The Danger of the Death Grip: True Generosity vs. Self-Powered Growth

• Generosity and Finances [00:00:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the series 'Six Figures' and the specific message 'How to Prevent a Heart Attack,' linking generosity to the condition of the heart.
• Humility [00:03:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies humility as the essential prerequisite for learning and receiving abundance, sharing his own past inability to teach on the subject due to lack of revelation.
• Abundant Life [00:09:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines an abundant life using John 10:10, expanding it beyond finances to include grace, spiritual fullness, and generosity.
• Biblical Context and Interpretation [00:11:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor corrects a common misapplication of Luke 6:38 and Matthew 7, arguing that the 'measure you use' principle originally referred to judgment and forgiveness, not financial giving.
• Judgment and Reciprocity [00:12:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Luke 6:37-38, arguing that the 'measure you use' refers to the judgment, condemnation, and forgiveness one extends to others, which is then returned to them.
• The Definition of Giving [00:14:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > He expands the concept of giving beyond money to include judgment, forgiveness, encouragement, time, love, and peace, asserting that the act of giving itself is the biblical theme.
• Generosity vs. Stinginess [00:15:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the enemy's attempt to make people stingy and self-sufficient with God's desire for generosity, using examples like sharing cereal or credit cards to illustrate petty hoarding.
• The Heart and Treasure [00:24:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > He connects Matthew 6:21 to the physical heart, explaining that just as a heart attack is caused by blockage, spiritual stagnation is caused by hoarding treasure, and that one's heart follows their treasure.
• Treasure and Heart Location [00:26:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that one's heart is tied to their treasure, urging listeners to place their treasure in the kingdom, family, or next generation to align their hearts accordingly.
• Greed and Its Symptoms [00:29:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identifies greed as the first condition attacking the heart, listing symptoms such as dissatisfaction, comparison, obsession with identity, and inability to celebrate others.
• Biblical Stewardship and Generosity [00:31:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > Uses Deuteronomy 15 to explain that hardening the heart closes the hand, and that generosity is the cure for greed, expanding one's 'world' and relationships.
• The Wrong Grip [00:41:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > Describes the second condition attacking the heart as having a 'death grip' on possessions, time, or control, which prevents surrender to God and healthy relationships.
• The Wrong Grip / Control [00:42:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes a 'wrong grip' as a tight, controlling hold on finances, possessions, or jobs, often stemming from fear or anxiety, which prevents true generosity and trust in God.
• Biblical Illustration of the Rich Young Ruler [00:43:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor retells the story of the rich young ruler (Luke 18, though cited as Luke 15 in transcript) to illustrate how attachment to wealth can prevent one from following Jesus, highlighting that the man went away sad because he had many possessions.
• Greed vs. Generosity [00:46:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts becoming 'stingier' as income increases with the biblical call to be generous, noting that greed tries to get a person before they give, while the 'grip' keeps them stuck.
• Grief After Giving [00:50:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies 'grief' as a spiritual attack that occurs after obedience, where believers regret giving or feel loss, contrasting this with the command in Deuteronomy 15:10 that one's heart should not be grieved when giving.
• Heart Posture Over Circumstance [00:52:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that a generous heart posture is required regardless of financial status, using his personal story of giving away shoes to demonstrate that generosity is a spiritual discipline, not dependent on having a 'bigger paycheck'.
• Generosity and Heart Condition [00:55:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that giving must stem from a generous heart, not a greedy one, citing Deuteronomy 15:10 to explain that God desires a heart that is not grieved when giving.
• Motivation in Giving [00:56:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor debunks the 'give and get' transactional mindset, asserting that God does not bless giving unless the motive is trust and reflection of God's character, not manipulation.
• Ownership vs. Stewardship [00:59:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using a personal anecdote about giving $100 back to a congregant, the pastor illustrates that grief over giving comes from viewing resources as personal ownership rather than God's stewardship.
• Guilt and Grace [01:04:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the 'g word' of guilt, offering grace as the antidote for those who feel shame over past failures in generosity, urging them to start fresh.
• Prayer for Generosity [01:08:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The segment concludes with a corporate prayer asking God to transform hearts, break generational patterns of greed, and instill a spirit of faith and generosity.
• Faith and Trust in God's Provision [01:10:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of birds and flowers to encourage the congregation to trust God as the supplier of their needs, contrasting worry with faith.
• Personal Transformation through Jesus [01:10:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor transitions to an invitation for listeners to let Jesus into their hearts specifically to help change their habits.

• Sermon Illustration [00:04:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his first three years as pastor of Transformation Church, where he was too humble to teach on breaking poverty, instead having the congregation watch a video teaching on the subject.
• Sermon Illustration [00:09:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes a recent event where the church sent $100,000 to another church (Transformation Church) that had suffered a tragedy, illustrating the principle of giving money away rather than just collecting it.
• Sermon Illustration [00:17:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a humorous anecdote about parents hoarding specific cereal brands (Froot Loops) from their children to illustrate petty stinginess, and mentions people who won't let family members use their credit cards.
• Sermon Illustration [00:18:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > He describes a scenario where a person is sitting next to a waitress struggling to pay her bill with multiple declined cards, suggesting God places people in such situations to see if they will meet the need.
• Sermon Illustration [00:24:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > He uses the analogy of a heart attack caused by blockage to explain how hoarding resources blocks the flow of life and generosity, contrasting being a 'river' (flow) versus a 'reservoir' (hoard).
• Sermon Illustration [00:36:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about being asked where he is still greedy, admitting he struggles with the 'need for credit' and validation for his good deeds.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > An analogy about taking two donuts when only one is needed, illustrating how greed leads to selfishness, then wickedness, and finally sin.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > A humorous story about his five-year-old daughter acquiring $140 and the potential gift she will give his wife for Mother's Day, highlighting family dynamics.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > A practical illustration of anonymous generosity, suggesting listeners go to a gas station (Quick Trip) and pay for the gas of strangers without seeking recognition.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > A metaphorical illustration of holding a church or family with a 'death grip' versus an open hand, explaining how tight control damages relationships and stewardship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a parent coaching a child's sports team, explaining that parents must 'loosen their grip' and cheer from the sidelines rather than controlling the child's decisions, paralleling how God wants believers to release control over their finances.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a personal story of buying shoes at Ross for $29.99 and giving them away to homeless or needy people, noting that he would grieve if he saw them wearing shoes that didn't match their outfits, until the Holy Spirit corrected him that once given, the item was no longer his to judge.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a popular meme depicting Jesus holding a teddy bear behind his back while a little girl holds onto a smaller bear, illustrating the prophetic truth that God asks believers to let go of what they are holding so He can give them something better.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Disney movie 'Frozen' and the song 'Let It Go' as a cultural analogy for the spiritual command to release one's grip on possessions and control.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story of spending his last $100 on gifts for his wife, then publicly asking a congregant named PC to give that $100 back to him. He explains that PC did not grieve the loss because he knew the money was God's, illustrating the difference between ownership and stewardship.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts his early days as a pastor where he walked to church because he had no car, and how church members would offer him rides. He contrasts this with his current status, using it to illustrate God's process of developing generosity and the humility required to give away more than one has.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes a specific church initiative where they collected $8,300 in an offering and gave the entire amount to other local churches and non-profits, demonstrating a shift from a poverty mindset to a generosity mindset.
• Sermon Illustration [01:10:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical imagery of birds not worrying about food and flowers not shopping for clothing to illustrate God's care for His children.

• Pastoral Charge [00:00:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > Take notes during the sermon.
• Pastoral Charge [00:10:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the statement that God desires an abundant life.
• Pastoral Charge [00:11:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally declare 'I have permission to prosper' over their own life.
• Pastoral Charge [00:21:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for God to increase their capacity for generosity and shift their identity from hoarding to flowing.
• Pastoral Charge [00:28:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > Self-examine personal priorities and financial investments to identify where their heart truly lies.
• Pastoral Charge [00:39:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > To practice generosity this week to expand one's spiritual world.
• Pastoral Charge [00:41:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > To anonymously pay for the gas of strangers at a gas station.
• Pastoral Charge [00:47:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is called to introspectively identify areas of tight grip and actively loosen their hold on possessions, specifically visualizing giving away major assets.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is called to commit to giving 'big' by settling the decision in their hearts, trusting God to provide the means.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is called to let go of their grip and give away what God is asking for, rather than grieving or holding on.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Lift hands to receive the impartation of a spirit of generosity and faith.
• Pastoral Charge [01:07:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > Respond to attacks of greed and guilt by choosing to give.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Give generously to the church offering.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invite Jesus into one's heart to facilitate the change of personal habits.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] What's going on, fam? I am so grateful that you joined us today because we are in week three of a series that we are calling Six Figures.
[00:00:09] I believe there are six figures that are supposed to expand your faith and help you live a life of abundance.
[00:00:16] And today, I promise you, you're going to enjoy what God has to say. You're going to laugh. You might cry.
[00:00:21] You're going to understand more than anything how God wants you to approach generosity and giving.
[00:00:28] And today, the title of the message is something that I think is going to help you.
[00:00:33] It's called How to Prevent a Heart Attack.
[00:00:37] Generosity is all about the heart.
[00:00:40] I'm not going to take any more time.
[00:00:42] I want you to get this message into your heart so it can change your life.
[00:00:46] I'll see you on the other side.
[00:00:49] Well, I have an assignment today.
[00:00:50] Get out your notepads because we're about to go crazy today on Mother's Day.
[00:00:56] One of the things that we do at Transformation Church, if this is your first time is, um, I always feel like I have an assignment that helps people move forward in their transformation journey. And the word of the year at transformation church is
[00:01:10] say it like you got faith, say it like that's where you're moving. We're moving forward. Um, and I don't know about you, but I have sensed a shift in my life since that prayer conference
[00:01:24] a week ago and and and if you haven't it's okay you can jump on this train right now we're moving everybody shot at me forward and one of the areas that we need to meet
[00:01:35] move forward in is in the area of how we deal with finances the the reason i have to say this is because god talks about finances generosity money in the scriptures almost one third of the
[00:01:51] time he speaks publicly it's about these issues because he knows it's the issue of the day because the truth of the matter your attitude is actually good or bad based on that account you just checked
[00:02:03] some of y'all didn't come to church this morning because you checked your uh tank come on come on last night you got home and was like uh-uh that's got to last me till Wednesday and the way these gas prices are set up right now I'll catch it online some of us in the room right
[00:02:25] now, we have everything we need financially, but we are very stingy. There are things that are happening around us, watch, that are affecting how we live, and it has to do how we see finances,
[00:02:42] generosity, and stewardship. Today, I'm going to walk us in week three of a series we're calling Six Figures, How to Live a Life of Abundance. How many people, when I just say that, desire to live
[00:02:56] a life of abundance. I need hands in the chat or in the room you desire. Okay. So if you desire to live a life of abundance, I want to give you the key to understanding abundance. Watch this.
[00:03:09] If you don't get anything else, I say, I need you to get this word right here. Humility. If you think you know everything, you can't learn anything. I'm telling you right now, humility is the way
[00:03:24] to gain a life of abundance. But the problem is there are people in this room right now that's like what this little boy gonna tell me about some money i've been grown and doing my
[00:03:34] budget since before he could say good good god god look at him up no i i know i see how you're looking at me i i get the comments i see what's going on and the truth of the matter is this is
[00:03:45] not my playbook this is god's playbook and you gotta realize no matter the vessel god uses he may be trying to give you a new vision for your life so today i'm not gonna ask you to believe
[00:03:59] me because it's me now i do got some proof i i just want to say in my own life i got some i used to be greedy stingy broke and impoverished oh y'all okay i thought we were in a humble open
[00:04:15] and transparent church i thought we was hot let me take you one step further i used to be all of that as the pastor of this church oh look at you i just i want to let you know i did not understand
[00:04:33] how to live a blessed life an abundant life a life that was watch this not centered around me when it came to finances and generosity and so instead of acting like i i had it all together
[00:04:49] i have proof in the room when i became the pastor of transformation church february 1st 2015 my first series was a series about how to break poverty off of our church and i did not teach it i found
[00:05:04] somebody else who had great teaching on it. And we watched the video on Sunday morning together.
[00:05:12] Am I telling the truth? I would say, Hey y'all, here's your pastor. And you know what? I really want all of us to live a blessed life. And notice how I said all of us, and I don't have this
[00:05:25] revelation yet. So I found the revelation and I would pray you would be humble enough for us to learn it together and i would say play the video and come sit on the front row now most of y'all
[00:05:39] would leave if i did that today because you want your pastor or whoever's leading you to know everything instead of taking a posture of humility but i would rather give you the right content okay
[00:05:54] then act like i have the i could get up here and and yeah and this is what but knowing that wasn't real in my life and for three years we did this every single year and every year i was like god
[00:06:09] you think i could teach one now he said nope sit your butt down i'm not making this up y'all and it was the third year of the series god said you can preach one message and i preached one and i
[00:06:22] said for the next six weeks come for movie time and there were a group of people that came consistently and faithfully since that moment that I was humble enough to say I'm not going front in front of the world and really it was only like 200 people in my mom's prayer group
[00:06:40] but at that time but I'm not gonna front in front of the world I'm gonna I'm gonna be humble enough to actually learn it God said that's something I can work with and what God has done since then
[00:06:51] has allowed my life to expand because I actually got the principle so what I'm saying to you for the next four weeks, I want to give you what I got. This is not just a series of information.
[00:07:02] It's a series of impartation. If you will hear what I'm saying to you practically and prophetically, this could actually change your entire life and your relationship with finances, stewardship, generosity, giving all of it. You will never be scared when it's time to give,
[00:07:17] and you will never be manipulated when it's time to give. You will be steady and steadfast.
[00:07:22] God will speak to you. You will have investments going over here. You will have blessings coming over there. The reaping will overtake the sowing. Somebody should be shouting right now because I want you watch this to understand that giving is all about the heart. It's not even about
[00:07:42] money. God just uses money as a tool to expose what's in your heart. Okay. So today I just need to stop and acknowledge that many of you, depending on where you came into this Christian journey,
[00:07:56] there may have been some abuse and manipulation around how finances were taught to you. Watch this or the manipulation around how they were trying to get it from you. And for that, I want to
[00:08:09] apologize. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us to form thousand dollar lines. The Bible says like each man should give in his heart what he's already decided the problem is most of us
[00:08:31] don't pray about what to give before we come so it's a two-fold thing i can't be convinced if i've already gone to him but if i haven't gone to him about what i'm supposed to give then when somebody
[00:08:42] says we're reading psalms 103 i just feel like you need to give 103 times 10 and everybody i can do that get in the line right here and then i'm gonna pray for you because you're giving that's demonic
[00:08:53] okay what it does is i understand the concept but it's a lack of teaching and so that's why i've decided during our series we don't ask for any money you don't have to give a dime we actually
[00:09:10] give money away last week at the end of service on prophet prophet sherman dumas that was here we were able to send a hundred thousand dollars to their oh come on transformation church to their
[00:09:20] church and bless them they had a tragedy but that's because there are people who have already understood the figure of faith that it takes to give because giving is all about the heart okay so so so maybe you never taught and maybe you were taught wrong and maybe there's some cares of this
[00:09:44] life that have really been weighing you down and i want to let you know i see all that but i believe this series is going to help you move forward and you're going to be able to live in a life
[00:09:53] of abundance. John 10, 10. This has been my anchor scripture. The thief does not come except to steal, kill, and what? Destroy. But Jesus has come that you might have life and that you might have
[00:10:07] life more abundantly. Write this down. God desires for me to live an abundant life.
[00:10:15] God desires for you. Put your name in there. God desires for Michael to live an abundant life.
[00:10:21] Let's try it again. God desires for Michael to live an abundant life. Some of you have never said that, never believed it, never even thought it was possible, but God desires for all of us to
[00:10:34] live an abundant life. An abundant life is not just finances. It's God's overflowing grace, spiritual fullness, material provision, and generosity. That's why I've told you every week of this series you have permission to prosper i'm speaking to your soul right now
[00:10:52] you're looking at all that debt piled up in them student loans that are looming over you you done deferred and deferred and deferred and deferred and deferred you waiting for sally may to die you're just deferred hopefully she goes away y'all got what i'm saying but what i want you
[00:11:12] to understand is you have permission to prosper just somebody say that over your life i have permission to prosper so so so if you're going to have permission to prosper i have to do a little
[00:11:22] representing or i'm going to call it correction of how some scripture has been presented to us all my life i've been in church and anytime i hear luke 6 38 give and it shall be given to you
[00:11:35] y'all know the rest good measure press shaking again and running ah it's running over will men give unto you. Okay. All right. The only time I've ever heard that scripture is that offering time.
[00:11:57] Nobody would ever say it any other time is give. But what I found out is context is king.
[00:12:04] So if you go to Matthew chapter seven, I want you to see that this whole verse is not in the context of giving. I want you to just see if you see the word giving or giving money anywhere in
[00:12:19] this verse Matthew chapter 7 verse 1 it says do not judge or you too will be judged for in the same way you judge others you will be do you see the thing it says and with the measure you use
[00:12:35] it will be measured back to you say that with me with the measure you use it will be measured back to you one more time for the people in the back with the measure you use it will be measured back
[00:12:48] to you was the word giving in that at all it was in the context of judging and if you read closer we're going to go to the parallel passage in luke 6 38 and i'm going to show you this whole
[00:13:03] thing and in the middle luke put something that we hear but i want you to get the context luke 6 37 it says do not judge and you will not be judged do not condemn and you will not be condemned
[00:13:18] forgive and you will be forgiven and if you skip down to 39 it says and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you but verse 38 look at this one give and it will be given to you
[00:13:32] give what in this context is judgment condemnation and forgiveness you give judgment is coming back you give condemnation it's coming back you give forgiveness it's coming back give it and then it says like this, and with the measure you use, it'll be measured back to you, not just measured
[00:13:51] back to you. How? Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will mean give judgment back to you, condemnation back to you, forgiveness back to you. Now, the thing that I wanted to bring to everybody's attention is that giving is the main subject. It's not what you give
[00:14:25] that's the main subject it's the fact that you give it so if giving is god's theme of the bible for god so loved the world that he we're the subject of the bible but the theme of the bible
[00:14:40] giving oh god i heard somebody ask a pastor how many times do you preach about giving in a year and the pastor said every every week and a person said you preach about giving every week he said i
[00:14:53] think you meant to ask how many times do I preach about giving money? Because I can't talk about grace if I don't talk about Jesus giving us grace. And I can't talk about us giving our life to him
[00:15:05] or salvation if we don't talk about giving. I can't even talk about marriage because marriage takes two people giving. If you're not a giver, your marriage won't work. It's not 50-50, it's 100-100. You've got two. All the married people should say amen. Okay, so the theme of the Bible
[00:15:24] is what giving. And that's why the enemy is playing you so hard to be stingy, playing you so hard to be your own source, playing you so hard to think that God has forgotten about you. And what I need
[00:15:37] to let you know that God is saying, I want you to be generous. I want you to give and whatever you give is coming back. You give the comments, you give opinions. Okay. They don't. Okay. Okay. All
[00:16:00] right? Some of you are living in a harvest of what you've already given. Nobody's around me, but you're the best ghoster. You leave people high and dry all the time. Oh, I'm not answering that text message. And then when you're in your time of need, it's like, why is nobody here for
[00:16:17] me? Harvest time. Okay. Y'all don't want to hear that. It's harvest time. We want to scream harvest when it's about something good. But will you scream harvest when you've been sowing gossip for the last six years. I don't even understand why they would make something up like that with
[00:16:36] me. It's harvest time. Okay. What I'm saying, if it was me, if this principle really works, I'd be trying to give good things. And that's why when people hear this, they don't understand, write this down, that giving is big to God. Giving is big to God. Giving is not a small thing.
[00:17:03] I'm not talking about money yet I'm talking about giving period I'm trying to separate this for you you stingy with your Froot Loops oh y'all know y'all know there's certain cereals you tell your kids
[00:17:21] don't uh uh this is my cereal if you want you get Fruity O's but the actual fruit the name brand ones them is mine got your kids stealing Froot Loops in your own house no I'm saying apply
[00:17:37] it where you are. Some of y'all got cards, won't let your children or family members use them.
[00:17:42] Now, some of y'all got good reason not to let your family members use them, but some of y'all are stingy. You see people struggling, have something to meet their need. I guess they need to learn. Oh, come on. I mean, I mean, I guess God's trying to work on them. What I'm
[00:18:06] saying is giving is something that God presents to us all the time to see if his reflection is in us. You ever been somewhere and you heard that they were some money short? You at the thing,
[00:18:22] you see them struggling to pay the bill at the end. And he's like, I told them to come earlier.
[00:18:27] I'm trying to get out of here. And God somehow got you sitting there and it's your waitress.
[00:18:33] And the car, I don't know the card. Let's try another card. And they didn't try seven cards and you just sitting there. Why might God let that happen right next to you? But they don't
[00:18:50] know what I got going on. They have no idea what's coming. And God's like, I'm looking for my reflection. I'm looking for somebody to meet a need when they see a need. They don't know their
[00:19:04] salvation is attached to that seed. You're going to pay for their cheddars and it's going to lead them to me. You don't know that they just prayed and asked God. You have no idea. But he's working
[00:19:16] with people who have not fully bought into the heart of generosity. And that's why giving is big to God. How we hear scripture is like this. Give money. That's how we hear it. God wants us
[00:19:36] to give money. Pastor Mike, what does God want us to do? Give money. The thing that's big in that is money, but switch it. The give got to be big. What God is saying is give money, give money,
[00:20:00] and then he'll say, give encouragement, give encouragement. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying. You think the money is big. The encouragement is big. It's the giving that he wants to be big on the inside of you. Whatever he says, give, that's what we should do. Give
[00:20:22] time. Help me. Yell give. Give time. Oh, yeah. I like that one, Mama Chloe. You said give love.
[00:20:32] Let's try it. Give love. What about peace? Give peace. What would happen if the give was big?
[00:20:46] What would happen is at that job, you went in there, and they knew you as a giver of what needed to be given at the time. It wasn't what you was given. It's the give. Today, I came to
[00:20:59] let you know that the give is supposed to be the big. It don't matter what comes after it.
[00:21:05] It might be give a pair of shoes. It might be give some time. It might be give a donut.
[00:21:09] Y'all know what I'm saying? But what is big? Give. My question to you is, is the give big in your life? Is there any evidence that giving is bigger in your life than keeping? Is there any evidence
[00:21:27] that giving is bigger and today i want to challenge you that god is looking for people who would say hey god my give is too small i need you to help me learn how to get my give big
[00:21:44] you want a new prayer god help my give get big god do whatever you got to do on the inside of me to help my give get big father let me not be somebody who hoards let me be a river not a
[00:21:57] reservoir. God, it can come through me, Father God. You don't have to stop it with me. I get to touch it on the way through. Father God, give me this house so I can give it away. Give me that
[00:22:06] car so I can give it away. Give me this business so I can give it away. God, let my give get big, and you don't have to hit the lottery for your give to get big. You can start right here,
[00:22:24] because whatever you give is coming back to you. Good measure. Press down, shake it together, and what running will men not god god doesn't give back the blessing he uses men to some of y'all are giving it's like god's going to know god's going to speak to them
[00:22:49] and they're going to y'all not ready for this thought can i represent something to you what if you're the one that's not looking to receive but what if you're the one god's looking to give through jared they don't understand that's my job see see i'm trying to shift your
[00:23:11] mind transformation because some of y'all are waiting oh i just can't wait till it comes back what if you don't need it to the right what if what if i don't need it to come back because
[00:23:21] everything that god's done it's blessed so much that when god says men will give and put it in your lap you don't want to be like yeah i'm i'm i'm the men that put stuff in the lap i'm the lap

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:23:34] That give up. Let's stay away from that. Let's let's y'all got what I'm saying. Let's go the

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:23:42] other way. Here we go. Giving is all about the heart. Okay. So here we go. I found out as I looked at this and I've passed through it for almost 11 years. That's crazy to even say
[00:23:58] I passed it for almost 11 years. Amen. Let's just pray. We're making another three. Okay. Here we go. Um, many people are suffering from heart attacks because your treasure and your heart are attached today. I need to title this sermon, how to prevent a heart attack.
[00:24:21] Cause if giving is all about the heart, what's keeping, keeping you from giving is your heart is being attacked. And what I found out through my, my small study on chat GPT about a heart
[00:24:36] and heart attacks is that a heart attack is caused because there is a blockage of flow there's something that comes to block or make a barrier and flow stops eventually stopping all life from coming could it be that many of us have stopped the flow in our life because something has
[00:25:00] gotten into the ventricles of our thinking that has blocked us from understanding hold on this is what God wants me to do. He wants me to be generous. He wants me to be able to give on
[00:25:13] every occasion. He wants me to, even while I'm saving, even while I'm building, even while I'm trying to get out of debt, he wants me to honor him with my resources. And today I need everybody
[00:25:27] to hear me say this because this is going to change your life. This is things your parents should have told you, but probably didn't have the language to today. Generationally, you need to sit down with your children and make them watch this so they can get it in their spirit.
[00:25:37] I'm telling you the understanding of this revelation can change your world forever the bible tells us you have to guard your heart above all else because out of that place flows every issue of your life you cannot guard from what you're not aware of did you hear what I just
[00:26:02] said if the bible says remember giving is all about the if the bible says now guard your heart above all else because out of that place flows every issue of light you will not guard from what
[00:26:18] you're not aware of so today i want you to make you aware of some things that come to attack your heart because the truth of the matter is matthew 6 21 for where your treasure is there your heart
[00:26:32] will be also this bible is nasty and it comes together like legos y'all hear me it's nasty so so watch this guard your heart because out of that heart everything flows then he says you want to locate your heart where's your treasure where have you put your money because
[00:26:54] your treasure does not follow your heart your heart follows your treasure you want your heart in the kingdom put your treasure there you want your heart in your family put your treasure there you want your heart in the next generation put your treasure there not just your opinion
[00:27:13] this generation don't did this generation don't expose them to something take them somewhere teach them something have enough grace to impart into them but you want to judge from afar and never give them anything okay it got quiet in here okay wherever your treasure is your heart
[00:27:37] will be also. Question to everybody listening, whether you're in the penitentiary, you're watching at a gym, you're in this room. Where's your treasure? I'm not talking about ethereally.
[00:27:53] Open up your bank account. Some of y'all's treasure is in your stomach, and it's in their good measure. Press down, and it's overflowing over that bell line. I'm telling you right now.
[00:28:15] What I'm telling you… Y'all hear me. Where's your treasure? Some of y'all's treasure is in your car, some of your treasures on cosmetics. I'm not here to judge you. Some of your treasures on the lake house, some of your treasures on the golf course, you, you, you, you live in an
[00:28:34] apartment, but you have a country club membership. It's a word called priorities, brother. Where's your treasure? Some of your treasure is in your children. Some, some of your treasure is in designer clothes. Some of your treasure. I just want you to, can you locate your heart? Cause
[00:28:58] until you can locate your heart, you cannot tell God he can have it. Okay. God, you can have my heart. Where is it? Okay. So today I want to teach you four. This is what I want to do. I want to
[00:29:22] teach you how to prevent a heart attack by giving you four conditions that attack your heart. Okay.
[00:29:26] Let's do this. Number one, the first condition that comes to attack your heart is greed. It's greed. Now, most of us in this room would never, ever, ever admit to being greedy, but maybe greed
[00:29:44] is not as demonstrative and overt. Maybe your greed is silent in your head and comes out in very calm actions. I mean, some symptoms of greed is you're never satisfied, constant comparison, obsession with more identity tied to your success inability to celebrate others some of y'all just
[00:30:13] greedy with celebration oh oh oh they had another child oh good for them maybe kind of ugly oh y'all know y'all do it oh and instead of just celebrating thank you god for life thank you god that you give
[00:30:40] more grace god thank you for thank you might be dealing with greed always watch this here's another symptom always chasing the next thing contentment avoids you as soon as you like your room you go to pinterest and like oh my god i gotta redo it come on could there be something
[00:31:08] in there it's like i need more i gotta have more and the reason i'm saying this is is you have to understand that greed will stop up what God wants to do in your life as far as generosity and giving
[00:31:19] and blocks the areas that he wants to use you and that's why I'm telling you you got to understand this every time you give you remind your soul that money is a tool not a God every single time
[00:31:32] you give you're saying no no no I use this this don't rule me oh God Deuteronomy 15 I want you to see how many times God's directly trying to deal with our heart. He says, if there is among
[00:31:49] you, a poor man or a brethren within your gates in the land, which the Lord, your God has given you notice that he's saying the Lord, God has given you everything you got. So even though you
[00:31:59] claiming it, he's saying the Lord gave it to you. He said, you shall not harden your heart. Say it with me. You shall not harden your or shut your hand. That means your heart and your hand are
[00:32:10] connected if your heart becomes hard your hand becomes closed don't harden your heart because at the moment you harden your heart you close your hand okay it says nor shut your hand to your poor brother but you shall open your hand wide to him willingly so your giving should be
[00:32:34] wide and willing okay lend him sufficient for his need whatever he needs beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart saying the seventh year the year of release is at hand and your eye
[00:32:51] be evil against your poor brother and give him nothing and he cry out to the lord against you it will become cinema among you let me explain this to you god had an economic system in play
[00:33:02] back in this time that said every seven years was the year of jubilee and on that seventh year all debts were released how many people wish that that could be the plan again trump go back to
[00:33:15] the bible we need that in the plan okay um but hear what i'm saying to you the bible is saying don't get in the sixth year and somebody need to borrow some money from you and being like hold on
[00:33:29] i ain't giving them nothing because next year is the year of release and if they don't pay me back by that time i'm i'm not gonna be able to claim my money no more he said don't have that thought
[00:33:37] stop that because that thought is a greedy thought that thought is a selfish thought that thought is watch this wicked i heard the cast of wicked is here shout out to y'all whoever y'all are
[00:33:53] wherever y'all are i love you okay amen thank you for coming to church today god bless you whiz it's a w the whiz y'all here too god bless you it's in the same is it the whiz is that y'all
[00:34:05] what's up to the cast of the whiz ease on down ease on down the road y'all got a part for me don't you carry okay never let me stop white people the whiz is great i i want to let you
[00:34:18] know that too okay it's like the black version of okay never mind we'll talk about that later i love our church okay here we go i need everybody to i need everybody to hear me say this
[00:34:31] that that the scripture says greed turns into selfishness and selfishness turns into wickedness i'm not wicked are you greedy i'm not wicked are you selfish because this is the natural progression of how you get into wickedness and look what the bible takes it up another level
[00:34:55] he says then it becomes sin in the eyes of god so i just want you to think like if you've ever gone to get one donut, but you saw two and you know, you only need one, but you end up taking
[00:35:14] the box anyway for later. Be careful because greed, watch this, becomes selfishness. Selfishness becomes wickedness. Wickedness gets counted as sin. What's the, what's the point? Take one donut.
[00:35:38] What I'm saying is take sufficient for the moment. Don't, don't try to hoard everything.
[00:35:45] Maybe somebody else needed their glucose level to go up in the office, and they needed a little sugar high. They would be less hangry. Y'all know what I'm talking about, hungry and angry, and you could have left that, and you wouldn't have had the argument later, but you took two
[00:35:57] donuts. Now you're about to get fired. Somebody asked me, what's an area, Pastor Mike, that you're still greedy in? See, I like the people around me because we don't just preach about stuff. They'd be trying to dig. They'd be like, so where are you still greedy, man of God?
[00:36:21] And I took a second to think about it because I invite those type of questions because I don't want God to stop working on me. And they were like, you're generous with finances. You're generous with this. Like, where are you greedy? And I said, I found it. I'm still having to kill
[00:36:39] the need for credit. Okay. I may be the only one, but there's moments where I know I did something.
[00:36:49] I know I helped. And I know I did something. That thing in me will raise up and be like, you did that and god be like it don't matter and i'll be like yeah yeah like even today it's
[00:37:04] mother's day and and my children are gonna present my wife with some amazing gifts and and i i have been diligent on asking them what they want to get their mother and and there's gonna be some
[00:37:30] a quandary of how gia got her hands on 140 dollars at five years old and and i'm saying this to be funny, but they're going to get praised, and their mom's going to be like, oh, my. Every father in
[00:37:51] here knows what I'm talking about. Wife, I just hope you remember tonight. Okay, yeah. All right.
[00:38:06] Work on me, Lord. But let me give you a new prayer. He's not done with me yet.
[00:38:17] All right, here we go. Let me give you a brand new scripture to pray. Psalms 139, verse 23. It says, search me. Oh God, no, my, I still need some work on my heart. Cause there's areas in my light.
[00:38:35] I'm not just greedy with money. I might be greedy with credit. I might be greedy with my time. I might be selfish with my desire to help you. Okay. It says, search me, know my heart, test me
[00:38:47] and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offense or offensive way in me. Watch this and lead me in the way that's everlasting. The cure. Here we go. We're not just going to give you the
[00:39:02] condition. The cure for the condition of a greed is watch this generosity. Every time you feel greed in an area, give something in that area. Do y'all hear me? At the moment you feel like,
[00:39:17] let it go. Oh, y'all don't hear me, but I'm telling you, this is why you have to get give big because the Bible says the world of the generous gets larger and larger. How many people want to
[00:39:32] live in a large world? Like I'm not just talking about the earth. I'm talking about your world is large. Your relationships are large. You can help people near and far. He said the only people that
[00:39:43] live that type of life are people who are generous, but the world of the stingy or the greedy or the self-indulge or the wicked, it gets smaller and smaller. My question is, will you grow your world
[00:39:55] this week. You can grow your world this week by being generous. You can go to lunch after church and grow your world by leaving a tip for somebody else. You don't have to…

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:40:15] Left the tip for you, you broke people. Y'all know that's how we do. Look at you peasants eating here at Texas Roadhouse. All you came for was the rolls. Here is a tip for you. The best type

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:40:37] of generosity is the one they don't even know you did. Y'all hear what I'm saying? Do you know how many times I've gone into quick trip and gone up? Watch this. I don't even have a car that need gas.
[00:40:52] So my intent was to go there to bless somebody. And I want Scott know it. We'll go into quick trip and I'll look out there and see where there's cars on the thing where people are caring about
[00:41:08] gas and where the prices are going up and people are stressed and all that. Walk into quick trip this week with $100 and say, could you put 20 on six, 20 on four, 20 on eight, put 40 on nine
[00:41:23] and walk away. Don't go outside. Hello, all of you broke gas people. Don't do that.
[00:41:39] I love my church. The next condition that comes to attack your heart is, watch this, the wrong grip. Some of y'all got a death grip on your stuff. It's my house. It's my money.
[00:41:56] it's my time knowing you didn't give yourself a breath today the breath you have is borrowed this is my church everybody knowing this church i hold this church just like this sometimes i'll be trying to give it away no y'all don't hear me i'll be like god uh
[00:42:14] 10 was good we made it 10 and god's like no no no just keep holding everything like this hold people like this if you stay open-handed that means i have your heart but at the moment
[00:42:25] your heart becomes hard. What if nothing else comes? This is my idea. These are my kids.
[00:42:34] Some parents, this ain't the point, but some parents are losing their relationship with their kids because they won't loosen their grip. You're a coach now. You're not the authority anymore.
[00:42:47] You're supposed to cheer from the sidelines and say, don't do that. Ooh, that hurt, didn't it?
[00:42:53] That's what you're supposed to do. You're not supposed to bring respect and honor into decisions they had to make to actually learn that God is real in their own lives, but you got the wrong grip. Some of y'all have the wrong grip when it comes to finances, generosity, your job,
[00:43:11] and stewardship. Here are some symptoms you may have. Fear of not having enough. Anxiety around finances. Constant control issues. Where are all the control freaks in the room? Come on. We're a humble, open, and transparent church. All right. Thank you. Lord, you saw him. Here we go. He can
[00:43:30] help you with it. People have a hoarding mentality, struggling to release anything, trusting money more than they trust God, which in scripture is called the spirit of mammon. But we see this in Luke chapter 15, verse 20. You can go read the whole thing, but there was a rich young ruler
[00:43:49] who came to God enthusiastically. God, what must I do to inherit the kingdom?
[00:43:55] Verse 21 of Luke 15, it says, looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. Another translation says he felt compassion for him. He said, there's still one thing that you haven't done, or there's one thing you haven't changed your grip on. Go ahead and sell all your possessions
[00:44:11] and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.
[00:44:17] At this, the man was like, hold on. Jesus, you must not realize who I am. God, I've done all of these things. I'm just saying I want to follow you. He said, yeah, you got to change your grip.
[00:44:33] He said, you can't follow me holding on to that, that tightly. He said, so sell that.
[00:44:39] And it said, the man, watch this. The rich young ruler didn't even try.
[00:44:46] The money had such a grip on him that at the thought of the instruction, he was like, well, guess I won't be following you. He didn't even, he didn't even bother to try because it was so
[00:45:02] ingrained in him to control this money. God didn't promise him that he was not going to give him something back. He said, I'm going to store up your treasure in heaven. And that's where he tells
[00:45:12] us, but he couldn't even get the concept because of how he had such a hard grip. What do you have such a tight grip on that God's asking for? At this, the man went away sad for he had many
[00:45:25] possessions. Watch this, write this point down. You can have God and have the wrong grip.
[00:45:33] You can have God and still be holding money the wrong way. Some of y'all don't even think about tithing. Don't even think about honoring God with your possessions. We'll pray and worship and twirl and dance. No, no, no, no. I'm serious. I know you. I hug you. I love you. You will do all the
[00:45:53] things, but when it comes to the way you grip money, God is not your supplier. He is not your source. It's because you have the wrong grip. There's clear over and over in the word how he
[00:46:08] tells us to handle our resources. He said, honor God with your resources, with your wealth. He said, because he's the one that he's all over the word and i'll teach you some of the scriptures but the
[00:46:16] truth of the matter is you're not letting go of that grip of that 16 an hour job the way you hold on to now that you make over 60k over 100k it's like you got stingier the more money you got
[00:46:32] how was you broken generous and now you got a savings and stingy because i'll never be broke another day in my life. But we're not going to be broke. The problem is the grip is costing you,
[00:46:57] watch this, the blessing. God has more for you. Oh God. Okay. How are you holding what you have?
[00:47:08] I can't answer that question, but you can. Is there anything that you're trembling? Like if God came close to asking you for it, that you would be like, God, I can't follow you no more.
[00:47:19] Say la. Pause. Think. If he asked you to give your car away, would you stop following him?
[00:47:33] God would never ask. Sheesh. Quiet. There are some things. He asked some fishermen to give their business away to follow him. Y'all remember the first disciples? Throw your net on the other side. They did it. Biggest day of their company. 10X'd everything. 10X, 10X, 10X. They would have
[00:47:53] been all over the fishermen news. And Jesus said, now I'm going to make you fishers of men, lead a business, follow me. Most of us couldn't see our business get 10 X in the next week,
[00:48:08] walk away from it for the sake of Jesus. We're going to keep moving. Jesus looked around at his disciples and said this verse 23. He said, how hard is it for a rich man to enter the kingdom
[00:48:25] of God. This amazed them. But Jesus said again, dear children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel. Jesus was wilding right here. He just picked the wildest
[00:48:37] example he could find. It will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. What then for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God, not because God had anything or any
[00:48:49] ought against riches. It's because he knew that when you have a lot, those riches usually have you. He said, that's why we got to deal with the heart. The disciples were astounded. Then who in
[00:49:05] the world can be saved? They asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, humanly speaking, it is impossible, but not with God. Everything is possible with God. Do y'all know that everybody uses this for miracle signs and wonders? That scripture right there? With man, it is impossible,
[00:49:23] but with God, all things are possible. He's talking about being generous.
[00:49:27] nobody wants to hear about that lift your hands I'm telling you with God he's gonna move the mountain he said I'm telling you it's impossible to be generous and take your hand off of stuff
[00:49:42] like this if that's your source but with me you ain't gotta worry it's possible we can do anything if you have the right that's why generosity and giving is all about the heart rights this the
[00:49:58] cure for the condition of the wrong grip. Watch this. I got this from prophetess Elsa. Let it go.
[00:50:04] I don't know. That's one of the most prophetic Disney movies I've ever seen. That woman coming into her identity, icing up everything. And she just said, what? Let it go. No, I didn't ask you
[00:50:19] to sing. Just what I'm telling you. What I'm telling you right now is if you got the wrong grip, it's time to loosen it and let it go. Some of y'all, I dare you to ask God, what are you
[00:50:36] trying to say to me at this moment? Some of y'all going to be scared of the answer. That's why don't pray this. If you're not ready to make a transformation, but God, where, watch this,
[00:50:49] where is my grip too tight? The next condition that comes to attack your heart, watch this one.
[00:50:56] We're almost done grief. So greed tries to get you before you give and the grip tries to get you to stay in the same place. I can't, I can't trust God. Can't give, can't touch. But grief tries to
[00:51:11] come and attack you after you actually give. Has anybody ever given something and then was like, Ooh, shoot. Trusting you God. Really want you to be the big one. Do you got to do your big one on
[00:51:25] this one, man? See grief tries to attack you after you obey God. Part of my ministry of generosity that I started where I was at when I didn't have nothing was giving shoes away. That has always
[00:51:46] been a thing. I used to go to Ross and find the best shoes I could for $29.99. Sometimes they have Jordans in there, and sometimes they'd be having all this stuff. Me and my brothers got
[00:51:56] that honest from my dad. He used to go to pawn shops and find stuff that cost a lot, but he had an anointing to find it for it. I think that got transferred in the bloodline. I used to have
[00:52:06] all kinds of shoes. And God said, you want to be generous, start giving your shoes away. So literally people, I would look at their feet and I'd be like, man, I could help them. I could bless
[00:52:14] them. I could upgrade you. And, um, I would just ask them, what size shoe you wearing? And they tell me, and if they were my size, I would just be like, stay right here. And I'd have a pair in
[00:52:24] my car. I would, this was something I started a long time ago, because listen to me say this, you can get the spirit of generosity right where you're at now you don't need a bigger paycheck
[00:52:39] you don't need more money you don't need a new job you need a heart posture so because this was my heart posture and I wanted to be able to do this I was not even sad when I gave the people
[00:52:52] the shoes the thing that grieved me the most and maybe this is just me venting because my spirit is grieved at this current moment, but sometimes I would give the too-good-of-a-shoe to somebody who didn't know what to do with it. There are certain shoes that don't go with certain outfits.
[00:53:11] Do y'all know what I'm talking about? I needed my discernment to be higher, because I was like, maybe you… Then I would see them in the shoes, and that would grieve me.
[00:53:24] Watch this. The Holy Spirit checked me. He said, It's not even yours to have an opinion on anymore.
[00:53:33] When it left, watch this.
[00:53:35] Not when it left my hand, it was theirs.
[00:53:38] When it was settled in my heart, it was theirs.
[00:53:41] Oh my God.
[00:53:42] I need some of y'all to hear me say this.
[00:53:46] Some of y'all need to settle in your heart.
[00:53:48] The car you're driving, you're going to give it away.
[00:53:51] You may not know where, you may not have figured out the other thing, but God, if you can get it in your heart, he'll make it happen in your hand.
[00:53:58] and many of us are waiting to see how it can work in our hands to actually get in your heart that's too late today i'm challenging you make the give big what is god requiring of you and some of you
[00:54:11] need to stop grieving because of financial fear or a scarcity mindset that was passed down generationally anxiety from your past experiences stressed around bills and debt can't find a job comparison, shame, even trauma connected to money. What I'm telling you is you have to trust God.
[00:54:32] I always see this meme and it, and it always reminds me of the time that God was asking me to, to actually stop grieving over what I was giving him because he always had something better
[00:54:43] for me. Can you put that a little meme up that I know some of y'all have seen this somewhere, but it's like a picture of Jesus and he has a teddy bear behind his back. And then there's a
[00:54:52] little girl holding on. Y'all seen this before? Today I brought this up because I believe this is a prophetic picture of what God is asking you. Would you give me what I'm asking you for
[00:55:06] so I can already give you what I've already had in store for you? But this means you can't grieve or keep the grip. You got to let it go. Give it away. And that's why Deuteronomy 15, 10,
[00:55:25] it says you should surely give to him. This goes back to the story where God is saying, I don't want you to have a selfish or greedy heart. I want you to develop a generous heart.
[00:55:33] It says you should surely give to him and your heart, watch this, should not be grieved. What shouldn't be grieved? Your heart. He's talking about the condition of your heart because giving is all about the heart and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him because for this
[00:55:52] thing. Ah, the Lord, your God will bless you in all your works and into which he puts in your hand. What God is saying is like, if you would do what he tells you to do around giving,
[00:56:06] you cannot stop the flow of what God will bless you with to do it again.
[00:56:13] So many people teach give and you'll get, give and you'll get, give and you'll get.
[00:56:18] That actually works greed into your heart. Part of our culture code is we give just to give.
[00:56:25] and not to give. Now you cannot stop the principle that's at work. Watch this with the right motivation. So I want to say this and I'm going to say a statement, but I want you to know the
[00:56:39] statement is not finished. Okay. Stay with me real quick. God does not. Let me say it like this.
[00:56:47] God does not bless giving unless it's with the right heart. Did y'all hear me? Or you can say it this way. God blesses giving with the right heart. He doesn't just bless giving. He's like,
[00:57:06] if the motive is wrong, if the motive is to manipulate the system, if the motive is to give two and get 10, he said, you should just go to DraftKings and gamble. He said, but if the motive
[00:57:19] is to trust me, it's the motive is to actually have a heart like mine that will look at needs and sow and share. He said, ah, you got the right motivation. That's why on the little thing,
[00:57:32] it's a heart, but it says motive behind it because the motive has to be, this is my response to what I've already experienced for God. So love the world that he, how many people deserve to God's
[00:57:44] grace? How many people deserve the second chance? And you own your 19th life in Mario. Do y'all understand what I'm saying, but you're back again. God has given you another. You didn't deserve it though. My response is I got to continue to be more like him. We're almost done. I was thinking
[00:58:11] about it after service. I know my wife is going to want to go somewhere to eat. And I spent my last hundred. Um, I spent my last hundred this week on getting my kids gifts for their mama.
[00:58:22] And I was wondering, what's up, PC? You got this hundred for me? Whoa, PC, bro. Thank you, dog. Don't even worry about it. Now watch. She stood up and clapped. But the truth of the matter
[00:58:42] is PC is not grieving this hundred dollars. You know why? Because I gave it to him before I came on the platform. I told him in the sermon, I'm going to say I need a hundred dollars. Get up and
[00:58:58] give me this $100 back. He doesn't have to grieve what's not his. What I'm saying to you is if you think this is yours, you don't think you're a manager, you think you're an owner, then every
[00:59:17] time God asks you for something back, it's like, oh man, God, again? Y'all know what I'm talking about. Oh man, you act like your bills come every surprise month. It's like, oh, bills this month?
[00:59:30] it's the first and we do the same thing with god and god's saying if you would just return to me what i already gave you he said this goes from grieving to watch this this is the cure
[00:59:48] gratitude don't take get that to arlo or something all right here we go arlo that's yours i'm saying it publicly arlo that's your hundred dollars oh abby said it's mother's day here we go the cure
[01:00:09] for the condition of grief is gratitude. The only way that I'm not grieving is that I remember the good times. I remember, man, it's a blessing to even, it's a blessing to even have anything to be
[01:00:25] God. I remember I didn't, I took somebody to 1519 this past week and I got emotional because I, for the first year and a half of being the pastor of this church, while I was still
[01:00:38] learning generosity i did not have a car i used to walk to church to preach to people about being blessed what you want to talk about humility is when your church members are passing you asking
[01:00:53] you do you need a ride see people think oh he's flashy he's you don't know my story you have no clue what god has brought me through to develop the heart of generosity if you i give away so
[01:01:11] much more than i have the truth of the matter is listen to me what i'm saying is the process god said you're not generous yet and you bought a land rover you couldn't pay to get fixed
[01:01:23] so i'm not supernaturally blessing you i'm gonna let that car sit in your driveway broke because of your disobedience you should have had a honda accord sitting up here in a land rover discovery worked for six months so walk and believe me walk and don't be ashamed walk
[01:01:57] and know one day you'll give away cars walk and don't think that this is where i'm leaving you this is where i'm starting you so you never forget who your supplier is i'm telling you
[01:02:14] when i went back to 1519 and i was showing in the building i said this is the sidewalk I used to walk with my backpack come preach to people and tell them that Jesus loved them
[01:02:25] I said when I go up to that building that's almost 200,000 square feet and we own all the land even the land chick-fil-a sits on and we did I said I get overwhelmed Because it was God who changed my mind first
[01:02:43] By changing my heart and when my heart changed I stood up in front of our church and I rehearsed this story all the time We broke the seed of poverty over our church with an eight thousand three hundred dollar seed
[01:02:58] I stood up in a series like this and I said y'all we're gonna do something We probably have never done in our church before I said we're gonna all take an offering and this entire
[01:03:09] Offering is going to go to other churches in this community eight thousand three hundred dollars came in and we took all of that money and we gave some of the friendship and metropolitan and first back we just gave it away and God said I can trust you and the the amount
[01:03:29] of money it doesn't even matter the amount that we've been able to give away to other non-profits orphanages to widows to girls homes to help people do what God's placed in their heart and it wasn't alone it wasn't give it back when you get it because of the generosity of these
[01:03:51] people and people like you who have believed in this vision and honestly decided to live an abundant life it didn't just translate to the church it translated to their homes and all i'm trying to do is put out an invitation for everybody who's not yet subscribed to this level of heart
[01:04:08] posture this is your chance to be a part of god's plan for humanity to reflect him because god so love the world that he would you stand all over this building i have to address this please don't
[01:04:35] leave we're going in five minutes but there are some people in this room that the reason why this topic of generosity and finances hits you so hard is because there's another g word that's coming to
[01:04:49] attack your heart and it's guilt and i need to address this right now because the bible says there is for now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and maybe you've been on hard
[01:05:04] times and maybe you once were really adamant about being generous to God and the local church and others around you and maybe you stopped for some reason and maybe you just decided I can't let go
[01:05:16] of this grip and God's saying it's time to do it I come to rebuke guilt and shame off of you right now. Yes, the best time to plant a tree in a forest was 50 years ago, but the next best time
[01:05:30] today, right now. So if guilt has been on you, that's been trying to attack your heart. Let me give you the antidote or the cure for guilt grace today. Some of you just need to experience the
[01:05:50] grace of God. He's saying, I love you so much that I'm giving you another opportunity. I put pastor mike and that whole sheep up there sheep jacket this has been hot all day i just have to
[01:06:01] confess to you i've been sweating like whoa it look all right all right thank you because i'm hot but he put me up here today and this mary had a little lamb the lamb that was slain i got to get
[01:06:19] off this stage i'm feeling good i'm getting excited about my wife knowing i got her some gifts okay it's time for me to go. And what I'm saying to you is God interrupted everything to give you
[01:06:34] another opportunity to, Hey, I want your give to be big. I'm going to give you grace for another day for your give to be big. Hey, even on this mother's day, it would be probably for some of
[01:06:48] you, a big deal for you to stop by and say hi to your mom, give a video, give a call, write a letter. I know everything's not resolved. And I know you say, I can't be faking. I can't that
[01:07:05] at all. You don't know how much time you have with them. There are people going on to be with the Lord. What if God, what if it would be a big give for you to give a call? I'm just saying, what if
[01:07:29] the giving's not just about money? What if money's just a test of giving, but what if giving's God's big deal. Today, I'm asking you, if you've been having the wrong grip, if you've been actually
[01:07:45] being attacked in the area of greed, if you've been attacked in the area of guilt, if you've been attacked in any one of these areas today, I'm telling you the cure for it is give. And I'm going
[01:07:59] to impart and pray that a spirit of generosity would come over you, that your eyes would be open to see how can I be like Jesus in any situation and give. If you want to receive
[01:08:13] that, lift your hands all over this place. Father, in the name of Jesus, if you're watching online, this is for you. Father, I thank you that your word is eternal, everlasting, and strong.
[01:08:24] Today, I delivered your word, but God, I thank you that it's going into people's hearts because giving is all about the heart. Today, we want a heart like yours. We want a heart that sees a need and meets a need. We want a heart that is not greedy. We want a heart, Father God,
[01:08:39] that flows with abundance. We want a heart, Father, that goes against the generational patterns that we may have learned. Today, God, I thank you that you're interrupting bloodlines right now with revelation. Today, we're asking, start with us. Let us pass down generationally a spirit of
[01:09:00] generosity. If our children and our family know us for being a certain way, God, I thank you that you would do the work so deep on the inside of us that we would get relabeled, renamed in the
[01:09:11] people that are around us. Father, I thank you that you can do the transformation. Today, God, we are asking in the areas that people may not see, would you search our hearts and would you
[01:09:27] expose anything that may be offensive, creating us a clean heart and renewing us the right spirit.
[01:09:35] father change our motives because once we can give our world gets larger and larger so today god i impart the gift of faith around giving we will have the faith to trust you you are the supplier of every one of our needs if the birds don't worry about what they gonna eat
[01:10:01] and that the flowers are not going shopping for what they're gonna be dressed in how much more for each one of us, your children that you love today, make the give big in our life so that we never have to have a heart attack. We trust you. We believe you. And we thank you
[01:10:21] in Jesus name. Let's listen to me real quick. The place you need to let Jesus into is your, he's the only one that if you let him into your heart, he'll help you change your habits.
[01:10:37] so some of y'all were about to go at this and be like all right i got my points i know what to do i'm about to make this happen and god's like golly they they missed all of it all of it points back
[01:10:47] to me i want to be in relationship with you i don't want you to just see me once or twice a year or call me when you're in need i want to walk and talk with you i want to lead and guide you
[01:10:58] i don't want to just be savior i want to be lord but you got to let me into your heart and today some of y'all have been feeling the spirit whispering to you today's the day to come home
[01:11:08] today is the day of transformation i'll do it next week i gotta clean up god said you can't clean up what i'm made to clean up if that's you and you want to let jesus into your heart he already gave
[01:11:23] his son all you have to do is receive him so watch this he gave his son you give your life you get to practice giving right now he gives away you give up your way you get to practice
[01:11:40] giving right now. If that's you and you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and savior on the count of three, I want you to lift your hands and we're going to pray. You're saying,
[01:11:47] pastor, include me into that prayer. I want my name to be written in the lamb's book of life.
[01:11:51] I want to give control over to God. I want my eternity to be secure and I want my history to be healthy. This is what God gives us the ability. And pastor Mike, why are you so passionate about
[01:12:02] this? Cause it's the thing that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, addicted to pornography, bad things in my heart stuff that nobody could see that was around me but i knew was in there
[01:12:13] and god said i'm not gonna make you perfect but i'll make you progressive and today that's somebody's future and if that's you man woman boy or girl i don't care how old how long you've been
[01:12:24] around church you know god needs your heart today is your day one you're making the greatest decision of your life two your name is gonna be written in the lamb's book of life i'm proud of you but
[01:12:33] more than that, heaven is about to rejoice. If you want to receive Jesus three, shoot your hand up in the air in the room. I see you. I see you. I see you, my brother. Transformation Church, I see you,
[01:12:43] my sister. More than that, God sees you. Come on, TC. Let's give God praise. Hey, listen, as the altar workers come right now, as a family, we're going to pray. Nobody at TC prays alone.
[01:12:59] We're a family, and we've all been there. Can we say this prayer together? Say, God, thank you for sending Jesus just for me today. I give you my heart. I admit I've sinned. I repent
[01:13:16] and I turn to you. Here's my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I'm yours forever in jesus name amen hey can we celebrate with every person on tc all of heaven is rejoicing right now hey listen if you just said that prayer in the room or watching online i want you to text
[01:13:48] saved to 828282 or click the qr code we want to send you some information we got some videos me and the team have made to let you know what your next steps are and how to go on this journey
[01:13:59] and I'm telling you get in a good bible-based church TC will always be here for you if you're in the city or anywhere around come to church man this is not just mother's day this is every Sunday
[01:14:09] and we want to love on you and help you grow and for every person that's in this room that's dealing with something maybe grief maybe greed maybe something's going on and you need prayer God gives us the technology of prayer that transforms our life I'm telling you from all
[01:14:24] over this room as the worship team sings i want you to come get prayer and if you're online stay and worship us with us for a minute i'm gonna come in the back go ahead and type your prayer
[01:14:33] requests up there the team is gonna feed them to me i'm gonna pray for you but today i believe god's gonna do something to change our hearts amen father bless this church give them hearts
[01:14:44] that are big enough to receive all the blessing that you're giving them and today god alter us right here at this altar. Have your way in Jesus name. We agree. Somebody say we agree. We expect.
[01:14:59] Amen. Go out and live a transformed life. Hallelujah. I want the give to be big in your life because the world of the generous gets larger and larger. And that's the type of abundant life you
[01:15:14] are supposed to live. So I'm asking you, is there any place that there's been a blockage? Is there any place where greed or grief or any of the things guilt has tried to stop your heart from
[01:15:26] flowing in generosity. If it is, I'm telling you, God wants to heal and watch this make you whole.
[01:15:34] This message may be one you want to go back and listen to again. This one will interrupt the bloodline cycles. This one will change the way you approach how you hold the grip of things that God
[01:15:46] blesses you with. And I'm telling you, if you let this go down into your heart, it will change. Watch generational patterns that are in your life. I'm praying that your life gets big, that you live an
[01:15:56] abundant life, that you prosper in all things because you have permission to prosper. I'm going to ask you to do two things. Number one, if this message has blessed you in any way, I want you
[01:16:06] to share it with somebody. Transformation starts with an invitation. And there may be somebody in a season right now that needs this word. And you can send it to them. You can text it to them. You
[01:16:16] could drop it on the family group chat. I'm telling you, this is ministry. The second thing is if you've ever been blessed by this ministry, I want you to pray about giving. Yes, like actually
[01:16:26] financially supporting this work to go out to more people. When you do this, it's a bunch of us doing our part so that God can do the amazing thing of transformation. And I'm not telling you
[01:16:38] an amount. There is nothing that you're going to get back from me. I want you to listen to what God says, and then just obey him. And if you do that, I promise you, we're going to see more
[01:16:46] transformation in people's lives all over the world. Well, next week, we are back again, and it's going to be week four. And I'm telling you, you don't want to miss this one. I already know
[01:16:55] what I'm preaching, and it's going to help you transform you and change your life. I'll see you next week. Go out and live a transformed life.