Michael Todd - If You Say Sow (How to Continue the Overflow)
I need to deliver this message because I believe it is truly the culmination of this Overflow series. This is the last week of this series called Living in the Overflow, and I’m about to take a break from the pulpit. I want to be very clear, and I have never hidden this. For 10 years now, in the summer, the Holy Spirit has instructed me through mentorship as well as His word to take a season off from preaching on this platform for a couple of reasons.
Number one, so I never get too used to the light. He wants me to know what it feels like to function without everybody looking at me, with Him actually searching my heart. With many people in this position going through a lot of moral failures and various situations, I think one of the best ways to protect me and my family and to do this for a long time is to ensure that when God tells me to go to places of obscurity, I obey. I had to be honest with my church this year. For the first time in 10 years, I don’t feel like I need a sabbatical, which is a miracle.
Some of you might not understand, but having a phone call at 2 o’clock in the morning with someone saying they died or having to navigate the difficulties that come with pastoring, just carrying people and doing that—I’ll never stop doing it; that’s my honor. I pray for you all the time, but on top of that, searching God’s word and preparing a message to give an hour talk every week to people who are ready to clip it up and call me a false prophet—that’s a lot of pressure. Sundays keep coming. I told someone the other day that pastoring and being a doctor are the only two professions where you get beaten up and don’t have an off-season. It’s a professional contact sport. I’m not trying to make anyone feel sorry for me; I’m trying to let you know that I’ve decided to set a boundary to stay healthy.
So, I’m going to be gone for a little bit, but you shouldn’t be gone for a little bit. Now, I have to say this: if the only way you can receive is from me, then I must conclude you are a baby Christian. It seems like you’re the only one I really feel to stop; maybe God’s trying to mature all of us because the only people that can eat one way are children, where you have to crush everything up and make it mushy. Some of us this summer need to pull out our knife and fork and say, «God, speak to me. If you want to use this person or that person, or even a donkey, speak to me. If you want to use my neighbor, a hater, or even Darth Vader, speak to me.» Somebody say, «Speak to me.»
I’m going to ask our church to mature. Do y’all feel how packed it is in here and how full and amazing it should be like that next Sunday? When Pastor Mike isn’t there, I’m not the star of this show. There’s only one name worthy to be praised; there’s only one name by which men can be saved, and it’s Jesus. I set this precedent because most of my pastor friends hide when they leave the church, and I will not be a prisoner to what God has given me purpose in. Do y’all hear what I’m saying? I’m saying it out loud because there are CEOs and people who run companies that have been running you, and until you trust God with the thing that He gave you, you will never be able to live a full life.
So today, I want to model this in front of you. This is not my message, but I had to pastorally communicate what’s about to happen. We’re starting a brand new series next week called Friends. How many people love the sitcom Friends? Some of y’all only watched one episode, but it’s a great title. For the next few weeks, we’ll have some of my friends, some of the greatest speakers in the world. The one thing I will never do is let anyone get on this stage who doesn’t have a word from God.
You’ll want to show up every week. Next week, Pastor Travis Green is going to be in the house. If you’ve never met Pastor Travis Green, he’s the one who sang that song, «You Made a Way,» but the crazy thing is he’s almost a better preacher than he is a singer. I promise you he’s going to have a word for this house. I want y’all to be engaged, lean in, and let’s see what God will do through this summer. Amen?
All right, everybody, get your Bibles out because this message, I’m taking the filter off. Some of y’all might say, «Don’t you do that every Sunday?» The truth is, I wish people were holistically mature enough to handle the word of God and practical application without fluff. If I could just say what I have to say, we could be gone in 15 minutes. If I could just say what I have to say, and you believed it because it’s God’s word and did it, then we’d be gone. But I have to give examples, break it down from this side and that side, and let you leave thinking, «What did he talk about? I don’t remember, but it was good.» Then I have to come back three weeks later. And today, the Holy Spirit told me to be unfiltered and just say the truth and leave it. I’ll be gone for a few weeks anyway. So, I’m going to say this, then I’m going to walk out of here feeling good about what the Lord told me to say because I’m going to be obedient.
Let me start off with a story because you need it. This week, my family and I went to see the Mouse in Orlando. I dare not promote this place without a sponsorship—PKVK 2025, holler at your boy. We went to visit that Mouse and his friends in Orlando. My kids are in a brand-new environment, and they’re asking for everything. They’re asking to go swimming at 6 a.m.; they’re asking if we can go into every store and buy things; they want all types of things. Because it’s a new environment, they see things and want to go here and there—all the billboards and attractions. Finally, I’m like, «Hey, it’s time to go to bed,» and they’re like, «We don’t want to go to bed! We want to stay up and draw on the walls and do all kinds of ridiculous things.»
At some point, I was trying to practice gentle parenting, so I was explaining a lot of things to my kids, like, «Why can’t we go now? Well, because the park opens at this time,» and I’m giving all these extra explanations. At some point, I lost my last explanation word. I don’t know if any parents can agree with me, but there’s a point where you’re talking, and then you know that’s it—that last explanation word—it’s done! And then they hit you with that three-letter word that pulls out a response you didn’t know was there. My kids kept asking for more, and I would try to explain again. Finally, I have to admit I did something I told myself I would never do. I remember at 13 years old making a pact with myself: I’ll never do this; I’ll never say that to my kids. It was like a movie. Ava asked me for something, and I said, «No, baby, we can’t do that.» She said, «Why?» And it came out of me like, «Because I said so.»
I was never so liberated! No other words had to follow. It just put a stamp on the moment. She was taken aback, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, «Michael, will you ever get to the point of maturity that you’ll obey Me without explanation? You’ll do it just because I said so?» I said, «Ooh, I was taken aback because I wasn’t expecting God to parent me in the same way I was parenting my child.» But He is a good father, and I was trying to be a good father. He said there are certain things working behind the scenes that don’t need your understanding to receive your obedience. Will you be the child who will obey just because He said so? The conviction of the Holy Spirit came on me in that Airbnb, and He said, «Michael, tell My people this: the next season may not have an explanation attached to it. Do it because I said so.»
There comes a point of maturity where we obey our God just because He said so. Today, I need to take away all the excuses surrounding sowing because He said so. Most of us will do everything God says to do if it doesn’t require the thing we love: our possessions, our money. «I bought this; I worked for this; these are my shoes.» But what if God said, «Give it away»? Would you obey Him just because He said so? You’re sitting here with the same stuff you had since 1984, calling yourself a collector, yet you have damned up the overflow in your life because you are not a river; you’re a reservoir. Whenever God gives you something, it stops with you. But if He told you to give the collection away, would you do it? If He said so.
The heart of this message is to unlock the flow of overflow continually. If you’re going to live in the overflow, you must understand that part of the responsibility of having more than enough is giving all the time. You missed it. Most of us will never live in the overflow because we are greedy, and God does not overflow unless he can reach others. If you do not have a heart posture to give more than you receive, you will never live in the overflow. You will visit it, experience it; you might even have a season with it, but that perpetual thing, that never-run-out more than enough—"Jehovah Jireh, my provider"—it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from; I know it’s coming. God, you can get it to me because you can get it through me. If you don’t have a heart posture of generosity, you stop the overflow in your life. My question to this generation is: will you give if He says so?
Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, «In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand.» It says in the morning sow, and at night, don’t hold back. What is it saying? Every opportunity you find to sow—so if you say so, He’s saying so. When you get up, figure out what you’re going to give today. I mean on Sunday: every day, give encouragement, give an extra cup of coffee, give that dress that you know you’ll never fit into because you don’t work out; let’s just be honest. You’re not getting into that! You’re going outside—y’all know, some of the dresses you wear inside, like, «Girl, look!"—but you’re not going to let anybody see you in that! Give it if He says so. Most of us don’t even have the eye or the heart to be able to look at the things that God has placed around us and say, «God, is this mine anymore?» You missed it there.
I dare you to walk around your house and ask the Holy Spirit, «Is this mine anymore?» Oh my gosh, it says, «In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that.» The reason I find every opportunity to sow is because I don’t know which one God’s going to throw His favor on. I have no idea if it’s going to be the gift card I gave to that person two weeks ago that the Holy Spirit said to just carry in my wallet until He tells me to give it, and then I’m outside of the QuickTrip, and I hand it to the person. I don’t know if it’s that or if it’s when I come in here, and the Holy Spirit tells me to get an extra $100, and I just obey it, and I was going to go shopping with that, but now I actually just get like— I don’t know. He’s saying, «I’m not going to tell you which one’s going to do it because if I told you which one was going to do it, you would do it only because you thought there was a reward in that one.»
So I want you to embrace—watch this—the mystery of God. This isn’t a slot machine; this isn’t a casino. This isn’t, «Let me try God.» A lot of bad teaching has come from the idea that it’s «give and you’ll get.» What I have learned is that «give and you’ll become more like God,» because you would rather have a million dollars than be more like Him. And some of you are like, «Well, hold on, carry the three.» But when you become more like God, He says, «I can trust you with things; I can trust you with connections; I can trust you with money.» It says, «In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand, for you do not know which one will prosper, this or that, or whether—watch this—my favorite part, or whether both alike might be good for you,» which is like our God.
So I’m not telling you which one’s about to blow up—this, that. What it tells me is that He’s trying to create a heart posture and—watch this—a pattern. He wants a pattern of generosity, not us doing it because we think it’s just going to prosper us. Okay, all right, here we go. So what if we took the generosity aspect—just go with me for one second; this is where I’m being unfiltered. What if giving wasn’t a debate about whether it’s in the Old Testament or the New Testament? Because some people, I’ve had people argue with me about giving, saying, «Well, it’s under the law,» and then, «And then what about grace? If you have grace, then you don’t have to give.» It’s like, when people argue giving that much, it’s like, «I’ll keep it.»
I didn’t say it; He said it. It’s His character. If this wasn’t a God thing or a church thing, if it wasn’t about having a bunch or having a little, what if we just sowed wherever God told us to? He said, «I’m just trying to come at it from a different angle. I’m not trying to manipulate nothing. I’m not trying to get—we’re not doing a second offering. I’m just trying to teach you how to keep the overflow going. Whenever God says, 'It ain’t yours no more, give it away, ' whenever God says, 'Hey, take your last, throw it over there, ' do it fast. If He said so, would you?» And the sad truth about most of us is, if God came in person form looking like one of the Kardashians, you would still have to debate if it was Him. 'Cause there are times you’ve known God’s told you to do something. If I’m honest, there are times when I knew it was Him. Why? Because number one, the devil never tells you to give; it’s the opposite of his nature. So if you hear or feel a prompting that God is telling you to give something, that is when you don’t just automatically do it.
Listen, if you have a spouse, you’ve got to talk. You’ve got to communicate. Don’t end up in divorce court because you gave away your house. No, I need to say this 'cause y’all be like, «Pastor Mike said…» No, shut up. You need to talk to your wife. Y’all need agreement, unity. But what I am saying is God may speak to one individual, then speak to the other individual, and y’all come in agreement. It may take minutes, days, hours, or years, but whenever there’s agreement and you do what God tells you to do, there is nothing more powerful than sowing a seed that God said to. And you never know what will be produced. I have found, in all my years of preaching, that this is where I’ve got to be unfiltered: most people get stuck on the semantics of giving rather than the surrender of giving.
«Well, how much do I give to the church? How much do I give? There are homeless people out here; y’all should be taking that money and giving it to the homeless.» You don’t do that; you put an expectation on other people that you have sandwich meat and bread and leftovers from Wingstop that you didn’t eat and you were saving, and now it’s moldy 'cause it’s a week and a half old. You warmed it up 'cause you thought you were going to eat it, but then you looked at it, and there was something green on it. But you don’t go take it downtown. And Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? Because it’s not—watch this—the church’s job as an organization to be generous for the organism. Hear what I’m saying: God will call you to a corporate thing and an individual thing at the same time. And as you mature, you might think, «Well, I gave my $2.»
No, hear what I’m saying. I don’t want anybody to miss this 'cause I’m trying to unlock the overflow in your life. If God says sow, say it with me: «If God says sow.» One more time, with faith: «If God says sow.» If you love your stuff, you have 20 seconds to get out of this service. I’m giving you a warning right now 'cause when I share the revelation God’s given me for the rest of this message, you’re going to look at your stuff differently. All my stuff is a seed. God, this ain’t just all mine. All my stuff, all my money, all my clothes, all my bundles, all my eyelashes, all my cars, all my boats, all my equipment—everything I have is seed. Oh my gosh, you’re talking about wanting to live a life full of fruit.
How do you get fruit? Somebody’s got to plant it. So I’m going to give you four reasons why people don’t give; write them down. We’re going to go through them real fast. Why don’t people give? Missing teaching. The reason why I teach about giving, even in the face of everybody saying «Prosperity Gospel» and all that other stuff, is because Jesus did it. If people don’t understand it, they will abnormally use it or abuse it. So I have to talk about it because more than almost any topic in the Bible, He talked about money, generosity, and resources, and I need to teach us right. I’m not doing a series today; this is just how I’m closing the series. But I promise you from this pulpit, you will not be missing teaching about it. If you need to get teaching right now, go back. Every year I’ve done a series: «Wait Till I Get My Money Right,» «What Are Some More Paper Chasers,» «Get Your Ducks in a Row,» «Easy Money.»
I’ve done series after series on generosity, stewardship, heart posture, tithe, mammon. I’ve spoken about the whole thing because I did not know, and I was dealing with my relationship with resources, finances, money, and poverty mindset. I looked at God, but I was broken-minded, and I don’t want us, as a church, to be living below what God has called us to do. So I want you to know that people don’t give just because of missing teaching. The second reason that they don’t give is because of misinformation. You’ve been taught, but you’ve been taught wrong. Everybody right now, turn to Psalm 133, and while you turn there, get $1,133 in your hand and stand up. If you give that today, I think that this miracle water that I just got out of the back bathroom—you put it on your doorpost—you put it on. And after you douse your whole house in that dirty water, something in you dies 'cause you can’t trust. I’m sorry that people have gotten on platforms like this and used their authority to give you misinformation.
Let me say it very plainly. God does not give to you because you give to Him. He gave to you before you ever could give to Him. For God so loved the world that He—our giving is a response to His goodness to us, not because that’s what makes us have a relationship with Him. This is not transactional; this is relational. But if you’re not taught that, if you’re taught that God’s a genie, if you’re taught that, you never learned the heart posture that responds to giving. So I’m telling you that maybe you’re in that category where you don’t really give because of misinformation. Two more. Maybe you don’t give because it was misrepresented, like someone made giving to God look really bad. Okay, you’re on Section 8, you don’t take care of your kids, everybody’s ashy, but you give your last to the church. Now your kids are begging for food, you’re asking everybody for money, and you got put out of your third house. Your children are sitting there like, «I will never, I will never.» And the pastor up there says, «Even if it’s your last.»
I feel the spirit; that person needs financial peace. That person needs a class. You don’t need to take anything from them; you need to show them how to handle what they have. Okay, y’all don’t want to be real. And because it was misrepresented, people have said, «I’ll never do that.» The last thing, the reason why people don’t give, is because somebody was a part of the giving that had wrong motives. Now, how do we not have air conditioning in this church and you’re driving that car? Come on. We’ve all seen it. How in the world do we never give anything away, but we always need something? Let me give you five reasons why we give. I’m cutting to the chase. Y’all ready? The five reasons why we do give: it’s a principle of the Kingdom. It’s what God does. When you don’t do it, He still does it. Oh my gosh, do y’all know how consistent God is with the principle of giving? Every day you wake up, He says grace, mercy.
«No, they’re going to mess it all up; they’re going to use all of it today. Tomorrow, it’s new every morning: grace, mercy, salvation. Yeah, they only have to accept me one time; they’re going to jack it up a thousand times, but I’m going to ask them to repent and turn back to me, and I’m going to keep over and over extending grace and mercy to them. They don’t know how to receive what I’ve got to give them, so I’m going to overflow them with what they don’t even know. Their mama couldn’t give it to them; their daddy couldn’t give it to them. Does He love me? I never loved you more. I’m going to give them what they need.» It’s the Kingdom principle. The second reason why we give is it’s the pattern of Jesus. Like, take the New Testament, Old Testament—everything away. If Jesus never talked about giving, what did He do everywhere He went? «Y’all hungry? Feed them.»
Jesus, what do we feed them with? His own disciples watched miracles that were unfathomable several times and still couldn’t believe that He kept giving away. It was His nature. Why do we give? It’s supposed to be our Kingdom nature. When I walk into a room, I’m not trying to figure out what am I getting; I’m trying to ask the Holy Spirit what am I giving. That is a different approach. What can I get out of this feels like the devil to me. Many of us were trained like that; our parents trained us like that. «Now make sure you pick up another one for your brother; your brother wasn’t invited to the party, but if they got extra goodie bags, get your brother one.» Okay, hold on. You left. All they had were leftovers; you could—you’re going into places looking at what you can get instead of what can I give? It’s the pattern of our Jesus. The third reason we give is it’s practicing wisdom. Jesus told us to practice these things. Put the—like, wisdom is applied knowledge.
So when we see God do something, when I give every week I come to this place, when I give every time that I go somewhere—yesterday, I’ll tell you a story: my daughters wanted a snow cone back from the trip with the mouse in Orlando, and they had the nerve to tell me they were bored. What? And so they were like, «Can we do something?» I was like, «What do you want?» They said, «Can we go get snow cones?» Yes, get up to the snow cone spot. My daughters were a conduit for me to bless somebody else. Watch this: I’m frustrated, hot, and I don’t know what kind of hell is happening in Oklahoma right now, but yesterday was demonically hot. I’m standing out there; they should have a drive-thru at those snow cone places, but they don’t. I’m standing out there melting, and because of my diet restrictions, I can’t even get a snow cone. My daughters get the snow cone, and the Holy Spirit says, «Pay for the next person.»
The rest of the people in line for snow cones, I said, «Holy Spirit.» He said this was an opportunity for me to sow and say nothing. So, I handed my money to the little girl and said, «Hey, this is for everybody in line, and if there’s any change, just keep it going until it runs out.» Something strange happened; the girl I gave the money to was overwhelmed. She said, «What do you mean?» I started repeating myself about everybody’s snow cones, and she exclaimed, «I’ve worked here for six years, and nobody’s ever done this.»
At that moment, the Holy Spirit told me, «It wasn’t for the people; y’all missed it. His ways are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts.» It wasn’t for the people who needed snow cones; they wouldn’t have gotten in line if they didn’t have money. It was for that young girl to see that you could walk at a level of generosity; she was taken aback, tears filling her eyes over paying for snow cones. I was practicing the wisdom I found in God’s word.
The fourth reason that we give is that it puts God first. Do not tell me you put God first if your wallet, your checkbook, and your online account do not reflect it. Most of us put the mortgage first; most of us put the credit card first. And when I ask, «Well, what am I supposed to do?» maybe downsizing? I’m standing on business; you don’t even have the energy to clean that house anyway. You did it to impress your friends, and they don’t even come over; you don’t even invite them. It’s a weight; it’s a burden. Maybe God is asking you to downsize to actually find peace and put Him first. But the only reason you wouldn’t is that it would take a hit on your pride.
Nobody ever posts, «I gave the keys back.» Let’s start a revolution! I gave the keys back; I bought this car. Credit was cool, but money wasn’t; I overshot it by 300 percent. It looks good on Instagram but feels bad in my heart. I got the keys; they got the keys. Give them back! Get peace back, get joy back, get contentment back! I’m preaching right now! A Bishop told me that a season of restraint can produce a lifetime of freedom. You might need to move you and your three kids into an apartment for two years, and you may find something weird: all that square footage separating you from those last few moments you have with them. That close proximity may bring you together.
But if you’re not putting God first, this is what I’m going to say: tithing changed my life. This was not because I was a pastor; it’s because I put God first. Now when I tithe, it’s so automatic, I don’t even think about it. The government takes my money; Transformation Church takes my money. I don’t get any stipend because I’m the pastor; y’all know I be preaching. So I set my stuff up according to the Todd household, saying, «Take this, 'cause this ain’t mine; it’s reserved for Him.»
Well, you know what you could do with that? Yes, I do! I’ve calculated it 16 times! Come on, let’s be honest; I know exactly what I could be driving. But what is 100 percent without God’s hand on it? 90 percent with the blessing is better than 100 percent without. I know this is making some people uncomfortable, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable; I just want to educate you on what keeps the overflow going.
And this is the beautiful thing about the tithe: it doesn’t matter how much you’ve got. If you make $10, it’s a dollar. If you make $10 million, it’s a million dollars. God makes it even because He wants the heart posture to be the thing that changes you, not the amount.
Okay, last reason why we give—somebody say, «Why do we give?» We give because it’s a principle of the Kingdom, it’s a pattern of Jesus, it’s practicing wisdom, and it puts God first. The last reason is that it proves our trust. Don’t tell me you trust God and haven’t trusted Him with your resources. Some people say, «Well, Pastor Mike, I don’t have it!» I’ve been in seasons where I did not have anything to give.
Has anybody ever been in a season where you did not have money? Some of you are raising your hands because you’re here with me! There’s a funny story in the Bible; in Acts chapter 3, a couple of the disciples were walking into the temple. Acts chapter 3:6 says, «Then Peter said to this man who was begging at the gate, 'Money? I ain’t got that. Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.'» And he healed the man and he walked.
The thing I used to always get caught up on was, «Dang, that dude did a miracle.» But what the Holy Spirit brought me to was this: he just gave what he had. «What do you have?» the Holy Spirit told me to ask this morning. I said, «Lord, what do you mean, what do I have? Silver and gold have I not.» He asked me again, «What do you have?» and took me on a divine walk around my house.
The Holy Spirit began to direct me to take things I already had. He said, «You don’t need money to do this; take the stuff you love, the stuff you like, the stuff you weren’t thinking about giving.» I’m telling you, it’s not yours anymore! I walked around my house with my eyes closed for six minutes; I couldn’t see anything. «Lord, I see nothing; my Lord, I have no idea what you would have me to bring.»
Is there a little boy here who likes basketball? Somebody under ten? Where you at? Come here, buddy! I found this little ball that had «represent» on it. What’s your name, buddy? Josiah? Josiah, this is a custom represent ball, and this is something for you to take your family out to lunch. God bless you, man!
Is there a little girl here who likes purses, like loud-colored purses? Where you at? She’s a baby; she’s little. She don’t need no purse; they’re holding up. Come here, baby! What’s your name? Oh, now a couple of people. No, you come on! This is a little purse, and there’s something in here that I had. It’s really nice, but you’re going to take your family out to lunch today too, okay? You’re welcome, baby.
Okay, somebody says, «What do I have? What do I have?» Hey, George, come here! Now, there might be a lot of Georges. The George who got baptized and has 17 muscles in his neck, where are you at? George, where are you? Did you leave? Did you get baptized and then leave? He had to go? Tell him to come here! I have something for George!
Okay, um, anybody doing photography, trying to get their Instagram up? Come here, Mark! I’ve got some random little digital thing that follows you. I got a Polaroid; I went on a spree trying to figure out how to become an Instagram sensation. Here’s a digital camera, here’s some film, and here’s some stuff for you in college. Here’s a little token.
Now, this one may be the hardest for me to give away because there’s a shortage in the country right now, and the Holy Spirit convicted me. Oh, y’all think this is a game? You want some Sriracha, bro? Come here! He said yes! Now, I sent people all over the world trying to find me a stockpile. This is my last unopened bottle of Sriracha and hot chili. The truth is, this doesn’t matter; there’s a gift in there that’s going to bless you for what God’s doing in your life, bro. I love you, man.
Somebody say, «But what I do have?» Every person under the sound of my voice could do this today, and it would start a heart of generosity on the inside of you that would allow God to trust you with more. Because the Bible says He gives seed to the sower! I just figured out the cheat code: decide to give! If you decide to give, God will fund the giving; He gives seed to the sower!
Some of you, the greatest thing you could do is decide, «I will tithe from this point on.» The greatest thing you could do is say, «At the end of the year, my family will give 15 percent of whatever God brought into our house into the house of God.» I’m only telling you—I’m only telling you. What y’all doing? Can I have something for my brother? She didn’t even want it for her. I don’t even know what I got for you. Hold on, let me see. Can I have something for my brother? What is that? What’s your name? What’s your name? Adriana? Here, take this to you and your brother, but give it to your mama, and tell everybody else not to send their kids up here.
Okay, let me be clear, 'cause y’all was like, «Junior, get your—you get your—DeMarco, get your….» I told you to get yours! Sometimes I wish I was a comedian, so I can do this how to get you. Oh my gosh! Hey, who’s trying to start music production or make some music? Who’s trying to? Come here, dog! If you said so, there’s an interface, some headphones. I got a flight! Take the piano! You give it—you got a flight tonight? You can’t take the piano. Why? I flew in this morning. You can’t take a keyboard on a flight? Baby, somebody help him figure this out!
Let me—you’re about to miss your blessing. I–I—there’s an envelope in there that’ll help you figure it out. God bless! I appreciate you! He said he flew in from Florida to give his life to Christ, y’all! Oh my God, and he goes back tonight! Can we give God praise for that? If you said so!
I have to do this because you think that this is about me doing something. I’m just trying to spark something in you that allows you to see that God doesn’t care about things. He said, «Seek me, and all the things will be added.» Things don’t matter to God. My man in the second row with blue shorts, stand up! Let me see how big you are! Stand up! Yeah, you’re about to grow! Come here! I wore this jacket a couple of weeks ago. You loved it; I loved it! I’ve seen this—I’ve seen your live, you’ve seen it—I literally saw it! I loved it; you loved it! You had the whole fit together; the whole fit was incredible!
Hey, hey, hey, hey! Check the pocket! What would happen if all 2,000 of us and the 10,000 of us watching online plus decided this week we were going to give? What would the Church of Jesus Christ look like? How many testimonies would we hear and see?
Okay, I’m looking for a very specific person right here, okay? Who? No, somebody said, «Me!» Stop! Did George leave? He went home to change? His son is here? Tell him to get back here; tell him to come because he can’t get this unless he’s here! I’ll give it to somebody else, which is a lesson—there are some things that only come when you’re in the right place to receive them. Don’t hear what I’m saying to you; God will get it to me! He’ll get something to you, but you may miss the thing that He was specifically trying to give you!
Okay, y’all text him! That’s some good friends over there. Okay, I need a husband and wife! Stop, 'cause y’all was like, «Y’all, no!» Stop! I need a husband and wife where the wife wears a size nine in women’s and the husband wears a 13! Where? Anybody on this side? Come on down here! Come on down here! He said, «And they just got baptized.» Yeah, come on! That’s hype, right there!
All right, come here real quick, y’all. Come up here! I had to wake my wife up to do this! Okay, she said, «Thank you!» Come up here! What y’all doing? There are stairs right there; people get lost when God starts blessing. Just—what’s your name? Kendra and Cleveland? Cleveland, yes! It’s not just got baptized? Yes! We came from Houston! They came from Houston to get baptized today!
All right, since y’all are going to be traveling, I got this backpack, his and hers. Okay, I had to wake my wife up because I started going through our stuff, and the Holy Spirit said, «You’re supposed to give to a husband and wife.» When I woke her up, I said, «Babe, give away your stuff.» She was like, «What? What?» Get out of my face! And then I was like, «Babe, God told me to give some stuff away.» She said, «Okay.» Then I said, «I need to give away some shoes.» And she was like, «Give away your shoes!» And I was like, «I’m doing that, but I’m supposed to do a husband and wife!» She said, «Girl, I said it!» So, this is your backpack encourage you to wear some headphones; they’re brand new. Here are some Jordans for you. This is yours, and this is your new backpack. There’s a little blessing inside right there. And then, for you, it looks like you want to hoot, so here are some shoes for you. Here you go; here’s the Apple Watch. All right, and there’s a little «God bless y’all.»
Now, Jay, I heard you, and this is beautiful. I heard you when I asked who wears a nine and who wears a thirteen; you said, «That’s me and John.» The Holy Spirit told me to go to the back. Before I came out here, Mo was my witness. Jay, come here. Nat started giving me some other shoes to give away too, and we knew you were going to act a fool. Check the shoe; there’s something in there. Johnny, where you at? I love you, bro. I love you. I was being obedient, and I’m hot. If you say nothing, I gave away nothing that was throwaway. Everything I gave away meant something. Nothing I did could make all of that work, but if you didn’t feel it, it wasn’t a sacrifice.
If you said, «What would it look like for our church to never have to ask for an offering?» Y’all want more time in the service? Let’s cut out offering time. I want more time to worship; I want the Word. Let’s cut it out because we already know what we do here; nobody has to ask us. I sent that in when I got the check. What day was that? Thursday? That’s already gone. Today’s just the overflow. Pastor, stop talking about what we need to build next; just tell me how much. Who needs help? What church do we need to bless next? Too many times we’ve had to convince people to do what’s a kingdom principle. If He says so, it’s the way to keep a continual overflow. Here we go. Every miracle always starts with somebody sowing.
Every miracle starts with somebody sowing an encouraging word, someone sowing a prayer. If you want to see miracles in your life, start them. Did you hear what I just said? Everybody wants to receive a miracle. Start a miracle. You can go today to Cheddar’s and walk into that restaurant; there are people there eating on their last because they promised their son they could go to Cheddar’s for their birthday. They’re sitting there counting appetizers, the refills, the drinks, praying they have enough to not get embarrassed. The Holy Spirit could say, «Go cover that meal.» It wouldn’t take anything from you. You wouldn’t even remember that, and God literally could use you. You’re not even eating at Cheddar’s; He just told you to go in there. Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? I do it all the time. The Holy Spirit says, «Stop into UMO.» I think, «I don’t want to eat here.»
But I go into UMO, and I’ll walk straight in there. They’re like, «Can we help you?» I say, «I’m looking for somebody.» I’m thinking, «Who are you looking for?» Let me just check; I think they might be around the back. The Holy Spirit shows me them and them. I’ll come back to that stand and say, «Hey, do you see that couple over there? Whatever their bill is, I want to pay for that. And whatever that table’s bill is, I want to pay for that.» They’re like, «Who is it? Why?» I say, «And whatever the rest is, this is your tip.» Then I walk out. Now, watch me; I’ll take my little TC card and say, «Just make sure you tell them God loves them,» and put this in the thing. I don’t come in there saying, «Hello, poor people who cannot pay for umbrellas. Big puppy is here with the queso.»
No, nobody’s doing that. If that’s what you want, the Bible says that’ll be your reward. Say less; pay more. All right, we’re going home. Y’all ready? All right, let’s do it. The Holy Spirit told me, you know, all these people got baptized today, and I was looking at all the baptisms happening. I thought, «Man, what does it look like to live in the overflow?» Bring that trash can real quick. I was thinking, «What if our church—not every church, but our church—somebody say 'our church' became the poster child for sowing?» Just bring me that one, put the other one over there, and then put the other one over there—you good? What if we decided that our church would be the most generous church in the world? Amen? Yes, sir! I got four amens, but it’s okay; the Lord will replace y’all. No, no, no, because if He wants something done, He’ll find someone who will.
What if our church became the most—everybody online, you’re a part of this. I’m talking about everybody that watches this. What if we became the most generous church—not just in Oklahoma, but in the world? What if NBA players tithed? Y’all are so weak. What if people who made these big tech companies believed in God—trillions and billions of dollars—10% going to the house of God? For that to happen, I would have to get my part from a source and pour it in. The problem with the church is there are only a few people. What would happen if everybody in this front row took their vessels? Come on, help me. Y’all all take the vessel, which you want, take the vessel you’re believing for in faith. There you go.
What if—we all go to the same one real quick. How quickly would this thing begin to fill up if it weren’t just a few of us? What would have taken me years is already in—oh, now wait, now wait, now wait. Leslie said, «Let’s go to the next one.» Come now because this one is full, amen. What if my assignment is not for us to move from here to there? What if it’s somebody else’s assignment? Second row, come here. Yeah, come on, bring them some cups. Their assignment—watch this. No, no, come to me. Your assignment is to take your cup and go from here to there. See, because we all have different assignments. Some of us are called to go from this to here, and others have been called to go from there. At the moment, it gets empty; it only takes one person to put it back in, and it’s back to full. Now, all of us are sitting around like, «What should we do?» All it takes is Mo and Leslie to stay here to keep this one full.
So, everybody else that started it, let’s take ours and go to the next one. No, no, no, not that one because they’re going to fill that one up. We’re going to go to the next one. What ends up happening now? Yeah, lift it up. Let’s start a new church. Let’s go somewhere overseas. Let’s find somebody trying to do what God asked them to do and who doesn’t have the support. What happens when everybody does their part? Do you know how crazy this example would get if I just used the floor? Forget the whole arena; if I just invited up the floor, it would easily become overflow church. If He says so, somebody’s saying, «All the buckets are full.» Oh no, we need some more! «Hey, everybody that started on this one, y’all got to make sure this one is filled.»
Do you see how quickly things begin to change, shift, move, maneuver? Now I’m asking, «Where are more vessels?» Do you hear what I’m saying? Do you know how long it would take me, Charles, and Angela to fill all of these up? I want you to realize that this may be my grace, but it’s the very thing that can take something that’s already full. Yeah, into—what’s going to happen? Is it happening? My little bit, my little might, my little obedience, my little $50, my little paycheck, my little obedience can be the thing that takes it into overflow. If He says so, what are we going to do as a church? Everybody stand all over the building. Thank y’all so much. Did George ever get here? Come here, George! George got baptized today too. You couldn’t sit in those wet clothes. He said, «I’ve got to go get clean.» Hey, I had something the Holy Spirit told me to give you.
So, you’re a gym owner, yes? The Holy Spirit told me to give you this book; it’s a signed copy, and there’s a gift on the inside of some money. The Holy Spirit told me, «Michael, you have something that you need to give away to a bunch of guys who are trying to learn how to give their fitness to God.» So, I have this box—yeah, pull that off for me, buddy. I had this box of «Damaged But Not Destroyed» books, and I put $100 in each of these books. It’s my personal money; this isn’t from the church. I signed all of them. In your gym this week, I want you to be led by the Spirit as you’re walking in a newfound declaration of your faith in God, and God’s going to lead you to men you’re supposed to give this «Damaged But Not Destroyed» book to. It’s going to be an answer to a financial need, but you tell them the only way they can take the $100 off the front (because it’s taped in there just so you can see it) is that they read the book because there’s more treasure in what’s found in the book than what’s on the book. I want you to be a conduit for somebody else living in the overflow, amen?
I love you, brother; I’m proud of you. Yes, sir, love you, man! If He says church, it’s what we do. We will not be ignorant of what God has called us to do. It’s His pattern. So today, the only thing I’m going to pray for you, listen all over before you leave, is I’m going to pray for radical obedience—like the obedience that steps over excuses. Do y’all hear what I’m saying? Because let me tell you a secret that I didn’t know when I started sowing: there are obstacles to doing it, and you want to take them as signs that the Lord has told you not to do it. I knew God had told me; a lot of times, it validates your giving. It validates what you do when you move over the obstacle to actually do what God told you to do. Would you lift your hands if you want to walk into this radical obedience and keep the overflow going? Yeah.
Father, I pray for every person under the sound of my voice. I thank you that as I shared this message that You told me to share, our hearts were being lit on fire with a heart like Yours. Father, You are the most generous, the most loving, kind, faithful father, and You want us to be more like You. There’s nothing that works Your character into us, and selfishness and greed out of us, like when we give. So, Father, I pray for every person under the sound of my voice that they would receive radical obedience—that there would be unity between husbands and wives, that teenagers would begin to say, «I can start this now.» There would be children who would not be stopped by their parents when they want to give something away that their parents think is more valuable. No, think about that! No, no, no, no. That video game system is not going to do what a heart of generosity will do. God, I thank You that generosity, kindness, and obedience would erupt in Transformation Church and in Transformation Nations, and I thank You that every miracle starts with somebody sowing. Father, I thank You that the harvest in this church would be so plentiful that we would have to have whole teams figuring out where to give. God, I thank You that You will bless the businesses of the people of this church. If you own a business, just lift your hands real quick. Father, I thank You for sales, and I thank You for right partnerships. I thank You, Father, for all the bad ones, the areas, Father, that are sucking. I thank You, Father God, that those will be eradicated. Thank You, Father God, for big breaks, Father God, and reoccurring deals. God, I’m just thanking You for overflow in our businesses. But, Father God, we will not be ones to hoard; we will be ones, Father God, that will obey wherever You say so. We’ll do it. God, I’m praying that people in this room will be written into inheritances. That people in this room, Father God, will be found, and their names will stick out on pieces of paper. Debts will be forgiven, and I’m saying if You’re going to do it for somebody, You might as well do it for us. God, we believe You; we trust You. I thank You for loan forgiveness; I thank You that people walk in financial freedom. God, I thank You for education and understanding that a poverty mindset is not going to stop us. Mindset will no longer be our default setting. Thank you for eliminating excuses because we believe in the One who has conquered everything. Today, God, I thank You that You would bless Transformation Church, not just to bless us so we can stunt, but bless us so we can be a conduit of the overflow. Let there be people who are far away from You come to know You because of our consistency and generosity. When we go to that coffee shop, when we stop at that PTA meeting, when we go to that hairstylist, when we show up in that barber shop, when we go to that gym, when we show up at that country club, or at that boating club, Father God, when we go play golf, and when we go get our nails done, let us not see that nail tech as someone to serve us; let us see that we’re there to serve them the gospel. Let our generosity be the open door, the gateway to transformation. Give us more than enough so we can bless whoever You tell us to, and Father God, I thank You that Your Word allows us to be generous, no matter if we have a lot or we have a little. Thank You for radical obedience.
I have to read one scripture to you because I believe this is where our church is moving. Just listen to me, go look it up afterward. It says, «And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given to the Macedonian churches.» I put in Transformation Church right here. It said, «In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing,» I like that word, «joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.» Wait, what? They were in a hard situation, but they had overflowing joy plus extreme poverty, and it welled up in rich generosity. «For I testify that they gave as much as they were able.» Watch this. «And even beyond their ability, entirely on their own. No offering time, no second offering, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in the service to the Lord’s people.»
May it be said of our church that in any season, even when we’re going through trials, even when we didn’t hit quarter two goals, that our overwhelming joy in every situation mixed with what we don’t have deepens our trust in the only true source. What it does is it tells us, «I got to give something away. I got to sow something.» If it doesn’t meet the need, guess what? It’s a seed. They started giving in the midst of that situation. He said they did it on their own. Pastor Mike, what are you asking us to do? Obey God. Go through your house this week. Go through your bank account this week. Just because I lost my job doesn’t mean I’m not still doing a lot of things. I’m just saying if He says sow, sow. I love you; I believe in you, and I believe this is about to be the most fruitful year of your life because it will be the most, watch this, seed-filled year of your life.
If you believe it, give God a shout of praise in this place! Come on, you can thank Him in faith. Charles, come here. Charles, come here real quick. Two things before we leave. Get in my mic, please. I did what I was supposed to do today. I can feel my grace lifting. I need everybody to hear me, though: money should be easy. Let me say it differently—thank you, Holy Spirit. Money is supposed to be simple. It may not be easy to give it, but it’s supposed to be simple because money’s not even real wealth. If God can’t trust you with money, He doesn’t trust you with people. And if we’re supposed to be fishers of men, He’s testing your ability to handle relationships with Benji, Abraham, and Jackson. He’s testing you with money because He says, «Who would trust you with true riches if I can’t even trust you with unrighteous mammon?»
The only thing He compares Himself to in the entire Bible is that spirit of mammon. He says either you serve God or money, but you can’t serve both. Church, if you’ve been agitated this whole service, if your butt has been tight, if you’ve been mad at me, trying to pick apart and find the prosperity gospel, I’m not asking you for anything. I want you to have a heart like His because it changed my life and allowed me to live in the overflow. The things that Natalie and I get to partner with God to do are unheard of. You don’t know half the things that God has allowed me to give this year. I would never share that; it’s not for that. The only reason I’m doing this is I’m trying to spark something in you to let you know this isn’t about a platform; this is about obedience. And today, it would be my greatest honor for the conversation not to end on money but to end on true riches with people giving their lives to Jesus. If you’re in this room and you need to give your life to Jesus, on the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands.
Pastor Charles is going to pray over you and end the service, and we’re going to celebrate. Some of y’all are going to want to get baptized, and I just want to say some of you have felt that since you got here. We don’t have clothes for you, but we do have towels for you. And if you want to make today the day where you’re saying, «You know what? Forget this,» last time we had 113 people get baptized. Ro, are you ready to sing the whole praise and worship list again? What I’m saying is, if God says so, your life is beautiful. There was one young rich ruler who missed his opportunity because he came to Jesus and said, «What must I do to inherit eternal life?» And He said, «Man, you’ve done a lot of things. Go sell all your stuff and come on back.»
And the man ran away because he thought it was too great of an obedience step. I don’t think it’s because people have misinterpreted that scripture and think that people want you to be poor; He just wanted the man to realize where he had to put his trust, and his trust was in his stuff. I believe that man would have had more than what he came to Jesus with if he had trusted the true source, the living water, instead of his stuff. I don’t want that for you today. I want your name to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I want you to have the God of the universe on your side to help you in every situation. If you’re watching online, if you’re in jail, if this is finding you because somebody put it on, this is your moment. We’ve been praying for this moment of salvation, and Transformation Church is praying for you right now because we know life and death is in this moment, and God wants you to be whole, healed, and transformed.
This is the decision that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, addicted to pornography, stingy, and greedy. It didn’t make me perfect, but every day I’m becoming more like Him. Today I want that for you. If that’s you in this room or online and you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, on the count of three I want you to shoot your hand up in faith. I want you to be proud. I want you to let everybody know: one, you’re making the greatest decision of your life; two, we’re about to celebrate, but Heaven’s about to turn up with you; three, lift your hands. My man from Florida is the first one with his hand up. He came all the way; I see you. I see you, my friend! I see you!
Come on, Transformation Church, I see you, my brother! Glory to God! Glory to God! Charles, I want you to lead them in the prayer of salvation, and then whatever we do after this, man, I want us to praise God with every person that gives their life to Christ in baptism. Amen? Amen! Can we celebrate those who just gave their lives to Jesus? Hey listen, I’m going to ask everybody if you would bow your heads and close your eyes. We’re family here; nobody prays alone, so I want everybody to repeat this prayer out loud after me:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me. Dear Jesus, I admit I am a sinner, and I need a Savior. Save me, change me, make me new. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.