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Audacious Faith: The Access To My Authority // Mustard: The Seed That Can Change Everything (Part 2) // Pastor Michael Todd
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In Week 2 of our brand new series, MUSTARD: The Seed That Can Change Everything, Pastor Mike teaches us about Audacious Faith — the kind of faith that doesn’t play it safe. Somewhere along the way, we’ve been taught to have faith that makes sense to...
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Welcome to Transformation Church podcast where we represent God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. We're so glad you're here. And wherever you're listening from, we believe God will transform your life through today's message.
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Okay, so. So one of the things that I. I always want to do is make sure we balance our expression with our information. You see how little the amen's got right there? Because we would rather, we would rather feel something than understand it. But in all you're getting, the Bible says get a what, not a feeling. So I want to validate what you just felt. That thing in me that just wants to lay out and act like none of y' all is here. That's a real feeling. Okay? But without the information from his word, then the enemy can come and rob us of our experiences because we do not have an understanding. So today, in the next 40 minutes, I need you to give me 40 minutes. If your food was late, you would stay until you got your to go box. So today I just want to give you in the next few minutes a message that is going to change your life. Pastor Mike, why are you saying it's going to change your life? Because it's changed my life. And today we are in week two of a series we're calling Help me Mustard. Yes, it is week two. Ben, what happened? No. Quit now don't do it now. Don't do it now. Don't do it now. They were still laid out in worship, but I'm speaking on faith. Somebody shouted me. Faith. I said, shout it at me. Say faith. Today and for the rest of this series, what I want to do is try to enlarge your ability to believe God. Many of us have faith in things that don't matter. We have faith in things. Some of us. I told somebody this. This weekend, you have more faith in WI fi than the Creator. Some of us like, no, no, no. I know it's gonna work. I paid the bill. No, no, no, no, no. I know it's gonna work. I reset the system. And WI Fi, like, God is something you can't see but something you have to believe in. And the only way you know it's real is because of the results. Many of us have skipped over the results that God continues to show us. Everybody take a deep breath in. Let it out. How much you pay for that? How many good acts did you do for that breath? And the Bible says, let everything that have praise the Lord. I'm just trying to. I'm trying to give you context of how ingratiated our faith is into our life. But if we don't recognize that God wants to enlarge our faith, we will walk around, watch this misusing of what is so powerful and could change our lives. And so today, I want to take us into a deeper dive into this series. Did y' all like that song Sign Me up that the worship team sang today? That song is going to be available this Friday on all streaming platforms to get your summer started off right. And I'm asking that everybody sign up for this life of faith that God would do something on the inside of you that would replace all the fear and bring you into a space where you can really believe. And so wherever you're at right now, I believe that God's gonna do something special. If you would for me. I want us to understand this simple point. Write it down. Faith performs its best when there's a demand on it. Faith performs its best when there's a demand on it. My question to you today is, when is the last time you actually used your faith? I'm not talking about like, oh, if I just plan or do better or make it happen myself or save enough. I'm talking about something that if you told somebody this is what you were believing, they would back up. When is the last time you had a faith statement declared out loud that you knew would get pushback from people you love. It's quiet in here. Because most of the time we're using our faith for something very fundamental, very low, very middle of the road. But today I came to put a demand on your faith. And I'm asking you to get into a place where every day that you wake up, you believe that through your belief in God. Somebody say in God, not belief in a course, not belief in an education system. All of those things are great. But your belief in God can create things that are not seen. I'm going to say it again. Your belief in God can create things that is currently not seen. And I'm fighting right now through culture. Who tells you to have to show how everything happens? All the way back to elementary school. You know when you could they had you do a math problem. And what did the teacher always say? Show your. It's the right answer. 14 and the teacher wants to know, how did you get there? When it comes to faith, you have to unlearn that principle because it's not going to add up. Okay. And what hinders most of us is we're trying to make it make sense even though we have the right answer and we're trying to convince people. Well, it was how I went about the meeting and then once I used my skills in the meeting, it rolled over to a great relationship that then turned into you're not that good. How did God take the real you, not the presented you, the real you and put it in that position, gave you that type of responsibility, gave you that type of understanding of this thing. It's not gon add up. So the sooner that you realize you don't have to have the answer because you know the answer, y' all missed it. I don't have to have the answer because I know. Okay? I'm not trying to tell you what I'm figuring out today. I'm trying to tell you what I know. And today I want to give you the audacity to believe God. Everybody say audacity now when you usually use that term. Watch this. It's not positive. Most people when they use it. This woman came in the store today and she had the audacity to ask me if she could try on nine items when it says eight right there. And I told her, uh, because I'm the stop. Come on. This player, he come off the bench and he had the audacity to take the game winning shot. That's when you be ready to kill somebody if this is your team. And then this no name guy come off the bench. And he's like, what? But I started to look at the word audacity different when it came to me exercising my faith. And I believe that if you understood what audacity actually meant, then you would be one that would believe God. For the title of my message today, audacious faith. You need audacious. Not safe faith, not secure faith. Those are oxymorons. You cannot step out and stay in. Oh, God. You can't be out of the boat and in the boat, Peter, you can't have. My trust is in you, God and the security plan. It's time for believers to walk in. Somebody say audacious faith. Okay. Audacity is a willingness to take bold risks. A willingness to take what? Bold risk. When's the last time your faith did something bold? Think about it for real. When's the last time everybody wasn't doing the same thing? You was out there walking by yourself. See, this term audacity has fired something up on the inside of me because I believe that it is God's plan for every person who calls him Savior to actually walk in. Audacious faith. When I look at the stories of the Bible, do you know how bold you had to be to tell everybody that I'm building a boat and it's never rained yet? Noah was audacious, had to convince his kids to get up every day, his wife to bring him sandwiches, and to actually come out and build a boat. Not that there's not just a body of water big enough to. There's never been rain yet. Do you know how audacious you had to be to leave your business after meeting a man who came and said, throw it on the other side. They throw it on the other side, had a biggest day of business, 10x'd it and did not stay to capitalize on the business. They left everything to follow Jesus. Do you know how audacious it is to do that without a guarantee? Do you know how audacious it is to be associated with Jesus when people are coming out the woods as ops trying to kill him? Y' all know everybody down until somebody pull out that thing. Oh, y' all know what I'm talking about is somebody like, let's fight. Everybody like, oh, hold on. Fighting. I don't fight. I don't fight. But somewhere along the line, I think we have subscribed as believers to safe faith. The faith that we can calculate. The faith that makes sense to our mother in law and our business partner. The faith that makes sense to our bank account and Our savings. Okay, I'm gonna have to work today. And I see it because some of y' all sitting here like cross eye looking at me and I'm gonna help you today. Let me, let me, let me let every believer know why you can have the audacity to believe God. The audacious faith. I can have audacity because Jesus gave me authority. The reason why you don't walk with your chest big and the reason you don't walk into places and believe that the atmosphere is going to change because you don't know what you've already been given. The reason why. I am audacious with my faith and I can believe God for stuff nobody in my family has ever seen. And I could believe God to write down 37 days after I became the lead pastor of this church that this would be a building. And when we got here five years later, we paid it off in five months. Why did that happen? Because my faith was audacious. Look, if it didn't happen, it wasn't because I didn't supply the ingredients. And some of us are trying to be God's protection and we mask it as. I don't want to get my hopes up. I don't want to put that demand on God. Did God really say that? I don't think. I think that's a little much to be able to believe like that. If it don't happen, he's still God. His place in the universe didn't change. And maybe he's trying to teach you something different about your space in this place. But most of us won't even supply the ingredients to make the cake. You won't even put the faith into play. And this is why I need you to know that your audacity to believe God in faith comes from your authority. Anytime somebody has audacity, it's because they have. Say it with me. You have audacity because you have authority. You can have audacity because you, by Jesus, have been given. You don't even believe it. Matthew 28:18. This is Jesus. So let's establish who has authority. Jesus came and told all his disciples, I have been given all authority. Well, where you been given authority in this hut, in this town, in this city? I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth. So Jesus comes to let you know, hey, allow me to reinduce myself. My name is J E S U S. He literally says, I'm Jesus. And everything you've ever seen, I've been given authority over that. But let me Tell you I've been given authority over things you can't see either. Heaven and earth. Then let's go over to Luke 10:19. So we just established Jesus has authority. Say that with me. Jesus has authority. Say it one more time. Jesus has it, but we got to amend it because it said all. And if you forget all, then you will forget that he doesn't have authority. Just in small sections. Okay? Jesus has all authority. This series. Mustard. There's some words we got to elongate. Okay, so Jesus has authority. Did you hear? Because sometimes you got to remember it's not just the thing you praying about that he has authority over the person you hate. He have authority over them, too. That's why you pray scriptures like this. When you will learn your authority and how the Word can change things. Father, the heart of the king is in the Lord's hand like water. You can turn it. See? See? When you understand who has all authority, it changes the way you walk in audacity. Okay, I'm trying to give you the formula. So Jesus has all authority. Luke 10:19. This is Jesus talking to them same disciples. Look, anytime a sentence starts with look, that means they already tried to say something. You ever been telling your kids, like, hey, look, I ain't gonna tell you again. It's bedtime. Jesus starts this sentence off like this. Look, I have given, uh. Read the Bible. You. He. In Matthew 28:18, he says, I've been given all authority. Now he's saying, look, let me tell you again. I have given you authority over there. That word again. All the power of the enemy. Hold on. Not all the power of the enemy. Not the anxiety that keeps hitting me at night. Not those temptations that keep coming. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Not those suggestions of suicide. Not, not. Not. That all he said. I have all authority now. I give you authority over all the power of the enemy. That makes me feel like I can go and bust some heads. And he says, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Why? Because nothing will injure you. Imagine being on the sidelines, scared of something you're supposed to crush. This is how the church looks. But look, but look. Snakes over there. But look. But look, there's people that don't like me over there. There's critics over there. There's people who don't want us. They don't. They don't like me. Oh, come on, y'. All. I don't know if I feel welcomed. This notion that every space that God takes you into is supposed to be comfortable is a lie from hell. That's why he says, I will prepare a place. I will prepare a table in the presence of your. Now, why does everything I see these quotes and these memes, like, if you're not celebrated, don't tolerate it, then Jesus would have gone nowhere. We are called into spaces to be the change there. So when you first show up, they may not be clapping for you. Okay? When you first show up, they may not be excited because you're an interrupter, a disruptor, a light bringer, a kingdom citizen. And so many of us have believed the lie that I have to be like to be effective. But I came to tell you that the impact comes from my anointing and my assignment, not your co signments. Yeah, y' all are waiting for a cosign for somebody who can't call you. And their cosign means nothing if God put his hand on your life. Some of y' all need to find the people that have been trying to get you to stay on the back because you don't have what it takes. No, I got audacity, and I'm about to big step into every space God has called me to, and I'm going, do what God. Okay, somebody yell at me. Audacious faith. Let me put my glasses on to be a little more dignified. Jesus said, look, I've given you authority over all the powers of the enemy. This is what I found out that most believers have not accepted the truth of the transfer. Jesus has the power, and he transferred it to us. What if I told you right now that I was going to transfer $100,000 into your bank account? Now, the crazy thing about it is some people are laughing, and there are a few people in this room that feel like, hold on, is he serious? Is this right? Is he playing? Now, the thing about a transfer, when you start working in monies that exceed, like, the single digits, thousands, you usually don't carry that amount of cash around. They usually do electronic transfers. They do different types of wires is what they call them. And what ends up happening is.
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You don't know that somebody's transferring you $100,000, you don't act like you got $100,000. So if you had $562 in your bank account, but somebody transferred you 100,000 and you didn't know, you would still be living like you had $562 in your account. The truth of the transfer is it was made, but you just ignorant of it. Could it be that Jesus is saying, when you accepted me at salvation, there was a deposit put in your account of authority that would give you the audacity to believe, even with faith the size of a mustard seed, that you could say to a situation, a person, a different thing be removed, and it would completely change. But you are ignorant of the transfer. So the reason why you're walking around timid is because you have not accepted that the transfer has already happened. Some of you are trying to earn what God has already given you, okay? If you didn't know the hundred thousand dollars had come, you would be living at the same level of resource, the same level of restriction, and the same level of reservation because you didn't have a revelation today. I want you to understand that you can have audacity to believe God because you have been given authority by God. Okay, let me break it down even more. My daughter Ava and Bella have come into this space where they want to pay for stuff. So, like, no, no, no, Daddy, let me pay for it. No, no, no, Daddy, let me pay for it. And I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, because I feel like I'm training them in the way. They shouldn't go right now to take my card when they're older. But there's something about. There's something about how they like to have the authority to be able to walk up to the counter and hit the little tap thing. The other day, we was in quick trip, and Bella and Ava went and asked for some slushies after ransom. And they had danced and ransomed and done such good. And I promise them I'd get them some slushies. So they go in a quick trip, and Ava asked for the card before we got out the car. Now, she usually asks for it when we get up to the desk, but she asked, daddy, can I see the card? Because I want to pay for it. And I was like, okay. I wasn't even thinking about it. I gave her the card. That baby looked at that card when she walked into that store. That baby did not come to play. I promised her a slushie. She picked up candy, a pizza, chips. She had the audacity to pick up a donut, look at it and put it back. She had the audacity to ask Bella, did she want anything else. She had the audacity to look back at me and say, daddy, did you want something? But she was walking in the authority that I gave her. And until the body of Christ walks in the authority that their father has given them, that baby doesn't know how much money is in my account. She has no idea how the transfer even happens. All she know is that she had access to her father's authority. Y' all better hear what I'm saying to you today. If you don't go to that job and stop acting like you are scared and you step in there and like I got the wisdom for this. No, I ain't never done this before, but I have access to all knowledge, to all understanding. Somebody shout at me. Access, authority, audacity. Stop playing scared. You want that house? Well, the government and the economic downturn, somebody getting the house right now. See? Okay, all right, let me see. You want to change that neighborhood? Somebody buying a neighborhood right now. But you don't got the audacity to believe. Okay, okay. There's nothing worse than having access and being completely unaware. Nothing worse than going to the concert and one of your friends works backstage and they give you a badge. And then you start asking where your seat is. And now you're feeling bad because you never looked at the access that you had. The badge he gave you was not for a seat. It was access to explore. It was access to not find where your seat was. And the nosebleeds. It was access to be on the side of the stage. But if you don't know, you can't walk in that authority. You show up timid, you show up scared, you show up begging. And today, I just want to. On week two, I want to activate and unlock your audacious faith. Let me prove to you. God's giving you everything you need, second Peter 1:3, by his divine power. So this has nothing to do with you. God has given somebody, say us, everything we need. Stop right there. By God's divine power, he's given us everything thing we need for living a godly life. We have received all of the authority, all of the peace, all of the patience, all of the love. When we get Jesus, we get the whole thing by coming to know him. This is about not being ignorant of it. Why do we read our Bible? Because we get to find out what comes with the package. There's features in your faith that you ain't even unlocked yet because you won't read the manual, okay? And I know some of y'. All just take it out the box and turn it on, people. Oh, where y' all at? Come on. Right now. Look, nobody want to raise their hand. It's just, uh. I don't know. You ain't read an instruction in years, and now what you do to find the specific function you want, you just go to YouTube, ChatGPT. I'm fine with it in technology. Please don't bring that to your faith, though. Because if you. If you. If you don't. If you don't bring the seek to your faith, you won't find the treasures. Okay, all right, all right. Let me stop. He said, we receive all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous and glorious excellence. Let me help you understand this. Maybe the Christian walk is less about getting more and more about uncovering what's already there. Okay, If I already got it, somebody say, I already got it. I already got the faith I need to move the mountain to change the situation, to walk into a new thing. What's covering it up? And until you start unearthing this stuff, you walk below your authority. So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to say a point, and then I'm going to give you seven things and we going home. Okay? The transfer of authority you need for transformation is not in transit. It's yours for the taking. This is your prophetic word. God's not sending the faith you need. It's already here. You don't even believe it. It's just under doubt, and it's under depression, and it's under anxiety, and it's under all of these things. And God's saying, that's why all you need is the faith the size of a mustard seed. Because if you could start believing that you already got it, you would start walking. Completely different. Somebody say, I already got it. Say it with audacity. I already. Okay, seven things audacious faith does. If you gonna walk and have audacious faith, these are seven things audacious faith does. Number one, Audacious faith attacks apathy. If your faith is gonna be like, I'll take a bold risk. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go. I ain't know anybody else that going, but I'm about to. If you gonna do that, it actually is an enemy against apathy. Okay, James 2:26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without what works is dead also. Let me help you understand this. It's not faith until you add work to it. Stop telling me about what God's about to do, and you ain't done nothing. God's about to bless me with a thing. You don't have a bank account to receive it. Oh, come on, y'. All. God's about to restore my relationship. Well, why are you still playing with the old ones? But I love the analogy that it gives. It says, for the body without the spirit is dead. It's likened to this glove. We were made in the image of God. This glove was made in the image of my hand. But this glove has no purpose unless my hand is in it. The same way your life has no purpose unless God is okay. And so the reason why we present the gospel and tell people about Jesus is because they have an image of a life, an image. It looked like a hand, but this thing by itself, what is that keeping warm? What is that protecting? What is that doing? Nothing. It's not until the hand gets in it that purpose is revealed for it. It's not until God gets in your life and in your heart that purpose is revealed. Do it without God, It'll still be dead. Go ahead, do it without God. Have the career and the money and the things and all the other stuff. Do it without God. It'll still be dead. But God can take a little bit of faith, and if he's in the midst of it. But I love that this is not just a gospel message. He turns the gospel into a metaphor for your faith. He said, in the same way you talking about you got crazy faith. I'm believing God big. And you don't pull out a pencil and paper and you don't write down, and you don't trademark what he gave you, and you don't study to figure out how the laws work around what you're believing for. He said, your faith, without putting some work into it, is dead today. Some of y' all need to get a glove and make a decision. You need to write faith on the outside of it. You say, this week I'm putting some work in. This week, I'm not just going to talk about it. I'm putting work because we're praying for what God's already given us the power to walk in. Second thing. Audacious faith. Watch this. You don't want to miss one of these points. Audacious faith agitates average. I have to make a. I have to make a confession. I'm annoying to people. No, no, no. I am fully aware. No, no, no. Not everybody. But there is a segment of our society who doesn't like how audacious I am. They'll find anything to try to tear down what God's doing in my life. It can be a piece of cloth or it can be the way I say something, but the truth of the matter is my audacity to believe God. My audacity to be committed to one woman who's fine. My audacity to actually raise my kids. My audacity to encourage people who were broken and lost and backwards and tell them that God can transform that life. That that agitates people who he think he is, coming up here wearing this and doing that. And just a child of God who believe the promises of God, who gonna walk in them whether you like it or not. But what audacity does? It offends the average. You can find average people all around you. As soon as you start doing something audacious, I'm going back to school. Why would you do that? You too. Oh, what you gonna use that degree for? Shut up. I ain't even told you anything. But. But those people who have been average for years, and you, you ain't even done it yet. You just say it. And they try to put a lid on what God is trying to launch you from. Yeah, you writing a book. What you got to talk about? Hold on. Wait. You met me three years ago. You don't even know my whole life. The reason I have to tell you this is because many times you will want to step back when you start getting the attacks from average. The attacks from average are to make you shrink. And I'm just coming because I wish somebody would have told me this because everybody yell crazy faith until you do it. And they. They cheered for you while it. While it was not sure. And then when it happened and it happened again and it happened again, and it happened again and it happened again. They don't like it because why? Why would it happen to you? I'm just. I'm encouraging the people who are about to build the future. I don't know who I'm talking about right now, but I need to encourage the people who are about to build the future. When the attacks come, please do not take a step back. Please do not lose your audacity, because that is exactly what the enemy wants to do. And it's not new. They did it to Jesus. Who are you to heal somebody on the Sabbath? Bro didn't have an arm. That's your cousin. Why wouldn't you want your cousin to have an arm? Bro's arm grew back. He got sight. And the only thing you could see, you did it on the wrong day. You know, they also did it to Daniel in Daniel, chapter six. Daniel had the audacity to pray. Even when the rule came from King Darius that we were for 30 days, they were only supposed to pray to him. And Daniel was like, yo, God is my God, and I can't really violate that. And so he was put in a trap by the people around him. And he had the audacity to still do what got him to the place he's in right now. And when he did his common practice in the face of attack, that's how he got to the lion's den. I want to let you know that most of us, when we would get to the lion's den, be like, God dang, I was just praying to you. Come on, y'. All. You could have protected me from the lion's den. He said, I'm not just protecting you. I'm a preserve you. He said, I gotta do something to let them know I'm God. So sometimes I put my children in impossible situations and I keep them in the middle of it. So when morning comes and you're supposed to be devoured and they scream in there, daniel, did your God save you? Yep. He did it again. Yep. He's still on the throne. Yep. It killed all of them. But nothing is going to take me out. Somebody shout audacity. And that's why you got to guard your faith. That's why you got to guard your faith. That's why even when your faith is small, you still got to guard it. It's like you remember I told you last week to have faith like a Ferrari, like you need to raise the function of your faith. I found a Ferrari. Now, I know it's. I know it's not what you were probably expecting, but this is sometime how our faith starts. It starts as an image in our head, and then it starts small. I'm going to put my faith down. Yeah. Wow, that's powerful. I know y' all don't see it yet, but I see something in the future. Matter of fact, I gotta protect this. I need some stanchions. I need something to protect it. Matter of fact, I'm gonna just wait on me. Yeah. Grab me that stanchion real quick. Yeah. Give me one more. Yeah. Give me. Give me one more. Yeah. Cause one day. Yeah. Just nobody can come. They can't mess. Yeah. Give me another. Because I. I don't know how people gonna treat this, but they may can't see it yet. They make. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna put in some work. Cuz I gotta protect what God has given me. I know, I know some of y' all don't see what God's doing. Doing yet. I need one more. Yeah. Bring it. Take it off of that. They don't need to protect that camera. You need to protect. You need to protect my Ferrari. Thank you so much, Gabby. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no. Don't mess up now. Yeah. Oh, no. Yeah. Dang. Oh. Everybody's watching. Sometimes you gotta get. You gotta engineer it. It's nice. Yeah, Yeah. Y' all can come and see it for a dollar a pop. Matter of fact, Q, come here. Yeah, come here. Come here. I need you to stand right here and protect it. Just stand right here. Right here. If anybody tries to come and get it. Come on. You know what to do. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I feel safe now. Most of you. If I hired these men to guard this for eight hours a day and paid them and really charged a dollar to come see this, you would think I was crazy, because that doesn't look like much. And this is what mustard seed faith looks like. God gave you that business idea. He told you what it was going to do, and you just let anybody walk up and touch it. You let people come up and kick around what God gave you as something that he's going to use to transform your life. See, See, this is how God will do because you were faithful over this. No, I can't touch it yet because God hadn't told me to stop believing and confessing that thing. I'm going to just. Yeah, I'm going to step out of there. Father, I believe one day you're going to turn that into something. One day you going to upgrade me. And I think that day is today. Now, watch it, because some of you feel like this upgrade is not worth celebrating. But my faith just got bigger. And if right now I said abracadabra and a full Ferrari popped up on this stage, everybody. Glory to God. Yet who's to say that that won't happen? Oh, because you've not seen it before? Because it's not normal. Will you protect the big thing that God gives you in seed form? That is going to take audacity. Thank y'. All. All right, here we go. Audacious faith increases your appetite. Romans 12:3. Because of the privilege. And here's that word again. And authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don't think you are better than you really are. I have to stop. Because even when I said that, some of you were triggered into trauma. Because that scripture has been weaponized to make people feel and think small. Don't think more of yourself than you should. It really is Jesus telling you, just think about yourself rightly and what it should say, how I interpreted this through grace. It should say something like, don't think you are better than you really are, but don't forget you are who he said you are. So what ends up happening is we forget who we are, trying not to think that we better than we are. I ain't better than I am, but I am who I am, Sam. I am. Like, do y' all hear what I'm saying? Like, the enemy will try to make you feel like you're not a child of God. Like you not a royal priesthood. Like you're not chosen, like you're not redeemed, like you not righteous. Don't forget who you are. Trying to play to people who don't want you to be who you are. He says, be honest in your evaluation of yourself. That's self awareness. Measuring yourself. Watch this. How should you measure yourself? By the. Oh, my. Y' all ain't never seen this scripture. In the Bible, God says, stop measuring your Instagram followers. Start measuring your faith. Stop measuring your friend count. Start measuring your faith. Stop measuring your finances. Start measuring your faith. He said, the thing I want you to measure is how much faith you got, because everything else comes out of by faith. The worlds were formed. Okay, guys. He said, I want you to measure yourself by the faith God has given each other one of us. Which makes me think, write this down. My faith is not fixed. It can grow further. Anytime you measure something is you measure it because it has the opportunity to expand or shrink. So God's saying you can grow in your measure of faith, whatever level of faith you have today. Grow, baby, grow. The only way that car went from where it was to where it is is that I planted it and I did the things that were instructed for it to grow. How does faith grow? The Bible tells us there's several ways. But one of them, it says, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. You should start playing the Bible more in your house. Oh, yeah, No, I love music. Put on some music and just play the word. I told somebody this years ago, the Holy Spirit. There's a scripture that talks about, the Holy Spirit will bring everything to your remembrance in the time that you need it. I told somebody, they were like, how do you remember all the Bible and all the different things? I said? Let me tell you the truth. I don't remember a lot, but I put it in. And if I put it in the Holy Spirit at the time I need, it will allow something I never thought before. Like in Ephesians 6, 9. It said, it's like a. It's like something. The problem is the enemy doesn't want you to put in what you need so that there's nothing to actually come out. So when you're in a trial, that's why that sad R B song only comes out, because it's what went in. That's why the quote from the movie is the only thing that comes out. When you're really needing something, you go in. But if there ain't nothing in there that changes you, it can't come out. Oh, I'm trying to help somebody. Here we go. Audacious faith. Watch this. Accelerates with associates. This is the season to check your friend circle. Because if your friends don't have faith, they might not be able to go where you are going. If your friends don't believe like you believe or more than you believe, you may need to get new friends. If you tell your friends something and they think it's like, okay, good for you, girl. I'll be here if it. You know, whether you know, however, you ain't got nothing to say. You ain't got no encouragement for me. You. You don't got no proof in your own life that God can do it. If your friends can't point to a time where God did something in their life, and they always talking about how it didn't work out for them. And be careful, girl. Be careful, bro. You know what I'm saying? The last time you. You know what I'm saying? You was trying to be faithful to your wife. Hold on. The last time you're trying to be faithful to your wife, what is going on? That is your friend telling you not to be faithful to your wife. These are real conversations. They don't. Have faith, you can transform faith. You can put down that alcohol. Faith, you can put down that habit. Deuteronomy 32, 30 says, how should one chase a thousand, and then two can multiply and put ten thousand to fight? What it's saying is two are better than one. You should have somebody that you can say something to, and they become a lifter, not a lid. Okay, where are all the lifters in the room right now? Come on, y'. All. Hey, hey. If you can't find a lifter, become one when God says something to them. And even if it's crazy, like, you know what? I'm gonna be praying with you that God give you discernment about that. Because sometimes the first thing God says, we say it. And then it has to form into what it will become. But some people will squish an idea. Everybody at the. At our church knows, do not crush the idea thinking about money. Because if we start thinking, can we do it before we think? What is it? The idea never gets a moment to live. Some of us have been people. It's like, well, I just want to be realistic. The walk of Christ is not realistic. Oh, God, I'm gonna have to do a year on just faith because I'm. This is reprogramming. This is reprogramming. You're transformed by the renewing of your. All right, let me go to the next one. Because some of y' all just looking like, oh, this is enough for me today. Here we go. Audacious faith shifts atmospheres. You know when I talked about when you walk in audacious faith earlier, that it offends and it brings people into like, oh, why? Why are they so loud? Or why are they so bold? Or why are they this. Okay, it's because when audacious people walk in, it shifts the atmosphere. I'm just telling you right now, as a believer in Jesus, your joy should make angry people feel like, oh, if you can walk into an atmosphere and nothing shifts, my question is, what are you carrying? Okay, Some of you have made it your goal to not be noticed when the gospel is supposed to be the change agent in every atmosphere. So at your job, it should be a difference when you're there, and it should be a difference when you not there. Somebody should look around and be like, is it the music? Is it a cloudy day? What's happening? Because believers carry light, and light is supposed to change all dark place, y'. All. Okay, Matthew 5:14. I'm gonna read it. In the message version, it says, here's another way to put it. You're here to be light bringing out the God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. God is not a secret that your co workers don't know about. God is not a secret. Secret for your Christian friends. He is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this. We going to have the audacity to show up in the mall, to show up in government, to show up on the charts, to show up in the gym. I'm going to be a believer. I'm unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto my salvation. We're going public with this. How public, Pastor Mike? As public as a city sit on a hill. If I make this is Jesus Talking. If I make you a light bearer, do you think I'm going to hide it under that desk? I'mma hide it under that career. I'mma hide it under your gifting. Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I'm really trying to be like a subtle, like, secret agent of the work. No, I am saying come in with sense. But if you've been somewhere for two years and nobody knows, you believe you're hiding something. My, my, my, my walk with God oozes out. You might catch me reading my Bible on the lunch break. You might catch me watching a sermon. You're gonna be bumping to something. Like, what you listening to? Oh, that's just transformation worship. Sign me up. That's transformational. Just what. How does my life not echo? Okay, I'm not going to hide it under a bucket. He said, I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop on a light stand. Shine. Look at your neighbor and say, shine, baby, shine. Come on, find one more neighbor and say, shine, baby, shine. Sign Keep open house. Be generous with your lives. Watch this, watch this, watch this. Watch what it does. By opening up with God. Oh, God. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up to God, this generous father in D all. But you won't be audacious enough to walk in there, fly as you want to be. And it's not cause you thirsty. It's because you got that light on the inside. Blake. Okay, y' all had enough today? All right, here we go. Two more. Audacious faith makes you an anomaly. It makes you stick out. And this is a sad truth, because it's not supposed to. The truth of the matter is everybody in here should be walking in such audacious faith that it's like, oh, I'm just with my people now. But the truth of the matter is, there will be thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people watch this message. And maybe 300 will get it. Maybe somebody said, I get it, I get it. Be the one that gets it. Because. Because this is the truth. Because you will walk as light in darkness. You will be spotted first. Okay, if we turned all the lights out and somebody put on their cell phone, everybody would look where the light was. And some of us like, why they always looking at me? Why they always judging me? Ah. Why they always critiquing me? Ah, you shining, baby. Oh, y' all didn't hear me? I said, you shining, baby. It's the best compliment. And some of us are trying to run from what we are. Somebody say, I'm like, so when you walk in audacious faith, it makes you an anomaly. And this is one thing I've had to learn in this last season, in this last season of my life, last three years, because of the light of God on the inside of us and our church. It's drawn all kinds of attention. Some of it good, some of it unwarranted, some of it made up, some of it bad. But if we weren't shining, nobody would care. And so I had to make up in my mind that criticism was not a correction from God. Criticism of men is not a correction from God. Many times criticism from men is proof that God chose you. Okay? And so what happens is when you step into audacious faith, I need somebody to remember this. It's not for everybody, but this was for me, okay? Remember, you're not lonely. You're leading. Just remember, because it will try to isolate you and make you feel like, now forget this. I don't need this. And then you remember, oh, God called me to this. My bad, God, my bad. You're looking at the wrong thing. You're looking at the criticism of people. And God says, this is just proof you're called. It's just proof. You call anybody that's done anything great, any athlete, any person of your favorite, it is protocol whether they win or lose that they gotta go talk to the media. Why do they gotta go talk to the media? It's in a contract. Because everybody's in this arena looking at you. You gotta talk about what just happened. Why? Well, you have 15 points tonight. I score 40 every other night. And tonight you don't know. I got diarrhea. The fact that I was out there was a miracle. I was putin all up and down the court, like. But we never. But we never take. We never take in consideration with somebody. We just judge the outcome and we critique it, not knowing. It might have been a hard week with the family, or it might have been battling depression in the background, or it's a miracle that I even lifted my hands. This, like. And this is why the Bible tells us to pray for people. Just remember, you're not lonely. You're leading. Somebody came for that today. You're not lonely, you're leading. Here we go. Audacious faith advances the kingdom. There is nothing beautiful that has happened in God's plan for humanity without a human doing something audacious and God backing them up. That's why the Bible tells us in Acts 17 that people were trying to come against the disciples, and this is how they were talked about behind their back. He said, these are they who turn the world upside down. Could anybody say that your faith has flipped something in their world? Your faith has made people look at being in a marriage different. Your faith to actually love people who seem unlovable, it flips somebody's view. Let me tell you about a man I met yesterday. His name is Coop. I don't know if he's here today. Coop, you here? There's my dog right there. Y' all give it up for Coop right there. Hey, Coop, come up here real quick, man. Go that way. Let me tell you what happened yesterday. And I did. This is. I'm ending right here. I'm walking into Woodland Hills Mall, and I don't like going to the mall for real. I only go if I'm getting some dirty Chinese food or. Or I love dirty Chinese food, or my wife sends me in there for something. I'm walking out of the mall yesterday and. Come here, my brother. This is my brother, y'. All. I appreciate you. He didn't know this, but I was. I was in a moment of dealing with something personally. And I'm walking into the mall feeling a little discouraged this last night. And Coop sees me walking in as he's walking out, and he says, pastor Mike Todd. I was like, what's up? What's it going to? He's like, man, he's looking around for somebody. And I. It was like, I didn't know who he was looking for. He was just explaining, excited. And he was like, man, I watch Transformation Church every day. And now let me just say Coop was in a Harley Davidson T shirt, bald white guy. In culture standpoint, we don't exist together. But when God told us that we would be a multi ethnic, multi generational church, he didn't lie about his promise. I'm so glad you're here, bro. Oh, my God, I'm so glad you're here, bro. Okay, listen, I ain't even told the story yet. I'm getting goosebumps thinking about what God did. COUP told me. He said December, he had overdosed on Fentol several times. Multiple times daily. Multiple times daily for a month. He said he was paying somebody to stay with him to revive him. I'm not talking years ago. I'm talking about this past December. Okay? He said December 31 was the beginning of his journey of sobriety, and he's been sober since December, y'.
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Transformation Church, let's give God praise For the transformation. Coop said, y' all get ready. Coop said, all I did was watch you in this church every day. And he said, something came alive in me, and God started doing something in my faith. And he said. And he just went to encourage. I'm talking About God used YouTube yesterday to encourage me to get back up here and walk in. The audacity and the authority that he's given me. I wrote on my Instagram last night, I preach for Coop. I don't preach for haters. I don't preach for critics. I preach for Coop. For every person that's lost and broken, for every person that is needing a word. I preach. Preach for Coop. Now look at the cool thing that happened. I got goosebumps telling this story, y'. All. Coop leaves the mall. I walk into the mall, I get my dirty Chinese food. And as I'm standing there, the Holy Spirit says, because Coop gave me this little bitty piece of information. He said, man, my day has just changed. Because, man, I just sad. I just lost my Oakley shades. I was trying on something, but today, now, God will provide. I'm in here now, and it's all good. I'm getting to meet you. And he just said it, by the way. And the Holy Spirit, I saw him leave. I go in and the Holy Spirit says, go to the Oakley store. If Coop is in there, I want you to buy him the glasses he lost. And I'm like, lord, I saw him. He was going towards the parking lot as I was going into the mall. I walk to the Oakley store, and there is one person in the entire store. Cool. Now watch. It took audacious faith for me to walk from that Chinese food place. Every step I took. See, you don't count it. Faith. But I had no guarantee. I saw him leave, and God was testing my faith. Would you just obey me? You don't know what's on the other side of this. And Coop, I come in there and tell him. I say, coop, I'm replacing your glasses. Coop said, oh, my God. Glory to God. And. And. And watch. It wasn't for me to replace the glasses. Coop started testifying to the young lady, Alexis, behind the counter. He said, I gotta tell you this story. I was overdosing on fentanyl, But God had me, y' all watching Transformation to deal. Now, who this? He changed my life, y'. All. The young lady, Alexis, she's watching right now from the Oakley store. Me and Cooper saying hello. Now watch. She said, I know who you are. She said, my dad came in town and he watches you faithfully. When he was in town, he said, we gotta go to Transformation Church. He said, that place. I watched him every day, and it changes my life. She said, God sent y' all in here to remind me that I need to get closer to him. Coop got his glasses. We hugged three or four times. We took a picture together. I left encouraged. Coop left, seen by God. And Alexis left knowing that she needed connection with God. These are they who are about to turn the world upside down. Uh oh, you was looking for somebody else. But as long as me and coop and about 2500 more, y' all would walk in audacious faith, we go turn the world upside down. Somebody give God a shout of praise standing all over this building. Don't you tell me he can't do it. Cool. Welcome home, Coop. This is a place for the broken. This is the place for. For the loss. This is a place for those who need a savior. If you're in this place and you're saying, pastor Mike, listen, I know y' all need to. I know you think you need to leave, but listen to me for one second. Living this life without the faith that you need, it's like having this glove with no power in it. Today, if you need to put God into your life, today I want to pray for you, because this is the first act of audacious faith to allow a God who you have not seen come into your heart that you feel you know very well and to transform your life. I know you're broken because I was. I know you're hurting because I was. I know you might be addicted to something because I was. But today I'm here as a testimony to let you know that God can take whatever has been causing you dis ease and he can heal you and to make you whole. Today, if you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, today I want you to walk in audacious faith. And I want you on the count of three, just to lift your hand up. Ain't nobody going to judge you. Ain't nobody about to put you on front street and be like, what are all the sins you've done? Ain't nobody. Because if we start, like, sin comparison, ooh wee, your boy is gonna be number one. It's even at the foot of the cross. So today, if you want to accept Jesus, today's the day. One, you're making the greatest decision of your life. Whether you're in this room or online. Today is the day of salvation. Two, I'm proud of you. And everybody's gonna cheer for you. But more than that, your name is about to be written in the Lamb's book of life. Three, if you want to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I want you to lift your hand. I see y' all right there. If it was all for you. I see y' all back there. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. And more than that, God sees you. Can we give God praise? Hey, listen, listen. If you're close to somebody, just stretch your hands toward them. And we're a family. We pray all together. Everybody just say, God, thank you for sending Jesus just for me today. In audacious faith, I put my life back in your hands. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again just for me. So here's my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I'm yours in Jesus name. Amen. Can we celebrate all over this place? So happy for you. I'm so happy for you. Hey, listen, next week is Mother's Day, and we're going to celebrate moms. And this week, I want you to go back and listen to week one and week two. Next week we got something special for you. And. And then we about to get back into this. Remember, Wednesday night is a place you can grow. Sign me up. Wednesday night is a place you can grow. Relationship goals, Stride fitness, We have a finance class, we have Bible study. We have something for your youth. We have something for your kids. If you want to grow in God, I want you to get here Wednesday night. And if you can't, for whatever reason, we will see you next week. This is going to be the best year of your life. If it's your best year spiritually, and if you need prayer for anything, our altar workers will be here at the front and at the back. And we want to walk with you, we want to pray with you, and we want to love you. Until next week, go out and live a transformed life. Hug two or three people and tell them you love them. We love you so much.
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Thank you for joining us today. If you said that prayer and accepted Jesus into your heart, it's the best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate with you, and we have some tools to help you on your journey. Text saved to 828282 and to find out more about TC Text connect to 828282. Be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Thanks for listening. Now go out and live a transformed life.