Before God Elevates You… He’ll Test You Here | The Power of The Pause | Apostle Mike Signorelli

How many of you know that we serve a good God, a mighty God, a

healer, a restorer, a redeemer, a friend that will never

leave you nor forsake you.

Come on.

The wheel in the middle of the wheel.

The alpha and the omega High and exalted above every name.

He's matchless.

He's wonderful.

Come on.

Is there anybody who can testify to his goodness in this place?

Come on.

Has he been there for you?

The comforter in the midnight hour.

Come on.

A provider.

Does anybody know Rafa.

Does anybody.

Come on.

Does anybody know Jehovah Nisi Lord, over my victory.

Is there anybody knows El Roy, the God who sees me, he saw me when

nobody else.

Can somebody testify to who he is?

Does somebody here know Jehovah Jireh, my provider?

Does somebody know him?

I know him.

Do you know him?

He's my best friend.

Is he your best friend?

How many names do you call him by?

As many names as you need, daughter.

How many names do you know him by?

As many seasons as you've needed him.

Every season unlocks another name.

Every season unlocks.

Come on.

Every season unlocks.

Oh, I've never been here before.

Well, you're gonna know me in a way you've never known me before.

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

I have a need.

Well, I've got a supply.

Oh, God, I feel this way.

Well, here's faith instead of feelings.

Do you know him?

Oh, the greatest relationship of my life has been with him.

Does he wake you up with a kiss?

Does he send you to bed?

Does he run his fingers through your hair?

Come on now.

Somebody said.

Okay, that's the line.

Come on now.

Father, I commit this time to you.

Through the foolishness of preaching you transform lives.

Because your word is sharper than any two edged sword.

It divides asunder even the soul from the spirit.

And your word, it never comes back void.

It will always accomplish that which it set out to accomplish.

And Lord, I thank you that under this roof tonight, Lord, you

form us into a clearer image and a better reflection of your son,

Jesus.

And everybody said, amen.

I gotta preach fast for real.

So this is send off.

I've already, for all the Catholics like you done preached

15 sermons already.

But let me just tell you briefly, like I went before God for

weeks and was like, what do you want me to say?

Send off Sunday?

I have been more nervous for this Sunday than any Sunday I've

ever done before.

And let me tell you why.

Because not only am I a legitimate introvert, and there's

my mama Am I lying, Mama?

I'm a real introvert.

But the thing I recognize today, and I never noticed this before,

is that ministry is a safe haven for introverts because it's

not about us, it's about Jesus.

So for all these years, I've been building this church, and it

hasn't been about me.

So I felt safe in an environment that wasn't about me.

And imagine what happens to an introvert when they walk into their

church and see 350 printouts of their face on popsicle sticks.

And you know how hard it is to convince people I'm not a cult leader.

And you're gonna go and print my face.

I mean, y' all.

I am so embarrassed.

That's weird.

I don't even.

Whose idea was this?

So I could fire them?

Oh, this is so bizarre.

I literally woke up this morning.

Like, I don't want to go.

God, I don't want to go.

My own mom's in it.

You brainwashed my mom.

She said, I'm keeping.

That's why.

Come on.

Come on, Minister Juliana.

I mean, somebody said, I'm taking it to the hospital.

I'm putting it up.

People, that's weird.

Don't be doing that.

But I want to just teach you briefly in the Word what the Lord

showed me and try to unpack what he gave me in the scriptures.

But in all seriousness, I think at our church, we love well,

and it's not with our own love, because our own love is so

broken and fragile.

It's just the love of the Father through us.

And we have just created such a significant bond.

And the relationship that we formed is so intense because especially

for the visitors here tonight.

If I could narrate the intensity, it's like when there's

people in this room that they're the only Christian in their

entire family.

And they literally abandoned their family's religion, their family's

faith to step into the gospel.

And so it really.

I think V1 Church almost has, like, persecuted church feeling to

it because we've.

Many of us have paid such a high cost to walk this narrow road.

And so when we come together, it's like this celebration almost

seems necessary because it's just simply a counterbalance to the

gravity of the sacrifice we've made in our personal lives.

Am I right?

So I want to talk to you just super briefly.

And I promise I'm looking at the clock, but they, you know.

Cause I know there's.

We're, you know.

Yeah, I'm almost scared, but there's a man in the Bible that I

have come to identify with most.

And his name's Jacob.

And the reason why I identify with Jacob is.

Okay, help me finish this sentence.

It's the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Okay, let me tell you what it was supposed to be.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau.

But the reason why it never happened is because this man was

so indignant that as his brother was being taken out of the

womb first because he was a twin, he grabbed before he learned

culture, he knew the struggle before he had language, he had desperation.

And he reaches and grabs the heel of his twin brother, almost

instinctively knowing that because he wasn't first out of the

womb, he wouldn't get the blessing.

And he was not okay with that.

Oh, you know, one of the things I hate about being a Christian

is the false humility in Christianity.

False humility.

And I want to free you of all that.

Oh, by and by, it's just the Lord and I.

How you doing?

Well, made it here on the bus.

Haven't eaten in three days.

You know, there's something about Christian.

You know, what it is, is so many Christians operate in the realm

of condemnation that it will make you feel guilty for wanting

the blessing of God on your life.

Oh, that's prosperity gospel.

Well, please, sir, show me the poverty gospel and what I love about

Jacob.

Because, you know, I was raised in the church in the 80s and

the 90s.

And the preachers would get up and say, you have a purpose.

Yes.

You, daughter, you have a plan for your life.

Receive it.

Did you feel that?

And to be honest with you, I was raised in a trailer park with

a single mom on welfare with five kids.

And when preachers would say, God has a purpose for you, my response

was, I don't want that purpose.

I want more.

And, like, that's really was my heart cry, like.

And I just.

I was in an environment.

I was in a context that just felt like, man, this.

This can't be all there is.

Is there anybody knows what I'm talking about?

There can't be this can't be it.

I mean, come and I fought.

And so, Jacob.

So if you go To Genesis chapter 27 and chapter 28, if I could

Genesis 27 · chapter mention

summarize Jacob, in desperation, he deceives his father

Isaac, and he steals his twin brother Esau's blessing.

Then if you go further down in Genesis 27, Esau actually plans to

kill Jacob.

So the twin brother plans to the other brother and Rebekah, who's

their mom, this is Isaac's wife literally says, hey, your brother's

plotting to kill you.

You need to escape so you can get away from this.

And then Jacob leaves a place called Beersheba and heads towards

Haran, alone and afraid.

This is Maury Povich.

This is.

What's that?

You know, Jerry Springer.

What's another one?

Ricky Lake.

What's.

What's her name?

Martell.

My man Montel.

I forgot about it.

Yeah, you.

And you didn't go to school when you were supposed to go to school.

You just outed yourself.

You know, there ain't.

My tail don't come on when kids get home.

I forgot about that show.

That's okay.

Okay, enough.

Some of y' all know more television shows than Scripture,

so that's why you got problems.

Come on.

I got you.

Don't play with me.

I'll take y' all on here.

But listen, this is family drama.

But if you think about it, the drama was, in fact, the result of

Jake.

I'm about to preach this.

Jacob wanting more than he was supposed to get.

See, everybody in your family's gonna be okay with you as

long as you're under them.

Nobody's gonna have a problem in your family if you want less than

what they want.

But when you start believing for the blessing and favor of God

upon your life, when you start trying to be the first, I'm telling

you, you're gonna get attacked by the people who think they know

you, but they know you the least.

This is Jacob's life.

Isn't it funny how your same family members who took you into

the garage to smoke weed will complain about you coming to church?

The same family member that introduced you to alcohol is mad

when you introduce them to worship.

What in the world is going on?

I'm telling you're violating a principle.

A prophet in his hometown is without honor.

The closer you get to the epicenter of those who you're related

to, the less they can relate to you.

Y' all, I'll take the gloves off for this last one.

And you know how I know that Mike ain't no pastor.

Mike ain't no preacher.

Oh, I heard he's trying to be an influencer now.

Send some of that YouTube money to me.

Come on.

Heard he's driving a cybertruck.

Come on.

Come on.

See, they like you when you struggle because they struggle.

And they feel comfortable around you being at the same level

as you.

But, see, when you break that mold of mediocrity, you start to

expose their mediocrity when you start Struggling for more.

You actually expose their lack of struggle.

And, oh, I'm speaking from experience because I'm the hobbit

that's gone farther than any other hobbit.

I'm standing before you as Bilbo Baggins.

I'm about to put the ring on and disappear for three months.

I've gone farther than anyone from my family.

I'll tell you, the price that you'll pay is wanting the acclaim

and the applause of people that share your last name but don't

share your same destiny.

This is Jacob.

I can't wait to dine with Jacob.

We're gonna be sitting there having a good old time, and Esau's

gonna walk by, and we'll be like, you go to Genesis, chapter

Genesis 20 · chapter mention

20.

Some of you are like, I love reading the Bible with Mike.

This is what I call my ADD translation.

I hope you like it.

When I read the Bible, it's full color.

I got, like, the vision pro on when I'm reading glasses.

Okay, so Genesis 28.

But here's what happens, though.

I said all that just to make this point I'm about to make now.

Jacob knew how to wrestle.

He knew how to fight and struggle.

But then something different happens.

He shifts into a mode that he had not entered into up until this

point.

According to the narrative, Jacob stops to rest, and he uses

a stone for a pillow.

And then in Genesis, chapter 28, verse 12, he dreams from that

Genesis 28:12

place of rest.

And he dreams of the heavens opening and this ladder with angels

ascending and descending.

And then as he awakens in verse 13 through 15, God says, I

am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God

of Isaac.

The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your offspring.

I did not catch this earlier.

I just caught something.

The land, okay?

He told Joshua everywhere you put your foot, but he told Jacob,

it's the land where you lie.

Some of you need to learn how to take territory by laying down,

not marching in.

You learn how to march in.

You need to learn how to lie down.

He said, the.

The land where you lie down, I will give it to you.

I'm preaching to myself.

Give it to me.

God, do the thing that I can't do.

God, give me what I don't deserve.

God, give me what I could never afford.

God, give it to me while I sleep.

God, give it to me while I slumber.

God, let it be a rebuke to the intelligent ones.

Let it be a rebuke to the rich ones.

God, for your glory, your Offspring shall be like the dust

of the earth.

And in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth

be blessed.

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will

bring you back to this land.

When Jacob wrestled, he got a name change.

When Jacob rested, he got an open heaven.

We got a lot of Christians with a new name, but not access to

what the name gives.

See, I want to teach you how to fight.

But if I teach you how to fight but not how to rest.

See this.

But if I teach you how to rest but not fight, I believe I'm here

to give a revelation to the body of Christ.

Of a both and not an either or.

Is V1 church a deliverance church?

Yes, is V1 church.

But they couldn't be a discipleship church.

No, no, we're that too.

Oh, but they can't be a theology church.

Oh, yes, we are that too.

Oh, they can't be a movement worship church.

Oh, yes, we're that too.

But they can't be an entrepreneurial church.

Yes, we're that too.

They can't be an education church.

Yes, we're that too.

Oh, yes, it's a both and not an either.

Don't put me in a box just because you're in a cage.

I'm about to preach this to somebody.

Y' all got me feeling like I'm 23.

Bethel, don't tell what the angels can bring up and down that

ladder.

Let them carry it up and down.

It ain't my job.

I'm sleeping.

Tell me what the angels can and cannot carry.

I'm here laying down.

Let them bring what they want to bring from heaven.

Someone finna get sent out, tell me what I can't be.

I don't need you to affirm it for me to be it.

I don't need you to acknowledge it for me to operate

in it.

This.

This is what J.

This is.

This is the mantle of Jacob.

Jacob would survive in New York City all.

Jacob's the kind of guy that within seven years would go from

18 people to a sold out stadium because he's not asking for

permission, he's taking it.

This is what I'm trying to get into you.

But come on.

That was good.

It's interactive.

We're not Methodist.

Praise God.

It was a little loud and obtuse, but we'll take it.

But what if I told you that God might be withholding your next

level until you learn how to rest?

What if God doesn't trust you with more until you learn how to

rest more.

That's the message that I got out of this.

You know, I don't.

I don't.

I just gotta wrap this up.

So let me fast forward.

So basically what happens is God tells Jacob to go back to Bethel.

And of course he doesn't.

Just like all of us have a problem resting.

We're tired, but we can't sleep.

Are y' all with me?

And so there's something about that.

And he's kind of struggling, and he's wrestling with all that,

and his family goes back into dysfunction.

But because God has enlarged his family, it just increased his

problems.

See, sometimes the more God gives you, you're not graduating

into an easier life.

You're graduating into greater problems.

Because to whom much is given, much is required.

And so leadership is simply God entrusting you with bigger problems.

Because the first round of problems that Jacob has is his immediate

family.

Then you read later on in Genesis, chapter 31, 32, 33, and

Genesis 31 · chapter mention

34, and he has graduated to having many families and many family

problems.

So some of you are like, as soon as I get married, the problems

are over.

No, no, no.

You just graduated, man.

From taking care of yourself to now taking care of a bride, you've

just graduated.

Come on.

Stop treating him like a Tamagotchi on your phone, trying

to keep him alive through a text message.

Come on.

This is a relationship.

Y' all.

Remember that.

Come on.

Trying to keep a relationship alive electronically.

Come on.

They need more than a text message, let me tell you.

Come on, y' all.

You know, you killed so many Tamagotchis, you know you couldn't

even keep a Tamagotchi alive.

You're trying to ask me to make you a preacher.

Get out of here.

You can't.

Come on, now.

All right, all right.

Stop laughing.

Somebody's trying to download the Tamagotchi app right now.

But what happens is he graduates these greater problems

in Genesis 31, 32, 33, and 34.

Then God sovereignly and divinely calls him back to Bethel.

This is Genesis 35:1 and says, Arise.

Genesis 35:1

Go up to Bethel and dwell there.

Everybody say dwell.

Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled.

So in other words, stop waiting for a problem to bring you

back to Bethel and actually learn how to dwell in Bethel.

This is the thing.

If your prayer life is dependent on problems, God's probably

going to keep sending you more problems.

Stop reading the Bible to solve a problem and start reading

the Bible for intimacy with the one who solved it.

All like, God's trying to get something to you.

And when I see, he says, arise, go up to Bethel, dwell there.

So then when Jacob goes back, he has this divine encounter with

God.

And he says, we're gonna do three things.

He tells his entire family, we're gonna do three things.

The first thing we're gonna do is put away all these idols.

Because up until this time, Jacob had been divinely called by

God and blessed by him, but allowed mixture in his family.

And see, I think that many of you, if you're like, what was life

before V1?

It was the last church you went to was your first time at Bethel,

and you've been introducing mixture into it.

And the reason why I screamed all across America, 99% obedience

is 100%.

Disobedience is because the second time you go back to Bethel,

you finally destroy all of your idols.

So many of you are here to hear this message.

It's not 99%.

It's 100%.

And this is what Jacob does.

He goes all in.

All in reckless abandon.

Then he says, our family's gonna go through a process of purification.

And lastly, we're gonna change our garments.

And if you read the Torah, which is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,

Deuteronomy, Joshua, or no, Deuteronomy, it basically the first

few books of our Bible we share with Judaism.

And the priests were given a prescription for when to change their

garments and even change the appearance of their garments.

Because what happens in a system when God gives you consistency

is that he has to introduce novelty into the consistency so that

you stay consistent.

And for those of you who didn't understand anything I just

said, can I break it down?

If you wear the same clothes every day, eventually they're going

to stink.

Eventually, you're gonna get tired.

So even the priest, if you read the Scriptures, were given a

prescription for what interval?

To change their garments because it keeps it fresh.

And you know, the single greatest way to change the way you

feel is to change the way you dress.

Am I right?

Like, when you put a suit on, don't you feel different?

I'll be walking around with that suit on like I'm the Wolf of

Wall Street.

You know, you could have $6 in your bank account.

You put a suit on, you're like, yeah, what do you want, peasant?

Am I right?

You change the way you dress, you change the way you feel.

Am I right?

So Jacob is telling his family, you've, oh, I'm about to

preach this.

You made all these associations with those garments,

but it's time to change your clothes.

The idolatry.

And you know, this is why.

It's not about modesty.

It's about idolatry.

It's about the association.

If you wore that to the club, you might want to disassociate that

outfit from that lifestyle.

It's not about modesty.

It's about idolatry.

Change your garments the second time you go to Beth El, the

house of God.

So I got this hat on that says Dolittle.

Because half of my lineage is Italian, Sicilian, and the other

half is mountaineer from West Virginia.

And I know you don't believe it.

I know you don't believe it.

But when I was in my mother's womb, and she's sitting right here,

which is a tremendous honor to have her here.

Thank you.

And so when I'm the firstborn.

And so she married my father, whose name is Michael Signorelli

Sr.

And she got pregnant with a boy, me.

And unfortunately, because my father had so many issues, he subjected

my mother to domestic violence.

He would punch her in both of her eyes.

She'd have double black eyes, broken ribs, literally grab her by

the hair, drag her down the hallway, throw her in a closet, and

even kick her womb with me in it.

But how many of you know it wasn't my father doing that.

It was demons in my father who knew the destiny of my mother.

And my destiny as well.

Cause we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but principalities

and powers and rule.

Come on.

And so somebody sent me a prophetic word from our V1 Church

Indiana location, who said, the Lord showed me that.

Mike, you haven't even rested from the womb, not even knowing that

story.

And it actually got me thinking about that story.

Cause, you know, when a mother drinks alcohol, the baby drinks it

through the blood.

When a mother is traumatized and there's fear and adrenaline that

comes in through the blood as well.

And so remember that song?

I'm no longer a slave to fear.

I am a child of God.

Come on.

Remember that song, Songs of Deliverance?

Come on.

You remember that song.

I am Surrounded.

Come on.

That song was so monumental in my life because I remember that God

in that season was trying to release me from fear that had gone

back to the womb.

And so what happened at that time was when I was born, my mother

brought me home.

And at that point, my mom and my dad had divorced.

And so my mom could only afford to live in a trailer.

Do y' all know what a trailer is?

And just.

And so she Brought me home.

And my grandmother saw me.

And because I think now looking back and reflecting, she

was triggered by my dad's name.

Because my dad was the one who abused her daughter.

So imagine you hate this guy named Mike Signorelli who abused

your daughter.

And then your grandson's name is Mike Signorelli.

So my grandmother literally said, we'll never call him Michael.

We will all call him Doolittle.

So my nickname was Doolittle.

And none of you even know what that means.

Cause you're not as hillbilly as we are.

But there was a country music star named Loretta Lynn.

And Loretta Lynn was, like, pretty much one of the most famous

country stars ever.

And she had a husband named Doolittle.

And he saw her gifting and her talent.

And he just basically said, I'm gonna make you famous.

We're gonna tour all over.

And she rose from rags to riches and ended up accomplishing

amazing things.

There's a movie about it called Coal Miner's Daughter.

Coal Miner's Daughter.

So there's, like, this other side.

So imagine I'm a weird dude.

My whole life, nobody called me Michael.

They called me Dolittle.

And then when I got older and I took responsibility and helped

my family and, you know, took over before Dean showed up.

Praise God.

And Dean showed up.

And I said, dean, thank you for being a real man.

You know why they call him a stepfather, right?

Because they stepped in when the other man stepped out.

They stepped up when the other man stepped down.

So we salute you, sir.

Come on, Papa Dean.

See, but the point is, as I was preparing for this sermon, and

this is my close, the Lord told me, mike, I said, I don't even

want to go on sabbatical.

Cause you guys can tell I love this.

I have operated on this principle of those who refresh others.

Will they themselves be refreshed?

So the mystery of ministry is, the more I refresh you, the more

I'm refreshed.

Because I'm sowing refreshing.

So I reap refreshing.

That's the reason why ministers burn out.

Because they sow discord and they reap what they sow.

They sow discouragement.

They reap a whirlwind.

So what's kept me in ministry is I'm just reaping what I sow all

the time.

And so it makes you feel perpetual.

But we know that's a lie.

And so the Lord began to divinely speak to me about, you know,

the necessity of Sabbath.

And seven years ago, I had put in my bylaws when I only had 18 people

in the church, that every seven years, I would take a sabbatical.

And sure enough, the timing came.

Two years ago.

I told Prophet Josh, who's here?

And I said, come on, and we begin to prepare for this moment.

But the Lord took me back to Genesis, and he said, mike, I'm asking

you to go back to Bethel and to change your garments.

And I was like, what do you mean, change your garments?

And he said, you've been a pastor, you've been a prophet, you've

been an apostolic leader, you've been a husband and a father,

but the thing you haven't been in a long time is Doula.

And the title of this message, now that I'm done with my intro,

it's, you have to go back in order to go forward.

And see, the Bible says that we put away childish things.

But the Bible also says that no one enters the kingdom until they

become childlike.

So the question is, are you childish or childlike?

Because, see, Jacob was fighting for so long, wrestling for

so long, that God had released the greatest blessing when he rested

to prove to him that he's gonna do what he couldn't achieve

on his own.

So for me, do little.

I even think about the name.

How stupid of a name.

Dolittle.

If anything, I'd do a lot.

I'd do everything.

But God, in his sovereign wisdom, had people call me Doolittle

for the first 12 years of my life because he was marking me with

a both and not an either or.

So I want to leave you with this, because this message is not

about me.

It's about you.

Would you stand to your feet with me?

Here's my question.

When did you stop painting?

When did you stop writing poetry?

When did you stop dreaming?

When did you stop believing that God could do something through

your life?

Sometimes you got to go back to go forward.

Amen.

And I think when I look at the life of Jacob, as I see such a wrestling,

such a fighting, but when he shifts out of that into the dreaming,

when he steps out of that, back into Bethel to rest, God always

fixes the things he couldn't fix.

And so I want to just briefly pray over each and every one of you.

I know tonight's been already an amazing service, but I kept thinking

about Revelation, chapter 2, verse 4.

Revelation 2:4

It says, For I have this against you, that you have abandoned

the love that you had at first.

Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen.

Repent and do the works you did at first.

If not, I will come to you and Remove your lampstand from its place

unless you repent.

And so Jacob goes back to Bethel, and he repents and destroys

his idols.

And he's like, all right, Lord.

I get it.

I'm already blessed.

What I need to learn how to do is rest.

So, for me, what am I about to do?

I'll be honest with you, like, seeing what's ahead for our church

this fall.

The worst thing I can do is take the whole summer off.

For real.

But I also believe that what happened.

Oh, I feel grace on this.

What you all will.

I did not say this earlier.

This is fresh.

But I want to say this because we got a lot of witnesses here.

What happens to this church in my life after this sabbatical will

prove to you the power of the pause.

It will prove to you what happens when a Jacob learns how to

lay down.

It will prove to you that he's God and I'm not.

That.

That's.

That's why you need both.

We're not going to be the church that only rests and never

wrestles, but we're also not going to be the church that always

wrestles and never rests.

So I've been wrestling for a long time, and I'm not afraid.

You know, I used to say revival is spelled W, O, R, K, but

it's also spelled R, E, S, T.

It's the both.

And so I want to pray over you because I hear the Lord calling you

back to poetry, calling you back to painting, calling you back

to music, calling you back to your bicycle.

I know that sounds crazy for somebody.

I don't know what it Calling you back to.

There's something that you abandoned that the Lord wants to

take you back.

And this is what the Jews say every Shabbat.

May you find God in your rest like you found him in your work.

My biggest audit of myself over the last eight years of serving

as the lead pastor of this church is that I fear that I taught

you how to find God more in work than rest.

But I got one more sermon before I go, and then I'm gonna walk

out and live this sermon for the next three months.

So may you find God in your rest.

And, you know, the problem is, many of you say, well, God, I stopped

doing that thing because it doesn't have a purpose.

But what if God's message to you is that if you delight in it,

he delights in your delight?

That is the purpose.

I know this is gonna sound crazy.

I wasn't intending on saying this, but because premature death

has ran in My family on both sides.

I have a penchant towards saving everything because I never

received anything as an inheritance.

So for my whole life I've been saving everything I can save to give

it away, to prove that I existed, to prove that my life had

meaning.

And the other day, the Lord led me.

He said, mike, I want you to take something of meaning to you

and I want you to burn it.

Because he's teaching me the art of letting go.

He's teaching me the art of creating for the sake of creating

and trusting that even though I'm in a finite body, my spirit is

eternal and I'll be writing poetry forever.

And so it's not the poetry you save to pass on.

It's not the poetry you publish sometimes.

It's a poetry you burn in faith that you have a never ending

supply.

I know this might be too deep for some of you, but man, stop worrying

about and fretting your life away with the little details.

Don't waste your youth planning for a future that never

comes because you always wake up in the present.

Spend your life in worship and adoration in him, in your rest and

in your work.

And I feel something different over this campus.

And I want to speak this last thing and then pray for you.

Wouldn't it be just like God to teach the residents of New York

City how to rest better than the residents of Oklahoma?

Wouldn't it be just like God in the most chaotic, expensive, loud

environment in the United States to be like, I'm gonna teach

a people how to rest better in that environment, to be assigned

to those in the nations, you know what I'm saying?

I've been Jesus casting out demons, been Jesus healing the sick.

For the next three months.

I'm going to be Jesus sleeping in a boat.

Come on, Father.

I pray for each and every one right now under the sound of my voice.

You know there are marine spirits in the water, right?

And I wonder if when Jesus laid down in that boat, it was like

Jacob taking territory over the waves.

I wonder if he was arresting every demonic spirit over the water

when he laid down.

Lord, I thank you that you're going to teach us how to find you

in our rest.

We're going to rest in our 20s, rest in our 30s, rest in our

40s, rest in our 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s.

Lord, we're going to learn how to rest in you, through you, with

you.

We, we will find you in our rest as we found you in our work.

And Lord, I just thank you for everybody here receiving what they

could never receive through wrestling, through their rest in

Jesus name.

And everybody said amen.

Amen.

Come on, let's just celebrate the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Come on, let's give it up.

With more time for Apostle Mike in the house.

Not just your lead pastor, but your campus pastor here in Manhattan.

Man.

Can I just prophesy for a minute?

Can I prophesy?

There is a mantle of prophetic evangelism at this campus.

Not just prophecy, not just evangelism.

Prophetic evangelism.

And it's gonna tear through this city.

So today, Pastor Mike knew half of something, but he didn't

know the second half of something.

There was supposed to be a city official that came today to

the Brooklyn campus this morning, and he was going to give

Pastor Mike something.

He was going to give him a key to the city, but he didn't show up.

And this is what I heard the moment I stepped foot in this campus.

Pastor Mike is that he is giving you spiritual keys.

Spiritual keys.

The ceremonial keys can open up nothing but the spiritual keys

open up heaven and rain down on Manhattan, Rain down in Brooklyn,

rain down in New Jersey.

Those keys open up nothing.

You didn't need those keys.

The Lord says, you don't need those keys, the Lord says.

And he's releasing spiritual keys over his son.

Over his son.

And this is what I saw.

I saw these keys not just opening up physical structures here

in the city.

I saw vehicles, trains, and this is what I saw.

And I was right before, I was like, lord, what does this mean?

Why am I seeing this?

And I saw barges, tons of barges.

And these keys were unlocking these barges, and these barges were

going away.

And I said, why am I seeing this?

You know how garbage gets away from this city?

You know how they send garbage away from Manhattan on barges?

Garbage doesn't lead by roads.

It leads by barges.

And the Lord says he is releasing all of the sin in this

city out of here with these keys.

And there will be deliverances, and there will be a

prophetic mantle released over this city.

And there was a bunch of sin lining these streets, waiting for

someone to take it out.

But no one's come up until this point but Apostle Mike, me and

Pastor Mike.

Come on, let me prophesy.

Let me prophesy for just a minute.

Come on.

This campus is special, y' all.

This campus is special.

And I love that we have campus pastors from other campuses, Brooklyn

and New Jersey and Long island here.

In unity.

In unity.

In unity.

This is who we are.

But nine years Ago, Pastor Mike and I went to Domino park nine

years ago before V1 was planted.

And it was just a dream.

And Pastor Mike said, josh, you gotta come.

We got a dream.

We got a vision.

And he brought me to that park.

And we began to walk and we began to march and we began to pray

over this city.

And I remember sitting there in Domino park in Brooklyn and looking

over at him saying, this is where the largest campus of our church

is going to be.

Here in Manhattan.

It's going to be over here, but also we're going to have a campus

here in Brooklyn.

We were in Williamsburg.

He said, we will have a campus here in Brooklyn.

We looked at the Villain warehouse in Brooklyn, and I remember

them saying it was going to be some astronomical amount of money

that me and him were like, I don't even.

I've never seen that amount of money in my whole life.

And now it's like, what, the coffee budget?

Come on.

There's favor in this church.

There's favor in this church.

But it took.

Come on.

It took two immigrants from Indiana to come here in March in

this city.

And we said, I'm gonna take this city.

No one's gonna give it to me.

There's not going to be any keys given to me.

There's no one's going to give it, but I'm going to take it.

And we're going to see every single soul saved in this city, and

we're going to see every single person coming to the knowledge

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, Jesus.

Come on.

What happens when a prophet and an apostle step on a stage?

I knew he was gonna say it.

That's why I said it.

You can't trick.

You can't trick a prophet.

I knew he was gonna say that.

Okay, turn this mic up.

Stop.

Stop taking my voice.

Okay.

I just want to say he is a real prophet.

Because I turn around and mouth to them, the apostle and the

prophet.

He goes, the apostle, the prophet.

But let me just say this.

The early church was not established by pastors.

Gotta flow with me.

Come on.

The early church was not established by pastors.

Why?

Because a pastor would have pet you so much that you saw comfort

instead of the grace cross.

It was apostles and prophets that came in with this attitude.

Come on, now.

Pastors are necessary, But a pastor without a prophet and an apostle

is at risk of consoling you instead of commissioning you.

And so we need it all together, because sometimes you're

wounded enough that you need that pastor's touch.

You need the pastor's counsel.

But you also need the prophecy.

You.

There's something about the fivefold that's being birthed in

this room right now.

Come on.

Right now.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Listen, you guys.

There's.

There's something stirring in the room.

Do you feel it?

Do you feel the stirring?

Come on.

I see evangelists, prophets, apostles, teachers, shepherds.

And this man said yes to the call.

And guess what?

Some of you guys have been complaining how to get here.

Can I confront you for a minute?

Some of you guys have been complaining how you come from the

Bronx.

It's like, this is 30 minutes and I gotta take a train and a bus.

Come on.

He's looking for sacrifice.

He's looking for those that are willing to travel the furthest

distance and say, I don't care where this building is.

I don't care if I gotta get on a boat and go underwater and get

scuba gear on.

I'm going to the presence of God.

It's time to dive.

I just had to.

Can you imagine putting your scuba gear on?

It's time to dive.

Listen, prophet, I'm just telling you, like, there's a synergy.

And I.

I really believe that when we stepped in a Domino park, we didn't

know the Domino revival movie was there.

We didn't know that that's where that first domino would drop.

But see, this lesson to everybody here is, you will sow the

seed from your words, and in another season, you will eat the

fruit of your words.

Come on.

So if you say that you can't do it, you will eat the fruit of

impossibility in another season.

But if you say you can, you will eat the fruit of it becoming

possible in the next.

See, God always does something in two.

Come on.

It was Joshua and Caleb.

Jesus sent them out two by two.

One, one will put to flight a thousand, two, ten thousand.

Why?

Because if you say it, then I confirm what you say.

And through.

Watch this through the power of agreement, we are connected together.

I believe New York City doesn't have to agree.

Josh agrees.

New York City doesn't have to get on the same page.

We're all the same.

The power of agreement with will command the blessing of God.

Somebody shout.

Let me just say this.

When we went into Domino Park, Pastor Mike taught me something.

And I teach it to this day in the school of the prophets.

Shout out, S.O.P.

come on.

I see you guys.

I will never prophesy over someone that I've not prayed for.

I will never evangelize to someone that I have not Met yet.

But I have already prayed for in my spirit.

And this is what I was taught by this apostle right here.

He said, josh, we gotta go to the.

To the city.

We gotta go to Domino, and we gotta pray for the people in Manhattan.

Pray for the people in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn.

Pray for the people of Long Island.

And before any of us knew you, before he knew you, he was praying

for you.

And now when he ministers to you, favor flows because he's been

praying for you.

And when I prophesy over you, it's because I looked at your name.

Come on.

This is why we tell our campus pastors, print out the list of your

campus.

I don't care if it's 3,000 people.

Do you know their children?

Do you know their names?

This is who he's calling us and you to be.

You guys receive that.

I've never felt this before in the history of our church, but tonight

I physically felt a transfer in from me and.

And us.

Like, there's something about, like, even the weight of ministry,

I feel it shifting to the people.

And I think the biggest travesty that ever happened in America

was people believing that your job is to stand.

Sit in a seat every Sunday.

That.

That was the worst.

That was the.

The devil said, I can't stop them from going to church, but I

can stop them from becoming the church.

And.

And that's why, yes, you need a seat, but a seat without being

sent is not enough.

And today I felt something.

And, you know, let me say this.

When I first got to New York City, I recognize that the reason

why.

Why you never got trained to prophesy at your other church is

because the pastor either didn't trust you or the Holy Spirit

or both.

And so what happens is, in this house, there's such a freedom

sometimes, not because I even trust you, but because I trust the

Holy Spirit in you.

Who's the Holy Spirit in me?

And if he's corrected me, he will correct you.

And then if you're correct, wrecked a bull.

We can go through this thing together.

And so there's a freedom and a unity in this house because I believe

that we've yielded to say, either this is God's way or it's

not.

And, you know, nine years ago, when we.

Well, I remember that day vividly.

And here we are standing in the promise.

We've done 15 services across seven campuses today in seven years,

but I pray that this is the smallest we will ever be.

I.

I pray that this was just the trial run, the test run, but I really

believe that the shift that needs to happen right now is the

ministry transferring.

Because let me.

Let me do something.

Let me.

Let me get some.

Let me get.

Like, we gotta.

I gotta figure out who I utilize.

Let me get.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Come up on stage real quick.

Quick.

I want to show you guys.

And I'm going to turn it back to you, Josh, Okay?

I need you guys to make a circle.

Okay?

Now look, watch this.

I did not tell them which direction to face.

Okay, now hold on.

Now, I did not tell them to face each other.

But that's instinct.

Okay, let me get in the middle.

This is most.

Watch.

Hold on.

This is not good.

This is Most churches in America.

It's a circle facing inward, with the pastor being the celebrity.

And when I moved to New York City and I started this church, the

Lord told me, do not build this structure.

But here's the thing.

You get to know all these people.

There's an intimacy in this circle right now.

There's matter of fact, because you're facing inward and

you have me in the middle.

There's a comfortability in this circle.

Now do the same circle facing outward.

Okay, now watch.

This is what the Lord told me to build.

Now watch.

Now, I'm not talking to you, talking through you.

Are y' all getting this?

Now, I'm not ministering to you.

There's a lost and dying world out there.

I'm ministering through you.

See this?

I'm commissioning you.

And we still have a circle, but it doesn't make me a celebrity.

It makes me a general commanding an army to say, go, go,

go, go, go.

It's you, it's you, it's you, it's you, it's you, it's you.

And so every church has a circle.

But is your circle facing inward or outward?

See, this is.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Go back.

Go back before you fall out in the spirit.

But see, when the circle faces inward, it's a click.

When the circle faces outward, it's a clinic.

See, I'm trying to teach you something.

Don't.

And this is why, like, facing outward, this is who we are.

And I really believe that's the difference.

So, Prophet Josh.

I'm done.

I promise I'm done.

That was it.

That was it.

I'm gonna be good.

I'm gonna be good.

I'm gonna be doolittle.

Now.

This is the flow of a prophet and apostle.

There's no place I'd rather be anywhere in the whole world than

right here.

One Other thing.

The keys that the Lord is giving.

Apostle Mike not only unlock infrastructure, but there's something

about unlocking, gifting, and what's happening right now.

There's a withdrawal taking place.

Place.

There's a withdraw.

You guys want it?

Do you want it?

Are you hungry?

Are you still hungry?

Come on, come on.

There's a.

There's.

There's evangelism, prophecy.

Who wants it?

Who wants it?

Let me see your hands.

Come on.

Let me hear a desperation.

Come on, come on, come on.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Come on.

There's something.

There's a transaction taking place.

Like, I literally see, like a swipe of a card.

It's like there's.

There's something about you saying, come on, come on, come on,

Holy Spirit.

Come on, Holy Spirit.

I want more.

I want more.

I want more.

I want more.

Part of that call.

It's a real ministry.

I'm not saying full time ministry.

I'm saying ministry.

You could be a banker and be the best minister in the world.

You could be a garbage man and be the best minister in the world.

People come to me and they're like, pastor Josh, one day when I'm

in full time ministry, I'm like, yeah, that's too late already.

Then do it now.

Do it now.

If.

If we could have seen this nine years ago.

But here's the thing.

I believe that he did see it.

I believe that the Lord did give him a vision.

And it's even bigger than this.

This is just the beginning.

This is just the starting point.

This is.

And like he said, this is the smallest it will ever be.

If we could have the ministers come up here real quick.

The three ministers, this campus.

So what.

What?

Minister Juliana doesn't know either.

It's just like, our whole church is just so prophetic.

I'm just like, man, anytime someone says something, something,

I'm like, oh, if they knew.

So here, why don't you come up here real quick?

Pastor Mike.

Yeah.

Pastor Julie.

Arise from your slumber oh, sleeper Dry bones rise.

It's been a long day, y' all.

So the ministers got together and bought you a present with their

own money.

And minister Juliana, and she could confirm this before we started,

she said, we got him these shoes to represent a key to the city,

to represent a spiritual key to this city.

And I was like, man, I just want to tell her right now, but come

on, come on.

You know what those are?

You know what those are?

Manhattan.

You know what those are?

Manhattan.

You know what those are?

Manhattan.

Come on, come on, come on.

Is that not prophetic or what?

She's like, we're gonna give him keys.

I was like, wait, what did you say?

Come on, lace them up.

Lace them up.

Lace them up.

Lace him up, Apostle.

Lace them up, Apostle.

Come on.

This is a prophetic act.

These are the keys.

These are the keys.

These are the keys.

You wanted keys this morning.

The Lord says, I will give you keys at night.

I will give you keys to the city.

The Lord says, come on.

Come on.

Hey, come on.

Come on.

Hey.

Hey.

Come on, Pastor Julie.

Come on.

Apostle Mike.

Yeah.

Wow.