Michael Todd - Have You Heard About The Cheat Code?
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We are in week four of a series we’re calling «Triggered.» We are putting Christ in the middle of our crash-outs. It is the first week of October. Has anybody had a crash-out in the first week of October? I’m not even saying last month; it’s only been, what, four or five days? Somebody said, «Not yet, but I feel one rising.» One of the things that I want everybody to know is that if you don’t put Christ in your life—in the middle of your nightlife, not just as a part of it, but at the center—everything that happens in your life has a chance to send you into a place that makes you act out of, watch this, Christ-like character.
Yeah, this is why people don’t know that we believe in God, because believing in God is in your heart, but your actions really show what you believe. Does everybody understand what I’m saying right now? There are too many believers crashing out just like people who have no knowledge of God, no reverence for God, no respect for God, and no actual experience with him. We got video of you praying and turning your life over and giving generously, but yet if somebody does something crazy to you, you revert. You turn and excuse the characteristics that don’t look like Christ.
I understand we are all a work in progress. Amen. I should have received way more amens than that! I said all of us are a work in progress. Amen? Okay! But I believe, let me be honest with you, some of my progress in Christ didn’t come until I decided to take it seriously. Very good. There are too many undecided believers. You have not decided, «I’m going to actually really do what God says.»
Yeah, you felt like coming to church today was the pinnacle of your relationship with God experience. And I want to say welcome, thank you! I love you and I’m so glad you’re here. But at some point, you can come to church and still cuss somebody out. You’re sitting next to somebody who did it this week. At some point, you can lift your hands in worship and still bust it wide open.
Okay, all right, y’all! Let me get back to my notes. All I’m saying is I’ve been around too long to watch people declare one thing and deliver another. Do you know anybody that declares one thing and delivers another? Are you someone who declares one thing and delivers another? You ever met somebody who claims to do something, but at the time of doing it, there is no evidence that they ever did it?
Okay, how many of us lift our hands in worship yet we crash out at, watch this, the littlest inconvenience? The person at the drive-thru got your order wrong. Some of y’all need deliverance, because you know your order was complicated in the first place. Can I get the chicken strip meal but without the chicken strips? Can you unbread it? But then could you put an extra piece of bread? No coleslaw? What? And I have a coupon? What? And they have the nerve to get your order wrong!
Somehow, when you drive back through the drive-thru because they inconvenienced you—I’m just giving really trivial examples, but it goes down to deeper things. My question is, if Christ were judging our daily actions—not our Bible reading, not our prayer plans, not our speaking in tongues, and our «God bless you» texts or our «I’m praying for you» texts, but if he were just to silently film how you actually lived, would anybody know that you belong to Christ?
The Lord has been convicting me in the culture we live in right now that I, as a pastor, have to live separated from being a pastor. Just a son. Michael, I need to see what you’re doing. If you were not preparing to give a message to anyone, that doesn’t count anymore. Now, let me tell you, a lot of your pastors count their devotion as work study. They prepare to tell you something, so they get a little nibble on the side.
But this is how you can be doing something like this and not have a real relationship with God. Okay, I’m giving too much information. I’m being transparent right now. The Holy Spirit told me, «Everything you do for the church doesn’t count anymore. I want to see how often you pray when it’s not about that. How often are you encouraging and generous outside of your tithe and offering? That doesn’t count anymore. That’s a prerequisite. You’ve been believing. Come up off the baby. Come up off the immature. Get into the mature.» God, I am mature!
Now we’re only counting the things you give to people who don’t go to your church. Okay! I’m not saying this is your standard; I’m talking about how the Holy Spirit’s convicting me. He said, «I want you to grow in me.» And that means when I grow in him, I actually have to mature in him. The Scriptures say, «When I was a child, I thought like one, talked like one, and acted like one. But when I became older,» watch this, «I put away childish things.» Childish things didn’t disappear; you have to pack them up and put them away.
My question is, have you packed up your trigger toys? Have you packed up your petty playmates? No, because nobody’s going to do it for you. Mom’s not going to do it. Pastor’s not going to do it. Your community is not going to do it. You are going to have to say, «I no longer roll my eyes at people when I don’t like what they’re saying.» Uh-oh, just right there! You’re going to have to pack up the petty. I may not understand it right now, but when you go, you’re going to have to pack.
You’re going to have to pack up flipping people off when they cut you off. You don’t think we see you? We see you! And you just pulled up to the church! Stop it! Stop! They’re coming too! Stop! You’re going to have to pack up keeping record of wrongs for your spouse. Some of y’all are detectives; you have a full log!
Yeah, no, on the 31st, you did cut me off in my conversation. And remember two days after that, that’s when you slept on the couch. And you slept on the couch, and you’re going through all of it. But the Bible says love keeps no record of wrongs. Yet you got a binder. And I’m just asking us as a church to pack up what’s keeping us in spiritual daycare.
We are in spiritual daycare when there’s something for us to do in the streets. We’re arguing over stuff that doesn’t even matter. We’re staying away from people we’re supposed to be loving. Okay, so today I want to give you a cheat code.
Now, when I say «cheat code,» there are different people in the room, and there are some people who feel like the word «cheat» is a trigger for you. What I’m saying is, yes, there are some times when cheating is not permissible. But there are some other times—cheating in your marriage is unacceptable. Okay, let me just clear that up!
There was a time in my life when I used to play video games. I don’t know if anybody remembers this device right here, but this device gave me so much joy in my adolescence. Does anybody know what this is? This is a Nintendo 64. Some of y’all, I’m so sorry to all my Gen Zers and Alphas who did not get to experience the level of excellence! This isn’t like the regular Nintendo; we had 3D graphics on this! You hear me?
I know now you’re hooked up to your computer; you got your microphone and all this, but back then, you had to play with somebody sitting next to you. Y’all got what I’m saying? Like you couldn’t be down the street! We had to ask if Travis could come over, and it was a whole other level. Usually, we had very small TVs. Y’all got these 60-inches, and you got these big old projectors. A 12-inch? If you were big-time and had a 30-inch, like a 30-inch, it was as big as this screen!
Some of y’all know that there were times when the game didn’t work. Some of you—these are the games that built character. I sound like an uncle up here right now! But one of my favorite games on this was a game called NFL Blitz. I was raised in a house with four brothers, and so my mom and dad would let us play video games.
This is one of the crazy things about video games: in a testosterone-filled house with boys, all of us want to win, right? We didn’t have social media at that time; we didn’t have anything else to engage with. So winning a game was the highlight of our week—being able to beat somebody. This game was powerful; I’m just giving you an education lesson on Blitz, 'cause it was a blessing.
But what ended up happening with this game was that it was like football mixed with wrestling, and you could catch on fire! Somebody was anointed for making this game, you know? I wish somebody’s soul would catch on fire! Long story short, I remember the day it all changed in our household. At this game, it was about if you could play and pick the right plays.
Then one of my brothers came home one day with a little sheet. Yes, sir, yes, sir! We’ve never seen Exhibit A before in our household. But he’s looking down at it and he’s going, «ABB up down down, ABB up up.» And then I look at the screen, and the ball launches, and it’s just a touchdown!
And I say, «Hey, hey!» You know when you snatch somebody’s remote, that’s how you know you were getting beat? «Hey, I took your—what you doing? Oh, nothing.» Next play: «ABB up down side down.» What is all the tapping? Long story short, I found out that he had a friend at school who had the cheat codes, and they called it a cheat code because back in that day, you could not look up on Google or Siri. You had to go buy this book, and at the back of the book, it had the cheat codes to the game.
I’m about to preach this thing! What if I told you that you’ve been looking at this Christ thing all wrong? What if the game of life actually comes with a book full of cheat codes? What if you could be sitting next to somebody who’s looking at the same game, but you just do one or two different moves? Instead of getting ready to fight, you might drop down to your knees. They go up, you go down.
And what ends up happening is the very same outcome that they were expecting you receive in your life every time because you are playing this game with a book full of Jesus. Today, I just wanted to give you a small message that may help shape your perspective that the Bible is not some boring book that you have to endure.
Very good. That maybe God put this book on the earth to give you a cheat code for relationships, a cheat code for how to keep your family together, a cheat code for how to actually live fulfilled.
And some of y’all are beating the game system down, knowing that this is the only way you’ve ever been able to see results. Some of y’all are taking your games and controllers and going home because you’re sick of the world! You’re sick of playing the game!
Some of us are doing things, and God’s saying, «Would you just open the book and learn these cheat codes?» So today, I’m just going to title my message: «Have You Heard About the Cheat Code?»
'Cause in that day that my brother beat me, I had a revelation that I had not heard about cheat codes before! Yeah, nobody presented it to me! So my first thing to my brother is, «Who is this friend?» There you go! Is he my friend too? 'Cause if he’s my friend too, why isn’t he giving me a little piece of paper?
Could the gospel be a cheat code that some of you are gatekeeping? You say that’s your friend; you say that’s your family; you say you’d do anything for them except share your faith, except give them the real answer to why the relationship is not working, except actually share your testimony about how God delivered you from this or the process you’re in right now.
Many people are not giving the world—their family members, their friends—the cheat code to life. Watch this: because they don’t know it! You can’t give away what you don’t have.
So the reason why people come to church and the only person they want to listen to is the pastor is that they think the pastor is the only one that knows the cheat code. When really we’re reaching fewer people because if I only know the cheat code, that means I’ve got to be everywhere you are. But the Bible says go into all the world! They’re not even supposed to come here and get the cheat code. This is where we brush up on the cheat codes.
This is where, «Hey, remember up, up, down, down?» This is where I encourage you. «You killed it on that play!» But this is not where they’re supposed to come. We’re supposed to go to them. I’m supposed to carry the cheat code with me and give it away. Give it away. Give it away. Give it away!
Now, I felt that Limp Bizkit from 2000 come out of me! But you’re not giving anything away because you don’t have it! I would dare say that most people who have spent decades in church don’t have any of the codes.
You’re playing the game, but you don’t know any by memory. And if that iPhone shut down, and if that Android doesn’t have any juice? I could barely say, «A!» No, I’m just playing; I’m just messing with you! You look like an Android user! No, I’m just playing! Listen, I love my Android users.
Here’s what I’m saying to you though: if the device goes dead, so does your faith! Hear what I just said! If your faith is built on the device and the device goes dead, if you can’t listen to Pastor Mike on YouTube, if your Bible app plan gets taken down, where is your faith outside of your device?
And today, that’s why I’m telling you, I want us to get the cheat codes. Okay, so this is where I want to help everybody understand. When I was talking about maturing, this is a message that’s meat that you’ve got to mature to swallow.
And so I don’t want you to think I’m coming at you. I’m trying to give you what the word says so that we can grow up. 1 Corinthians 14:20 says, «Brothers, do not be children in your thinking, but if you’re going to be a baby in anything, be an infant in evil.» Some of us are big, full-grown in evil but babies in our thinking.
It says, «Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking, be…» What’s that word? Today, I’m going to ask you to be mature in your thinking about what God has left.
So the first point I want to give you right now is: Christ is the cheat code. Period. Jesus Christ is the cheat code! Watch this: to eternity! I just want everybody to understand—if you don’t get anything else right, get Jesus right. Don’t—if your marriage is struggling and your walk is ah, and you might feel like you can’t fix all of those things before you get the first thing right—the first thing you need in your life, period!
I don’t care if you’re still smoking, drinking—keep doing it! Just get Jesus, 'cause he’s the only one that can help you change those habits! He’s the only one that can still look at you with love and not judgment and say, «Yeah, I caught you! No, I’m not judging you based on that. I do not like what you’re doing right there, but come here! You’re loved! I love you so much, and I care about you. I need you. I know you’ve been in a sexually alternate lifestyle, but I still call you daughter, and I still call you son, and I still want you to come home!
No, no, no, no! I know everybody else is judging you, but I love you! Matter of fact, I made you! And you know what? Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, I had plans for you! And I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you! You did get distracted, but I’m a good daddy. Come on home! I’ll put a ring on your finger and a robe on your back! I’ll put sandals on your feet!
And I’ll love you right where you’re at! But I’m not going to leave you like that, 'cause I love you too much for you to stay right there. I feel the religious spirit rising up! I feel the people that forgot about the grace they needed. When I start talking like that, you’re like, „Well, why do they deserve…“ Hold—wait!
Do you know what we deserve? Any of us? Death, hell, and damnation! Do you hear what I’m saying? Like, but grace! But mercy! Christ is the cheat code! If you are not connecting with Christ daily, what you’re doing is living outside, watch this, of the provided promise.
There’s nothing like having food in the house and your kids still say they’re hungry. Now, you don’t understand this if you don’t have kids. And, Mom and Dad, I want to say publicly I’m sorry for all the years, but now I get it! I mean, „Full! Damn, I’m so hungry!“ There’s tons! „Go pick you something!“
„Well, I didn’t want that!“ Oh, that’s a different problem! That’s a problem of preference, not provision. And I need us to see a lot of us have provision problems that—or we have preference problems that we’re calling provision problems.
Very good! God does provide! But because we didn’t want no sandwich, „I don’t want no turkey and cheese and bread!“ It’s like, „Oh!“ So you’re not hungry? You’re not hungry? You can go to sleep on faith tonight! Be careful when God does provide, but it’s not your preference! That is a sign that we have not matured!
'Cause I know there are times as an adult when I’d give a lot for a ham sandwich! Because many times in our lives, we lose track, lose focus that Christ has provided so much for us: grace, mercy, chances! How many of y’all needed more than three chances?
Like, if it was like baseball and it’s 1, 2, 3 strikes, we’d all be out! But God, because of what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary, this is the good news! We can live a free life! Yes, sir! So right now, your first cheat code is Christ!
If you do not know Christ—don’t they do this at the end? I’m telling you right now, right now, if you don’t know Christ, today you need to receive the cheat code! If you’ve been playing with Christ, if you’ve been living a lukewarm life and you let money become your God and you’ve let status and likes—you may be a great influencer! That doesn’t affect your eternity!
My God! Everybody here can know you, and you get before the throne, and he says, „Depart from me! I ain’t your mama! I never knew you!“ At the same point, there are people in here bucking and shouting and all that other stuff, and he’s going to say the same thing! He said, „You prophesied in my name! You spoke in tongues! You delivered people! But your actions? Your character?“
This is why I need all of us to take a good look in the mirror and say if I’m going to live this thing out, if I’m not going to crash out like everybody else in culture, I need to have the cheat code, who is Christ! You know why he’s the cheat code? 'Cause he cheated death! Every other man lived, and death got them.
See, I just feel like preaching like an old school preacher right now. I feel like tuning up! I’m really close; I’m really close from shedding my—but he’s the only one that looked death straight in the face and said, „You will not have victory!“
And as they were counting him down, 1, 2, something on the inside of him rose up, and he defeated death, hell, and the grave! What are all humans afraid of? He defeated the thing that humans are afraid of! Yes, sir! He’s the cheat code!
You know what else he defeated? He defeated and cheated religion! All right! Now he was born into the most religious, dogmatic, judgmental society where people’s status was based on how much they knew the Torah or the holy scriptures and how much people had to come to them to be made right with God! So, sacrifice your goat; get your clothes right; wear this, wear that; and don’t eat this and don’t eat that!
And Jesus was like, „All right, that’s cool. Scrap all of that! Yeah, just believe in me!“ No more goat sacrifices! No more paying them your money! No more having to go to them to then get to him! Then go to them! I am the way, the truth, and the life! Nobody can get to the father except through me!
I know they’ve been telling you that you’ve got to cut yourself and circumcise. I know they’ve been telling you that you’ve got to know all these scriptures and know all these praise songs! He said, „Scratch all that! It’s too complicated! Let me give you the cheat code: it’s me!“
Oh God! See, this is too simple for some of y’all! Y’all want to be confused! My God! Y’all come to church to be confused when Christ made it so simple that it literally doesn’t take all of that! You don’t have to know the Greek and Hebrew to know „free gift,“ God! Oh my God!
We don’t have to speak the same language for me to say, „Do you want this?“ And then why do we make it so hard for people to receive the cheat code? Maybe it’s because our self-worth is defined by our comparison to them. If I find a sale, I want everybody to know about it. You—if you find a sale, you gatekeep, 'cause you don’t want nobody wearing the same thing I’m wearing on the same day I’m wearing it, because you know I’m an individual and I don’t want nobody. Y’all know what I’m talking about?
Could it be that’s the spirit that’s running rampant in the church right now? That I can’t watch somebody in their process and remember where I was and actually step in and help them? I know they’re talking about you online, but let me slide into the DMs and tell you you’re doing a good job!
What you’re doing right now is a step that I had to make! I didn’t have as many people following me and watching me and all this other stuff. I want to say I’m praying for you! Do you want some coffee? Do you want a Bible study? I’mma come meet you!
What are we doing? Are we living like Christ? Are we acting like Him? I get it! They told you the book, the Bible, was so you could get to heaven! The religious activity made you a better person! What I’m telling you is the cheat code is not what we do! There you go!
The cheat code is who we know! It’s Jesus! The reason you keep crashing out is 'cause you don’t have a real relationship with Jesus! You know religion, yeah! You know doing, you know trying to prove yourself and posture yourself when Jesus already says you’re loved!
One of the greatest things we miss in scripture is that the Father approves Jesus before he does any miracles! Y’all remember when his cousin baptizes him? He comes up, heaven breaks open, and the Holy Spirit starts speaking audibly according to scripture! It’s like, „This is my son, in whom I’m well pleased!“
That wasn’t an accident! It was positioning before performance! We want people to prove to us that they deserve the grace of God that we all get for free!
Okay, this is too simple! This is the gospel! This is why nobody wants to talk about it, 'cause it’s unfair! There you go! The gospel is unfair, and scandalous! Come on, come on! You can be fine or ugly and still receive the gospel! You can sing or bark like a dog, and you can still—do y’all hear what I’m saying?
The classism, the racism, the „I’m better than you, my family,“ it doesn’t matter at the cross! And half the people are like, „So my gated neighborhood doesn’t make me, and my crackhead story to delivered and Christ follower doesn’t make me!“
No, it doesn’t make you better! That’s why in the game, the goal is to win! In this life, the goal is to make it in! It’s not to win here; it’s to make it into eternity. And to look like— and that’s why all of us are here, because we know internally there’s something that we are missing without Christ.
That’s why you spend your whole life trying to fill that hole! That’s why you go to the bottle; that’s why you go to people; that’s why you try to climb the corporate ladder; that’s why you try to make your kids your God! You idolize different things trying to find the Lord you’re looking for!
That’s it! That’s it! And all I’m trying to tell you, he’s the cheat code! And some of y’all want it to be harder than that! You want somebody to do Navy SEAL spiritual training before you get on this level! You’re an elite group! You’re a special company!
Come on, bro! Do y’all remember the guy that was on the cross next to Jesus? There were two thieves on him, and y’all remember those two thieves were standing there! And Jesus, in his grace, was trying to show all of us how scandalous his love is!
Come on! I done had disciples following me for years, and I’m about to extend to two people who are known criminals! The same guilty criminals! The same grace I gave to all these people! I said, „Come follow me!“
And he looked over at one and said, „Hey, bro, if you believe in me today, you’ll be in paradise!“ And he was like, „Nah, I’m good on you.“ He said, „All right, hey, bro!“ And that dude said, „Yes! Yes! Yes!“
Don’t really know what you’re offering, don’t have time to deliberate, but yes! I’m taking it! It reminds me of a video I saw of Conor McGregor. My, my, my man’s cousin is here, and it was a meme! I don’t know if the team got that video!
Oh, you got that video? Watch this! This is the guy, the thief on the cross, when he gets to heaven! Watch this; this made me laugh! „What happened?“ „Absolutely nothing! I don’t know! I just showed up, and I don’t know! Just, I don’t even know the guy, to be honest with you!“
He said, he said, „I don’t know how I got here! I just showed up!“ Think about it! Come on, right now he’s singing, „Holy, holy, holy,“ around the throne! And he had a transformation for maybe two minutes! Yes, sir! And some of you don’t like that!
Yeah, yeah! This is where you mature! 'Cause when you have the good news, you wish that all be saved and none be lost, even though the expectation is different for you because you’re held at the standard that you know!
So some of you have too much wisdom about God to keep living how you are! There you go! They don’t know! So you’re holding them accountable for a standard they don’t know, but you do! And y’all still live the same! You’re walking in too much wisdom to be living at that level of ignorance!
And I know if this is hitting you right now, it’s because the Holy Spirit’s coming to convince you! He’s saying, „Y’all, come on, man! Grow up!“ Christ is the cheat code! That’s why he keeps saying to us, „Hey, come to me, all that are heavy and burdened, and I will give you rest!“
I made it easy! My burden and my yoke are easy! Forget all these church people! Forget all these people! Yes, there is a standard I want you to live at, but we’re going to walk this thing out! I don’t expect you to know calculus in the fifth grade; I don’t!
And let me be honest, I’ve never used calculus in my life! But you’re going to teach me calculus and not how to balance a checkbook? It feels counterintuitive to living! That’s what we do in church so many times! We confuse people about stuff they might never use!
Come on! So good! And then we don’t make it easy! We don’t give them the cheat code! Today, I just wanted everybody to know that the reason why some of y’all are crashing out is because you’re not using the cheat code! It’s Christ!
And I know there are some people wrestling right now because about 15 years ago, I was a pharisaical Christian. I was the one that compared myself to everybody to make myself feel better about myself!
So y’all know them people! Like if you start fasting, you start walking around asking people, „When’s the last time you fasted?“ Like you just started at 2:00 PM, and it’s 3:30! But somehow, pride creeps from your toes! Yeah, yeah!
And people are like, „Yo, are we about to go to the buffet? You going?“ No, you can’t tell. There’s something different about me! You can’t tell what your edge up got back—what happened? Like, has anybody ever experienced pride after doing the thing God told them to do?
Oh! Can we be real in here? We’re a hot church! Humble, open church! You did what God told you to do, and it started making you feel better than—this is what we have to acknowledge first and then kill second! 'Cause we will crucify the people we’re supposed to be saving!
Today, I’m asking the church to reject religion and embrace grace! Reject religion and embrace grace! „Well, if you tell them that God’s going to forgive them no matter what they do, they’re just going to keep going out there, and they’re going to just keep doing that!“ They’re doing it anyway! Nobody has ever needed a license to sin!
But how do people get free if they don’t know there’s a G-code? And the crazy thing is, so many of us sitting in this room are wrestling right now because you think this message is for somebody else!
But if you knew that somebody’s eternity could be changed by—let’s take it to something you like a little more—if you knew that you could tell somebody one thing and they become a millionaire, how many people would you tell? No, I’m talking about unlimited!
If literally you could tell anybody, and if all they did was text „million“ to 828282—now, if anybody wants to do that, we will receive what God’s doing in your life at this church!
But if you text „million“ to 828282, I prophetically feel that! Hear me! How many people would you tell your family? No, I need y’all to answer me! Would you? No! If this was a real thing, would you tell your family? Would you tell your coworkers? The ones that hate their job?
Even the ones you don’t like! Some of y’all were like, „I don’t—Susan would be broke, but!“ After you found out it worked, a bunch wouldn’t you start telling strangers now that money’s not an issue, and you don’t have to go to a job? You’d probably wake up every morning and go tell somebody the good news!
Now, what if it’s been six months? All these people have been balling everywhere for six months; Bentleys, new hair extensions down to their knees, they got big screens, they’ve got 401k plans, they just joined the country club.
Okay, and what if six months, and one day in, everybody’s money was worthless? What if the dollar lost all its value? People who were broke six months earlier would lose their sense of identity, because what made them feel better about themselves was the value that was attached to the paper!
And you know what people would have been doing at that moment? Trying to figure out how I can get back my leverage of being better than somebody else! That’s what the religious spirit does! It takes something that’s free and still tries to find a way to separate you from me! It’s free for all of us!
But somehow I gotta be better than you! It’s free for all of us! Even the disciples fell prey to this! So Jesus, when you are seated on the throne high and lifted, which one of us is going to get to pop a squat next to you?
These are the people that walk with him, still trying to figure out how am I going to be better than you when we both got the same thing for free! And if there’s any piece of you that’s gatekeeping the gospel, you’re raggedy! I’m looking dead at you! You’re raggedy!
You’re ratchet, and you’re religious! If you are not telling people about the thing that transformed you, that saved your marriage, that brought you back from death to life! You were a mess in the club! Do you know who you used to be?
Do you remember those college days? Do you remember being in jail? Do you remember last week? Some of y’all, it wasn’t long ago; do you remember last night? Ah! Do you remember? Y’all know how y’all start getting if that hand starts going up, and you mouth open, hand up, knees activated! Y’all know what I’m talking about?
It’s my birthday; I’m trying to bring light to a serious subject! I’m just saying, I’m just saying, when’s the last time you shared the cheat code with anybody? And for all those that are like, „Well, just don’t tell them that God’s grace is that good!“ It is that good!
Y’all, this don’t make no sense! No human would do this! Yeah, we would make people jump through hoops, explain away, publicly apologize! Well, God says, „Hey, listen! If you believe in your heart and you confess out loud with your mouth, I don’t even care if nobody else hears it! I just need you to do this! You repent from your sins!“
All that means is turn—I’m going a different way! He said, „You are going to be started on a path that’s going to lead to life, and I’m going to introduce you to my Father!“ And the only way you can get there is through me! I’m the way, the truth, and the life! The only one!
And he said, „When you do this, your eternity is taken care of! Matter of fact, in this world, you’re going to have trouble, but take heart, 'cause you got the cheat code—I’ve already overcome the world! Hey! I know you’ll go through storms, but guess what? I’m the Prince of Peace!“
He said, „I got the cheat code! He said, guess what? You need something to happen on earth?“ He said, „You can pray! And if there are two or three of you gathered in my name, he said, I’ll pop up in the midst! What do you need, baby?“ These are cheat codes! But have you heard about it?
The only way somebody can hear about something is if somebody’s willing to tell them about it. Romans 6:14: „Well then, should we just keep on sinning?“ That’s an immature question! That’s a kid question! Yeah! That’s a baby! ‘Cause some of y’all will be like, „All right, got the grace, so I’mma turn up this weekend!“
Has anybody just—come on! Has anybody pre-planned their apology to God? Oh, y’all better stop faking with me! „I’mma turn up on Thursday, but on Friday morning, Lord, I give myself away so you can use me!“ So, so, so, he says, „Hey, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?“
Of course not! Yeah, that’s come on, man! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten this? This is what we’ve done—that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we join him in his death too!
That means when you join Christ in life, something else dies! There you go! So you’re not a Christian if nothing dies! Okay, hear what I just said: „I’m alive in Christ!“ What died? What had a funeral? What did you eulogize?
You are not alive in Christ if there is not something else! And some of y’all call it, „Oh, thank you, Lord! I’m alive in Christ, ” but nothing died! You still do everything the same! Oh Lord, they’re leaving on me! Here we go! „For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism, and just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live—watch this—new lives!“
The grace is the empowerment to live a new life! Grace is not the empowerment to add Christ to your own life! Grace is an empowerment to live an entirely brand new life! Nobody’s walked this way before in my family, but I’m no longer going this way!
I’m living a new life! I have been the first one out of my whole family that does not need alcohol to make it through the week! I’m living a new life! I do not have to end my relationship in divorce! I will be faithful, steadfast, and integrous! I’m living a new—that’s good news!
But it’s hard to tell somebody if you haven’t accepted that truth, 'cause nobody in this culture wants to be a fraud or a hypocrite! So the enemy’s plan is to make you delusional about the grace of God! That you have to be perfect before you can tell somebody! That you have to be a poster child before you can put somebody else on!
Y’all know how many people buy clothes in debt and still tell somebody else about the sale? You’re in the negative now! You bought that shirt, and that account is red! But that didn’t stop you from telling somebody it’s three for five! I need another job!
But what I’m saying is the enemy will trick you that you can’t share it unless you’ve perfected it! Come on! And that’s religion! Religion says that I shouldn’t be up here preaching! There you go! Where’d he go to school? TCC for six months!
Six Nutrition took me out! I ain’t lying! Ask my mama! I mean, nutrition almost did take me out literally, but it also—the class took me out as well! My question to you is, where did Paul go to school? He wrote three-fourths of the New Testament! See, see, religion will try to disqualify you when God’s grace will say, „Hey, just keep listening. Just keep obeying. Just keep doing what I tell you to do, and I’ll use you! I’ll partner with you! I’ll stand by you!“
Church, I’m trying to give you the cheat code today! The reason why you need to read the Bible is that the Bible is a book full of cheat codes! I don’t read the Bible so I can just know more. Watch this switch! I read the Bible so I can do more! It gives me cheat codes! It tells me how to love my wife. How do I love my wife? Up, up, down, down, left, left—oh! Shoot!
Like Christ loved the church! What did Christ do for the church? Buy her roses? Oh, shoot! He died! If I ever want to end an argument with my wife, I got the cheat code! Sometimes I don’t got the humility! Come on! Let’s be honest! I know what to do! But I’m trying to figure out, 'cause anytime— is she right? If I’m right, if she’s wrong, or if I’m wrong, my job as the man is to go die! That’s how I saw it in my head!
I had to go all the way through. I had to act it all the way out! „I’m sorry!“ Okay, this is it! It doesn’t matter! „Hey Nat, I don’t want us to live in division!“ And the issue isn’t even who’s right or wrong. The issue is that the enemy wants us not to be on the same page!
So for whatever I did, and then I got to name it! 'Cause y’all know there’s apology love languages too! 'Cause some of y’all be like, „Sorry!“ All the ladies like, „For what?“ „For what?“ Like, that’s the first time some people amen the whole time!
He’s a man of God! He’s a man of God! „Hey, but I’m sorry! Fill in the blank. Yeah, I’m progressing and trying to become better at communication. I need to become more skilled! I messed up! Would you please forgive me? Would you allow us to have a fresh start for the day? If you need some time, I understand! But I’m lonely when we’re not connected!“
It works every time! Hey, but hear me! See a guy in the back! Clap that seat! Clap that seat! I see, I see! Okay! Hear me! Hear me! But the cheat code—while you were yet sinners—while you were doing the wrong thing, he died with no guarantee that you would choose him! He went ahead and died!
Guys, I’m saying this 'cause I don’t want you to make life harder than it has to be! There you go! It’s already hard enough living in a sin-filled, fallen world! We should be in Eden! Y’all got what I’m saying? His plan was Eden! Everything we need provided! Nudity? You wouldn’t even know it’s nudity! That’s your sinful mind! It would have been regular!
I’m just saying, think about it! Y’all, the whole section took me out! The whole section took me out! His plan was different, but sin entered! And when sin entered, it made me start covering! Yeah, that’s it!
And how many of us have been covering? You’re covering from your kids, and they’re going through the same struggles you did in your 20s! But they don’t even know who you used to be, 'cause you keep hiding the transformation that God’s done in your life! You won’t tell them you struggle! You’re so prideful that you won’t share the good news!
If you won’t share the good news with anybody, please share it with your children! There you go! I tell my daughters often, they’re in these services: „Your daddy used to be terrible! I would never want you to date somebody like your daddy back then!“ They see who their daddy is. There’s fruit of that!
But I gotta tell them it was only Jesus! It was only our rabbi, our Savior, our Lord, our King, our friend, our Father! He has a name, and it’s the name above every name! And it’s at that name that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess! His name is— say it with me—Jesus! He’s our cheat code!
Standing all over this place—have you heard? I know people are about to run out of here, but maybe this might be the most important part of the service where I ask every person under the sound of my voice, „Have you heard? Have you heard about a man who became the worst parts of us to save all of us?“
He is the cheat code! And today, if this service was for one person, 1,000 people, 1 million people, if just one person gets to hear the good news that saved my life, if you get introduced to the up, up—see, his code is just up! All you do is, even if it looks like it’s down, it’s going to be up! It’s like the song says: it’s not over until he says it’s good!
If you’re in this room and you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, on the count of three, I need the church to start praying! If you’re watching online, I don’t care if you’re a streamer; I don’t care if you’re an influencer; I don’t care if you’re in fashion—I don’t care if you’re a movie star!
I don’t care where this link has found its way! I don’t care if you’re about to go on the football field right now and you’re about to perform in front of thousands of people! God wants a relationship with you! And today, if you want to choose Jesus, today I want to introduce you to the cheat code!
He’s the one that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody who was addicted to pornography, had very dark things in my heart, and he gave me an opportunity to receive grace that I did not earn. And I don’t gatekeep on the grace that I needed! I don’t care if you’re in an alternate lifestyle! I don’t care if you’ve run away from faith!
I don’t care how many YouTube videos you posted about how God is nothing or posted about me! I want you to receive Jesus! It’s all worth it if you meet the man who transformed my life! If you’re in this room or you’re online, if you want to receive Jesus on the count of three, just shoot your hand up in the air!
This is not something you have to be hiding! The Bible says, „I will not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation“ (Romans 1:16). This is why I gotta tell everybody!
Well, you don’t look like a pastor! Good! So now I can talk to people who don’t think I’m a pastor, and I slap them with this gospel! Hear what I’m saying to you? Know that Jesus doesn’t care where you are today, but he wants to be in your today with you! But only through your invitation!
One, you’re saying I want to make Jesus my personal Lord and Savior. Two, your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for eternity. Three, if you want to accept Jesus, would you lift your hand in this place? I see you right there, my brother! I see you! I see you! There’s a whole family back here! I see you, my brother! Come on, I see you, sister!
Transformation Church, let’s celebrate people finding Jesus! Hey listen, we’re a church, y’all! We’ll be gone in three minutes! But nobody leave right now! Just everybody, just stop! Listen to me! We’re a family, and we always pray together for the benefit of those who are coming into the faith!
Okay, so nobody’s alone. Would you just lift your hands right here and say, „God, thank you for sending Jesus just for me! Today, I give you my life! I repent from my old ways, and I turn to you! Change me! Renew me! Transform me! I’m yours forevermore! In Jesus' name, Amen!“