Michael Todd - I Will Do It Here
This is week three of a series where we call and worship on the Word, and there is such a sweet presence in this house here in LA. Everybody say, «Here is Holy!» In case you did not know, this past Friday we released a worship album titled «Here is Holy.» If you haven’t gotten it yet, it’s 23 minutes and 34 seconds long and consists of four continuous tracks. It started as the phrase of the year last year at Transformation Church, and God has made it into a worship moment for us. I don’t care where you are or what you’re feeling; put this on, start your day with it, and begin to create an atmosphere so God can speak to you. The truth of the matter is that so many people are weary because they have stopped worshiping.
Worship is fuel for your week. Worship fuels those people who get on your last nerve. Y’all know that nerve that sits right here, and there are only four people who can tap dance on this nerve, and one of them you gave birth to. I’m talking about, y’all know what I’m talking about. Worship changes your presence because of His presence. Today, I want to take us further into this series. I had to stop my message last week, and I already had a message prepared for this week. So, in prayer and thought, I just combined them both, and the Holy Spirit made something really powerful that I’m about to share with you. The truth of the matter is our worship is love expressed. If you have not been a part of this series, I need you to go back and watch the last two. But for now, I need you to get this definition right now: get out your smartphone, your dumb phone, a piece of paper—whatever you have. Write it on your hand if you need to—but worship is our love expressed to God as a response to His grace towards us.
So, because of how good God has been to us, our response is—everybody say worship! I don’t come in here to impress any of y’all. I do not sing so that you can grade me like it’s American Idol, okay? Some of y’all reserve your voices because you don’t want anybody to hear you. God wants to hear you! I may not be able to move like the people up here—I can dance, but I can’t dance like them. I have the activity of my limbs and the ability to use what I have to express myself to God. Too many people have given God an excuse not to express that love because of «them.» I don’t know who your «them» is, but they don’t matter. When you stand before God, you will not stand before Him with a group of people.
When you obey God in worship, that is the only gift you can truly give to Him. What I want everyone under the sound of my voice, and those watching on rebroadcast even on the West Coast, to understand is that our worship—somebody say, «My Worship"—is a gift to God. How many times have you shown up to honor Him and haven’t given your gift of worship? It’s like showing up to a birthday party with just you and the guest of honor. When there are a bunch of people, you can just walk by the gift table and put your hand on it, and some of y’all do that all the time—just make a card with nothing in it because you know they aren’t going to open them right there. But there’s nothing like having a husband or a wife or someone you’re intimate with, and it’s just dinner for two—a time to honor and celebrate, and there’s no gift from you to them.
This happens in churches every Sunday, but forget about this house; this happens in your house every day. He gives you breath, wakes you up, gives you grace, and there’s no gift of worship expressing back to Him. At Transformation Church, we have decided to repent for willingly taking His breath and not giving it back to Him. We have decided to repent for using our hands and not lifting them to give Him glory, or to serve somebody else—uh-oh. Because that’s worship too! Somebody say, «That’s worship too!» Last week, the title of the song we released and the message was «I Will.» Everybody shout at me: «I Will!» And last week we talked about actually doing some things. We said, «I will worship.» Somebody say, «I will worship.» «I will remember.» «I will"—because it’s hard to worship when you don’t remember what God has done for you. The last thing we said was «I will express.»
Did y’all see the game last night? Some of y’all are like, «Game? I don’t play games; games are for kids.» The Miami Heat and the Celtics played last night. The game was over, but somebody said, «But God!» There were three seconds left on the clock—dude shoots the ball, and Miami starts to erupt in praise, and then someone tips it back in, and Boston wins the game, taking it to a game seven. Now, now, and then some people are like, «D.» Okay, there are a lot of emotions you could have had. I don’t care what team you were going for, but it was crazy to watch an entire group of people express themselves when they thought they had won, and in 0.1 second, their expression shifted from victory to loss. We are literally in here with many of us in winning seasons and some of us in losing seasons.
Come on, can we be honest in church? But there is still a required expression of every person in this room, whether you feel like you’re winning or losing. Last week, we made a decision that «I will express.» This week, when I started to look at what God said, He said, «You told them 'I will' last week, but I’m telling you this week: 'Here is Holy! '» Somebody say, «Here is Holy!» Everybody look down at your feet right now—even if you didn’t wash them today—come on! For you to get here, there were millions of things that God had to do to get you to this spot right now.
How many people have survived things? Were your feet once in places you weren’t supposed to make it out of? Were your feet in bedrooms and in—okay, hold on! Were your feet in states and businesses? Have you ever found yourself in a place that was far from where you were supposed to be? And somehow, by the mighty hand of God, you’re here! Has God ever stopped you in your tracks and given you instructions that didn’t make sense at the time? I’m about to preach right now. I know the candles are around here, but I’m about to kick some knowledge. I’m telling you, there are moments when I wasn’t supposed to make it out of here—somebody shout at me: «But God!» When you look at your feet one more time, in LA—come on, look at your feet! The fact that you’re here means that «Here is Holy.»
So, I said, «God, what do you want me to do?» He said, «I want you to put it in the pot and mix it together.» I said, «God, do you mean like Chef Bobby Flay, mix it together, or like Big Mama—mix it together?» He said, «Big Mama, mix it together.» Some of y’all might prefer real culinary skill and the flowers on it, but I promise you it won’t taste like Big Mama’s cooking—you hear me? If they’ve got the meat on the arm right there, they need to walk and exercise, but they know they can cook! So, He said, «Put it together.» He said, «Michael, everybody has a really strong 'I will, '» but usually their 'I will' is connected to their 'I will when'—'I will when I make enough money, ' 'I will when I get out of this apartment, ' 'I will when I have a relationship, ' uh-oh—'I will when you confirm through them by giving me a title.' 'I will when I win! ' Not just 'I will win, ' it’s 'I’m sick of losing, so I will when I win! '
Usually, our obedience is predicated on God doing something in the future, but God told me to tell you that your 'I will' needs to be activated! Somebody shout at me here! Uh-huh! Your worship is not for the future; it’s to worship from your present. And if you’re really going to worship God, it’s not there because you ain’t there yet—it’s from here! You’re mad here, so you keep saying, 'I will when I ain’t mad no more, ' 'When you take the pain away, ' 'When my family stops treating me like that.' You may not say it out loud, but your actions display what you believe. 'I will when my baby daddy stops tripping.' I hit a nerve right there; she said, 'That part! ' No, no, no, no, no! The truth is our 'I will' is usually predicated on when we feel.
If your 'I will' is connected to 'when I feel, ' you will always be disobedient. 'Oh, I will when I feel.' I have found that when you give God ultimatums, He laughs—not because He’s insensitive, but because He’s trying to develop something in you that cannot grow in a situation that caters to how you feel! Okay, so the title of today’s message is 'I Will! ' Somebody say, 'I will! ' I will do it here! What is your 'it'? Some of y’all have had an 'it' that you were supposed to complete a long time ago, but you have made so many excuses because of what you didn’t have. God would not require you to do it here if He wouldn’t equip you here, and you need to make a decision by faith today: 'I will do it here! '
That is worship! Think about the whole children of Israel being led by one man of God. He leads them to the Red Sea and then gives them an instruction: 'Take that staff you’ve been leaning on the whole time, and lift it up! ' Hold on! Can we talk for a second? 'God, two million people are following me! I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’m actually sick of walking. I’m not really comfortable with swimming! ' We know the end of the story, but come on! You brought me the water, and I can’t swim! You said you were going to deliver us! I know I can’t swim, so what do you want me to do? You want me to use what I have and give it new power? You want to use what’s been in my hand the whole time and give it new power to do a brand new miracle?
I’m going to say it one more time: You want to use this house that I’ve already been in? You want to use the paper where I wrote down my bills to write a book? You want to use this same piano that has bad notes on it to give me a song that the world will sing? You want to give what I already have in my hand new power to do a brand new miracle? Somebody say, 'I will! ' I will do it here! Ask your neighbor, 'What do you need to do? ' Look at them—silence, ashy around the mouth, booty cheeks tightening up. Look at them! Because the truth is some of you have been so deliberately disobedient that you don’t even remember what you’re supposed to be doing. You’ve been chasing after other people’s dreams with no purpose because you wouldn’t do what God asked you to do because it didn’t make sense here. You’re sitting here asking God to move, and He said, 'I’m not doing anything until you do what I asked you to do right here! '
Oh my gosh! Okay, see, this is going to be one—I need to walk through this. Y’all want to go back and let Rainer take over? That’s what he’s been trying to do, but you won’t do what he asked you to do. 'I need a new word from God! ' You didn’t do the last one! 'I will do it here! ' Here! Tamama, here! Matt, I’ve got to do it here! I am not waiting on a future moment that is not promised to me! Okay? Because the truth is some of us are arrogant with our lives, acting like somehow we’re over the time clock of our lives. Just because my grandma lived to 78 doesn’t mean I am going to live to 78! That is not a guarantee! And you are procrastinating now on what God has given you purpose and grace to do today. Your grace is not for anybody else except you!
When I learned this, it changed the way that I worship God with my life. I don’t worship God with just a song; I worship Him with my life! When He looks at me and He looks at you, He should see people trying to express their love to Him as a response to His grace towards us by the way we do what He asked us to do. That’s why I’m going to teach you how to do it here! Somebody say, 'I will! ' I will do it here! Some of y’all are writing things down right now because God is illuminating things He’s told you to do. You were supposed to be a camp counselor 17 years ago because He was going to develop a burden on the inside, you, like I, don’t like bugs, and I know I’m not sleeping in a bunk bed.
Your opinion of where God calls you, here, holy, has nothing to do with the purpose He has for you. God rarely trains you for the palace in the palace. Ask David; He usually trains you for the palace in the pasture. Many of you are saying no to the plan of God for your life because you don’t like where you are now. I was going to teach you at that job you’re trying to leave. Every day, you’re ready to hit «send» on the resignation. Okay, come on, I’m not going to ask you to wave your hand or raise your hand, but some of you already have resignations written. I dare you to do it today, today, today! I felt it; I woke up feeling like I was going to be free today, and you’re rebuking the place where God wants to give you revelation. Okay, somebody say, «I will, I will do it here.»
We’re going to look at Deuteronomy 11:1, Deuteronomy 11:13, and Deuteronomy 11:22. I know a lot of you might be thinking, «Where’s the Bible?» Here we go. Remember that love is the key ingredient for worship, and you have to have love, and then you have to express it. So, worship is love expressed. Everybody say that: «Worship is love expressed.» One more time: «Worship is love expressed.»
In all these verses, I want you to underline where you see love and then mark where you see how it’s expressed. Okay, Deuteronomy 11:1 says you must love the Lord your God and always look at how you express it—obey His requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. So there’s love and there’s expression. Verse 13: If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today and if you love the Lord your God, watch how you express it—serve Him with all your heart and soul. So we have love and we have expression. Verse 22: Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God; watch how you express it by walking in His ways and holding tightly to Him.
So we don’t just worship when we say, «I will worship» or «I will remember» or «I will express.» We just found out three new ways to worship: how to love God and express it. The first one is obedience. The reason why I’m telling everybody «I will do it here» is that God asks you to do things, and when you don’t obey Him, you are not worshiping Him. He’d rather you not sing the song and just obey. He’d rather you turn the playlist off and walk in purpose.
Okay, write it down: I will obey here. That’s your first point and really the only one you need. Because, yes, I heard you! The truth is, if you learn to obey Him here, it leads you to there. The reason here is holy is that you can’t go there without here. Some of you are trying to float by faith into purpose when God wants you to walk by faith into purpose. He’s not going to heal your heart if you won’t forgive. You keep saying, «Lord, just let me have a pure heart,» but you say, «Don’t touch them because I’m holding on.» Do you know when you start biting the lip and holding grudges? It’s venom to you, and God said, «Would you get that out so you can truly worship Me?»
Obedience is worship. I’m going to show it to you in the Word again. It literally says in Deuteronomy 11:1, «You must love the Lord your God.» That’s the key ingredient of worship. Here’s how you express it: and always obey. We could go home on that because nobody in here has always obeyed. I’m going to look deep into the camera—if you’ve always obeyed, stand up so we can applaud you. You better sit there! Anyone standing up? Stone them! No, I’m just playing. Always obey.
This is why the Word says things like this: «All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.» It should make everybody encouraged because when it says «always,» God knew we couldn’t do that, so He sent Jesus to be the one we hide behind so that we can become more like Him as we try. My trying is worship to God. When I get the instruction He says, «Obey Me here.» God, I don’t know if I can do this well, but I will try. Me being a pastor is me obeying God. I’m trying. I didn’t want to do this. This was not an «I will lead a church and have people critique me every week» type of calling. I didn’t want this. Nobody signs up for this. I got the call, and God said, «I want you to do this,» and I said, «I will do it here.»
You weren’t there when I started in youth ministry, but I was as passionate with my feet at that place as I am right here. Why? Because I didn’t know this was possible. If you knew the end, you would be like, «Okay, cool,» but it’s easy when you can see and taste the outcome. It’s faith when you can’t. So, for you to obey, that is worship, and it’s going to take faith. There are things God is calling you to do right now, and it’s starting to bubble in your heart. Some of you are in this service right now and you know you should be serving in a different area, but you’re sitting there.
You didn’t want to get up; you said the time was 7:30 to get up, and you were like «I don’t work there.» Come on, let’s be honest. God is saying, «Alright, don’t obey Me,» but you keep asking for a husband. He’s serving in an area that you don’t like right now, and you keep on saying, «God, I don’t want to be alone. God, I just want to be right where You are. God, give me what You have for me,» and you keep disobeying.
I don’t go to that gas station; I only go to the quick trip. I’m trying to give you practical ways to represent. «No, I don’t wear that out; I have clothes, but I told you today to wear the represent shirt.» Guys, obedience is not about how big or opulent it is; it’s about the small things that God continues to ask you to do because He’s trying to get His purpose done in your life. Somebody say, «I will, I will obey here, not there.»
So, I need to give you this analogy that really helped me. I’m going to give you what I call the war of three wills. Can you put it on the screen for me real quick? The war of three wills! No, no, no, let the screen go big so everybody in LA can see it, too. They all need to see what I’m showing.
This is what’s happening on the inside of everyone right now: the war of three wills. It’s my will—somebody say, «My will!» I will. I will, and His will. Y’all saw that? See, this is how my will looks! My will looks like whatever I want, however I want it. Y’all like this, don’t you? But to take your «my will» to—I look at that! Man, that brother’s been through something. When you submit your life to Christ and go from «my will» to «our will,» this is how your soul looks sometimes. But the truth is, you want to be in His will, empowered by the fire of the Holy Spirit. When I’m in His will, y’all see all that fire behind Him?
I’m going to preach this thing right here. There is something behind Him that is changing the atmosphere of His life! It’s not just what I feel; it’s what’s coming as a result of being in His will. I’m going to break this down a little more. Let me help you in my own life. What I found—put the chart up there real quick, because I think this is going to help somebody! Worship. Oh, y’all forgot, we’re still talking about worship! Do I need to play soft music so you can get it? Because worship is not just a song; it’s the way I live my life.
So my will—this is about to tell on me—my will is selfish. To move from my selfishness to «I will,» go ahead and put it on the screen for me, please. It goes into submission. How do you go from selfishness to submission? You’re going to have to have faith to know that you don’t know best. Some of you have planned your life down to the tiniest detail. You’ve created spreadsheets, Google Docs, and dream boards that have not gone the way you glued them up there.
Let’s be honest. The truth is: God is asking you or inviting you to worship Him by taking the selfishness and saying, «Alright, God, I will.» I’ll submit! Here’s another «S» word: I’ll surrender! I’ll do what I don’t want to do. I have a great plan, and He said, «Yeah, take your 'my will' and turn it into 'I will, '» because if you turn it into «I will,» you will learn that His will is sovereign. That means the old folks would have said it like this: He does what He wants to do, when He wants to, whenever He wants to, wherever He wants to. Some things we won’t be able to explain; that’s why Scripture tells us, «My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts.»
Even the greatest things that you can ever imagine are low-level thinking for Him. You don’t know how your obedience step right here is going to impact your life 20 years from now. You have no clue! Let me tell you a little story about one of the gentlemen who literally helped us acquire all this property around Tulsa. His name is Cordell. I met Cordell in a studio when I was 16 years old. He was the first person that ever recorded me playing drums at Wayman Tisdale’s Studio on Mingo. I went into this studio; he began to call me «young fella,» and literally, I didn’t know anything about pastoring. I barely read my Bible. I only watched «McGee and Me.» Some of you know something about that!
That man, almost 20 years ago, saw something in me that, nearly 20 years later, will allow him—not just him but him and his wife—to submit under the authority and leadership I have at this church. It was God’s sovereign will, because He knew I didn’t know how to buy any buildings! Okay, y’all? He knew that the purpose He had for me was beyond my capability to do it alone. How did running the soundboard have anything to do with buying the block? But the obedience here created a ripple effect in eternity for God to affect nearly two decades later. What are you messing up because you won’t obey? Somebody say, «My will. Will I will? Will His will.»
Let me give you a couple more. My will—this is the one I like. I like my will because my will is easy for me. I never pick the hard one! Come on, let’s be honest. If I’m going to pick, give me the easy one! But if you’re going to turn your easy «my will» into «God, I will,» it’s going to require energy. Let me give you another word: effort. And many of us won’t obey because we will not give the energy to it because we’re not getting paid for it.
We have built this theology that is not in the Bible: I will not work if I’m not getting paid. «I’m a boss!» «I’m a this!» «I’m a that!» You’ve got it on your tag, so don’t act like, because I said it in church, it’s not in the parking lot right now. I just read it on the way in— they’re going to try to say «96 Mercedes,» and it’s got «boss» on it, and you all know I’m telling the truth! All I’m saying is, do not let culture dictate your obedience. David did not get paid to take sandwiches to his brothers in the field. He was on his way to destiny, but it was something he had to do for free.
And I’m not talking about here at the church! I’m saying there are things that God is going to ask you to do that will take effort. It’s hard to give to people. «Oh no, she just came back; she went on break. Now I’ve got to go outside and look for her because God told me 30 minutes ago to give her $50, but I’ve been fighting with God the whole time. The meal was $16.19! If I do the math, that’s a good deal.» Look at y’all—y’all know your business! «$50? I was going to see 'The Little Mermaid, ' and I was going to get the big popcorn and everything!»
And then finally, by the time you get ready to obey God, she’s on break. Has this ever happened to anybody? It’s happened to me! And now you like, uh, you know, the one she’s kind of, uh, with, and she’ll be back in 15. Now you’re sitting in your car debating. But, Lord, she ain’t here. You don’t know if she’ll come back. You told me to be a good steward of my time, so it’s funny how we use the words. Okay, we finally see her coming up now, and it’s like, I don’t know her. You knew that 45 minutes ago; you didn’t know her. Well, I don’t want to seem weird. I don’t want to… you know, I watch First 48; they seem a little stalkerish. Y’all know how our minds start going when obedience 45 minutes ago would have changed her lunch break and freed up your time.
Slow obedience is still disobedience. What if our songs were no longer our highest form of worship? What if obedience was our highest form of worship? I don’t feel like it, but I’ll do it here. I don’t know what the outcome is going to be, but I’ll do it here. I don’t know what they’re going to think about me, but I will do it here. My will wants pleasure because the only reason I did it is that I wanted it easy and I wanted it to be pleasurable to me. But when you step into «I will,» it’s going to take energy, and guess what? It’s going to be painful. Churches don’t tell you this: when you come to God, everything’s going to be great—no, no, no. When you come to God, it’s going to hurt like hell because everything you used to run to for comfort is no longer an option.
When you come to God, you cannot say He’s the Prince of Peace and still go to the bottle for it. You cannot say that He is love and be slipping in and out of people’s beds. At some point, you’re going to realize that’s not where you get it from. Because the truth of the matter is, when you step into «I will,» you realize that His will is eternal and His will—the pain—is for purpose. Every piece of crap I’ve ever gone through has been so that God could get glory out of my life, and it sucks to say that, and it’s frustrating, but it is the truth. Or you can keep the crap, smell like it, look like it, and it just stays on you. Have you ever met anybody who never let God take the mess, so they live like it, talk like it, and smell like it? She said, «smell like it.»
This is what I want you to understand in my will. Watch this: a lot of times I do my will because I want to be seen. I want them to notice that I did it. Can I be honest? Half the stuff that I do… I’m just going to put this confession out there right now. Natalie, just know I love you, okay? So don’t judge me. But I like to wait until she sees me cleaning. I ain’t doing all this just for me; like, them Froot Loops can stay there, you hear me? But if you think I look strong while I’m… you understand what I’m saying? Fellas, know what I’m talking about? We ain’t just… I want you to see me. Anything else you need me to do?
As soon as she walks out, I’m like, «Oh, God, I can’t stand that.» I can’t. But as honest as that is, that’s many times what we do for God for others. I’m only doing it when I’m seen, and the truth is, if you have to move from my will and the «I will» says, «I don’t care if I’m seen—this is my sacrifice. This is what I’m giving as unto the Lord.» And when you get into His will, you understand that it’s all about salvation.
Somebody is supposed to be saved by me not being seen and sacrificing. That’s why, worship team, I honor y’all! I see everybody coming on Sunday; y’all were here on Thursday. Y’all listened to the songs over and over. We were here till almost midnight on Thursday. Why? Because you were doing what was not seen and sowing in sacrifice for somebody else’s salvation. Can we thank God for this? Y’all, what we have here is not normal. These people come and volunteer their time. But the truth of the matter is, it’s not for the platform. What I’m saying to you in your life is you have to understand that it’s no longer you that is living when you obey God; it is Christ.
Galatians 2:20—we’re about to go home. «I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I will live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.» Somebody say, «I will! I will obey!» Here, in Deuteronomy 11:13, it says to love the Lord your God and serve Him. So another way we can express our worship is, «I will serve.» Here, my question to you is, who are you serving right now? No, no, no; I need answers from you in your spirit. Who are you serving? And this is what I want to say: yes, your family is somebody you are serving, but outside of that, who are you serving? I want you to really take inventory of the last person you asked God to give you wisdom on how to serve them. Because that’s worship—it’s worship when I extend beyond myself, and from right where I’m at, I start worshiping.
Let me tell you a small story that the Holy Spirit brought back to my memory because Jesus is our example, right? And the Bible tells us that He came not to be served but to serve, and to become a ransom for many. So I want you to understand that whatever my hands find to do, whatever your hands find to do, there should be a part of that that is in service to others who cannot repay you. I just said a big statement because Jesus served us, and we cannot repay Him. How much did your sin cost? I mean, my sin is taxing, expensive—not just expensive. My question to you or my challenge to you is to worship God in service this week—not in song only. In serving, go out of your way to serve somebody who cannot do anything to enlarge your life.
I found that in church, people serve all the time. «Oh, is it for me? They want me to be where they want me to do what?» But if you don’t think that people sitting across from you are people who have gone through where you came from… Oh, hear what I just said? You forgot that’s where you were. Look at her—Dre, where were her clothes at the same place your clothes were when you got found out by God? Why do we act like somehow we become something we’re not? It should be our heart’s desire. When we see people who are where we used to be, we should go and serve them. «You’re new here? Hey, what’s going on, bro? Where are you from, man? Hey, yo, what are you doing this weekend?»
But y’all live that comfortable Christianity, though. «I’ll worship Him with a song but not with my service.» Can I say it to you how I feel it? Obbie, if your service does not match your singing, shut up. I didn’t know if I was going to say it. I didn’t know; I know La is watching. I didn’t know. But if your service to people who can’t do anything for you does not match all your singing, shut up. Nobody wants to hear you sing what you won’t live out. «I’ll wait on the Lord,» but you won’t wait on a person. You won’t hold the door open for them; they’re being too slow. Look at what! Those people served your bad kids all year, and you have the nerve to have an attitude because the program wasn’t perfect? Those are your kids, and you didn’t even bring them a chocolate or an apple. You didn’t say anything to them; you didn’t serve those people. Uh-oh, I got an attitude now!
Those people take the time to deliver your packages every day. You’re on Amazon like it’s crack, but you see them every day, and you don’t even offer one time to find out their name or leave them water. I’m not talking about elaborate. I’m talking about showing the love of Jesus intentionally to people who may not know. Somebody say, «I will worship! I will worship here! I will remember! I will here! I will express! I will express here! I will obey! I will here! I will serve! I will serve here!»
Last one: Deuteronomy 11:22. We’re going home. «Be careful to obey all these commands I’m giving to you; show love.» That’s the core ingredient of worship to the Lord. And how are we going to express it? By walking in His ways and holding tightly to Him. Last point: I will walk it out from here. He’s not calling for a future you to obey Him; He wants the one who still has the weed in the glove compartment. «No, no, no, no! God, let me get a few things together. Let me hold on; give me until June 13th.» That’s how we do. «Give me until June 13th; my birthday will be over, I’ll have taken my trip to Cancun, and I’ll be all yours, Lord. Let’s wait until the church gets to at least 300 people, and then I’ll…»
When the boss actually called… Like, the way you walk it out is from here. Here is holy, y’all! Every step we’re making is a step of faith. And this is what I began to think аbout: walking is about pace; it’s about finding the rhythm of worship. I just feel like somebody through this series is about to find a rhythm of worship. It’s a pace. It’s not competing with anybody else. Walking is not a competitive sport. I know some people still, you know, be in the mall just going—they’re going. But I want you to know that walking was the first level of rhythm that we found in the garden with Adam and Eve. God walked there; there was a rhythm, there was a pace. There was a way that we just moved together, and God is saying, «Would you find a new rhythm of worship, a new pace of worship—not just on Sundays?»
This is what we look like. This is what we hope to happen on Sundays. We come together, and we’re like, «Oh, we worshiped today!» And next Sunday we’re like, «Oh, I got to get over there.» «Well, give me till Sunday!» You got 52 leaps a year, no rhythm to your worship! And oh, it wasn’t like the last leap; I wanted the experience to be. And God said, «Would you stop jumping from worship experience to worship experience, and would you just start finding a rhythm?»
In the morning, «God, I worship You for who You are, but I’m not just going to worship You in song today». When I go work at this job that I don’t like—and you know I don’t like it—this is real prayers! I’m going to serve You with my excellence. I’m going to be on time, and I’m going to take the lunch break that they gave me. And on my lunch break, even though nobody will see it, I know You’re developing integrity on the inside of me. You said I’ll reap what I sow, and one day I do plan to be a boss. And so God, I thank You that today as I’m walking in the rhythm of worship, this is not a one-time thing or a leap on Sunday. As I walk in the rhythm of worship, You are seeing me! If nobody else sees me, it’s what we do out there that lifts Him up!
It’s what you do in the streets of Los Angeles, the streets of Orange County. It’s what you do when you’re going to the auditions, and the people overlook you, and you still say thank you and show grace. We got to walk it out! It’s so crazy that when you say, «Somebody say I will! I will!» When I say, «I will,» it activates God’s «I will!» Exodus 6 and 7—this is God talking: «I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who has brought you out from under the burden of the Egyptians. I’m the one that took you out of slavery.» God says when you surrender, He said, «I do stuff when you say I will from here.» He said, «I will do stuff you never imagined!»
I was telling the team on the way in: «Y’all, we are having church in this room! We are singing songs that God gave us in a house three years ago; we released these songs! People are being ministered to, healed. And then there’s a whole group of like 2,000 people in Los Angeles right now who did an outreach yesterday and served the community. Our church gave $100,000 to the LA Dream Center, and people, check this, over 500 people are about to get baptized today. Y’all, God said, 'Michael, when you said I will obey You, ' He said 'it activated an I will that could only be unlocked by your worship of obedience, by your worship of service, by your worship of actually walking this out.' I’m just telling you, you’re missing the things that God really wants to do in your life when you do not obey, serve, and walk it out. This is a true and reasonable act of your worship, so I will do it here because here is where He brought you!
You are here on purpose so that he could reveal his purpose to you. But if you don’t do it here, when will you do it? What has to happen? Who has to die? What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? These are the real questions that you need to ask yourself. Will you obey with just the word, or do you have to be weary to obey? Some of us have an issue because we only obey when it’s our last option, and God is saying, „Can you obey when you have other options?“ Can you turn „my will“ into „I will“ so that you can do His will today? As a church, we’re making a decision: I will do it here, here in LA, in the room all around.
Will you all stand up, please? The assignment is done for today. I need you to look all week for the signs of God saying, „Do it, do it, do it!“ No, no, no, no, right now—do it! Well, God, no! Everybody say it: „Do it!“ Nike, we need an endorsement: Just do it! All I’m saying to you right now is your obedience is going to be louder than your song. That’s why I can say, „Here is Holy,“ the book that I’m about to release. Can I be honest with my Transformation Church family? I didn’t want to really release it. She said, „What?“ Yeah, it’s hard to obey God when it requires you to be vulnerable. I’m going to get out here and tell you I’m damaged but not destroyed. I wanted it to be something else, like, „I’ll dunk on you,“ or, „I’ll destroy you.“
I didn’t want to seem weak. And God said, „It’s not weakness, Michael; it’s meekness. It’s strength under control. It’s me using every damaged area of your life to bring Me glory. I’m going to turn your pain into a platform. The next time they see you in Target, you’re going to be glorifying Me in the thing the enemy wants you to be ashamed of.“ He said, „Michael, here is Holy.“ Do you all realize when the spit hit the fan? It was the first week of the series „Here is Holy,“ the week it was part of my sermon. God, you’re funny! He literally made us have a whole sermon series to say, „I don’t want you to run from this. I gave you the example; I gave you the idea; I’m going to use it too.“
Stay right here; don’t fight back; don’t go off. Write the text and then delete it. I want you to sit; I want you to come spend time with Me. I need to rub all of that venom out of you. I need you to know how to relate to people who have been persecuted in the public eye. Because I’ve called you to help them. See the people you talk about? Call Me! And God told me He said I could not trust them with you until you understood their plight. So many of the people you’re called to help can’t even come to you because you won’t make it through here. No, I want to go out to the world. And no, you don’t! You want to stay right here because you haven’t obeyed what He told you to do for the high school football player while you’re trying to go get NBA and NFL players. I will do it here. You tell me to start the Bible study here and nobody comes? I will do it here.
If you tell me to become the PTA president, and you know I don’t have anything in common with any of those people, I will do it here. God can heal racism; y’all don’t hear me. Some of you are not even in a position to get that venom out of your heart because you aren’t around anybody who’s not like you. And God told you to be the president. You know my kid goes to a white school? Yes, you! Shaquanta is supposed to be the PTA president at that private school. Why? Because God’s going to heal you from the inside out. If He has to explain everything, you’ll miss the miracle. All I’m telling you today is I stand firm that here is Holy. Will you lift your hands in every room, from living rooms to the Fox Theater to right here at this South campus? Today, God, we are making a fresh commitment that here is Holy. And whatever it is for us, because our „its“ aren’t the same.
Some of us, you told us to do things a long time ago, and some of us today are getting fresh instructions. We are just saying, „God, we will obey You. We will worship You through our obedience, our service, and walking it out.“ From now on, we will say, „I will do it here because here is Holy.“ Even in that same atmosphere, as 500 people are about to get baptized in LA, if anybody is in here and they have never received Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, I want to give you the opportunity to do it here. It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. It took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody who was addicted to pornography, and had a lot of bad stuff in my heart. And God said, „Bring all of that to Me, and I will transform you.“
If you are in this room, or if you’re in LA, or you’re in the Fox Theater, or you’re watching online and you want to give your life to Christ, let’s do it right here. Some of you are saying, „Well, I need to clean up; I need to get some things straight.“ God said, „No, if you give Me your heart, I’ll help you change your habits. I’m the one who’ll help you do it.“ At Transformation Church, it’s a bunch of not perfect people; I dare say damaged people, who have decided that we’re going to bring our damage to Him. If you want to be the latest in the miracle of salvation today, on the count of three, I’m going to just ask you to raise your hand. Culture would tell you that you need to confess everything to everybody.
No, no, no, no, no. Right now, you’ve got to confess that He is Lord. Then we want you to get into some small groups or get some people around you who you can talk to; that’s where real healing happens. But right here, we’re repenting, we’re turning from how we were doing it, and we’re turning to Him. If that’s you and you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, or if you want to rededicate, come back to Him. On the count of three, boldly, I need you to lift your hand: one, you’re making a great decision; two, your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life; three, shoot your hand up all over. I see you, my sister; I see you! Oh, Transformation Church, in the room right now, in Los Angeles, in California, there are hands going up. Everybody, I see you, my brother. God bless you.
Now, Transformation Church, one thing you’ve got to know, whether we are here together or watching online, we’re a family; nobody prays alone. So today, we’re going to pray this prayer for the benefit of all of those who are coming to Christ. Could you just lift your hands as an international sign of surrender? This is where you go from „my will“ to „I will.“ That’s what Jesus said in the garden: „Not my will, but I want Your will to be done.“ Come on, that’s what we’re saying. Everybody just say:
God, thank You for making this moment holy. Today, I surrender my life and I give it to You. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again with all power just for me. Today, I repent. I turn to You. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, I will do it here. Whatever You say, I’ll do it here because here is Holy. In Jesus' name, amen.