More Than Money: A Theological Review of Michael Todd’s ‘Crazy Faith’ Sermon

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] What's going on, family? I am so grateful that you joined us right here at a place that aims to help you transform.
[00:00:08] Today, God is doing something so special in our community. It is Crazy Faith Offering Sunday.
[00:00:16] And if you don't know what that is, this is a time of year where we gather our faith, our resources, our prayers, our trust in God, And we actually sow a seed for the expansion of what God is doing through Transformation Church
[00:00:30] as a conduit to be his hands and his feet all over the world.
[00:00:35] And today, if you have any trepidation about giving, today in the message, I wanted to just be hot and humble, open and transparent and really just authentic about the climate we are in and how hard it may be to give in this season.
[00:00:52] And I just wanted to preach a message that would stir your faith, but more than stir your faith, help put down your fear. The message today I think is going to transform your life and it's going to give you an opportunity to step into the craziest faith you have ever seen
[00:01:09] before. Today, the title of the sermon is more than money. I believe that God desires to prove to all the world that what he wants to do in his house is about way more than money.
[00:01:24] Today, let your heart be open and receive the message as we give in crazy faith.
[00:01:31] I really pray that God meets you at the point of your expectation and your need today.
[00:01:39] Today's service is a blessing to see thousands of people here in the room and then help me welcome thousands of people online right now, Transformation Church. Oh, y'all can do better than that. I just want you to know that
[00:01:53] just because you are not in this room, it does not mean that you are a vital and valuable part of this ministry and mission. I could make an argument that you might be the most valuable part
[00:02:04] of this mission because most of the people who are in here didn't start here. They found us through this camera. Okay, let's just do a survey. How many people found Transformation Church not coming to the church first, but seeing a clip, a video, a YouTube, an Instagram. Look
[00:02:22] around. Okay. I just want to say that every person in this room potentially represents hundreds of people. And the fact that we are all gathered here today in crazy faith is a testimony to what God is doing to enlarge his church globally, as well as the transformation that's
[00:02:44] taking place in people's lives. And today I am grateful and honored to stand here, um, for the 10th time doing what we're about to do today, asking our church to take a step of faith by
[00:02:56] actually moving in generosity. And, um, today I'm gonna get right into the sermon because as a pastor, I have a heartfelt burden to help God's people understand the Bible says in all you're getting, get a, not a quickening, not a feeling, not goosebumps. The Bible says the greatest thing
[00:03:20] that you can get when you're a part of something is get an understanding. And I think there are a lot of people that have been in church a long time. And when it comes to offerings and things
[00:03:29] that churches do, like you just tolerate certain stuff and be like, this will be over soon. And like, let's just move on to the stuff that I like. But I think people are missing the actual
[00:03:40] spiritual nature of what God is trying to do in his children when he gives us opportunities to participate in things that watch this are uncomfortable I've never been to the gym where it was comfortable not one time have I gone to the chiropractor and they said just sit here this
[00:04:01] is going to be comfortable what what it does do is help me what it does do is give me long life but the actual process of what's happening usually requires a level of watch this patience
[00:04:15] waiting and trusting when that man put his hands on me and took twist me away and i i don't know you and you're not my wife or my mama and you say breathe in deep and and i'm supposed to trust the
[00:04:32] school you went to and somehow when he tells me to breathe in deep and then he sets his whole body wait on me and I hear immediately the fear turns into thankfulness immediately like oh I don't
[00:04:58] care where you went to school thank you for putting me in a position that caused me to get mobility back today as we step into this journey as many of us have already decided and prayed
[00:05:17] about what God is calling us to do and others are still undecided and you came to church today and you're like, crazy faith offering? What are you talking about? I got $2 to my name. I don't care
[00:05:25] nothing about what y'all talk about. Encourage me, preacher man. I'm glad for whatever reason you're here, but my assignment is to lovingly invite you into this faith walk. The Bible says the just shall live by, says this is what I've called you to do. And so today as I speak this
[00:05:55] word, I speak it knowing that if there was any year that I wanted to like ask God for a pause on the crazy faith offering or this moment, it would be this year. Not because God has not been
[00:06:11] good, but the climate of our world right now is very unstable. I mean, we don't know if the government's going to be open or shut down. We don't know if benefits for those who are need
[00:06:28] and underserved are going to be there. We don't know if our healthcare is about to skyrocket in 18 days. We don't know a lot. Eggs prices, gas prices, daycare prices. Some of y'all wouldn't have as many kids if you knew how much it took to just watch them so you could have a job to then
[00:06:52] pay the people to watch your kids. It seems like the air, like you notice the air on more and the heat on more.
[00:07:03] Knowing your parents say, close my door.
[00:07:07] What you trying to do?
[00:07:09] Heat up the neighborhood, like, and you didn't get it until 2025.
[00:07:18] Where some of us have had the best year fiscally and financially ever.
[00:07:22] To God be the glory.
[00:07:24] While other people are like, carry the two, minus one, and who can I pay later?
[00:07:35] Life has been lifing.
[00:07:38] So why in the world would in the middle of life, when people are grieving, and people are moving, and then there's this big holiday that everybody puts so much pressure on called Christmas, that Christ's name is in it,
[00:07:55] but really it just feels like stressmas.
[00:08:00] Oh, okay, I thought I could be humble, open, and transparent today at TC.
[00:08:06] The stress of getting a dress for the Christmas party and I don't even want to be in a dress.
[00:08:12] And trying to pay off this credit card So I have enough to put the gifts on it to be able to then pay and then trying to figure out and in my car just, and, and, and again, it's not everybody's situation, but I just
[00:08:23] wanted to get up here as your pastor and let you know, I understand that our life situations many times can affect the way we approach our faith.
[00:08:34] Somebody's actually going through a divorce right now and have made it up in their mind.
[00:08:38] God wouldn't require this of me while I'm going through this crap.
[00:08:41] and there are so many times that we make up rules regulations and hopefully passes when we're just handling hard stuff and so I just wanted to come up here as your pastor and let you know like the
[00:09:01] crazy faith pastor the one who wrote the book the one that was on the building like this year I wanted to be like Lord you really want me to get up there and tell these people this is your plan
[00:09:13] for us is to not act in faith situationally but to live in faith consistently and he began to remind me of his consistence that his grace and mercy are new every doesn't matter who's the
[00:09:33] president doesn't matter what's going on in your school doesn't matter what he said grace and mercy you can depend on it every morning he said what I'm trying to teach my children is that consistency
[00:09:47] and faith is better than this loud, big, look at me faith. He said, I want you to be consistent.
[00:09:58] And so today I'm standing in my pastoral duty with all the faith that I can muster up to tell you that I'm aware of the climate, but that does not change the conditions of being a Christ
[00:10:12] follower. I'm going to say it again. I'm aware of the climate, but it does not change the conditions that God asked us to live by and that's why somebody's faith is gonna grow today that's why my faith has been stretched a decade into doing this God said do you
[00:10:34] believe your words of my words I said that ain't even a question I'd be lying to myself all the time I said I wasn't gonna have no cake at that birthday party and there it was in my mouth I'm just trying to I'm just trying to
[00:10:49] identify with the humanity of being a Christ follower so today I want you to hear me from leading you just a step in front I almost called this message a step in front of you because I don't want you to ever think that we get so
[00:11:05] far in our Christian walk even if you're the pastor that it doesn't require you to still have faith I don't want you to think that this is something like I'll pass the mic gets that no this week I have fought and contended for my faith
[00:11:19] and today I wanted to come with that level of honesty as I could get up here and fake it but y'all know me God won't let me preach nothing I ain't going through and so this
[00:11:30] week I'm gonna give the devil hell and a black eye when I preach this message I'm saying this if this ain't for nobody else is for me to remind me that if you don't contend for your faith
[00:11:44] the enemy will rob the very thing that has brought you to this place you're at now and I believe by this honesty that I'm about to share God is going to invigorate ignite and give you another ability to trust God on a different level. And so today, I just want to
[00:12:04] approach this with another level of reverence. Today, at the end of this service, we're going to have an opportunity to give. Some people have already given. And I wanted to teach a message that helped us understand that money is not the focus of this act of faith. And the reason that
[00:12:24] I have to help you with that because our natural mind goes to how much, how much we have, how much we don't have. And so I wanted to do something very, very simple to let you know that our obedience
[00:12:38] to God, when we walk in crazy faith, listen to this, write this point down that I'm going to give you a scripture. Crazy faith will always be defined by obedience, never amounts. If you are
[00:12:51] going to do everything that God has called you to do he is always asking you for obedience never an amount and he will give you specific amounts he will give you specific directions he will give you specific things but God really
[00:13:06] don't care about that more than he cares about obedience how many things have been free that we have disobeyed how many times did he told us to go call that person to go to that person's shop to to to say I'm sorry and God is saying
[00:13:25] to us that you're missing the principle if you think that it is about how much the truth of the principle of obedience is how quick golly I'm gonna preach this thing no matter if you get it
[00:13:38] or not obedience is about somebody say how quick what God wants is for him to be able to say something and before he even finishes the sentence our ability to begin to move that direction has
[00:13:54] already started how many of us know anybody with kids how many of us know that there is a sentence that you say often enough that your kids know the sentence you about to say okay come on all of us have one of those and and my
[00:14:08] children know hey just at the hey hey hey hey they're already aware if they just put they stuff down and did not put it where it goes and they block hey my children already have assumed that there is about to be an instruction I have
[00:14:28] seen a but turn around on the hey hey hey hey hey not when I said go pick up your shoes and put them in the cubby it was they already knew there her heart was postured to obey before they even heard the instructions my question to
[00:14:43] you is if God says hey hey are you like hey hey hey hey y'all know what I'm talking about where we have a stand-up well God yeah hey what are you and God is saying I'm looking for my children to have quick obedience and the Bible says
[00:15:03] it like this and we know this scripture but I don't know if we've taken into account how much it means first Samuel 15 22 but Samuel replied does the Lord delight in the burnt offerings and the sacrifices as much as in obeying the
[00:15:14] Lord he's given a rhetorical question right here he said you think God cares about them big amounts you about to drop he said the more valuable matter is your obedience he said to obey is better than sacrifice obedience is better than what now I know some of y'all are
[00:15:38] triggered because that was the scripture your parents used before they beat you and I know I know because I was one of them and so what I'm saying to you is it took me some years to undo
[00:15:46] the trauma because anytime I heard obedience is better than sacrifice you better do what I say and this no i just need to let you know huh mom wasn't it huh pray for me and this this means i
[00:16:00] had to actually stop and look at it from god's perspective god said michael you praying every day and disobeying me is not it your obedience to put down the weed is better than the sacrifice
[00:16:19] of you leading a bible study i'm gonna say some real stuff to you right now your obedience to forgive your husband is better than the sacrifice of you running that nonprofit. Well, I'm helping so many children. But what I told you was forgive him. I told you to forgive him. But God, look at
[00:16:41] all the other children that are displaced that I'm helping. And God said, I'll take care of those children. Those are mine. I told you to forgive him. God is trying to tell us that there, watch
[00:16:52] this, is there is a value system that is more weighty than money. Obedience is more valuable to God than your money, your time, your talent, and your treasure. And if you really believe that, your offering would have already started with the apology. Your offering would have already
[00:17:19] started by signing up for the gym membership. He told you six years ago you were supposed to get in shape. I'm walking back because if you throw something at me, I want to have room to be able
[00:17:29] to duck. For some of you, the sacrifice that God wanted was not monetary first. It wasn't coming out of a bank account. It was going to require a transaction of humility. And he's trying to tell
[00:17:48] us as a church, hey, I'm just bringing you to the end of this year, and I'm using this little offering to prick up some things in your heart I'm using this moment to make you
[00:17:58] search your heart he said because you think it's about a hundred dollars and I ask you to get a hundred dollars to test your obedience because there's about 16 other areas that I've asked you to be obedient in and you're still fighting
[00:18:13] what's truly valuable your obedience is better than your what and for so many years we thought what we did for God and how we showed up for God and how we showed up for his church is what he wanted most and I came here to tell you
[00:18:31] that if you don't give a dollar in this offering would you please give your obedience to God I'm coming to set the precedence forget any amount of money a credit card swipe do would you please just obey him because on the scaling
[00:18:51] system of heaven that weighs way more do y'all hear what I'm saying to you right now? Okay. So the title of today's message is very simple and it's going to come from my burden to do
[00:19:05] what Exodus 18, 20 tells me. The Bible tells me that my job as your pastor is to teach you the way that you must walk and the work you must do. The way you must walk and the work you must do.
[00:19:22] So that means we got to be moving and we got to be working. So right there, if this year you have not been walking in the way of Christ, and you have not been doing any work in the name of Christ,
[00:19:33] this is where I'm inviting you into this story. My job is to help you walk and to know which way that we're going. That's why Exodus 18, 20, you can look at it. Teach them his decrees and
[00:19:42] instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. So that's why today I'm going to anchor this scripture in Matthew chapter 26. And if y'all would just give
[00:19:54] me just a few minutes to walk you down this we're going to actually get to a place that I think is going to change our faith forever Matthew 26 verse 6 it says while Jesus was in Bethany in a home in the home of Simon the leper a
[00:20:08] woman came in with an alabaster jar a very expensive perfume which she poured on Jesus's head as he was reclining at the table when the disciples saw this they were indignant why are you wasting all it is on that this perfume could
[00:20:31] have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor Jesus said chill chill chill chill chill chill chill aware of this Jesus said to them why are you bothering this woman she has done a beautiful thing to me the poor you will
[00:20:48] have with you always but you won't have me always when she poured this perfume on my body you didn't understand what she was doing she did it to prepare me for my burial truly i tell you wherever this gospel is preached throughout the entire world what this woman just
[00:21:08] did in this room with y'all sitting around will also be told in memory of not god in memory of her today i am fulfilling the prophecy of jesus that he gave to them in this room i am talking about
[00:21:23] a woman who actually gave in an extravagant way a sacrificial way in the midst of people who did not think that it was saying you could have said it might have been crazy but God literally stops them and says hey I don't think
[00:21:40] y'all recognize y'all been walking with me but you're not actually doing what I'm asking you to do this woman did something to prepare me for what she don't even know what's gonna happen I've been telling y'all I'ma die I've been
[00:21:52] telling y'all I'm about to go be crucified for the sins of the world y'all still don't believe me so God had to call in somebody else from the outside who would obey I want you to see this story this
[00:22:04] woman is going to obey God in the midst of people who call themselves believers in the midst of people who have seen all type of miracles Mary wasn't there when the fish were multiplied to
[00:22:15] feed 25,000 she wasn't there when all of these different miracles have the disciples were there And yet they were close to Jesus, but still did not have generosity that looked like him they were close
[00:22:29] But so far and I don't want us to be a church that is close But we're so far Because we haven't developed the heart of this woman that we're talking about today today I found out in this
[00:22:48] story This beautiful woman. It was more About her heart and what God was doing in her than what God did with what she had. This exchange was about more than money.
[00:23:06] So today the title of my sermon is more than money. I just want to make sure that everybody knows that what we're doing today is about more than money because God would never require it
[00:23:20] unless people had certain amounts and different levels. He said, this is more, this ain't about money. Money's a tool that I'm about to use to expose something that's greater.
[00:23:32] this woman found out that God would respond differently when we actually listen to his heart think about this woman think about her for one second the bible tells us sometimes we don't read the bible fully the bible tells us she brings in an oil to this dinner party worth a year's worth
[00:23:58] of wages. Let's not theologically go down the road of how much that actually was. Let's just use your money. Waking up every morning, going to that job, whatever it is, whether you like it or
[00:24:13] you're not, own your own business, company, thrive and boom. Let's just take everything you made since January 1st last year all the way to this year. Put it in some type of container that is
[00:24:25] liquid and take it to somebody that you've heard does miracles and that you've seen in a different way and then pour out the entire thing. How long did it take to make and how long did it take to
[00:24:46] pour out? It took a year to make and a minute to pour out. Just think about it. She's literally watching days hours minutes be poured out for the cause of Christ now most of us let's be honest would I had the same reaction as the disciples what no bro we
[00:25:18] whoa you know we all mentioned you know we stand from Airbnb to Airbnb in all these cities you know i mean he just asked us a few days ago to feed 5 000 plus they baby mama
[00:25:33] and their kids we could have used this much i mean at least we could have used it for the poor there's some other way that would make more sense to me for this money to be used than for the cause
[00:25:50] of christ and i know this is hard for us to understand but this is the text of the day this woman pours out a year's worth of wages on Jesus. Why are you giving that money to that church
[00:26:08] on Jesus? Nobody asks you why you giving money to cable. I have never had one person ask me why I'm paying my AT&T bill. Not one time have anybody ever asked me, you paying your mortgage? Your
[00:26:32] mortgage. That money could be saved and given to the poor. Not one person has ever told me not to take my family on a vacation. They actually... What an active father. Look at him up there just
[00:26:49] doing... But it's so crazy that anytime we get ready to give and extend our faith, and I'm saying it very broad because some of y'all feel this way. I'm trying to keep it real general and let
[00:27:05] the conviction of the Holy Spirit hit you wherever it may. Because the truth of the matter is some of us have already decided in our heart for God, for this church, for more lights, that's probably
[00:27:17] going for Pastor Mike's suit. Oh yeah, he wearing that suit. I bet my $5, you ain't paid for nothing on me. Period. No, I'm just kidding. No, I'm just trying to help you. I got a job just like you do.
[00:27:40] This is my job. And I don't get paid enough for this. I'm going to tell you that.
[00:27:44] I just, this is a calling. This is about more than money. So when I come and God requires something of me, why is it at that moment that the enemy tries to remind you how much you can do
[00:27:58] with the money you're about to give to God? The enemy never reminded me when I was doing things that I wasn't supposed to do with money. How much money you spend on things that help you sin?
[00:28:11] How many hotels? How many bottles? How many club appearances? How many outfits? How many pantyhose let me stop let me stop how many pill prescriptions how many how many come on y'all how many how many videos and movies and subscriptions and
[00:28:35] how many things at that moment nobody's like you should take that money and give it to the poor some of us have five cars ain't nothing wrong with five cars but you haven't given one of them away ever oh it just got tight I just I just I
[00:28:57] I just felt it was my own motherfucker my daddy gave me that car and there was one time when you said God if you would ever bless me I'd obey you I'd do what you said we do and it's somehow that
[00:29:11] when we get to that place somehow those thoughts mixed with those actions never materialize in generosity because there are four things that I found in this story that were more valuable to God than money I'm going to give you all four of them the first thing that God values more than
[00:29:28] money is your heart posture this woman had a heart posture that was ready to give to God even if it meant that it was everything she had this heart posture made other people that were around her think that she was crazy and this is
[00:29:49] where Matthew 6 21 comes in it says for where the treasure is your heart will be also. Can I just tell you, your money and your heart have a GPS tracking system on them.
[00:30:04] Wherever you put your money, your heart goes to that place. Some of you are wearing your heart today, and if somebody spilled coffee on your heart, you would act out of character. There would be no Christ love in you because they got some coffee on what you spent money on. Some of you,
[00:30:26] your home is your heart. Everything pristine in there. Don't matter if we're not talking. This house is nice. Okay, stop. Some people, our heart is in our children. Our heart is in our vacations.
[00:30:46] Our heart is in, I don't know what it is, but wherever your heart is, watch this. There is money there. Show me where you put your money. You care about it. Think about it. Well, you know,
[00:31:07] I don't splurge like this often. Come on. We know what we tell ourselves. I don't do this, but once a year. But I know when the sale is coming. Y'all know what I'm talking. Y'all see
[00:31:20] you, Mama Chloe. I see you over there. I know when the sale is coming and I don't do this often.
[00:31:26] Why? Because there's something we value. Do you know what God values more than money?
[00:31:31] The right heart posture. And this is the thing about, I need everybody to hear me. This is the thing about money is God is is not in a competition with money and so he tells
[00:31:45] you one of them is going to be your God him or the money he literally tells you he doesn't compare himself to anything else in the Bible except the spirit of mammon which is the spirit that tells you if you have more resource then you
[00:31:59] won't need God and about ten years ago I had to actually confess to myself I believe that I believe if I had enough M's in the bank these prayers is cool but I could just solve the issues it's gonna be lonely up here today cuz some
[00:32:21] of y'all right now at that thirty five thousand fifty thousand sixty thousand dollar job you'd be like if you gave me three amps we don't gotta pray about it I'm gonna solve that problem I'm gonna solve that problem but I have the
[00:32:34] opportunity to counsel people with money and I'm here to report back just in case you don't know that there are things that money cannot solve if you have greed in your heart that will make you take out of your own children's mouth to
[00:32:55] prove a point even when you have so much I'm telling you what I know not what I think and that's why God is like hey I want your heart to be that watch this of
[00:33:07] a manager not an owner the problem with believers is you think that you own what you have instead of being a manager but you can go back to the story of the talents when they got one two five all of them were gifts to them they did not
[00:33:27] work for them this is what God says I give you the ability to produce wealth and somehow when we produce it now it's mine and God says hey something that I value more than money, I'm fine with you having money. I'm fine with you being blessed. I'm fine
[00:33:42] with you balling. But something I value more than the money is your right heart posture.
[00:33:47] And this young lady had the heart posture that literally said, I know I've worked this entire year in this culture of male chauvinism. Because you got to remember the culture of this time.
[00:33:58] The only reason she would have status is because she had money. Because in this society, women were not at the same level as men. So literally for her to come into the room, the only reason they
[00:34:08] probably didn't stop her is because they saw dang dang she she carrying stacks like that they trying to see what's about to happen and it was watch this watch what money is in most cultures and in today it's significance she was willing to pour out her significance
[00:34:27] for the cause of Christ y'all didn't hear what I just said and this is why God values a heart posture more than he values money because watch what a heart posture exposes trust when you have
[00:34:42] the right heart posture we just sang all these songs about trusting God and then you get to do it and when it comes time to do it it's like Lord would you uh please send another way but the Bible tells us that we are supposed to in
[00:34:55] proverbs 3 5 trust in the Lord with all our hearts listen to the second part and lean not till our own understand this don't makes it this is crazy why you would ask me to step out and do something like this in this moment of
[00:35:10] faith god this is crazy but my heart is postured towards you so even though this hurts i'm gonna be obedient even though this doesn't make sense i'm gonna be obedient watch this even though i'm
[00:35:21] young i'm gonna be obedient young people under the age of 18 just because you do not have a full-time job doing all these other things god gives you wealth he he many times gives you things through
[00:35:36] the things that you get through the things why are you telling me this pastor mike because i learned my first gift of over a thousand dollars was at the age of 17. And I was using what God had given
[00:35:46] me to play drums, to make money. And I was doing all of this stuff. And one day God tapped on my shoulder and said, hey, Mike, is that yours or is it mine? I said, it's mine. Oh, y'all going to be
[00:35:56] faking with me real quick. It's mine. It's all mine. And the Holy Spirit, that's fine. Keep it.
[00:36:05] And then he started to slowly introduce me to the concept of generosity. And I remember sitting in prophetic age ministry conferences and my parents' prayer conferences and at Greenwood Christian Center, I remember going to see Miles Monroe and him asking, hey, is there anybody here that
[00:36:20] believes that God has called them to be generous in finances? And I raised my hand and he was like, well, you need to pray and ask God to sow. And then I put my hand down and go to the bathroom.
[00:36:30] Can I be honest with you? Because the truth of the matter is I trusted what was in my account more than what was in my heart. Can I say how I feel it? I trusted the God in my account
[00:36:43] more than the God that was in my heart. And today, I don't know if that's your scenario, but I need you to take inventory. Do you trust the God in your account or the God in your heart?
[00:36:58] And this woman right here, she had a heart postured towards God. Why is this important?
[00:37:03] Because I'm going to give you a formula right now, and I want you to write it down and never forget it. Posture leads to principles. If you have a right posture on something, Then you will embrace the principles that help your heart stay in that place
[00:37:15] If you have the right principles you develop the right pattern and then you'll do it consistently and when you get the right pattern then you develop power and Most people the power that God wants you to have is not there because you haven't postured your heart to receive what he has for you
[00:37:31] So he says posture your heart to trust me And once you posture your heart to trust me then I will get you into a place where you embrace my principles That's why I'm teaching you about this. That's why and in
[00:37:42] march we're going to do a series about stewardship and finances and generosity and we're not going to ask you to give anything in that series because i want you to just understand the concepts the
[00:37:51] principles so that you can actually believe god in faith for what he can do in your life i don't want you to be giving because of compulsion and manipulation if you feel any of that please do
[00:38:01] not give anything go to god and pray we told you about this eight weeks ago this is if you just hearing about it because you've been not at church and this is what i'm saying to you is i want you
[00:38:11] you to know that's not our heart. Our heart is to give you time to pray, to think, to ask God to wrestle within yourself. Because at the end of the day, he's saying this principle is all throughout
[00:38:22] the word. And if you don't practice it, you'll lose power. No one can serve two masters. They will either love one and hate the other or hate one and love the other. And today I know that you
[00:38:39] want to remodel your back porch? Guys, come on, y'all. I know you've been planning to get a new car because it's about to be cold, and the heat is real mid. But I'm asking you, have you even
[00:38:58] considered that God may be requiring something from you? This woman had the right heart posture, and because she had the right posture, she did the right thing. The second thing God values more than money. God values your sacrifice more than he values your money. This is the reason I
[00:39:21] want to say this is because a lot of people think that everything you give is a sacrifice and it ain't. Oh God. Does anybody remember being broke in college? Okay. Come on. Like, okay. Did anybody
[00:39:36] remember? So for you to get like a good cooked meal when you was in college, that was different because you really had to go to somebody's house somebody had to invite you over to had to be some
[00:39:50] or you came home and somebody cooked a meal for you and and that was more valuable in college than it is today for most people because right now you can hit a button and uber eat something
[00:40:00] and something good will be at your house within 45 minutes what i'm trying to say to you is there are things that may have been costly in one season that because of the blessing of god doesn't cost
[00:40:13] you nothing no more and you are counting it as an equal sacrifice because it's the same actual act and it's not the same sacrifice because you don't feel it as much because you're more blessed
[00:40:27] so you okay i don't know how else to say this is anybody tracking with me right now y'all looked at me like i was giving you dr seuss you was like ham i am sam cam ham okay i'm gonna break
[00:40:39] it down. In one season of your life, giving $50 to somebody would have been astronomical because you only had a hundred. Where's my church today? I'm talking about y'all looking at me crazy. It's fine. I'm going to keep going. Then you prayed. Then you asked God to use your gifts.
[00:41:04] Then you got that degree. And now to give $50, you'll give that when your kids go to spend the night at their friend's house for the weekend. Here, don't call me. Just here. What used to take
[00:41:18] prayer for you to give away doesn't even take a thought. But then when God asks you for something, it's like, what am I going to give? I'm going to give that 50. No sacrifice because he expanded
[00:41:32] your capacity. So the thing that I've realized as we're talking about value is value is not based on what you give. It's what you give in correlation with what you have. There was a season of my
[00:41:49] life that what i gave it it was so valuable because of what i had or i could say like what i didn't have i didn't have a lot so it cost a lot to give this and this is why so many people
[00:42:07] are actually in a place where they are working against the work god wants to do in them because they forgot about the promises they made to god you told him god i will always serve you i'll
[00:42:17] always honor you i'll give what you tell me to give and giving half of a hundred thousand is different than giving a half of a hundred if your heart is not postured right because everybody has a number that's like oh even though it's the same thing if all you got is a hundred
[00:42:39] dollars and god asked you for 50 you give it oh god make way be the god that gets me through this Red Sea Lord I'm trusting and I'm standing here only because you made you move mountain I'm saying
[00:42:59] we start praying we start and then God gave you a job in a contract that you made a hundred thousand this year he said give me fifty thousand hold on wait a minute wait wait hold up God do you know
[00:43:15] what I could do with 50,000. He said, exactly. There's no more sacrifice. And what we reason 10 is good. 10 is good. Last year I get $50, but it didn't cost the same. God, I got the reason why
[00:43:35] this woman goes down in the hall of fame of generosity is because of how much it costs compared to what she had. And everybody wants to always talk about tithing and it's old Testament and it's old testament and giving 10 y'all better embrace tithing because everywhere in the new
[00:43:52] covenant they ask for all of it in the in the old testament they like just get 10 just get 10 just get 10 everybody just get 10 if you just get 10 in the new she poured out on jesus her entire
[00:44:11] year worth the work you're talking about 10 and god's like hey the covenant didn't come to abolish it it came to confirm it and some people watch this will never get to experience what it's like
[00:44:28] to live at the level of god's provision because they will never release what's in their hand there are some things that god only supplies when you let go of what he's already supplied he's asking you to trade hands trust me i give seed to the one who will actually
[00:44:50] and that's why this woman gets Jesus's attention because she did not so based on a percentage she gave it all Pastor Mike what are you saying to me this opportunity to give is not equal amounts
[00:45:11] but equal sacrifice I may be given only five dollars fine but what God is looking at is did was that a sacrifice based on what i gave you and what i told you how do we know this pastor
[00:45:28] mike because you can go study luke 21 with the woman with two mites she had two mites this was a fraction of a penny in today's society and this woman walks into the temple when an offering is
[00:45:40] going on and all the disciples is making it rain and all these pharisees and sadducees are storing money up in the air and they bring in bags of coins and they're trying to impress jesus and
[00:45:50] the thing he gets up and is impressed by is a woman who walks in with two mites because the value was not in the amount it was in the sacrament and she drops the two mites in and in
[00:46:03] luke 21 you can go read it he says everybody stop look what she just did i know i don't want to bring no attention to people's giving and all that other stuff but i'm about to do it right now look
[00:46:12] what god she didn't get nothing but two mites and you gave a whole bunch but she gave out of her today church I'm inviting you into the spiritual principle of actually trusting God how do you know you trust God is that you actually will sacrifice and
[00:46:33] believe that he will do what he said he was gonna do I don't got a backup plan I don't got another way that this is gonna happen I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow but I know who holds tomorrow and today I'm gonna obey him with what I
[00:46:47] got in my hands number three something that God values more than money. God values memory more than money. See, most people don't realize the context of where this story sits. Does anybody know who Mary's brother is? Who's Mary's brother? Lazarus.
[00:47:17] And just a few chapters earlier, Mary is crying out for Jesus to come because her brother is dead.
[00:47:28] Jesus does not come at the time he's trying to prove a point. And so he lets Lazarus die.
[00:47:34] They wrap him up in the grave clothes and they literally are doing the celebration when Jesus walks up and he says, why y'all, why y'all, what I miss? And they said, Lazarus, we call for you.
[00:47:48] If you had been here, this is the same woman. If you had been here, Jesus, we see you do miracles.
[00:47:56] If you would have been here, he would be alive. Watch her faith. But even now he's dead. He's wrapped up they're singing the funeral songs but even now if you decide you want to do a miracle
[00:48:11] in this I feel my help coming on somebody say even now even now even I'm looking at the bills at the end of this month but even now even as I'm sitting here trying to figure out my emotions in
[00:48:23] the midst of this situation even now if you decide you want to do something in this situation I have the faith to believe you. Somebody shout at me even now. Say it with faith even now. Mary
[00:48:43] remembered because she was there emotionally drained from crying for four days and still using the little mustard seed of faith that she had left to say, God, I know you can still do a miracle and she showed she shows us how to sow what she has left she sowed in that moment what
[00:49:09] she had left which was her faith in God that's all she had so we thought because at this same moment that jar of oil was sitting at her home at that same moment she had something accruing in the
[00:49:28] background that she watches Jesus bring her brother back to life turn up right lousy lousy lousy backy sad she's like like we're we're turning up cuz my brother once was dead now hey yet she could have celebrated in that whole
[00:49:58] moment and not said this requires a response see we think the shouting is a a response. We think the clapping is a response. Oh, I came to church today and I gave God everything he deserved. That made you feel better. You've been depressed all week, lifting your hands and
[00:50:20] worshiping God. It did something in you. Did you really give God what he asked for? Some days later, this woman finds out there's a dinner. We don't know theologically if she was even invited, but she said, this is my opportunity. I don't know how much longer we have him
[00:50:39] because he keeps telling us that he's going to prepare a place for us. And I don't know what that fully means right now, but I know that I have an unction in my heart to pour out what I have,
[00:50:48] not just in an ethereal mode. I want to do something practical. She walks into this room thinking they are going to stone me. This is not protocol. And every step of fear, she said, but I remember. I remember where God brought me from. The Bible tells us, watch this,
[00:51:17] Lazarus is sitting at the table so anytime she was about to doubt she just looked at her brother laughing and eating and praising and said I got to do what God told me to do I don't care how this looks to y'all I don't care if this
[00:51:35] doesn't make sense to you this may this may make you think I'm crazy but I'm about to pour out this oil, I'm going to break my alabaster box on the one who actually gave everything for me. I'm just challenging y'all, man, to remember the one who gave everything for
[00:52:00] you. How much would your salvation cost? No, no, for real. Like if people had to pay $2.5 million for salvation, I just want you to think about it. Like if 2.5, you will work your whole life
[00:52:17] to know you made it to heaven. You will forsake trips and visits. And God said, I love the world so much that I demonstrated this act of generosity. He loved the world so much.
[00:52:35] He did what? Gay. I'm going to show you what love looks like. It looks like sacrificial generosity.
[00:52:42] oh sacrifice I was the lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world for while you were yet sinners I went to become a sacrifice for you and your children and your mistakes and your mess
[00:53:02] ups and your hurts and your pains and your trauma and your triggers I went to do it all and all I'm Asking you to do is when I speak to you with what I've already given you, would you be able to make a sacrifice for me?
[00:53:18] And it's not for him.
[00:53:21] It's for the other children that don't know the sacrifice that he's made.
[00:53:27] The reason why God asked us to give to the church is because the church is supposed to be an extension of his hands and feet to the world.
[00:53:36] And I am sorry that some men and women have gotten in these positions and manipulated and abused and misused people's resources.
[00:53:45] I cannot be responsible for what they have done.
[00:53:48] But what I can stand here is in is in full transparency and purity that since God has blessed this church, excuse me, before he blessed this church, we have been sowing seeds into the community, into people's personal lives.
[00:54:04] It would take us all day to go through the testimony of how we have been the hands and feet, how we have been the hands and feet. When a hurricane goes to Jamaica, money sent before
[00:54:17] y'all even get to church. When somebody is in a place of need, we have been doing stuff for years.
[00:54:25] The reason I'm telling you this and not making it a PowerPoint presentation, because I don't want you to be compelled to give because you see it's a good cause now.
[00:54:33] because I could convince you this is a good investment. It doesn't take faith to give in a good investment that you know you're getting a return on. It takes faith to obey God at his word.
[00:54:50] We just sang that just to take him at his word. And most people won't trust God at his word.
[00:55:00] And I know this starts to bother the things on the inside of us. And we start to say, pastor, how you doing? I'm coming and I'm on your side too. I'm preaching. It's just one
[00:55:09] step ahead of you. I had to go back and say, God, why am I giving? Why are you requiring this of me?
[00:55:16] I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing for my son's schooling, and I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with this. God can use money in a lot of different areas. Why are you requiring
[00:55:24] this of me? He said, because this is about more than money. This is about your heart posture.
[00:55:30] This is about your trust in me. This is about your sacrifice. This is about your memory.
[00:55:37] And the last thing it's about, this is the last one, and we're going to give.
[00:55:39] he said Michael when you actually trust me with your finances you got to realize that God values eternity more than he values money eternity see the thing that you got to realize is that when
[00:56:01] we give to God's house it shows that we value eternity more than we value this present day and I know this is stuff we don't talk about because anytime we think about eternity most people go to death. And I would like to tell you at some point in your journey, you're going to die.
[00:56:25] No, I just need everybody to hear me say this in church. The one thing everybody's going to experience in Israel, death. And then there's another thing you're going to experience.
[00:56:39] You're going to stand before God. And the Bible says there will be a book and books.
[00:56:47] I just want to paint this picture. And I know some people got to leave, but please don't miss the revelation that God's given you there will be a book that there will be names written in
[00:56:56] of people who accepted Jesus and then there will be books watch this this book you get in by grace for free if you believe the books are a record of every work that you did on earth and I know
[00:57:13] people don't talk about this because they was like it's a free gift of God salvation is salvation is definitely to get in the book free confess believe God says but after salvation you're supposed to help the cause don't rep the jersey and not play you got the jersey on you got
[00:57:36] the practice warm-up you got the bumper sticker and you won't play he said I need you to start being recorded in what you do in this earth because eternity matters that's why God told us
[00:57:53] that we were a church that was called to the lost and the found for one reason what is it transformation in Christ and until you remember who you were you forget that your memory is your
[00:58:04] motor for generosity some of y'all just need to think about your memory if you would just think about where you were how broken your family was how much greed was in your heart how many
[00:58:17] relationships you would have destroyed if God would have outed you in that season what you will find is that the grace of God has covered you every step of the way. And what I'm telling
[00:58:27] you right now is that God's saying, would you just remember for a second, you have a reason to be generous. Matthew 6, 19, because God values eternity more than he does money. He tells us
[00:58:44] this, do not store up for yourselves treasures here on earth where moss and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves. What does this say? Treasures in heaven, where nothing can steal or destroy you, where thieves don't break in and steal.
[00:59:05] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Transformation Church, I'm here to tell you that because of your generosity and consistency and tithing and giving, because of that, we've stored up our treasures in heaven because they're earthen vessels. And yes, we trust
[00:59:27] this house and the stewardship and we've been audited and we get audited every year and we make sure that like we do all of the practical stuff to make sure that if anything was ever
[00:59:38] assumed about us we can open up the books we have people who have been here with us for over 20 years making sure that things are above board and have been done in excellence we're not just
[00:59:47] trying to represent in the things that people see we're trying to represent in the things that they don't see and there's no way for me to tell you that except to just tell you that and for where
[00:59:58] most people would be like, well, I don't care in the church. This God's going to do what he's going to do in this church period. It's been proven over decades. God has provided for his church
[01:00:09] and I am grateful. The thing that I'm trying to do as a pastor is lead you into the thought that this is about more than money. You can buy a new Gucci belt and have a new Hermes purse and
[01:00:22] get you a new car and all those different things and made no eternal impact those things will not be counted when God asked us what did we do with what I gave you 70 years if we're lucky everybody over the age of 70 raise your
[01:00:48] hands in here 70 or earlier can we thank God for longevity there was less than 50 hands. I want you to see how fragile and how blessed y'all are. Less than 50 hands in a room
[01:01:07] full of thousands of people. And every day, every moment, every hour, every dollar, God's saying, what'd you do with what I gave you? We decided to be a church that cared about eternity. That's why.
[01:01:29] So what that equated to is that every dollar that comes in automatically, 10% of it gone.
[01:01:35] the team knows 10% of everything that comes in do you know some churches don't subscribe to taking a tenth of what they give what they get and and and give it away and I'm not judging anybody I just told the team that we could not expect
[01:01:53] any person to do what the church don't do immediately and so it's been over a decade of us just ten dollars come in dollar gone this is how we were able to give conference away for free this year? Do you know how many people? Yeah, y'all got to hear me
[01:02:10] say this. This is how we've been able to give millions of dollars to nonprofits and organizations.
[01:02:17] This year alone, we've given away $1.8 million to people outside. Y'all don't know when to praise.
[01:02:25] One, almost two. And I know for some of y'all, it's just money. It's a heart posture. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at Tammy and been like, oh, we got to keep doing what we said,
[01:02:45] huh? We got to keep, we got to keep obeying God, right? Because we could really just, you know, invest that. We could really, and how in the world would I stand before you as a people
[01:03:00] and say, God has given us so much. We got to stay consistent in our faith. So today I just want to take all the pressure off and I want you to go to heart posture like this woman, Mary.
[01:03:14] she was giving Jesus something that other people thought was crazy here I am as your pastor to tell you somebody is gonna think it's crazy for you to do what you feel like God's called you to do but Jesus is going to recognize it as
[01:03:33] a sacrificial obedience step that's going to change the trajectory of your life this year because of the generosity of people who think eternity is important Let me tell you how many people's lives have been transformed in Christ to date.
[01:03:49] Get ready to shout.
[01:03:50] 15,945 salvations because we care about eternity.
[01:04:00] That's somebody's son.
[01:04:06] That's somebody's daughter.
[01:04:07] That's somebody's mother.
[01:04:08] That's somebody's father.
[01:04:11] Do you know how many churches we help keep their doors open?
[01:04:21] How many people we help to believe?
[01:04:24] Pastor Mike is it that important eternity is and people knowing that God cares about them today I wanted to as you prepare to give some of you have already decided that you're gonna give if you have not been open to it to this
[01:04:48] point I just want to ask you to pray I'm not gonna tell you no amounts I'm not gonna tell you nothing because it doesn't matter remember it's not amounts it's obedience and I know the people who have already decided there's thousands
[01:05:02] of us that decided everything I have is yours, God. And I trust you. And there's some people that are about to take a step for the first time. And I'm so excited for you because what's about
[01:05:14] to happen is you're about to watch this interrupt the generational cycle. Some of you are about to interrupt the generational cycle of lack and greed. You're about to interrupt the generational cycle of fear. You're about to interrupt the generational cycle of believing that this
[01:05:35] actually give significance when only God can. And today I just, it's been so heavy on my heart because a lot of people, I'm going to just be real with y'all. There's a day I'm believing God for,
[01:05:57] and I'm just going to throw the vision out here. It's not vision month yet, but I'm going to just throw the vision out here. I'm asking God to bless people so abundantly with the heart of generosity
[01:06:09] that there are certain things we can't do as a church legally to meet people's needs through this organization. I've tried. I've done all kinds of things. We didn't talk to every tax professional, everything. Because me, I see somebody needs a house. I want to go buy them a
[01:06:29] house. That's me. And people who are close to me understand. Somebody needs a car, let's go buy them a car. I'll give them my car. I'll find a car. That's me. I have not been able to find many
[01:06:44] brothers and sisters that work on that same level of generosity and I've dreamed and I've talked to some people close to me I want God to bless your endeavor and your business and your money and your
[01:06:56] household but it not be tainted by greed so that we can come together over coffee and say this year we're not giving we we're giving our money that God told us to give to the church but we also add
[01:07:09] another put whatever number on it you can think of and me and you and that person and this person going to put money in a bank together and we're going to create a board of people who when people
[01:07:22] just have needs the church will call us i gotta throw it out there because i gotta find my people the church will be fine but sally needs a car and we know the car dealership wire them 20 000 get
[01:07:37] them the car get them the title get them the insurance for a year put them in financial classes. I need somebody not to just want the church to do it, but to step up and be the church
[01:07:48] who will do it. You want to develop houses? Let's build them. They need food? Let's get a grocery store. But God can't trust us with the basic matters. We think he's trying to steal something
[01:08:17] from us when he's the one who gave us everything in the first place. This week, I heard about an organization. It tapped my heart because this has been in me for so long. This week, I heard about
[01:08:30] an organization who, as one of the last survivors of the 1921 race massacre, just went on to be with the Lord. If you don't know about what happened in Tulsa in 1921, I need you to study it because
[01:08:46] it's history they're trying to take away from our country, but it really happened. It's one of the most affluent African-American metropolitan areas in the world. And literally 1,256 homes were burnt to the ground. Did you hear what I just said? 1,256 homes were burnt to the ground,
[01:09:12] less than 20 miles away from here, less than one mile from where our church was founded.
[01:09:17] And God told us to come here through Bishop and Pastor Debbie and reverse the curse.
[01:09:24] They told us to come here and reverse the curse. How do you reverse something without any resources?
[01:09:32] Well, just pray. We prayed. You can't build a house with just prayer.
[01:09:42] Nehemiah had to pray and work. Nehemiah had to rebuild the wall. They needed materials.
[01:09:49] Nehemiah had to believe God, but I can't come down. There was work happening, and somebody had to pay for it. It's like this idealistic thing, like the church should do the most with nothing.
[01:09:59] call on God we give all our money to everything else but if God requires anything somebody trying to steal from you and I heard about this organization that's their goal is to rebuild and help preserve 1256 homes in North Tulsa and they've been doing it for about three years now
[01:10:28] so today as we're about to give in generosity to this church we're going to give to the community that god birthed this church in so one two five six move it there's a check for fifty thousand
[01:10:44] dollars from transformation church coming to help you continue to rebuild people that god cares about. Come on, y'all. Let's celebrate what God is doing. This is because that's somebody's daughter and son and grandmother, and more than all that, it's somebody's child. It's his child.
[01:11:17] Me and Bishop made a pact. No matter what God does, we'll never forget about North Tulsa.
[01:11:21] You can check the record. There have been millions of dollars that this church, even people who have never been to Tulsa have given back to sow seed into the place God birthed us out of. Thank you
[01:11:36] for remembering those who many people forgot Bishop. As a white man to go back to North Tulsa because God said to reverse the curse when you could have easily walked away.
[01:11:50] I need us to celebrate the crazy faith of our founding pastor.
[01:11:54] Oh y'all can do better than that. Thank you man and woman of God.
[01:11:57] We're about to go stand up all over this place. There's a church in Dallas who just started.
[01:12:10] What's that point I said? I said, God values memory more than he values money. Say it with me. God values memory more than he values money. I remember I took my daughters to 1519 yesterday.
[01:12:27] Ava had a game out there and I just, my, her grandparents live close and we got a pass to go to their house and I just stopped and told my daughters I was like this is where God
[01:12:36] started fulfilling promises to your mommy and daddy that I never thought he would do and I said what was your favorite memory of being here and they talking about taking pictures on the wall and doing all this other stuff and I remember walking to that church with no car as the senior
[01:12:49] pastor of the church I remember walking and trying to walk early enough that none of the congregants thought I was crazy because I was literally why I had no car but I had faith and
[01:13:03] I'm sitting there and trying to teach my daughters in this moment that they don't really they can't really grasp because it's like as long as we've known you dad you've had everything that we've ever needed I was like no guys I need you to know that it took faith and dedication and trust and
[01:13:21] prayer and agreement to to be able to do what God's called us to do and and and God said don't forget that because there's a church that's believing for great things right now and they
[01:13:32] need somebody to believe in them like church on the move believed in you and yesterday i remembered when we were at a place growing in our church and they sent over an outreach pastor from church on
[01:13:44] the move and they gave us a twenty thousand dollar check it might as well been twenty million dollars no no the level of faith the level of of of belief the level of god you see us that happened
[01:13:59] when that check came to our church it gave us the fuel to go until this day and God said don't forget remember and so we found a church in in Dallas Texas in the Fort Worth Metroplex that
[01:14:15] just got their first building and we saw that they were online asking anybody to help them they needed to raise 10,000 more dollars to be able to do the finishing touches to be able to
[01:14:28] get their people and occupy that space well i need somebody to call reach city church pastor isaiah and kelly williams and tell them there's a fifty thousand dollar check on the way from transformation church because we remember believing god will sacrifice to see his kingdom be built
[01:14:46] will somebody give god praise in this place thank you lord we could have very easily got out of this service everybody give let's go home but god said michael as the leader is your heart posture
[01:15:09] when i text tammy and brie i said how much do we have left to give away i had i had watch this can i be honest i had trepidation texting it i felt some type of way because it's like i gotta step
[01:15:25] out in faith again because whatever they say it ain't mine it ain't the churches it's god's yesterday as over 200 people filled this place so families could have christmas all over the world we packed all kinds of things for people to experience do y'all know that's because of the
[01:15:50] generosity of the people that are in this room right now and some that are all over the world the things that we've been able to do is because eternity matters and we know that the local church
[01:16:04] is God's plan to reconcile humanity no matter how broken or ugly his bride is is still his girl I don't know you might think it's ugly but he's crazy about her y'all ever met somebody
[01:16:21] I think it was Kevin on stage said she is pretty to me like it's like like no matter how broken or messed up or people abuse it the bride of Christ is still the plan for people to meet Jesus
[01:16:36] he said take care of my bride while I'm gone and I heard about a good friend of ours who was stepping out in 2026 to start a church in one of the hardest places to start a church in New York
[01:16:51] City, Pastor Chris Durso. And there, there is, there is a significant seed that I'm believing God to do something in New York. And God told me that I was supposed to lead our church in
[01:17:07] sowing a seed into that city so that we could see a massive harvest. So when somebody tell Pastor Chris Durso and his beautiful wife that there's a check for $150,000 coming from Transformation Church. Will you celebrate all over this place? We want to see New York saved.
[01:17:29] So it'd be everything's called them to be. We're going to see a harvest in New York. Hear me.
[01:17:42] But you can't spec the harvest where we don't sow. Today, because your eternity is more than more important than money. Today, my last point is not on the thing. You know what else is more
[01:18:00] important than money? You. You are more important than money. So if you're in a place or a space where you can't even think about stepping into generosity because your soul has been so disconnected from the Savior, today I want to let you know more than an offering. I want you to have
[01:18:22] an introduction. Those of you who have decided to give, give. We are going to have a moment where the worship team is about to come up, but I feel the presence of God. He's stirring people's hearts
[01:18:33] right now. Watch this. Not for amounts, but for obedience. Some of you are going to walk out of here and disobey God, and now you've decided, all right, yes, Lord. There's some young people in
[01:18:46] this room that's like, my $50 ain't going to do nothing. My $10 ain't going to do nothing. Yes, it will. Not for the church, for you. Hear me. Some of you are going to have to go to your
[01:19:00] business accounts, and some of you are going to have to cash in some different things. Oh, God wouldn't require that. Listen to me. I don't know how this woman turned a year's worth of wages into perfume because I don't know if they pay in perfume drops. Y'all ain't thought about
[01:19:16] it, but this is how I think about the Bible. Can you pay me in perfume drops? I don't think she did that. I think she exchanged her wages for what she knew she had to pour out. So it took work.
[01:19:33] I got to go to the bank tomorrow. Your pastor, I'm saying this. I had to go to the bank tomorrow because I was going to do something. And God said, that ain't what I said. That ain't what I said.
[01:19:44] That's what you felt good with. That ain't what I said. And when he said it, it was only 30 more minutes to get to the bank on a Saturday. And I didn't make it to the bank. And then I tried to
[01:19:58] let the excuses of not make it to the bank on Saturday. Well, crazy faith offering is Sunday.
[01:20:04] Boy, it felt like God was like, boy, because I was trying to make an excuse because it might have taken a little more work to do what God told me to do. But my obedience is valuable. At the
[01:20:18] moment I decided I was going to do it in my heart, God said, there it is. It's a done deal. I told him, I was like, I got to go to bank on Monday. Why are you saying this to me, Pastor Mike? Because
[01:20:29] I'm just one step ahead of you. Obeying God with you. I haven't figured it all out. Me and my wife is having to struggle and pray through and talk through how it's still equal sacrifice.
[01:20:48] It's still gotta be equal Sacrifice for me. Thank God He gave me a New York Times best-selling book and thank God is about to be a movie and thank God They rerelease in this guess what that means
[01:21:04] More sacrament to whom much is given and I'm just asking all the people who are blessed in here Have you forgotten the sacrifice today? I remember Gabby today. I remember called today I remember, Will, today I remember that like, it's not about how much I give, it's did it cost me
[01:21:29] anything? Because on the cross, the New Testament example of Jesus is what did he do? He gave so that you could be saved. What's more important than money? You. So today, if you've never received
[01:21:47] Jesus, I'm going to pray for you. And all I want you to do is raise your hand if you want to receive Jesus, watching online, watching in the correctional facility. Oh, can I tell you a testimony?
[01:21:58] because oh my god i just got excited because of the generosity of transformation church about three years ago we decided to partner with god behind bars to actually give money to them actually getting ipads in the correctional facilities and so that they can watch
[01:22:15] transformation church in jail we have seen this year just this year just this year we've seen over 8,900 salvations in the penitentiary. Can we get? Y'all don't know when to shout, man.
[01:22:30] 900 people have given their life to. How many more iPads can we get? How many more sons and daughters can be reached? How many more parents will their prayers will be answered because of a message that was preached on this platform? They watched our Easter. We just messed up and
[01:22:58] put our Easter production on the Pando app. Well, how many people watched? What was it?
[01:23:06] Over 250,000 watches of the Easter presentation. When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me a drink. When I was naked, you clothed me. Jesus, we didn't do this for you. When you did
[01:23:31] to the least of these. You did it for me. If it was about butts in seats, we'd be trying to get people, but who's reaching the people in prison? Pastor Mike, why are you saying all this? Because
[01:23:50] God cares about some stuff more than he does money. Do you want to receive Jesus and put your name in that book, the Lamb Book of Life? On the count of three, I just want you to lift your hands
[01:24:01] in the room and watching online. Nobody leave because then we're going to give. We're going to sing a worship song. You can come give in the buckets. We have people who've already given online, the people online, we're seeing your comments. Thank you for your generosity. For
[01:24:14] some of you, you're going to have to go pray and think some more, but do not let the situation stop you from actually being obedient to God. The Bible loves cheerful givers. And today we're
[01:24:29] about to see this transaction happen because somebody's soul is about to be saved because of other people already believing before this. And then more are coming because of what we're about to do today. If you want Jesus, number one, you're making the greatest decision of your life.
[01:24:45] Two, your name is going to be written in the Lamb's book of life. If today you're tired of going on your own and being drug around by lies and pornography and deep, dark things like I had
[01:24:55] in my heart, on the count of three, I want you to lift your hands. One, two, three. If you want to receive Jesus, I see hands. I see hands. I see hands. I see you, my sister. I see you, my brother.
[01:25:05] I see you myself. Come on, Transformation Church. I see you. And more than that, God sees you.
[01:25:10] This is what it's all about. So proud of you, my brother. At Transformation Church, nobody prays alone. Would everybody lift their hands for the benefit of those coming to Jesus?
[01:25:21] Everybody say, Jesus, thank you for sending your love to me. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again with all power so that I may live in freedom. Here's my life. I repent.
[01:25:43] I turn away from sin and I turn to you. Change me. Renew me. Transform me. I'm yours.
[01:25:55] In Jesus' name. Amen. Transformation Church, can we give the biggest shout of the day?
[01:26:01] oh come on this is transformation in christ welcome to the family if you just prayed that prayer i want you to text save to 828282 listen it's a time for our crazy faith offering if you're
[01:26:18] in this room and you want to give there's not going to be no lines there are buckets all over this place if you need to worship for a second if you're online and you're saying i'm going to
[01:26:30] transformchurch.us, and I'm going to give, there should be a QR code to be able to give.
[01:26:36] Do it knowing that God is requiring us to be obedient to his word. I believe that everything that you believe in this next season is attached to your obedience to God, not to the seed,
[01:26:51] to your obedience. And we're one that are going to sow seeds. So all over this place, if you have your crazy faith card, we want to pray for all of those things. I want you to put
[01:27:02] those in the bucket or put them on the back walls write it on the wall if you are in this room or online you can also put them on social media and we're going to be praying through those things
[01:27:14] and you never know there's some people that are going to be looking to meet those needs as well because God has blessed us me and a couple of partners that I believe God is raising up right
[01:27:23] now God is going to do miracles signs and wonders I want to pray over you would you just lift your hands right now father i thank you for this church who has decided to be generous who's decided to
[01:27:36] obey your word today god i take the pressure off of every person in this room to do anything other than obey you you will not ask us for what we do not have so today i thank you that you are a good
[01:27:52] good father and we believe as a church for signs miracles and wonders i pray as the shepherd of this house. Would you bless your people abundantly? I need somebody to receive this right now. Would
[01:28:08] you bless your people abundantly? And would you maintain and create in us a pure heart that would be able to sustain the blessing without being tainted? Bless their businesses. Bless their homes bless their investments bless their little bless their two mites today i declare that by this
[01:28:36] time next year there are stories and testimonies of your goodness in the area of us trusting you with everything that's yours anyway for those who are not in the room that are online that are
[01:28:51] giving in crazy faith father god i thank you that this will produce a harvest of souls i pray for miracles signs and wonders do what only you can do God in Jesus name we don't
[01:29:08] trust in the man we trust in you so here I am a living sacrifice in the land of

[01:29:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:29:22] the living I see a miracle this praise is what I'm giving before the church I

[01:29:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:29:34] hope you feel the spirit of what God is stirring in this house this is a house of generosity this is a house of trust this is a house of sacrifice this is a house that cares
[01:29:45] about eternity and if you have prayed and if you haven't i'm asking you to pray and ask if you're supposed to take this step of crazy faith from your business in your home and your family and
[01:29:59] believe god and sow a seed that's significant to the expansion of not just this vision but god's vision this thing is about eternities over 15 000 people getting saved this year at the end of this service us being able to bless organizations and churches to be able to continue to expand the
[01:30:19] work god's given them this is just the beginning what happens if all of us join in and become a part of god's big idea to stretch out his love throughout the whole earth when i was hungry you
[01:30:33] fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me a drink. When I was naked, you put clothes on my back.
[01:30:40] This is what we do as the church. Be a part of this crazy faith vision. And you can sow now.
[01:30:47] You can click the QR code at the bottom of the screen, or you can go to transformchurch.us and give. And it's not too late. This moment is your moment. Pray and then obey because obedience
[01:31:00] is better than sacrifice. I love you so much. Thank you for being a part of what God's doing in this ministry. And next week, we're going to have amazing Christmas services. Join your family around the fireplace and the TV and get ready for us celebrating the greatest gift ever given
[01:31:19] to humanity, Jesus Christ. I love you. Until next week, go out and live a transformed life.