Dating Distractions // Death To Distraction: Week 4 // Michael Todd

Welcome to today's message, and I'm telling you, you picked a great one. We prayed for you to get here today, and you're here. And I believe that God has a word for you that is going to transform your life.

We are in week four of a series we're calling "Death to Distraction." And as we enter into this season of love, um, I thought it would be important that we set out some wisdom for all of those who are dating. And hold on, before the married people check out, this message is for you too. We have to stop dating our distractions. And, uh, I'm going to, I'm going to walk through Samson's story with Delilah and see if we can extract some principles from God's word that are going to help us actually focus on the thing that's going to lead us to destiny.

And, um, I wanted to give this shout out because I just finished the message, and, um, some of y'all, by the end of this, who have been, um, shacking up, doing all the married stuff, uh, no commitment, just like, kind of making things go, you're going to want to get into covenant. And, uh, if you do, at the end of this, I want you to know there's a special, um, there's a special thing we're about to do called "Cuddle to Covenant." It's a wedding that we're going to throw for those who really want to step over this line, or you're going to put death to that distraction, 'cause God has a huge destiny for you. If you are interested in that, after this sermon, I want you to text MARRIED to 828282, and our team is going to send you some more information for you to get ready.

I know you're all confused, like, what is this sermon about? Well, we're about to get into it right now. All I'm asking is, if this blesses you in any way, would you share it with somebody? 'Cause I believe it might be the key to their transformation. God bless you.

Well, today I have an assignment, and I'm going to get us out of here in time enough for you to put them little wings on the barbecue grill. But, but I really do believe that the most powerful thing that happens today won't be the game. I want you to enjoy it. I want you to have fun with your people. But I believe when God speaks, and, and, and we hear him, it has the opportunity to transform our entire lives.

So today, for everybody that put church and God and your relationship and gathering community as a priority, even when things in culture are pulling you away, I'm telling you, what you're doing is focusing. The word of the year for Transformation Church is what? Focus. I'm not saying other things can't be around. I'm just saying, what are you focusing on? And, and, and one of the signs of spiritual maturity is to be able to focus while distractions are there. Can, can I help you understand that God is not removing distractions? He's putting it on you to be empowered to stay focused on what the thing is he's calling you to do.

And so many of us are believing for, for God to do a magic trick. Abracadabra, take them away, take it away. Maybe I can move, maybe I'll get a new job. And God is saying, this is not my formula anywhere in the Bible. I don't ever change the whole scenario for then you to focus. He said, I'm asking you right now to put your eyes on me and to stay focused.

Look at Peter. He literally is, is able to do what no other human being recorded is able to do, which is walk on water. When he was focused. What may you be forfeiting right now because you continue to look around? You could walk on what others drown in if you would stay focused. Oh my goodness, everybody else is drowning in debt, drowning in frustration, drowning in confusion. And God said, keep, keep your eyes on me. Keep your eyes on me. Keep your eyes on me. Keep reading that word. Keep reading the word. Keep praying. Keep listening.

And you're like, but Shante, them going out this week, and I got to go to the Super Bowl party, and you know I got to look good. It's my birthday, and tax season coming up. And yet distractions. And, and, and the reason I'm methodically going through this series is because I know some of y'all have been wanting me to move since week one. I ain't. I'mma stay right here until you start to evaluate this sermon, to actually put it in play in your life. The last three weeks, you thought it was for somebody else. And God is coming to say, you're not focused yet.

And I'm saying this in all of us. We have an area because what I used to do is, when I'm doing good in the area, I focus on the only area I'm doing good in. Okay, y'all want to be so God. But I cleaned up my eating, and I cleaned up my health. Lord, and I, you know what I'm saying? God, come on, look at me. What, what's up? And he said, I'm not negating the work you have done. All I'm saying is, there's more work to do. This is the process of sanctification, becoming like him daily. And the church doesn't talk about it because we stop at salvation. I'm saved. I know my eternity is secure. Some of y'all don't have to go to hell 'cause y'all living in it. Oh, y'all miss good. You, you worried about is there a heaven and hell? Just look at your life. You're living misery, frustration, paycheck to paycheck, always worried, all the things God said we don't got to do. You doing it every day of your life. And God saying, I came that you might have life, and life to the fullest. That ain't what I paid for.

And it's not until we get understanding of why our distractions are taking us on detours and delays that we actually can focus. So I'm telling you, every week of this series, we probably got four or five more weeks 'cause I, I, I'm loaded. I'm loaded to help you live a life that is, somebody shout at me, Focus.

So I'm going to take you to Hebrews 12:1, which is our scripture of the year, and I'm going to read it to you until that thing becomes singed on your heart. I want you to hide this, this word in your heart. It says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses." That means y'all. I, I stop. I just, every week I try to read through, but it starts speaking to me differently every week. So I'll stop and give you what the Holy Spirit just said. Other people have made it. Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we did this. We lived this life of faith. We, through the temptations, there is proof that somebody can make this their lifestyle. God is putting this in the Bible so you know you ain't the only one that has faced these things.

"Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off," one translation says, "every weight, everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily," watch this word, "entangles us." I want you to hear me say this. Has anybody ever gotten a spider web on them before? That is one of the most frustrating things to, to touch or to get on you because first off, you, you probably didn't see it. And, and you about to go reach for something, and then you reach through this invisible thing. And then the first thing you look at is, is there a spider? Is there, 'cause somebody, y'all start tripping. Y'all see anything. You, that's your birthmark. But why you? But the thing, if you've ever been entangled in a spider web, is it sticky? It wraps itself around whatever is that's what sin does. It never is something that, that, that tries to overtake you. It just slowly entangles you. And God says, I don't want you to be entangled by anything. He says, "So let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Somebody say, "I have a race." "I have a race."

Watch this. Here's our anchor scripture. "Fixing our eyes." Shout at me, Focus. Focus on Jesus. Focus on Jesus. If I looked at your calendar right now, would your calendar substantiate that you focus on Jesus? If I looked, no, I, y'all, this ain't me. I'm just asking you. If I looked at your wallet, what you spend money on, what would your money tell on you that you focus on? If we took a catalog of all the words you spoke this week, would your words give us data back that you focus on Jesus? If we were to take all of your text messages, whether that be in your phone, online, on anything you typed, would there be proof to substantiate that you focus on Jesus? If we were to open your mind, 'cause some of y'all, I didn't say nothing, I ain't do nothing, but what did you think? Come on. Some of y'all in whole other lands. If we were to put your thoughts on the screen, would there be anything to substan-? I don't care if you work for a church. That don't mean you focused on Jesus. Okay? I don't care if you lead the prayer ministry. That don't mean you focused on. You prayed to him, you didn't focus on them. No. Do you hear what I'm saying? I'm trying to make sure that our lives are focused on Jesus. Why? Because if not, we are distracted. Yeah. Can, can I be that clear? If you're not focused on Jesus, you're distracted by something. What is it? Will somebody be real with me in this place and yell out your distraction? Ooh, that one got scary right there. Hold on. I heard a safe one. What? Somebody said an iPhone. iPhone. How many people, your phone is a distraction to you? Okay, that's good. Somebody go a little deeper for me. Thank you. She said, men. Can take. How many? Okay, y'all all right. How many people is being in a relationship and wanting that, and even the ones you're in? How many of you have had a distracting relationship? Come on, let's be honest. I was hoping somebody would say that. And I need to feel to somebody in here to say the opposite than thank. We have a hot church here. Humble, open, and trust. Lust is a distraction. And lust is not just sexual. I don't be lusting the way that you drooled over that muffin. That's lust. The way you acted for that donut, you shook a little something, you did something strange for a piece of chain. You did something. That's lust. The only reason, the only reason I'm trying to normalize us talking about this is because you can never deal with something you won't reveal. And I think so many times we think we can shout it away, we can pray it away, we can come to the altar, and we can, we can be, um, um, in the vicinity of change and not actually transform. And I just want us to be real. This is what you need to know about a distraction. Write this down. A distraction is something intended to take your focus only for a moment. A distraction is not meant to like take you and turn you around. It said, I just need your attention. Has anybody ever seen something they wasn't supposed to look at, but they looked at it twice? Oh God. I'm, I'm, I'm up here with the holies of holies today, huh? But if there would be some real people, how many people have seen something? You saw it, but your natural reaction was to be like, "Did I see what I just saw?" And then you go back. There's people who will drive back around if you see some drama about to happen. Y'all know what I'm talking about. On the way, I dare you to. Why did you just turn around? It's because a distraction doesn't need your attention forever. It only needs your attention for a moment. So with that definition of a distraction, how many of us are living in a world full of things fighting for your focus? Maybe if I don't say distraction, you'll be a little, a little better with it. How many of you are dealing with stuff fighting for your focus? Okay, all right. Let me tell you something. You have an adversary, and the enemy wants your attention. How do you know that, Pastor Mike? 'Cause it was his plan from the garden. The first humans that had a word from God, all the enemy wanted was their attention for a second so that they could doubt what God had said to them. And, and become the garden. Whole story would have been over if the snake would have, and Adam or Eve would have said, "God, you know, I don't do snakes." Just think of it. But it was like, "Is that a snake? What you doing, Mr. Snake?" And then the native tongue of the enemy, "Did God really say?" I wasn't even thinking these thoughts before. I didn't even have, I didn't even doubt. But because the enemy took my attention for a moment.

And so today, I feel compelled in the season that we are in to, um, challenge you to stop praying immature prayers. "God, take it away" is an immature prayer. Hear what I'm saying? "God, take this away." Sometimes he will, but most of us use that as an escape hatch for what God is using to make us into something we couldn't be without it. An immature prayer is, "Take this away." And I get it, and I love the Bible 'cause even Jesus prayed it. Y'all remember in Gethsemane? He, he was about to get, he was like, "Yo, if there's any other way, this cup, take it." But what was his response after he expressed? He said, "Nevertheless, God, dog it, not my will, but I'mma let this make me, and you're going to give me the strength to go through it." Somebody needs to hear that right now. You're not about to be taken out. God is going to give you the strength to go through it. I feel that thing right now. Some of y'all are about to give up, and some of you are about to throw in the towel, and God came to let you know today that he will give you the strength to go through it. I feel that.

All right, so that's why 1 Corinthians 10:13 says this: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not regular." It's common to man. So any temptation you're going through, it's not special. Y'all, there is a solution for it. And so today, I felt very, um, very impressed to make a, a public service announcement. And, um, this is going to seem a little out of left field for some of y'all, but I feel like this was my assignment today. Um, and write this point down. Um, it applies to everybody, but, um, you'll see here in a minute how it does. Write this: Dating is not demonic. No, this is the point. Some of y'all not writing it down. Write it down. Here we go. Dating is not demonic. It's for data. Tonight, I got to, I got to walk down a path that most churches veer away from, um, because a lot of our distractions come in the area of relationships. And, and I don't care if you're married, I'm going to talk to you. I don't care if, if you're single, I'm going to talk to you. If you're young, I'm going to talk to you, and you're going to learn a playbook on how to do this thing right. Dating is not, Pastor Mike, where's dating in the Bible? The word was courting in the Bible. The, the, the concept is still the same, okay? Dating is not demonic. And I got to say it just like that because we have more single people in church that are weird. Now, y'all are weird. And we have a bunch of married people, people that don't want to be married. Okay? And we got a bunch of confusion going on in the church. The Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us into all truth, yet we are confused. People can't find a mate. Where all the good guys at? Where all the good women at? Why is my husband looking at them? What? And I believe, I believe we've done a disservice as a church theologically by being extreme on one end or the other. So, and, and so today, I, I'm going to clear up some things, and I'm going to tie it to Samson's story because I saw a pattern in his story that's going to help all of us do this. But dating is, say it with me, y'all scared. Dating is not demonic. Some of y'all, that's the message you need. Dating's not demonic. And the reason I have to say this is because it becomes such a big distraction in people. Your loneliness, your singleness, your togetherness, your wanting, your all of these things, it's because the pattern was probably not put in perspective right. And today, with Valentine's Day being on Friday, um, your pastor felt it very, um, intentional that I bring this word to you. And some of y'all like, "I, I need the word." Wait on me. I got something for your butt. Here we go. Your pastor is giving you permission if you are not married to date. I don't know how plain I can say that. If you are married, I am get, listen, that was for the single people. If you are married, your pastor is giving you permission to date. Some of y'all married people have the crustiest relationships. No passion, just bills. No, no communication, just kids. The love has leaked out. Won't wear nothing cute for each other. Sweats every day. Hold on. Be quiet. Don't get in trouble. Take, take it. Write it in your notepad, brother. Okay? All I'm, all I'm saying is, if you're single, go on a date. If you're married, go on a date. If you're under 18 and you live in your mama's nice house, I don't got control. Whatever they set for you on that, that's, you know what I'm saying? But parents, let's have a conversation. You might want to start having dialogue about dating because if you are not in the mix, they are making up the cake without you. And so many Christian parents are not in the mix of what their children are going to do. And until you're 18, you ain't going to date. They already talking to people at school. They don't already tell somebody's private parts. They don't already say, oh, this is too much. No, they didn't. What did you do? So what I'm, what I'm saying is, we're talking about this stuff. My daughter's seven, sitting on the front row. We talk about it because if you don't, they baking the cake already. If you're not in the, that's a bar. If you're not in the mix, they baking a cake. I like that. I like that. Let, let me help you. Dating is an event, not your eternity. It is an entry, not the end. If we, if we, if we define dating properly, if we define making a connection with somebody properly, if we, if we put it in the view of God, then we realize that it's not the end of anything. It's just the entry to it. And I'm talking to multiple different types of people because some people are like, "I'm just talking to the young single people." No, there are people that have tried relationships, been married, it failed, and now they're in a season of wandering. There are many people that I know that either because of a tragedy, lost a loved one or a spouse, or it didn't work out, and they're divorced now, and they're trying to figure out in this nebulous of how to do this again. "I ain't dated since it was '82." And now you want, now, now you on these apps trying to figure out how to pick. And now you going to pick somebody your daughter's age. And, and trying to figure out, no, I'm, no, y'all, I'm trying to help you understand what, what's happening. And, and I'm not saying that that age ain't nothing but a number. I know. But where is he at? All I'm saying to you is, is we got to make wise decisions. Somebody say, "Wise." Wise. Wisdom. Wisdom. I'm not talking about y'all. I'm being funny. But I, I really want you to use. And when I look at Samson's story, the thing that he's lacking everywhere is wisdom. Like, like when I see how many times God made a way of escape for him, it was like, this dude ain't got no. It's like the friend that keeps running into the same issue. And today, I just want everybody to know that it's when it comes to dating, everybody's dating something. Oh, the whole front part was a setup 'cause all y'all dating something. All you, all of us are communicating with something. All of us are catering to something. All of us are making and setting a table for two for something. And many of you, as we come to this Valentine's Day season, you're going to be looking for a table, not just for yourself, but you will be doing what my sermon title is today: Dating Distractions. Yeah. Just waiting, waiting for my distraction to show up. I've prepared a time for us. I've prepared a place for us. I've got some of their favorite things here. Got me feeling warm and cozy because I know what happens when I get comfortable with my distraction. Who sits in that seat for you? What sits in that seat for you? For some of you, your distraction is your insecurity. God's telling you, "You can do it," but you're sitting at the table feeding your insecurity. Every, uh-uh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Insecurity. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Right here, right here. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, you want the candles lit? Insecurity. We need another lighter. No candles for right now, but the light off your eyes is enough. See, y'all don't know. Y'all don't know how to do it. Who, who's sitting here for you? Who, who's the distraction? Is it a, is it a word that was spoken over you by a loved one? And every time that you feel like, "God, I'mma do what you," but nobody's ever done that in our family. And I, no, I didn't do good at school. And so maybe I can't, can't do what God's calling me to do. All of us are dating some distraction. Can you identify it? Can, can you be honest with me at your age and your stage, what it is? Some of us are dating the opinion of man. My distraction is, "If I do it, will they like it?" And I feed this daily. That's why places like Instagram are a cesspool for my vice 'cause I won't even do what God wants me to do unless I get a hundred likes, a thousand likes, ten thousand likes. What did I do wrong? Nothing. You're just feeding something that has no ability to take you to destiny. Pastor Mike, how do you know? 'Cause we, we see it in Samson's life. If you go to Samson's story, and I want us to start at, let's start at Judges chapter 16, verse 4. It says, "Sometime later," oh, I didn't tell y'all the subtitle of my message. It's "Dating Distractions: The Ignorance of Dating in Dulu." Y'all know what that is? Dulu is the new way the young kids say delusion. You're dulu. And many of us will never see what God wants us to have because we're in delusion. You think, you think feeding this distraction, catering to this distraction, becoming okay with distraction is somehow going to take you to the place you want to go. Come on. And you're delusional right now. 'Cause for me, many years, what I pulled up to the table with, and what was my distraction, is other people's success. So if they do good, I got to do better. And if they, if they go on a vacation, I got to go on two vacations. Oh, y'all gonna play me like I'm the only one. They got three kids, I'mma have dang, I'mma have four kids. I, I'm just saying, you, you can act like it's not a real thing. They put an album out, I got to put an album out. They working on a book, I'm working on a book. They got an earring, I need an earring. No, I, it be like that. Little, but I'm catering. You need anything you want. You want something to drink? Hold on, hold on. Distraction. I know I'm thirsty, but you're thirsty too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, it's been, it's been like 16 hours since we've been here. Yeah. No, I know. I had to go to work, and then I went to church, and yeah, I led the small group too. But no, I know they didn't, they didn't know that half the time they was talking, I was judging them. I was just making sure none of them were doing better than us. You look good. You look good. You look good. No, I could never. No, I will never tell anybody about us 'cause what we have is special. You've helped me in so many different seasons. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you. Yeah. No, I, I mean, enjoy your food. Eat, eat, eat. I got something special for us later. And how many of us think I'm crazy up here talking to nobody? Yet on your car ride home, yet at the gym tomorrow, yet as soon as you get on Instagram, many of us are actually feeding our distraction.

I'm going to read this scripture to y'all 'cause Samson gave me a playbook that allows me never to fall into this, and I want you to never fall into this either. "Sometime later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Valley of Sorek. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, 'Entice Samson, 'cause we know he fell in love with you, to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1100 pieces of silver.' So Delilah, with her gang, said to Samson, 'Samson, please tell me what makes you so strong and what it is you know, I'm just saying hypothetically, what it would take to tie you up so securely.' Samson replied, 'If I were tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, baby, I would become as weak as any of these other fools around here.' So the Philistine rulers brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she, Delilah, did it. This first time, tied Samson up with them. She had hidden some other men in one of the inner rooms of the house, and she cried out, 'Samson, the Philistines have come to capture you!' But Samson got up and snapped the bowstrings as a piece of string snaps when it is burned by fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered."

Now, at this moment, right here, the story of Samson and Delilah should have ended. I mean, okay, how would you know? I mean, I didn't know this was a distraction. Has anybody had a, had something that started off pure and, and, and was not bad, but it turned bad? Come on, y'all. Like, every distraction doesn't start out as like, "I'm a big distraction." But after you make a decision, after I just told you, "This is how I lose my strength," "Tie me up," "Tried to take my power." Hey, it's not you, it's no, it is you. I got to go. Do you understand what I'm saying? But Samson was dating dulu. It wasn't dating Delilah, really. He was dating his delusion. He thought somehow he could continue to be around something with the ability to kill him and have enough power and enough strength to make it out again. I need somebody to hear me. Take it out of the analogy. You think you got enough power to keep staying around that thing, to keep staying around those people, to still be around that, knowing you've been tied up by it before? And it should have ended when God allowed, ah, the distraction to be exposed. There are so many times that we ignore when God exposes the distraction. And for some reason, see, Samson decided to still date Delilah. And this is why I want to tell you and teach you. Write this down. The dating dynamic. This is wisdom's way of dating, okay? Because I want to give you practical tools of how to do this. That's okay. The, the first thing about a date is, a date is for connection. Everybody say, "Connection." Connection is just for discovery. Let me find out, what do you like? I don't know, what do you like? Where you grow up? I grew up in Tulsa. Where you grow up? I grew up in New York. Like, I like it. It's innocent. It's fine. It's okay. So many people think like, if you date somebody now, you, you got to marry him. Look at me. A date is an event. But, but this is the problem that I found out with Facebook and Instagram and all these other things. We put so much onus on when we actually go on a date that it feels monumental. It feels like something that should be more. No, maybe some of y'all shouldn't even post who you went on a date with. Post you in the corner 'cause, but don't put them in the picture 'cause, 'cause I'm so many times we try to make public what is still okay. So, so many times we try to make public what is just the precursor. I'm trying to figure it out. I'm just trying to, I'm trying to see. And so, so the first rule of dating with wisdom, and somebody, parents, you're going to take this down to teach to your kids. Um, um, single people, you're going to use this. Husbands and wives, y'all are going to see where maybe you missed it. It's the first part is connection, and this is for discovery. The second part is communication. The reason you communicate is for discernment. I can tell by what, how you answer my question, some of the things that you think, see, and feel. So, so how you feel about going to church? I mean, church is cool. I'm, I'm not, you know what I'm saying? I'm not religious, but I am spiritual. Me and God got our own connection. You know what I'm saying? He talk, I talk. And I mean, I throw it up, and then he speak to me. Like, I got this little, I got this little dream catcher thing that kind of does this little thing. And, and you ain't even got to, you ain't got to proselytize them. You ain't got to rebuke them. You ain't got any like, "Girl, come get me." But, but y'all got what I'm saying? No, like, how many kids you want? "I want 10 kids." You like, "I'm not the one for you." Like, some of y'all like, I'm just saying, like, it's connection, then it's communication. But so many times we go from connection to cuddling, and when you go from connection to cuddling, your flesh takes over. Your discernment is off. Yeah. Your ability to even see. So the wisdom's way of dating, this is so good, y'all. I wish somebody would have sat me down at 16 and told me this because I had no playbook. That's why I wrote "Relationship Goals," and that's why I'm even working on some new stuff because our generation, it, you're not, unless God wants you to or you want to be, you're not supposed to be alone for real. There are people, there are people that God calls to walk in a certain way. There are apostles and different people that God, I'm just glad he didn't call me to do that. And some of us are are thinking that's our lot in life just because you've been hurt or it's been done incorrectly. And today, I feel like what the church does not discuss gets to be defined by the world. Okay? So the dating dynamic, the ways of wisdom. Connection, that's for discovery. Communication, that's for discernment. Watch this. Consulting. So after I connect with them, I should be consulting with those around me. I should be consulting the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, what you think? "I think he's fine. I, I, I, I think our kids would be beautiful, and I think we can actually make this happen." But Holy Spirit, what, what do you see that I don't see? What do you know that I don't know? Father, where, where are the, the things that we couldn't work through? Because you see their heart. And, and then John, you saw old boy, what you think about him? "Prideful." He's not prideful, he's proud. Y'all know how we, he's just proud. Is Sisley, what you think? "I mean, if, girl, if you don't want them, I'll take them." Y'all, y'all know it's real. Girl, if you don't want them, I'll take them. Girl, Mom, Dad, what do y'all think? "He seems, he seems good at face value, but you just need to, you need to just keep dating." Connect, communicate, and then consult. The reason I'm saying consult is because when your heart starts to come out of its shell, you don't hear everything that you feel. Y'all didn't hear what I just said. You start feeling things that they didn't even say. They'll tell you like, "I'm not into a long-distance thing," and you'll be like, "He just ain't never met me." Hold on, y'all. Oh, come on. Y'all, y'all live 3,000 miles apart. I tried long distance one time, it didn't work. It worked three weeks, and you like, "We going to be so good together." Dulu, be you're dulu, baby, 'cause your heart starts feeling things that they didn't even say. Straight up told you they don't want to be married. When it's consulting, consulting is for dialogue. Somebody else should be speaking back to you about what you're getting into. The Holy Spirit should be speaking back to you. My family, my community should be speaking back to me. My closest people should be. There is not anything that I do without consulting. I'm always asking somebody, "What y'all think? How do y'all feel?" Like that, not because they needed control, but the Bible says there is wisdom in the multitude of counsel. You might see something I don't see. So connection for discovery, communication for discernment, consulting is dialogue, and then you get comfortable. Comfortable means you disarm. And that means that you may share a vulnerable secret or a vulnerable place of how you got to. So the reason I have problems in relationships is because I saw my parents get divorced at a young age, and that really makes me leery about connection. See, when you're with the right person, after you've discerned and discovered and those things bring you closer together, it's like, man, when you said that, that makes me think about, um, my father. He was there, but he was emotionally unavailable. And so it's hard for me to express my D. And you can. But people be disarming immediately. First date. First date disarmed. And then disrobed. Hold on. Wait, wait. No, y'all got to hear. Wait. We have skipped too many steps. You, you, y'all started discussing, then you're disarming. You, you, but culture tells you it's normal. Oh, come on, let's be honest. And I don't care what culture says, you have not figured out how to do relationship God's way. And I'm telling you this because we're looking to people. There's no, there's no reason why we should look at culture and say, "This is how you do relationships." There is no proof. The sad part is, there's not much proof when you look at Christians. That's why I got to talk about it because somebody has got to be a standard bearer for what it looks like to do relationship God's way. If you believe it, can you make some noise in the building? Ah, I got so much. Okay, is this okay, y'all? Is this okay? Okay. So connection for discovery, communication for discernment, consulting for dialogue. Being comfortable is when you disarm. And then you get a commitment. That's when you decide. The reason I'm saying this is because sometimes you have to show people, okay, I'm, I'm, I'm letting you into a vulnerable place in me. How can you handle me? Some people, people can't handle certain stuff. So when you disarm, then you can figure, and then you can be like, "All right, I can make a commitment to them. I can be exclusive with them. I can actually see myself going somewhere in this." And that's after commitment, when you decide it's covenant, which leads you to destiny. That is dating with wisdom. And bonus point, that's when you disrobe. Okay? That's, that's okay.

Judges 16:10: "Afterwards, Delilah said to him," this is after the first time she, she exposed herself, and he keeps dating her. She says, "You've been making fun of me, Samson, telling me all these lies. Now, please, big strong man, tell me how you can be tied up securely." Samson replied, "If I were tied up with..." Samson replied, "Why are you still talking to what has proven it wants to take your life? That's why. Why are you still entertaining? Why are you still at the table with what you nearly escaped last time, and you're sitting back at the table with it again? Why is Samson reply? Why are you replying to your distraction?" And now we'll be like, "Yeah, that's so stupid. That's dumb." Or Samson, okay? But how many times have we, after we know we only escaped by the hand of God, we know it was God's grace, we know that he was trying to do something in us, we come back and sit to that same table? Oh God, I got so much to preach. I might have to do part two of this. It says, "After Delilah said to him, 'You've been making fun of me, Samson. If I were tied up,' da da." Verse 12: "So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up." The men were still. Where are these men coming from? I, I want you to know, distraction always has friends. Your distractions always have a group of people ready to entangle you. Have you ever done one thing and found yourself in other things? Like, like one lie turned into stealing. Like, I was just lying, and now I'm stealing, and then now, how did all of this? I'm a fugitive. The men were hiding in the inner room as before. And again, Delilah cried out, "Samson, the Philistines have come to capture you!" Now, this bothers me every time I read it 'cause they're supposed to be together, right? But her cry is, "Samson, the Philistines have come to capture you." Now, why in the world, if we was actually together and we actually had connection, "The Philistines have come to capture you." 'Cause your distraction is never loyal. I need you to hear me say this. Your distraction, Q Chris Brown, these distractions, they are not loyal. You will feed and cater to and set up for pornography. You will feed and cater and set up for financial growth. You feed and cater and set up for making your way in ministry. Oh, 'cause you know that can be a distraction, trying to grow in ministry, and God told you to pastor these few people. I don't care what's sitting over there. Your distraction ain't my distraction. But if you're catering to it, God saying it's time to put death to it. Your distraction's not loyal. Every time he was about to get captured, she would always say, "They coming to capture you." But again, Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread.

This leads me to the contrast to dating in wisdom's way and then to dating in dulu, which is Samson's way. Let, let me tell you his progression. He meets Delilah. Connection, that's discovery. He likes what he sees. They start communicating, that's discernment. But he leaves out the consulting. He has nobody around him that he allows to speak into this. His dad tried to, at the very beginning, and at the very beginning, this, y'all know this, he's already had two wives by this time. You got to read the story that Samson already had two wives, a prostitute, concubine, he done done, he done done it all. But now he meets Delilah. Doesn't use any wisdom from before. God allowed him escape. This is not the first time. I showed y'all already in week one, this is not the first time he's faced these exact same things. It's just will be the last. And the reason is, is because he's working in a delusional level of pride. It's the reason why we keep sitting at the table with things that we know have the ability to lead us to destruction. So when there's nobody around to consult with, that's why the Bible says, "Acknowledge God in all your ways, and he'll direct your." Consult with him. Samson is not consulting with anybody. And this is what happened. He gets a connection, then there's communication, then he goes straight from communication to getting comfortable, and he disarms. And once he disarms, this is where most of us, this is the other word for pride, he gets cocky. He's in delusion. "I can handle this. I'm good. It's not even that big of a deal." How many times do we get trapped by, "It's not that big of a deal"? How many times that we can trap? "It's just a hug." How many times we get trapped? "It's not that much money." Do you know how people get in debt buying it? Not being that much money, a whole bunch of times. It's not that much money. Got to sell your kids now. Do y'all hear what I'm saying? 'Cause becoming cocky, prideful, it'll put you in a place of delusion where you won't even ask for help. And this is where I see the body of Christ is at a crossroads right now 'cause everybody wants to present perfect to the point where they won't even ask when they're in desperate need of help. This is the place you come for help. This is the place you ask. This is where God's saying, "I'll meet you there." But if you're in delusion and you be like, "No, I'm good," and you know your marriage has been on life support for five years, but you won't go to any counseling, you won't come get prayer with her, you won't even come to church with her. You watching at home right now, and she in the building. Why? Why in the world wouldn't you get in a place and get around other men of God or other women of God? Why wouldn't you do that? It's called pride. And the Bible says something very specific about pride. He says, "Pride always is the preview before the fall." He's doing it for Samson right here. And some of us, if you have an area of pride that you are not submitting to the Holy Spirit or others, I'm telling you, you're about to have an ouchie. A fall is coming. A fall is coming for those who do not heed the words that I'm saying to you. This is God's grace and kindness for him to actually give you warning right now. As I'm sitting here and you're listening to this and you're trying to ignore it right now, but something in your spirit is rumbling. It's because you know you have been giving too much time and attention to a distraction that God is saying, "It's time to put death to that." Because if you do not walk in humility and do what God is asking you to do, the pride is going to lead you right into the fall. I know this is strong. I know it's strong, but I just don't, I don't want you to be ignorant in the dark about what God is saying. This is so simple if you would listen. And he gets cocky and walks in delusion, he starts to cuddle and becomes desensitized with Delilah, and then he is in the worst place any believer could ever be in: compromise. Compromise leads to disaster. Let me prove it to you. Judges 16:13: "Then Delilah said," now I just want to be very clear about this, this is her 30th attempt. Do, do y'all, does anybody actually like Delilah? She has done the same thing over and over, which makes me think that Samson is now trying to set the mood for his distraction. Pastor R, could, what did Pastor R back there? Can, can you come up and could you, this is to, I need, I need my distraction to feel comfortable. Could you set the mood? Yeah, yeah. I don't know what you got over there, uh, Mr. Piano Man, but me and my, uh, distraction. How you doing, baby? Um, I've been watching you for a while, and, um, I just see how you're always there in my time of need. You're right there for my weakness. And I just want to sing this to you 'cause all of me loves all of you. Love your curves and all your head. All your perfect imperfections. Give your all to me. I give my all to you. You're my end and my beginning. Even when I'm lost, I'm winning 'cause I give you, oh, love me and you'll give me all. Love you. Yeah. You're, you're, you're my perfect distraction. You're the one that I'm so comfortable with because I, I get an adrenaline rush almost getting caught. I, I lost the adrenaline in this other thing, but every time I'm with you, distraction, it's like, just in the nick of time, everything is okay. And I've never felt this alive before. I've

Never felt this with anyone. Thank you for being my favorite distraction. Mr. Piano Man, play me one more song. This is for you. You know we've done a lot of things, but this time, take it slow. Oh, oh, we're going to take it slow this time. We'll take it slow. Yes, I got something for you. Just for you.

Now listen, as funny as this analogy is, this is what we do. The Bible even says that many of us take our resources that are supposed to be set out for the tithe for God, and we use it to cater to our sin. Could it be said that we're taking the holy part of what God's asked us to return back to Him and giving it to something that is telling us it wants to destroy us? It's time for us to stop catering to what wants to kill us.

It's so crazy that you never hear about Daniel with lions ever again. Y'all remember the story? Daniel's in the Lion's Den. His escape from the Lion's Den was the one time God provided power for that miracle. Daniel is not known as Daniel, the lion tamer. It wasn't his continued escape from lions. Come and see Daniel's sleep with lions tonight. I bet that after Daniel got out of that Lion's Den, he didn't want to see a kitty cat. Y'all got to hear me. Uh-uh, no, no, no. I don't do any lions because many times our pride will make us think what we escaped once, we're supposed to tame over and over again. Many of us are playing with what God provided grace for us to escape once, and now we're making decisions to make it a spectacle and for us to be around it over and over again.

Let me in. This. Turn the lights back up. Thank you, Mr. Piano Man. That's, yeah, thank you. Then Delilah said, "You've been making fun of me, telling me lies." This one gets me. Now tell me, how can you be tied up securely? This is the third time, y'all. Samson replied, "If you were to weave the seven braids of my hair..." Hold on, why are we talking about hair? No, no. He got comfortable. Yeah. Now, out of every example, he knows the power is in his hair. It's in something very common. Make another riddle. If you take my thumb and put it in some water, or if you take my big toe and you... Why did he have to get close to what actually had the power? He said, "If you would take seven braids of my hair into the fabric and put it on a loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle..." He's just playing. "I would become as weak as anyone else."

So while he slept, the reason I had to bring this message to you today is because many of you are sleeping on your distractions. While he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of hair into the fabric. Then she tightened it with the loom shuttle. Again, she cried out, "Sons, the Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom and the fabric.

This is the thing I want you to know: your distractions are always deliberate. When I get ready to, um, go on Netflix or any of the other programs and watch a series, when I know I do not have time to do that and I'm wanting to just let my mind, you know, relax from the actual assignment that I'm supposed to do, it tells me, "This is nine seasons of 14 episodes, and this is a year of my life I'm about to give up." And I still push play. That distraction is deliberate. It's not trying to help you. You know that you need to be given time spending with your kids. You only got three more years before they're out of your house, and they're in the other room doing the same thing, getting taught by people, and you're in this room trying to zone out. And you literally still press play. You know you and your spouse need counseling, or you and your kids need counseling, or just you need counseling because everybody tries to get somebody to go with them. That you're the crazy one. Go by yourself. Yet you will give hours to watching somebody's story on TikTok who found a kitty, and now the kitty's famous. And you'll spend hours on Hinge. Ain't that what it's called? Hinge? Swiping? No, he, he, he. I mean, he, he is looking for somebody. If anybody young, handsome, black man with braids... I saw a hand in the back. Gray said, "I'll hook you up afterwards." All right. Uh, hey, listen, I might have to start a dating app or something. We're going to have to, we might have to do a singles conference or something like that. We... The time has come. The time has come. Yeah, but we're going to do it God's way. All I'm saying is, we're doing so much giving to our distractions that we do not cultivate who we are supposed to become for destiny.

Samson is going to give away what God has called him to be because of a distraction. You may not be dating right now, but are you giving away what God has called you to be? What He said before you were formed in your mother's womb? Because you are catering to a distraction, you won't even go to something because you've got to be the flyest one. We don't want you there because you look good. We want you there because you are good. Like, like, but my dress, my aesthetic, my... No, like, you don't get it. That's not the best part about you. But there's so many of us that are so distracted by. And today, I just came to challenge the church: stop setting the table for two with your distraction.

The truth of the matter is that your flesh never takes into consideration your calling. There's not been one time in my life where what my flesh wanted to do was like, "But, you know, you're a man of God, right? You know thousands of people will be touched if you actually stay pure." Not one time has my flesh ever considered, "If you pop off on him, and you..." That's fine. Like it, because the calling of God on your life, many can, but you cannot. The saddest part of this whole story is Samson knows his calling the whole time that he's catering to it. And all I'm asking you is, don't let your distraction stay around long enough for it to become your desire. At some point, Samson started desiring Delilah. He started being like, "You know what? I can be..." After the third time in the baseball, and it's one, two, three strikes, you're out at the old ball game. She done done it three times, and this dummy... But it's, it's, it's very weak of me to just call him a dummy because he actually thinks he can overcome it again. He's in pride. He's in pride. I'm saying it again because I don't want to say you're in pride, but there might be an area that your pride is making you delusional because you've done it so many times, and the hand and the grace of God has been over it so many times, and you're still dating your distraction, and you're walking in ignorance. And I'm just trying to be an alarm that's saying, "Stop now. Quit now. Get out now. Move now. Do it now. Get it now." Like, I'm just, whatever I've got to do. I'm just saying, the reason I feel the burden to preach this is because your distraction is about to cost you something that you don't even think it once can.

Can I just tell you next week's message? As I'm getting in here, they didn't want his strength. Everybody thinks that they wanted Samson's strength, but when they finally catch him, do you know what they take? His vision. The enemy doesn't want your strength. He wants your vision. They could have killed him, but they gouged out his eyes because where there is no vision, people perish. They didn't have to kill him. He didn't have no vision. Your distraction is after your vision. You're making a vision board, but are you making a distraction-killing board? I've got to... These things correlate because I can't have that, and I'm still focused on this. Standing all over the place. I'm going to have to keep going next week.

Just because you beat it before doesn't mean you can tolerate it again. I'm going to say it one more time. Just because you beat it before doesn't mean you can tolerate it again. I don't know who this is for, but I'm going to say it one more time. Just because you beat it before does not mean you can tolerate it again.

I feel a call for two specific things. We're about to, we're about to, um, that's the word. We're going to dismiss our distraction and we're going to make room for the only one who's worthy to sit at the table. It was so prophetic that y'all started singing, "Make Room." The reason I have to kill this distraction is because I've got to make room for the only one, yes, who knows my future. I've got to have a connection with the only one. Woo! I feel this. The only one who can speak life into me. This is not me just giving to it. It's, it's, it's Him. The Lamb of God, the Son that was slain, the one who actually already gave me everything before we came to this table. And that's why I say, "I will." Yes, sir. "Make room for you. I will prepare for two so you don't feel that you can't live here. Please live in me." Sing that role. "I will make room for you. I will prepare for two so you don't feel that you can't live." I'm focusing on you, God. Please. You're my focus. Come on, lift your hands and sing that. "I will make room for you. Make room for you. I will." Whatever that costs me, God. It's You I'm looking at. I'm preparing my life for us, Lord, to live together. For You to be the priority. Feel You making room for You. God, live here. Jesus, please.

If you're in this room and you know that there have been some things that have been taking the place of Jesus, some distractions that have literally... I mean, as I'm talking, there's some people like, "Man, the game, the pre-game, the game, the game, the pre-game, the game, the game." And what I'm saying is, like, who won seven years ago? Who won 10 years ago? Who won 13 years ago? The only thing that you're going to be living with is all of this that's going on. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just not priority. And maybe you need to make room. Yeah. The beautiful thing about that song is this says, "I will." God is not dethroning your distractions. You have to.

So at the end of the day, like, you could have heard this whole message and like, "That was a great word for them." Y'all know how we do. That was wow, powerful. Did y'all feel that? The theatrics, the music, the roses. And the whole time, God saying, "In that video game system, that shopping tendency, being on every board at your kids' school, you PTA president, pet president, you..." I'm not trying to villainize anything. I'm just saying the things that we very easily say, "God, scoot over so this can sit here." I have grandkids now. I've always wanted to treat my grandkids how I wasn't able to treat my kids. But you're not treating your wife. So the kids left. Now you skip to the grandkids. And the one that you forsook all others for is sitting here still looking for something. That's why, "I will, I will make God, you've got to be here." This is, this is the only place. I've got to prepare for us. So you, God, I need You to do what nobody else can do. Feel You can't live here. Yeah. Please, Jesus, take Your place. Jesus, take Your place. Jesus, take Your place. Jesus, take Your place. Come on, right here at my table. I make room for You. Jesus, take Your. Jesus, take Your place. Jesus, take Your place.

I'm going to continue next week. Um, I feel like God's given me more to say about this, but I need you to, I need you to process. I need you to process what I said so that we can move on to actually implementing how we're going to walk this out. Because there are a lot of people that in this chair is this idea of success. And I've got to hit it one more time because your distraction is climbing this corporate ladder, this, this money, this decimal, this. And it's, it's robbing you of your life. The income is on the other side of obedience. I'm not talking about, "No, you can go make money." You won't have peace with it. I know people that are loaded and lonely. The blessings of the Lord, my Bible tells me, make it rich and add no sorrow. You can tell there's when there's sorrow with it. God wasn't with it. You understand what I'm saying?

And I've never done this in the history of my ministry, but I, I feel very led to do this today. And I felt it earlier, and God said He was going to make the moment for it. There are couples that are living together, sleeping together, doing all the married things, and you're not married. And I, I, I want to talk to you in love today, okay? I'm asking you to make a decision for your own safety. You might have kids together. No, no, no. Don't clap. Don't clap. Don't clap. Don't clap. Pray because there's hearts involved. There's leases involved. There's, there's, there's, there's cell phone payments involved. This is not, I'm not trying to be light. I've never done this, but I heard the Holy Spirit said, "Michael, you cannot give that strong of a warning through the word and then them miss it." There are people that have been crying out for the blessing that God gives in marriage, but they haven't decided. And I'm telling you, I need you to go through that list and see if you can commit to this person to be in covenant, or I need you to make a decision to let go of that distraction. And as a church, we're not judging you. We're not coming after you. We're praying for you. And we believe that on the other side of obedience, there is going to be massive transformation. Oh, come on! That's where you clap. That's where we believe God. And I don't know. I'm just calling this right now. Heather, if, if that's y'all, and you have something, you know, y'all are supposed to make it right. And this ain't for everybody. Some of y'all, this is your time. Like Pastor said, "We know we're not supposed to be together." That's why we've been here seven years doing this. And I'm like, I'm being honest. But we're going to figure out a way. I'm going to tell y'all next week if y'all want to do this. It's not going to be money. It's not going to be all that. We're going to figure out how to marry these people too, okay? So, like, we're going to, I don't know how we're going to do it, but we're in the next couple weeks, I'm going to figure it out with the team. We're going to have church, and then after church, we're going to have a big wedding ceremony. And if it's 10 of y'all, if it's 20 of y'all, if it's 200 of y'all, but we're going to do this thing God's way. I need somebody to hear me say that. We're going to help you. We're going to make a decision. We got to move out of delusion and we got to walk with wisdom.

I feel the presence of God, sir, today. I'm going to pray for everybody because if I make an altar call, everybody's coming. So, no, I'm serious. So today, the altar is at your seat and at your home. Lift your hands everywhere. Jesus, today, God, we are making a decision to stop dating our distractions. Yeah. To stop catering to, connecting with, cuddling with the things, laying our head in the lap of the things that desire to take the power You've given us. Today, I pray, Father God, for the things that have become so strong, so such a habit in our life, Father God, that has not been able to break. Today, I thank You by the power of the Holy Spirit, Father. You are the one that tells us that the same power that was found in Jesus Christ, the same power that raised Him from the dead, is the same power that we have. So, Father, I thank You that in the name of Jesus, by Your Spirit and Your power, it won't be by might, it won't be by power, but it will be by Your Spirit. I thank You, Father, today, there is rearranging and transformation that is happening on the inside of Your children's hearts. Today, there's a fresh surrender, and we're deciding that we will make room for You. Yeah. Father, be who You've always been: provider, comforter, the one who actually leads us into all truth. Father, there are people that are confused and even grieving right now, knowing that their distractions have literally defined their life. But today, God, I thank You that You're giving them a fresh vision. They won't lose their vision because of a distraction. They are getting fresh vision from You about what their destiny looks like. God, God, I thank You that whatever You say, we will obey. Speak. Confirm it. Show it to us. You can speak to us, God. You know how to get to us, and we will make room for You. Have Your way is our prayer.

In the same attitude, with your heads still bowed and eyes closed, just focusing for a moment. If you are under the sound of my voice, whether you're online or you're in this room, whether you're on the worship team or you're a servant leader or you're working a camera, I need you to hear me right now. Is the day that God is calling for salvation. If you've been walking your own way, doing your own thing, going wayward, today God says, "Come home." He is giving you an opportunity of grace and mercy. And I am begging you right now, this is not based off of fear, this is based off of faith. I think, I think God has made a way to speak to you right where you are, saying, "Son, daughter, come home. Son, daughter, be made whole. Son, daughter, live in the love that I've already provided for you." If today you're tired of doing it your own way, I need the church praying because somebody's about to make a decision for their destiny. Yeah. Somebody's grandmother's prayer is about to be activated in their life today. I need y'all to pray right now. I thank You that this is a moment of transformation. God, for those who have been going their own way, I thank You on the count of three, Father, they're going to identify: today is my day of salvation. I am coming to the Lord, or I'm coming back to the Lord. Whether you're in this room, you're watching online, you may be incarcerated right now, today is the day of salvation. God is about to rejoice with everybody in this room for your salvation. One, you're making the greatest decision of your life. Two, all of hell is trembling because you're about to become who you really supposed to be. Three, if you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, lift your hand all over this place. I see you right there. I see you. My brother, I see you. I see you. I see you, my brother. I see you, my sister. I see you. Come on. And if I don't see you, God sees you. Transformation Church, let's give God a shout of praise! Online, glory to God! At TC, we're a family, right there in the maroon. Yeah, there's another one right over here, my sister. There's another one. And the guy in the maroon, yeah, him. And my man on the end right there. I don't want nobody to be missed. I want you to get this Bible, but more than anything, I want you to get God in your heart. So, so we're a family. We're going to pray this together. Say, "Father God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me today. I give You my life. I give You my life. I repent. I turn from every distraction, from every sin, and I turn to You today. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again just for me. Here's my life. Take it. Use me. Renew me. Transform me. I'm Yours in Jesus' name. Amen." Can we celebrate all? Oh, oh, come on! I need the loudest roar of the day! Hallelujah! Heaven is turning up, and so are we! If you just made that decision, I want you to text SAVE to 828282, and then you can do the QR code on the screen at home. Transformation Church, was anybody helped today? Like, was anybody? Okay, I need you to share this with somebody. I need you to watch it again because it's going to get you ready for next week. If you're a first-time guest or you've been here for a while and you'd like to meet me and the team, we're going to be right across the hall in the South Ballroom in about 15 minutes. We would love to meet you, hug you, kiss you. If you need prayer, not kiss you. Why do I keep saying that? I'm not going to kiss you. No kissing. I'm going to hug you, though. Um, if you need prayer for anything, we have prayer right here at the altar. We have prayer in the back. I want you to come and don't leave this house without getting touched for your healing. The Bible tells us that our healing happens when we gather together. And so, Pastor Rose, go to worship for a second. Transformation Nation, don't leave. I got a special message for you in the back, but I just want to let you know God is going to do something special in your life. Father, bless these people, and I thank You, Father, that this week, as we lay our distractions down, You would do something that we could never imagine. Until next week, go out and live a transformed life. I love you so much.

Please live in me. I will, yes sir. Make room for you. I will prepare for two so you don't feel that you can't live here. Please live in me. I will make room for you. I will prepare for two so you don't feel that you can live. Please live in me. And let all the other names fade away. Yeah. Let all the other names fade away. I declare there's only You. Let all the other names fade away. Jesus, take Your place. Jesus, take Your place. Let all the other things fade away. Hey, yeah. Let all the other names fade away until there's only You. Let all the other fade away. Transformation Nation, I hope that you feel the presence that is in this house in your house. I'm telling you, there are people at the altar. There are people actually confessing. There are people worshiping God. And there are 17,000 of you on here still with me right now, believing for God to put death to your distractions. And I'm telling you right now, if you have a prayer request, I want you to put it in the chat. I have the team here. They are feeding me your prayer requests. In just a moment, we're going to pray because I believe this is the season where God is going to have us stop dating our distractions, and we're going to make room for the only one who can lead us to destiny, and that's Jesus. If you are watching from anywhere in this world, I want you to put it in the chat because I want you to know what you bring to this is something that I've prayed for. And today, that's why I'm coming on here to believe for you. So we're about to start praying. There are people that are dealing with sicknesses and need healing for their life. Pastor Natalie is needing healing right now. We're about to pray. We're praying for Kelsey in South Africa. We're praying, Father, for anybody that needs healing. I want you to agree your faith with this. We're praying for healing for her sinuses. We're praying, Father God, for healing in anybody that's dealing with cold or flu symptoms. We're praying, Father God, for anybody that is walking, Father God, in a terminal illness, Father, or had a bad doctor's report. I need, Father God, Your healing virtue to flow right now. For our partners, Father God, who are believing You for breakthrough, Father God, breakthrough in their mind, breakthrough in their body, even breakthrough in their finances. We are praying right now for Baz in the United Kingdom that needs breakthrough in her finances. God, I thank You, Father God, that You are doing a work for anybody that needs a financial breakthrough. Come on, y'all! I need you to pray with me. Holy Spirit, I thank You that You are the one that produces, Father God, the ability to get wealth, Father, but then You give us stewardship. So, Father, teach us how to do what is right when it comes to resources, Father God, and open up doors. Yes, open up doors that no man can shut. Open up doors, Father God, that are not about anybody else, Father God, but that are about Your future and Your plan and Your destiny for us. Father God, right now, Father God, we pray for Pauline for protection for her son and Godly men influences, Father. I thank You that the men of God would raise up all over the world, Father God, that would stand in the gap and be who You've called them to be. I pray for every single mother out there that is raising a child, Father God, without the husband or or or the man in the house, Father God. Number one, I'm praying, Father, that they're going to go on some dates and there's a man of God that is coming from the north, south, east, to west. Father, we don't care. We rip up our list and we thank You that You will bring the ones that are supposed to be sent, Father, that we will walk out of our, our, our shells and walk into confidence of who You've created us to be. And Father, I'm thanking You, Father, that Godly marriages are raising up all over the world. Godly relationships. Come on, you can believe for that. Godly relationships, the ones that You have called for us to do destiny together, and Father, impacting our children. I thank You, Father, that families will be put back together. That You are restoring. That's better than before. God, we are believing, Father, that You're doing miracles everywhere. God, we pray right now for Katrina, Father God, who is asking for wisdom for her doctors to know what to do concerning her body, concerning weight loss, Father God. And for all of us that are trying to live healthier lives today, Father God, we are asking You that You would give us the wisdom, Father, even the wisdom that we talked about, wisdom's way. Father, I thank You that there's a wisdom way to do everything. Your word is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. Show us, Father, what to believe for, how to believe us, send us to the right people. And I thank You, Father, that You're giving us the discipline, Father, as well as the desire to do what pleases You. Today, Father, all over the world, Father, from Briana and Sable, Father God, and Zoe, God, all those that You know their prayer requests, Miranda, Father, and the job that she needs, everybody that needs freedom for addiction, Jan and Aana, Father God, who needs strength for her mother. Father, come on, keep putting your prayer request in the chat right now. Father, we pray, Father, that You see and hear everything. You see and hear everything. I've got a burden right now to pray for you. You see and hear everything that concerns us as Your children. And today, Father God, I thank You that in this moment, You are not asking us to do more to get to You, but You're just asking us to make room for You so that You can speak to us. Father, we are making a declaration: We will make room for You. This week, we will make time. Father, we will keep connection with You, Father God. And today, God, we ask that You would give us another revelation of who You are. For all of those who decided for Jesus today, Father, I thank You. I just feel strongly to do this. If you didn't make the decision in the room earlier today, but you know you're supposed to give your life to Christ, I want you to make a decision right now and say, "I'm giving my life to Christ." And I'm going to pray with you. Just pray with me, everybody online. Say, "Father God, thank You for sending Jesus today. I give You my life. Take over. Give me Jesus. I believe You lived. I believe You died just for me. Here's my life. Change me. Transform me. I'm Yours in Jesus' name. Amen." Yo, if you just prayed that prayer, we are celebrating with you! And I want you to text SAVE to 828282, and we're going to give you some information, and we're going to see how we can help you walk this transformed life out. I'm so proud of you. Yo, I don't know if you can feel what's happening, but this series is growing, and God's giving deeper revelation. And at the end, I don't know if you heard my heart, but there are some people that need to either get married or let go of the distraction. And if you're interested in being a part of our impromptu, Holy Spirit-led wedding that we're going to do for multiple people, I need you to text MARRIED to 828282. We're believing that God's moving people out of, um, the dysfunction that they're in into a level of destiny that changes everything. MARRIED to 828282. And, um, I'm just so excited, y'all. There's so many fun things happening at TC, and I want to let you know that we do our best to try to make everything available for you so that you can know that you are just as much a part of this as everybody who is able to get here in the building today. As your pastor, you are this church. And so I want to let you know that tribes have started, and I want you to join a tribe. There are tribes meeting all over the US and really the world. And right now, you can, you can scan the QR code and you can find a tribe near you. And some of y'all, you'll be like, "There's no tribe in my area," or you want to meet some people in, you can start the tribe. There's people in Dallas that are TC Nation. There's people in Kansas City that are TC Nation. There's people in London that are TC Nation. Sometimes it needs a leader to actually multiply. And, man, I'm just grateful. Next week, we're going to a whole another level. If you missed the message today, or you came in on the tail end of it, I want you to know we have a rebroadcast on Tuesday at 5:00. Today, the sermon will be up. I'm asking everybody that is on, share this message. Share clips from this message. Transformation, many times, starts with an invitation. And the way that we do that in today's currency is through social media posting, texting. I want y'all to share this because there were secrets that were shown and wisdom given from God's word and Samson's story of what he didn't do that would allow people to walk in wisdom. And I want you to do that. Wednesday, we got the dig in prayer. And, um, I just want to let you know I love you. This has been an amazing sermon. I need you to do something for me. If this impacted you, I need you to pull out your phone and I need you to let me know and let everybody know what part hit you. Like, I need to see. I need to tag me. Tag Transformation Church. The best advertisement is you, transformed lives. So instead of me trying to tell people, "Watch the message," like, you tell people, "Watch the message." Tag me. Tag Transformation Church. Let's get everybody into a season of transformation. I love you. Until next week, go out and live a transformed life.