Michael Todd - Let Him Cook
Well, today I want you to get out your Bibles and your notepads because we are in week two of a series we’re calling, «Somebody help me say receipts.» We are talking about the proof of our relationship with God being in the fruit that we actually display, and I am convinced that church people would have to do less talking if they acted differently. You wouldn’t need to talk about how we need to, as a church, do this if we were already being generous everywhere we went, right? If we were already displaying patience, joy, love, and kindness whenever we were faced with opposition, they would know we have been with God, because in my flesh I would slap you. Oh, y’all are going to be fake with me right now! Somebody’s thinking, «I didn’t say anything,» because I already slapped them! No, this is what I’m saying: in my flesh, I want to go back to appealing to the nature that rejects God. But when I am led by the Spirit, somebody say, «I will be led by the Spirit.» Then the Spirit produces these kinds of fruits in your life, and we find that in Galatians 5:22.
So for the next nine to ten weeks, or however long is left in the year, I’m going to be walking us through how to get proof in our life without talking that God is in our life. So I need you to take real notes; I don’t need you to just sit there like you have it figured out because, the truth of the matter is, you don’t. Until Jesus comes back and gets us or we meet Him in the sky, we will all be working out our salvation. And if you don’t get in, watch this, a position of humility, you will listen to the things that God wants for you and think they’re for somebody else. I can’t tell you how many people right now are listening to me, and when I start talking about this, you’re going to think about somebody else. And God’s saying, «You may not be where I want you to be in that area. You should listen to how I’m trying to refine, produce, and transform you today.»
So I want everybody’s hearts to be open because today I want you to get some more fruit. I want you to have receipts for what God has done in your life. Galatians 5:22 says, «But the fruit of the Spirit is,» help me, «love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.» Against such things, there is no law. But what a law is, is a limit, right? What the Bible is saying is, «I will not let there be a limit on your love if you would allow it to erupt in you. I won’t let there, watch this, be a limit on your peace if you would allow me to work that fruit on the inside of you.»
Today I need to talk about how important I think the most important fruit is because most people want me to do this in sequential order. You want me to talk about love today, and I kind of wanted to talk about love, but the truth of the matter is some of y’all aren’t going to allow love to actually take root in your heart because it takes time to transform. Some of us are so ready to get to where we’re supposed to be or where we want to be or where we think we should be, that we will not let God do the work on the inside of us.
So when I begin to look at the nine fruits of the Spirit, I begin to say, «Which fruit do we need to accomplish all the other ones? Which fruit, if we could just get this one, would allow us the opportunity to actually be processed long enough to develop the other fruits?» It’s not the magic trick of the Spirit; it’s something that has to be produced. That means it’s something that takes time; it’s something that has to be watered, cultivated, worked through, and transformed. So today I’m talking about the fruit of the Spirit of, can you guess it? Patience. Uh-huh, some of y’all are like, «Patience? Why is that, though?» Like, for real, if I said, «Does anybody need more love?» Everybody would be like, «Oh yes, love!» If I said, «Who wants to live in joy?» Oh, joy, joy, joy! I got that joy! If I said, «Peace,» it’s like, «Oh my God, I just want more peace!» But patience is the thing that eludes our prayer list a lot. I don’t know about you, but I don’t come to God all the time saying, «Lord, today just work in me patience,» because I know patience takes other stuff. It’s not something I just receive; it’s something I have to walk through to get patience. I don’t just get it; I have to go get it!
When I start to think about the fruit of the Spirit of patience, I realize that I don’t like patience. Can I be that honest right now? The reason I don’t ask the Holy Spirit to develop patience in me is because I know this is going to kill my flesh. Y’all are sitting up here acting like you like waiting! Where are all the people that will be real with me that hate waiting? Can you? This is what we need! God, to stand in. She stood up; sit down! Okay, but this is what I found out because I began to think about how I was introduced to waiting or patience, which is attached to waiting, and most of the time it has a negative connotation. When I was young, «Uh-uh, uh-uh, wait! You cannot have dessert before your meal! Uhh, uh, wait! You’re not tall enough to get on this ride! Wait, uh-uh, you don’t have your driver’s permit? Get out of the driver’s seat, sit in the back! Think about how we were introduced to waiting. It’s the law of first mention in our lives, and the first becomes the foundation. So many times, how we were introduced to something, depending on how you were raised, where you were at, and who your parents were, waiting had a negative connotation before you even had a choice to look at it differently.
Yeah, no, sit down and wait till I’m done shopping! Okay, think about how you were introduced to waiting. Most of us, it was negative, so today I’m coming to reverse a paradigm, or a way of thinking that has been in your mind, so that you can see that patience is not, watch this, a punishment. Point number one: patience isn’t a punishment. Out of all the things that God says, „I want you to have receipts or fruit for this in your life,“ He could have used anything, and one of the main ingredients is patience. God does not see patience as a negative; He actually sees it as, watch this, necessary. Anyone that is actually going to walk out what He’s called them to in this life is going to need this receipt at all times, right? Your life is pretty miserable when you do not have patience, because everybody is on your nerves. Oh, y’all stop playing! Everybody is on your nerves! When you call somebody, depending on how many rings it is, you’re thinking, „What are they doing? I just texted them and told them I was going to call them!“ I’m on the fourth ring.
Don’t let us talk about food! You got your GrubHub pre-ordered for four days from now? I don’t want to wait! When we get into that space, what it’s doing, watch this, is slowly desensitizing us to a spiritual character trait that the Holy Spirit wants to develop in us, and our culture is working Christ’s character out of us. Did you hear what I just said? Our culture!
My kids do not even have to wait for a show to come on. Some of y’all don’t like me, neither! Some of y’all ain’t old enough to understand—when you wanted to watch a show, you had to, back in the day, you couldn’t just go to an app and pick whatever season. You had to catch it, and you missed the beginning all the time! A shoot! I didn’t even know it was on. My kids now say, „Season six, episode fifteen, Cat in the Hat.“ What?! Though it may be fine for technology, is it okay for your transformation?
Okay, patience is not a punishment. Can you say it with me? Patience is not a punishment. Just one more time: patience is not a punishment. What if—just dream with me—you could look at patience as your pleasure? Like, what? I’m not saying you’re there now, because I’m not, but what if using patience was a pleasure for you? „Sir, we can’t see you for another 45 minutes.“ „That’s fine. I’ll wait.“ You know, people that have patience are usually people that have their needs met. People who do not have their needs met are in a hurry and a rush and trying to rush through. „Sorry sir, the plane will be delayed for three hours.“ „My pleasure to sit in this airport and wait with all of these germs.“
Now watch; it’s a matter of perspective because if they’re telling you that you have to wait for three hours because one of the wings was faulty, you know what? Take all the time you need! You know what? My cousin is a mechanic. Hold on, Jerome! I was about to call an airline! Let me stop it! If you knew the consequences of not waiting, you might think about it differently. If you had to have invasive surgery and they said, „Well, we have an intern here that has seen this surgery on video and he can do it, or the doctor will be here in about 45 minutes; he got stuck in traffic,“ Charlie, I’m glad you’re here, but I’m waiting on Dr. Kokan! What if waiting was my pleasure?
Okay, I’m just trying to introduce you to a different way of thinking. Patience is not negative; it’s practical for you reaching your promise. Because anything that God has up ahead of you that is big is going to take a process to get there. Most of us quit waiting because we don’t like waiting. Okay, so Pastor Michael, I need you to tell me today the quickest way to develop patience. I got you; I got you! I’m going to tell you the quickest way. Get your notepad ready; get your phone ready. I’m about to tell you the quickest way to develop patience in your life: Adam found the cheat code. Point one: waiting. You want to develop patience? Waiting is the way! Why, Pastor Mike? Because patience needs a process. If you want to develop patience, God is always going to hand you a process.
Now, we have to understand the pattern of our God. The reason I read the Bible is because I get to understand His patterns. I’m not so thrown off because I’m not the only one that had to go through this. When I think back in the Bible, God is using these amazing men and women of God; He always puts them in process. Noah could have just had a boat show up at his house, but God made him take the wood and build the boat. He put him in a process. Abraham, in his old age, could have just been given a child or adopted a child or taken a son, but God said, „I’m going to give you a promised child, and the nations will be blessed out of you,“ and then made him wait for 25 years. He put him in a process—a process where he waited so long that he got one of his concubines and his wife got together and made a plan and produced something illegitimate because they thought God had forgotten.
Even Jesus! Jesus could have said, „Straight to the Cross!“ He could have come down as a grown man, full beard, hair like wool, and said, „I am Jesus! Nail me to the Cross!“ He said, „I’m not going to do it like that. I’m going to let Him be born into a manger, and I’m going to let Him live for 30 years. I’m going to put Him in a process where He goes to the synagogue, and then at twelve, He’s going to disrespect His mama because He didn’t tell her where He was going.“ We don’t hear from Him for 18 years, and at 33 He shows back up as a carpenter. He went through a process.
What I’m trying to let everybody know is that God is going to put you in a process to develop patience. I thought about one of my favorite dishes: mac and cheese. How many people love macaroni and cheese? Okay, let me ask this question: how many people can cook macaroni and cheese? Okay, half of y’all are lying! But the only way I thought I could cook macaroni and cheese here on the platform was quickly, and you’re saying, „No,“ but you ain’t got no pots; you ain’t got no pans. If I wanted mac and cheese in this moment, oh man, this looks delectable; I’m going to put this in what is quick for three minutes. And in thirty seconds, this is what a lot of our patience looks like. „Let me just go through this quick process real quick.“ It might not be as good, but it’ll get the job done.
How many of us have been living below what God has for us because we’ve been just saying, „Well, it’ll work. They’re not the man of virtue that I’m supposed to be with, but they’re here. It’ll work. This is not the job or the purpose or the thing God showed me, but it’ll work.“ What if I tried to convince you that this was very valuable. What if I tried to make you pay $37 for this gorgeously handcrafted item, and when I say handcrafted, I mean I put it in the microwave with my hand? Macaroni and cheese—you would walk away because it is a cheap counterfeit for something that you know could be so much better if it had, watch this word, time. Thanksgiving is coming up, and the one thing that my wife excels in making—she’s an assassin in the kitchen—is mac and cheese. We don’t even call it mac and cheese; it’s addictive. It may not be a politically correct name, but it works in the Todd household.
I don’t know if I have like 30 minutes left in this message, but if there was somebody who was a master at cooking, I would rather wait for something that has gone through a process than settle for something I can have right now. Is there a chef in the house? Um, Chef Tiffany, are you with us? Chef Tiffany, could you— I don’t know, they told me someone was in the kitchen. There you go! Everybody say, „What’s up, Chef Tiffany?“ Okay, Chef Tiffany is in the back representing Scratch Kitchen—we just made that up—and she and Bubba are actually working on… what are y’all working on back there? Mac and cheese? Yeah, we have some smoky, good mac and cheese, garlic butter herb chicken, Brussels sprouts, and peach cobbler. I want to say glory to the Most High God. Chef Tiffany, we’re going to check back with you in a little bit. You go on and do your thing, and I’m going to wait out here with the people, and then I’m coming back there to get me a bite. Amen, amen.
Why would I settle? Ooh, now they call this the cheese mix. What is this? I don’t know if this came from a cow. How many believers are walking around? Somebody said, „Don’t eat it!“ How many people are walking around with a mixture that has no authentic ingredients? This is why, when they taste us, when they see us in our workplace, when they see us at the game, when they see how we post, they’re just like, „This can’t be.“ So the title of today’s sermon is, „Watch this; let him cook.“ Cook; let him cook. If the Master Chef—our Savior—our God gets His hands on your situation, don’t rush Him in the process. Be patient and let Him cook. I’m about to get happy. Some of the things that you need in your relationship, in your marriage, in your heart, are not coming quickly. I am sorry to tell you, 2025 will not be the year when everything God said comes to you. Oh, they don’t want to hear that. God, dog, I just love half the crowd! Do you want me to lie to you? In 2025, you will see miracles, but it may not be the whole thing because if He gave it to you all at once, it might destroy you. Oh God, okay. Somebody say, „Let Him cook.“
When I looked that up in the very sophisticated Urban Dictionary, it means to let somebody do something they’re good at because it’s going to become better for you if you let them have, watch this, the time. What does that mean? If somebody that is a master needs time to do something, that means you have to wait. And, um, waiting—write this definition down—is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. So, waiting, I’ll say it again, is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. The truth of the matter is some of us have not been waiting; we’ve just been complaining because it’s only waiting if you’re not upset and throwing temper tantrums. God’s saying how you wait matters. That’s why, in Romans 8:28, you have to look at this through the lens of patience. It says, „And we know that God, the Master Chef, is causing every ingredient of our life to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.“
So when I think about waiting on God, I’ve got to put my hope in who has their hands on the situation. Some of us are waiting aimlessly because God’s not in it. You didn’t hear what I just said. This was your idea, your plan, your mama’s plan for your life. You’re waiting for something to happen that God never commissioned or ordained in your life. „Well, I’m gonna be an entrepreneur.“ And my question is, did you do Proverbs 3:5-6? Acknowledge God in all of your ways? Did you bring it back to Him so that He could say, „Yeah, but kind of like this“? Many of us are frustrated because we are waiting on something, watch this, God never promised. I’m in your business, and I need you to hear me say this very clearly: God is not committed to the promises you made yourself in an emotional state while listening to worship music. You wrote it down in a journal, but He never said it. You saw it on somebody else’s Instagram, but He never instructed it for you. Now, because of mismanaged expectations, you are mad at God, frustrated with your present, and ready to give up because your hope is in something that will never happen because He didn’t say it.
All right, let me keep moving. Let me get back to my notes, but the Holy Spirit wanted you to know He is not on a condition-based plan. I want to say it with love in my heart because it is love. I get sad when people get frustrated with God, but it’s because they think, „Well, I’m not married yet.“ He didn’t say at 22 you were getting married. You said that—you made that. So since you were 22, you’re 29 now, and God—instead of looking at those seven years as a blessing of development—you have been in misery because your own idea did not match up with God’s instructions for your life. I can’t tell you how many pastors are pastoring a church that is at the brink of going under because they were actually supposed to partner with another church, but their pride did not allow them to submit in a place. They had to be the man of God, and now they’re managing far smaller than they should be.
Okay, Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? Point number two: waiting seems whack. I’m gonna give you a Michael Todd point: waiting seems whack, but patience produces, watch this, power. Waiting seems whack. Every time I have to wait, it seems whack. But the whole time I’m waiting, God’s working. The whole time I’m waiting—say it with me—God’s working. What you do not see is the most beautiful and powerful part of our God is that every time it looks like a closed door, you don’t see the door that just cracked open. Every time it looks like they walked away, God said they could not fit in this next room I’m taking you into. The power of God is always working while we are waiting. That’s why it may seem whack, but power is being produced. How do you know? Because when the disciples were waiting on the Holy Spirit, He told them, „Go to the upper room and wait right there until I give you power.“ „No, you’re about to go out and change this country and this region and change this place, but do not go without power.“ So how did they get power? They waited.
Oh my God, they did not go do more things, grab more things, find more things, gather more people. They sat in a room for an unspecified amount of time. Were they playing Uno? Dominoes? What were they playing? Patty cake? We don’t know. Were they singing songs and hymns? They had to occupy space until God said, „All right, they’ve been in this place long enough. I can give them power.“ Could it be that you won’t stay in a place long enough for God to drop power into your life? You’ve been at seven churches, seven and a half, because you’re testing them out. What I’m saying to you is the only common denominator in all those places that weren’t good was you. Could it be that God’s saying no place will be perfect, but I need you to get planted? I need you to get somewhere, and I need you to allow me to develop roots on the inside of you so what’s in the soil there can be cultivated and actually bear—everybody shout at me—fruit! You need fruit in your life. But you cannot get fruit if you are not planted. That’s a whole other message.
So what I’m saying to you is waiting may seem whack, but patience produces power. Acts 1:4: „On one occasion while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about, '“ which is the Holy Spirit. So now I got it, Pastor Mike. I’m gonna let God cook in my life. I’m gonna ask somebody to say, „Let Him cook.“ I know waiting is the way; I know it might seem whack, but it produces power. Let me give you another point: waiting is work. Now, don’t let me get up here and give you three points and a poem and then slide out. I’m just going to wait on the Lord. Waiting is work, but it’s good work. It’s a work that develops something in you. You don’t just feel depleted; you get something out of it.
What ends up happening is when you understand that waiting is work, you’ll understand that patience is still proactive. Sometimes when we begin to wait on the Lord, we think it’s an excuse to be lazy. „Well, I’m just waiting on God.“ What are you doing in the meantime? „I’m just waiting on God; He hasn’t brought me another job yet.“ Okay, so what gift are you perfecting? What are you reading? Who are you helping? What seeds are you sowing in a season where you have time to sow those seeds? Whose vision are you supporting? Where are you putting your effort? Netflix is not about to produce the miracle you need. You’ve got eight hours in a series that’s going to come out with another episode next week, and you have given your time—your precious treasure—to something that cannot produce the right type of fruit.
So I want to let you know right now, as I’m standing here, that waiting is work. But when you wait, it means that you’ve got to be proactive. I’m challenging some people right now who are in between things to sow a seed right now for the future you want to see. You’re waiting on kids? Babysit somebody’s kids for date night! So a seed! She said, „You better talk!“ My number is 966-432—I hear you, sis. You’re waiting on God? Then sow a seed that proves you’re waiting proactively. „Well, I’m waiting for my money to get right, 'cause when it gets right, I’m going to give. Boy, I promise I’m dropping stacks when God blesses me like that.“ No, you’re not, 'cause you won’t give a dollar. Okay, let me stop.
Ecclesiastes 11:6: „Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know which will profit—will it come from one activity or another?“ Oh, this is my favorite part—or maybe both! Who knows what God will build as you are proactively waiting on Him? You’re waiting on that loan to come through? Start budgeting right now like it already came through! Oh God, Pastor Mike, why is this important? It’s my last point because waiting is actually worship. Waiting is worship, 'cause patience changes your heart posture. Chef Tiffany, um, are y’all still back there making my food? 'Cause I ain’t seen y’all in like 22 minutes. Yep, we’re still working on it. Oh, it’s still cooking? That chicken looks raw. Yeah, it’s coming. That feels real raw—you’ve got to just wait and see. Did y’all hear what she said? She said, „Just wait and see.“ What if our worship to God in this next season is a „wait and see“ worship, which takes one word? Everybody tell me this word—say this word, write it down. Everybody say, „Trust.“
Trust. See, right now, it’s easy to believe that something is happening because I can see it. But what happens when the screen is no longer on? What’s happening in the background of my life? What happens when the only thing I can see is me? What happens when nothing back there? I can take them off the screen, please! Can y’all take them off the screen in the back? Just take them off the screen. I said it four times. I was really trying to work it. God, this is live straight from TSSA Oklahoma. Like, I seen it; I was like, „Oh God!“ All right, I love our church. Shout out to the production team—can we shout them out? They be killing it. All right, I be doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Maybe the button got… my bad. I had to wait on it; I let the message use me. Okay, okay, God, I hear you. I got impatient live in front of everybody. I’m humbled; I hear you. Let Him cook. He said, „Yeah, why you preaching that message? I’m about to cook you.“ God, do it!
But isn’t that how God does us? The moment we get in the role of the teacher like we have everything figured out, He says, „I’m gonna expose you in front of all of them.“ I receive it. Somebody say, „Let Him cook.“ Patience is not a punishment; it’s preparation. I thank God for all the moments He didn’t allow the process to be televised. I thank God for all the moments He allowed me to develop something on the inside when I only got 15 Instagram likes—yeah, y’all don’t hear me. Like, oh Pastor Michael, this social media stuff—no. God was developing something in me when barely anybody was seeing, and I learned something very valuable in this moment that I would love to share with you: the posture of my heart began to change when I would wait. I realized that I wasn’t just waiting for God; I was waiting with God. Today I want you to be introduced to Emmanuel, God with us. That means you have to have a relationship with Him.
If I tell Charles, „Hey bro, I got something for you. Wait right here,“ my man will wait there for a long time because of our—watch this—history. Because of the relationship we have, my word without explanation will keep him at a certain place, waiting for me to come back—not because I’m perfect, but because we’ve got history. When you spend time with God, this is the importance of having a devotion life. It’s not just about coming to church but actually being with God every day of your life, sitting with Him. In John, when it says He is the vine and we are the branches, being connected to Him, abiding with Him, these are words that allow us to know that whatever we go through, He is with us. Sometimes the best part of life isn’t what we get from God; it’s just being with Him. Great, great! Somebody say, „Emmanuel, God with me!“
God with me! Yeah, you know what? It’s been a long time. I need to go taste this food because if not, service will be over, and I will be forced to devour whatever concoction this is, and I’m still not sure fully about the nutritional value of what it is. Somebody say, „It’s none!“ You don’t know there are people watching right now, surviving on this. This is all some people have—resources, finances, or so. Could it be that I look healthy, but what’s actually going in is not? I’ve been waiting; the time has come! Chef Tiffany, I am coming to represent Scratch Kitchen!
Now I need all y’all to wait on me. If y’all start leaving, tackle them at the door, okay? Just kidding. What’s up, fam? Y’all good? Shout out to the production people in the back; can y’all give it up for them real quick? Alright, I’ve been waiting, and she said mac and cheese, chicken—what else did she say? Brussels sprouts, and it was a dessert—what was the dessert? Peach cobbler? Okay, I hope they got ice cream! Let’s see. Ooh, it smells good in here! Before I even get to what I am going to taste, I smell it. There is a fragrance in the room right now. If y’all could be back here, you would smell the aroma before you even see it, taste it, or touch it. Could it be that people are getting a whiff of your waiting before you even come in the room?
Right now, even as I’m coming into this kitchen, oh my goodness, the heat is here! Hold on—if I’m gonna be in the kitchen, though, I have to be a chef. Come on, help me, please! Let me be Chef Michael; I need y’all to call me Chef Michael from now on! This smells so good, Chef Tiffany. Oh yeah, I got the hat—you know I’m gonna be G’d up with the hat! Is this right, Chef Tiffany? Yes, that’s right! As the process is going forth, this is what they call plating, right? Yes, that means there has to be a presentation. What was done in the dark, made where nobody could see, has a level of intentionality in how we bring it and present it to other people. Church, it’s time for us to do a better job at presenting the One who loved and cared for us to this world. We’ve got to plate Christ better; we’ve got to love our enemies, we’ve got to walk in joy.
That’s why this series on having receipts is so important—because we have to display patience. Right now, as you’re putting a garnish— is that a garnish? It is microgreens. You see, I ain’t that healthy; I don’t even know what that is! And hold on, we’ve got the reapers in our pocket. I like that! What you got? Oh, look at you! Hold on, what is this? Is that—I got one! Hold on; I’m a real chef! Thank you! This is a thermometer to make sure that the food was cooked correctly to the right temperature. That means that the way we live actually has to have a level of temperature to it that can get out the impurities. Church, what I’m telling you is when we’re asking God to do the work in us, sometimes the fire gets turned up. The only way this is cooked is because it went through heat. It went through fire; I hear the fire back there right now. It has been through a process, and all I’m saying is what if the Holy Spirit’s whole job was to make you know that waiting on Him, being patient, is not a punishment but the process that gets the best fruit out of your life? At this moment, Chef Tiffany, I want to eat this, but I don’t want to eat it alone.
So what I want to do right now—this mac and cheese looks like it talks! Do you hear what I’m saying? Y’all know the mac and cheese that’s like single noodles? They be like—mac and cheese that’s like that’s good mac and cheese—do you hear me? Chef Tiffany, I’m going to take this right here, and I’m actually gonna let somebody taste it out in the auditorium—who’s hungry out there? I didn’t hear you; is anybody hungry? Chef Tiffany made some food. Come on; let’s go! I need forks—I need forks! I feel like a real chef. This is stressful! Shout out to all the people that are waiters and work in restaurants—this is stressful! Burning my palms here—let’s do this! Who’s hungry? That guy said as he walked by, „That smells good!“ Who’s hungry? Hold on; I need a fork, though! Bring them a fork because they’ll eat this with their hands! Because somebody said, „Ron, are you hungry?“ My man said right here!
Okay, look at that—don’t that look good? I’m grabbing it; you gonna grab it? This ain’t yours, Mama Chloe! I’m sorry! I need a—yeah, bring me a fork, bring me something! Yeah, she said she doesn’t need a fork! Okay, give you some of this breast—no, Mama Chloe, this is not for you! Okay? After—okay, we got y’all, we got more. Okay, we got forks—y’all serve the people! Give some to the people! Here you go, Mama Chloe! Here you go, John! Here, taste it! Taste it! Somebody taste it! I’m coming back for reviews; I’m doing my Kei-flee! We gonna taste it, and we gonna rate it one to ten! Okay? Okay, taste it, John; somebody let me know! Eat, eat, eat! How now? That was a lot!
Oh my God, let me move over here! Okay, my man—what’s your name, bro? I know! Okay, and did you taste it? Yeah, I did! Is it good? It’s great! He said, I asked him if it’s good; his response is, „It’s great!“ Could it be that the process takes whatever is good? The marriage was good; my business was good, but if I let God work it in me, it can become—somebody shout at me! Great! I need somebody else—hold on now! You look certified to be able to taste! This is family over here! Is it good, Pastor Barbara? Excellent! It’s excellent! What did you taste? I smelled it! She said, „I didn’t even taste!“ I said, „What did you taste?“ She said, „It’s excellent because I smelled it!“ But think about it—anybody who’s been around good food can tell if it’s good!
Can anybody tell that God’s been good to you by not even talking to you—just by being around you? Wasn’t there some peach cobbler? Who wants some dessert? Now that’s where all the hungry saints are! You like, „I don’t want no food, but give me the peach cobbler! It got ice cream on it!“ Oh shoot! Sunday morning special! Hold on, grab me—okay! Here we go! Here you go, Big Craig! I’m coming up! All I need to do is bring peach cobbler on Sunday! That’s all I need to do—give them Jesus! Give them worship! All they want is peach cobbler! Come on, go and taste it, though! Taste it right now! Mama Fletcher, taste it right now, and if it’s nasty, we gonna rate it one to ten right now, and Chef Tiffany gonna be mad! Her response had no words but a praise dance—she went into a praise! Maybe what they say, Chan? Is it good? And she said it’s good! Did y’all not get none? My bad, my bad!
What would it look like if the world was that hungry to taste and see? Y’all miss it! What would it look like if the fruit that we live with and we love with was that attractive that people would yell to get our attention? „Tell me about Jesus! Let me know how you made it through the divorce! Let me know! I heard about a man who can heal your infirmity!“ I heard about—you know it’s been too long! It’s been too long that we haven’t heard the cries of the world for the Jesus we have! Could it be because we have not been bearing enough fruit? Standing all over this building, we are in a season and in a time and in a place where the truth is we’re not the chef. We get to talk and touch certain things, but we serve the chef! Waiting has to become worship for us!
Today, I’m just asking even in the room, if you would just wait before you leave—hear me, hear me, hear me! Because this is maybe the most powerful part of this service—that when we wait, listen to me—waiting is warfare! When you wait, you’re going to war with the enemy! You don’t hear me because it proves you trust God! And what the enemy cannot get in front of and stop, he gets behind and tries to rush it: „I should be married; I should be a millionaire; I should do this; I should do that!“ And the Holy Spirit says, „Hold up! Be patient! I’m Emmanuel, God with you! And if you would let the Holy Spirit just work this thing in you—we sang it today—'You’re an on-time God! You love the impossible! You’re an on-time God! '“
Do you understand the concept that even when we think He’s late, He’s right on time? So maybe today the prayer is, „God, let me not wait anymore for You!“ Let me wait—wait with You! If you need to pray that prayer and be sincere about it so that the fruits of the Spirit can begin to develop, would you just lift your hands all over? I want to pray for you. Come on!
Yeah, today, Father, we want the receipt of patience, and the proof only comes if there’s fruit in our life! So today, all over this world, all in this arena today, God, we are asking You to help us wait with You! Let us not be so in a hurry to move from this place to go to that place that we miss the miracle of here! Let us not be so in a rush to prove that we can make it or that other people can see how good we are, that we miss Your goodness in this moment! Even as some of us sit here hurting and want to move, Father God, would You please let us not leave here without getting everything from here we’re supposed to get? Here is Holy Father God, for all of us that have been worrying while we’re waiting, today, God, I thank You—there would be another level of trust that would be birthed on the inside of us! And Father God, expose the areas in my heart that do not believe You’re thinking about the details of my life! Would You, Father God, help my unbelief? Come on, y’all, let’s pray real prayers today! Would You help my unbelief where it seems like You’ve forgotten about me or forgotten about our family or forgotten about our church? Today, I switch my perspective—that this waiting or this patience is not a punishment; it’s actually a proof of Your love for me—that You would put me in a process to develop in me the promise that You have for me! Father, this song is frustrating, but I pray it becomes our heart’s posture: „I don’t mind waiting! I don’t mind waiting! I don’t mind waiting on You, Lord! I don’t mind waiting! I don’t mind waiting on You, Lord! They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles Happens when I wait.“
We’re going to sing it one more time, but I dare Faith to erupt in this place. Say, „They that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not get weary; they shall walk and not faint.“ That’s what happens when you wait. That’s what happens when I wait. Hey, that’s what happens when I wait. I will be patient. I will let God do His work. Somebody just lift your hands. That’s what happens when I wait. I feel that thing; come on, y’all. That’s what happens when you believe it with faith. That’s what happens when you… Somebody is about to get a fresh perspective. That’s what happens when you wait on the Lord. God’s ministering to somebody. Come on, let’s sing it if we’re going to do it: „Wait on the Lord. I will wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord; He will renew your strength.“
There’s a scripture that says God is not being slow about His promise, as some of you are thinking. He is being patient and giving you time to get your stuff together and bring it to Him so that you will not be devoured. Today, I feel like even in this posture of waiting, there are some people that need to give their life to Christ. I’m not talking about some little „Yeah, I did the church thing.“ I’m talking about this is about to transform your life. I’m talking to teenagers and to 68-year-old men who have lived their own way, and everybody in between.
Today, if you want to give your life to Christ, He’s been waiting on you. He’s allowed His grace and His mercy to pour out so that every lie you believed would bring you to this point, and you would see that there is a loving Savior who is ready and willing to be with you in every situation. Pastor Mike, why are you so passionate? Because this took me from being a liar, a manipulator, addicted to pornography, dark things in my heart, a bad person, and God didn’t make me perfect, but now I’m progressing to be like Him. Today is your day of salvation. On the count of three, if you’re in the room or online, today is your day of salvation. God has been patient with you, and today is the day you make the decision to make Him the Lord of your life.
One—you’re making the greatest decision you could ever make. Two—your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for all eternity. Three—if you want to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior, lift your hand up all over this place. I see you, sister. I see you, my brother. I see you, my brother. I see you, my sister. Transformation Church, I see you. More than I see you, God sees you. I need y’all to erupt in praise in this place! Hallelujah! Listen, at Transformation Church, nobody prays alone. Hallelujah! Pastor Charles, come up here with me, man. I want us to stand. Everybody just grab somebody’s hand. Yes, there’s unity coming to this thing. I feel the presence of God in this place. I know that God’s about to do something strong and strategic. Father, in the name of Jesus, I want everybody in this place to repeat after me. Say:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Today, I give You my life. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again with all power, just for me. Thank You for being patient with me. I will live for You all the days of my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.