Michael Todd - A Sudden Switch, End in Triumph
There’s a sweet spirit in this house. I’m so glad for every person that actually came out this Sunday. The fog has some of you scared this morning here in Tulsa, and those of you joining us online, I just thank you for your faithfulness to God’s house. There is a special season our church is in right now, where God is doing some unique things, confirming some things, uprooting some things, and changing some things. I think the name of the church is Transformation, so it would be crazy for us to think that God would not put us in a place where the title defines what happens to us. I would like to make a declaration to you: if you’re not transforming, you’re fighting harder to stay the same than just surrendering to what God wants to do in your life.
I’m going to say it one more time: if you’re not changing, it feels like you’re plateauing and stuck in the same place. God is coming to let you know He placed you in a house called Transformation so that your attitudes can change, your speech can change, your selfishness can change, and the pessimistic view on what God can do would change. He wants you to transform. I love the saying that God will accept you just as you are, but He loves you way too much to let you stay the same. Is anybody believing that this is going to be their greatest year of transformation? Come on! No, come on, y’all! Physically, spiritually, you don’t have to have faith, but there are some people in here with Crazy Faith.
This is going to be the year of transformation for your mindset, for your finances. This is going to be my year of transformation for relationships. I’m going to give you two more seconds; this is going to be your year of transformation with your family. Come on! This is that year! Pastor Mike, why are you so hyped? Because some of you need to build an expectation. I don’t know; it just feels like you think the sun is setting, and I have a different view on it. This is the last month of the year. Here we are, a few days into the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. Do y’all know how many games change? Okay, okay! Do y’all know you better not stop watching in the third quarter?
Oh, you better stay tuned to what God can do! Okay, please, please don’t make the mistake of sleeping on God in this last month. Please don’t chop it up to the next game. You know what God can do in a small amount of time. It only took Him three days to defeat death, hell, and the grave. Okay? So I’m just trying to raise somebody’s faith, their expectation. December could be the month that changes the whole year for you! You missed it! Oh my gosh, this could be the year that when you look back on January 3rd, you say, «You know what? It sucked all the way up to…» Oh, y’all want to be fake in here? Hold on, this was completely garbage until something happened! I don’t know; I went to church on Sunday, and I began to get gratitude in my heart, and no matter what began to happen, I just had Crazy Faith to believe that if God is in it, it’s not finished! Oh, come on, y’all! And I started to align my speech and read the Word of God and line up around!
Okay, everybody say transformation! Yeah, I can tell by the way some of y’all said that you’ve been beat up this year. You barely have enough faith to even say hello, so I’m going to help you with that today. Some of you need Crazy Faith before the end of this year! Y’all need to believe what God is saying about you. I’m going to go ahead and get into the Word. Get your notepads out and get your smartphones, and even if you have a dumb phone, come on, we’re going to accept those today. I feel like God has given me a burden to share with you the scripture that has gotten me through the last six months of this year. One of the things that you got to know is that I prepare messages that God gives me with the Holy Spirit and a small team to present to you. But if that’s the only time I went to the Word, I would be giving you from the bottom of the barrel. I minister to you out of my overflow.
The reason I get up here with passion, the reason why I can jump around and scream and praise and sing is because this isn’t my first time being with God this week. I’m ministering to you out of my—everybody shout at me—overflow! Overflow! That is not just for pastors and preachers; you’re supposed to work out of your overflow. The reason you’re mad at everybody is because you’re giving them the little grace you have, but it’s a season that we build up, we build up, we build up so that whatever we give away is from our own. So there’s a scripture my mama sent me in the summer when I was on sabbatical, and I’ve just been meditating on that. It has helped keep me, and today I’m going to share it with you because I believe it’s going to spark Crazy Faith on the inside of you and give you practical ways to end this year in a way that you probably weren’t expecting. But before I do that, I got to shout out all the mended men in the building right now!
Oh, where are all the mended men in the building? Ladies, you should be clapping and shouting because the men are dealing with their damage first! Hey! So, yesterday was probably one of the most exciting days of the past month for me, and included in that past month was my birthday. This was more exciting than my birthday! I preached a message a few weeks ago about how men needed to mend because those are the men that follow Jesus. There was an amazing response to the altar call, but altar call responses don’t usually translate to another event. Most men are like, «I did it! I got right with God!» I said, «Before the year is out, we’re going to go to breakfast!» I didn’t know what to expect.
Can I tell you that almost 400 men showed up at 8:00 a.m.? Oh, y’all didn’t hear what I just said! Almost 400 men showed up! People brought their sons and their grandfathers and their cousins and their brothers. People flew—hold on, watch this! There were a couple of women who were watching online—Transformation Nation, I love you—because they bought their husbands' tickets and sent them here from Orlando and Atlanta! Oh, y’all! She said, «Boy, uh-uh! Get up! Get up! You’re going to the mended men!» Dudes were walking around like, «Hello! Hey! What’s up?» We ain’t never seen you before! That’s because I don’t live here! But it was a brotherhood! Ladies, I just—okay, I’m going to ask you; don’t ask your husband what we do at Mended Men. Be quiet! Don’t talk too much! Be quiet! You’re sitting next to your wife; stop!
Give me the next two years to get these concepts, principles, and patterns into this group! Really, this army that’s rising up! And they won’t have to tell you what happened; you’ll see the fruit of it! Okay? Sometimes, it takes men a while to process, so when you come back, like, «So how was it? What did you talk about?» Just hold on! Just pray and let God do the work you couldn’t do! I’m prophesying that there were almost 400—380-something men there! By this time next year, we’re going to have another men’s breakfast in December, and there will be over a thousand transformation men strong! I need somebody with Crazy Faith to believe with me! Over a thousand men of God who say, «We’re going to go first! We’re going to deal with it! We’re going to be worshippers! We’re going to serve our families and serve God’s house! We’re going to make a difference! We’re going to represent!»
So I’m just so grateful for the momentum that’s starting right now, and I just thought it gave me an energy to come preach to you today in faith for what God is about to do in 2024. I want to let you know I’m already in the next year! Vision is what you see with your eyes closed! It’s not what you see with your eyes open! Some of y’all are like, «I can’t wait till 2023 is over!» But God told me to start acting now in preparation for what you are believing me for in the next year. As a pastor, as a leader, my vision is already into the next season of what God is going to do. Today, I’m about to yank you into it! I came to pull today! You know how some of y’all say, «I’m not going to push and prime you!»? I’m not going to pump—today I’m about to yank you by your weave! You better make sure you use good glue because I’m coming for those braids! For 10 weeks, we’ve been talking about the concept of being damaged but not destroyed.
Part of us going from the trauma to triumph is like—we’ve had to—I’ve literally had to convince the church that they were damaged! We all see it; you just don’t see it! You’ve believed so much faith talk and you’ve believed so much—um—how do I want to say this? You believe so much that God is going to come through that He’s going to bypass your issues. He’s going to take you into the promised land unhealed, which would be a curse. Since God does everything well, He has taken our church, and I believe many of you who are watching right now, into a season of saying, «I got it up ahead for you!» But all of that doesn’t mix. See, the blessing of the next season—you may have to give some of it to your enemy. Uh-oh!
So the person you haven’t forgiven may be the recipient of God’s faithfulness to you! He cannot release it until you deal with the issue! So I didn’t know how long this series was going to be because I felt like I had to plow through a lot of self-righteousness as well as religion. Me, God—we all know that there are issues in there! I feel like we’re just coming to the point where people are really starting to say, «You know what? I’m going to do what’s necessary! I’m going to get in community! I’m going to therapy!» I can’t tell you how many people I’ve gotten emails and DMs from and run into in the hallways that said, «Pastor Mike, I’m getting my family therapy sessions for Christmas!» I said, «What?» They said, «I started therapy last Thursday!» I started doing that! I’m trying to get us to a point where it no longer has to be in; it has to come out in a way that doesn’t destroy more stuff!
Most of us get into a place where we let it happen until you get a little break, and then you just explode on everybody. God’s saying, «I’m going to allow you to deal with the damage in a different way through my word and with others.» For 10 weeks, we’ve been here, but as I was praying, «God, where do you want us to go? How do you want us to end this year?» the Holy Spirit said, «Michael, it’s time to make a transition! You’re still going to be in a series called Damaged but Not Destroyed, but you’ve been talking about the trauma. I want you to transition people in the last month of the year to get Crazy Faith for the Triumph!» So today, we’re just stepping over the line of talking about the damage and the trauma, and we’re starting a mini-series inside of a series called End in Triumph! Say it with me—End in Triumph! One more time—say End in Triumph! Why? Because the way you end a thing is the way you start a thing!
So many people act like when they get a fresh start, if you were mean, slow, and hurt back here, when the date changes, nothing magically happens! It’s the perspective, the patterns, the things that you do on the inside! God told me to come and prophetically tell His church this year we’re going to end in triumph! It is not over! The story is not complete! We will have faith for the mountaintop again! Some of us have become so familiar with the valley that we have stopped believing God for mountaintops! We would rather prepare for the cal, for the sun not hitting down that low than to make steps to go up to find sun again! But today, I told you I came to pull, push, and drag you out of complacency when it comes to your faith in God! I feel my help coming on right now! You are about to believe that God can do more with a little and a lot of faith than you could ever do by yourself!
Somebody shout at me one more time with all the faith you’ve got—End in Triumph! End in Triumph! Isaiah 43:15, I want to read this over you: I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King. I am the Lord who opened up a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. He’s trying to jog their memory right now: I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all their chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves and drowned them, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candle birthday cake, candle—oh God, the imagery I get right there. The big thing that you’re scared of? God just says that boss, that job, that career, that thing—"This is what I’m about to do. Say it with me: I’m about to do something new. See y’all later, I’ve already begun it!» Everybody that gets to 2024, God’s gonna be standing there like, «Y’all late!»
See, I came to Transformation Church on the first Sunday in December and I told them by faith, «I’ve already started. What God is about to do, I’ve already begun it.» And then He asks you, «Do you not see it? What’s wrong with you? Clear your glasses, clear your sight. Do you not see what I’ve already been trying to do? I will make a pathway through the wilderness; I will create rivers in dry wasteland.» Oh, that’s exciting to me! The wild animals of the field will thank me; the jackals in the aisles too. Hallelujah! I don’t even know what animal that was, but I’m giving them water in the desert. Oh my God, yes! I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people—hallelujah—can be, say this word with me, refreshed. I believe we’re coming into a season of refreshing, but God will not give you what you won’t even have the faith to believe for.
Now I’m asking you to engage your faith to believe that there is greater on the other side of the trauma. Hallelujah! Okay, hallelujah! It’s going to end in triumph, Brent. It’s going to end in triumph, Haley. It’s going to end in triumph, Mama Dana. It’s going to end in triumph! I’m going to say it until you get it in your soul. Fill in your name! What is your name? It’s going to end in triumph! If it’s still going on right now and you still don’t see your way through the wilderness and it looks very dark in this season, I came to tell you: keep stepping because it’s going to end in what? And some of y’all can’t even fix your mouth to say it because you wonder, «What if it doesn’t happen?» Then God is still working it out for your good. Ah, see, your timetable does not affect God’s goodness. I’m going to say it one more time: «Well, God, I wanted you to do this now!» He said, «But you wouldn’t have been ready for what I was about to do then.»
And there were a couple of snakes around you that would’ve gotten you, and you would have passed out anyway, so my timing is perfect. But as long as I’m in it, it’s not finished. It’s going to end in Romans 8:28: «And we know that God causes…» Who causes it? Some of y’all have been planning without faith. You’ve been planning, and God loves a plan, but a plan that He’s left out of, He steps back and says, «Go ahead.» No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, try it. That’s what you’re going to do for 2024. That’s where you’re going to school. That’s the job. That’s how you’re going to leave. Okay, no, no, I’m here, I’m with you; I’ll never leave or forsake you, but I’m not blessing that. So use all your energy and all your effort and all your connections to make that happen.
That’s why Proverbs 3:5 says what? «Acknowledge God in all your ways, and then He will get in the middle of it and He will direct your path.» But planning without Him will take the path that He can always reroute you on; you just lose time and maybe run into things you weren’t supposed to ever see. Okay, what are you saying, Pastor Mike? Watch this: with God, triumph is always—somebody say always—it’s always on the other side of trauma. If you’ve been in a season of continual disappointment, a bunch of letdowns—oh God, dog, when are you going to get up off my head? If you’ve been in a consistent season of «Why is this relationship not working? Why can’t I seem to get the traction? Why are we missing?»
If you’ve seemed to be in that place, take courage today. If you’ve been in a season of trauma, the one thing trauma promises you when you’re in God is that on the other side of trauma there’s always what? Triumph! The cross preaches this; this is the Gospel and the good news that when Jesus was crucified, He had to take a scourging, was humiliated, was spit on—everything happened—and then He died. Trauma! It looked like the end, but it is in the core character of our God to let things look traumatic for dramatic effect. I mean, if you just watch how He does stuff: Lazarus—let him die. Mary walked up and said, «If you would have been there,» He said, «It was on purpose 'cause y’all wanted me to heal him, and for dramatic effect I wanted a resurrection.»
I wanted people in 2023 to understand that even if it looks dead, the trauma will always end in what? I feel faith rising right now! I always wondered why Jesus didn’t die and then do a peek-a-boo like, you know what I’m saying? If it were me, okay, I just see stuff like in movies. If it were me, I would have said, «It’s finished!» Forget them! «They don’t know what they do; you’ll be with me in Paradise today!» Oh God, I gotta say, I would have shown my power quickly, like that was weak. But why would God let an entire day go by? Why would He allow for a Saturday? Why would He allow the people that He loved to be in trauma for a whole night? It’s because if He would have done it quickly, it would have made us say, «Oh, that was just Jesus. Only Jesus could do that!»
He allowed there to be a season of trauma so that He could prove that no matter how long that season lasts, on the other side of that season is what? Triumph! I’m excited because some of y’all, everything is about to change. No, no, no, no, no! This is, if you don’t have faith to believe it, that’s fine, but I don’t need to scream it to you. Something connected with your spirit. For many of you, everything is about to what? Change! Let me go ahead and give you this crazy faith scripture that my mama gave me in Amos. I know this is a book of the Bible y’all be skipping over. I know Amos ain’t been on your top Bible hits list in a minute, but I understand why, because if you look culturally at the context, God is going off on the children of Israel because they’ve been disobedient.
Now, I know nobody in here has been disobedient to God this year; you’ve done everything. It’s just the woman over there saying, «I have.» God dog it, she said, «I have!» But if we’re honest, we know that God healing us starts with our honesty. If we’re honest, many of the trauma and drama that we’ve gone through has just been because of disobedience. God has been trying to protect us: «Don’t be in that relationship!» «But God, look at his abs!» «I just don’t know how you would create something so wonderful and then tell me not to touch it!» «Don’t be at that job!» «But God, they’re paying me so much money here and I need more!» He said, «No, you don’t! You need stewardship!»
But stay there! Some of us, it’s time to correct what we’ve disobeyed God on all year. I’mma leave it right there. But for others of us, we approach Amos trying to see: «God, even in your correction, are you trying to tell us something?» Even as God is correcting the children of Israel because they’ve worshiped other gods, done things like the world, and have been disobedient after God has given them instruction, His grace still somehow shows up in their disobedience. This is why the only religion I can ever rock with is the Christian faith, because God’s grace gives us what we do not deserve. Every law we’ve broken, every measuring stick—and some of you are like, «Well, not everyone!»
Be quiet! Because the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It’s why He had to send Jesus. When He sends Jesus, God is trying to show us in this Old Testament passage as a type and a shadow—He said, «Even when I’m correcting you, even when you’re in a correction season, I’ll show you grace and let you know I’ll take you to a brand new season.» Amos chapter 9, verse 13 says, «And I’m going to read it out of the Message version because it just did something to my spirit.» Okay? Yes indeed, it won’t be long now, God decrees this. Somebody say, «It won’t be long now.» What if we woke up every day and said that phrase? What if you woke up in the morning and said, «It won’t be long now?»
I don’t know what you’re believing for; it may be a restoration of a relationship, it may be your mind getting back to a place of peace, but even if it’s not in that place, what if you woke up every day and said, «You know what? Just a few hours closer. It won’t be long now.» When they ask you at Christmas, «When are you getting married?» «It won’t be long now.» Okay, some of y’all are about to get the faith to this! When you moving out of that house? «It won’t be long now.» Because every day that I live is a step closer! When you going to start that business? «It won’t be long now!» When that album releasing? «It won’t—I know some of y’all have been sending us hate letters for the Transformation Worship album; I came to decree it won’t be long now!»
Alright, okay? Just shout it one more time with crazy faith: «It won’t be long now!» Things are going to happen so fast, your head will swim—one thing fast on the heels of another. You won’t be able to keep up; everything will happen at once, and everywhere you look, blessings, blessings, blessings, blessings, blessings! Somebody’s about to receive this—blessings, blessings everywhere! I look down blessings up, blessings around—blessings! Somebody shout it to me: «Blessings, blessings!» What if God told you that you’re about to be in a season where you won’t be able to keep up with the blessing? Why would God want to put you in a place that you can’t hold it all? 'Cause when you can’t hold it all, that means you have to give some of it away! I need to talk to the people who know the next season you’re going to be blessed to be a blessing. You’re not going to need to pray about it; you’ll be the answer to the prayer.
Okay, I’m trying to control myself. I’m on point one. What do you say? I said, «What do you say?» «It won’t be long!» Say it with crazy faith: «It won’t be long now! It won’t be long now!» Everywhere I look, at my job, blessings! In my relationship, blessings! When I’m leaving my last season, blessings! When I’m walking into a place and I don’t know nobody, blessings! Everywhere I look, blessings, blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. Some of y’all were like, «Lord, that’s the blessing I want! Why, off the hills?» Then it says, «I will make—oh, this is the encouraging part to me! I will make everything right again for my people.» I just believe that God is coming to let you know that it hasn’t felt right, and you don’t know how to make it right, and He said, «That’s not your job in this situation.» He said, «I will make everything—» everybody say, «right again! Right again!» Then it goes into this next part.
Watch it, it says, «They’ll rebuild their ruined cities.» That word «ruined» means damaged—everything that is damaged around; He said, «I’ll let you rebuild the ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. We eating good in the next season! And I’ll plant them on their own land.» This next season has ownership in it! Okay, y’all, everybody don’t have eyes to see this and ears to hear this, but there’s some owners coming out of this season into the next season. I’m going to be able to make some decisions; all my decisions ain’t going to be made for me. I’mma have options! Okay? «They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.»
How can you say that? How can you say that? How can you say that? God, oh, this makes me happy! There are people in here that we claim the same God, but we don’t believe He can do the same thing. Woo! Okay. Alright? You believe God is just a headache-take-away God, and I believe that He can transform somebody’s head. No, you missed it! 'Cause you think the headache is a miracle, but somebody who was steeped in perversion and lustful and jacked up—He can transform their mind to living in purity. I’m talking about real miracles! He can take an unfaithful husband and make him into a man of valor. Uh-oh! You keep believing for a house; I’mma believe for the block! We serve the same God! He said, «Your God"—He said it—which lets me know that many people are claiming God, but that doesn’t mean you believe He can actually do it.
And I know there are some people saying, «Okay, that’s the Old Testament! I need a New Testament equivalent for what you’re saying.» Alright! Galatians 6:9 says, «So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.» 'Cause at just the right time—somebody say suddenly! Suddenly! At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessings if we don’t give up! What I came to you in the last 30 days of the year is… Don’t give up if you’ve been believing all these years for your family to be restored. Don’t give up if you’ve been on the brink of financial ruin, but somehow God has made ends meet every month. He promised you that something is going to change. Don’t give up if you’ve been fighting that battle with lust and temptation, but you’ve made it this far.
Don’t give up. Don’t give up, because at the right time, my friend Carl and I were talking in the back, and we started looking at some of these analogies in the Bible. We often think we just say them and that was back in their day, but when you really break it down and get into the context of what they’re actually saying, it literally says here we will reap a harvest of blessings. Remember what it said in the Amos scripture: «Everywhere I look, blessings.» If you were to go out on 50 acres of land where something was planted and stood in the middle of it, everywhere you turned it would be harvest. You would literally have to look at the edge of the property to find a place that did not have harvest.
So then we started talking, and we thought about it. We act as if harvest is a one-day event, but anybody who’s ever been a farmer knows it’s not harvest day; it’s harvest season. Okay, I told y’all we were about to end this thing in triumph. You can’t pick up all the blessings—there’s not enough time in the day or the week. Some of y’all are going to have to hire people to manage the blessings. Oh God, I’m in my bag today! I’m telling you right now, somebody look at your neighbor and say, «It’s harvest season!» We’re not harvesting for just a day if we’ve been planting for years; could we reap for years? Oh, the scripture says there’s a season that comes, and if you’ve been planting seeds long enough, the reaping will overtake the sowing. I just came to Transformation Church today to declare it’s the season of a sudden switch.
Somebody say, «A sudden switch!» I’m talking about how it’s going to look like night, and then—BAM—it’s going to look like day. I’m talking about how it’s going to look lonely, and then it’s going to be relationships everywhere. Somebody say, «A sudden switch!» Oh my God! Woo! Somebody needs to receive that by faith right now. Say it again—a sudden switch. It’s a sudden switch season; you’re not going to know the day that it happens. You’re going to go to sleep discouraged one day and wake up and say, «Hold on, where did this come from?»
Hold on—you’re going to realize the miracle! One more time, with crazy faith, shout at me—a sudden switch! The same energy as when you go into a room that’s dark and flick that switch! I feel Prophet Drake in here—just flip the switch! I don’t know; all my analogies are coming out, but somebody’s going to walk into a room, and you’re just going to turn on the light, and you’re going to feel something happen because it’s going to be a prophetic sign of how quickly it can change. Not that dimmer situation—turn that dimmer off! Y’all know those dimmers you push, and—uh huh! Go find you a switch! Today I want to give you the secret to suddenly.
There is a secret to suddenly. There are steps to be able to walk into your suddenly. It’s at the end of that Amos scripture, and many times, I will be honest, the church gets excited about the promise, but we do not look at the principles. Part of my job as your leader is to ensure that we do not just yell «crazy faith» and write down a wish list on a card, hoping the church fulfills it; that is not God. Okay, that was just for two people, but I had to say it. We don’t look at the pattern, the concrete, or the instructions that God wants us to work around. So I want you to look at it right here: it says, «They’ll rebuild the ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables, and I’ll plant them on their own land.»
Now, when I look at the scripture, I always consider what I must do and what God does. So, we’re going to read that one more time, and I just want you to underline what you think your job is. They’ll rebuild the ruined cities, they’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine, they’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables, and then I’ll plant them in their own land. When I read this, I got excited about it; it’s coming—a fast one, a healing, another takeover. You won’t be able to keep up, and I started shouting because it’s coming. But I couldn’t reconcile the «suddenly» and the «slow» language. He said «suddenly,» and we all just shouted over «suddenly.» But then God uses slow language.
Who has ever seen anybody rebuild a city suddenly? No one. If you live in Tulsa, especially on Memorial, they’ve been working on this stretch of road for three years. What the heck? Where are our tax dollars going if they can’t rebuild a street in the city? How is God saying «suddenly» when they’ll rebuild? I’m trying to manage your expectations for a season of «suddenly,» because many times we get disappointed because God didn’t do it. Well, hold on—maybe He is doing it, but your «suddenly» is tied to something slow. What if your sudden transformation in your body is tied to slow progress and consistency over the next year? Those claps are getting weaker and weaker right now; did you feel that?
Oh, that’s good—but not good. He said they’ll rebuild; look, they’ll plant. How many people have ever planted anything? That is slow. Suddenly—slow, suddenly. Your sudden is always connected to something slow. Let me put it in a point: suddenly is sometimes slow. They’ll work gardens and eat fresh vegetables. How is this suddenly, God? He said, «I’m trying to prepare you for the suddenly.»
If I don’t include something slow as part of the suddenly, you’ll get swallowed. He’s a good father; He knows if He trusted you with the income you would have ultimately—and if you’re still in that addictive cycle right now, it would kill you and take you out of here, because you would have access to everything. You don’t not have access right now because you don’t want it. You just can’t afford it right now. So, He tells you: you have this urge to be an entrepreneur, a business person, to take over—He said that’s the suddenly you feel is coming. But I attached a slow process of sobriety to it so that when the suddenly happens, you’ll be able to not be swallowed. Whoa, this is big scripture right here. See, this is why you cannot define anybody else’s season and come into their book at whatever chapter you think they’re in and think you know what’s going on. Write this down as a point: suddenly is defined by the scene you’ve seen.
See, if you came into Transformation Church when we got into this building, you might get the wrong impression of who we are. You might think we don’t need any help. Every church you’ve been in has been raising a building fund for 17 years for a building that never got built; we paid this off in five months. So, they don’t need my money. You came into this with a scene where you think you can define the season. Well, I’m about to give in crazy faith, and they already got—look at that big old screen! That’s bigger than the IMAX! That’s bigger than that! People come in at this scene trying to act like they know what our suddenly looks like, but what you don’t know is that we were on the north side of Tulsa with less than 300 people less than a decade ago, believing God in crazy faith for stuff that had never been seen.
Now, it’s normal—oh, are you talking about that big church over there on Memorial? You didn’t say that 10 years ago! Oh gosh! And this is why I need everybody to understand: do not be worried about anybody else’s process. Do not be looking to the left or the right trying to figure out what they’re doing. They did not chart the course of your purpose. So, when I was in North Tulsa, I told our church we were going to break the spirit of poverty. There were fewer people than in this section right here, and I said, «Today we’re going to raise an offering.» It was our first unofficial crazy faith offering because those people looked at me crazy. I told them, «Today we’re going to raise an offering, and we’re going to give all of it away to churches in this community.»
People have seen us give millions of dollars away to churches that started with 300 people who had no guarantee of us ever being on YouTube, me ever writing a book, or ever being Pastor Mike T. There was no guarantee of success; there were just people there who knew that if we were going to experience a suddenly, we had to do something slow. People see me now, and they think, «Oh, he’s an overnight sensation.» Shut up! You don’t know me! You don’t know all the years that I was sowing seeds in obscurity! I’m glad you weren’t there because you might have distracted me, trying to critique my process. But I thank God for the wilderness season. I thank God for the dark. I thank Him for the valleys, because you cannot tell me what God has been doing in my life because you weren’t there.
Most of you haven’t seen the seasons that created my suddenly. But there’s no way when God told me we were supposed to do an end-of-the-year offering every year to accelerate the vision; there’s no way He would tell me to do that and tell our church, and I wasn’t going to be the first one to feel the hit. I’m not going to tell you how much money I’ve given to the body of Christ, but we could have bought a lot of other stuff. What I’m saying to you is that in that $8,300 offering, Natalie and I gave $1,000 with no guarantee that one day I’d have anything to rub together—more than that, no contracts, no book deal. We didn’t know if the church worked. Bishop was so encouraging, like, «You’re doing great, Pastor Mike,» but I knew I wasn’t doing great.
We were praying; he had crazy faith to just believe. And then everybody shout at me—suddenly, there was a switch! But you thought it was sudden; it actually was slow. Okay, why does it have to be suddenly and slow? Because if it’s actually quick, you won’t be equipped. If it happens too quickly, you won’t be equipped; you’ll lose what God wanted you to live in. That’s why God says it’s suddenly season, but in many areas, it’s going to look slow. «Well, I’ve been forgiven this many times.» Some of you would be like, «I forgave him three times.»
The Bible’s clear: 70 times 7. Mathematicians, what’s that? 490 a day? Y’all missed it! She said a day! 490 times a day, you’re supposed to be forgiving. You’re such a compassionate person. There’s been a lot of slow forgiveness! See, you can’t come in on this scene and think that it just happened suddenly. It’s going to feel like suddenly, but ask somebody who’s been rebuilding their marriage: is it slow or suddenly? Ask somebody who’s been planting new patterns and overcoming addiction: is it slow or suddenly? Ask somebody who’s working on the vision that God gave them but hasn’t received any support yet: is it slow or suddenly? See, God uses the process to perfect the purpose. Everybody wants the purpose, but God would be unkind if He gave you the purpose without the process. Ask the children of Israel. He delivered them from Egypt and told them, «This isn’t the shortest way.»
What if Siri told you, «Calculating the not-shortest way to your destination»? Most of us would pull over; we’d stop driving to find a shorter route. But God told the children of Israel, «This is not the shortest way because I need to make sure what you were in is off of you by the time you get to what I’ve promised you.» So, He took the long way. Watch this: the long way was 11 days, but as soon as He told them, «I’m putting you through a process,» they started complaining. Somebody said tripping—yes, I love my church! They started complaining, tripping, grumbling, doing the exact opposite of what was commanded of them to do, and they turned an 11-day journey into a 40-year death march.
Now, the process looks short after you see the penalty. I bet they were looking at year 41 saying, «We should have just listened! We should have just went through the process!» But God said it’s going to be sudden. I bet you 11 days seemed like a suddenly compared to 40 years! If at year 11 they were like, «This is all we had to do? Shoot! 11 years—11 days? We’d take that!» They liked suddenly, but they didn’t want to go slow, so they missed everything that God had for them in the promise. So, watch this: I’m going to give you the secret. I told you— the secret of a sudden switch is, write this down: steady. You want a sudden switch? Get real steady! What are you doing consistently? What are your Bible reading habits? What’s your prayer time? What songs are you currently worshiping to?
No, I’m not talking about that one Maverick City song from three years ago that you know the words to the first chorus. I’m talking about—is there something fresh stirring? Where’s the song that God gave you to write? I’m talking about, everybody shout at me—steady! Steady! If you want suddenly, it comes from being steady. I had to keep serving my wife in seasons where it felt like we weren’t connected. I had to be steady. Do you know how many date nights we went on mad? Okay, see, y’all want to be fake in here, but I’m talking about we were mad at each other—"Kids, where are you going? Date night!» But if I had stopped being steady in a season where I felt strained, I wouldn’t have gotten the suddenly in our relationship.
Now, that girl walks by, and I just want to take a bite; I want to give her a compliment. I want to do things because the seasons of being steady have produced a sudden passion in our marriage—a sudden understanding. And too many people in the church want the suddenly without the steady. I’m talking about it’s going to take crazy faith to be steady. I believe God wants us to have the suddenly with steady practices. Right now—decide in December what you will do till next December, but get a head start at the first of the year. Start walking! Start tomorrow! «Okay, but my knees.» But they’re not getting any better sitting in that Lazy Boy. It’s not about the speed of the walk or the run. Some of us—well, I used to be able to do a mile in 5 minutes!
Now it’s going to take you 5 hours, but it’s okay! What are you going to get? Shout at me! Steady! «We’re doing steady date nights every week.» «But we don’t have any money!» «We’re just going to go sit in the car and listen to R&B jams.» Oh, you all want to be fake? We’re going to carve out this time. We’re going to hit the block. Matter of fact, we can’t waste that gas; we’re just going to roll the windows down. «You remember this, baby? You remember this?» Made you a new playlist today on Spotify! I’m not talking about spending money; I’m talking about getting steady! Okay, I’m telling you— that same light switch cannot turn on if there is not a steady supply of electricity. It’s there the whole time. That current is flowing the whole time; the switch gets flipped because of something. Oh, the Holy Spirit is reminding you of stuff He told you to be steady on four years ago. He said, «I want you to be a part of that small group. I want you to get with the—I’m not going to be hurt like that ever again.»
That’s a lie! I want to tell you, as long as there are people on the Earth and you have love in your heart, you have an opportunity to be hurt. But God is the one that walks with you through all of your pain and all of your hurt. You will not be able to experience love to its fullness if you’re not vulnerable to the hurt at its fullness. The person that can hurt me the most is Natalie Diane Todd. Why? Because I love her the most. And I’m just trying to tell somebody right now—God said to get steady back in relationship! Be steady in serving in the church! Forget serving in the church—be steady in coming! Some of you—come on! You’ll be here today, and we’ll see you January 19th! «God’s just been really working on me and taking some time and just spending time with all the things that I…»
Time to be able to do and time to just be with Him. You’re a liar! You’re on your truck. You’re at the lake. You’re at the boat. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but part of your purpose is to give what God’s done in your life away, and you won’t even serve in His house while He’s already built yours! Okay, okay, Pastor Mike, it’s going to take crazy faith for—Be steady because I’m everywhere. Some of us, I be if something isn’t moving, I’ll make it move. Come on, we’re outside like y’all be outside. Y’all be planning stuff, and nobody even wants to come. You’ve made a whole party nobody wants to attend, but you’re just trying to make stuff happen. What God’s saying is maybe this year, the most spiritual thing you can do is pick four things you’ll be steady at.
What if you’ll be disciplined this year? What if you’ll actually be accountable? What if you’ll be steady at saving $50 a month? Every time something happens, it’s a crisis, and God told you to save two years ago. You would have had everything you needed at the moment of the crisis if you hadn’t bought those Crocs. I know I’m in your business right now—I have pink Crocs, SpongeBob Crocs, Spider-Man Crocs, high heel Crocs, low heel Crocs. I have the little widgets; I have my kids' faces on them. Look how cute that is! And as soon as there’s a need, you feel like God abandoned you. What if it was because we weren’t slow enough to be steady? Oh, this is a challenging word, even for me. I hear myself; I hear you, Lord. I hear what you’re saying to me. I hate this. I want to turn my iPad off. How do I stay steady? I’m going to give you three ways to stay steady.
You submit to the process. If God is asking you to do something, you need to submit to the mission. You need to say, «You know what? I do not like reading, but I’m going to read my Bible every day. I’m just going to be steady. I’m going to do something I don’t like. Welcome to life.» Okay, I’m actually going to wake up 30 minutes early to make sure I prepare for my kids' school so I’m not angry at them when they’re kids and I got up at the time they did. Now we’re about to be late because they got distracted, and you’re cursing at your kids before they start their day in a place where they don’t feel loved. They would rather be there than at home with you because you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, okay? Oh, that felt personal.
What if this year you were going to be steady, getting up and making sure you’re prepared because you’re going to take on a different perspective of the honor it is to raise these children? What if I decided I’m going to be steady and communicate with my accountability this year? I’m not going to see them in the streets and be like, «Hey, bro, you ain’t called me.» Accountability is not when the person you’re supposed to be accountable to calls you. Accountability, you all know what happens when you go to jail and you get a parole officer; you’re accountable to that parole officer.
Some of y’all are too savvy for this, but some of you know what it is. You know what it is when you get out and your freedom; they tell you every week that it is not up to your parole officer to come find you at Wingstop. It doesn’t matter where you are; you have to go check in with them. What if you made a decision to stop using it as an excuse that people have lives, and you put in the effort? I’m going to be steady with accountability this year. I’m not going to let the enemy punk me into isolation because I’m actually going to be steady. Just one more time, say «steady.» Steady means actually submitting to the process. Some of you, God has been trying to put you in a process, and you’ve been fighting it. All He’s saying is, «You’re not going to win; you’re just wasting time.»
How long will you delay your obedience? How do I stay steady? Number two, stay in proximity. There are environments that you know bring life out of you, bring faith out of you, and point you in the right direction. Somehow we get stuck in the environments that don’t help us. We spend too much time in places that tear us down, make us frustrated, and give us anxiety. And God is saying, «Would you stay in proximity?» That word just means «close.» Stay close to the places and the people who give life. Everybody, shout at me: «Life!»
I wrote it down like this: you need to stay close to the voices, the vehicles, and the vision God has for you. You need to stay close to the voices. If listening to Transformation Church helps you and you know this is one of the voices that helps you make right decisions, you need to listen to it every day—not just on Sunday. It needs to be your background music. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. All I’m doing here is trying to help you hear the word of God in a different way. Maybe sometimes you just need to do it, and I don’t care who you listen to as long as they point you to Jesus. If there’s a specific timbre and tone and dynamic that helps feed you, stay close to the things that bring you life. Stay close to the people who bring you life.
Why are you entertaining this false humility and insecurity a lot of people are exhibiting right now? «Well, I just know you’re busy. I just know you’ve got a lot going on.» You didn’t ask me what I had going on. You’re projecting onto me what you’ve decided because you don’t want to experience the possibility of rejection, okay? I’m talking real deep right now, but some of us don’t have friends because we won’t just ask someone, «What y’all doing this Friday?» because you’re scared that if you ask them what they’re doing this Friday, they’ll be like, «Ew, get away from me; you disgust me. You smell like a gross onion.» You act like someone’s about to harm you, and you project onto people. But God is saying, «You know that’s a voice that helps you. You know there’s wisdom when you’re talking about your feelings with them.» So stay close. That’s how you stay steady.
I’m telling you right now, if it weren’t for Natalie, Todd, Bri, Davis, Tim Ross, Aaron, Charles, Bishop, and I could keep going, if it weren’t for the people, the voices, and the people who understand the vision around me, I wouldn’t have been able to be steady for nine years pastoring this church. I woke up the other day, shocked that I’ve made it this long because I know me. We were talking about the calendar, and it’s like this year in February, we’re celebrating nine years of me being a pastor. I said, «Oh my God,» because if someone had told me on February 1, 2015, that I would be here nine years later, I would have been like, «Ah, I really see a good two, possibly three.» Some of y’all play spades. How many books do you have? Two? Ah, but nine? The reason I’ve been able to stay steady is that I’ve stayed in proximity to people who understand my value. You know how many people tell me I can’t do stuff like, «Uh-uh, you can’t go there anymore.» I’m a grown man. I have kids. I’m not a kid, but we care. If you show up there, if you do that, if you say that, stay in proximity.
Last one, how do I stay steady? You have to switch your mind to the promise. It’s got to be for the joy that’s set before you. That’s why I’m trying to encourage your crazy faith right now. You may not be in it, but you’ve got to switch your mind to the promise. What has God said about me? What has He said about my life? What are the promises in His word? What has He said? I just want to encourage somebody, if you don’t switch your mind to the promise right now, you’re going to be in 2024 acting like, «Oh, now I’ve got to get geared up for a new year.» And God says, «I already wanted you to be in it.» Make the resolution now; make the decision. Everybody, shout at me now! Because if you do what’s slow now, it’s going to pop up and look to everybody else like a what? Suddenly.
Okay, quick recap of Amos so you understand what God was saying to them in chapters 1 and 2. Israel is just like all the other nations. They whine. In chapters 3 through 6, prophecies come against Israel because they are unfaithful to God, and they have already been given a mandate. In chapters 7-9, they receive five visions of what the judgment will be like, but then God’s grace intercedes for them in the middle of their judgment. God says, «But I can give you a sudden switch.» This is powerful for us to remember—that in the midst of God correcting us, He’s always working on a redemptive plan. When God tells you no, He’s always trying to find a way for you to get to the promise. That’s His love for us. It says, yes indeed, Amos 9:13. «It won’t be long, God decrees. Things are going to happen so fast that your head will swim. Somebody say, 'Sudden! ' Hallelujah! Suddenly, suddenly, somebody say, 'Suddenly! Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly! ' This container has been touched and filled up. This container has just been changed suddenly. It was sitting empty; nothing was in it. I came to it, I touched it, I put something in it, and suddenly it’s different. Shout at me, 'Suddenly! Suddenly! ' And I suddenly walked away from it.»
Hallelujah! Things are going to happen so fast; your head will swim. One thing fast on the heels of another; you won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once, and everywhere you look, blessings, blessings, blessings, blessings, blessings! Say it: blessings, blessings, blessings, blessings. Believe: blessings, blessings, blessings on my blessings, on my job! Blessings, blessings, blessings! Like wine pouring off the mountains and the hills.
Write this down: my last point: a sudden switch comes from a subtle switch. I believe the big thing God is about to do in your life is going to come from a little adjustment you make. I want to shout it, but I think you need to hear it just as softly as I’m saying it— a subtle shift in perspective, a sudden, a subtle shift in your patterns. Do you see what happened back here? All I did was something very subtle: I came over here, turned on a switch, put water in the container, and put the top on it. Those weren’t drastic changes to what was happening over here; they were all subtle. But I don’t know if you can hear what’s happening, but there’s a lot of movement happening. I don’t know if they can really see; get close. Do you see those little bubbles? They’re percolating. This water that is stagnant in this container is starting to get a lot of movement. They’re both clear, but it was the subtle switch that is creating a sudden switch. We’re going to let that sit there for a second; keep the camera right there so they can see what’s happening.
What’s happening coming out? What’d you say? It’s bubbling; steam is coming out. There’s activation; there’s movement. Hold on, if enough heat gets on it, it might have a little overflow. Look at me, everybody, look at me, everybody. Whoa, whoa, hold on. There’s some action happening right there. I wanted your attention back, but right now, this whole thing has captivated our entire attention—not because of something great that is happening; it was a subtle switch that caused a sudden switch. Oh shoot, hold on now. This thing is steaming; hold on. This wasn’t part of the example. Hold on, this mug is—hold on, Jesus, hold on, fresh wind, fresh wind, fresh wind! Hold on, oh, it’s starting to move; it’s starting to—could this be a prophetic symbol of everything in your life that has not had any movement for the past five years?
And God says, «I’m not about to do something big for you; it will be a subtle switch.» Oh, this might break; hold on. Whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s moving, and it’s making this move. See, y’all are missing it; it’s very light, but the thing that’s not even connected to it is moving. Right now, there are family members, co-workers, business partners, people in your neighborhood, people on your block; that once you begin to walk into your suddenly—oh, I feel this thing right now—there will be a sudden switch because of your subtle switch. He said, «Let’s make some tea.» At 211 degrees, nothing moves. It’s at 212 degrees that the water boils. What if the subtle switch you needed to make was a one-degree decision? One degree— the difference between making everything around you shake.
If I ignored it, it would’ve still taken all of your attention because something started to steam behind me. Look, people are scared right now because it might break. The container may not be able to hold—oh, I hear the glass crackling right now. And if it’s sizzling and if it does break, it would take our attention again. You do not need attention if you’re actually producing what God has called you to produce; the attention will automatically go to what God has already put His hand on. I’m going to turn it off. My whole team is tripping. I can see all of y’all over there, Pastor. Y’all cut the power; I see what y’all are doing. I love y’all standing everywhere. We’re going home; everybody shouted me a sudden switch. But what if it starts with a subtle switch? A subtle switch in perspective, a subtle switch to patience, a subtle switch in practice, a subtle switch in your schedule.
What about a subtle switch in your seeking of God? What about a subtle switch in your serving? Everybody listen to me. I know y’all are trying to get home, but don’t miss the most important part of this message. What if it’s a subtle switch in your sacrifice? I believe this is a suddenly season. I ask God every year when it comes to the Crazy Faith offering time, «Lord, I really don’t even want to do this 'cause I already got it. I know you can ask me for whatever you want me to ask on October 16; don’t ask for that. I’m yours; you got everything I got.» He was like, «Michael, that’s why you have to do this. You have to give people who have never stretched their faith beyond a certain point the opportunity to make a subtle switch.»
It was $1,000 for me and Natalie back in the day that changed the trajectory of our entire lives. My children’s children will be blessed not because of what Transformation Church has given me. God has chosen to bless me from this church; I’m well taken care of. But for some reason, people read my books. I didn’t even know I could write a book, but God told me to make a subtle switch. He literally, Bri will tell you, I was about to—I don’t think I told this story publicly—but the first time I went to Elevation Church and they asked me to come, I knew I was going to preach. I have in my phone right now mockups for marked t-shirts, marked devotionals, marked CDs, prayer CDs. I had everything branded; I was about to go to Elevation and open up a Shopify. I had it ready, and I was like, «I don’t care what they give me; I’mma sell these t-shirts.»
I mean, I spent money to get them designed and everything like that, and the Holy Spirit said, «Do you want to do it?» You ever felt like the Holy Spirit starting to stutter at you? If so, I literally came to bring in my wife, and God said, «Do not sell any products until it’s something of value, and I’ll tell you what it is.» The first thing I ever sold and the only thing I’ve ever sold is books. I really was like, «This is trash,» 'cause I’m not a big book person. It’s not like I would much rather buy a hoodie than a book, especially back in that season. But I obeyed God; I submitted to the process; I stayed steady. Do you know that writing a book is slow? Do you know how many edits and revisions it takes? That’s how I said it; leave it in there. No, the actual grammatical punctuations of shut up, it’s a slow process. It took us a year and a half maybe to do Relationship Goals.
I had to ask for help; I had to get Bri to read it with me. We had to sit in rooms for days and discuss, «Does that make sense? Is that what even actually happened?» Holy Spirit just give, and then come to all of that, and now it’s time for my book to come out. When the world pandemic happened, I was scheduled to go on these shows and do all this stuff—all the things they tell you you need to do to promote the book. I was in the back, and I called my friend Carl, and he FaceTimed me. He’s like, «What’s going on?» I was like, «Bro, I am stressed! They just canceled everything 'cause they said it’s a global pandemic.» You know, you’re acting like it’s nothing 'cause you don’t really know what it is. They say it’s a global pandemic.
Anyway, I’m sitting there, and he said, «Bro, God’s about to use this. He’s got everybody at home; all they have is time. Bro, people are going to read this book! It’s going to be a New York Times bestseller!» Just his little encouragement—I remember I was right back there, and I was like, «All right, God, I’m going to change my perspective and my expectancy one degree.» That’s where that concept of 51% faith came from. People be like, «Oh, I’m 50/50.» No, no, no, no, no! If I know I’m 1% over halfway, that is God! I’m doing it one degree, one decision! And that book for some reason has sold over a million copies now. Here—no, don’t just clap for that! Don’t just clap for that! Don’t just clap for that! The clap comes because somebody let me write another book. That’s where the clap comes.
Hear what I’m saying to you: How would God use this thing that I never even considered to be the thing that would bless my children’s children? It’s because he was asking me for a subtle perspective change. Will you let me do it, or do you want to do it? I would be traveling to every conference in the world had I not written Relationship Goals. The way I’m able to be the family man and take my kids to school and do all these different things is because I don’t ever have to go out and speak, ever! Glory to God! He knew that to build this church and to be the husband and the father I needed to be, I needed to be home, so he gave me—a subtle, subtle switch that suddenly changed everything in my life. Guys, this next week, I’m asking everybody in this room and under the sound of my voice, whether you’re here or you’re in Dubai right now, I want you to pray and ask God if he’s asking you for the subtle switch of a sacrifice.
We give our money to stuff that never even produces one piece of fruit. That’s right! And God’s saying, «I want to change everything in your life, but I want you to start with a sacrifice.» And I’m telling you this is not because the church needs money. This is an opportunity for your faith to go from this point to go one degree higher and get to that place of crazy faith where God can trust you with the things that he’s calling you for today! I felt that the end of this service is going to hit people all different places. But next week, we’re bringing our families; men are going to talk to their wives, and they’re going to be like, «Honey, I need you to pray, I’mma pray; let’s talk about a number by Tuesday.» Some are going to come with a number, and they’re going to be like, «You say what?» Heck no! She’s like, «Well, I just really thought that God—» «Girl, you heard from the devil.»
So one thing I say about that: The devil will never tell you to give anything 'cause he does the opposite. He’s a stealer; he’s a thief; he’s a liar! So sometimes when God says a number, I’m telling you, every time that God’s given me and Natalie a number, it shocks me, but then it propels me to trust him. And when I tell you whatever amount, this is not about amounts; it’s about your faith. I’m telling you this from the bottom of my heart: The literal offering that Jesus brings attention to in the Bible is a woman who gave two mites. He said, «Do y’all see this woman right here?» called his disciples over. He said, «That’s crazy faith right there!» They said, «People are dropping stacks and racks everywhere. How is that crazy faith?» He said, «'Cause everybody else is giving out of their overflow, but she gave from her need.»
Wherever I tell this story of the Gospel, we’re going to remember this woman’s story. It’s not about the amount; it’s about obedience. I’m going to say it one more time for the people who are getting over old religious mindsets, and maybe you came from a church or a place that manipulated for finances—that doesn’t happen here! I’m trying to increase your faith! Pastor Mike, why does it have anything to do with money? Because where your treasure is, your heart follows your treasure, especially in this Christmas season, where you’re about to get your kids some toys they don’t want anyway. They’re going to play with them for exactly seven hours. Seven! Mark my words! Or they’ll be broken or they will not be able to find the remote! What if this year, God’s trying to move you to another level? Just want to pray for you at the end. Could you lift your hands? I’m going to pray for our church, 'cause this is a church of faith.
Father, I thank you! I thank you for the sudden switch that’s about to happen. Father God, I’m not praying for anything except a perspective change. Maybe the process you’re putting us in and you have us in right now is so that you can prepare us for the promise! Today, I’m looking at people, Father God, who are about to walk into another level. God, I feel it; I sense it so strongly. And God, I thank you that our suddenly comes with something slow. Father, thank you for making us steady. God, I thank you that this will be the most spiritually steady year we’ve ever had! I thank you it’ll be the most financially steady year we’ve ever had! I thank you it’ll be the most relationally steady year we’ve ever had! God, I thank you that this will be a year of steady joy, steady peace, steady seeking, steady serving, and steady sacrifice! Father, you know the season we’re walking in, and Father, you’ve already been starting to talk to me. And Father, at every level it’s relative; you’re requiring our faith! It’s not a sacrifice, Father, unless it makes us say «ouch.» So today, God, I thank you that you would increase us to have faith, Father, to believe beyond what we see—not just for an offering but for our lives of obedience. I thank you that there will be subtle switches that turn into sudden switches! Thank you that this will be the most fruitful year of our church’s history, 'cause you’re going to do a work from the inside out! I pray against fear and doubt, and I thank you, Father, that faith is rising in your people today! Speak, Lord; your servants are listening. Thank you that we will hear and obey. Have your way is our prayer.
Even in that same mood right there, if you’re here and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you’ve been running from him, I want to let you know he’s running to you. Today is the day of salvation. The subtle switch you need to make is you need to get out of the seat of your life and let the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords sit down in that seat. Today, I believe God wants to transform your life with a subtle switch. Make him your personal Lord and Savior! If you’re watching this, if you’re in the room, no matter if somebody sent this to you or if you’re watching the rebroadcast, the Spirit of the Lord is here right now, and I’m telling you something is moving, just like we saw that water starting to bubble. Maybe the one decision, the one degree that needs to change is you saying, «Jesus, come into my life!»
Pastor Mike, can it really make that much of a difference? I’m here to tell you that it changes everything. It took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody who was addicted to pornography, somebody who struggled with a lot of dark things in my heart. And it didn’t make me perfect, but it made me start bubbling up to become a progressing man. Today, I stand here telling you that God is no respecter of persons. What he’s done for me, he’ll do the same for you! And today, he wants to take you from the shame, take you from the bitterness, take you from the suicidal thoughts, take you from being trapped in lust and pornography and greed, and he wants to bring you into a life—an eternal life!
So if that’s you, if you’re watching this or you’re in the room, on the count of three I’m going to ask you to just raise your hands if you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior. Some of you have been backsliding, running far from God, deep in the crap that you know you never want to be in. Hands are already going up. One! You’re about to make 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! This is your subtle switch! Three! Lift your hands up if you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord! I see you, sir! I see you, ma’am! I see you, sir! Transformation Church, let’s give God praise! I see you, brother! Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God! You can put your hands down. We’re not going to bring you up and make you confess everything, but we do hope that you get into a small group where you can confess, 'cause that’s where healing happens! But today we’re going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord all together. At Transformation Church, we’re family; nobody prays alone. So I want everybody to lift your hands big and wide and just say:
God, thank you for sending Jesus just for me! Just for today! Today I give you my life! I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again just for me! Just for me! I want you to switch my life into purpose! Have your way in every part of me! Change me. Transform me. Transform; I’m yours. I’m in Jesus' name. Amen.