Racial Reconciliation // (Michael Todd)

good morning transformation church man wherever you watching this all over the world I want to say I love you today my heart is heavy y'all know Pastor Mike don't sit down to do nothing but today the state of our world the state of America it's made me take a seat it's made me have to be all week in a place of contemplation dealing with all kinds of emotions as I know so many of you are right now emotions of confusion and anger and pain in not knowing what to do and before I'm a pastor I'm a human y'all know where we say a transformation church we're gonna live hot as humble open and transparent and I tried to press through and act like everything was normal but it's not this week has been the hardest week of my life as a black man in America and I thought it would be disingenuous to get up here and put on like a show like everything is good cuz it's not and um I think we need to talk about it I think we need to find out what God's Word says about it I think we need to hear different perspectives and I think we need to just feel it for a moment and I know some of you are about I'm about to turn this off that would be the most insensitive thing to do at this moment I don't care if you're in your house by yourself or my kids are around this has to start not with an organization but it has to start with organisms and today I'm asking you as we came in this place and we worship God because he's the only one that can actually change any of this as we worship God as we pray this is the thing that our souls needed today and we're gonna do some more of it and I know that many of us have agendas and some of us are preparing to go on with our normal lives other us are threatening to go peacefully protests other people are planning to act like this is not real other people are planning to just continue on with life but right now I'm asking you to stop and to evaluate what's going on in the world and how it affects your life and I thought the best way to do that is to just share from my life because racism is very alive right now and more than it being alive it's affecting people that maybe you haven't identified with I'm wearing this hoodie that says your pastor is black because in case you didn't know here I am and when I saw the the execution of George Floyd this week cuz that's what it was when I saw his execution all I could picture was my face in the ground asking for my mother as a grown man when I was trying to gasps with the last few breaths that I had this week has been unusual for me and I'm just sharing hot like there's no script there's no notes there's nothing cuz I don't know what to do I'm an emotional wreck right now but my hope is in Jesus and when I prayed he said just share with the people to share we share your heart so that's what I'm doing here this week has been emotional for me because as many of you know the book that we put out relationshipgoals this week on the same exact day that all of this stuff happened my book because of you and God's grace became the number one New York Times best-selling book in the world and for some reason I could not find the joy that I thought I would have in reaching that accomplishment we celebrated but it didn't feel it didn't feel complete I begin to evaluate what I was feeling and at that same moment as being number one in the world in a category that not many people that look like me are in I found out that just as easily if I got stopped by the cops they wouldn't care if I was a New York Times bestselling author they wouldn't care that I was your pastor and we lead a multi-ethnic church y'all remember the foundations of this church was built for racial reconciliation bishop garry mcintosh went to the north side of tulsa in in 1999 and took off his shoes and God said help reverse the curse and then in 2015 and did the reins of a church over to a young black man and said that I'm not gonna hold you back or hold you down I'm gonna support you we are here today because a record racial reconciliation and as I was sitting there in that moment thinking about all of these things if I got pulled over they wouldn't care that we lead a 50 to 60% white church they would just see another black man and I said God you're gonna have to help me reconcile this cuz just two weeks ago we had Hamad armory and we had Brianna and before that it was crusher and before that I mean the names could go on and I know some of you be like this is a lot how is this helping me until you can get compassion for people that do not have your same experience the Bible says Jesus was moved with compassion today I'm trying to give us an opportunity to see more than what we've seen I was with my wife and my brother and my sister who were here on the front row and we went to a property here in Tulsa that I own that I'm getting some things renovated at and we went to go check it out and as we were walking to the property line this was just literally ten days ago somebody drove by and said get out of there you're not supposed to be here we all turned around like what is going on five minutes later two police cars drove up and I was in hoodies and y'all know how I dress outside of here like I'm in hoodies and sweatpants in and my wife Natalie without any hesitation she said Michael go out there smile put your hands up talk from afar and I pretend to think in that moment I'm standing on a property that I own I pay for but if I don't govern myself in a way that shows that I'm not a threat I may never make it back home to see my kids so we all come out of the house and the property that I own and I said hello hello officers how you doing I said can I help you and in that moment I begin to think about my white brothers and sisters that in that moment if they felt threatened and somebody said can I help you they would say back to him can I help you but I knew that in that moment if I said could I help you that could go a whole different way and I said Oh sir we're just checking out our property I have the keys right here in dhak dhak dhak dhak and the officers were amazing we love Tulsa Police we love all of the officers out here that are doing it the right way but it was the attitude and the prejudgment of that woman who drove by and yelled out to us get out of there she didn't know that that was the place that I was supposed to be but because of her prejudgment I wasn't supposed to be there and one call from her produced two cops on my property that if I would have had a normal reaction could have ended up in my life being gone faster why are you saying that it's because today two very monumental historic moments are being celebrated today on May 31st 2020 the first one is today is the day as the church we celebrate Pentecost this was the moment where the Holy Spirit met a group of people in an upper room and changed everything forever and the thing about it is they were all races all tongues all tribes all nations waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and it was in that moment that we got the helper the comforter and today as a church everywhere we're supposed to be celebrating that gift that Jesus gave us of the Holy Spirit on this date is so ironic that here in Tulsa that this also is the anniversary of the 1921 race massacre that happened right here in our city today it's Pentecost the outpouring of God's Spirit and it's the remembrance of 300 black people and an economic empire being burned to the ground right here because and now they're all around the world there's an outpouring of crying and hurting and I stand in the middle of this moment saying God what do we do how do we add value to this broken world I'm a Christian but I'm pissed I love God but I'm hurting I want everybody to understand but I don't know if I have any more words I can't breathe today I'm asking you as we acknowledge that there are so many tragedies going on all around the world we're in the middle of a global pandemic there are people all around the world that are still waging war on sex trafficking there are countries right now that don't have running water and running food and they're there states that have poison water systems there's so many problems that are happening so I don't want to devalue anything that's going on in anybody's world today I'm asking us to take a to take a better look what's happening in our country when it comes to racial divide prejudice and just evil when I saw George Fleur Floyd gasping for air I saw every one of my brothers saw my dad and he doesn't know it right now but I have a four year old son and one day he's gonna grow up and be a big black man and I'm trying to figure out what I would do if I got a phone call that MJ was no longer with us not because of what he did not because of hurting anybody else but because of the color of his skin today we need Jesus we need him to intervene and I don't have all the answers but I know the answer and his name is Jesus and this is not in some whitewashed great white hope let's just pray type of situation no you know a transformation Church prayer is our first response not a last resort so we don't do that and then that's gonna be our first step to doing a lot of other things we've got to get God's Word in the midst of how we feel cuz my feelings are lying to me right now what I want to do what I want to say I want to respond I know that's just my flesh and nothing good is gonna come if I glory in my flesh but today before I got up here I prayed that I would stand and I would speak by faith and today I have faith that something can change today I have faith that if it doesn't happen in the whole world somebody that's watching me right now God's doing a deep work in your heart and on Pentecost Sunday the Holy Spirit is coming to convict us it's coming to change us it's coming to comfort us and today it may not be a change for the organization it may not be a change for everybody else but it will be a change in this organism and I believe for somebody that is watching right now there's gonna be a change in you but transformation only happens through the Word of God be transformed by the renewing of our minds and I know people are trying to do everything just to find some relief right now but what we need is we need to be transformed because after this dies down it'll be something else if we don't change and today we're gonna put God's Word in the middle of this cuz the Bible tells us that God's Word will be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path it is dark out here and we need a light and the only light I can think of that will be able to lead us is the Word of God I don't have the emotional capacity just to be honest with you to minister in the way that I usually would on a Sunday I'm emotionally drained but God is so good that in moments where he knows we're not gonna have enough he's already been enough and today in relationshipgoals i thought that we would go ahead and take it to the next level because one of the relationship goals that we need as a country is racial reconciliation we need to step out of our bubble of comfortable and be able to represent Christ and so almost two and a half years ago God gave me a message for what we are walking through today all the way back then and today I want you in the current events that we're in right now I want you to open up your heart and I want you to open up your mind this is not when you tune out this is not when you walk away this is when you get a notepad this is when you call your your your children around this is when you tell people hey you need to turn on right now Pastor Mike is gonna show us and give us some plays of how to start with us how to begin this ministry of rent racial reconciliation that has been given to the church government can't fix this the president sure is not gonna fix this our school is not gonna fix this it's going to start with us the church and it's sad to say it's not even gonna start with the organization of the church it's gonna start with organisms and today by the power of the Holy Spirit and through what God gave me two years ago he's so good cuz he knew I would be in this depleted place today full of hope but still hurting he spoke a word then that is applicable now and today our relationship goal we're gonna see rest racial reconciliation so let me pray for you as we go into this message father I thank you that in this moment you were invading homes but more than homes you're invading hearts and everything that has been built up father God in the tension that we feel right now in America I'm asking you Father God to be God who brings your super to our natural change us from the inside out and change us by your word in Jesus name we agree right after this message I'm coming back with some practical steps let us be able to be the change for racial reconciliation I want to talk again about racial reconciliation if you're not living under Iraq you know that that's a real issue race is a real issue in our country right now from the election to government to policing and and in our city it's been a very hot topic over the past year and a half as we've had different cases with Terrence Crutcher and then what just happened on this past week and just different things that are happening that even if these things were racially are non racially motivated it starts getting racism and racial prejudice and and black and white and Hispanic and it does stall that stuff up and then the movie get out came out and that messed me up y'all just for at least 30 minutes after that movie I was suspicious of many white people if you've never seen the movie it's okay you know you don't have to but but there's things that are culturally and racially probing that are trying to make us divided there it's trying to make us divide it and that's what I'll say and that was never God's intention we were never supposed to see color of skin but before we saw the character in somebody's life that was never supposed to be the intent but then we got in this flesh suit and Adam and Eve back in the garden and and we started comparing ourselves and why are they so tall and why are they so short and why are they so on why they got all that booty and why ain't got no booty and why I mean these are these are real why are they born in this side of time why do they live on that side of the town why does it seem like this and what and comparison still runs rampant in in all of our daily lives today I dare say that many of the situations that we come in contact with are racially we see them through a racial lens and we have not even acknowledged it it's just how we are you walk into a room full of black people and your heart if you're white starts pumping a little faster but now I'm not saying I'm saying stuff that people have told me okay you're black and you come in and it's all Hispanic people and there's something in your mind oh this must be akin cierra this this must be that this must be and and what the what we do is we assume an assumption is one of the deadliest things that you can do because it usually leaves you looking at the first three letters of that word you you you forfeit relationships that could benefit your life you cut off the exchange that you could have with some of God's children because we assumed it was funny one time I was at Utica Square I eat there a lot I have meetings there a lot of time at the wild fork if you know anything about Utica Square most of the shops over there that she works there most of the shops most of the shops over there um their upscale shops they're a little more expensive shop so I'm eating at the wild fort and I look hood this day I mean I'm in a hoodie I'm in some J's I just came from working out but the people know me there we have great relationship and so I intentionally do stuff to throw people off like I just intentionally so I went up to this elderly white woman and she saw me coming and you know how when you're trying to look at somebody you're not trying to look she's like and I can only assume that the only reason she was looking at me the way that she was looking at me is because she might have had some preconceived notions about what a six to black man in a hoodie would want to do with her if we're gonna be real we're gonna be real today so even though she had never met me in my entire life she had already made some assumptions that made her continue to look at me like I'm taking my eyes off you brother and I walked up to and I threw her completely off I said ma'am that is such a beautiful brooch you have on she said huh and I said I said ma'am where did you get this and she began to talk to me about how she been shopping at that area for over thirty years and how a daughter works over here and she comes every Thursday morning da-da-da-da-da and we had a 30-minute conversation because I challenged her norm and I stepped across the line and tried to form relationship with somebody that we probably don't even have that much in common until I made us have something in common today as the church we can't take sides because of the color of our skin of anything we have to be able to live biblically on everything that is happening in our world in our society and in our lives and so today I want to talk about it I want to talk about can I be real today can we know okay let me get permission can I be real real today okay this may not be able to be aired afterwards but we're if it's gonna change it's got to start with us it's got to start with the church and it's got to start with each one of us in this room and so I'm gonna talk about it um as I'll talk to you about Arthur being my my drum teacher he gave me a really profound appreciation even back to my dad and all the people around I love music I mean how many people in the room love music like like you love music okay um and and you know some of y'all can't sing but it's you know it's one of those things that it doesn't even matter you you love music and I used to produce music and do a lot of different things in that area and I've always had this thing I wanted to share this with y'all but I've always had this thing that I've wanted to be invented called situational surround sound and and it it's like the most perfect song comes on at the right moment when something is happening and you don't even have to tell it to come on you don't even have to press play it just comes on automatically I've always I've always dreamed like when I'm done talking to somebody and this conversation is completely over and I'm like okay well I'll see you later I'll talk to you later I wish this song would come on right here I wish this song literally would just come on out of nowhere out of like I wish this song would come on always good to see you all right bye-bye like I wish that would happen and like when I get to heaven and I'm looking on the streets of gold I'm looking for my house this is what I want to play right here aw what's up Abraham what's up Paul 24-karat magic I want that to come I think God will be okay if 24-karat magic comes on y'all to save look at y'all y'all know that's funky reconciliation y'all don't know nothing about that y'all don't know nothing about that peaches and herb 1970s you don't know about that how many people know something about that right there okay they said this was a young church I guess not but I thought about that I thought about see now everybody's okay I had to do that cuz everybody will calm down now that song reunited and it feels so good I started thinking about that and we're either gonna have one of two testimonies when we get to heaven um I'm convinced that either we'll be able to say about all races and all ethnicities and all backgrounds we'll be able to say we're reunited and it feels so good because we did it on earth already or we'll be able to say we're United for the first time and I really should have had a relationship with them I really should have invited them to my kid's birthday party I really should have invited them to that function I was having at my house because many people are missing out on one of the greatest experiences and exchanges of their life by having different ethnicities a part of their everyday life Paul gives us a picture I mean John gives us a picture of this in Revelations I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 and this is Paul and he has a prophecy and he he's seeing heaven God he's showing him heaven and this is what he says in verse 9 it says after this I saw a vast crowd too many people to count it says they were from every nation every tribe every people and every language another translation says every tongue in every race it says they were standing in front of the throne before the lamb and they were clothed in white robes how many people have never sang in a choir before in heaven you get to sing in a choir white robes and all and they help palm branches in their hands and that you were shouting with the great work roar salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the land so when people asked me what do you think Pastor Mike about this racial reconciliation thing what what what what do you think about it I have three words I say it's gonna happen I mean I don't care what it looks like right now we have a picture of the end so many people are looking at the situation and God gave us a picture in Revelations of what it's gonna be every tongue every race every background every thigh size every way size every person every hair texture they're gonna be worshipping around the throne singing worthy is the lamb so when people ask me about racial reconciliation I say it's gonna happen and I can't wait so I don't wait see see that there's a difference when people like I can't wait for it to happen so make it happen see I can't wait I don't wait and I won't wait as for me and my family we have made a decision to make the picture that heaven has already painted for us hop in on earth well pastor Michael that's easier said than done God this there is nothing new Under the Sun this racism stuff has been going on since the very very beginning but God sent his children people who are born again to make it as it is in heaven on earth what passing like I don't know about that go to Matthew 6:10 and Jesus is talking to the disciples and they see him pray a different way and they're like man Jesus can you teach us how to pray like that he said yeah I'll teach y'all and he gave us a blueprint that we called the Lord's Prayer but I want you to see this with the lens of reconciliation he says that if you're going to pray pray like this pray our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name he said your kingdom come your will be done on where where we live right now as it is in so if the picture is every race around the throne in heaven worshipping and praising and living together Matthew tells us our prayer our daily prayer should be make it on earth as it already is in so my question is are you living your life to see the picture of heaven on earth and the reality of it as many of us aren't because of our backgrounds and what our big momma told us and what our Uncle John told us and what cousin Bob told all of us you stay away like Dennis said what I'm saying let's be real uncle Julian told you now listen son if you ever get around you don't know the conversations that have been passed down from generation to generation the unspoken things that aren't said but you know those things that when you walk in y'all know y'all seen you either with President Obama you walk in and you're shaking everybody's hand and you see your brother like what a fool what a foot what a foot and hi hi I'm just saying things that we see but that's rooted somewhere that comes from a place and and and my challenge today is that God is asking us me and you to not conform to the patterns of this world that's that's woman's 12:2 but be transformed by the renewing of our that means there's some things that have been programmed in us that are not like God and it was born in us because we were born in this flesh shoot we were born into society that had racial tension we were born into these families and God said I know you got it I knew you had it so I'm gonna send my son and when I send my son I'm gonna give you a new race first I'm gonna make you Christian I'm gonna wash away everything no neither Jew or Gentile black or white Hispanic or Asian I'm gonna give you the blood of Jesus and I'm gonna wash you in that so that people will know you by your love and I want to reprogram your mind so that's why he says we can boil the whole thing down to love here and leave your neighbor as yourself we can boil this whole now he didn't say your black neighbor or your right neighbor or your affluent neighbor or your poor neighbor he said your neighbor so whoever God has sent you around you're supposed to love them so today I'm just challenged that many people let's not talk about people who don't know Christ right now just let's leave it because they don't know they still they still got in them the the the seed of hatred and frustration and all these other things that doesn't get changed until you accept the grace of God but let me talk to the church for a second because the saddest part about the narrative of all the racism that's going on is probably some of the most visceral and venomous prejudice happens in God's church Martin Luther King once said the most dated our of of a week is Sunday morning at this time because you got white church and black church and Hispanic Church we just want to worship we were comfortable stop it that's not what God called us to look like he said that we should be able to walk into any Church any place that bears the name of Jesus Christ and feel comfortable feel loved feel accepted feel like you can be able to praise but that leads me to think that there may be something wrong in God's house with God's people and I don't think we've taken our responsibility to reconcile people to ourselves and to God well pastor Mike you know now who races race reconciliation that's great I don't really feel like that's my responsibility well let's look at second Corinthians chapter five and I want us to all look at this together it says this means that anyone who him anyone who belongs to Christ he has become a new birth okay so that means if your family R is racist when you became a Christian you became a new person that mean oh and I'm not talking about just white people being racist I know some black people that are more racist than anybody in the world no I want to be very clear about this this is not a white and black message this is a people humanity message does everybody hear what I'm saying okay I want you to hear me say this very clearly that when you come to Christ he gives you the title of new creation and then he clarifies because most of us wouldn't be able to understand it just like that he said the old life is gone he said you missed it you thought you was going to be able to keep on to the keep those racist comments in your back pocket in case somebody made you too mad he said the old life is gone it the old life is no longer valid now that you've become a believer your only response it's no longer acceptable after accepting Christ into your life and he said in a new life has become verse 18 second Corinthians five verse 18 it says and all of this is a gift from God who brought it brought us back to himself through Christ and God has given us this task of reconciling people to him but how can you reconcile somebody to him if you will not even communicate with him how can we how can I tell you about a sale that's going on if I won't talk to you I want you to see he's given us the Ministry of reconciliation he said for God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself he said I've already shown you the picture no longer counting people's skin I mean sin against them and he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation check this so we are Christ's ambassadors we're his representatives and this messes me up every time God is making his appeal through us I want you to see this that God is literally saying I'm giving you at Salvation anybody where fanny packs in the 80s did anybody have a fanny pack okay I just see of salvation you get a fanny pack and in that fanny pack you get love joy peace the ability to turn the other cheek the question is do you open it up and use it and in that fanny pack you have the Ministry of reconciliation that God says I'm gonna put you in opportunities I'm gonna have you have workplaces that have races and and and and frustrated people that work with you and I need you to be my representative in that place I need you to open that fanny pack and give them the Ministry of reconciliation so you know when you come over there and they're like all quiet down uh-huh here comes Bob Bob you go what up yo what's up I want to have relationship with you let me take you out to lunch and yeah it'll be uncomfortable yeah it won't be but God said that's not for them to do you have been given the responsibility of representing Christ everywhere you go and that's why you have the Ministry of reconciliation so how can you reconcile if you don't have any friends that are a different color than you when is the last time you had lunch with somebody that didn't believe and doesn't look like you okay when's the last time that you saw somebody in need that wasn't a brother what what is somebody you that you stepped across the line and risked being uncomfortable or even embarrassed so hopefully this can be the thing that changes their perception about me and maybe my race if they have one good interaction and that's what God is challenging all of us to do as the church is to use this message and Ministry of reconciliation to change people and I want to show you this in the Bible with the greatest reconciler of them all Jesus go to John chapter 4 because all of that is good and and it's sad to say but everything I've set up into this point everybody knows but for some reason we haven't taken a hold of this this message of reconciliation and I know some of you guys are like no no no I have a white friend I have a white friend and I do have a black friend and we are good and we're listen it's not just about a black friend and a white friend it's about humanity it's about when you see somebody do you think about their race before you think about their problem do you think about do you think about what they need before you you think about what what where they come from or what side of town do they live on or their situation or you thinking more about race are you thinking more about grace because until we can answer that question they're not going to look to the church to get any answers and we're not going to get them from government and we're not going to get them from the police force and we're not going to if the Church of Jesus Christ because nobody has been given the responsibility to reconcile except the church and so I'm proud of everybody who showed up today because I put it out there that I'm ministering on racial reconciliation some people dodge that one like a bullet you're at home right now online hey online do you understand what I'm saying because this is the heart of the matter and I just want to tell you a story in John chapter 4 that you probably are familiar with it's the story of the woman at the whale and and everybody's seen that heard this story if you've been in church for any length of time but maybe something you didn't know is Jesus in this one chapter reverses eight hundred years of racial division in less than 24 hours see we hear the woman after whale story but we don't know the real background and so I'm gonna try to break this down to let you see that Jesus one man reverses eight hundred years of black and white eight hundred years of your side of town in my side of town eight hundred years of this is what y'all deserve this is what we deserve eight hundred years of racial division he changes in twenty four hours and this is what happens in John chapter four and I hope my prayer is that for you that something in you would be changed to start moving to be an ambassador of racial reconciliation and your sphere of influence at your job with your kids with your relationships and that God would start to heal our land not through us but through you John chapter 4 Jesus is healing everybody and baptizing everybody and that's how it starts off and basically the Pharisees are mad they're like who is this coming up here baptizing everybody he doing more then John the Baptist nah we have to go talk to his brother and Jesus like I'm baptized enough people today we're gonna go and get hit and get up out of here I'll see y'all later and they said he said the Bible tells us that they went from Judea in the south and they wanted to go to Galilee in the north okay so I just want to paint this picture because it's going to help you understand that they're in one place and he's healing people you don't want to deal with the foolishness so he says let's go to another place to be able to make interaction the only reason why this is important is because right in the middle of those places is a place called Samaria Samaritan Samaria okay and this is the thing um Samaria is a place with Samaritans and they would be like african-american or Hispanic people and and the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other there was so much racial tension because they came from the same place but they they classed each other and started comparing each other and it would be the equivalent of white and black or some of the other racial divisions that we have and so most people if you are a Jew and you wanted to go up to Galilee you would go all the way around Samaria because you didn't want to cross the railroad tracks and have anything to do with the Samaritan okay so so what so what Jesus did is he said let's go to Galilee but I want to go through Samaria now all the disciples like Jesus you know us in Samaria right it's those people those people who were uncomfortable with those people who we don't understand where there's been all this prejudice in racing Jesus a yellow let's go and verse 4 tells us of John John chapter 1 verse 4 it says he had to go through Samaria on the way because there was a spiritual need there and God was going to give us an eternal picture of racial reconciliation happening in this month in this moment and it's John chapter 4 is what I mean to say so please get this picture jews and samaritans do not like each other they're there they're in the streets yelling Samaritan lives matter can we be real that they've seen in Justices they've been frustrated and Jesus is so awesome because he goes right to the heart of the issue and if the church is going to see anything happen and we're going to read be reunited as it is in heaven on earth we can't skirt around this issue we have to go and talk about the issue and that's why I'm so excited we're doing this this morning because if racial reconciliation is going to happen give me let me give you point number one it's going to start with an organism and not the organization but this is what I'm saying is Jesus knew that this racial problem he couldn't have his disciples impartation and agreement for it to happen because they were still struggling through some of their own racism and we'll talk about that in a minute but Jesus knew that if something was going to be done it would start with him not the church see people waiting for transformation church to do something to racially reconcile when are we going to go no it's not going to start with the government's gonna start with you and Jesus paints this picture so much so that he decides to meet a woman at noon but he sends the disciples away because he knew that where they were they were still racist and they couldn't handle the reconciliation that was about to happen what do you say a person like there's some people around you that are your friends your dogs your homie your family that ain't gonna like this next season because God's giving you a Ministry of reconciliation and they're still stuck in racist past but Jesus gives us a picture so what does he do he will go off on them y'all ready sister and underneath he said y'all go get some chicken in town y'all running go get some Church's Chicken and he conveniently starts saying oh is hi I'm thirsty I'm gonna stay right here that's what my Bible says I'm gonna stay right here and y'all going to town and he stopped at the place of the issue and he met her at a specific place it was Jacob's Well now why would they meet at Jacobs well it's because the Samaritans rejected most of the Old Testament except the Pentateuch which is the first five books of the Bible and and the Jews accepted that too and so everybody loved Jacob the Jews and the Samaritans so Jesus was smart and he met her on common ground he he didn't meet her to reconcile where there was an issue he met her at a place where they agreed and if we're gonna see racial reconciliation we can't start when there's a riot we we cannot start at the point of an issue we gotta start where we agree everybody loves their kids welcome to somebody of a different ethnicity say you have the most beautiful time you're not gonna hear anybody say you get away from me you stupid nobody gonna do that but thank you because it makes them feel like they're pretty even if they're not and it makes them you understand what I'm saying it makes them feel hear me meet people on common ground everybody likes to hear about them themselves that's why when that woman had a prejudgment of me a prejudice prejudgment of me at Utica Square as soon as I told her her brooch was nice her attitude changed if you don't need people on common ground you'll never be able to see racial healing and Jesus met this woman on common ground verse seven says he met her at the whale and he asked her a question so he decided to communicate with her I want you to just see all of the things we have to do he said please give me a drink look at verse nine it says the woman was surprised for Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans she used the past to predict the future she was surprised because no white people you see how she summoned everybody up Jews have nothing to do with some white people Hispanic people Asian people have nothing to do with these type of people and look at the response she said to Jesus um I don't know if you knew but you're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman why are you asking me for a drink now this begs a question in my mind Jesus didn't say anything about him being Jewish he he didn't declare anything blatantly Jewish so what this leads me to conclude is that he was obviously Jewish that that's by the way he was dressed or the way that he looked his skin color she knew he was a different ethnicity just like me you know I'm black nobody has to get up and put a sign up you know if you can see you see that I'm african-american and what this tells me is something that's so special that Jesus did not have to change who he was to reach somebody else see so many people are trying to act black or act white or do this or do that stop it you don't have to deny the heritage and the culture that you came from but you cannot respond first out of that you have to Swiss bonds first biblically and see this is the problem that people don't have people have God's not asking you to like rap if you don't and he's not like you meet up asking me to like Barbra Streisand I saw a lady in a vegetable is that but he is asking us to live biblical and that's different and I heard it like this I think Tony Evans said it and it just just killed my whole life when he said it he said most people identify as a black Christian or a white Christian or a Hispanic Christian he said well we have two things Christian is in the noun place of this phrase and your ethnicity is in the adjective position in him if anybody knows anything about English or grammar the adjective always it describes whatever the noun is and he said so we cannot put Christian as the noun Christian has to be the adjective so that whatever we do and however we do it and whatever we become Christian describes what it is so I'm a Christian business owner I'm a Christian father I'm a Christian african-american I'm a Christian Anglo person because if you do not put it in the adjective we always have to conform our Christianity [Applause] [Music] so what I'm asking you to do is be Christian first be biblical first and and to do that it's a scary thing because that means we have to disassociate with some of the things that we have been come on let's be honest it makes me have to watch what I say when I come into certain environments I get comfortable in certain environments and this is just what would come out of me and God says that life and death is in the power of the tongue we got to get ahold of that well I've been saying it since I was fifteen this is me and mine and God says but when you became mine you became a new creation the old things are now past so now you get a new identity now this is the word you're gonna need God to help you with this so what are you saying Pastor Mike if we're going to see racial reconciliation and we're gonna live biblically we're gonna have to live our life comfortably uncomfortable see comfortably uncomfortable has to be your new normal what are you talking about Pastor Mike you're gonna have to live your life comfortably uncomfortable I had the opportunity to preach at Battle Creek two weeks ago and I shared this message and Battle Creek is about 5,000 to 7,000 members and they're 90% white people and the pastor wanted me to come and speak on racial reconciliation pastor Alex Amaya one of the greatest men I've ever met and and we I went up there and I was comfortably uncomfortable I stood up on that stage and I said good morning everybody my name is Michael Todd and I'm black and they all started laughing and and and I had to dive through this same exact topic and I did it the same exact way and and talking and using the analogies and talking to help them understand I was comfortably uncomfortable but me and my family have decided to live our lives like that because that's the only way we're gonna see racial reconciliation that you're not going to be comfortable in all the places God puts you I mean if you're just serving God at all it's not comfortable that's why I calls it a faith walk because they're gonna be telling him like it's anything gonna be here when I take this step and somehow he always put something right there he's faithful to continue to provide for his children so so so you're gonna have to get used to living comfortably uncomfortable you're gonna have to get used to being in conversations where you don't know much about the topic you're gonna have to be some of y'all with pride you're gonna have to get used to asking questions you so me y'all ever had a friend I think they know everything but you do not know but they think they know everything I googled I know it happened to me but he don't sit and and and it's gonna take you putting yourselves in experiences that are completely uncomfortable to find out something new it reminds me of a time I went duck hunting what brothers no hot see it's funny cuz you ain't never even heard that one of the last time you was at the barbershop it's like you had me and my boys we went dunk her like you don't hear that but I've decided to live my life comfortably uncomfortable and so what happened was I had a couple of my friends who I do things in the cities with with unite my city and they're white and we get along and I mean we are always just connecting it all stuff if this hoop in or playing basketball or going to the racetrack or playing golf they always invite me but then when they start talking about hunting it's like they start whispering they like see me and they're like hey guys we're gonna and so one day I just called them out on it I said what's up why don't y'all ever invite me to go hunting and they were like well we just assumed there's that word again we just assumed that brothers don't uh-huh at least ducks like they don't only hit dogs and I was like next time you go hunting I was like I was out strong with it next time you go ahead and do it fight me cuz I'm coming to hunt with y'all and they was laughing and they were smiling I was like okay cool three weeks later they called me came like we got this duck hunting excursion set up there's gonna be geese out there I was like cool man I'm so excited about that I don't have no gear I don't have nothing that's like don't worry about the gear we got you we got everything you need your gun your boots your your your camouflage they said you just got to be there I said what time 10:00 11:00 they said 3:00 a.m. [Music] well what will we be doing at 3 o'clock in the morning and y'all my mind got opened up to this whole new experience we pulled up a quick trip there was about three or four trucks they had a big ol I'm trailer behind him they had thousands of dollars worth of gear they had all these guns and so we're out there we're setting up the what they call the blinds and it's like where you put up fake grass to hide yourself to make the Ducks think that is real grass so you can just stand up and bow shoot them and and so we have to set up basically a grass tent and then we had to go out and put what they call decoys out which are fake ducks that cost hundreds of dollars and we got a date throwing grass up in the air and seeing which way the wind is blowing so they can set the Ducks like just so many of the ducks facing one way and so many of the ducks facing the other way so that the Ducks in the sky can think that the Ducks on the ground are real I mean it was all this stuff and that was all before 5:30 in the morning I was so tired by the job but I was willing to be uncomfortable so now we're sitting in the blinds and I'm the only speck of pepper anywhere near there and they all got these semi-automatic rifles and all these thing and they don't gave me a pump gun so like I don't know if they want to give me a gun or something but so we sitting in the blinds and at the moment they're calling that got all the I mean six and seven duck calls and geese calls and they're doing all this other stuff and then they say they're coming and then it's like I mean it must be devastating for a duck but it's so exhilarating for me there's like pull and everybody is like nine people stand up outside of this grass and everybody's like it's like the greatest feeling in the world it's like Mario duck hunt in real life y'all know what I'm saying it was amazing hey and I got to spend three hours in the blinds talking faith talking family talking about dreams and visions with guys as we shot ducks out of the sky but it was one of the most enriching experiences of my life and I think we got a picture of of that day if you could put that on the screen doesn't that boy look like then that boy come on dump that boy look like he hot and me and my friends you can put that other one up there and me and my friends we shot a lot of geese and a lot of ducks and I don't know how many I actually shot but I know that my gun fired and so we shot all kinds of stuff that day but what I wanted to save from that is if I didn't take the chance to live my life comfortably uncomfortable I had to get all my instructions from somebody else I had to learn about a whole new thing but when I did that it right rich their lives it enriched my lives and now I have relationships that I'll have forever and I'm able to reach people when I told that hunting story at Battle Creek those people were on the floor laughing because their culture has many people that hunt and because I had that experience we could connect and business owners and car dealership owners and physicians came up to me afterwards and said that was the best message I I love pastor Alex but that was the best message I've ever heard but it was because I could relate it's because I took the chance to cross the line and get comfortably uncomfortable and if we're gonna live and see racial reconciliation God's gonna ask you to live comfortably uncomfortable he's gonna ask you to take that boss that may be slightly racist but love Starbucks he's gonna ask you to buy them a fifty dollar Starbucks card and take them to take them to get a drink every morning well what are we going to talk about well what are we going to do it start with them how long have you been your hair it's so beautiful hey how do you start if you cross the line one interaction with somebody of a different ethnicity that's positive can literally change the entire thought process of somebody else and that's what Jesus did see I want you to realize in this story the reason that this woman was so surprised is because Jesus was willing to put his Jewish lips on her Samaritan cup he was willing to identify with her he said give me she he said give me a drink and he didn't have a cup that means he would have had to drink from her cup see that's what God is asking us to do he's asking us to at least identify what people even if somebody's hurting or community is hurting or a group of people are hurting and you have no experience just say I I know what it is like to hurt you don't got to agree with everything but you got to be there and hug them you got to send a text that says I'm sorry that that happened and that's both ways that's every way that doesn't matter where you are from but until we're willing to identify with each other there will be no racial reconciliation so you're gonna have to live your life comfortably uncomfortable go to verse 15 John chapter 4 verse 15 and the beautiful thing about this is Jesus decides not to let his historic prejudice of the heritage he came from the Jewish people keep them from the promise of their future so Jesus officer living water if you drink this you won't ever be thirsty again and he'll give you eternal life she said please sir um give me some of that water then I'll never be thirsty again I'll have to come to this daggone waterhole no more and then and then Jesus switches the subject cuz now that he has a relationship with her he can go deeper into her for life see you can't engage some body's problem until you engage their humanity and and when and when he said I identify with you I'll drink from your cup she said oh he's cool he does good that's a good dude I know every other Jew I've heard about her every other Hispanic person I've heard about or every other Asian I've heard about but this one's able to identify with me so then he asked her hey go get your husband and you know most people now if we ethnically don't see out I'm not about to tell you my business well go get your husband Jesus told her she said um about that Jesus said you're right you'll have a husband for you had five husbands and you aren't even married to the man you live in right now you certainly spoke the truth this woman said I'm sorry I perceive you are a prophet to see that oh you know way you might be the Son of God but I want you to see the playbook Jesus has given us you probably never seen this before Jesus engaged her humanity and said he would drink from her cup and it granted him access to her personal and spiritual needs see what we want to solve is people's problems but we have not even engaged their life and until I know you care I've heard it said like this people don't care how much you know until they know how much you can't when you tell them when you show them when you live like you care they'll let you in today problems then they'll they'll I don't care if if you're a white person and I don't care if you've never been to the north side if you saw a baby get shot you should be able to say I'm so sorry that that happened no matter if the cop was wrong no matter it don't matter if we don't eat ate then we can open up if you're a black person and you're walking around and you have affluence and you see somebody poor and you don't help them because they're all that's trailer trash sure that's that they've lifted no you should be able to I don't know what it's like to not have enough cuz until we gauge engage people's humanity you're not gonna get access today real needs and so Jesus gets access to this woman's life they went from talking about water to her immoral lifestyle just like that and then look verse 20 it goes even deeper because cuz then she starts asking him questions about their race see when you get relationship with somebody I've friends that are white one of my closest friends um um is David and he was in that video David you're somewhere in here there you go to UM Dave's white Dwight like dave is just white but we have a relationship where he can ask me about anything and I can ask him about anything because we engaged each other's humanity first then we started talking about our spiritual needs are our needs for accountability our needs and now once you get that you can start asking questions about the race like as a whole like there's white people in here they have questions about black people there are black people here like if you really got to talk to a white person why do you all do that well what is that but see we've never had those exchanges because most people don't get close enough to have and so Jesus and this woman go talking about water then they talk about her sin issue that she says why got some questions about you Jews so tell me why this house that's how it starts verse 20 why is it that Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place to worship while we Samaritans claim that it's here on Mount Gerizim where our ancestors worship see it's like why do you all go to church over there and y'all be shouting and jumping and and speaking in tongues jesus replied believe me dear woman the time is coming well it will no longer matter whether you worship the father on this mountain at the AME Church at the conjecture CH at the pentacle is not going to matter if you had Guthrie green it's not gonna matter where you worship in he said um you know very little about the one you worship what he was telling her it's like you're making generalizations about a whole group of people because your daddy told you that and your daddy's daddy told him that and your daddy's daddy daddy told him that your daddy's dead he's dead he's dead he told you that and he said he said your daddy didn't know what he was talking about and your daddy's daddy didn't know what he's talking on your daddy's daddy's daddy's daddy daddy didn't know what he was talking about he said the paradigm which you need to be thinking about is spirit and truth and when it comes to this racial reconciliation it's got to be spirit and truth and it has to be the absolute truth which is the Word of God and that's what we do so when the Bible tells us to love our enemy that's what we have to do when it tells us we're supposed to turn the other cheek that's what we have to do when it's tellin tells us we're supposed to do for the least of these so Jesus like some of us we're doing things cuz our daddy told us to and our daddy's daddy told and our daddy's daddy's daddy believed this way and Jesus comes like you came to this woman your daddy and your daddy's daddy and your daddy's daddy's daddy and your daddy's daddy daddy didn't know what they were talking about this is about spirit and truth so can I break it down if your father was racist if your grandmother was prejudiced I'm talking black white and his spent I'm talking everything if if the uncle who raised you had just a racial bend y'all know I had a uncle one time told me all white people I said UNK you ain't never been out this city you don't even know all white people like how can you say that but it's been things that we've learned and I came to tell you they didn't know what they were talking about they they had no idea how beautifully and wonderfully God made every person in this way they had no clue how much life comes when different ethnicities embrace each other and we were talking around that table they showed you six minutes of a two and a half hour conversation I have with different ethnicities it was probably one of the richest experiences of my whole life because I was open I was comfortably uncomfortable and I got to experience relationship with other people but it comes we decide to leave what we've been taught and be transformed by the renewing of our minds guys we got a see racial reconciliation and it's going to start with the organism not the organization and it's going to start with us living comfortably uncomfortable not everything being okay look at it and verse 23 said the time has come and indeed it's here now somebody shot at me now shout at me now now this is when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth the father is looking for those who worship him in this way for God his spirit so those who worship him must worship Him in spirit and truth and he and Jesus went real deep on her and she was like oh okay okay verse 25 the woman's oh well oh yeah I know the Messiah is coming the one who's called Christ so when he comes you know he'll explain everything and doesn't that sound like the church like we'll know we'll all be together in heaven one day like I know I mean this black and white thing on the sail my sons how you stay on your side of time but in heaven when eternity happens and he said no no now as it is in heaven let it be on earth because we've been given the Ministry of reconciliation verse 26 then Jesus told her I'm the one you was talking about I'm the Messiah I'm here right now and if you look at it isn't Jesus living on the inside of all of us and didn't he say greater works should we do he's healing 800 years of racial division in one day and greater works should we do that's what the Bible says he said just then the disciples came back they were shocked to find him talking to a woman but none of them had the nerve to ask what are you alone why are you talking to her now I want you to see this because you have to read the whole Bible to get this right here um they really weren't mad because she was talking about a woman cuz the Bible tells us he's already talked to Mary Martha he's talked to the Sarah Phoenician woman he's talked to women before it was because she was a different ethnicity that it would be like a group of black friends that that black power all this other stuff and then you see one of the people that's leading a group talking to a white person and they walk up and did did he forget what we was here for did he forget that we were here to stay segregated and saved did Jesus forget but none of them had the nerve to ask the question and this is a beautiful picture because it encourages me is that the disciples as many miracles as they perform they were still racist think about it think about it at this place in their journey and this is the beautiful thing that God can still use you if you have broken areas they they weren't healed all the way in this area they still have some more time to get this right but it proves to us that this journey with Christ is not a perfection thing it's a progression thing and the disciples were still racist right here they burst twenty-eighth said so the woman left the water jar beside the well ran back to the village telling everyone she had a great interaction with one person who was a different ethnicity and she had to go back and tell everybody else because she got living water she got saved come and see a man who told me everything I ever did could he possibly be the Messiah so the people came streaming from the village to see him now I want you to see this a group of disciples went into the city with no intention of reconciliation came back with no results one man had a positive interaction outside of the city that changed her so much that she went back into the city and told everybody she knew and they came to Jesus see you're waiting on the organization to do something and God said I can do one more where one person who would show my love and would cross the line and live comfortably uncomfortable and they'll come and say what must I do to be saved meanwhile verse 31 the disciples were urging Jesus rabbi eat some but jesus replied man I've got a food that you'll know nothing about whoa whoa you know what you have something good to eat you like first day this somebody bring him some chick-fil-a while we was go we walk ten miles to get him this trudges chicken and somebody brought him some chicks lately that's what my Bible says verse 34 says then Jesus see my nourishment comes from doing the will of God from actually doing the Ministry of reconciliation my nourishment comes from being obedient to God's Word who sent me and from finishing his work verse 35 you know the saying four months between planting and harvest but I say wake up look around the fields already ripe for harvest see right here Jesus was doing a social experiment to say either we're going to be the church that goes at this issue or we're going to wait for months oh yeah we'll get together and do a racial reconciliation event and we'll have balloons and jumpies for the kids and we'll come together he said but look around there are people coming to you right now there are people at your job right now there are people that you're on Instagram with right now and Facebook right now he said the field is ripe for harvest and if you look at where we're at in our city in our world about this racial reconciliation the light shines bright in the darkest times the field is right right now for one of God's children an organism to raise up and say we don't have to do it like this I'm gonna cross the line of my uncomfortability I'm gonna have a conversation with somebody in fact I'm going to invite you to my family gathering yeah it's gonna make all my family uncomfortable but we got to start living comfortably uncomfortable why cuz I have been given the Ministry of reconciliation until I do something nobody's gonna do anything and I want you to get this picture as we close God's telling us to wake up look around so many different ethnicities that God has placed you around but you still go home with your four friends you you still you said well I don't know what to say like Moses I'm telling you open your mouth and God will feel it what if I'm disrespectful you'll learn like I mean all the things that you've put as a blockage gondol changing and I want you to see this we've heard it but said Mark 12:31 that we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves but can i rephrase it love requires relationship what do you love that you don't have relationship with nothing if we're gonna love our neighbour is it's gonna require relationship first John 4:20 it says if someone says I love God but hates his fellow believer then that person is a liar for if we don't love people we can see how can we love God who we cannot see because Jesus one organism decided to live comfortably uncomfortable and meet this woman of a different ethnicity at a place of common ground they were able to share an exchange that changed her life and pointed her to the Father she went back and told all of her friends the entire city is now coming to meet Jesus because of one man see the best part of this whole thing is his in verse 40 see the people came now I want you to get the picture real quick Jesus is about to tell the disciples we got a minister to all these men you see coming from the town and this either was going to be a race riot because Peter cuts people's ears off you understand what I'm saying this this was either gonna be a race riot or revival and it turned into a revival because people who had prejudice in their heart allow God to fill it up and started to engage people that didn't look like them the most beautiful part verse 40 it says when they came out to see him they begged him to stay in their village so so he stayed for two days get the picture when they met at noon the woman declared the first thing we don't have nothing to do with each other white people black people will had nothing to do with each other Hispanics and Asians we don't got nothing to do Europeans we don't got nothing to do with each other by that evening he had booked the two night stay in the hood the and they were begging him to stay because when their relationship came into a place where they exchanged with one of God's creations it became one of the riches experience in their life and then the Bible says that many were saved because of that one interaction so what are you asking us to do Pastor Mike last point take the risk take the risk to look stupid take the risk to be the only white people to show up in a predominantly black congregation take the risk to invite somebody to your family reunion now you know your family to take the risk because if as the organ is organism we don't do something and start to do it then we just stay at the same place we on our Facebook at our barber shop and our own place talking crazy about whatever but nothing changed and God has given every christ-follower now anybody who's not a believer it's all good I'm not talking to you but anybody who believes in Jesus you've been given the Ministry of reconciliation and now it's time for us to use it so if you could bring me out my prop real fast hey I love sandwiches and um but a sandwich is not complete for me now now if I come to your house and you make a sandwich do not put no mayonnaise on my set just leave it plain cuz the only thing that goes on my sandwiches is the miracle nyeh buyer of the whip let me let me hey hey glory this will take some raw meat and make it by blessing but but as I begin to study how this was made it has two major ingredients that aren't supposed to go together and in it and it kind of reminds me of the enemy's plan for the beginning of division it like black and white is not supposed together go together races aren't supposed to go together and it's oil and water I mean you can whip it you can blend it you can you can shake it and as soon as you quit all of that they separate : water doesn't go together until it comes in contact with what's known as an emulsification process and see the emulsifier and miracle whip is an egg and one part of the egg grabs the oil and the other part of the egg grabs the water and when it mixes together it becomes one if we're going to make the picture of heaven on earth when you meet Jesus it becomes the emulsifier of every race where it'll take a white believer and a black believer in the Asian believer and a Hispanic believer and it will bring them together and no longer will we be a part but it'll be a miracle a picture of heaven on I don't want you to ever eat a sandwich to say but more importantly I don't want you to ever live the same cross the line be the organism who lives comfortably uncomfortable and is able to identify with others take the risk and get relationship with somebody that doesn't look like you and if it starts with you it will impact so many others can we give God praise right now this is that moment where all of us in our home just watching this on rebroadcast sitting on a track or with our family or whatever is happening it's our moment right now to take the risk and I want to give you practical steps I'm so grateful for God for what he said and what he did through that message that I believe is so applicable right now today in this very moment for each of our lives I want to give you some handles cuz you can hear that and I think the thousands of you over 40,000 devices have stayed on this entire time hearing this and I believe that it's stirring something and starting something in your hearts in your home and it's going to be the agent of change for what God is about to do but I want to give you practical handles if we're gonna take a risk I want to tell you what you can do this week cuz tons of my friends and pastors and leaders from all over the country they keep calling they're asking me like what can we do like how do i what do i do I feel bad but I want to make sure that I'm doing something and my brothers and sisters when we're burning down cities and and and and and looting people's businesses that's not the thing that I think is going to produce the most fruit so what do we do Pastor Mike what do we do we take a risk everybody spell out risk on your cell phone or on a piece of paper the first thing that we're all going to do because we've been given the Ministry of reconciliation as the Church of Jesus Christ what we're gonna do is we're gonna develop relationship this whole series about relationship goal is for a to win in relationship but the tagline that I keep saying is that we cannot have a goal and we're not aiming for over 400 years in this country we haven't been aiming like we have the goal that all men are created equal and free and all this other stuff but we haven't been aiming and so today I'm not putting it on government to aim I'm not putting it on your church or your affiliations or your businesses I'm putting it on you it's time to aim at right relationships we gotta have relationships with people that do not look like us they do not have the same background as us that don't even believe the same way we believe because it's in relationship that people really begin to find out not how different we are but how much we are the same it's very hard to talk about somebody that you know that you understand what they're going through it's very easy on social media to throw stones at people and talk about people and do all of these things but if it was our kids and our sons and our cousins and our co-workers it would be different and what I'm challenging you is it's time to build relationship with somebody that's not like you at all you cannot have relationship with somebody you're not willing to engage with and so it's time to take a risk to form some relationships that your cousins your parents your friends may disapprove of because it's not about getting a well done from these people it's about getting a well done from the God of the universe who calls us to be his representatives his hands and feet here so I want you this week God will present the opportunity the Holy Spirit will show you that's the person I want you to connect with not on a surface level but on a deeper level I want you to call them I want you to FaceTime them I want you to email them I want you to stand at that gas station and have a conversation if no body has to think what do I get out of it it's what can I give to it can I just give a listening ear can I hear can I be one to be there this moment and I want every person white black yellow red I don't care what it's time for us to take the risk and develop relationship and then that I I want you to take the risk to be intentional this racial reconciliation that we need to see is not gonna happen on accident it's gonna happen intentionally and I'm asking you to be intentional it's all my white brothers and sisters and of every race I'm asking you be intentional to have a conversation with your kids racism is learned this is not something that people pick up and wake up and know my daughter's right now don't know the difference between black and white but it's learned and today I'm asking you be intentional have a conversation with your kids no matter what their ages be intentional find things that can help you understand what people are going through from every side of the coin and if you take the risk to be intentional I think everything begins to not change at one moment but it starts to aim and align what happens if the 40,000 people that are on here right now became intentional with their prayer for people that are different than them oh let's start there why don't you be intentional this week and pray for people that don't look like you I'm talking about go on Instagram and find people's names out and and and look at their situation and hurting you don't have to know them there's no distance in prayer but I dare you to ask God to give you his heart forgive let's get the heart and pray for George Floyd's family let's get the heart and let's pray for our neighbor and our cousin and our co-worker and the people we play basketball with and the people we go to gym with let's pray a couple AK people I'm talking to you pray for white people this week and I know that made me difficult because of what you feel at this moment but I'm telling you this is where we rely on the Holy Spirit this is where we go back to Jesus where I am weak he is strong today I'm asking you to cross that line take the risk to be intentional so we're gonna develop relationship that's the r and the i we're gonna be intentional watch the s we're gonna start at home see everybody wants to say what we're doing all out here but the problem is it's that all of this stuff is bred in homes hate looking the blind eye taking the blind eye oppression all those different things that we're doing it starts in the home and so I'm asking you starting your home and some people are saying fast I'm like I've started in my home my kids knowing my family no that's for me and my house cool so I'm gonna give you another s word speak up if it started in your home now I'm asking you speak up use your influence no matter how great or how small if you're a pastor of a church speak up if you are somebody that has an influence with three people on a zoom call speak up if you see injustice happening out of gas station speak up if you see somebody hurting behind the scene speak up because right now there are people that can't speak for themselves and God tells us that we as believers are supposed to speak up for those who do not have a voice it starts in our home and we speak up you can do that this week and I'm not just talking about hear me when I say this don't just say anything the Bible tells us that a foolish man just says whatever comes to his mind I'm asking you to go to prayer for what you're supposed to say and begin to say things that bring life that bring change that changed policies that move things beyond where they are right now speak up and the last thing I'm asking you to take the risk to do is to find knowledge the Bible tells us that my people perish because of a lack of knowledge and the truth of the matter is for everybody there's a lot of stuff none of us know there's things that I'm finding out right now as an african-american in the United States of America that I had no clue about but I'm not going to sit here and allow things to happen I'm going to go and I'm gonna find knowledge the first place that I'm gonna find knowledge is in the Word of God I'm asking everybody man don't just scroll and listen to Instagram post this week I know it's so much easier but many of you need to take a fast from the news and social media and more than you consuming the information we want God to consume us with his fire and purify us how do we do that we got to get on our knees it's so funny that from Colin Kapernick taking his knees and kneeling to this officer kneeling when jerk George Floyd's neck that now as a church we have the opportunity to kneel I'm asking you to get on your knees all over this world all week long and get in the most powerful posture that you could ever be in this is how I fight my battles and I'm gonna fight this thing on my knees god I don't understand it God I'm frustrated God that could have been me God I have friends that are trying to do something god I don't know what to do god I want to write it god I want to rest god I need you to speak God I can't take it anymore God give us wisdom God take this pain away God change our world God changed me this is how we start fighting our families every time you see a knee know you need to take a knee every time you see the image every time you see somebody kneeling remember that that is supposed to be our posture - the only one who can change this whole thing and as we get knowledge from God as we kneel before his presence I'm believing we're gonna get up with solutions we're gonna get up with understanding we're gonna get up and know who we need to elect and how we need to move forward and what policies we need to change we cannot do this on our own we need the wisdom of heaven as it is in heaven let it be on earth and I'm asking you get knowledge and I believe that as we take that risk to form relationships with people that don't look like us to be intentional with our children and our families and start in our homes and speak up and take the risk to seek knowledge on things we don't understand and listen to me it's going to be embarrassing to even have to ask some of the questions that you don't know it's gonna be it's gonna be uncomfortable to talk about things that you know I just never knew why and that makes a lot of sense but I don't have that same experience I had one of our production guys Justice he came up to me before the message and he said Pastor Mike you know it's crazy that I was with one of my white friends yesterday and he said without my connection without my relationship and being intentional and that being in my house with my wife and without that me and my friend were white yesterday was a regular day for us if we were not connected to so many people who are experiencing this difference then we are and in that moment he said I just realized in that moment how normal my life was in the same moment how devastated it was for somebody else and his boldness to say that to me in that moment his courage to be able to admit how this didn't affect him but how he lured affected me what's the common ground that allowed us to be able to stand today and say I don't get it but I'm here it's almost like when my wife or any woman has a baby no man can ever say they know what that feels like I don't know what it feels like to carry a baby for nine months or have a baby but because my wife is pregnant I don't be like a you dealing with that baby you hurt and you gotta have contractions go ahead and deal with that know what I do as a husband who will never experience what she's experienced I may not feel it but I'm there with her I'm saying breathe baby I'm rubbing her back I'm sitting in that moment with it and there's many of us that will never experience the same thing but can we sit in this together can we stand with each other can't we pray for each other can we hold each other up if we're gonna do that it's gonna take us making for many of us a huge risk just as some of the team I want y'all to come here real quick I just want them to see who put this on yeah y'all come on come on come on I need dad y'all come on I need some people to see y'all y'all just come up here here come on team Oh like this just sit stand I want you to I want you to see right now in your home transformation Church is one of the best places to be right now yeah just y'all just get right here justice come sit next to me bro how's the tummy getting next to him I want you to see I want you to see ya y'all get all up on here so I can sit on the back of this like I just want them to see this is our church right now we're taking the risk I want everybody to see this all over the world I don't know if anybody's still tuned on but this is this is our church and we're making a decision that we're going to live a risky life for God it doesn't matter what it cost us if nobody comes back to the building if I don't care what it cost us every generation is represented up here different ethnicities are represented up here different socio-economic classes some of these are paid staff some of them are our volunteers some of these people are people that are a part of the prayer team doesn't matter this is our responsibility to live our lives in a risky place that we'll see as it is in heaven right here on this earth today as so many people are hurting so many people are broke in I want to let you know there's still hope this is a picture of hope screenshot this what I want you to know is that even though so many people are broken into pieces right now I saw a beautiful picture called the mosaic Charles and what a mosaic is is a bunch of piece of different colored glass that has been broken all put back together to make a different picture and today all of our broken pieces I believe by the power of the Holy Spirit justice God has taken all the brokenness and if we would allow him to be the one that brings us together the emulsifier that he would take all of our pieces and create a masterpiece today we're praying for a mosaic that would be on display all around the world come on I need y'all to pray with me God I'm asking you right now to take all of the brokenness that we feel in America and all over the world father and I thank you that you would paint a brand new picture today white and black young and old Hispanic and Asian father God Native American father Irish it doesn't matter father I thank you Father that you are taking us and under the name of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord that we will come together and you would do what we can't that you would create a picture of unity and racial reconciliation as it is in heaven we want it to be on this earth today God it doesn't start with an organism it starts with this organism and today father I thank you that you're not leaving us to figure this out your Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was poured out on everybody every person and you were poured out so that we would know how to walk in how to live you said we can ask for your help and you would be the comforter and today we need your help father we pray for everybody on the streets right now everybody rioting everybody that's trying to figure out to do with their rage and on anger father I'm asking you Father right now send your peace to our country God we're humbling ourselves and we're praying we're seeking your face where we're admitting we don't know how to do this and we're turning from our wicked ways and God we're asking you could you hear us and could you heal us in the name of Jesus thank you that there would be much grace yes some people today we give you glory we give you honor and we give you praise listen if you're in this moment and you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior the only thing that connects all of us the only the only thing that connects all of us it's the day that we gave our life to Jesus Christ see I may be black he may be white he may be black and white we may have a bunch of different ethnicities but the blood of Jesus is ready that's the only color that matters when it comes to your life and today I want to give you the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior if you want to stop having to carry this load in this burden by yourself I do not know what I would have done this week had I not known Jesus do you know how rough it is to live this life of sin without the saving grace of Jesus and today I want to offer that to you yo if you're like me who's not a perfect person who has failed several times continues to fail was addicted to pornography a liar a manipulator somebody who had racism and prejudgment in my heart if you were somebody like me and you need a new shot a reset or restart today God wants to give you that and all you have to do according to Romans 10:9 is accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and believe that he lived and died just for you and right there you're safe and today if you call on that name he said you will be saved today is your day of salvation not tomorrow today is the day of salvation and if you say in pastor I want to be included in that prayer today I want you to pray that I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior on the count of three I want you to just lift your hand one you're making the greatest decision of your life - we are all proud of you but more than that God is proud of you three come on just shoot your hand up in the air now I can't see you right now but God can see you and that's just a sign of your heart posture being open to God today we're gonna pray for you and that transformation church we're gonna pray not just for you we're gonna pray with you nobody we're a family here aren't we a family we're family here and so nobody prays alone so we're gonna pray this prayer together everybody say God thank you for sending Jesus just for me today I know I need a Savior and I choose you I believe you lived and you died just for me and today I give you my life change me renew me transforming me I'm yours in Jesus name Amen can we give God praise right now hallelujah there are hundreds of people if not thousands who just gave their life to Christ and more that will do it as this airs and rebroadcast this is what I'm asking everybody to do this week I want you to take a risk I even want to educate people yeah if you need to know more you need more knowledge you need to read the Bible but there's some other books you can read I wrote a few of them down some of you need to get won't charge by Pastor Erik Mason the subtitle is the urgent call for Christians in America to confront racism and injustice you can get that book right now on Amazon I'm not paid to do this I'm trying to resource you I want you to get things in your heart in your mind that will help you understand you could get the third option by Pastor miles McPherson it's hope for a racially divided nation you can get a book by my friend pastor Darren Darren gray called The Good Life what Jesus teaches about finding true happiness these are all resources that can help you this week if you need to sit down and watch something instead of just watching the news but you want to understand the plight of what's going on here's a few movies that I want you to write they didn't know that there was gonna get a movie list at church today but Siskel and Ebert I'm Michael Todd and this is transformation Church the movie that hate you give you should watch that movie every white person that I'm your pastor I am pleading with you watch the movie it will help you just understand I'm not asking you to repay for everything that's happened I'm asking you to understand and be a part of the change yeah okay yeah watch the hate you give another movie that will just really help you understand some of the things that are going on it's a movie called when they see us I would encourage you to watch when they see is I would encourage you to allow your kids to watch it well that's too much that's too gruesome that's that listen to me it's reality and what they watching on YouTube already they know more than you think and then there's one more documentary called 13th that's on Netflix right now I'm just trying to give you I don't agree with everything that's in them but it will give you a picture out of real reality yeah it'll give you perspective that's what it is that as I sit here with my dad on the couch and justice is now in an Oreo right now because I you are in the Oreo at this moment it's so crazy that 1966 you are a part of desegregation in Jackson Alabama and your seventh-grade year you had to fight every every day he had to fight every day because he and his twin sister were a part of segregation and I I come to today this is the 99th anniversary of one of the worst race massacres in US history that happened right here in Tulsa Oklahoma and I'm standing here as a african-american pastor with them with the possibly majority white church on the day that we celebrate Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given I just don't think that all of those things are disconnected I can't believe it it's not coincidence this is not happenstance I believe - to heal what you went through but I'm currently filling what you're trying to understand what there's a tension up between everybody we're gonna need the Holy Spirit so I'm asking you this week spend time in prayer go back two weeks ago and watch the worship thing all over again it's two and a half hours of worship maybe you need to start your day with that every day yeah go back and watch other messages watch this again get your friends together and watch it there's so much truth in this and then I'm asking you to show back up next week no matter what happens in our world we're gonna be here with the hurt with the differences with our pain with our frustration and we're gonna learn how to win in relationships but one of the relationships we have to win in is racial reconciliation and today I want to pray for you Father thank you for every person that tuned in come on let's stretch our faith towards them right now father we thank you that this week that this week is gonna be better than last week I thank you Father God that you're going to allow your spirit to lead and guide us and we're gonna keep our lives anchored in the truth that even in this fallen world you said in this world you're gonna have trouble but take heart coz you've already overcome the world show us how to take the risk father and let us love people beyond father God our understanding is we trust you we believe you and we thank you in Jesus name we agree go out and live a transformed life we love you guys so much thank you so much for watching this message and if this has impacted you in any way I'm asking you to do a couple of things number one join transformation nation join us right here every Sunday gather your friends and your family and be a part of not just this moment but this movement the second thing I would ask you to do is share share this with your friends your co-workers people that are around you because transformation is just one click away the last thing I would ask you to do is partner with us financially if this ministry is impacting your life transforming you I would ask you to consider pray about what you could give to help us take this message to the whole world I want you to know that we love you and your best days are right in front of you this week I want you to live a transformed life see you next week [Music]

Channel: Transformation Church

Views: 463,893

Rating: 4.930912 out of 5

Keywords: Transformation Church, Represent, Michael Todd, Mike Todd, Transformation Church live, Transformation Church Worship, Charles Metcalf, Sunday Service, Holy Spirit, Faith, God, Jesus Christ, transformchurchtv, representtv

Id: 8tEdZeRRJ7A

Length: 112min 30sec (6750 seconds)

Published: Sun May 31 2020

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Thank you. God is. Love.