Michael Todd - What Can God Do With Damage
At every campus, I dare you to take five steps and give God the greatest shout of praise. How is that the best you’ve got? Elevation, God has been too good! And another one! Hallelujah! Now I just want to see who’s here right now, because when the music was hyped, everybody was praising. But at every campus, right now, I want you to praise God, no matter what the atmosphere around you is doing. Where are the real praisers at? Are they in Toronto? Are they in Orlando? Are they at Hallelujah? Uh-oh, I think somebody came with their own praise this morning! Yeah! And I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praises shall continually be in my mouth. If God has been good to you this week, if God has been good to you throughout your life, just one more time, at every campus, let’s make this about Him right now! You got it! It’s all about Jesus!
Get out of here, high-five your neighbor and say, «Today’s going to be a good Sunday!» Oh come on, at every campus, today is going to be a good Sunday! You may be seated. Oh my goodness, it feels like I’m home today. I bring you greetings from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I get the privilege and honor to be the lead servant at a church called Transformation Church. Shout out to Transformation Church right now! Transformation Nation is joining us. It’s Elevation and Transformation right now together. It’s what we call Kingdom. At the end of the day, it’s not about a church, a logo, or anybody in particular; it’s about Jesus and the kingdom of God being advanced in this earth.
So today, as this is Pastor’s Appreciation Month, I have to stop and thank God for two of the greatest pastors in the world, Pastor Steven and Holly Furtick. At every campus, y’all don’t know what y’all have here! Can we thank God for the man and woman of God? Thank you! Somebody got some sense! Y’all are spoiled! Don’t let them come to Tulsa! We’ll treat them right! And for every campus pastor, every children’s pastor, every parent who’s a pastor because you’re parenting in your home, we appreciate you. Today, I’ve been sent on assignment, and they only gave me 22 minutes to preach! Just kidding! But this week, I feel like I have a prophetic burden. This is not a message that’s warmed up, like, «I’m going to Elevation Church, let’s preach this.»
No, no, no, no, no! I’ve been praying about the people who would be in this room, watching this on rebroadcast, and who would be in Tulsa. God gave me a burden I’ve been carrying all week because there are many people in this room who have been hurting, distracted, and devastated by damage that happened to you in another season. Now this message is not for everybody; it’s only for people who’ve experienced damage. Somebody’s like, «Not me!» Liar. Let’s be hot, humble, open, and transparent. If you have experienced damage in any area of your life—relationally, financially, physically, emotionally—would you please just let everybody feel comfortable and raise your hand right now? Come on! If your hand is not up, Lord!
This week, I released a brand new book called «Damaged but Not Destroyed.» The reason I tell you this is that I wanted people to understand the journey of going from trauma to triumph. Right now, in this day and age, a lot of people are staying in the trauma; they’re glorifying the trauma, making the trauma the excuse. But my Bible says when God gets in the mix of something, it cannot stay the same! Many of us have been working to keep our excuses the same. Today, I came to help you be delivered! Today, I need your faith and expectation to go to another level. At every place that you are—listening to this on the treadmill, in Tulsa, or right here in this room—God is coming to move you out of the paralytic place you’ve been! And by faith, your damage will no longer define you!
Okay, let me get into this. My burden is to tell you, write this down: the value is still in you. I know that people tried to tell you what you would never be. I know that getting denied from that school made you feel something insignificant. I know when they didn’t hire you at Elevation Church, you felt that thing in here. You thought that their «Elev» was God’s elevation for you. Today, I came to tell you no matter what you’ve lost, the value is still in you! Somebody say, «The value is still in me!» You didn’t say it with your chest! Say it with your chest: «The value is still in me!» I need you, at every campus, with faith, say, «The value is still in me!»
So act like it! Stop coming into the presence of God acting like He didn’t put Himself on the inside of you. He said, «Holy Spirit, Jesus let’s make man in Our image.» That wasn’t your body first because it was three spirits talking. So what did He make first? He made your spirit! He made the thing that will never change. He said, «I’m in you!» And if I’m in you, there is nothing, anything, and nobody can do to you in this world that takes away your value! Oh! Okay! And the lie of the enemy, listen to me, is that the more life you live, the more value you lose. We act like our lives are like a car going off the car lot; that as soon as we drive it off, it depreciates. But I came to tell somebody right now who has been in a place of wondering if God still wanted to use you: the person with the two divorces, the value is still in you! You lost your second business; the value is still in you! Y’all better help me! You’ve been in the same cycle for 50 years; the value is still in you! The woman who’s been promiscuous and the young man who has a body count more than we can count: the value is still in you!
Now, I know there’s a brick wall that I’m talking to right now because some of you have believed the lie so long you don’t see yourself how God sees you, and today I’m about to shake you up! I’m ready to fight the devil! Oh y’all, I’m tired of seeing God’s people, the same ones that come in here and sing these beautiful songs, walk out and feel that God has no purpose for them and that they can’t move forward! Somebody say, «The value is still in me!» Still! Okay! So, Ephesians 2:10, don’t just put this on an Instagram post—believe it for your life: «For we are God’s masterpiece.» That’s a nasty Bible right there! I want you to think about something that you think is beautiful, and the creator of the universe says, «Out of everything I made, I’m going to call you my masterpiece.»
If we’ve got paintings in Paris and in museums that I don’t even know how to pronounce, and they call them priceless, how much more are you worth to God? Okay, okay! This is the tension I need us to wrestle with this morning: I am valuable, but I am damaged. This is the tension because I know God thinks I’m His masterpiece—created anew in Christ Jesus; glory to God! But every time I get mad, I still want to curse! Oh, y’all going to be fake? You were in traffic this morning saying some stuff! You better quit it! I am the righteousness of Jesus Christ, but I still get mad at my kids! Okay, oh God! I got to go back home because this section is acting bougie. I’ll do anything for you, Lord, except give up the cake! Your sin is not lust; it’s gluttony! Okay, can we be honest? Does anybody that loves Jesus still have some «I still…»? I still deal with comparison. I still look at what I’ve done and disqualify myself from what God wants to do!
Somebody say, «I still!» This is the tension of being called by God, is that I know I’m valuable, but I still have some things that God’s healing on the inside of me. And what the enemy would try to convince you is that you are too damaged to be able to do what God said because you still have some areas that God is working on you. For all the perfect people, raise your hand! Because the only person that would be perfect on this earth is Jesus. And if you’re waiting for everything to be perfect before you start doing what God’s called you to do, you’re going to be waiting forever! God is saying to us right now, «Would you bring me your damage?»
This is the journey I’ve been on for the past four years. I was here five years ago; since then I’ve learned I’m damaged, and if I just sit in that, I get defeated. But if I bring my damage to the only one who can handle it, He will turn my damage into something that pushes me to—everybody say it—Destiny! Destiny! Okay, so today, I’m going to title this message—oh, I’m about to preach to you in the next 15 minutes. I don’t know why I started jumping like Tiger, but I’m telling you, I’m going to preach a message and this is what we’re going to title it: What Does God Do with Damage? What Does God Do with Damage?
The first thing I want to tell you that God does with damage—I’m going to use this Old Testament character that a lot of people don’t talk about because simply they can’t say his name. His name is Mephibosheth. I know I don’t know what his parents were thinking, but there are a lot of Davids around here and a lot of Phillips—not a lot of Mephibosheths in 2023. This young man named Mephibosheth was in line to be the king of the entire country. But I need to set a little backstory so you understand where Mephibosheth’s damage came from. Okay, so I’m about to show you some pictures because I like to make stories come alive in the Bible. This is by no means biblically accurate; church folks, just bear with me.
There was a king named Saul. Could you put him on the screen? In my mind, in the movie of my mind, this is what Saul looks like. He once was anointed by God, but he stopped obeying the commands of God. He wanted the position but did not want to follow in obedience. Be careful when you’re walking in a position and you stop obeying! God took His hand off of Saul’s life, and he had to raise up another king. We’re just going to walk through this. But then Saul had a son named Jonathan. This is, in my mind, what Jonathan looked like. This was Jonathan—okay ladies, calm down! That’s just Idis. But in my mind, this is what Jonathan looked like. Jonathan was Saul’s son; he was in line to be the heir to the throne. But when Daddy disobeyed, it took away the son’s inheritance. The reason we’ve got to deal with our damage is because what’s not transformed is transferred.
The reason we’ve got to go to counseling—we believe in theology and therapy—uh-oh! I’m going just pray about it? You need to pray about it and go to a practice! You need to get in an e-group and community and you need to go to counseling! You need to worship and do the hard work! That’s what some of y’all came for right there! But Jonathan now has a son, and his son’s name is Mephibosheth. Okay, so Mephibosheth is crippled! And I’m going to show you a picture of what Mephibosheth looks like in my mind. Okay, so it’s Saul, it’s Jonathan, and it’s Mephibosheth! Okay, now watch—somebody’s like, «Is that my brother?» I saw you! I know him! There was one more character in this story; his name was King David. And this is what King David looked like, in the movie of my mind right now. Okay, King David, put him on the screen for me real quick! I don’t know, it’s just wrong!
Okay, now that everybody has this movie in their head, this sets the story for where we find King David after Mephibosheth is now in a place where he’s been damaged. Watch this: 2 Samuel 9:3. One day, David asked—he’s King now—"Is there anyone in Saul’s family still alive? Anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?» Because Jonathan and David were boys. Ziba replied, «Yes! One of Jonathan’s sons is still alive; he is crippled in both feet.» «Where is he?» the king asked. «In Lo-debar,» Ziba told him, «at the home of Maker, son of Ail.» So David, watch this—sent for him and brought him from Maker’s home. Now, I want to point out the hater in this story; his name is Ziba. Ziba has the ear of the king. The king asked, «Is there anybody left that I can show kindness to?» and he says, «Yeah,» and does not say his name; he says his condition. Be careful when people describe you by your condition and not your name! He said, «Yeah, there’s somebody left, but he’s crippled.»
There’s somebody left, but they’re a liar. There’s somebody left, but they’re not faithful. And the reason that this young man was crippled, Mephibosheth, was not his own fault. And that’s why I want to let you know you have to make sure you don’t allow people to make your issue your identity! No! Hear me! You did it; you are not it! Can we be honest? Some of us have some foolish things, but do not let your issues or anyone else’s make your issues your identity. He tries to describe himself, and the truth of the matter is, like most of us, Mephibosheth was damaged, not because of his own fault. When I think about most of the pain in my life, I’m going to be real about me: I got damaged. Most of it happened before I was a teenager. The insecurity did not begin when I was 28; it started at 12. You see how quiet it is? That drive to go and perform and excel is because they didn’t see you unless you got a trophy.
So, at 6 years old, you knew you couldn’t just say what you needed; you had to prove you were worth looking at. The greatest time to kill a king is when he is a child. The reason the enemy has been after you since you were young is that there is a king in you, and the greatest time to kill a king is when he is a child. That is what they tried to do to Moses—kill every child under the age of two. That is what they tried to do to Jesus. Some of us have been dealing with our damage since we were young. This is what I need you to know: you are so special. You’ve always been a threat to the devil. Now hear what I’m saying: the attack on your life from a young age has been because if you ever walk fully in the dominion that God has given you, if you ever were fully free from the insecurity of «I can’t do that» or «I’m not like them,» if you ever just said, «But he is with me,» and if he is with me, who—everybody say «who"—can be against me?
2 Samuel chapter 4, I’ve got to move. Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth who was crippled. I’m going to show you where his damage happened. He was 5 years old when he got damaged, and the report came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle. When the child’s nurse heard the news, she picked him up and fled. But as she hurried away, she dropped him, and he became crippled. What happens when the person who is supposed to care for you damages you? I’m not going to get too much into your business, but some of your issues are with your mama, and some of your issues are with your daddy, and some of your issues are with the people who are supposed to care for you. They dropped you. Uh huh, uh huh. I’m about to deal with it because the damage is no longer going to define us. I feel the presence of God already.
If there’s anybody that feels like your damage is too big for God, let me just run a list down for you of people that God used who were damaged: Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer and a wanderer, Jacob was a liar, Leah was unattractive, Moses was a murderer with a stutter, Gideon was afraid, Samson was a flirt—let’s be real and politically correct—Rahab was a prostitute, David was an adulterer and a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran away from God, Job went bankrupt and lost everything, John the Baptist ate bugs—that’s just weird. Peter denied Jesus, the disciples fell asleep while Jesus was praying, the Samaritan woman had been divorced five times and had a sex addiction, Zacchaeus was too small and stole money, Paul was too righteous, Timothy had an ulcer, Lazarus was dead, and Michael was addicted to pornography—and my God still used all of us.
Uh oh, uh oh. You’re about to make me run because there are some people that know that God can do his best work with damaged people. If you believe it, give God a shout of praise. I feel my help coming on. Write it down: God does his best work with damaged people because his strength is made perfect in our weakness. So why won’t you show him your weakness? You’ve been trying to keep it together for everybody, and God says if you want to hold it up, do it. I’ll be here when you want to actually come clean. So what can God do with your damage?
First point: he calls for it. Everybody that’s trying to hide your damage, good luck. When Mephibosheth is in a place called Lo-debar, a place of nothing, with no pasture, no fruit growing, the king says, «Is there anybody?» And they say, «Yeah, there’s this one dude.» He said, «Go get him. I’m calling for the damaged. You’re broken—I like that; you’re fractured—come on.» He calls. What can God do with damage? He calls for it. Some of you have not been answering the call. «No, I’m just going to be a businessman.» He said, «I want you to be in that field, but I want you to bring all your damaged areas to me so I can raise you up as a testimony in that area.» Some of you today, all God is saying is, «I want your damage.» Stop hiding it. Stop acting like it didn’t happen. You were abused when you were young, and your family doesn’t even know it. You’ve blocked it out; you’ve suppressed it. You’re wondering why you’re dealing with anxiety so much, 'cause it was never meant to stay inside of you. I want your damage!
Tonight, when you’re in your bed, and the Holy Spirit begins to whisper to you and reminds you of things that happened, what he’s doing is he’s calling for the damage. «I want it; I’m the only one that can do something with it.» What does God do with your damage? He calls for it. The second thing that God does with your damage—watch this—he carries it. Oh, this makes me happy. Because Mephibosheth was crippled, I need you to understand—just imagine with me—they come to his door. Knock, knock, knock. «Hello, is Mephibosheth there?» «Yes.» What a horrible name! «Come with me.» Now watch; when they say, «Come with me,» he does not have the power on his own to get to where he has been commissioned or destined to go. He’s in a place of nothing, and they want him in the palace.
So the king—oh, I feel the presence of God—will never ask you to come to a place that he won’t carry you to. Scott, come help me real quick. Scott, I need a couple of strong guys; come on, help me. He’s sitting down, and he’s like, «Hey, you’re not going to kill me?» Because it was custom back then that anyone in line to the throne would kill their whole family. So when the king’s guard came to him, he was like, «Um, I’m about to die.» That’s what Christianity sometimes makes people think—that when God comes to them, he’s ready to smite them and punish them. The king was wanting to show favor, but he says, «Come with me to the palace.» But he still does not have the ability to get there on his own.
So the king sends power that is not his own. «You want me to come? Oh God, these brothers are strong. Take me over to the king’s palace; take me over there.» All Mephibosheth had to do was surrender so he could be taken. Now don’t drop me—just let me down. What are you saying to me, Pastor Mike? God will never call you to a place that he won’t carry you to. The problem is most of us have not surrendered. Let me show you Zechariah 4:6. It says, «This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,» says the Lord. Where you’re at right now, God’s saying, «I’m calling for your damage, but if you would surrender, I’ll carry you. I will carry you to the place I want you to be.» Philippians 1:6: «And I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it’s finally finished on the day of Jesus Christ.»
What will God do with your damage? He calls for it; he carries it. And then watch this: he covers it. When Mephibosheth gets to the palace, he comes in and thinks he’s dead. I mean, look at it in the scripture. Literally, King David has to say, «Don’t be afraid. I intend to show you kindness.» This is verse 7: «Because of the promise I made to your father Jonathan, I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table.» But watch this—this is our response usually, because of our damage. Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, «Who is your servant that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?»
Be careful when shame starts talking. He’s in the presence of the king, and many times God is wanting to use us at a higher level, and our shame starts talking. «Why would you even consider a dead dog like me?» But the king ignores his ignorance 'cause the king knows the value that’s on the inside of him, just like the king knows the value that’s on the inside of you. And he invites him to eat at his table. Now, the reason why this blows my mind is because when you think about where Mephibosheth was damaged, where was his damage? At his legs. When you pull up a seat to the king’s table, when he sits and looks over the landscape of everybody else, the thing that damaged him is now covered. Let me introduce you to the grace of God. When you come into a loving relationship by faith with God, the grace of God covers your damaged areas.
Somebody should get excited about that, 'cause what the enemy was trying to use to disqualify you is the very thing that God says, «I know it, but I’ll cover it.» We have to begin to rely on grace. Somebody shout at me, «Grace! Grace!» The unearned, undeserved favor and kindness of God. Some of you think you built your own table and you’re covering yourself; you’re trying to have money cover it. We still see you! You’re getting flown out; we still see you! MC, makeup, Louis, Gucci, Fendi down; we still see you! It’s not until you get covered with the grace of God. I’ve got to move. I came to tell somebody: pull up a chair to the table of God! Pull up a chair to where God has for you! Listen to me: what does God do with your damage? Say it with me: he calls for it, he carries it, he covers it.
Number four: he converts it! He flips that thing! God says, «If you give me your damage, I’ll flip it. If you give me everything that you’ve been ashamed of and let me cleanse you, purify you, wash you, change you, and transform you, I’ll flip this thing!» So, in one day, Mephibosheth goes from crippled to covered. Everybody say «one day.» One day! I don’t know if today is your one day, but by faith, I’m prophesying that God is about to turn your season around very quickly. This thing—what it looked like last year is going to look like something else this year. Some of you don’t have faith to believe it, but I need a few people with crazy faith that my situation can flip when God gets in the midst of it. If you believe it, at every campus, give God a shout of praise! Oh, I feel this thing! He can convert this! From crippled to covered, from shame to having a seat, from no identity to a full inheritance. He went from pain to a platform. His damage was turned into destiny; his trauma became triumph. He went from separated to being a son. This is the gospel! This is the good news!
Tell everybody, «Y’all know a song, huh? That’s what Jesus did for me!» The only reason I’m standing on this stage is not because I did everything perfect; it’s when I messed up, when I did the wrong thing, and when I was damaged, I did not run from my Father; I ran to him. I have four children, and all of them break stuff. They don’t know how much stuff costs; they have no clue. But my children have all broken expensive things. But the one thing I love about all my kids is when they break something that they know they cannot pay for and they do not have the intelligence to fix, they bring it to their father. Now, if a 4-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 7-year-old have the sense to bring their damaged things to their father, what’s our excuse, church? What I’m asking you today is to bring your damage to God, 'cause he’s big enough to handle it!
What does God do with damage? He calls for it, he carries it, he covers it—this is good news—he converts it. Last one—he commissions it! God doesn’t want you to hide your damage; he wants to heal your damage, and then he wants you to take it and use it to share with everybody else how good God has been. I recall a story in John 5:8. There was a man that was a paralytic sitting by the pool for 38 years, and Jesus asked him a question—the same question I’m going to ask you today: «Do you want to be made whole?» See, this is the thing—getting healed from your damage is a decision. Some of you have been holding on to the thing that God said, «Give me that,» and you’re playing tug-of-war with God. He says, «Keep it if you want it. You want to have low self-esteem for the rest of your life? Keep that; that’s less than what I’ve called you to in the kingdom.» You want to keep having— «I put the whole team on my back.» He said, «My burden is easy and my yoke is light. You want to put the whole thing on your back? Go ahead, but when you get sick of carrying it, I’ll be here.» This man answers, «I want to be made whole.»
Jesus heals him. The man pops up and is about to run off, and Jesus says, «Hold on, come here, take this mat.» I bet the man was like, «I don’t want that. I don’t want to remember anything from back there.» Jesus tells him, «No, no, no, you need this. I’m commissioning you to go everywhere. I want you to see, walk. Hey, hey, I want you to see, walk, but make sure you’re holding that mat, because I want all the people who pass you to remember that it was not their effort or energy—it was nothing but the power of God.» Somebody, I don’t know who I’m talking to, but the fact that you’re still here is nothing but the power of God. The fact that you still have your right mind is nothing but the power of God. Now God is commissioning our damage. That’s why every time I stand up, I tell people I was addicted to pornography. «The pastor?»
Yes, I was a person before I was a pastor. Y’all are so funny. I was a liar; I was a manipulator—not the man of God. Yes, and what did I do? I brought my damage to Him, because in the beginning, God said, «I’m going to use this broken vessel, and I’m going to change people’s lives; I’m going to transform people’s lives.» But I need him to not be scared to take his damage when it’s healed and share it with people. That’s why the Word says we overcome by the blood of the Lamb—that’s what Jesus did—and the words of our testimony. That’s why many people aren’t overcoming: because you are too quiet. The reason that stuff can’t come back in my life is because I say it all the time: «This is what God did for me.»
Today, I just came with a burden to let somebody know who’s had many abortions, to let somebody know who has continued to have miscarriages, to let somebody know whose career has not gotten off the ground, to let somebody know who doesn’t know who their real family is, to let somebody know who’s made mistakes over and over. God can do something miraculous with your damage. Okay, let me explain. Will you bring out my example? Then we’re going to go home. I want this picture to last in your mind. We are three parts: we are a spirit, we are a soul (mind, will, and emotions), and then we have a body. The Holy Spirit showed me this. He told me, «Michael, people don’t understand this. Write these three things down: you have a covering, you have a container, and you have contents.» The spirit part of you is the realest part of you. It’s what God said: «Let us make man in our image.» It was the spirit part of you He breathed into us, into dust, and then we came in with our lips and our hips and our eyes and our thighs. It was a creative miracle.
Some of y’all are like, «Could I have less of a miracle? Could you take off a little bit of this miracle?» What ends up happening is the covering is our soul—mind, will, and emotions. In this life, a lot of times, through situations we can’t control, our covering gets ripped. Somebody says something to us that makes us feel unworthy, and then we come into contact with some other people, and they start saying things about us. We get marked up in our lives, and our mind, will, and emotions get marked up. Then we get into that relationship—they’re fine, but we know they’re no good—and they start drilling into our identity, poking holes in our confidence. We have soul ties with them because we need to feel something, because nobody was ever there to show us anything. Then we let success and our careers come to poke holes in us.
Does God want to do something with this? I don’t know, there’s so much damage. I did it, and now you want me to think that God wants to use me? Every time I come around people, I’m getting stabbed in the back. That’s why I’m not joining any small group—there’re people there! Come on, y’all, I’ll come to worship. I think this is the God well prayed, but people are cutting me. Then stuff happens to me that stains me forever. God can’t want to use something like this! Life hits you. Isn’t He the example God? Oh, God, I know! But then God brings fire into your life, and it starts burning places in you, and stuff starts catching on fire. The truth of the matter is, I don’t know if God can use me because I’m too damaged.
Uh-uh, this is like when my wife and I found out our son had autism. He started burning us and allowing the fear of the future to take us out, but then the Holy Spirit came and blew on us. But this still doesn’t look good. Does anybody want this? But God said, «What you don’t realize is this was just your soul—your mind, will, and emotions.» The truth is, «I’ll take that and I’ll heal it. I’ll do something that nobody could do with it.» Yeah, it’s messy, but the truth is, when you get down to the container—our body—it’s been jacked up too, even to the point where it starts leaking through. We say stuff like, «The value is still in you, but I’m still missing something.» But the truth is, the most valuable part of this whole thing is not in the covering and it is not in this container, even though it’s hard to get this out. It was in the thing that was covering it.
The value of this—these are some really expensive shoes—but even the stain that was on the outside did not get on the inside because the value— I need somebody to hear—the value was in the contents that was put on the inside of you. If you’re in this room right now and your covering has been damaged and your container has been damaged, stand at every campus right now. I don’t want you to just shout at the end of this message. I want the Spirit to speak to you. I want to let you know that the contents are still good. The value is still in you. If you’ve been damaged in any area of your life and the enemy’s been trying to convince you that because you look like this you cannot be used by God, today I came to speak to that lie, and I’m here to tell you that I’m a living witness that God can take damaged people who’ve messed up over and over again, who bring their damage back to Him, and He can do a miracle that no man can stop, no scandal can stop, no spit can stop. Y’all don’t—y’all don’t want to be fake. You can’t cancel me because you didn’t call me.
Some of y’all have never walked through anything, but God is doing something on the inside of my life. Do I do everything perfectly? No, but I am committed to bringing my damage to the foot of the cross. What does God do with damage? What can God do with my damage? I’m here as a living witness to tell you. He calls for it; He carries it; He covers it; He converts it; and then He commissions it. If you’re ready for your damage not to be your definition anymore, but you want your damage to take you to your destiny, would you lift your hands all over this room? I’m about to pray for you. Whoa, whoa, whoa! I feel the presence of God. Somebody’s realizing the value is still in them; that nothing the enemy has said or nothing you’ve done to yourself is going to disqualify you.
Because today, here we are, God. Come on, we are Your children crying out to You, asking You to take everything that is not like You. God, would You take it? Take our pieces and turn them into a masterpiece. Take our bad decisions, Father God, and flip that thing. Convert it, Father, into something that brings You glory and takes us to destiny. Today, Father God, we will no longer deny that we’ve been hurt because You cannot heal what we do not reveal. So today, God, here we are as a church—Elevation Church, Transformation Church, Your sons and daughters all over the world. We’re asking You, God, do something with this damage. Use it for Your glory. We will no longer be defined by it. We will only be defined by what You’ve done through Your precious Son, Jesus.
The Spirit is speaking right now at every campus. You just need to ask the Holy Spirit. I see tears flowing right now. People are getting their faith back right now. You’re going to be able to go into this week and be the mom you really want to be. You’re going to be able to go into that job and actually make a difference for the kingdom of God. Somebody’s confidence is coming back.
If you’re in this room right now and you’ve been carrying your damage without the One who created you, Jesus, today, if you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, I’m telling you it’s the greatest decision you could ever make. It’s the thing that took me from a liar, a manipulator, one who was addicted to pornography, who had all kinds of bad things in my heart, who got arrested for car insurance and all kinds of stuff. God said, «Give me that,» because He’s the only one that, if you give Him your heart, He’ll help you change your habits.
If you’re here today, you’re not in a room with a bunch of perfect people; you’re in a room with a bunch of damaged people that have been saved by grace, and we don’t forget what God has done. We’re carrying our mat today, and we’re saying you can be healed, you can be freed, and you can be changed with one decision of faith, asking Jesus into your life. It’ll change everything. If that’s you, on the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands. We’re not going to make you tell us everything you did. This is not what we’re going to do today. That’s what religion would tell you, but God is saying, «Just give Me your heart. I’ll get you with the right people. We’ll talk; we’ll heal.» Religion says, «Rush, hurry,» and God says, «Come to Me.»
If you’re tired of carrying that burden by yourself, on the count of three, I just want you to lift your hand at every campus, at Transformation Church, wherever you are around the world. I don’t care if you’re on the treadmill, and you just walked and everybody’s like, «What just happened?» It’s a dance move called salvation, okay? It doesn’t matter. Forget them; only you and God will stand in eternity and answer for what you’re about to do. One, you’re 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 forever. Three, shoot your hand up all over this campus. I see you, my brother. There are people in every room. Oh, Elevation Church, how do we celebrate? Transformation Church, how do we thank God? Hallelujah! Listen, at Transformation and Elevation, nobody prays alone, so I want us all to pray this prayer for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ. Somebody say:
God, here’s my damage. You’re the only one that can use it. Today I give You my life. I believe You lived; I believe You died; You rose again with all power. Here I am; I’m Yours. I’ll serve You forever. Change me; renew me; transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, amen.