this week by Anders Ericsson, a professor of psychology at Florida State University. It turns out that spending ten thousand hours to become a master is not the fastest way to become a master! They found out that it depends on how good your teacher is! Y’all, when I heard that, if we have Jesus, who is a master teacher, it actually makes up for my deficiencies, and I can become a master at something quicker if I submit to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Write this down as a point: The master teacher can expedite your mastery. I’m telling you today that if you decide to work and focus on something the Holy Spirit leads you to do, and you do it with God’s help, I am a living witness! I don’t have a business degree, yet I run hundreds of millions of dollars in business! Now, I know most pastors won’t ever say that, but I am because I actually went to school with the master teacher. Tammy, can you do… Tammy, our business leader—C—uh, we were broke when I took over the church! Everybody in the room sees her shaking her head; we were broke! I read books; I went to conferences; I came back and gave her books to read. I said, «We’re going to figure this thing out!»
And the master teacher took what I was deficient in! Oh God, but because I put my focus on it, I said, «God, I’m going to learn how to get out of debt myself! I’m going to live the blessed life, and I’m going to teach a generation of people how to be the lender and not the borrower! I’m going to teach us how to own something!» They want the government to bring back Black Wall Street; the church is going to buy up everything in Tulsa! Y’all don’t hear me! I said, «We’re going to do it ourselves!» I need the rise of a holy rebellion, but we cannot do it without mastery! Stop being okay with being in the middle of the pack! Every promotion, they overlook you—not because you lack skill, but because you haven’t applied yourself!
Guys, the master teacher wants to teach us! For every—okay, let me say it like this: I’m making a declaration here, like I did when I was overweight. Y’all, I live completely transparent, almost 270 pounds. I told you I was going to get my body in order because the Holy Spirit told me He could only bless the ministry at the level my body could handle. That wasn’t a prophetic word for everybody though; you can take notes. But in the dark, the Holy Spirit said, «Get that in order!» Now He’s been challenging me to do something! I will be able to play the piano like Caleb plays the piano.
No, no, no! I don’t need you to clap; you’re going to see! Because God prophesied over me when I was one day old—yes, Mom, thank you—that I would listen to the word; the prophet said I would master several instruments. And because I mastered the drums—thank you, Mama Chloe—because I mastered the drums, I can play the drums. I can go on tour with anybody on the drums; I can do that! Okay? But when it came to that, because I was good at that, I thought that was enough! So I settled for one tool—settled just for one thing!
When God wanted to give me multiple things! Y’all get it? Ready? It may take me 10 years; it may take me 20 years, but Caleb’s gonna teach me. I’m going to be with a master teacher. What I’m saying to you is the same way I applied myself in this area is the same way I’m about to apply myself in this new area. Y’all are gonna see. I mark my words; over the next 10 years as Pastor, there are gonna be days when I’m gonna pull a piano out here. Y’all thought we worshiped now? Wait until I get these keys unlocked! I’ll—I’m saying to you that it’s not too late. I don’t know; I just feel that Spirit starting to sit on people like, «No, you’ve got the master teacher.» But everything that you thought would take you a long time to do—focus is what you need to start.
So this is what I tell everybody: We’re going to talk about money next week, but we’ve got to talk about mastery this week because you’ve got to start something. Somebody said, «I’ve got to start something.» Why do you have to start something? Because before you invest finances, invest your focus. Oh, that’s profound! You would see a better return on your investment if you invested your focus. I don’t know anything about the stock market or the Dow Jones, and you don’t have to! You know something about your focus, and wherever you put your focus has the opportunity to be a seed that you sow that will show back up in your future. I want everybody to find something this week that the Holy Spirit is leading you to, and it doesn’t have to be a forever thing. Do y’all know how many things lead to the thing? God is a progressive God. He doesn’t give you the end of the journey and say, «This is it.» He leads you to where He wants you to go.
You may be doing something that doesn’t even seem like it applies to the thing He told you to do, but I promise you all things are working together. You need to put your focus in an area. How do we do this? Hebrews 12:2. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus. What I want you to do is keep your eyes on Jesus and focus on something. Master something! If you’re good at something, become better at it. If you’re so good at it that you don’t have to work at it anymore, learn something new! Become a student again. Who are you learning from right now? Where are you investing to improve your skills? Most people are just working a job that they hate to survive a life they can’t wait to escape. That’s why we’re dreaming of heaven.
God said, «I want you to come here, yet I want you to bring Heaven.» That’s the Kingdom! So, watch this: Where you focus now will cause fruitfulness or frustration. Wherever you focus—everybody shout at me now! I’m telling you, for the rest of 2023, wherever you put your focus is either going to make you very fruitful or make you very frustrated by this time next year. That’s all you’ve got. «Well, God, I don’t see anything.» You don’t see immediate results when you plant a seed the next day, but there is a principle at work: There is seedtime, and what’s coming back up is worth something. Now, Brooke, sow something now! David, sow something now! Sarah, sow something now! Trenice, sow something now! Don’t just secure the bag; secure your craft! Get better! Sharpen it!
It doesn’t matter if you’re better than everyone around you—they’re all in lanes. But now, go after something! Oh, God, I shouldn’t have said it like that. You’re in your small fish tank talking about, «Look at me!» Go to the ocean! Some of us won’t even put our stuff in places to get critiqued. You’re so Christian, you can’t handle critique! Oh God, I’m not letting any negative words come into my life! If you’re going to do anything great, it’s going to be critiqued. True artists are usually misunderstood in their lifetime. Oh God, I can’t even—I’ve got to kill this notion that just because we’re Christian, that means we’re good at it! You’re not good because you became a Christian; you’re good with God, but you still can’t sing!
Oh God, I was thinking about joining the choir—please don’t! You’re still okay! This may be too much for people because we want everybody to get a trophy without trying. But get a trophy! I mean, make a joyful noise to the Lord—yes! But the people God uses, He requires excellence from you! You don’t go to the Kingdom and get poor service; you don’t go to the Kingdom and get people who aren’t on time. You don’t go to the Kingdom and see half-hearted efforts; it’s 5 o’clock, and you came 45 minutes late but leave right after! I mean, you’re at the door with your bucket and everything at 4:52. Just want to be integrous! Your computer shut down 35 minutes before yet you came in late? You represent the King; you’re the one we’re supposed to follow! It’s time for the church to commit to another level of mastery. Don’t just make it rain—discover your lane!
That doesn’t mean make it rain—no, no, no! Discover your way! Get in that thing and just run! There’s a race set before you! The Bible says in the New Testament, «Run your race like one who wants to win, and finish and endure to the end.» Don’t hustle and grind; seek the Kingdom and find. I’m trying to let everybody understand why—because money, watch this, follows a mission in the Kingdom. If you get a mission from God, you will never have to worry about money! I’m just telling you right now. I am a living witness! I didn’t have any money to fulfill this mission, so I doubled down on the mission, and God brought the money. This principle works everywhere: sell out to the mission, and God brings the money!
Okay, I’m going to show you in the Bible, and then we’re going to go home. This scripture jacked the—Matthew 17:24. I’m talking about mastery! Somebody shout it with me: «Easy money!» I can’t wait; I’ve been holding this all week! Matthew 17:24. This is the story when there was a temple tax that had to be paid, and Jesus was on a mission. They came to collect the money, so watch this. Oh, I love how Jesus handles money! Verse 24: On the arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and asked him, «Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?» «Yes, he does,» Peter replied. Then he went into the house, but before he could speak, Jesus—so gangster—He already knew what was happening. Jesus asked him, «What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?» «They tax the people they have conquered,» Peter replied. «Well then,» Jesus said, «the citizens are free. However, we don’t want to offend them. I could turn this whole thing upside down right now, but we’re not going to cause problems today. So go down to the lake and throw in a line; go fishing. Open up the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the taxes for both of us.»
Oh, this is a profound passage! Let me break this down. Everybody say «easy money!» Jesus is now faced with the opportunity to come off of his mission to start worrying about money. They’re there to minister, and they’re like, «Hey y’all, you have to pay taxes when you pull up on this port.» Peter says, «Yeah, let me go ask Jesus.» Jesus said, «What do you want to do? We’re actually not going to cause a ruckus today; we’re going to pay the taxes.» «Well, Jesus, who’s going to pay it? You got some money?» «I’ve got some money.» This is what I’m going to ask you to do: go down and go fishing. I’m going to put the money in the most unlikely place. When was the last time you saw fish with money in their mouths?
But what I want to do is create a miracle. So I want you to go fishing! «The first fish—you’re going to find the money in it!» If I’m Simon Peter, I’m like, «Oh, me? You want me to go fishing?» I don’t know if the miracle is going to work, but fishing, I can do! Why could Peter go fishing? What was his profession before he became a disciple? He was a fisherman! Jesus asked him to go to his space of mastery. Oh my God! He didn’t ask Luke because Luke was a doctor. If He had asked Luke, he would have said, «Get your stethoscope because I need you to find it in somebody’s heart.»
But because He asked Simon Peter, what was His instruction? Go do what you’re already a master at! And when you do what you’re a master at, the resource is right there. Y’all, this messed me up because it was easy for Simon Peter to receive a miracle because he was already used to mastery before the miracle showed up. The reason you’ve got to focus in this season is that God’s gonna call on something familiar. He’s not gonna ask you to scale a mountain or do something so far out of reach that you can’t even sew up your own clothes. If something comes, He’s going to say to me, «Michael, take the message I give you and put it in book form.» What do I have to do? Get with a master writer. You speak it because that’s your lane; get with them; they’ll translate it into book form, and then you go through it, and it turns into a New York Times bestseller.
He didn’t ask—you’re not hearing me! He did not ask me to come out of my lane of mastery to produce a miracle. If you don’t give God something to work with, He can’t do the miracle! Okay, alright; this is too much for y’all today! Write this point down: Mastery is preparation for a miracle. The reason I work on what God has told me to work on right now as a pastor, as an author, as a producer, is that I’m working on stuff that I feel dumb at because God is preparing me in this season for other seasons. I’m sowing right now in the dark and trying to become a master at things honestly I don’t have to do. If you looked at my life, you’d be like, «You don’t have to do that.» I’m not doing this for you or anyone else; when the Holy Spirit tells me to focus on something, I owe Him my life, so I begin to focus on whatever He’s asking me to master, and I’m gonna keep doing it until it turns into a miracle.
Look at this, oh my gosh, thank you, Lord! Mastery is preparation for a miracle. He literally—I want you to go back to that scene. He said, «Catch the fish!» And then, watch this; He tells him to do something else. What’s the next instruction? «Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin.» Now, I bet Simon Peter was thinking, «Man, I’ve done a lot of fishing, but usually when I open a fish’s mouth, there’s nothing in there.» It took faith! Even though he was in an area of mastery, it still took faith to see the miracle. Write this point down: It still takes crazy faith to get the coin! I don’t care how much mastery you have in something; you need God to walk with you so that when He tells you to do the unconventional thing—y’all, I wrote down 37 days after I became the lead pastor of this church that this building would be our church; that was me opening the fish’s mouth and putting my hand in there. «Oh, that feels weird—are they looking at me? What is going on?» It still takes crazy faith to obey God.
It’s gonna take crazy faith! And then it says, «And you—we,» everybody say «will,» «and you will find a large silver coin.» Watch this! Write this point: Mastery gives you something to manage! It was because he was working on a skill in a season when he didn’t even know Jesus. When Jesus required it of him, he had enough mastery to catch the fish. When he caught the fish, he had crazy faith to put his hand in the mouth, and when he got the coin, now he had something to manage. That man could have taken the coin and said, «I’m out, Jesus! I just got a payday, and I didn’t even put anything in! I’m out!» And that’s what a lot of people do; they take the blessing, forget about the blesser, and go live it up with the coin. But what did he do? He had something to manage. What did Jesus tell him to do? «Take it and pay the taxes for both of us.»
Hold up—was there enough in his mastery and obedience to the Master to not just provide for him but also provide for somebody else? Somebody shout «overflow!» Last point: Mastery connected to the Master always gives more than enough! It was his ability to fish and obey God that paid for both of them so they didn’t have to sell fish dinners. The Savior did not have to sell fish dinners because he stayed in his lane and developed in their area of mastery. Pastor Mike, what are you saying to us? Never follow money; focus on the Master and mastery! That’s it! From now on, y’all, we’re not following money; we’re following the Master and mastery! What is it that the Holy Spirit is saying? Work on that a little more. Start doing that. Start reading about that. Start—start! Go pay to take a class from them. Walk up to them and ask how much it would cost for an afternoon; I’m paying for that.
Okay, but remember, a master teacher can give you what it took them 30 years to learn in 30 minutes. Bishop is my witness. I started off not knowing anything about money, budgets, or anything. I got bank presidents on text message last week. I can’t even tell you what happened to me last week. I ended up in somebody’s house last week that if I told you, you would flip out. I woke up in the morning not knowing God was going to make this connection, and by that afternoon, I was sitting in the largest compound I’ve ever been in, having a one-on-one conversation with somebody who has changed the world. All I can do is look into this camera very deeply and let you know this was nothing but God. That man gave me his cell phone number and said, «You can call me anytime you need anything.» Hold on—there are some people who say that and can’t give you anything.
Let’s be very clear: some people can say, «Call me if you need anything,» and you know it’s a lie. This person, when I say I could call him if I needed anything, is genuine. But why could God trust me with that relationship? Why could He bring me this connection? She said, «Because, Michael, you’ve developed the key to the Kingdom: mastery in relationships, mastery in communication, mastery in getting into this Bible.» That’s why the Bible says to study to show yourself approved—that you’ve been in this thing. If you’re a graphic designer, design. If you’re a singer, sing. If you’re a dancer, dance. If you’re an administrator, commit to another level of mastery with the Master. If you do sign language, sign. If you organize, organize. From all this week, we just want to say the same thing twice: if you taste food, taste! Y’all got it, right? Do you understand?
If you do fashion, do fashion. If you braid hair, braid. I’m going to another level of mastery. If I teach, no matter what the school system says, it doesn’t matter what the principal thinks and how they’re limiting the kids and all that stuff. You could be the teacher that changes that child’s life. If you’re a teacher, teach. Commit to another level of mastery because money follows mastery. When you do money the King’s way, it’s not hard; it’s easy money. It’s standing everywhere today. I hope you feel convicted to go back and look at it again. You weren’t meant to just survive. Can I say that again? You were not created by God to work to survive. I need everybody to focus on me just for a second: you were meant to thrive and expand the Kingdom of God—not in Heaven but right here on Earth. Hands lifted, if you know there’s another level of mastery you need to reach in an area of your life, I want you to lift your hands today. I’m just going to pray over you. Yeah, at home right now, this is a fresh commitment to whatever God wants you to put your hands on.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for Your people. Here I am leading the charge. God, I’m asking You to give me another burden to come back again and ask you: what do you want me to put my hands to today? God, I thank You that we’re learning the Kingdom principle of mastery. Father God, whatever we have done before has been great, and some of us have not been that great. But today we’re making a fresh commitment. We are turning away from the way culture thinks about this. Father God, we’re not just trying to scrape by; we want to represent You and Your Kingdom. So today, Father God, I thank You: whatever our hands find to do, we will do it as unto You. Father, I thank You that there will be the burden to be able to learn. Father God, I feel the literal fire of God coming on us to be students again. Father God, I thank You that You would stir up the gifts on the inside of us—those things we have let lie dormant because they didn’t seem like they would create financial gain. I thank You, in the name of Jesus, that passions would come back to people. Father, give us fresh vision. Whoa, I feel God right here! Fresh vision for where You want us to spend our free time. Father, teach us the responsibilities as well as the mastery. Father, let us not leave everything to find this thing, but Lord, teach us the tension of being responsible for our families and our kids and all of those things while working on whatever You’re telling us to do. Father, give us the courage to downsize if we need to for a season to learn what You have for us to learn. God, I thank You that we come to You today in humility. Father, whether we have enough money or are just barely getting by, I’m asking You to give every one of Your children the ministry of mastery. Father, we want to be able to manage what You give us, Your way. But Father God, many of us need more to manage. So today we recognize, we change our mindset, we change our mentality. Father God, we are going to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Work is not a bad thing; it’s what You gave us. Father God, so touch our hands, give us the ideas. Father God, show us who we are to be on this Earth, and let us not just wait to see a prayer answered but let us be the answer to prayer. Father, I thank You that You’re changing us from the inside out and we will be Kingdom ambassadors to expand Your Kingdom. We give You glory, we give You honor, and we give You praise. And what culture has made hard with money, God, today we are declaring by faith that from now on, when it comes to stewardship, generosity, and finances, it’s easy money in Jesus' name. We agree.
If you believe it, would you shout all over this place? Come on! If you’re going to another level, if your mindset is changing, let’s give God some praise! Somebody got it! Generationally, listen to me for two minutes—this message is going to change your life. Watch it back. Now you have a resource with Ramsey Plus; go look at that. Go watch all the other series! I am Autumn; package this thing. Wait 'til I get my money right, ducks in a row! Uh, what’s another one? What’s a paper chaser? Go back and listen! The transformation starts here; it doesn’t start here. Where does the transformation start? If for the next four weeks you lock in with me, I promise you what’s been hard is about to become easy money.
If you’re watching and you’ve never given your life to Christ, let me make your whole life easy—not easy like nothing bad will ever happen to you, but easy like you can know who’s with you no matter what. Today I want to introduce you to Jesus. Do you know that everything about my life changed when I gave my life to Jesus? See, this series is all about giving, generosity. When Jesus came, the Bible says in John 3:16, «For God so loved the world that He gave.» And right now, when He gave, He did it on a maybe, but He was hoping you would be here watching this—whether in this room or today—so you could have an opportunity to give back to God. What can you give God? Your life! I’m telling you, it seems so countercultural, and it is, because it’s Kingdom. But when you give your life to Jesus, He takes all your mess and turns it into your message. He takes all your pieces and turns them into a masterpiece.
Today, if that’s you, this whole message has been prompting your heart by the Holy Spirit. Today is the day of salvation. There are people in this room praying for you, and there are others in this room who need to make this decision for Jesus. If that’s you, and you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, today is your day. On the count of three, I just want you to shoot your hand up. Religion would tell you to confess everything you’ve done so we can use it against you later; that’s not what you have to do in here.
This is an inside job first. We believe that one day you will find your belonging group and the people you rock with, and that’s where you’ll get healing. The Bible says to confess your sins one to another—not to me as the pastor, not to the pope, just to one another. It can be a plumber or a beautician—and then you pray for each other, and that’s when healing comes. I’m praying for your people so that you can do that. But right now, Jesus said, «Just invite Me in.» If that’s you, today is your day. You want a blessed life; I’m telling you how you get that: invite Jesus into it.
If that’s you, say, «Pastor Mike, include me in that prayer.» I want you to just shoot your hand up on the count of three. One—you are making the greatest decision of your life. Two—I’m proud of you, but more than that, your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s book of life for all eternity. Three—just shoot your hand up. I see you right there, brother. I see you right there, sister. Come on, there are people—yes sir, yes sir! Come on, this is Transformation Church; this is why we do this online! Hallelujah! Hey, listen, for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ right now, I see you, sister. Transformation Church is a family; this is why we exist. Nobody prays alone here. Everybody, just lift your hands and pray with us. Say:
God, thank You for giving Your Son for me. Today I repent. I turn from my old way of living and I turn to You. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again with all power just for me. And today, I give You my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours! In Jesus' name, amen.