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Transformation Church
My Mode Just Changed: Need, Greed and Seed // Six Figures ( Pt 5 )// Pastor Michael Todd
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Welcome to Transformation Church podcast where we represent God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. 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. Today I have an assignment to help you understand really my favorite part about generosity, giving sowing. Last week was the one that everybody takes a big gulp on when I start talking about the tithe. And I think last week everybody got it. It was like, yeah, God's gonna give me a test. I'm gonna pass the test. Cause I'm prepared for the test. I already know every time I get increased 10%, it belongs to God. So I'm not gonna hoard what is mine. I had somebody I really love just is in her sophomore year at college. Came up to me after church out the side of the car, and she was like, pastor Mike. I was like, what? She was like, I tithed for the first time. And I mean, her family was around. Everybody was hooping and hollering. And I just went up to her and I was like, I am so proud of you. And I just started just because at that age, the principle that got into her heart at this level is going to unleash this next level that I'm about to talk about today. See, look at your neighbor and say there's levels to this. And a lot of us spend our time fighting with the basement of blessing. Oh, gosh, should I tithe? Should I give? Should I do this? The church just want my money. Da da da. You are on the basement floor of What God wants to do in the area of blessing your life today, I want to show you the future as you surrender to God and give him what you watch. This may not understand fully, but you will get an understanding as you walk in it. The whole journey of trusting God is a faith walk. And most people want a plan to walk. There's nowhere in the Bible that you find God saying, do all of these steps and then I'll show you everything. And then it will be fine because you know the outcome. He told Abraham, go to the land. I'm going to show you. Hold on, wait. I'm gonna make you the father of many nations. But I ain't got no kids. Hey, go there. Leave these people. It's always like somebody's gotta take a step of faith. And so today, I want to give you. When it comes to your finances, generosity, giving, being abundant, I want to give you what I'm calling the best way to go about walking into this level of life. And I'm gonna start with Scripture. Second Corinthians, chapter nine, verse six. Second Corinthians, chapter nine, verse six. It says, remember this? What are we supposed to do? Come on, help me preach. We're supposed to remember this. Whoever sows or gives sparingly or a little will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will reap generously. Each of you should give. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Somebody say amen. Now, most people who've been in church your whole life have never heard that scripture. Outside of offering time, nobody's actually going to preach on this scripture. So I am today. So that you can get an understanding, so that you will never be played by not knowing what the word of God is talking about. So we gonna jump right in. Verse, chapter 6, verse 1. Remember, whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly. Could you underline circle in your Bible the word whoever? Because I just need to know. I need to ask you a question. I need you to pick up the context clues. Who's the Bible talking to in this scripture? Whoever. He literally says whoever. How many people in this room qualify as a whoever if I said whoever gets to this stage first gets $1,000? No, I didn't. Sit down. What I'm saying is, at the moment I said whoever that. That would literally be based on your ability to believe. If I said all men, that would segregate or if I said all, all short people, depending on the height, that would segregate other people. If I. If I say. But the Lord really wants everybody to get that the principle he's about to share is for. Whoever. So this is the point. I want you to put down whoever can sow whatever. Today I have to focus on the thing that distracts many believers from giving. Because a lot of people don't give. Because you said there are people who don't serve God and go against God and people who do debauchery and they live on the world. And why are they so blessed? Because they picked up the principle. They're a whoever. The reason I'm telling you this is because this principle works even if you are not connected to God. Oh, my gosh. The reason I have to tell you this is because people have used the Bible to fear you into serving God. And today I want to extract all fear out of giving. God literally says about this one principle on giving. I don't care who you are and I don't care what you do. If you put this principle into play, it'll work in your life. And the crazy thing is, people who don't believe in God work a principle made for his children. And we still up here fighting about the semantics of things. And we're not walking in the abundant life that he put out here for you. But he said, whoever believes this, whoever walks in this whole whoever gets this, they get the promise. Look at your neighbor and say, you're a whoever. Whoever gets this principle gets the promise. So I want you to get this, please. Whoever includes your haters, whoever includes people who hurt you, whoever gets this principle includes the people that live like hell. It does not matter. Somebody shout at me, whoever. So why not you? If whoever can work this principle, why not you? So the first thing God's telling us is, whoever sows like this is going to reap like this. What is the way that they sow? If they sow a little, they're getting a little back. News flash, it works even if you do it at the smallest level. Whoever so sparingly still gets back sparingly, but they still got something back. And whoever sows generously or largely, they get back at the same level. What I'm trying to tell you is if sowing works, if seed works, why don't you do it? And I can't be the one to qualify if you do or not. But what I'm saying is a farmer never has to prove he sowed seed. A farmer never has to convince you. All he has to do is show you the harvest. There's so many believers like, I promise I'll sow the seed. I promise, I promise I'll sow good things. I promise I got it. And it's like, where is your harvest? Where is the trees? Where is the fruit? Where is. Where is it? And the truth of the matter is, many people have not fully believed in the word of God and the principles. And so what I wanted to tell you is I don't want God to make a principle for his kids that his kids don't work. And then people who don't even know our Father work the principle, and they're living in the blessing that we should have. Because whoever works this principle gets the promise of the principle. Okay, so then it goes to verse seven. It says each of you should. Could you just put it on the screen? It said each of you should give. Let's stop right there. Write this point down. Giving is a duh to God. Did y' all hear what I just said? Giving is a duh. Y' all got it. Yo's like, what are you talking? Giving is a duh. He's watch this. He's assuming that you already know as a believer, this is what we do. So he's telling you each of you should give. Oh, what you've already decided to give. Because he's not trying to convince you to do what the normal practice is of people who do what we do. That would be like a basketball player being like, do we dribble? Duh. Do we shoot the ball? Duh, do we play in pants or shorts? Put your shorts on and come. The only people who would ask those type of questions are people who were unfamiliar with the pattern of whatever we're talking about. There are too many people that when God tells us that we're supposed to give, we act shocked. What me, God, you know what I'm dealing with? He's like, hold on, wait, wait, wait, wait. If you're a believer, you should already get it in your mind. I give. I'm not just talking about money, time, treasure, connections, energy, effort, encouragement. What is your giving record this past week? I'm not talking about to a church, a non profit or organization. I'm just talking about your giving. What was your giving record this week? The reason why I'm saying this is because the natural. Watch this. The natural state of a believer should be one of generosity. Me and my friend was talking before service, and the comment came out this. I need people to stop saying they serve God and they love God and they'll do anything for God and they never give. You can't. You can't. You have to. For God so loved the world that he. It's one of his natural characteristics. And people, I'll do anything for God except what he did for all of us. The reason I'm saying this is. It sounds elementary. Watch this. But it's affecting people's eternity because people are here trying to figure out, why would God ask me to do this? And I'm trying to tell you, when God tells you to give, he tells you to give a certain way. Pastor Mike, break it down to me just a little more. He said, verse 7. Each of you should give. Watch this. What you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves. What type of giver? A cheerful giver. This is why giving is supposed to be a duh. Because in Matthew. You can go read it. Chapter six. I think it starts in verse two, but you gotta read the whole thing. It says, Jesus is talking. He says, when you give, when you pray, when you fast, these are three things. If the giving's taking you off too much, I need to let you know God expects every one of his children to. To at some point, fast, pray, and give. Not if you give, if you pray, or if you fast. When you do. Okay, self evaluate. When's the last time you fasted? You prayed and you gave. There are not many things that God is saying. This is a prerequisite for you walking in the way that I have called you to walk. And so I need you to understand church. We have to get it into our minds that my disposition is generosity. That's who I am. I'm generous. I don't have a lot to give right now, but I'm. What? Generous. I can give what I got. All I have is all I need. I'm out here about to bless somebody's socks off. And by socks, I mean this $5 is about to really turn somebody's day upside down. No, I'm. Cause generosity is not about an amount. Generosity is about a heart posture. It is about, hold on, what can I do? How can I do it? Where am I at? What do I got in my closet? How many of these pins do I have? How many of these sandals do I have? How much time could I give to somebody? That lady's yard that you've been complaining about needs to be mowed for six weeks. Go mow it, somebody. I'm about to call the people on him. You about to call the people on a person you've never even talked to yet. The Bible tells us we're supposed to love our neighbor. Take your dusty lawnmower over to that. Don't ask them. There has never been in the history of Everett as somebody that you just start mowing their lawn and they gonna cuss you out. Never in the history. Well, is there a lawn? I don't want to trespass. They will let you trespass to mow their lawn. But if your heart is not set on giving, you didn't start a business just to keep the lights on. You're here to sell more today than yesterday. You're here to win. 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You won't give your time to that. You won't give your sweat to that. You won't give. And God's saying, I need you to be like me and watch this. I need you to decide before it's time to give. Uh oh. This is where people get in trouble. Right here, write this down. You can't be manipulated when your mind's already made up. Me and my wife decided a long time ago. I showed you y' all that gray book that I talked about our finances being able to change as we honored God and put out our budget and wrote everything down and put our tithe there and all this other stuff. God has continued to increase us in different ways. But one of the things that me and my wife had to learn is like our disposition on giving because we have now become so generous in our giving that we gotta Check with each other. Cause sometimes it gets reckless. And when I say reckless, I mean it's reckless. Like it's like at the moment she'll look at somebody or see something or feel something in her spirit. And she was like, I think we're supposed to do this for such and such. And I was like, whoa, that's crazy because God told me he was supposed to do this for such and such. And she was like, whoa. Did he tell us at the same time we're supposed to do this? And why I'm saying this is we've already decided, talked about, prayed through, started to wade through, looked at our budget before it's time. The reason why people get manipulated and feel like people are trying to get something from them is because they're undecided. And a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. But you can't be decided on something you've never thought about. And most people don't think about giving. So when it comes to your thing, God's like, hey, one of the things I need you to pray for is what you're supposed to give. And I need you to pray it before you're supposed to give. Because when you know what God said before, you're not swayed. My question to you today, I got a lot of questions. When's the last time you asked God, what am I supposed to give before? Before offering, before somebody has a need, before. There are things that I have planned for, things that I currently have. Like I currently have them. Mo you already know this. I've told the people close to me. I was like, yeah, when I'm done with this, I'm giving this to so and so done. I've already planned it in my head. I'm still using it right now. And I'm taking good care of it right now. But when I'm done with this, I've already watch this. Sent my seed. My seed is like a missile. My seed has to be directed. My seed is something that I place in places for a future. So even though I'm here right now, I'm sending my seed somewhere. My question is, when's the last time you prayed? God? Where am I supposed to send this seed? When I'm done with these shoes, what am I supposed to who's supposed to wear these? Father, when I'm done with this house, who am I supposed to give it to? God, When I'm done driving this car, who am I supposed to sew this into? God, what am I supposed to do with what you've placed in my hand and listen to me. I'm trying to give you the secrets. If you don't pray about it before you have 2 responses to Clench up in fear or to give frivolously. And I have to say this because there are people who have given what they needed to keep because they were poor stewards. I gotta say this because there are some churches you go to and be like, give the light bill, give the thing, give the thing and get a thing. And now that person is destitute on the street, nowhere to go. And they felt like they were doing it in faith, but what they were doing it was in out of order. There was no priority to what was happening. Now this is where you got to check your priorities because some of the things that we're calling essential are actually luxuries. So if God is calling you and asking you to do something, you have to evaluate God. What are you asking me to do? What are you asking me to cut off? What are you asking me to give up fourth season so that I can honor you? The reason I'm saying this is because God will require what you have, but he will never require what you don't. Oh God. And there are people that think maybe this is what God wants for me is just to be broken white around the mouth and begging. No. But he does want you to figure out your budget and he does want you to know how much debt you have. And he does want you to stop door dashing when you could get up and go pick up that Taco Bell. Oh, come on, y'. All. Okay. I see the resistance. Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? Because if you never think about what you're gonna give, watch. It's hard to see it come out in your hand if it hasn't started being thought about in your head. Cause the progression is it goes to my head, maybe I can give this. Then it drops to my heart. God, is this what you're asking me to give? Then it comes out in my hand. Here it is. God. Most people want to start with their hand. Well, I got it. Uh huh. And your head's like, why did we do that? We don't have enough money to do that. Where in the world is that coming from? And God says he's not a God that just wants you to do. Think about it. Think about it and I'll show you. And it'll drop to your heart. And then you will move by faith and it'll come out in your hand. So this is what I need everybody to Understand? Scripture is giving us the playbook. Don't give under manipulation. Do not give. If you feel like your arm is being twisted, do not. Y' all ain't never heard no pastor say this. I'm trying to. Do not give anything. If you feel like somebody's trying to lean on you emotionally, Even your family. Oh, you thought I was talking about the church. Oh. Because the problem is most of you are in financial ruin because you helping somebody that won't help themselves. Okay, he's giving you principles that are supposed to help your whole life. Not just everybody want to use it when it comes to the church, but you don't use it concerning. Baby, you paying for this young man's stuff? Are you paying for this young lady's stuff? You flying somebody out. You paying for this thirst trap on Instagram. You paying for all of these different things. And you don't ever have no pressure or no problem giving to them. You look so strong, Big Daddy. What you mean? Ain't worked out in 10 years. What you mean? Oh, this whole thing strong. Stop. I'm trying. I'm trying to teach you. Don't you give to that with manipulation. If you know somebody's praying on your weakness right now. If you know they. That, oh, I just have a God there. Some of us are suckers for sad stories. Y' all know. Y'. All. Y' all know who y' all are. Y' all know that. Y' all always give to them little puppies that come on, like, with the eyes of the angel. And all they put is them sick dogs on there. And you like, $9.99. Y' all know that's manipulation. They know they don't put no healthy dogs on there. All them dogs. All. Every dog. Every dog ain't been given no water. Get a dog some water. But they do that on purpose. Why? Because if I can prey on their emotions for a second, maybe I can get something out of God's telling you. I don't care if it's at church, if it's at your house, if it's at the family reunion, if your cousin is in jail. Do not give if there's manipulation involved. I'm trying to give you a principle that will work whether you believe or not. Okay? What does it say to give? You should already decide it. You got a brother or cousin or a son in jail, you should decide. This is how much money I'm gonna give them till they get out before they start asking God. I'm trying to save your family. You should Decide. I'm gonna put $500 so I can do it at $50. An increment, I can do that. $1 increment, I can do. But you should decide. And don't tell them. Wisdom. I'm saying that. Decide. Pastor Mike, why are you going so hard on this? Because when you give to the wrong thing out of the wrong motive, you don't have what you need to give to the right thing when God asks you. I'm trying to save you from not being ready to sow when God tells you to. Okay. All right, here we go. So. So, so. So write this down. You shouldn't make up your mind in the moment when it comes to giving. You should never make up your mind in the moment. At the end of the year, every year, we give an offering. We call it a crazy faith offering. And we give. I'm telling you right now, you should start praying in May. God, what is the gift that me and my family are supposed to give in December so you don't have to think, oh, shoot, it's December. It's Christmas time. Is this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm telling you in May. I'm gonna tell you again in October. I'm gonna tell you because I don't want anybody in this church to ever feel that there is an ounce of pressure when it comes to give. Why? Because God wants cheerfully. This is the attitude. Write this down. The attitude is greater than the amount. The attitude of giving is more valuable to God than the amount of your giving. And most people usually give with an attitude. Okay, here God, finally. And God was like, I don't want that. I would rather you give and be excited, skipping, cheerful about it, knowing my character as a good father, than to feel like I'm taking something from you. And today, I need you to understand. There was a woman in the Bible that gave two mites, and Jesus is there. All the big ballers is out dropping. They making it rain and throwing stacks. And God calls the disciples over, and you say, you see that woman right there? I'm Kiana. And I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like, I can't stop. I'm addicted Start your free trial@shopify.com this
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episode sponsored by Forkfull. Most meal delivery services promise healthy food, but look closer and you'll often find cheap industrial seed oils hiding in the ingredients. Forkful does things differently. Forkful delivers chef prepared meals made with premium ingredients you'd expect at a great restaurant. From center cut filet mignon to wild caught lobster Mac and cheese. And every meal is 100% seed oil free. Instead of canola or soybean oil, Forkful chefs cook with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and grass fed butter. Because better fats make better food. Meals arrive fresh, never frozen, with clear nutrition and ingredient transparency so you always know exactly what you're eating. Restaurant quality meals, real ingredients, no seed oils. Discover forkful today@forkfulmeals.com she just gave two mites.
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And they're like. So he's like, but the attitude in which she's given this is sacrificial. This ain't about amounts. He said, Anywhere the gospel is talked about, this woman is going to be remembered. Why? It was because of her attitude of giving, not the amount of giving. Today, what I'm trying to do is teach you that God wants your attitude to be one that is cheerful. But we have to get into the right idea and thought processes about giving. I'm just a giver. This is what I do. It's how I show up. It's how I wake up. It's how I go to sleep every day. And y' all are saying, pastor Mike, that's so easy for you to say. I got proof. When I was younger and didn't have nothing, I've always been. I decided. Watch this. I decided to be giver. Pastor Mike, how do you decide? Decide. Y' all try to make stuff so spiritual, but the truth of the matter is, today you could decide I'm gonna be the most generous person I know. Think about it. Who's the most generous person you know? Think about it in your head. Somebody say it. Me. Would anybody else say that? The question is, would anybody else say you're the most generous person? If you have multiple people bragging on you that they're like that when you're not in the room, they are so generous. They, wow, you're starting to get into the territory. Watch this. That speaks Jesus, no matter what room you're in. Okay, okay. All right. Some of y' all want to go in there. And you're selfish. And every time you come into the room, you suck all the energy. You give nothing. Y' all know them people that I'm talking about. What would happen if everywhere you go you've been filled up so much that you gotta give it out, that there's so much abundance on the inside of you that some of this got to fall off of me because I don't even need all of this. Okay, the last part of this verse 8, it says, and God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things. I love this language. At all times, having all that you need, you will abound or be abundant in every good work. That's the promise of a sower. If you sow all things, all times, all needs met, there's not a better deal on the market. When you look at the word of God, he says, this is how I want my children to live. This is the point that I want you to get from right here. The reason why is sowing interrupts every atmosphere. Sowing interrupts every atmosphere right now. If I was a farmer and I showed you barren land. Barren land. If you got a picture of that, just throw it up on the screen. If I showed you barren land right now, most people would look at this and and see nothing. But a farmer with faith with a bag of seed sees nothing but space and opportunity. Why? Because all I need is some land if I have seed. All I need is soil. If I have seed. Some of you are looking at a situation that looks like this right now. And God's saying what we gon do? And you like God send the rain. Even if I send it, you ain't got no seed in the ground. Okay, let me come over here. The seed will only be activated when it's in the ground. That's when he has to send the rain. But some of God do a miracle. You ain't so nothing. Now I wasn't great at math, but anything times 0,765,672,000 times 0 is 0. I got an A on that test when we did zero times table. Killed it, killed it. That's the multiplication many of us are doing right now. We're saying, God, multiply it. And he said, you have not sown any seed. But a farmer with faith, a person like you with crazy faith, all you got to do is have some seed some time. And guess what there will be put up. What a harvest looks like in this same place. I need you to see what your life is about to look like. Somebody by faith needs to see this. You've been sowing seeds for such a long time, you've made up Your mind. I'm going to keep giving even if I don't see anything. The seasons have not fully changed yet. But this is about to be my lifestyle. Go back to the other one. But at one point that looked like this. It takes faith to sow seed when it looks like this. Genesis 8, 22 says, as long as the earth remains, there will be seed time. And then what? Harvest. Sow the seed. Just decide I'm a sow. Pastor Mike, are you making me a promise? I'm not making you a promise. God's making you a promise. I ain't got nothing. I'm trying to do this myself. I don't got nothing for you except to tell you what the word says. And then me and Natalie and our four kids going to try to live this out. And we have been living it out. And I'm telling you it works. I have empirical data that my life used to look dry like this. And I need everybody to help me. I need to help you understand. It didn't happen. Sometimes I hate being a pastor because people think the things work in my life because of my position. There are people that think, well, I guess you got it because you're the pastor. No, you don't understand. I don't have a special access point to obeying God that gets me ahead of the line. I gotta actually do this stuff. And it's more pressure because if I'm telling you it worked and it ain't working on my life, it's really a lie if I can't preach nothing that ain't real. So I learned this for myself. And today I just see so many people that are trying to figure out, does God really honor his word? And I'm trying to tell you he ducks if your life looks like this. So if you've hit a plateau, so whatever area you're in, you might have a lot. But if you hit a plateau, so and your situation changes, okay, this is how we're going to end this.
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I need to acknowledge something this episode sponsored by Forkful. Most meal delivery services promise healthy food. But look closer and you'll often find cheap industrial seed oils hiding in the ingredients. Forkful does things differently. Forkful delivers chef prepared meals made with premium ingredients you'd expect at a great restaurant. From center cut filet mignon to wild caught lobster Mac and cheese. And every meal is 100% seed oil free. Instead of canola or soybean oil, Forkful chefs cook with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and grass fed butter. Because better fats make better food Meals Arrive fresh, never frozen, with clear nutrition and ingredient transparency so you always know exactly what you're eating. Restaurant quality meals Real ingredients, no seed oils Discover forkful today@forkfulmeals.com this episode sponsored by Ridwell Doing the right thing shouldn't be so hard. But when it comes to recycling, it often is. Ridwell makes it simple to recycle more from anywhere. With Ridwell, you can recycle plastic bags, snack wrappers, pill bottles, bottle caps, and other items your curbside bin doesn't take. And unlike most recycling programs, Ridwell carefully
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Start today@ridwell.com it's hard to sow when you're in the wrong mode. Okay, just everybody hear me. A lot of us are in modes that make it hard for us to do what God has told us to do. In my car recently, I found a different mode. I was looking at my car and it has this button that says off road mode. And it looked like it's going up a hill and I just hit it one day and I was on the regular street and it started driving differently. All the wheels started doing something and then I saw there was a fast mode and then I saw there was a cruise mode and then I just started hitting all the modes. And what I realized is that the modes were a one button touch, a one button decision to change my car into a totally different way of maneuvering the terrain. And I said, could it be that a lot of believers are just in the wrong mode when it comes to giving? And today I'm gonna give you three modes that you may be in today that I need you to potentially shift or change your mode in three so modes. Okay? Identify yourself. The first one is need mode. If you're in need mode, welcome to Human. You're born needing things. Need mode is our default setting. Watch this and need mode is defined watch this by survival. If everything in your life you're trying to survive right now, you're always in need mode. Think about it. It's hard to be able to give when you're always in need mode. And that mindset thrives on fear when you're in need mode. Ah, maybe we're going to run out. Need more. Who's going to help me if need mode? It didn't work last time. So how are we going to. When you're thinking like this, you literally limit what God can do through you. But if all you ever do is need, watch this. You become one. That is a consumer mindset. Everywhere you walk into, you're trying to see, what can I get? What you gonna do for me? How is this gonna benefit for me? And then it starts to affect your relationships, your relationship to become, what can you do for me? Your faith becomes, how does this benefit me? And right now, I need everybody to switch modes. If you're in a need mode, I need you to switch modes, because this mode ends up in greed mode. I don't know where you're at. You may be in need mode. And if you're in need mode, the international sign of need mode is, could you give me something? This also is the sign that children make all the time. Because when you come out, when you're in a place where you don't understand, you always are looking up for somebody to give something more to you. So when you come into rooms, give me more. I need something. What I'm saying is, it's okay if you're there. You don't have to stay there. A seed can interrupt that cycle. And if you don't check this right here, it turns into greed mode. Let me tell you what greed mode is. Greed mode is a mode that thrives on scarcity. So a lot of people think greedy is about rich people. Because if I say, who's greedy? You would think of probably somebody that got a lot of money. The truth of the matter is you can be greedy with barely a little bit because you. It's all about me being in control with what I got. And it thrives on scarcity. And I know there are people in here that's like, Pastor Mike, you don't know my story. What I'm telling you is you can change it. You can change your relationship with money. You can change your relationship with finances. You can change your relationship with stewardship. You can change your relationship with generosity by just switching modes. You don't have to live in need mode. You don't have to live in greed mode. What I want you to live in is seed mode 1. Switch seed mode. Pastor Mike, what's seed mode? Oh, seed mode. It thrives on faith. It looks at what you have and says, what can I do with this? Do you know you don't need any more than you have right now to live in seed mode today? You could flip right now sitting in this chair, Seed mode. I'm going to give something away every day this week. I dare you to try it. I dare you to give one thing away every day this week. It doesn't even have to be a actual object. You could say, I'm giving 30 minutes to help somebody do a task they are having trouble doing every day this week. And just at the thought of it right now, some of y' all just got mad at me. My week, my day. Pastor. Need mode, Greed mode, or what? Seed mode. Once you get in seed mode, there's beautiful things that happen. The Bible says God gives seed to the sower. Hold on, wait. So the prerequisite for more seed is a decision to already sow. So right now, you could qualify yourself for more seed by just sitting in your chair and saying, God, I'm going to sow. And God's like, all right, send them seed. I saw that they've decided to sow. Do you know how powerful that is? That right now I'm going to bring it to a really natural example. If you decided, I want Olive Garden in your heart right now, and at the moment you decided somebody came from the back and handed you Olive Garden, you would be thinking all kinds of thoughts. I want ice cream. And then at the moment you thought somebody brought you ice cream, I want abs. And then somebody brought from the back. Think. But think about the power of what God is saying. All you would have to do is decide. I really want to bless that family before they go back to school. Before that family goes back to school, I really want to be able to buy all their kids supplies and buy them kids backpacks and shoes. That's three months away. God, I would really. I would really. Even if I can't do the whole thing, God, I would really like to be a part of blessing this family before they go back to school. At the moment you decided that in your heart, guess what starts happening? Send the seed. Because they've decided to sow church. When you get this, it changes everything. It removes idols. Pastor Mike, why are you saying that? Because the only other place that God compared himself to anything was when it came to money. He said, I just need to let y' all know something real quick. This is why I gotta deal with this. You can't serve me and serve money. Because he knew the human heart would be in tension to believe God or believe money. Because some of y' all have said, either God needs to come through or I just need some more money. You still need God to come through if you got all the money in the world. Do y' all hear What I'm saying, Pastor Mike, you've been on this because I want you to get it. Don't live in need mode. Don't live in greed mode. Live in seed mode. And I'm just gonna get this to all the real crazy people. There's one more level that wasn't in the notes. It's beast mode. Now, don't tell nobody, but this is for the people who to tithe. They know that's the basement. And when they get in the offerings, like, yeah, I live in seed mode. I give. But then there's another level of giving, because there's levels to this. It's called sacrificial offerings. And I'm just telling you about it. You can read through it all in the Bible, but one of the greatest places that it's seen is with Solomon and Ecclesiastes. Or. No, no, no, no. This was in First Kings when. When. When God, it was customary for there to be one bull sacrificed to God. And at the moment that it was time to sacrifice the bull, everybody else did one. Solomon did a thousand. The requirement was one. His offering was a thousand. This moved God so much that he came to Solomon in a dream that night. He was like, what you want, bro? I was really expecting you to do 1, 2, 5. What you want? One of the only places in the Bible where we see God literally coming to somebody say, tell me what you want. Because I saw my heart. I saw a heart that could handle abundance. I saw a heart that was not just trying to give the basic. I saw a heart that looked like mine. What do you want? And then watch how gangster Solomon is. Is. He says, God, all I need is wisdom to govern your people. God was like, no, you didn't. No, you didn't just ask for wisdom. No, you didn't. He got excited again because he could have used that moment. Moment to be greedy. He could have. If God comes to you and says, what do you want? Okay. I'm so glad you asked. Let's you upset. Come on, y'.
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All.
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I am so glad you asked. List. What was Solomon's request? What I need to help them give me wisdom to govern your people. It was an act of generosity. I'm not gonna use this moment to hoard something to me. I need to get what I need so I can give them what they need. And God was like, you know what? Because I see my reflection in you. I'm not begging you. I'm not taking nothing from you. You really want this because you want to be generous. He said, now I'm going to bless you with the wisdom and I'm going to give you all the resources. There is a, there's a beast mode to sowing that has nothing to do with what God requires. It has everything to do with you trying to respond to God's goodness. And one day I'll do a whole series on it because it's gonna have to be people who ready for this level. But there is a level that you get to where the harvest overtakes the sowing, where you start telling other people, somebody come and get some of this, dad. There's a level that you can get to where you saying, my boat's sinking too many fish. If I keep getting this type of load, I'm gonna drown with all of this. Some my competition, come get some of this. Some of y' all businesses is gonna be so blessed you're gonna be able to call your competition. Y' all don't hear me? Some of y' all are about to walk in abundance. You're going to be able to tell your neighbors, hey, I can't deal with all. I don't even. I can't manage all of this. Oh God. I just decided I want to be accused of abundance. If I'm guilty of something, I want to be guilty of giving. I want to be blasted for blessing people. You want to blast me for something? That boy always blessing somebody. What if that was the disposition of God's people? That's what we were known for. Forget everybody. That's what you was known for.
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This episode sponsored by Forkfull. Most meal delivery services promise healthy food, but look closer and you'll often find cheap industrial seed oils hiding in the ingredients. Forkful does things differently. Forkful delivers chef prepared meals made with premium ingredients you'd expect at a great restaurant. From center cut filet mignon to wild caught lobster Mac and cheese. And every meal is 100% seed oil free. Instead of canola or soybean oil, Forkful chefs cook with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and grass fed butter. Because better fats make better food. Meals arrive fresh, never frozen, with clear nutrition and ingredient transparency so you always know exactly what you're eating. Restaurant quality meals, Real ingredients, no seed oils. Discover forkful today@forkfulmeals.com if mornings feel harder than they should, your sleep might be the reason. The original bamboo sheets by Cariloha create five star comfort that helps you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper. Thanks to the natural cooling soft benefits of Cariloha bamboo fabrics. No tossing no overheating, just the kind of sleep that helps you wake up clearer, calmer, and ready to go. It's resort level relaxation that turns every night into a reset for your body and mind. Start tomorrow feeling better than today. Shop Caraloha bamboo sheets now@cariloha.com that's C-A-R-I L O H A dot com. And wake up to better mornings every morning.
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Today I asked the Holy Spirit how I was supposed to end this message. And something really awesome came and fell into my lap. This right here is somebody's faith from prison. Many of you know that we have a partnership with God behind bars. And we have put a significant investment in providing inmates all over the world who the Bible many times calls the least of these, those who are forgotten about. We want them to have a way to connect with God and people on the outside. And so we've bought hundreds, if not thousands of tablets through the generosity and giving of people in this church. And it's going into prisons all over the country. I was on a call with the people from God behind bars and they were telling us all the stats. And these beautiful people who made bad mistakes and ended up in jail, some of them for life, are still souls that God cares about. I thought I was going to get more amens than that. And these people write in, send us letters, tell us how the message has transformed their life. And I got this. I'm gonna not say the name, but a young man that was in prison heard a message similar to this and decided to start honoring God with a tithe and an offering off of the money that was coming in from his family for a commissary. Now listen to me say this to you. Listen to me say this to you. So impacted by the revelation and how many years. He just didn't know. His whole thing is, I just didn't know. Nobody told me, like. And he saw the scriptures and went through. He was like, I'm going to honor God. And now if you don't know what commissary is, this is where people literally send you money. And then you can get like Twinkies and ramen noodles and all this other stuff. It's their only, like, exciting thing that they can do. And some people, it's like this. What'd you say? Bricks. Bricks. Ritz crackers. Okay, bricks, whatever. That was some prison talk. I don't know what he said. Text me later. But what I'm saying is, people, people, people. This is their enjoyment in prison. This is $2, 50 cents. Hear what I'm saying? And this person wrote the letter and basically said, I want to live how God asked me to live, and this is my faith. Step in walking this out and put this in an envelope and sent a letter to the church with $2.50. This brother lives in seed mode because it wasn't about an amount. This was his faith. And today this is going on ground and for somebody else, you're going to be able to give $2,000 and $2,500, and it wouldn't even matter. But what if we all got into seed mode and said, God, I'm gonna honor you at the top. That's yours already. But I'm gonna ask you beforehand, what do you want me to give? How often do you want me to give? What you want me to do? God, open my eyes to see like a farmer, to know that every seed that goes in has to produce fruit. It interrupts every atmosphere. I have gone into places where I know I was hated and I sowed a seed, and it changed the whole atmosphere in that room where, you know your co workers don't like. You bring coffee every Thursday. Just bring it. I'm just saying maybe you could interrupt the things that are happening in that atmosphere if you thought more like God. Standing all over this building. This morning, I was reminded of. I fly a lot. And when I fly, one of the most. One of the most troubling things about flying is going through the security checkpoint. And I don't know if you've ever flown there, but part of it is you have to think about what you have on. You got to think about if your shoes got metal in it. You got to think about if you had a surgery and your knee got a screw in it. You got to think about all these other things. And to bypass all of that, there's this thing called TSA PreCheck. And if you get TSA PreCheck, what you do basically is you send all your information ahead, and they know where to find you if anything is wrong. And the goal of actually going through TSA is to be able to go through it without getting stopped. My friend and I were talking earlier, and he said the goal in heaven is to go through the TSA before you get to heaven and not get stopped because you've already emptied everything out. Think about it. Think about it. The thing is going to beep in heaven for many of us. Deep, deep, deep. Oh, you got so much still. Beep, beep, beep. You like, I'm. I'm coming and it's still, he said, that can't come in here. Don't store up for yourselves on this earth. Some of y' all are trying to take stuff. When you get to heaven, you can't take it through. So the goal is to sow as much. The international sign for those who are in need. Is this the ones who are in greed? Is this the ones who are in seed? Because when we get to heaven, he said, what did you do with what I gave you? How many families did you help? How many lives did you transform? How many people did you send on missions trips? How many churches did you build? How many neighbors did you help? I want to be found guilty of giving. That means that I might need to switch my mode. If you're in this room and you might need to switch your mode from need mode or greed mode into seed mode or even beast mode, I want you to lift your hands all over this place and all of us have a place that we can grow and journey to. Father, in the name of Jesus, you see us, you know us, you made us. And today, God, I thank you that there was some revelation shared that could help all of us move into another level of generosity. Father, there is no pressure, there is no offering, there is no moment right now that we're asking for anything. God, I'm asking that you would speak to us clearly and move us out of a fear mindset or a scarcity mindset into abundance. God, I thank you that we can start living by faith when it comes to our finances right now with those bills on the table, with that student loan lingering, with all the things that you already know. Father, God, thank you that we're moving into a mindset that switches to we will be just like you. We will be ones who give over and over and over and over again. Give us faith like a farmer. Let us be able to see dry and barren land and be able to see the future because of the seed that we possess in our hand. And God, I thank you that your children know your voice and a stranger they will not listen to make us abundant. Not for a show, not for people to be drawn to us, but so people can be drawn to you. Father, God, today we're asking you to do a work in our hearts so that we can be made more like you. Jesus name, even in this same mode, I want you to know that God never asks you for anything without giving to you first. So if you're in this room and you've never received Jesus, I want you to know that he already gave his son so that you could have everlasting life. If you want to know what it's like to experience overwhelming generosity, all you have to do is receive Jesus by faith. It's the thing that took me from being a manipulator addicted to pornography, a liar, a manipulator. All of those things is who I was. That was my natural state. And God said, come on, give me your heart, and I'll help you change your habits. And today, I want to give you the same invitation. I don't care if you're watching. I don't care if you was at the club last night. I don't care what you're planning to do tomorrow. I don't care if you have tons of secrets right now. God wants your heart. And I need the church to begin to pray because somebody's life is in the balance. Whether you're watching this on the Pando app or you're watching this on a rebroadcast or you're watching it six years from now, and somebody just sent you this message. Today is your day of salvation. Today I believe that God wants to introduce you to his son, Jesus, if that's you, and you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and savior, I'm telling you, it's going to set you on a journey of progression that will change your life forever. But it starts with one choice, and the choice is Jesus. If you're saying, pastor, I want to be added into that prayer on account of three, I just want you to slip your hand in the air. Whether you're in the room or you're watching online, I just want you to say, pastor, I want to be a part of that prayer. I want to make Jesus my Lord and savior. I see you, sis. Already. One, you're making the greatest decision of your life. I see you, my brother. Two, your name is is going to be written in the Lamb's book of life. Three, just shoot your hand up all over this place. I see you. I see you. Come on, T.C. more than I see you, God sees you. Glory to God. I see you, my brother. You can put your hand down. We're not going to make you confess. Hopefully one day you'll get with some community that you trust, and you can be able to share what God's doing in your life. But today, we're going to make a confession together, because at tc, we're a family. Nobody prays alone. So I want everybody just lift your hands and say, God, thank you for giving Jesus just for me today. I admit I'm a sinner and I need a savior. And I turn to you. I repent and I ask you to redeem my life. I believe you lived, you died and you rose again with all power just for me. Here's my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I'm yours forever. In Jesus name. Amen. Oh, can we celebrate with all of those? Oh, come on, T.C. that should be the loudest shout of the day. Hallelujah.
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This episode sponsored by Forkful. Most meal delivery services promise healthy food, but look closer and you'll often find cheap industrial seed oils hiding in the ingredients. Forkful does things differently. Forkful delivers chef prepared meals made with premium ingredients you'd expect at a great restaurant. From center cut filet mignon to wild caught lobster Mac and cheese. And every meal is 100% seed oil free. Instead of canola or soybean oil, Forkful chefs cook with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and grass fed butter. Because better fats make better food. Meals arrive fresh, never frozen, with clear nutrition and ingredient transparency so you always know exactly what you're eating. Restaurant quality meals, real ingredients, no seed oils. Discover forkful today@forkfulmeals.com this episode sponsored by Marathon Sports. Runners know the feeling. That moment when the shoe disappears, your stride feels smooth, your breathing settles in and the run just clicks. That's what marathon sports has been helping runners find for over 50 years. At marathon Sports, their expert team uses the right fit process to match you with shoes and gear built for the way your body actually moves. No guesswork, no generic recommendations, just real guidance from people who live and breathe running. Whether you're training for your next marathon, getting back into running or chasing a better everyday run, Marathon Sports helps you find what works for you. Visit marathonsports.com or stop into a marathon sports store today and experience the difference the right fit can make. This episode sponsored by Forkfull. Most meal delivery services promise healthy food, but look closer and you'll often find cheap industrial seed oils hiding in the ingredients. Forkful does things differently. Forkful delivers chef prepared meals made with premium ingredients you'd expect at a great restaurant. From center cut filet mignon to wild caught lobster Mac and cheese. And every meal is 100% seed oil free. Instead of canola or soybean oil, Forkful chefs cook with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and grass fed butter. Because better fats make better food. Meals arrive fresh, never frozen, with clear nutrition and ingredient transparency so you always know exactly what you're eating restaurant quality meals. Real ingredients, no seed oils. Discover Forkful today at forkfulmeals. Com.