Michael Todd - The Power of the Pair
We’re going to start week one of a series that we will call very simply «Kingdom Couples.» Now, stop! Hold on! Wait a minute! Don’t stop! Get it? I know everybody is in anticipation and thinking, «You know what I’m about to preach. You think this is Relationship Goals Part Three?» Not quite. Because what’s happening right now is that everybody is glorifying marriage, and most people are mismanaging themselves. We’re sowing and glorifying one of the most beautiful pictures in the world. It is the picture of Heaven on Earth. We’re talking about the Kingdom coming down; God chose marriage to be that sign for Him. Yet, half the people who get into it quit, even with love, even with bomb relationships.
That’s right, y’all know what I’m trying to say—they still have not figured out how to do it. So, we will talk about all of that in week three—romantic relationships, dating, and marriage. But I felt I needed to start out with all your relationships because some of you can’t get to a marriage relationship since it’s going to be a duplicate of the toxicity that was in your family. Before we get to a relationship with someone you love, we need to deal with your relationships with people you hate. Okay, here we go. By faith, I want us to start this series with a faith statement. This is the faith statement I want to start with: «I can have successful relationships.» I need everybody to say it with me: «I can have successful relationships.» One more time: «I can have successful relationships.» Most people don’t believe that. Most people want it but do not know if they can actually have it. By faith, I want you to know that God designed this whole thing for you to have successful relationships.
Now, listen to what I’m saying right now. No matter how bad your relationships have been, how non-existent they have been, how good they have been, or how toxic they’ve been, you can have better ones. If you start with that premise that you can have successful relationships and begin to focus on that, your focus pulls you forward. Anything you focus on is what you start moving toward. I believe that for so long many of us have had our focus on protecting our space and saying, «I’m not letting anybody kill my vibe!» Come on! We have stopped believing the best for relationships, so I want everyone in this room to say it one more time with faith. Even if you’re hurting right now, even if you’re in a season of loss, I want you to say it soberly, even if you don’t fully believe it right now. This is going to be a seed of crazy faith for you. Somebody say, «I can have successful relationships!»
Okay, so the word of the year is «Kingdom.» When I started to think about the word «Kingdom,» the Holy Spirit said, «One of my principles, Michael, that you have not talked about and you need to get to the people is the Kingdom principle of partnership.» I said, «What do you mean?» He said, «I want you to talk about Kingdom couples, but I want you to help them understand that a couple simply means 'two.'» Because most people think of a couple and envision a beautiful man and a beautiful woman coming together, but a couple means two.
I need more than one person to connect with another purposeful person who is moving toward purpose, so they can be a Kingdom couple, a Kingdom pair, a dynamic duo. Let’s think about some of the dynamic duos. Throw out some dynamic duos for me right now: Batman and Robin! Come on, give me some! Who? Shaq and Kobe? Somebody said, «LeBron.» I said, «No, who? Come on, give me a couple more!» Will Smith and Martin—oh, Bad Boys! Okay, okay, I’m with you; those are two different shows. Who? Key and Peele? Any more dynamic duos? Partnerships? Peanut butter and jelly—that’s a powerful one! That might be the most powerful. Thank you. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen—that’s a dynamic duo.
Okay, but let me submit to you that all the people you just named in those partnerships we may not know without the partner. No, no, Michael Jordan would have been great by himself, but there have been other great players who, without the right partner, never reached their purpose. Could you be living at a lower quality of calling and life, not because you don’t have it but because you have not aligned yourself with a purpose partner? Okay, the subtitle of this series is «Finding Partners for Purpose on Purpose.»
Because most people—the people you run with, the people you call «my partner"—most of them are due to proximity. You didn’t pick them; they were just around, or your partners were chosen because you only linked with people due to pleasure. Oh, it got real quiet now; booties got tight! The only reason they’re not even your type is that they answered the phone in the AM. Okay, let me leave it alone— that’s why you’re wiping sleep out of your eye this morning. I was just going to join the online church! And let me not forget about the people who partner up because of pain. Did you pick them, or did your pain pick them? Are these partners helping you with purpose, or did the dysfunction in your heart link up with somebody? What I want you to know is this season is about having partners for purpose on purpose.
Okay, so I need everybody to understand this as we move forward. My burden, as I was praying for you during sabbatical, was lifting you up every week—praying for your families, praying for your businesses, praying for your hearts, praying for your minds. Well, you may not know my name, but God does, and it is my job as a pastor to pray for you. As I began to pray for you, I just kept seeing people struggling with this one word, which is why this is my burden: isolation. I know you’re in a room full of people right now, but the truth is many of you feel very alone. I know you have a big family, but they don’t really know what’s going on. I know you have 2,964 Facebook friends, but none of them would actually be there for you if you lost everything. My burden is that the people of God now more than ever in history are becoming intentional with their isolation, and it’s robbing them of their Kingdom power.
Pastor Mike, why are you saying this to me? Because when you are isolated, it robs you of identity. When you don’t have anyone around you telling you, «You can do this! No, that ain’t you!"—if I took my daughter Gia right now, who is learning to talk and walk, and I took her to London and put her around a whole bunch of people who speak a different language and have an accent, she would automatically become a product of her environment, connections, or relationships just because of proximity. She would like tea and crumpets. She wouldn’t call them French fries; she’d call them chips!
See, y’all know what I’m talking about. Many of us are picking up accents, dialects, and customs that have nothing to do with the Kingdom, but it’s because we’ve been isolated, and because we’ve been isolated, we’ve lost our identity. Then when God tells us to do something, we become, watch this, insecure. It’s a great show, but it’s a bad way to live. When God calls you to do something, He says to be strong, and so many of us, due to isolation and loss of identity, are insecure, and we do not do what we know God has called us to do, and we end up living unfulfilled.
But in the Kingdom, somebody say, «In the Kingdom,» the Kingdom currency is about connection. When you establish connections, watch this, you gain confidence. Have you ever walked into some place with all your boys or all your girls? It’s a different vibe when you come in alone and say, «Hello, hi, my name is Mike.» That doesn’t even matter when you’re with your people. Yeah, you walk differently. I believe this is the season where your relationships have to give you confidence. This is the season when you walk in the wrong way, and your relationships have to turn you back the other way. This is the season where the people of God must come out of isolation. It’s so crazy that we’re three years away from 2020, but it’s still in you. Your calling has been quarantined still, and God is saying, «I need you to come out, and I need you to get these connections so you can be confident in what I’ve called you to do.»
Why is this important? Okay, because I know some people are like, «Oh, they’re doing this because they’re starting B-groups.» This was an actual accident; I had this message, Charles, and I’m telling you the truth—I had this message before I knew the day. I don’t come up with the days for the B-groups and all that other stuff; God does stuff, and this is a beautiful coincidence. The reason why this is important is because, write this down: God’s pattern is partnership. The thing we want to find out is how does God do things? His pattern throughout all of Scripture is partnership. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 9, and I’m going to read this to you, and I just hope it is clear because sometimes if the word is really fuzzy and you need a concordance and you need somebody to interpret, I think I found one that’s real plain about partnership.
Verse 9: «Two are better than one.» I don’t know if you need some interpretation, but two people—because everybody says, «Two are better than one"—like, two what? Two people are better off than one person, for they can help each other do what? Who wants to succeed in this next season of your life? What if I told you it’s going to take somebody else? Okay, somebody’s mad right now; I can already feel it. Why am I back? To transform your life here we go. «If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.» Someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. Somebody’s like, «That’s why I came for this series! I just want to be lying and warm!»
Stop it! But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone—watch this—can be attacked and defeated. This is not just spiritual; this is a natural animalistic law. If a predator is going to go after someone, who does he go after in the bunch? Not just the weak one, but the isolated one. The one who, because of a little pain, was a little further behind—the one who got frustrated that they didn’t get enough on the last kill, and so they distanced themselves. And the predator is watching! Who stopped going to church? Who’s binge-watching every chapter of that show but won’t open a chapter in the Bible? Who’s starting to watch this new-age manifestation post because she has the body you want but doesn’t have the spirit you want? Uh-oh, let me stop; I’m getting too close to somebody’s action.
A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back. Hey, I can’t see back there, but you watch out because we are about to whoop the devils! Just give me a few weeks to get back, and look what it says: it ups the ante—three are even better! He gives a requirement, but then he says, «You can take it to another level. You don’t just have to stop at two people; that’s just the bare requirement for the power to be released in your life.» Okay, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. God’s pattern is partnership.
Say it: «God’s pattern is partnership.» One more time: «God’s pattern is partnership.» Who are your partners? Hold on; stop before you claim them. Oh, don’t just—no, no, I just need everybody to take full inventory. Just because y’all like each other doesn’t mean that you’re in purpose together. Just because you work together does not mean you’re supposed to war together. Yeah, yeah. When I’m in my deepest moment, our talks around the cooler are not going to get me through. I need somebody who can fight—not in this realm, because the Bible tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. But many of y’all have friends who connect with you over fashion but can’t fight.
Let me stop, let me stop. It says two are better than one, and see, let me dispel this right now. This is not a marriage scripture. I know you always hear people standing at the altar saying, «Two are better than one.» This is God’s kingdom principle. He says two are better than one because they can help each other succeed. Two people praying are better than one person praying. Two people praising are better than one person praising. The Bible says it like this: «One can put a thousand to flight, but two"—not ten—"two can put ten thousand to flight!» It’s about multiplication. You don’t have enough with just you for the purpose God’s called you to. I’m sorry to be the one to inform you, but you don’t have enough by yourself. So I need everyone to accept this truth: write it down—there’s power in the pair! That’s the title of my message today: «There’s Power in the Pair.»
I want to bless somebody with something. Where’s my man at? Come here; I want to bless you. You know your pastor is back! I’ve been--hurry up! Okay, because I have a time limit. I told you, no, no, he’s trying to do the little jog—get up here! Y’all know the sexy jog. What’s your name, bro? Brian? I appreciate you, man; I want to give you something. Give me, uh, what do I want to give him? Ah, yeah, there it is! I’m gonna give you this AirPod. God bless you, bro! I’m a generous man; I love to give. Now, the problem is that he has it in his ear, but he doesn’t have the other one. So something can be going into this ear, but something completely different can be going into this one.
May I suggest this is what a lot of the body of Christ looks like? You haven’t partnered up yet, and so you haven’t received the full surround sound, the spatial audio of what God wants to do. But if I give him the other one—come on, and hold on—not just the other one, I have to give him the other one and the power source! See, his power—can you hear anything through that boy? No? Say no! You really gotta screen these people before I use them. No, I’m just playing; it’s the power source and the pair that will allow him to receive what is supposed to come in clearly. What’s your shoe size, bro? Thirteen? Okay, I got something else for you; here, I had these. I’m cleaning out my closet—that’s for you! Take them out, put them on. Yeah, yeah, yeah! He’s wondering, is this still an illustration? I don’t—I don’t. Yeah, but the crazy thing about it is—yeah, make sure it works, make sure it fits! There’s only one shoe!
Now this blessed brother is still putting it on; he doesn’t even care. He’s like, forget this white shoe; I’m gonna put on one. And that’s what we do; we know a part of God is better than none of it. But what we have denied is the power that comes in the pair! Give me the other—where’s that? Where is it? Throw it to me! I didn’t know you were wearing red today, but God did! It’s only that this whole outfit comes together with what he already had. Huh? When he puts on both of them, there is a power that is about to come to your life when you don’t just pray but you worship too! Oh, somebody say there’s power in the pair! You got a car? My example’s over; I’m just playing with you. Gone! He was like, yeah, take yourself. Yeah, take it. Yeah, take that! Did he take that?
What I’m telling everybody is until you get connected with the right partners, maybe we’re not seeing the full magnitude of what it’s supposed to be. And in this season, we cannot afford to have any relationships without return. I’m gonna say it one more time: we will no longer have relationships and invest in them, give time to them, give money to them, and give our hearts to them if there’s no return. It just takes from me; it’s a leech, it latches on, and it sucks joy, and it sucks peace, and it sucks my sanity. Half the reason you’re crazy is not because of you; it’s because of who you’re connected to. And now it’s time for our relationships to have a return.
Look at verse 10 of that scripture; it says, if one person falls, the other can reach out and do what? Help! But someone who falls alone, they’re in real trouble. There’s too many people falling out here with no one to pick them up. One disappointment, they leave God. One failed attempt at the business, and you never want to try again. It’s because the fall happened with nobody around to actually help you. And this is what scripture says: I’m going to tell you a truth and a promise that you can know—the fall is predictable because Jesus literally says, «In this world, you’re going to have trouble.» How many people have ever fallen in their life—like relationally, physically, emotionally? You did something stupid!
Okay, if your hand is not up, you’re a liar! Just real quick, in the house of God—liar! So the fall is predictable; whatever it is, but the pain can be padded with relationships. Let me explain it: the pain does not come from if you fall; it comes from how far you fall. If I was to fall off this stage right now into this hard concrete, that somebody’s like, «Do not do it, pastor! We just got your back!» But if I was to fall onto the floor, the fall wouldn’t hurt me. Listen! Hitting the ground? Whoo! So many people think the pain is in the fall; the pain is in what you hit and how far you fall from! Okay, how can I display this? Um, we’ll come here. Okay, somebody said, «Don’t fall!»
Will, where’s Brent? Is Brent here? Brent, come here! All right, I want to show you this real quick because the truth of the matter is I’m about to do a trust fall. Look at him! He’s hurrying because what he understands right now is that him being out of place as my partner can cost me my life. But whenever I’m talking, and I—no, I just need! Everybody’s laughing, but do y’all realize I still fell? I just didn’t hit! You gotta get the people in your life that no matter when you fall, it doesn’t matter how you fall; they’re the ones that can—y’all missed it! Y’all been walking around with these weak people, and God said, «You better find somebody.»
See, the truth of the matter is I fall all the time! Adam, now watch—I got scared! But even though it looked awkward, I’m in no pain! Oh, you better hear me! When you get the right people around you, the fall may look awkward. This is the type of friends you need around—friends that are anticipating. «He should not be dating her; he can’t move to that city.» Uh-huh! Friends for the fall! Not if you fall. When you get the diagnosis, nobody planned for it. When the miscarriage happened, when the building closed—when you do a—extreme example with spit! See, y’all missed it! Most of y’all wouldn’t have been around me! But I had a few people, when the world tried to come after me, the reason why I’m still standing here is 'cause I took a fall, but I had the right partners! There’s power!
Write it down in a point: how far you fall is directly connected to your friends! And some of y’all be like, «When they gonna sit down?» They came because they don’t know when I’m going to! Neither do you! Nobody wakes up and says, «Today’s a perfect day to be depressed out of my mind!» Come on, can we be honest? Some of us have prayed and fasted and that spirit just—it—it just, I know I’m supposed to lead prayer tonight, but I just—that’s why it’s good to look at him! Look! They say, «Hold on! We might just need to stand close!» Because the truth of the matter is even though I’m losing strength—oh, y’all, this is preaching right now! No, I’m good! I’m good! I’m good! I’m good! I’m good! I’m a grown man; I got kids, I got a job! Oh, these are the dumb excuses that we all make! I used to do that when I was younger—"65 years old, I’m a prayer warrior! I’m just so the Holy Spirit!»
No! The Bible says a righteous man falls one, two, three, four, five, six! I’m good, y’all! I’m good! I’m good! I’m good! And that’s a man walking with the Lord! Ah! That’s somebody who reads the scriptures and has quiet time! That’s somebody that knows how to worship. That person will fall seven times, but this scripture says if you fall alone with your Bible, with your therapy, with your scriptures, which show breathing exercises for you—"Oh, with all your breathing"—you still need some people! Do y’all see how different our relationship is in close proximity as opposed to them in the bleachers watching my life? Facebook friends, Instagram friends—all saw you! Those people in the bleachers of your life, and that’s why they can watch you fall and comment on it. But they can’t help you in it!
If I fail without them, everybody—that would not take away the pain and would not take away the consequences. And so this is what our life looks like. I’m gonna just camp out right here for my last four minutes—the power of the—put my destiny on the screen! Yeah, I want—I want you to see my destiny! My destiny is forward. Cinder, it’s this way! My destiny is what God’s called me to do—my purpose is going this way! How many people want to reach their destiny? The thing that God said, «Before I put you in your mother’s womb, I knew you! I called you! I–I want—I don’t just want to work a job or a career; I want to reach my destiny!» That well done is attached to doing what God called me to do!
Somebody shout, «Destiny!» The scripture is telling us that you’re going to be on this road of destiny in your life, and there’s destiny; then there’s disaster! All of us think we’re going towards destiny, but a lot of times, the cares of life get us discouraged, and with one decision, we turn away from what we know is right, what we know we worked hard for, what we prayed for. And with one—everybody say decision—because the greatest thing God gave you was choice! People were like, «No! It was His blood!» You still got to choose it, okay? That’s too—too theologically deep right there. Everyone’s like, «Huh?» Yeah, He’s not forcing you to love Him because it’s not love if you can’t decide! So what He does is He gives you a choice.
«I’ve set before you life and destiny and disaster, and I’m gonna give you the answer to the test: choose life, choose destiny!» But if we’re honest, y’all, many of us have been like, «Forget this! It’s too hard! Ain’t nobody in my family ever reached destiny! This addiction can’t take me to destiny!» So we turn around, and we head in systematic steps towards disaster and disastrous trash! I mean sleeping with four or five people every week but still lonely! Got that paper—no peace! I’m significant, but you’ve lost sensitivity! And the only thing—sometimes I’m just submitting—sometimes the only thing that can stand between you going towards your destiny and making a decision to go towards disaster is the right partner!
Well, part of us having partners is they get in the way when we want to do wrong! Now, I know everybody in here is religious, and you and Jesus—that’s all you need! But that’s not all Jesus needed! If anybody could have been just on their own—doing their own thing—it could have been Jesus! But He decided—and this is what I found—that there are three reasons why people go towards disaster. It’s not all of them, but it’s the main ones; like a lot of these are the reasons. Number one, write it down: because some of y’all in this category—a lot of people turn away from their destiny and go towards disaster because you’re just wild! Oh, you thought it was gonna be something profound or deep; you have made a partnership with the devil! You are willingly waking up every day, listening to music you know ain’t gonna make you a man of God! I got three; I got four; I got five; I got six! And many of us are just wild!
When I start wilding, but all of us can have a moment of wilding, my question is: who’s in your way? No, it’s my birthday though! I see y’all! I’ll be seeing y’all! Who’s the friend? «I’m about to take—I’m about to—no, don’t! It’s not worth it! Zip it back up, zip it back up!» Okay, and some of y’all have nobody in the way: «It’s my birthday; by that time, get out my way!» 'Cause you know I don’t have no friends by that time! Now your relationship is in the trash; you have a disease! God, why would you let this happen? Because you wouldn’t get in a relationship! Nobody knew; nobody picked up your phone; nobody saw it on the table; there was nobody around you when they was like, «You coming through?» Who is?
Some of y’all need to take the locks off your phone! Did you see how quiet it just got? Oh! 'Cause everything you’re looking at ain’t leading you to destiny! You’re rolling—you check the Shade Room every morning! «Oh, she said—oh my God!» I’m not saying that you don’t gotta know! But the first thing you let into your spirit, you out! Let me give you another reason, because everybody ain’t wilding; some people—watch this—are wounded. «I gave everything to that job, and the first time they gon' acknowledge me, then they lay me off! Done with this!»
No, no, hear me. It’s not worth it! I gave everything to them, and they never acknowledged me! I made them millions of dollars—they never acknowledged me, and they never let me go. «I have a family—so let’s… yes!» So let’s—let’s. All right, who’s the partner that’s giving you power? Who’s telling you, «Cuss, and then we’re gonna pray about it?» Oh! Because being a partner is not being God! Hold on! Because some of us—I can’t be a partner; they’re just full of the devil! Hold on! We all got something in us that ain’t the best! But could you be a partner to let somebody process but still lead them towards purpose? Somebody said, «Watch him! Will—no, no! I just—I just want to go! I just want to!»
There are other things; there’s nothing over there! I see a lot of people acting like it’s fun—not for you! I see a lot of people posting like it’s fun—it’s not! I mean, but they’re outside, you know what I’m saying? Taking trips, taking sips, doing their dips. That’s better—that’s better! Going this way is better! Way better! It’s harder though; that’s okay! Better! It’s worth it! Not a lot of people are over there! Here I am, God! Yo, humble serving! Sick of doing the right thing, but Spirit, lead me where my truck is out of commission, and sometimes it feels like that. Come on, y’all, but think about this: I would have already destroyed my life twice had I not had a partner. Some people act out because they’re wildin', some because they’re wounded, but other people do it just because they’re weak. I can’t take another hit; I can’t take another loss.
That was my favorite cousin, and they’re gone at 32. I can’t do it, God. If you’re that good, why did you let something so bad happen? Some of us give in. I was abused by my youth leader; that church didn’t see me. I’m talking about people who love God, but the only reason they go back is because they’re weak. What I’m asking everybody is, number one, understand you need a partner. And for all the people who think I’m being dramatic right now and think this is too much— it ain’t that deep. I mean, you could take a few steps back and a few steps forward, and you could hit the Cha-Cha Slide and the Dougie. That’s what most of us think because they have nobody in their lives.
They think that when they dig you back and they’re worth it, they go, «Whoa, whoa!» — but they haven’t faced disaster yet. They think they still don’t need anybody, but look what Scripture says in James Chapter 1, verse 14: temptation comes from our own desires. Oh, they tempted me! No, you’re tempting yourself. You can’t tempt something that isn’t there. I don’t like seafood, so when someone comes in with a bunch of seafood, I’m not like, «Oh my God, I don’t like that!» But come in with some Chinese food— Kung Pao, orange chicken, fried rice, egg rolls— you come in with any of that. Why? Because I’m tempted by my own desires. I mean, he’s six-foot-six, and he does have pectorals and abs. I don’t know why I felt that warm sensation; it’s because you’ve already decided that’s something in you that you desire.
So I need you to hear me: temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away from our purpose. These desires have a baby and give birth to sinful actions, and when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. You do this alone, and you have any desires in you that aren’t like God. We all do. Without anyone there, it’s a magnetic force. Now I’m still looking for it, but that government— oh, I ain’t there yet. I’m getting close, and somehow we end up in the trash. Well, so my relationships look trashy; so my business looks trashy; this is how my emotional health looks trashy. Who needs counseling? Not me! I’m a grown man.
I don’t want everybody looking at me; they don’t know what it’s like to live this life like me. They want me to talk to people looking for a husband. That’s what y’all be doing— you want somebody to come find you in the trash. You aren’t in a relationship with any young ladies or women that can help you see your flaws, see your blind spots. So what do you do? You isolate. I worship you, Lord; you’re a good, good Father. Join a B-group! «Here I Am to Worship» — sir! Some of y’all say, «Well, I’m an extrovert.» You’re like trash over here— «What up, baby? Oh yeah, hey shorty; come join me in the trash.» Light skin pug! We knew you were trash from the beginning, yet you’ve been in four relationships with the same guy, and you find him at the same dumpster. We never ask why they got to trash, but we join people there. God’s saying, «I need you to get the right people in your life.»
Let me just level with you: when I look at the Scriptures and Jesus’s pattern— remember what I said at the beginning? This is a kingdom principle that God brings together partners. When Jesus gives the Great Commission and tells the disciples, «I want you to go out,» he gives them literally the greatest command ever! He says, «I want you to go and take this gospel everywhere. I want you to go in and heal the sick, deliver people, and represent my name, and when you do that, people will be transformed everywhere the disciples place their hands.» Then he says, «Oh, hold on one second, guys! I can’t send you out by yourself. I’m going to send all of you out in pairs, two by two. Go into that city; don’t go alone. Because if they come after you, one of you has to hit them with the loaf of bread while the other prays. Somebody’s gotta catch.»
We need, and if Jesus decided to send the first people out to transform the world as apostles two by two, how in the world are you going to do life in 2023 by yourself? So today, all I’m asking is for everyone to embrace this thought: God desires for you and for us to never be alone. Well, Pastor Mike, that’s risky! Love is. Well, I’ve been hurt before. There’s nobody in the world who hasn’t, but it’s better to have lived and actually loved than to not love at all. I’m asking all of you who feel like, relationally, a lot of your relationships— romantic, business, even in your social life— are in the trash, just ask God for the desire to try again. Oh, this first Sunday, I don’t want, «Lord, give me the relationship.»
Just ask him for the desire! «Burn before.» But God, would you please just give me the desire to do it the kingdom way? Would you just give— I had said I’d never be married again, and I meant it, because if another man breaks my heart, I’m going to be on the first 48! I know we’ve made vows, and we ought to make inner vows, but I’m asking you, try again because if you ask God for the desire, guess what he’ll do? While you’re in the trash, he’ll send people— he’ll send people you aren’t even looking for! You’re mad like Oscar the Grouch— «What’s up? No man, I like the trash! I love my life!» Ah, I’m not even helping you! He’ll bring you people who are strong enough to carry your issues.
Everybody couldn’t have picked me up, but the right people God sent can handle my issues. And then guess what happens? I love the word of God! When I start going toward my destiny and I get some healthy people behind me— «Get behind him, Brent!» See, because what it does is breed multiplication. When I find the right partner, and they find the right partner, and the right partner finds the right partner— come up here, Charles! Come up here, Bishop! Come up here, Scotty! Come on, Moe! These are real people in my life. The reason I can’t fail in this life, the reason why I cannot go and stop the calling of God that he’s called me to do— the internet can cancel me a thousand times, but the reason I’ll never stop obeying God is that I’ve got too many people depending on me to put my life in the trash. I can try to juke one; I can try to spin moves; I can get through. It’s too much work to deny the calling of God on my life, and too many of us find it too easy.
What happens is— everybody, put your hand on the one in front of you! If you’re in the back, that’s my dog. Ask my dog for sure! If Charles pushes us forward— listen, this is what it looks like to be pushed into purpose! Now I’m no longer concerned about going back; I’m being pushed into purpose. Today, church, I’m asking everybody to find the power, and it may not be in another program; it may not be in another product. Some of y’all are on Amazon, looking for what’s going to help you! No, it’s found in the call you keep ignoring: the person you won’t go out to lunch with, and for some reason, they’ve been drawn to you. And you’re like, «Uh, I don’t like the way they dress.» I mean, so many times, we use superficial things to keep the answers that we need out of our lives!
I heard it said like this: when God wants to bless you, he sends people. Subsequently, when the devil wants to hinder you, he sends people. All my partners have to be for purpose on purpose! Everybody, stand all over this room! Y’all, we’re just getting started! I’m back; we’re just getting— I just started this because somebody’s like, «Pastor Mike, it’s already a disaster.» But when the Holy Spirit allows people, or even this message, or even faith, to come and lift you up, what he does not want you to do— everybody, listen to me! — you may miss the most important part of this message. He doesn’t want you to run from what your life used to look like. What he wants you to do is to take the trash with you— all of the frustration and all of the pain! He wants you to bring it, and he wants you to turn your pain into your platform! Oh, the worst season of your life is about to turn into the reason why they called you.
The thing that you thought was going to take you out is the thing that’s going to lift you up! This is the season where we really believe that all things, including the trash, work together. This is why God brought you here. This is why somebody sent you this message; it’s because you’re about to find people to partner with to reach your purpose! Amen. Okay, real quick, real quick, real quick! Okay, so if you’re in here and there’s any place in your life where you know you’ve been living in isolation, we’ve gotta start there. This is not— hear me— for young people. There are more seasoned saints living in isolation now than ever before because, «I lost the person I was married to,» or «the people who love me, and I don’t want to start over again.» Can I tell you something? It’s worth trying again. The Bible says, «Your latter shall be greater than your former.»
Your best days are not behind you; they’re part of your destiny. But if you’ve been dealing with isolation, I want everybody to be humble, open, and transparent. Watching online, in this room— if you’ve been dealing in any area of isolation and you have been relationally closed off, and you haven’t wanted to find or maybe you just didn’t want to try again, or maybe you know the people you’re around are not it— come on, let’s just be honest; stay there, but they’re not going to take you there! If that’s you, I just want you to lift your hands right now! Come on! Yes, the Lord is in the room, and I’m about to pray a prayer of partnership. This is what we’re going to do: we’re going to partner with God so that he can bring us the right partners. We’re not going to go to the partners because some of y’all are like, «Let me get on Facebook tonight. Let me get on Tinder tonight. Let me get on Black Planet tonight.»
Stop it! We’re going to go to him, and he’ll bring us them. And if you don’t and can’t find them, become them. Because some of us have been thinking this whole time, «I need to find out where my partner’s at,» and God said, «You’re a horrible partner! Can I make you into something before you desire to have it?» Hands lifted all over this place!
Father, I thank you that you’ve put your name on me, and part of who you are is Friend! You tell us you will be a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Father, some of us have taken falls that we haven’t really been able to recover from because we didn’t have the people around us we needed. And Father, even for some of us, we weren’t the people we needed to be for the people in our lives. Today we’re bringing all of that to you, and God, we’re asking you to give us this mentality of kingdom couples! Let us find partners for purpose on purpose. I come against the lies of the enemy that come to isolate, divide, cause dissension, and disunity. I pray that the spirit of forgiveness would erupt in this place. I thank you, Father, that the spirit of love— Father God, I thank you, Father God, that you would allow the grace that you have given us to be extended. And God, I’m asking you for fresh starts! In the name of Jesus, people have been in abusive cycles; people have been entangled in layers of life. I thank you for snatching them out of disaster and out of the trash, and I thank you, Father, that you will put them on a course toward destiny. For the person who’s just hearing about you today, and the person who’s walked with you forever, I thank you that this next season will be a season of partnerships for power. I thank you that our purpose has no chance not to come to pass when we connect with the right people! Father, let us see our partnership with you as our most important partnership, and then show us who we’re supposed to be around for purpose and on purpose. In Jesus' name…
If you’re under the sound of my voice, listen: if you’ve never partnered with God, I want you to get that partnership right right now. I don’t care why— this is on your baby mama; she sent you the link, and she told you y’all can’t go on date night until you watch this sermon! God bless you; you’ve got a good woman! I want you to hear this is what it’s for because God wants to be in partnership with you. If you’re in this room and you’ve been doing your life alone, you’ve been running, you’ve been living in the trash, you’ve been hiding bad thoughts and negative situations. God’s saying, «Would you bring that to Me? I want to be your Lord and Savior. I don’t just want a moment with you; I want to walk with you for the rest of your life.» It is the greatest decision that ever happened to me.
When I was in the trash of my thinking, watching pornography every night and walking with all kinds of evil desires in my heart, I felt drawn towards those things. God said, «Would you bring Me your heart? I’ll help you change your habits.» I’m telling you, I’m not a perfect man, but I’m a progressing man, and the only reason I’m going towards Jesus is because now I’m focused on Him. I’m telling you, there’s no amount of self-help that will help you reach purpose until you invite the Prince of Peace into your life. If that’s you and you want to make Jesus your Lord and Savior, I don’t care how much money you have or what socioeconomic class you live in; you’re still bankrupt in your soul without Him.
If you want to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior, tomorrow is not the day; today is. On the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands. You don’t have to tell me everything you did; He was there. He knows, but He’s saying, «Would you acknowledge Me so that I can come in?» Jesus, over 2,000 years ago, went to the cross, taking every pain, burden, and every lie that you would believe. He hung on the cross in your place for all the sins that all of us would commit, and all He said is just accept what I did for you. It’s unmerited, unearned grace. I believe that for many people under the sound of my voice, today is the day that everything changes for you. On the count of three, just shoot your hand up if you want to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior. One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two, I’m proud of you, but more than that, your name is about to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Three, just shoot your hand up all over this room. I see you, sister. I see you, man of God. I see you, my brother. I see you.
Come on, there are hundreds of people in this room. Oh, I need y’all to shout with me! I know there are so many more online. So proud of you. You can put your hands down. Religion says, «Now confess everything so we can make you feel bad and you can be on the lowest part of the totem pole and work your way up to grace.» That’s what people say. Jesus says, «Here’s a robe, here’s a ring, here are some sandals. I’ve got a seat at the table for you. You’re already royalty.» So I want everybody who just made that decision or who said, «I didn’t raise my hand but I want to,» to say this prayer with me. At Transformation Church, we’re a family; nobody prays alone. So I want everybody to say this for the benefit of our new family. Just say:
Lord, thank You for saving my life out of disaster. Today, I ask You to be my Lord and Savior. Come into my life and change me. I need You to help me be everything You’ve called me to be. I believe You died and rose again with all power. Today, I make You my Lord and Savior. Renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, amen.