Faith to Follow_ Crowds or Clouds __ Recalculating (Part 3)

0:00 So today we are starting part three of a series that we are in called Recalculating. Everybody say Recalculating. And we've been in this series and it's almost been like a revision series kind of because every January we do vision for our church and this January we're going to do vision for our church. But God has been doing so much so quickly that I felt as the leader of this church that we have to be able to see this vision because God still wants to do some things in the last 70 some odd days of this year. It's not over yet. 2018 is not over yet. And I believe that God wants to do some things in this year, but we have to get everybody say a vision. And I really believe that as God gives vision for this house, it's something that's supposed to spark vision for your house. Like God doesn't want to do something for the organization of the church and not do it through the organism, the church.

0:57 like I want you to know God doesn't want this blessed he wants you blessed and if a bunch of blessed people come here guess what the church is blessed do y'all hear what I'm saying and everybody thinks it's the other way around but we have to get a vision for what God wants to do in our life and and the thing I need everybody to understand is vision is not sight vision is not what I see right now vision is what I see when my eyes are closed my question to you is what do you see what has God shown you when your eyes are closed? Even though your marriage is jacked up now, do you have a vision of it whole? Even though you do not have the money you need to go to school right now, do you have a vision of you graduating? See, God has never done anything off of sight. He does everything off of vision. And many of us are only looking at what we see. and God said would you close your eyes and get in my presence and let me give you a vision and this is why vision is so important look at Proverbs 29 18 it's been kind of our anchor scripture through this whole recalculating series if people can't see what God is doing they stumble all over themselves that's what some of y'all came in for right there past 15 years of your life has been stumbling because you ain't got a vision and you stumble all over yourself when you don't see what God is doing. It says, but when they attend or they participate in, or they pay attention to what God reveals, they are most, everybody say blessed. That's what God wants for every person's life is for you to be most blessed. But being most blessed is attached to a clear vision.

2:34 And so if you're in debt right now, it's okay. Close your eyes and get a clear vision of you paying off your student loan like some of the some people can't even clap for it they're just like you don't know how much i owe pastor you have no idea i'm gonna be paying that until my kids kids but you will if you don't get a vision and and so i want to bring clearly to you the vision of transformation church and kind of what I really believe that God is doing in this place. And we've been talking about how God is recalculating us. Some of you know that 10 months ago, our church was a family church. It was a very small church. It was like, this was all the people who came a year ago. This is our third week of doing five services. And let me tell you why that's important. Five is the number of grace.

3:32 And I believe that God changed the pace. That's what we talked about the first week. And he's given us grace to do this. And this is just the beginning of what God wants to do. He wants to do something strong through this church. But the thing that I'm realizing is that when God is doing something quickly and he brings us into a bamboo season where we've been under for about three and a half years, and all of a sudden God has just started to grow us and grow our influence and grow all this stuff, we have to stop and now get a new vision. Because what happens when God exceeds what you thought. Most people stop. Well, God, you did more than I ever thought you would do. So are we done? And God says, some of you are trying to retire and you need to refire. You need to get, let me give you a brand new vision. Well, God, I'm 60. I already got my 401k, my kids out the house and I kind of like who they married. And I'm, I'm, I'm at the place where I just want to relax. And God says, that's all you thought I had for your life.

4:29 That's all the vision you got. You need to get back in the secret place with me and let me give you a brand new vision. And so now that God has exceeded our expectations at the church, I've told y'all last year, we made a goal that Lord, please let us see a hundred people join transformation church in the whole year of 2018. And God said, I honor your request and, and literally laughed at us. And over 1200 people have joined our church. in 10 months. Now, I don't want to clap for that because most people would be done there. God exceeded our expectation. He did more than we exceedingly abundantly. Oh, we can ask or think he did it. And most people, when he does it, we rest. It's all good. But God challenged me as the leader of this church and now I'm challenging you as the people of this church let's get a new vision let's not rest on what God has done let's see how much he can do not to us but through us how many streets can be impacted and how many businesses can be revolutionized and how many families can be saved and how many children can be rescued from out of sex slavery how many people can be transformed because of us.

5:54 And so God began to ask me, Mike, get a new vision. And y'all, the stuff God has been showing me is scary. But this is the thing that I need to tell you. It's not vision if you can know how to do it by yourself. If it's not bigger than you, it's probably sight, not vision. And so today, I want us to dive a little deeper, go a little further into this entire thing about what happens when God changes the plan. What happens when he starts recalculating things and the plan changes. There was something that funny that happened to me this past week. Me and Natalie were in Montana. And first off, Montana is beautiful, y'all. There's not many black people there, but it is absolutely gorgeous. and we were there um and and we had a host named colton and this was so funny and god began to speak to me we were driving in montana and my siri for some reason i don't know if i pressed the button or it recognized something that was said but it started giving instructions like it was like and at the light turn right and it was loud and so the driver colton is in the front seat me and natalie in the back seat and he turns around like this almost kind of offended because because we've never been to where he lives. We don't know how to get to where he is taking us.

7:21 We don't live in the area that he's navigating us through. But somehow my phone, what was in my possession was trying to give him directions. And I don't know if we could be hot for a second, humble open and transparent how many people are backseat drivers every wife should raise their hand every wife every one of y'all and and what ended up happening is he turned around and we both started laughing because just for a moment he thought somebody who didn't know where he was going was trying to give him instructions and the Holy Spirit right in that moment started speaking to me he said Michael that's funny but that's what most of my kids do to me they tell me I'm in the driver's seat but they're giving me instructions from the back seat I said what he said most of my kids already have a plan that they're trying to passive aggressively have me cosign at the light, get married, up the street, get a promotion. And God says, they do not trust that I've been here before, that I know where I'm taking them, that I actually made this path.

8:48 And they're trying to give me a plan and they're frustrated. And y'all know how we do when we're backseat driving and we try to, Ooh, and y'all know the fake, the imaginary breaks. Y'all know we've been, ah! And it's crazy because all of that that we do never helps the one driving. what it actually does is it makes an easy situation a lot more frustrating because we don't trust everybody say trust the one who's supposed to be in control and so we're in a side seat or a back seat trying to control what we still don't have control over the only thing that we can actually do is make it worse actually cause an accident actually cause what was supposed to be easy to become hard because we do not trust who's supposed to be in control and I just came to ask you today the title of my message is do you have the faith to follow yeah because this next season of transformation church's life and I dare say your life what God wants to do he's going to be in the driver's seat but you're going to have to have the faith to follow and I know I know some of y'all are control freaks and you won't even get in the car unless you know the plan there's certain people you won't drive with can I get an amen okay look at y'all but the problem is that for where God's taking you you've never been there before you don't know the roots you don't know what God's trying to do in you and he's asking you would you please have the faith to follow? And he's been asking me this because the things that I believe God's about to do in transformation church are way bigger than anything I've had the faith for lately. Can I be transparent with you? We're in a very comfortable spot as a church

10:55 and God has started giving me dreams and visions when my eyes are closed that are challenging my faith that are letting me say, hey, God, it would be a lot easier if you follow my plan. It would be a lot less turmoil. And God says, no, no, no, no, no. You thought that was it. You thought five services and impact across the world was it. I'm doing this in your third year. This is just the beginning. If you have the faith to follow, somebody say faith to follow. and that's my question to you and today before the end of this service what my prayer is that somebody's faith to be just stagnant and comfortable would move from a faith that is dormant to a faith that is active there is a business that is that is in you that God's gonna ask you to leave something that's comfortable and he's saying do you have the faith to follow me I know you ain't gonna say nothing on this sermon because you think your amen is you cosigning what God's already told you to do but he's still coming to tell you the same message. There are going to be some things that he asked you to do in this next season, and he has the plans, and you're only going to be able to have the faith, but will you use it to follow? Can we act for the next 35 minutes like we trusted God? I know we're in church, and we act like we trust him in here, but like let's actually act like we really trust him and let's act like God knew what he was doing with our lives let's act like he knew where he was taking us that he knew when and where we need to get to that he knows the best route for us to take and he needs he knows who needs to go and who needs to stay here there was a group of people that this happened to name the children of Israel and I'm gonna take like I need everybody. I'm a Bible teacher. So I, I study a lot of scripture and then try to bring it to you in a very concise manner. So we're about to go through like four chapters of the Bible in

13:01 one setting and like another book of the Bible. It's a lot of Bible, but I think you're going to get out of this something that will give you the faith to follow. Everybody say faith to follow. So the children of Israel are coming out of slavery, like literally 400 years of slavery. and God sends this man named Moses to deliver them. And it could be said that they were in a bamboo season because they went literally from slavery to being out of slavery and about to go into something that God promised them called the promised land. And I believe that God is trying to do something with many of you, trying to take you out of something, but not just leave you there. He wants to take you in to something else. But a lot of us get stuck in between. like we're out of the relationship we were in but we're not into the relationship that's going to be for our purpose we're out of the job that made us feel like nothing but we're not into the career or the purpose that's going to bring value and a lot of us get stuck in the middle but that's why we have to get everybody say vision okay so i want to set this for you and i want you to see a couple of things that the children of Israel learned. Turn to Exodus chapter 13, verse 17.

14:19 God's recalculating them in this season and trying to take them to something new. Look what it says. It says, when Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not. Who did not? Who did not? God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route.

14:43 I need to just put this in here that God sometimes takes us through the wilderness because if he took you the easy way, you wouldn't be ready for the fight that was in that land. I'll prove it to you because some of y'all like, yeah, I don't know. Okay.

15:06 He said it was the shortest route to the promised land. But God said, who said it? Okay, I just want to make sure it's not Pastor Mike. If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt or to their slavery. So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness. Who led them? In a roundabout way through the wilderness to the Red Sea. Can I tell you that your wilderness season might have been God? Oh, I know, I know. You hate that. But God knew that you weren't ready to go and fight the devils that were in the shortest route because if you would have fought the opposition, you would have turned back to alcohol. You're Egypt, you're slavery. He knew that if you would have went this short route before your character was ready, you would have turned back to pride.

16:02 And so he took us the roundabout way and the wilderness was for my good. Ain't nobody writing no praise and worship songs like that. And the wilderness was for my good. And the wilderness was for my good. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Ain't nobody right. but I dare somebody to know that God took you this way to save you. He took you this way to help you. He took you this way to build something in you. Somebody just say the wilderness was for my good. The sickness wasn't to take you out. It was to build something in you.

16:46 The wilderness, God said it was for their good. so if you have the faith to follow with trust the detour was designed yeah yeah i know it doesn't make sense right now why why you could see the easiest way for my business to be successful is right there and then god let that business partner like split my finances take half of the company start up the street and give me another six years to building back. The detour was designed. There is something that you were supposed to get in this wilderness that cannot go into the promised land. And so many of us are frustrated and mad. And what happens when we get detoured? Many of us stop. Well, I guess God didn't want me to do that. No, you need to know that God designed this detour. He designed all your friends to leave you.

17:44 they were shocked by it over there so they he designed for you not to get into that college because if you would have got into that college you would have met that person so god let them deny the degree here and you went to this college that seems like there's no but that's where you were going to meet the wife that you needed to marry and the first five years of your marriage would be hell because you would be in wilderness but god knew 15 years from now that is the partner that you needed to enter into the promised land. Somebody say the detour was designed. And I know you don't believe it, but I'm a living testimony of a detour that was designed. See, many of you would never have heard of Michael Todd in the ministry of Transformation Church if Tommy and Brenda Todd wouldn't have taken a season that looked like a wilderness and stayed faithful in it. God asked them to start a church.

18:39 These are my parents. and at that church, they had 15 adults. She said it was 30. No, it wasn't. It was 15. It was 15. but listen to this there were 15 adults in this church that they went and pastored every Sunday night for two and a half years and God knew that if they wouldn't have taken what seemed to be in that season a detour and stayed faithful in a wilderness um season and my mom said Michael I believe you're supposed to do something with the youth God knew the only way that I would start in ministry is that I had to be asked by my parents. So God took a detour in their life where they ministered to thousands of people, worked at huge ministries. And then God said, will you take this way? And they had the faith to follow. Even when there was still 15 adults and 150 young people coming. How devastating would it look like the thing God asked you to start something else is flourishing even more in it. But you still had to have the faith to follow. What you don't know is the two and a half years of faithfulness that they sowed to have the faith to follow created an incubator for the gift that you are sitting under right now to begin to grow. You would not know who I was if they did not embrace the detour that was designed. And so what they could have said, this is the devil. I know he didn't call us to pass no 20 people. Oh, because you know, when we get discouraged, we start saying the devil's just attacking our ministry. Maybe this is God telling me we need to do something else. This is the devil trying to attack our family.

20:30 Maybe this is God. Maybe it was designed. and maybe it was God because he sees what's needed up ahead and all I'm asking you to do is in this season where God's giving you brand new vision don't blame the detour on the devil I think we're giving him too much credit I think my Bible says that all things are working together for the good of those who are called and that love him according to his purpose. the detour is designed and you have to have faith to follow somebody say faith to follow okay so so now god's intentionally not taking him the shortest route to the promised land okay and but but he's doing the scenic route and look what happens in exodus chapter 13 verse 21 because now he's recalculating them and giving them a new gps system look at it It says the Lord went ahead of them.

21:33 He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud. So I want you to imagine like a huge cloud that looks like almost like a tornado, but it's not spinning like it's a pillar and it's in front of you. And you know that that's God showing you where to go, okay? And then he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire from its place in front of the people. I want you to recognize this. Like their GPS system back in that day is like, God, okay, you delivered us out of slavery. Where are we supposed to go? He said, I'm gonna give you a new GPS system. There's a cloud. Whenever you see the cloud, follow it. Is that it? Like that don't, I don't seem real concrete.

22:28 But what I said is the faith to follow, not the facts to follow. See, a lot of people want the facts. And then I'll follow you, God. If you show me everything that you want to do. And God said, no, no, no, no, no. The righteous walk by faith and not by, you're not going to get all the facts. You're going to have to still obey. And so they were like, okay. So every morning they would wake up and they were like, where are we going today? And everybody was like, where's the cloud?

22:58 Okay. And they would just start moving. And then it would become nighttime. And they'd be like, yo, I can't see the cloud no more. And they'd be like, whoosh. And it would turn in the fire. Oh, there's the light. Let's keep moving. And those are symbolic. And I need everybody to understand this, that everything in the Old Testament is a type and shadow of something that happens in the New Testament. So the light and the fire represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, that they're supposed to be our guides. They're supposed to lead us into all truth. And so no matter where we go, if we walk into a dark situation, we just have to say, Holy Spirit, where am I supposed to go? And he'll point and he'll lead and he'll guide. But many of us don't pay attention to what God is saying. And we'd rather make a plan and then ask God when we get there, is this it? He was like, all right, can we be honest? How many people have made a plan and then asked God, is this it? You sitting next to them. Anyway, I'm just funny. So what I'm saying is this is the GPS system, but I want you to see something so amazing. We're going to go to Exodus chapter 14, verse 19. And then it says, then the angel of God who had been leading the people of Israel moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptians and the Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire lighting up the night but the Egyptians watch this and the Israelites did not approach each other all night okay I'm going to give you the point and then I'm going to explain it if you have the faith to follow you have to trust that God has you surrounded okay let me explain the children of Israel leave from under Pharaoh's leadership and they're walking towards a promised land but they're not there yet and God says I'm going to direct you by giving you a cloud in the daytime and fire at night and it's going to go before you and all you have to do is follow it follow my voice that's why the bible says um my children know my voice and a stranger they won't

25:05 listen to that's why it's so important that you spend time every day in prayer spend time every day in the word spend time every day worshiping in the shower and in the car because god's trying to give you directions he's trying to lead you in those moments and this is what's happening every day they're getting up and they're getting led and there's like okay we're going this way but the crazy thing is after they get let go and they're in this wilderness season that god allowed this design detour the enemy started coming after them pharaoh let them go and was like yo what did i just do go kill them that's all our help who's gonna build the temples now and he sends the entire egyptian army after the children of israel now what happens is these people are trying to follow God, but they see their enemy behind them. They see God is in front of them, but their enemy is behind them. And what we naturally do when we're going after God, but we know our past is trying to come back and get us. We know that there are people that are trying to come against what God's called us to do. What we start doing is we follow God, but we follow him like this.

26:12 and what happens is we don't go fully after God because we're worried about our past we don't we don't go straight after what God's called us to because we feel like maybe this is going to end in destruction but look what the what the cloud did it says the cloud that was in front of them saw that the enemy was behind them and it changed positions it said it went from the front and it went around to the back and the enemy that was trying to come and get them was around them but could not see them i need to help you understand something it's that god is not going to allow your past to sneak up on you and take you out yes you used to be that person. Yes, you used to do that. Yes, you were a ho.

27:10 Oh, let's be honest. Yes, you are. You are loose booty. Do you hear what I'm saying? You are. But through the grace of God, God has changed you. You are now following him. But listen, the enemy then tries to make you think, well, what if those thoughts and those feelings come back up? I never can go fully after what God's called me to do because I have this past. I never can stand. And God says, baby, you don't even have to look back no more because I got you surrounded. I'm going to lead you and I'm going to protect you. And I need everybody to hear me say this. No matter what your past is, when you are aligned with what God is doing and you're following what he is saying, you don't have to look back no more. Yeah, you used to live in an alternate lifestyle, but by the grace of God, he's changed you.

28:09 He's renewed you. He's turned you around. You have to walk, not worried that your past is coming back. You have to know that the Holy Spirit is standing guard. And this is what I want you to understand. I need you to hear this very quickly because many of you won't press forward because you're scared of your past coming back to take you out. Hear what I'm saying to you. Your past will be close, but it will not be able to harm you. it says the Israelites, God's chosen people, and the Egyptians were in the same area, but the Holy Spirit sending the cloud of fire allowed them not to even cross paths because God had them surrounded. I just want to encourage somebody today. I feel the presence of God in this place.

29:04 Stop holding back because of what you did back then. Come on. Stop playing it safe because your marriage was broken. Stop not doing what God has called you to do because you didn't have support from your family and friends. God's got you surrounded. And the reason that I'm saying this is because Transformation Church, we're about to step into some stuff that's that's way bigger than us. like like like i've been talking to god about what we're supposed to do as far as this facility and all this other stuff and god's challenging my faith right now he's like michael do you have the faith to follow i was like yeah god i got the faith to follow he said will you believe me for 20 million dollars oh wow can I be honest because because my plan was to do something that was the next step up from this and God said you don't see what I have up ahead and so I need you to have the faith to follow me into something that don't even make sense and when I got to this place of having the faith to follow and I'm getting all up to it and then I started to think about my past then I started to think well, Lord, I, you know, I mean, you know my bank account. I've never managed this much. Father, I don't, I don't even know how to ask people, like, would they pardon? He said, I didn't ask you how it was going to happen. I ask you to have the faith to follow me.

30:41 And literally, y'all, the reason I'm preaching this, because I don't want it to be a surprise to anybody. When God starts telling us to move and we move. When God starts telling us to believe and we believe. When God starts telling us to give and we what? Give. I'm trying to tell y'all, God's not asking for your credentials now. He's asking, will you have the faith to follow me? And y'all, I'm asking you the same question because God's doing it to me right now. He said, Michael, my plans for you are bigger than anything you've ever seen in your life. Do you know how many people I want to touch through you and this church and your music and your book and your family and your your your your your he said I don't want to do it without you I want to do it through you but the only thing that can stop it is if you don't have the faith to follow me so church I'm asking you can we trust God no no no no no no no not just on a little level like Lord please do it I'm talking about with the enemy on our back and we don't even turn around because we are surrounded the children of israel are making moves and following after god because they had the faith to follow god okay now i want you to understand god is right now everybody say now he is positioned in your future but he's protecting you from your past like he goes before you but he stands guard behind you and so now we have to move everybody say move in faith y'all if we don't move in faith if we keep do y'all know the opposite of faith is fear like like if you're not moving in faith you're moving in fear well what happens god i don't know that and he said did you forget who I am?

32:31 That's my name, I am. Like everything that you need, I am. Matter of fact, I'm so good that I said, tell him I am sent you. Because Moses had the same problem when he was going to tell Pharaoh to let the people go. He said, God, you know he had a stuttering problem. You know he had deficiencies. You know that God used unqualified people to do great things. He had a deficiency and he said, Jesus, who should I tell Pharaoh sent me?

33:09 Could tell him creator of the universe. Could tell him the big guy upstairs. Tell him I am sent you. Matter of fact, I am that I am. Like ain't nobody before me. So just tell him I am. what I'm trying to help you understand is the reason that we're not going to move in fear anymore is because I am. God is leading us to a different place. Somebody say, I serve, I am. I know it's not create correct English. And I know that all that, but I need you to get this down in your spirit. God's trying to take you to another place. Look at numbers chapter nine, verse 15. Okay. It says on the day that the tabernacle was set up. Now I got to break this down because everybody doesn't know what the tabernacle is, but anytime you see tabernacle, just think the place where the presence of God was. And let me even break that down further.

34:08 When you spend time with God in prayer, in worship, in reading your Bible, there is an actual connection that you can have with the God of the universe that changes your entire life. I'm not talking about a worship service with lights and smoke and and praise and worship team I'm talking about the place where the presence of god is is wherever you invite him into your life Period so you can be thugging and be about to get in trouble and you own your way to jail And you in the back of the police car say god I acknowledge that I'm not supposed to be in this situation, but you're the only one that can help me out of it I need you to give me wisdom in this moment To be able to do something different with my life and do you know in the back of that car? There has now become the place that the presence of god is at And he is with you in that moment I want to demystify this thing that this is where the presence of god is This is a building. Wherever you invite him in is the tabernacle. I want you to understand.

35:20 And so let me give you let me give you context for this. Before Jesus came, there was no sacrifice to allow God to take his residence in us. Do you know that you are the temple, the tabernacle of God now? And he chooses when we accept him to take his home in us. But back in the Old Testament, they had a very strict, strenuous process and a tent that they would set up and they called it the tabernacle. And that was the one place that God would meet his people. Okay. So I just want to give you this context because I want you to be able to apply it to your everyday life. When they say tabernacle, it's the place where the presence of God was. Okay. So it said one day the tabernacle or the place where the presence of God was, was set up. The cloud covered it, but from evening until morning, the cloud over the tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire. So imagine this table being the tabernacle or the place where God's presence was. It said at night, there would be a pillar like just imagine something that's off like the Avengers or something just right here. And it said it was a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire that was over the place where God's presence was. Okay. I just want you to get this a picture. Verse 16. It says, this was a regular pattern. This means that this happened often. It said at night that the cloud that covered the tapernacle had the appearance of fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. Let me give you the picture.

37:00 whoosh there's a big cloud over this and then God would change his plan remember this series is called recalculating when plans change now God would say I got to lead them to another place and so he would remove the cloud and he would say now the cloud is right here this is God trying to move his people so what would happen is everybody was like oh God left us we need to find out where he is they would pack up everything and would move to where the cloud was so god was leading them and he was putting out a plan and he said i need the plan and my presence to be connected so he would leave one place and the cloud would come over here and everybody be worshiping here I am to work. And somebody would notice the cloud has moved.

38:01 The cloud has moved. Everybody. And you would get all your family and everything. You would pack it up and you would be like. because they realized that their plan disassociated from the pleasant presence was a problem your plan disconnected from his presence is a problem moses said it he said if you don't go with us. We're not going. And some of you need to make a decision that I'm not going into that relationship without the presence of God. I'm not moving to that city without the presence of God. And most of us make a plan and ask God to bless it with his presence. And he said, no, no, no. I'm the GPS. I make a plan. I moved. Now I need you to get all your stuff, your attitude and all.

39:00 somebody needs to hear me say this real quick that you have been doing your plan without his presence and it's been 10 years of a problem you've been doing your own thing with your money you don't tithe tithe what are you talking about god said i have a plan for your money and that's why you always have not enough and you keep it all but my cloud is over here and I want you to live a blessed life but you got to return to me the tempest you didn't even deserve that promotion and I gave it to you and I made up everything you got to know that 90% with my blessing is better than 100% that is cursed and some of y'all today after this message You're going to say, family, we've been doing it wrong.

39:52 We got to go where his presence is. Oh, I need somebody to hear me say it. We're not going to do this without the presence of God. We're not going to go if you don't go with me. Somebody give God a shout of praise in this building. So write it down. So write it down. If you have the faith to follow, trust his plan and his presence are never disconnected. he he he wants to make sure that you know when he changes the pace when the plan changes you can get confirmation for it in his presence and you can move and not understand do you know how many people were probably mad that it was time to move like god said all right you were at that job for one year time to move god i just got a Hold on, my benefit package.

40:55 I was about to get my braces done. You hear what I'm saying? I was about to get a Vizaline, Lord. Y'all know that's how we be doing. Like, could you hold off three months so I can get my grill fixed? Insurance just kicked in. but God says this was a detour in the wilderness and now I've moved and you're exposed when you stay where I'm not at the reason why many of us have been robbed in our purity robbed in our plans in our dreams in our ideas in our because we stayed in places when God moved and we didn't want to go through the inconvenience of packing all our stuff up so we would rather be comfortable than covered I need you to hear that's not going to happen here.

42:02 When the cloud moves. What's the name of this church? Transformation, which means we changing. If you want to go to stay the same church, they up the street. But Transformation Church is committed to when the cloud moves. No matter if we've been here a day or 10 years. if God says we go to five services, we go to five services. If God says go back to two, we go back to two. If God says close this down and meet in the high school, we close it down and we meet no matter how uncomfortable it is because we will not do this without his presence. I need somebody to get that resolve in you. I will not do this without your presence. Sit down, I have five minutes and 24 seconds. okay so look at numbers chapter 9 verse 20 it says sometimes that the cloud would stay over the tabernacle for only a few days so the people would stay for only a few days as the lord commanded then at the lord's command they would break camp and move on thank you lord sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. That is inconvenient.

43:26 I mean, just think about God's like, here we are. Here's your next place. It's like, whew, finally. All right, y'all, unpacked everything. Get the kids. You can have a little design area. Oh, I like this. We can put the sheep right here. And oh, yeah, all the flocks can go right here. And oh, the watering hole is right there. That's perfect. And you get to sleep in the next morning. You look up. Y'all, the cloud done moved. but isn't that what it looks like so many times when God puts us in a relationship or excuse me we get into one and it looked good for two days and then God said I've lifted but God we're Facebook official oh y'all know that means something today we just told everybody would you rather stay in that for two years without his presence.

44:30 and so it says sometimes it only stayed overnight but day or night when the cloud lifted the people broke camp and moved on everybody say move on oh this is powerful whether the cloud stayed above the tabernacle for two days a month or a year the people of israel stayed in camp and did not move on but as soon as it lifted they broke camp and everybody say moved on if you're gonna have faith to follow marry the mission not the method follow the cloud many of us are married to how we do whatever we do and god said i'm gonna change it it may be two days it may be one month it may be at this state or at this state or he said but I want you to stay attached to the mission I'm taking you to the promised land I'm taking you to the best version of yourself you could ever see I'm taking you there but marry the mission but not the method this is where most people get frustrated God told you you'd be a world-renowned author but you didn't get accepted to the school that was going to give you the English degree to help you write the book well i guess god didn't want this mission in my life to come to pass baby you think he was confined by that one path he took you through the wilderness on purpose to let your deficiencies be the thing that he would stand strong in and in your weakness he is made strong Thank you.

46:19 all I'm saying is I can talk from personal experience that I knew from a very young age I would be impacting the world like I knew that my parents get I've gotten prophecies my wife knew when we signed up but I thought it was going to be happening through music I was dead set like it was a done deal and and God said yeah marry the mission you're going to impact the world I know God, I see you. I feel you. I'm going to do it. And this beat is going to kill him. I mean, I used to say stuff like that. And God said, but what if I change the method? If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would go to Whitefish, Montana, and the only other black guy in Whitefish, Montana comes up to me at the airport and says, you're that Todd Michael guy.

47:21 bro your ministry is changing my life there's a group of us that meet around what you guys do at transformation church if you would have told me that it would have been because of what god uses me to do in my mouth i would have told you you were a liar to your faith face but what god said is don't ever marry the method yeah i said it you didn't pack the world yeah i said you're marriage would be healed. Yeah, I said that you would write the book. Yeah, I said that you were going to be healed, hold, and delivered. Yeah, I said your children would all serve me, but don't marry the method. Marry the mission. Follow the cloud. What are you saying, Pastor Mike? Transformation Church, we have to have the faith to, everybody say it with me, follow. Let me pray for you right now. Come on, hands lifted all over this place. Father, I thank you that in this room right now, that you would give every person under the sound of my voice the courage to not be worried about their past, because you got us surrounded. And Father, not be frustrated about the detour, because it was designed. But that we, Father, would marry the mission that you called us to, but not the method, and we would follow the cloud. Take us from this place where we may be in some area of our life be moving in fear, and I declare that Transformation Church and everybody listening and watching would move by faith, and Father, we would see the promised land because it is designed for our good and to bless others. We trust you, we believe you, and we thank you in Jesus' name.

49:16 If you believe it, will you give God a shout of praise in this place?