Today was an extra special day as we celebrated 22 years as a ministry and 6 years as Pastor Michael Todd and Pastor Natalie Todd as Lead Pastors. We learned about the dynamic of the deep and how God is always moving regardless of what we see. We need to be Anchored In obedience and fully trust God and obey what He says. The declaration you are looking for is in the DEEP! Check out this week’s message and share it with a friend!
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oh come on transformation church let’s give god some praise oh come on today you’ve been waiting all week for this i dare you to lift your voice in your home in your house and give god a shout of praise hallelujah see some of y’all praising him right now because you made it to this week but we’re praising him around transformation church for 22 years of faithfulness six years of me and that being the pastors and more than that the god who has anchored us before is the god who anchors us now and the god who will anchor us in the future somebody say i’m anchored and i just want to take a moment and just say thank you thank you for being a church who has been in crazy faith following me for the past six years i know some of y’all just started on this journey with us this year or last year but we have been believing god in crazy faith for the past six years and 22 years before that when bishop heard from god to start this church and today as thousands of people celebrate with us we just want to give god all the glory honor and praise and the reason that i’m saying this and somebody always says like why do y’all celebrate so much and why do you always makes a big deal about something it goes back to something that’s in the word that the children of israel anytime god would do a miracle they would they would set up memorials they would do something to remember what god has done there and the reason they did this the reason i bring my children up the reason they’re sitting here is because the thing would be that years go by and people get amnesia of god’s goodness because some of y’all are sitting there in doubt and frustration right now and all you really need to do is think about about how god brought you through in a different season and it would bring gratitude and joy out of you right now but he told the children of israel when you pass this with your children your children are going to ask what what is that dad why did y’all do this what is this picture from what is this instagram post and they would use rocks because that’s how they made their memorials and it was an opportunity to rehearse god’s goodness the only reason we celebrate anniversaries is because it’s an opportunity to celebrate god’s goodness and some of y’all need to decide today is the anniversary for you today there’s nothing special that makes it an anniversary except somebody decided uh-oh and i remember when bishop decided and i remember when i decided and today you may need to decide today is the last day that i’m gonna sit in doubt and you can work down that today’s my anniversary today is the last day that i’m gonna be stricken by poverty and somebody said it’s my anniversary somebody needs to decide that today is the last day that i stand with fear in my heart but i’m gonna walk in freedom somebody say it’s my anniversary i’m telling you all right stop don’t push me don’t push me don’t push me don’t push me what i’m saying to somebody right now is that the reason we’re celebrating because this is the anniversary of god’s faithfulness to this church and anything you’ve ever seen or liked or loved about transformation church it didn’t start here it started with somebody making a decision to stay faithful when everybody left to stay faithful when nobody was clear cheering and clapping and today i am grateful that we are here and more than that we are here i’m grateful that you are here the bible told tells us so clearly in esther chapter four the reason why we named this thing what a time to be alive is because esther was in a situation where she had the opportunity to save an entire people group and somebody told her he said hey the reason you hear perhaps perhaps maybe the reason you’re alive right now in 2021 it’s for such a time as this and when i look at how the church is shut down and how god has done all of these things and how he’s exploded our ministry in the middle of a pandemic all i could think is maybe god made this church for such a time as this somebody say for such a time as this so my response to god knowing even with all the hardships and all the frustration and everything that’s going on that we were born for this time right now i decided to take a stance of joy and faith no matter what comes my response is what a time to be alive like i’m not coming to this oh god what are you going to do i was born for such a time as this so what a time to be alive somebody needs to say this over yourself because it’s a faith statement no matter how dark it is you were born for such a time as this with the brokenness with the hurt with nobody seeing you you were born i’m prophetically speaking to somebody right now you were born for such a time as this so what will be your response what a time to be alive i’m alive in the season god called me to make a difference i’m a lie i don’t have it all it doesn’t matter i’m alive in the moment that god chose me to be an answer god only births answers you’re supposed to be an answer to something and that means there has to be a question and the world is asking a lot of questions and so god sent you there are people that have questions and so god sent an answer and the answer is you so i’m encouraging you just somebody say i’m an answer no i’ll say it like you meet it i’m an answer say my family’s an answer you don’t even believe it say my family’s an answer maybe you were born for such a time as this the rest of this week the rest of this month the rest of this year don’t wonder if you have purpose declare i was born for such a time as this it might not be clear to me fully what i was born to do i didn’t know i would be doing this anybody that thinks when they ask the little kids in kindergarten what do you want to be when you grow up i didn’t say a pastor [Music] but god knew that laced in my dna he made me for such a time as all i’m trying to do is encourage you because somebody came to this and you’re like oh they’re celebrating and they’re all the sudden we’re gonna be celebrating you very soon because somebody’s gonna step into their prophetic calling today oh y’all don’t hear me somebody some church some pastor some wife some husband is gonna step up and say you know what i’m done wishing that i could be something else i’m done thinking about what could have happened i was born for such a time as this so what a time to be alive today i’m grateful because i know i was born for this moment in my frustration in my not knowing in everything that’s happened i was born for this moment as an example to let you know you were born for this moment thank you transformation church we’re just getting started that’s scary that’s scary to say but it’s been six years and we’re just getting started stick with me for the next 10. and let’s see if we can’t turn the whole world upside down if you whip me in crazy faith can we give god one more big shout of praise oh y’all better help me right now glory to god all right so so i’m going to do this some of you guys know that god has really um um blessed this church to do things that are outside of the box the vision of this church is to represent god to the lost and found for transformation in christ today we’re going to take some trips down memory lane i’ve got a word to preach to you and we’re going to do this whole thing you’re gonna be anchored and encouraged but one of those things that i get to share transparently with you is the process that we’ve been through i remember going to our um finance director the first year i became the lead pastor of the church and i said i got this great idea this vision from god we’re going to start a lifestyle brand not church merch we’re going to start a lifestyle brand and everybody’s going to be wearing these things i say represent on it and they looked at me and they said we don’t have the money for that god bless you we can’t do that right now and i was like fine and so what i did is god said are you gonna let the no stop you from building what i called you to build i said no so i took my own money and i started printing represent on the back of every jacket that i had and i would go to all these churches and i would preach and i had represent on my jacket and people was like hey that’s cool where is that from and for six years i have gone everywhere and i’ve put the vision of this church on my chest and i put represent on the back of my jackets and shirts and today’s a huge day for us because we’re at the point now where we have the infrastructure and the team to launch this to the entire world and so i want you to know that at two o’clock today the blackout collection is going to be officially available to everybody y’all been asking for it don’t do me like that y’all been asking for it but more than clothing this is a calling and god wants a bunch of walking billboards to be in your area of influence i’m believing that prophetically that these pieces of clothing are going to spark up conversations that people will be saved by this that people will recognize and they’ll be in the club coming out the club and see somebody walking by with a represent shirt on and it’ll convict them and remind them of what god said to them in a different season and bring them back to repent i’m just praying that miracles will happen because it’s not clothing it’s a calling i want you to see the full visual trailer of what god has called me and you to do to be the light in the midst of darkness check this out [Music] [Music] darkness the total absence of light a lack of illumination the human eye is unable to distinguish anything in this condition darkness [Music] wickedness [Music] evil the depths of the heart that causes deception when the world is stuck in the same pattern it’s easy to conform darkness has become the new norm [Music] lost at sea swallowed up by the stone [Music] will you continue to ignore what god has called you to transform you are called to be the light [Music] he will give you strength when you feel weak and vision when your sight is obscured will you step up and be the light in darkness this is not clothing this is a calling represent glory to god so that will be available today at 2 p.m and we gonna represent all over the world is anybody ready for the word all right today i want you to get out your smartphones your dumb phones your notepads i need you to get out everything cause today god is giving me a specific word i was working on a message the entire week and last night god switched it up and this morning he refined it and i am ready to preach to you because we are in week five of a series we’re calling help me anchor somebody say it one more time we’re gonna be hey that is the word for this year how many people been seeing anchors different places how many people have been seeing it it’s been everywhere because i believe that god is sending confirmation to you that this year he wants us to be tied to something that will not be able to move in the midst of the storm and i’m telling you so clearly god is continuing to i’m literally just continuing to reveal himself with revelation through the series and so i’m grateful for everybody who is here today if this is your first time watching if somebody told you that you had to watch to date them that’s a good person you need to probably line your life up and marry him but but whatever the reason that you’re here it is a divine appointment god has been working in your life to make this moment happen and today through transparency and god’s word what we’re going to try to do is present to you a better way of living so that you can be able to be everything that god intended for you to be and i don’t know who i’m talking to right now but somebody is at the end of their rope and they’re sick and tired of what has been going on and you’re sick and tired of staying in the same place and today what god is saying and he’s been saying to us for the past four weeks is that he wants to be your anchor he wants to be the thing that you tie your life to he wants to be the thing that is stable not money not success not even your relationship his name is jesus and he’s the rock of ages he is the one that can take your past and he can use it for your future if you would give it to him and allow him to be your anchor and so today i want us to to to be able to take a little further journey because last week we decided that we were going to be in the deep and we told everybody you know what the shallow is not safer we are going to go to the place that god has called us to and whatever that means because we won’t have control that’s how i’m standing here right now do y’all think that i planned this do you think that i knew what god was going to do with my life no at six years ago i decided to push off the shore and go to the deep and in the deep god does things that only can be described as miracles so today i want to walk with you with the disciples in luke chapter 5 verse 3. i want you to get that in your bible oh this about to be good and this is jesus it says jesus stepping into one of the boats jesus asked simon its owner to push it out into the water so he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there verse four when he had finished speaking the day is over he said to simon like he’s saying to me and you now go out where it’s deeper so so it’s not enough for me just to have jesus around me i need to go out where it say it one more time deeper and then he gives them a different instruction he says and let down your nets to catch some fish now i need to give you context to what we’re talking about right now these are professional fishermen these are people who catch fish all the time these are people that according to society and culture would have some level of success okay and they are in a space watch this where god is asking them to deny what they know to follow his instructions if you’re going to go to the deep what you know doesn’t matter as much because some of you are in a place where you think that your education and your pedigree and the family you came from and the college you i went to an hbcu or i went to a a a ivy league school or i went to a christian car it don’t matter there is a level in the deep where whatever you know don’t matter because so many of us are trying to allow our qualifications to be able to anchor us but your qualifications i don’t care how much money you have in the bank you can’t heal cancer [Music] i don’t care how many people have your cell phone number there are certain doors that only god can unlock [Applause] and so many of us have been trying to position ourselves when god is saying hold on you need me to be with you in the deep he’s asking professionals to go and do something they know how to do has god ever asked you to do something that you thought you could do without him [Music] i’m just trying to help you because many of us are about to walk into another space where you need to be able to position yourself mentally and emotionally to be out of control i’m not saying doing wild things i’m saying you’re not the one that’s going to be making the decisions and the reason why god wants us to go to the deep right down this point god does the dynamic in the deep there are dynamic miracles he wants to do that he cannot do with you at the low level of christianity that you’re at right now there are dynamic things that god wants to do in your marriage but you still have pride he says you need to launch out deeper into humility oh you thought this was something that wasn’t practical what god is asking you to do is become more like him to be not like culture but be more like christ so when they mess you over god’s saying come out in the deep bless them anyway [Applause] all i’m challenging you right now is that god wants you to come to the deep because there’s dynamic things do you know why the church seems so powerless right now is because we’ve stopped doing the dynamic things in the house of god we’ve stopped maximizing the things the signs the miracles the wonders prophecy i really feel this i got to say this i feel like the spirit of prophecy is coming back so strong to this church and i don’t know how else to describe it and i know some of y’all like prophecy what is he talking about is this psychic no no no this is divine inspiration and intelligence from god to be able to speak things into the future for encouragement to let you know god’s ready to do some dynamic things and he’s so good that if we would be open to being in the deep that he would send somebody to tell us what’s going to happen before it happens he will send you places and things and voice notes and people in his word to give you a foreshadowing i’m talking about the dynamics they don’t want to hear about this travis they want to hear about the cool they want to hear about the cool don’t get nobody saved it’s miracles it’s the signs it’s the wonder it’s your marriage being on the brink of divorce but god’s stepping into that thing and allowing you to experience a miracle god wants to do the dynamic but the dynamic only happens in the d can i be transparent with him there is this tension because people and culture can accept my message to start pandering to people and culture from this platform i’m gonna say something that most people won’t like i will never do what’s politically correct from this platform i will only do what is biblically correct from this platform so if you don’t like it when i say something about the silhouette challenge and being modest and all that other stuff click it off but as for me and my house i’m so sorry i’m so sorry that you want me to be politically correct but i will be biblically correct because i will not stand with you and instagram followers before god they missed it it will be me and jesus and he say what did you do with the influence i gave you and i’m telling you i want the dynamic in my life i want to be able to speak to stuff that’s dying and it comes back to life i want to be able to tell situations that are trying to wither away to stand up and live i want to be able to talk to your marriage i want to be able to write it in book form i want to be able to put it to music i want the dynamic but the only thing that happens with dynamic is it has to happen in the yeah somebody say signs say miracles wonders this is what’s going to get the world safe the millennial generation’s like how do i instagram that this is the stuff you don’t have to say nothing about i just feel another sense of authority at this current moment to just speak to this generation we will not be powerless [Applause] on this six year anniversary i’m declaring to you right now we’re about to step into the deep and we’re going to see god do things that nobody thought was possible and i’m i’m i’m calling this is a clarion call for a generation of people that don’t want to just sit around and have bible studies and then go out and watch pornography and live the same i’m talking to the people that want to say yeah i dealt with it and yeah it had a control over me but the power of the holy spirit came over my life and i went to the deep and something changed on the inside of me and i became something that was different and now i have the ability to reach back in grace to reach back with mercy and bring other people i want the dynamic and it only is found in the d [Music] can i prove it to him charles when i talk about prophecy so many people were impacted by what happened last week when we had the water on the stage and all this different stuff that god did and i was so grateful to be able to do that but do you know what i found out last night when the holy spirit would not get up off of me he said michael there was a woman who came last year and she prophesied to you and i was like okay god he said find that prophecy i’m literally 10 o’clock last night i called my mama is this the truth mama it’s the truth i called her and i said mama do you remember the lady who came and prophesied i don’t remember what she said but god ain’t got up off me that i need to find this prophecy i found that prophecy at 10 30 last night oh i love god and and and he said i want you to listen to it me and natalie are laying in bed and she says this one line that made my wife that’s pregnant sit up and she said are you serious and i want you to hear what happened last week god spoke a year ago in exact form because he wanted me to know that what he’s doing in my life and in this church and in your life is going to be dynamic if you’ve never thought prophecy was real i want you to take a listen to this and see that god wants to do the dynamic in the deep phase after that it says music can never leave you it is just in you it’s piped in you as much as you preach and you keep hearing these songs you keep hearing this song and it’s getting ready to be a whole production where you actually literally can see yourself preaching and you’ve already produced every single thing the sound the clouds the stuff that’s going in it’s like it’s gone be too okay the closest i could see it is that you ever went to vegas okay and when you go to vegas i don’t know if you ever seen that when they did the the that show that uh oh when they transform the stage to water it’s something yeah circus soleil and they change the stage to water to dry that’s the kind of stuff that you’re wired for and it’s gonna be such a major production oh y’all don’t even wanna y’all don’t even wanna see a year ago almost to the date god sent a dynamic person that was in the deep to speak to me and say i’m taking you deeper i never thought what happened last week would ever happen but she said even down to the clouds and the water and it’s like a big production we didn’t even have this a year ago but god sent a word to let me know that he was thinking about the dynamic while i was still in the shallow and i don’t know i feel this thing right now i don’t know who’s been okay being in the shallow but god has dynamic on his mind and the dynamic only happens in the d nature even tells us this there are certain creatures that you will never see until you go to the deep we want fish that we can put in a tank but this is what god wants some of our 2021 to look like put that picture on the screen for me is the type of dynamic creation that god has lying under the surface for you what if that was your business what if that was your family’s generational wealth what if you were raised in a certain life but what if god called you to go to the deep to present something that’s never been seen before i want you to look at this darker picture right here that’s a boat and that’s the tail of a whale i want you to see that the dynamic god wants to do in your life means that you got to make a decision to go to the deep the only reason we’re sitting here as a church it’s cause i decided i’m gonna just go to the deep come on well black person’s never done that before i just gotta believe that what he said to me that we’d be a multi-ethnic multiplying multi-generational multi-campus church like i guess i’ll just i’m just going to say it and i’m just going to launch out here in the deep i guess i guess everybody won’t uh go with me but i guess i guess we’ll go i’m trying to use my life as we celebrate this anniversary as a marker that there is no qualification that separates me from you many pastors want you to feel that they’re better than you but i need you to know i am not better than you i am at the same level as you on every aspect i still gotta love my wife i still have to watch out for temptation i still have to pray to have a relationship not to study to be able to have a relationship with god i still get mad and i still want to slap people who cut me off let’s be honest the only difference is that i decided that i’m just going to live in the deep so if god calls the church to 21 days of prayer and fasting and then he whispers to me 45 days but i chose to live in the deep when everybody in my family doesn’t want to get together and reconcile but god says you go apologize first and then i say to god it wasn’t my fault and he said but you’re my servant [Music] i’ve decided to live in the and can i give you another point i want you to write this down because some of you think that god’s trying to toy with you or play with you or just make like oh look at them they’re down there struggling no baby everything that god does is with a design from the very creation of the sun and the moon that comes up like clockwork on different sides of the earth and how the orbit is now in place from one word that he spoke god is a master craftsman and a builder and what i want you to know is the deep situation god has you in the deep situation you even got yourself in if you would give him control and let him be your anchor the deep has a design there is never one time that god calls you to the deep that he’s not designing something so special the deep has everybody say design there is certain things that will not come out of you without the deep and there are certain things that god can’t do in you until you don’t have control no more do you know how daunting it was to step in for bishop gary mcintosh did y’all see bishop he white he’s conservative in his communication he’s powerful he makes wise decision calculated decision he does all his of stuff and then he handed to me and at the time i felt that i had to be like him if you watch any of my old footage i had on suits every sunday pink yellow blue green i had every kind of suit you could imagine because for some reason i thought if i was gonna be deep i had to be in his design see what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to do the deep thing the way god designed somebody else to do it you’re trying to fit into the mold that this church did it or that company did it or that brand did it or that creative did it and god says my deep has a design for you i didn’t come into who i was until i fully stepped in to the deep waters god called me to and he said i designed the deep to get something in and out of you i think i got to give him the progression because a lot of y’all want to go to the deep but you think you’re deep but you’re not there yet and i’m i’m drawing a parallel off of what god did with the disciples because it is it is our ultimate goal to be disciples of jesus christ so let me help you understand the progression of going into the deep this is going to help somebody real quick first when it comes to your relationship with god you will be distant you will be distant first and many of you are acting like you actually are close to god but you really are distant and god is fine with you being distant as long as you listen cause he will draw you in close and some people that are watching me right now you you did some crazy stuff this weekend like the truth of the matter is you don’t even know how you up right now watching this after the beds you snuck out of last night and it’s okay you’re distant i don’t expect people who do not know god to act like they know god and christians y’all should really be more um aware like why are you expecting these people to do what the bible says to do it’s all good and the truth is i was there too i was just worse because i was a lukewarm christian and i claimed to actually be in relationship with god and i was still distance check yourself but the progression is distance but then like he asked simon peter can i step into your boat all he asked him is maybe your distance but now can we move and go to another progression can i dwell in your boat see that’s the progression that is supposed to i’m supposed to go from distance and then jesus asked me that’s why salvation is not a forced thing it is something that he asked you do you want this the same way that he asked simon peter he says can i get on your boat simon could have said no what you talking about bro it’s my boat i’m fishing this boat but something in him said yeah come on to my boat the same way that god is calling and asking you can i get on your boat can i dwell here and after he dwells there and he finishes teaching all of the people that are around this is the thing about god i’m gonna give you a secret come here let me help you god doesn’t dwell in silence when god gets in your life he wants to direct watch it these people were distant then they let jesus onto the boat so he could dwell then his automatic thing after he finished teaching look at the scriptures it says hey why don’t we go why don’t we go a little deeper god will never leave you in the same place he found you he always wants to direct you and guess where he wants to direct you to the deep it goes from distance to dwelling to directing you and some of you i feel this so strong god has been directing you this whole year stop doing that start doing that give a little more shut up [Music] oh did you know that your opinion can keep you from obedience did you know that because you get so much self um um love from telling everybody what you think and it’s just your opinion and god your prophetic word for you coming from pastor mike shut up because this is the time he wants to develop in something from you there’ll be a time that he’ll ask for something from you but right now he wants to develop it in you and that’s why god says yeah you were distant but now i want to dwell and i want to direct you and i’m always going to direct you into the deep and when he directs you into the deep these disciples go to the deep i’m just trying to give you a progression and then something happens he gives them a decision and this is where i want to camp out today because i’ve gone through every one of these phases and some of you are right here i want you to identify where are you right now are you distant from god has god stepped onto your boat does he dwell but are you still in control and he can’t direct yet i just need you to ask cause some of y’all are sitting here go ahead pass the mic but god has told you to go ahead and you still right there has he been able to direct you and the truth is god only directs to the deep and now you have a decision that’s what that’s what happened here y’all didn’t see it he literally tells them that they’re going to have to decide to do something they’ve already done remember they’re fishermen jesus tells them to go out deeper and then he tells them to cast their nets on the other side can i help you real quick because you need to know this the decision is going to lead to you being a disciple but this is where people mess up right here you have to make the decision every day to obey god let me say it like this every decision in the deep has to be anchored in obedience it has to be anchored in obedience and i know this sucks for everybody because some of you about to tune off right now because you want the water and the lights but god wants you to obey and i came to tell you that the success people think i have came from always obeying what god said i’m standing here right now and i can just think of time after time that god asked me to do something that was not sexy that was not fun that i did not want to do and i had made a decision before i even came to that decision that i’m anchored in obedience i need you to understand how powerful this decision is that you would be anchored in obedience let me give you just a few instances where i was anchored in obedience there was a music um um company that came to me that asked me to produce for one year this is my passion this is what i was professional at like these disciples this is what i knew that i was called to do and they said we’ll pay you a hundred thousand dollars i was 23 years old i’ll pay you a hundred thousand dollars to come produce for one year one year a hundred thousand dollars when that’s all in my cupboard it’s raining noodles chicken and beef mcdoubles and mcchickens are y’all gonna act like y’all there was a few years of my life that a mcdouble a mcchicken and a fry sustain me you sustain and if somebody offers me 100k that for most of you would have not even been a thought and i prayed and god said you got a decision to make this was his ultimatum to me watch this i’m trying to give you practical i want the word to come alive he said you’ll go listen and you’ll be successful but i’ll take my hand off of what you’re doing most of us would take success over his hand the only reason that i’m able to impact anybody because i’ve stayed obedient to make sure i had his hand his approval his anointing my question to you is what are you doing without his hand it’s prospering it’s successful it looks good on the gram i’m out here in the deep no you’re out there by yourself [Music] and god is saying i need you to choose to obey be anchored in obedience the hardest thing now is now that we have some level of success and impact it doesn’t get easier to obey you think once you get it the building’s here the people are here the cameras are here and now when the super bowl calls we heard that you had the new song revelation relationship goals we want you to come perform this on the gospel super bowl situation my answer to my assistant immediately was yes [Applause] what are we talking about we get to perform this song that i made in my bedroom on the bet gospel celebration with the super bowl and design watson and then what yes and the holy spirit said you didn’t even ask me oh you thought cause it was a bigger platform that you didn’t have to go through me as your filter and i prayed about it and i text them back i said no can’t do it they called back four times with better offers we’ll fly this guy here we’ll do the production this and will that time will dot oh my god i mean is it okay if we at least no why no come i want to let you know in the deep god doesn’t have to give reasons he sees something you don’t see he knows something you don’t know and it didn’t mean it was bad it just wasn’t for me at the time no i was anchored to obedience they came back at the last minute and said well would you just pray and start the thing off i said god he said yes you can pray [Music] lord bless all the people that’s about to it’s about to kill it on the performance lord and lord bless them amen so last night i was on bet and i started the super bowl gospel thing and i prayed but today i stand here in obedience like like like y’all would have celebrated and posted if we were to perform last night and god would have been sitting with his arms crossed and now nobody’s posting about the prayer but god is standing from heaven saying that oh i dare somebody to really understand that the applause from god is better than anybody’s applause in the world and what god is saying is can i find some people who are anchored in obedience and i know this is messing with somebody’s insides are you really trying to figure out how to get out of this message but what i want to tell you today is everything that god has done to impact the world was anchored in obedience [Applause] and today i’m encouraging you like the disciples put yourself in the disciples mind right here master verse five simon replied yeah i know what you’re saying go out in the deep and put the nets down but just wanna um i just wanna god you’re so gracious just want to let you know what happened last night just want to let you know what happened last time just want to let you know what happened last year just want to let you know what happened in my childhood god i know what you’re telling me to do in the deep but i just want to let you know how damaged i was i just want to let you know about the trauma that happened [Music] master we worked hard all last night and nothing came from the last season [Applause] see there will be some times when you’re out here in the deep where god will ask you to do something you just did and when he asked you to do something you just did we have a decision to make remember what i said we have a decision to make will we be anchored in obedience or will we bring forth our complaints to the place where it makes us complacent see god has no problem with hearing it he still wants you to move i have daughters right now you can be talking while you’re doing what i’m saying to do you could be telling daddy why do i have baby that’s fine but make sure you pick it up and god’s saying that many of us are trying to get our complaint out to the point that it becomes an excuse see when you start complaining enough you think that you’re validated on how you feel and you think that now that that gives you a reason not to do what god said to do but i’m coming to shake somebody out of your complacency right now that god has asked you to do something in the deep and you’re telling him what the last season produced and he’s telling you to obey somebody’s pulling on me right now cause you’ve been saying well the last church i worked at they didn’t see my value [Music] the last marriage produced no fruit and simon said we worked hard all last night we didn’t catch a thing but something rose up on the inside of him as a declaration somebody say a declaration a declaration is something that you say with confidence no matter what the situation is saying to you and i have said this exam exact sentence over and over for six years as i have pioneered and tried to do things that people told me wasn’t possible and when we were going to buy the building and when we were going to i’ve even said it when god told me to go into the doctor’s office and declare to the physicians that are telling me my son won’t talk and i’m saying he’s gonna talk and i’m gonna bring him back to this place so you can see the miracle and i thought like this thing came out of me and i want to give you a declaration for everybody in the deep this ain’t for everybody but some of y’all are making a decision that you’re gonna go to a deep and i’m gonna give you a cree a decree or a declaration something that you can anchor yourself on that simon gives us right here look master we worked all night didn’t catch a thing but if you say so but if you say so that is a declaration that is drenched in faith [Music] i did it last night but if you’re telling me to do it today if you say so i’m not going to let what happened in another season i feel this thing keep me from obeying you in this season i went to counseling before but go again if you say so i gave him the crazy faith offer last time and nothing happened but you said give on a random march date that everybody else not giving if you say so [Applause] i want to give you a declaration for the deep if you say so write it down my declaration in the deep is if you say so that is the language of the people who live in the deep the stuff that god is showing me for the next six years i can’t even quantum quantify it i can’t even i can’t even start to say some of it out of my mouth because y’all gonna think i’m crazy but what we’re experiencing right now is crazy if i would have said it six years ago so now my faith is not built in you and my faith is not built in finances and my faith is not built in anything my faith is built into anchor and his name is jesus and so when he tells me something now my response is if you say so that should bring joy to somebody right now because there’s some things that god has said about your family that your hell family would be saved and you just bailed pookie out of jail but if god says your family is going to be safe you better jump in there with some faith and say if you say so he said you were going to own multiple houses and be able to bless other people with them and you look at your credit right now you better agree with god and say if you say god said that we would be able to impact the world with the gospel and i would still be able to be home and be a loving father and a loving husband and god how do we do that you got to travel you got to do this uh no no no no no i’m not consulting other seasons i’m declaring by faith if you say so and i don’t know what’s been in your life that you’ve been camping out on declaring what happened last night the disciples said we didn’t catch anything last night it was a night of nothing and some of you have felt like i’ve just been in a night of nothing where’s my relation where’s my wife where’s my husband where’s where’s the resources where’s the connections where’s the friend group where’s the healing where where where is my team god you i see everybody else have a team but where is my where are the people that are supposed to be aaron and hers for me like where are the god i’ve been this i’ve sowed the seed you said if i would sow it then i would reap it but it’s been a night of nothing and then you say serve again cast my nets on the other side do do it again i can imagine hand me the net i can i can imagine what those disciples must have felt like when they’re sitting there undoing the same utensils they used the night before the same prayer spot you prayed before [Applause] the same office you worked in last week the same kids that you spoke over and you still had to do something and this was the biggest faith act that they could ever make the same way that some of you god is going to tell you hey um forgive him again and the declaration is going to raise up on the inside of you if you say so and i don’t know who i’m talking to right now but some of you are about to give up because god has not given you new scenery yet i want you to understand this miracle takes place in the very same spot that they caught nothing [Music] i don’t know if you understand that god everybody thought my season’s changing no maybe it’s not but the outcome can change like what if god does not remove you from the job but he tells you what to do and your declaration is if you say so and he takes you from being not a valued member of the team to running the whole thing god’s saying i may not change your season but i’ll sure change your situation i need you to hear what i’m saying because there’s so many people that are in a season of disappointment do y’all remember that the whole reason i believe jesus wanted you have to read the whole context of the story but the whole reason jesus wanted to use these men is because of what they were doing do y’all remember what they were doing somebody i don’t even remember because you never read this part of the bible but i’m encouraging you to go back and read this part of the bible because the bible is the one book that if you read it it starts reading you and this part messed me up it literally said jesus was preaching and he saw them preparing their nets so i need you you may not get it in chronological order but they were out all night didn’t catch anything came back to the shore and instead of complaining they didn’t catch nothing they were preparing because something in them said if it was a night of nothing something else is going to happen today and jesus sees them the bible says mending their nets fixing their nets fixing their nets in crazy faith because many of us when we get disappointed we quit we stop do you know how many times people walked up to me and said god’s using you but me and my family are leaving what how many people told me you should be open your building should be open we’re going to the church up the street because you’re not a man of god what if i let the disappointment keep me from mending the nets and working on my character and making sure that whoever is here i’m pouring into them and just making sure like let me just make sure that if there is anything that’s broken or tattered in me that god i’ll still be the one that’s usable and and jesus then walks onto their boats tells them to take their prepared nets oh jesus didn’t supply the nets that means if you’re not preparing something you won’t have anything for god to use when it’s time for the miracle the only reason that i’m standing here is because i worked on my communication skills the only reason that i’m standing here is because i learned how to design god was able to take my nets that i had already been preparing decades of working on music productions and today we sang two songs that were written from this house sustain and i will those songs were written out of this house because i wasn’t waiting on god to do something i was preparing my nets some of y’all are crying to be in the deep with no net [Applause] and so god says all right i want to do a miracle what do you have to use [Music] he can’t use opinions you’ve been cultivating your opinion for years he can’t use that have you been working on your administration skills have you been working on your singing ability have you been writing have you been caring for people have you been hosting people in your home you need a mansion to host the people that god’s going to bring to you but you won’t hold one in your apartment clean it up enough to be able to know how to do what you’re doing right now you want a sprinter van to take people to church but you got a honda civic right now clean that mug up use the neck that you have mean what you have right now so the miracle can happen [Applause] i know it’s disappointing i know i’ve been there the first year of me pastoring i lost my entire staff except one person and two part-time people is tammy in the building tammy’s sitting right tammy was the only person that worked for this ministry that god saw five years later would be this but he took me through the dark season at one year everybody gone graphic designer you’re looking at him band director right here marketing director pastor yep literally in that season i did everything and i would walk into the office on monday after preaching and just trying to figure out did anybody get anything and god are you using me at all and this sucks and i just oh i’m just done i don’t why it’s dark how you gonna give me this big vision and i can’t see none of it and i walk into the back offices with this if you say so attitude but you told me we’d be multi-ethnic multi-generational multiplying multicam you said it so if you say so hey team hey team jan sally bobby how are you kids and tammy would be the only person in the office dying laughing am i telling the truth tammy that i am i’d be like oh da’quann what’s up bro i see you dog those are some fly shoes on completely dark but i had a if you say so mentality and slowly but surely i don’t even know everybody on our staff today like i be walking to my office and people like hey pastor i’ll be like who is that not because i did something special it’s because i kept preparing my nets and i don’t know who this is for but somebody you threw your net aside and god said i’m gonna need that i’m gonna need that like i know you don’t see it now but i’m gonna need that write this down the disappointment in the darkness is always for development what god was teaching me in that dark season in the deep is that i was called to ministry besides anybody else that’s what he was specifically teaching me he was developing in me do you know it prepared me for this season do you know how hard it is to preach to know people but i was prepared in this season to preach to know people because i had been leading no people in the first year no i’m dead serious i would give leadership talks and have things prepared and powerpoints just for tammy i i would i was prepared i was using what i had [Music] at the moment that i had it and god was preparing me in this season what i’m telling you is the disappointing darkness that you’re in right now is for your development can i show you this example real quick cause somebody this is gonna help you and we’re gonna get out of here um this is what culture wants us to do culture tells us that we should take pictures with the most instant um apparatus that we can use so right now if i wanted to take a picture what i would do here is i would come in here and then i would just go boop i didn’t like that one let me do more eat let me a serious face seriously smize that that’s what i would do what ends up happening when you have a leader or somebody that’s trying to mentor you they know that the instant is not the most productive way for you to get the full quality so people will come in and they’ll bring something like this because we don’t really want it to take that long but we’ll we’ll just come on how do you turn this thing on is it on it’s on here we go oh there it is and what happens is this is how we want people in our church to come out wow we took a hold on let me give one more ah they weren’t as good okay yeah i need to see something immediately like i can’t fully see it but if we just give them a little time they should be able to and while we’re doing that we’ll we’ll start something else but if it take them too long we’re going to throw them back so we got instagram this is what culture tells us and so many times in the church we want instant people we want somebody to come out the club on friday to get saved on sunday to be serving on the team by wednesday and to be speaking in tungsten and i know i mean that would be great but if i look at the word god chooses to pick up something that has to be developed so if you take a picture with this some of y’all don’t even know what this is [Applause] but what you have to do right here is a process and take one more get your smile right because we can’t just delete it oh the flash didn’t work i’m gonna do the process again where are the pictures let me see them i need to i need to post it i need the world to see it now the thing about the the device god chooses to use is it has to go to the dark room and anybody that knows i would have to take the film out of this and it would be taken through a process in the dark and literally there’s no light that can come into it or it overexposes what god was trying to do the reason you only know about me now is because for the past 10 years i was in the dark room bishop knows it natalie knows it mom and dad know it mama dana knows it we were in the dark room i’m so glad you didn’t see me when i was preaching to youth [Music] because i was saying all kind of stuff a pastor shouldn’t say but god kept me in the dark room for development and i don’t know who i’m talking to right now but the dark season the the night of nothing is not for nothing the night of nothing the dark season is for development and the crazy thing about it is i can see this picture now and it looks it looks like it’s the best quality and i can see this picture now but for some reason the photographer of our lives the god who wants to display us chooses not to use either one of these methods he wants something that is developed what are you saying pastor mike i need some people to come to the deep with me who want to be developed today i didn’t want to shout about we made it because i honestly feel like this is just the beginning but what god is asking all of us is will we let the deep develop us will your character change by this time next month that thing you’re about to argue about as soon as this service is over god said can i have it can i take a picture of you and say this is where you were today but next year this time i can take another picture and it’ll show how much you’ve grown church if you’re going to be a part of transformation nation i’m asking you to go with me and dive deep the world does not need another cookie-cutter christian church the world doesn’t need another church that’s riddled with scandal and falling leaders and we’re all susceptible even me if we don’t take hold of our anchor and i just decided six years in god’s done everything that i ever asked plus more so why would i start catering to the crowd at the moment that it’s inconvenient i’ve decided we’re gonna dwell in the what d look what happens luke chapter five verse six when they did what jesus said and this time if you say so if you say so if you say so and this time their nets were so full of fish that they begin to tear a shout y’all get over here a shout for help brought their partners in their boats and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking i had this thought what if we were sinking for the right reasons what would it look like if there was so much blessing coming to our life and our family that we had to be more generous because the blessing we couldn’t contain it ourselves what would happen if we walked in such an anchored obedience that when that y’all know that’s the story of our church right how we gave away millions of dollars that was the overflow of obedience bless 20 other churches with a hundred thousand dollars because i’ve done too much for you to carry on your boat [Applause] what what does it look like and my prayer for you is that you would start sinking for the right reasons that god would bless you with so many connections that you would have to give some business to somebody else that god would give you so much wisdom and insight that you would have to give your idea i don’t even need to get paid for that y’all go use that y’all go do that i got so much right here i can’t hold it all this is what happens in the day they shouted because in my my bible what i read write this down the deep doubles it they left with nothing in the boat at this moment two boats are filled to sinking which tells me if i allow god to develop me in the deep he can bless us at a level where it was not just enough for us it was double what we ever thought it was pastor mike what are you saying i’m standing and double everything me and bishop ever talked about every idea every desire everything we said one day it would be great that god would do this and god doubled everything because we were obedient and anchored in the deep pastor mike give me another point no i’m trying to give you a principle obey god just obey him well what about my family it doesn’t matter obey god but what about the money it doesn’t matter obey god i stand here today like the disciples with the only qualification that we’re here today is god said so and i was like if you say so and uh casternet on the other side i obeyed and he doubled it look at the rest of the story though because i want you to see this is the part i intentionally we could be shouting all over this place right now like he all that and i could like all of that i just wanted at six years for us to mature just a little bit to see what the real purpose of this was when simon peter realized what had happened he fell on his knees repentance before jesus oh lord please leave me i’m such a sinful man god’s blessing can expose how deep and dark you are and god is not opposed to your mess look at him he says for he was awestruck by the number of fish that he had caught i swear the others with him his partners james and john the sons of zebedee were also amazed jesus replied to simon don’t be afraid i did all of this for a reason there was a design to this from now on i just wanted to do something natural so that you could see who i really was from now on mike the only reason i gave you this building the only reason that there’s twenty thousand thirty thousand people watching imma make you fish for people from now on huh this was all a big experiment to show me what really mattered you blessing my home and my business and my health you bringing my kids all that other stuff was so that oh i could actually follow you look at the last part of the verse i love this go up just a little bit it says to the disciples right there it says and as soon as they landed they left everything and followed jesus the biggest successful day in history of their business they caught 153 fish and when they got to the land they didn’t take selfies of the fish they didn’t have a fish fry they didn’t go to market and make the money they left everything and followed jesus could the most successful thing about your life be the smallest thing in comparison to the life god has planned for you to live [Music] i am standing here and i keep saying that because i’m in awe of god right now i’m standing here ready to give everything i ever wanted up to follow jesus and win more people to him last point the deep makes disciples and changes destinies i’m in a room full of people whose destinies have changed because bishop decided that he was going to go to the deep i was 13 years old when he and pastor debbie decided to start greenwood christian center and while i was probably trying to get on aol and look at pornography can we be real while i was trying to prove myself and be this and all this other stuff going through what teenagers go through god spoke to a man and woman to push off the shore and go to the deep and for 16 years they dwelled in the deep and they saw me and they were one of those when the boats was breaking they say hey come here and we got to experience a miracle together and god said now leave all of that leave the music leave all the stuff and i’ma make you represent me to the lost and found for transformation in christ it’s time to go fishing and god gave me this vision and today i’m honored to stand here knowing that i went through this process can you put that whole process back up on the screen for me real quick i was distant from god then i let him step on my boat and we started dwelling together but it took a real anchor to obedience to let him direct me and once he directed me he took me to the deep and once he took me to the deep i had a decision to make and now i can stand here six years in and you can stand there at your home right now and you can say boldly that you’re a disciple this is where i want everybody to get to the place that you can follow god in no matter the situation what a time to be alive the only reason i can say that is because now i’m convinced that my yes has made me a disciple and changed other people’s destinies who’s connected to you professor mike start the confetti no i want you to be consecrated i want you to live a life that at the end of it if i die before i get old i don’t want it to be said that all he almost reached his potential god really was about to use him and i don’t want it to be said about you [Music] today i want to pray that you would get the spirit of if you say so hands lifted all over the world right now yep god you’ve you’ve used this story you use this story of my life and bishop’s life as honestly a mirror to let people know what you will do with a bunch of people who will go to the deep and make a decision if you say so i’ll do it god i thank you that irrational illogical obedience begins to rise up in your sons and daughters today as we celebrate father god 22 years of ministry in six years of me and that being the pastors i’m just asking that you would keep my if you say so intact that i would not drift and i believe that’s the reason you gave me and this church the word anchored father god i thank you that this is just the beginning for my sister of my brother that father every dark area of their life is for their development and i thank you father that there is a breaking of a new day coming right now in the name of jesus i declare and i believe father god that they feel you close to them and father god for what you’ve done and how you’ve done it and what you’re about to do father we anchor on you have your way have your way come on somebody just say that out of your mouth have your way god [Music] have your way in my life god have your way in my family god so many things that i want to do and i want to say and i want to god i’m in the deep end only you can direct me out here have your way god somebody just say it again have your way god this is a dangerous prayer to pray but some of y’all are deciding at this moment that you’re going to let god have his way somebody say have your way god that means he can change anything in you he can change your identity he can change your ideas he can change everything somebody say have your way in me god god i’m praying that you would have your way in this church today i submit a new and afresh to you god thank you for bringing us to this place but i’m anchored on you for everything you do from this point forward i’m not doing it to impress anybody god i’m doing it to impact people for your kingdom thank you that this church will be fishers of men i’m declaring father even as this clothing goes out and even as people begin to um share this message and share what god is doing here and about us being anchored god i’m asking that the spirit of evangelism would rise up in transformation nation father you don’t care nothing about a mountain bank accounts you care about souls in the lamb book of life and god i thank you that oh thank you jesus i thank you that there would be a mass we thought we saw 29 000 salvations in last year father god that was a different season god it’s not even worthy to be compared to what you’re about to do in this church and through your church god i’m asking you that you would allow us not to be complacent what a time to be alive to be the church for such a time as this today god the way i’m ending this service is saying thank you just thank you thank you that we can be your voice and speak to people and let them know that you have a plan that’s designed for them i pray against every lie of the enemy that is trying to take people out just because they’re in a disappointing season you will live and not die with long life god is going to satisfy you everything that your hands touch in this new season as you cast your net on the other side it is going to produce so much fruit others will be blessed and i just thank you father that you will be glorified for everything that transformation church ever does you get the glory you get the honor and you get the praise in jesus name we agree if you agree can you put your hands together all over this world and now can you add your voice with it and give god a shout of praise hallelujah thank you god [Music] [Applause] so so so i want to let everybody know this is my commitment as we go to the deep like we’re out here now we out here what i’m asking you stay with me i’ma go ahead and tell him the next series i got one more message in this next week okay i’m gonna be very honest with you okay next week message probably is one of the most um point messages i’m gonna speak in this series so i need everybody to be here next week but this is what god’s telling me right now to challenge you to the deep is a little uncomfortable the series after that we’re going to talk about financial stewardship [Music] welcome to the deep [Music] and see every time we do this type of series and we talk about financial stewards i’m just going to tell you the attendance goes down 15 to 20 because we found the people in the kiddie pool the area that we won’t let god direct us in i’m challenging you stay with me don’t swim back to shore this year gonna just go ahead and tell them the next two series because god is literally this whole year we’re gonna be progressing to the d this is not going to be like and now god changed it and that’s it no no no we’re gonna do a financial stewardship series and then i’m doing nine to ten weeks on the holy spirit yeah like i’m not how we gonna live this life without power y’all burning sage and doing all this other stuff you ain’t got no real power i’m gonna show you how jesus when he went to the cross left us something better than him being on this earth and his name is the holy spirit like welcome to the deep 2021 we’re gonna make the deep things very simple and we’re going to allow transformation to take place in your life amen if you’re here and you’re distant from god and you want him to dwell all you have to do is ask him into your heart it’s the greatest decision i ever made it took me from being a liar a manipulator somebody who was addicted to pornography somebody who had really bad things in their heart couldn’t see people the right way only wanted to do things for myself and it didn’t make me a perfect man but it made me a progressing man and last week over a thousand people got saved because they decided just in one week over a thousand people got saved because they decided they didn’t want to be distant anymore but they wanted god to dwell and today today is the day of salvation for you this is not another time this is the moment this is your moment where god’s inviting you push off the shore and come with me and it’s the greatest decision i’ve ever made in my whole life and today if you want to make that decision i want you to pray with me i need you to identify yourself because i just need you to say yeah that’s me pastor i want you to include me in that prayer on the count of three i just want you to slip your hand up no matter who’s sitting next to you and i need the church to pray i need you to pray in your homes somebody’s life is in the balance right now and we want to believe as a church that they are going to make the decision for jesus one you’re making the greatest decision that you could ever make too i’m so proud of you that more than that your name will be written in the lamb’s book of life three just slip your hand up all over the world come on hand all over the world glory to god put your hand down right there see religion would tell you you need to confess everything today and you need to do all this stuff but god is the only one that says if you would give you me your heart i’ll help you change your habits and today god is coming into your situation and he’s gonna help you dwell in the deep transformation church you already know the drill we don’t pray alone there are people making a decision for christ for the first time so we’re gonna pray this prayer all together for the benefit of those who are coming to christ right now come on everybody say god thank you for sending jesus to be my anchor today i give you my life i believe you lived you died and you rose again just for me you have a design for my life and i’m gonna find out what it is change me renew me transform me i’m yours in jesus name amen can we give god praise all i said can we give god that’s why our church exists to represent god to the lost and found for transformation in christ church i love you turn up all day specifically for the people who just gave their life to christ if you’re one of those people i want you to text the number on the screen and we want to help you we want to give you some um some resources and we want to walk with you we want you to go back and watch series that we’ve done before series like grace like a flood so you can understand the grace of god go back and watch mark that god has a plan for your life if you’re in relationship things go back and watch relationship goals and relationship goals reloaded if you need to know about your finances go watch ducks in a row we want to help you on this journey we have monday night prayer tomorrow night you can join us at six o’clock we’re gonna be here next week and i have a word for you but what i want more than anything is you to know that this journey is about progression not perfection don’t go back this will be your best year if it is your best year spiritually we love you we thank god y’all we made it 22 years and six years as pastors can we give can we give god some praise to god be the glory hey don’t forget that god is doing something so special in your life and nobody can rush what god has ordained for you somebody just made me say that nobody can rush what god has ordained for you i’m a living witness this week i want you to go out and live a what transform like oh snap y’all know today at two we’re dropping merch worldwide right that’s like in 30 minutes if you’re still rocking with us cause some people went offline the merch store is open right now go buy up everything and don’t tell nobody until it’s all gone i love you go out and live a transformed life glory to god
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