Michael Todd - It's Not New, It's Fresh
This is week one of a series we’re calling «Somebody Shout at Me: Fresh Fruit.» Does anybody love fresh fruit? Now, maybe I should ask, does anybody like stale fruit? Because sometimes you can find the value of something in its opposite. If somebody offered you something dull and nasty, your response would be, «No, thank you.» But when somebody offers you something—everybody shout at me—fresh! It changes the dynamic of how you approach it. Today, as we start this brand new series, I want to let you know that God has given us a word as a church, and for the year 2024, prophetically we are declaring that this is the year of what? Fruit! Say it again: fruit! Say it with faith: fruit! I’m talking about fruit in every area of your life.
Only 13 people believed it, but I’m going to say it one more time: I’m talking about fruit in every area of your life! Over the next nine weeks, all the way up to Easter, I’m just going to be sharing this message that God has given me to release to the body of Christ. I’m going to go ahead and give you a spoiler alert: I’m not talking about the fruits of the Spirit for none of these nine weeks. No, don’t you need those? Don’t yell for that! What I mean is, I believe God has given me fresh revelation to build the idea of why we need fruit in our lives more than ever before. Then, in the fall, from September to Christmas, I’m going to wear out the fruits of the Spirit. I’m telling y’all the things that God has already shown me for nine months from now, but I have to start building value today.
John 15:16 will be our anchor scripture, and I have 27 minutes to do this, so I need y’all to rock with me. I’m going to whip through this, but it’s so dense and packed that this fruit is juicy, and you’re going to have some dripping. Go back this week—John 15:16—this is Jesus talking. This is our anchor scripture for the year. Look at Him talking to you so strongly: «You did not choose me, but I chose you.» Yes, sir, yes sir! Pastor Charles eloquently stated at the conference, «God chose me.» Today Jesus is saying that, and He’s saying, «I appointed you.» Why did God appoint me? There could be many reasons why He appointed me, why He put me in position, why He said your name, why He said this family, why He said this era. I appointed you for one reason: so that you might go and bear fruit!
I was expecting something else there, but God said, «You didn’t choose me; I chose you, and I chose you for one reason: bear fruit.» That is so strong! Then He doubles down and says, «I don’t just want any type of fruit; I want fruit that will last!» So that whatever you ask in My name, the Father will give you. Somebody shout at me: fruit! When God gave me this on July 3rd, I wrote it down, and these words came out in my iMessage: «Fruit stands for Faith Repeating Until It Transforms.» You want to see fruit? You’re going to have to use your faith over and over, repeating until whatever you put in the ground starts transforming. Many of us get lost and left behind because we want fruit, and we don’t want to plant anything.
I can’t stay here today, but what I want to let you know is that you can’t be fruitful if you’re seedless. I’m going to say it one more time because some of y’all missed it: you cannot be fruitful if you are seedless! Yes, sir! In this series, I’m going to teach you how to take the seeds that God has already planted on the inside of you and plant them somewhere, and watch it, water it, pray over it, and wait on it. It will be your faith, repeating until it transforms. I was going to just name this series «Fruit,» but the Holy Spirit said, «I don’t want it to be stale.» If you name the series «Fruit,» they will think they already know what I’m saying—oh, fruit, love, joy, peace, patience. They’re going to hit the religious hierarchy with this series! He said, «But nobody can argue with something that’s fresh!» Then I began to look at that word «fresh.»
I was thinking about my own life, and in this last season, as I transitioned sizes in my clothes, I’ve been giving away a lot of clothes—clothes with tags on them, inboxes, and all that other stuff. When you’re in the moment of giving away the clothes, it becomes overwhelming because you’re frustrated that you’re even dealing with this. You start looking at stuff differently and say, «No, just give it away! Just give it away!» I’ve come into a couple of places and seen some people wearing the clothes I discarded, and for some reason, it was more appealing to me on them than on the rack. I was trying to figure out why I liked my clothes again that I gave away. It’s because whatever they put it with, however they matched it, whatever their own swag and energy, it wasn’t new because I gave it to them; it was old to me, but the way they put it together was fresh. They had a fresh perspective on it, a fresh outlook on it, a fresh idea about how to wear this!
I want to know if the place God is bringing you into in 2024 is supposed to be new, or if it’s a place where God desires to take what is already there and make it fresh. Okay, okay, I was telling my friend that next week I’m preaching the vision series for our church, but I couldn’t do it without laying the foundation of what fresh looks like. Next week, I’m going to share the vision of this church, and I want to let you know it’s not new, but it’s fresh! The way that God has given me what this church is about to do and how you play a part in it is so fresh! It’s still representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. It’s not new! Why do you keep saying that? Because it’s the title of my message: it’s not new; it’s fresh! You’re going to go back to your apartment today and stop begging for another house. You’re going to look around at what you already have and say, «God, give me fresh vision for what you have for me in here.»
Because you know what? I don’t need anything new; if I just get a fresh perspective on what God has already entrusted in my hands, it can change and transform into something completely different. Somebody say, «It’s not new; it’s fresh!» When I told this friend that I was about to do a vision series next week, he said, «Bro, you need to go check out that new Apple Vision Pro!» I said, «What are you talking about?» He said, «Apple just put out some crazy technology; you need to see it!» I said, «Why do I need to see that? I’m a grown man; I don’t need that.» He was like, «Yeah, just go see!» So, my wife was shopping the other night, and she was in the lady’s store; I said, «I don’t want to go in here with you. I’m going over to the Apple Store.»
I went to the Apple Store and asked for a demo of this new situation. I know I have kids, but they disappeared. I put the goggles on. Ava and Bella were there, and for 35 minutes, I was in this world. As a matter of fact, y’all, they got me—bring them here quick! I want to show you what the Lord did for me! Take that! I went, and I really want to make a confession to my wife because I don’t think she knew I had these. They got me! Because I went into that store, I put on these goggles, and the technology that’s in these things—I know y’all are looking at me crazy right now, but I’m looking at you crazy because I can see everything! But now I can see everything with other things in front of it—like Black Panther is playing right here! You’re laughing, but I’m watching a movie and not paying attention to you laughing at me.
My iMessage is right here. I’m about to FaceTime somebody right here, and I’m literally looking at all of these things. Oh my gosh, this looks crazy to you, but to me, I’m actually sending things! You’re laughing, but I just sent somebody money! I’ve got full surround sound on right now! I’m really trying not to get distracted, but wow! Somebody told me to get the new goggles. As I walked out, they said, «New goggles.» I started to think this technology is not new; this is just pictures and video and goggles and text messages. But because somebody got a fresh perspective on what was already available, the value of what was regular went up tremendously! That is so good! The church has been asking God to do something new for years when He said, «If you would just take what I’ve already given you and ask for a fresh revelation, fresh fire, fresh anointing, it would be something that would become valuable—not just to you, but to the whole world!»
What does the church do? We take these goggles off and put these on! You’re laughing! So is the culture! We’re in an environment that is changing the way I talk! I don’t even need these in this environment! I walk into the restaurant with antiquated love; I walk into the business place filled with the Holy Spirit and kindness, and I just begin to think in my last 17 minutes: «God, could You be trying to do something to let us know that You’re not going to do a new thing; You want to do a fresh thing?» When I looked at this technology, literally my friends were all tripping out over the technology. Some of them started hating, saying, «Why do you need that? It’s going to take over the world!» You’re hating because you don’t have it! You’re hating because you’ve never experienced what’s on the other side of something fresh! I just wanted to build the value today before I give you fresh vision next week.
If you don’t stop desiring new, you will discount what God’s trying to do in the place you’re already at. Write this down: A life with Christ is not about what I get that’s new; it’s about what I keep fresh! I don’t need anything new in Christ after I get salvation. I just have to keep my prayer life fresh, my community fresh, my ability to be transparent fresh! Some of y’all’s ability to be honest is stale and crusty, and so God says, «Tell the truth to your brother! God says, 'Join a small group! God says, 'Go write that book! '» And you have not done your part in the equation of the Christian life; you have not kept your relationship with Him fresh! So, I go to other things looking for something new. That’s so true!
God said, «You haven’t prayed to Me in two years. No, you’ve begged Me for things and asked Me to save you, but a relationship that’s fresh—that’s when you care to spend time with Me! You care that I save you!» Good God! Ecclesiastes 1:19 says, «The things that have been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done,» and there is no new thing under the sun. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun! If there’s nothing new under the sun, why does God want to have a fresh relationship with me? He says, «Because I have revealed truth or revelation about what you think is regular. I will use a hard situation, and if you keep your relationship with me fresh, I’ll make you into a person you never thought possible!»
When my wife and I got the diagnosis that our son has autism, I thought it was the worst thing that had ever happened to us, and it sucks. But who I’ve become—having to go to God daily to stay fresh, to get back in the race, to be able to believe Him—there was something underneath what I thought was normal that made me—somebody shout at me—fresh! This is what I need to be able to pinpoint real quick because I’m going to come for you just for one second: culture desires new; Christ desires fresh! If you keep going to culture and keep doing what’s new on the feed, what’s the next thing, who’s putting out a new song? I’m just submitting to you that God might not want to do anything new in 2024!
What if he took everything you already have and gave you a fresh perspective, a fresh spirit, a fresh attitude toward it? You don’t need a new marriage; you need a fresh marriage. You don’t need a new car. Someone might say, «Pastor, you don’t even know my car situation.» Someone else might say, «I might need a new car,» but I’m saying, what if stewardship is a real thing to God? What if the way you’re taking care of what you don’t see value in is part of the timeline for when something fresh is coming? All I’m saying is I don’t want you to get played like Michael Jordan’s shoe company is playing all of us. Someone might say, «What? This man hasn’t played basketball in decades, yet he has a billion-dollar shoe industry.»
You know what they do? They take the old shoes, re-imagine them, and sell them to you. People stand in line to buy the same old things, and they call them retro. Y’all know what that word means: old. «Oh, you get them retro; you get the old.» Is that what you’re saying to me? They have made billions of dollars selling old things to people with new excitement. Could it be that you have been sold by the enemy? You’re done with that relationship, and now you have a reimagined one, but it looks just like the old one with a different name on it. You say, «Hey bro, you see these new shoes? I got all these old things.» Someone is like, «Pastor Mike, what are you saying?»
If you don’t look for fresh, you’ll settle for old. The enemy would love for you to buy the old thing with new excitement. That’s good, but I’m not falling for it this year. Somebody say, «I want what’s fresh! I want what’s new!» Say it like you mean it, with faith: «I want what’s fresh! I want what’s fresh!» Write this down: Because I have Jesus, I don’t need something new; I need something fresh. You’re going to look back over these notes, and it’s going to be the same thing with small nuances because what God is trying to get you to understand is the fruit He wants in your life. He doesn’t want the fruit your mom and dad had. I’m not saying that what they had wasn’t good, but if you’re still living off their prayers and the only scriptures you know are the three that they told you and the one you got tatted across your stomach, God is saying, «I want to give you fresh rhema. I want to give you a word. I want to give you my heart. I want to give you my mind.» Somebody yell at me, «Fresh!»
Okay, 2 Corinthians 5:17. This is very important, and this is why I’m trying to get this into you: God wants to do something fresh in you. Somebody just say, «God wants to do something fresh in me.» Because the time He does something new is at salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:17: «Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.» Spiritually, you are new at the point you are saved. So good! But I’ve got to keep my prayer life fresh. I’ve got to keep my accountability fresh. I’ve got to keep my community fresh. I’ve got to keep my heart fresh. Have you ever been really generous in one season and stingy in another? Why is that? Because something in you did not do what was necessary to keep it fresh.
A perfect example of this is if you ever work out really hard for a season, then take four months off; it’s almost as if you never did anything. It’s because you didn’t keep the muscles fresh. This revelation is what I want you to take home today. Then I’m going to share vision with you next week, but I need you to get this revelation. It lets you know where you’re at and that what you have is enough. This is the place where most of us are not—watch this word—content. The reason you have so much anxiety, the reason why you’re trying to find, «Where we at? We outside! Where we going on vacation? Who is this? Where’s my new job? Where’s my new bae?»
All of this—what’s the new trend? What new TikTok? What new weave am I getting? What wig is it? Am I getting Priscilla, or am I getting Paris? What you trying to do? I need a new look. I need a new… Why are you doing all of that? Because you’re actually not content. You cannot be content with a mind that thinks here is not enough. That is so good! This is hard for me to preach because literally, the Lord had to strip me for two years, and I’ll talk about the pruning season when you want fresh fruit, but He had to strip me for two years to let me realize that here is enough. If nobody else comes to our church, whoever shows up is enough. If the songs never get out but we just had that experience in this place today, somebody say, «It’s enough! It’s enough!»
This is going to release you so that you can have fresh fruit in your life. Where you’re at is enough. Even when I say that, some of y’all got mad because I serve a God that can do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think. He can do that, but if He doesn’t, is He still good? Is He still worthy? Does He still deserve your devotion? So many of us want a new word from God, a new thing from God, and He is begging you, «Would you let me just give you a fresh perspective on what I’ve already placed in your hands?» Because what is not new can feel new. Some of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten were not things that came fresh out of the store, good God! It was stuff that other people had—yeah—that they said, «Man, this watch would look good on you,» and they gave it to me. I was like, «This watch does look good on me,» and the value was put there because it was not new to them, but it was fresh to me.
Matthew 9:14; this is where we’re going to end today. The disciples are asked about fasting while Jesus is sitting there, and these people of the day were trying to do things to make religious status instead of doing what was asked of them. There was only one fast that they needed to do, but they started doing it as a ritual to boost their image in other people’s eyes. So they asked Jesus, «Why aren’t your disciples fasting?» Jesus said, «Let me break this down with a parable real quick.» Matthew 9:14: «And no one puts new wine into old wine skins; for the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine, watch this, is stored in new wine skins so that both are preserved.»
Hold on! God wants to do something new, but He wants to put it in something fresh. If God is going to pour new wine into our lives, He’s not going to pour it into old vessels. You want a new thing from God? You need a new vessel! Lord, let me prove it to you. I did a little Greek and Hebrew study on this right here: that word that says «new wine is stored in new wine skins.» The Greek word for new wine is NEOS, and that means not fully developed. It’s saying that the not fully developed wine cannot be stored. Then it uses the same word «new» right here, but this is the Greek word KAINOS, and you know I don’t even know the right pronunciation, but it sounds good. KAINOS translates to fresh.
So in the original translation, it says new wine cannot be stored in old wine skins. What it really means is that not fully developed wine must be stored in fresh vessels. I’m going to say it one more time: the new wine that God wants to pour must be stored in fresh vessels or watch this—the vessel breaks! The reason this is so important is that everybody is crying out for something new. «God, I want my business to thrive this year! God, I want my relationship!» He said, «If I give it to you with that old vessel…» So good, sir! So good! If I give you what I have, I’ve got it for you! I’m not short on what I have for Transformation Church. I’m not short on what I have for your marriage. I’m not short on what I have for your life! But if I give you this new juice with that old wine skin… God’s not pouring new unless the vessel is fresh. That’s all I came to tell you today.
So good! Next week, I’m going to pour some fresh vision into you that I believe is going to transform our lives and the world. But I needed to let you know today that if you approach next Sunday’s vision, which God has poured into me and will pour into you, with an old wine skin, I just came to warn you—it might break you! Y’all don’t listen to the word; it might be the thing that makes you bow! Or we can decide today, «Great Lord, give me a fresh perspective! Whatever you want to do, have your way!» That’s not a song; that’s me renewing my mind so that I can have a fresh vessel to receive everything God has for me. Write this down because some of y’all are thinking, «Why would God give us something new that won’t be able to be held within who I am today?»
Because the thing you have to realize is just like back in that day, new wine had a property that would expand. So if the vessel did not have the ability to expand with it, it would put pressure on it and cause it to break. God’s saying, «If you’re not flexible this next year to expand with what I’m doing—that’s not part of your personality type; you’ve never seen anybody do it in your family; it’s outside your comfort zone. Man, that’s a lot of Black people that go there, and you were raised with all white people.» What I’m saying is if you don’t stretch, you won’t be able to hold what’s fresh. And God’s requirement for fresh is not a limitation; it’s for preservation. He doesn’t want to waste the wine. What God’s about to pour into your life, He doesn’t want it to go to waste.
So He’s telling you, «Change the vessel! Wake up earlier! Get in your word! Stop talking to them! Change the vessel!» Don’t watch that anymore; delete that social media account! I had to delete a very famous rapper who used to be a Christian rapper for a season and has made a transition, posting very lewd pictures on Instagram. The first thing I wake up to in the morning is his wife half-naked. Now, I could have been like, «Ah man, my man is going through; praying for him,» but to keep this vessel together, delete! Block! And y’all know who I’m talking about because you’re still following them. I’m not talking about being popular; I’m talking about being pure! I’m talking about being ready as a vessel to hold what God has for you. You’re going to be crying that God didn’t do what He said. He said, «No, you wasted the wine! I want this thing to be fresh, and I can’t put what’s new in something that’s old.»
What if this year, we got familiar with fresh? Pastor Mike, how do you stay fresh? This is it: gratitude! How do you stay fresh? Gratitude! Yes, gratitude is the gateway to a fresh perspective. So good! Everything in your life that you hate, act like it wasn’t there and act like you never had it! You hate that house, but act like God didn’t come through for you so that you couldn’t even have the house that you hate right now. You could be living with your in-laws! I love you, Mama Dana, but I’m not living with you! No, no, no! When you begin to be thankful for what God has already done, it becomes the gateway to living a life that is fresh.
The truth is, I came to tell everybody that God really wants to do something in us this year, but if our gratitude doesn’t come to another level, we will have the wrong perspective on what God is asking us to enjoy, and we will be calling that thing something we have to endure because we have the wrong perspective. I can tell how I’m preaching right now and how quiet it is in this room; y’all wish I came in here and told you this year is all about fresh fruit—new, new, new, new! Everything—new! I came to tell you that in Christ, it’s fresh! Psalms 104: «Enter his gates with thanksgiving and go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.» I found it in the Message version. Look at this: «Enter with the password, 'Thank you! '» Write this down. The code to the presence of God is «thank you!»
Thank you for this marriage! I know it’s hard right now, God, and I know that we’re not seeing eye to eye, but thank you for giving me someone to work on it with. Father, thank you for these kids look like me, and they act like the devil, but Lord, at this moment, I thank You for trusting me to raise them to know You. Father, thank You for this hard situation. Thank You that I found out about the diagnosis and that it didn’t just take me out suddenly. I’m just saying I don’t want it. Yeah, yeah, God, thank You for this job. I know it’s not the final thing for me, but Father, there are people right now who don’t have anything. I thank You for what You’re teaching me in this, like the password to God’s presence is what? Thank You. So next week, I’m going to share some vision; I’m going to pour some wine in, but the only people who will be able to receive it are those who don’t want something new but people who are okay with fresh. Stand up all over this building, please. Amen. Yeah, can we just lift our hands and ask God for a fresh perspective? Come on, hands lifted. God, I thank You that today we don’t need anything new; today we need a fresh word, fresh vision, fresh relationships, fresh passion. God, today we need fresh wisdom. Come on, hands lifted right there. Come on, Father, right now we need something from You, something that doesn’t come from new. We want You to take over and renew us, Father. So today we’re calling on Yahweh for every person under the sound of my voice. Father, I pray that this year would be a year of fresh fruit, that everything they produce in their life would be something, Father, that is not old, not stale, not something from a last season, but something that You will give them every single day. Father, thank You for fresh fruit in relationships, fresh fruit in parenting, fresh fruit in ideas, fresh fruit in what You’re trying to do. Father, I pray that we would become, Father God, enamored with what You can do with what’s already there. Let us divorce culture’s idea that new is better. God, we commit to being new wineskins, fresh wineskins. Show us the areas, Father God, that we have walked away from what You desire for us. And God, I thank You that everything in everybody’s life that is part of their purpose would become fresh again—fresh passion this year, fresh prayer life, fresh love, fresh joy, fresh peace, fresh patience. God, come on, y’all. Today, God, we are making a decision that we’ll use whatever You’ve placed in our hands. And if Your hands are on top of our hands, we know there’s nothing that’s impossible.
Today, if you’re in this room, I feel this very strongly: God wants to offer you a new life by accepting Jesus Christ so you can have a fresh outlook on everything. And I’m telling you this is the thing that transformed my life. If you want to accept Jesus in this place, any man that be in Christ is a new creation. It’s going to give you a fresh outlook on everything. I need everybody to start praying right now because there are people in here. What better thing could you have at the beginning of 2024 than a fresh way of living, something that changes you from the inside out? If you’re in here and you want to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I’m telling you, this is the vessel that He wants to use. He chooses to do something with you that is unlike anything else in this world, and He wants to live, walk, talk, lead, guide. He wants to give you everything that you need to live this life successfully.
If that’s you, on the count of three, I want you to lift your hands. This decision took me from being a liar, a manipulator, addicted to pornography, and all kinds of crazy stuff. It didn’t make me perfect, but it allowed me to become a man who’s progressing. If that’s you, and you want that in this room or watching online, I just want you to lift your hand. This is a holy moment because God is renewing somebody right now. 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. Three, I see hands already right there; put your hand up. I see you, my brother. I see you, my brother. I see you. Oh, y’all, come on, Transformation Church. I see you. I see you. I see you. But more than I see you, God sees you online.
Hey, listen, Transformation Church, you know we’re a family; nobody prays alone. Would everybody lift their hands right now? Father, we thank You for who You are, and I thank You for a fresh start today. Father, I declare and I believe that even in this place right now, for what You did on the cross gives us the ability to walk in a fresh life. So I want everybody to repeat after me:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Just for me. Today, I give You my life. I give You my life. I believe You lived, I believe You died, and You rose again just for me. Just for me. Today, I want a new start. I want a new start. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name.