The Gift of Today | O - Observe | Daily Dose | Apostle Mike Signorelli

It says in Matthew, chapter 6, verse 34, say amen if you found it.

Matthew 6:34

Now, we don't have enough time to read the entire chapter six.

And for the sake of our service time, we're gonna.

I believe that verse 34 is a perfect summary of the sermon that

he was preaching in this chapter.

It sort of encapsulates all of what I believe he.

The essence of what Jesus was trying to communicate communicate

in this portion of the Bible.

And so it says, therefore, do not be anxious.

And if you're inclined to write in your Bible, just underline

the word anxious.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will

be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So the word that we're looking at is the word anxious.

Okay?

The only moment that you're guaranteed is this moment right now.

And so we have to learn how to live fully today, in today.

And that's not just wisdom, that is worship to live in the right

now.

And this word anxious.

Right now, we are dealing with very high levels of anxiety.

We've got Donald Trump's inauguration tomorrow.

We've got these impending storms that happen.

We have some news about wars and rumors of wars.

We've got the reports about this.

First we had a pandemic.

Now we have a quad.

Like they're saying that there's four different viruses that

have potential for this next thing.

And I'm like, lord Maranatha, come quickly.

You know what I'm saying?

And so I think that what is going to make our church so unique

in this era is that in a world that fears the future, we are going

to learn how to embrace today, and we are going to actually calibrate

our concern.

So for the note takers, that's the phrase, calibrate concern.

And we're gonna talk about what that means.

So anxiety is living in a future that hasn't happened yet.

But peace is worshiping God in the present moment.

And now we gotta talk about the Greek language, because most

of the New Testament was written in Greek.

So now let's look at another scripture that uses the exact same

word, that for anxiety, this Greek word.

And let's look at it in another scripture.

Cause it's gonna help unlock the meaning.

So hold.

Hold where you're at now.

And as you hold there, let's go to Philippians chapter 2, verse

Philippians 2:20

20.

Philippians chapter 2, verse 20.

Philippians 2:20

Philippians chapter 2, verse 20.

Philippians 2:20

And then say amen when you found it.

You know, I'm getting angry.

I am a professional preacher, and I don't know how you're finding

these scriptures faster than me.

I'm a little competitive.

So when I'm saying, say amen if you found it, I'm competing with

you.

And when you all keep saying Amen, I'm like, you listened to me

last service, and I seen.

This is what I seen Pastor Jocelyn do.

Mm.

If you got one of these, I know what you did.

Don't be saying amen like you know.

Okay, so Philippians, chapter 2, verse 20.

Philippians 2:20

And it says this so good.

Now, basically, Timothy and.

Well, let me back up.

I didn't do this in the other services, but it says, I hope in

the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I, too, may be

cheered by news of you, for I have no one like him who will be

genuinely concerned for your welfare.

So underline the word concern.

This is mind blowing, what I'm about to tell you.

The word anxious in the first scripture we read and the word concern

in a completely different New Testament book of the Bible is the

same Greek word.

It's identical.

The only difference is the interpretation of the word based

on the context.

So let me help you.

Concern needs to be calibrated because it's on a spectrum.

Concern is on a spectrum.

If you're overly concerned, that's called anxiety.

If you're under concerned, that's called apathy.

And both of them are destructive.

So let me explain.

There have been.

Okay, I'm gonna be very transparent.

Have you ever been on a diet for a long time and you just get

sick and tired of being on that diet and you're.

I truly don't care.

And I'm willing to gain five pounds because it's Mickey D's time

right now.

And, you know, once you have six cheat meals in a row, that's

a new diet.

But you get to, like.

It's like almost this apathy where you're like, I don't care.

And that apathy will cause you to make the wrong decision.

Right?

And then on the other end of the spectrum, being overly concerned

is anxiety.

And there is such thing as medical anxiety where people are,

like, constantly worried about something that could happen that

truly hasn't happened, or even in their body, it can produce body

dysmorphia, which is also incredibly destructive.

Are y'all with me?

So watch.

Anxiety is destructive, but so is apathy.

Now, if I were to go a little bit deeper on this.

Somebody can smoke weed, somebody can smoke cigarettes, vape.

Somebody can drink too much alcohol and get drunk, and they're

Doing that because of apathy.

They're basically saying, I don't care what happens to me.

I'm just gonna live my life.

I really don't care.

But then there could be somebody else who gets high and gets

drunk because of their anxiety.

And they're using it to medicate.

So sometimes even the outcome is the same, but the root is different.

So you gotta deal with the root.

Like when you're an effective minister, you gotta look, say, okay,

the fruit of it is vaping.

But one person's vaping because they're apathetic.

And the other person's vaping because they have anxiety.

And so, like, when we look at this word, the reason why I wanted

to break this down for our church is because it says, therefore,

do not be anxious for tomorrow.

Now, I'm married to a beautiful woman named Julie.

And there's this phenomenon that happens in the Signorelli house.

When my wife is traveling and she's not home.

I don't lose anything.

I know where everything's at.

And when I put it down in a place, when I come back, it's in

that same spot.

Then when Julie comes home from her trip, things just start

disappearing.

I go back to the same spot I put it and it's gone.

And so I don't, you know, she claims she's not doing it.

I don't think the devil has access to my house.

I don't think it's a malevolent entity.

And somebody's doing it.

It's not me.

So this morning I wanted to brush my teeth before I preach to

you.

And so I go to reach for my toothbrush, and I'm like, my toothbrush

gone.

And over almost 20 years of marriage, I said, I know who it is.

It's not the devil.

It's Julie.

And I said, julie, where's my toothbrush?

I don't know where your toothbrush is.

And I'm like, well, I didn't move my toothbrush.

And then we start this 20 year argument up that we've been having.

And all of a sudden, you know, she's like.

And I'm like, julie, I didn't move my toothbrush.

I put it in the same spot you were probably cleaning.

And you moved it where?

I don't know where your toothbrush.

I'm gonna help you.

And we.

And I'm like, it had to be you.

Now we're arguing.

I'm like, I gotta minister to God's people.

And then I said the famous words.

Yeah, last words.

Another wife is Helping me.

I said, julie, calm down.

It didn't work.

I don't know why.

It's never worked.

And so I said, julie, calm down.

She was like, what do you mean, calm down?

And we were just.

It was a whole thing.

And I think a lot of times when we read this verse, it's like

we think Jesus is telling us, like, we're having a panic attack.

And Jesus is like, my daughter, do not have anxiety for

tomorrow.

You're like, what do you mean, Jesus?

Why are you telling me to calm down?

You're making me more angry.

But when you look at the Greek meaning of the word anxious, it actually

means two different things.

So let's break this down.

The first thing it means, the root word in the Greek means to be

drawn in many different directions.

To be drawn in many different directions.

So what could have been meant by this phrase is do not be drawn

in many different directions.

How many of you know that produces anxiety?

Like, when I'm running all over my house looking for my toothbrush,

I'm like, it should be right there.

But I'm like, maybe it's here, maybe it's there.

Where did the toothbrush go?

And so a lot of times in life, what produces anxiety is the accumulation

of all the decisions we have to make.

And one of the things that we struggle with.

Have you ever heard the phrase multipotentiality?

Sometimes what that means is because you're capable of doing multiple

things, you feel anxiety about being able to do all of them, not

knowing which one's the right one to do.

And, oh, did you hear the groan over the congregation?

It's like.

And so sometimes it could be a burden to have many different talents.

Because when people say, well, you know, when you ask somebody,

well, what do you wanna do with your life?

I don't know.

There's many things that I can do.

And so it's almost like the root word of the Greek in this context

could be saying, hey, don't go in so many different directions that

it caus to go too far into anxiety about tomorrow.

But here's the other.

The full word in Greek actually means concern, but it's

an obsessive concern.

It's don't obsess over tomorrow.

And the reason why I have to say this is because the other way

people hear this verse is if Christians are just quoting Bob Marley.

So in other words, like, hey, how do you feel about all this stuff

that's going on in the world?

Coo, coo, coo, choo, dude, you know, life is Life, you know, don't

you worry about a thing does every little thing gonna be all right

I rise up this morning you didn't think I knew, did it so.

But that's apathy.

That's being like, I don't care.

That's not what the verse is saying.

The verse is saying, be concerned, but don't have obsessive

concern.

Okay, can I go a little bit deeper?

Be concerned about your children, but obsessive concern will

turn into control, and control is witchcraft.

So be concerned about your children, but if you become obsessively

concerned, you will control them, and your control will be witchcraft.

Be concerned about your husband, but don't be obsessively

concerned, because then you'll turn into his mom instead of being

his wife.

Come on.

Ain't nobody amen in this service.

They almost.

Y'all must need an altar call after this.

Y'all must be like, just let me repent.

You're reading my whole mail.

The newspaper, the magazine, my phone.

He's reading everything, Right?

Wives that are overly concerned with their husband end

up becoming moms.

Right?

Right.

You want him to sit down and watch a sermon, but you can't sit

down and watch a football game.

That's the problem.

Come on.

Somebody just signed up for NFL.com over here.

Because it's like, I don't think anybody wakes up and says,

I'm going to become a witch today.

But they begin the process of witchcraft because the root is overly

concerned.

Let me just tell you this.

Be concerned about your pastors, but if you're overly concerned

and obsessive, you might end up wanting to control your pastors.

And that's how you can be a witch from your seat, because it's

control.

See, it's like, we spend more time critiquing than we do praying.

And that's why we're a control freak.

And so it's like, bring.

Matter of fact, I keep thinking about that scripture that

says, bring your prayers and your supplications before the Lord.

It's like, do you have a complaint department or do you have

a prayer closet?

See, you see it like, you know what I mean?

Okay, I'll be.

Lord, please, Jesus, help me.

I want to be compassionate to these people.

Jesus.

I don't know why, but when I only got the Jesus that flips tables,

I didn't get the one who gives hugs.

I don't know why.

Lord Jesus, teach me how to hug people with love today.

But I'm preaching to myself.

You understand?

I'm preaching to myself, okay?

Because the word is concern.

And you gotta calibrate your concern.

Matter of fact, I don't know why I feel led to say this.

The more you control, the less you trust.

So if you don't give up control, you can't have trust.

And my thing is.

Cause people all the time are like, pastor Mike, how do you have

seven locations of this church?

How do you have all the eldership?

How do you have the worship teams?

And they're like, man, you really trust people.

And I said, no, no, I TR the Holy Spirit in them.

It's not that I trust people.

It's I trust the Holy Spirit in them.

It's his job to convict, not my job to condemn.

So what if the Holy Spirit says to them what I would wanna say?

What if God fights my battles, right?

And so it's like, there's something about you have to give

up to go up, and some of you gotta make an exchange.

Like, I'm gonna decrease my control so I can increase my trust.

But it's not necessarily that you're trusting man.

It's that you're trusting the Holy Spirit inside of them.

And if he's not inside of them, you're trusting that God is

going to be the Vindicator.

Does that help anybody?

Okay, so then I want to take you to the Old Testament now.

Because I'm trying to disciple you into a whole Bible approach.

Because we've got to look at.

The Bible is a collection of books, 66 books.

It's a collection.

So let's go down to Exodus, chapter 16, verse 4.

Exodus 16:4

Okay, here we go.

Say amen when you found it.

Exodus, chapter 16, verse four.

Exodus 16 · chapter mention

Exodus, chapter 16, verse 4.

Exodus 16:4

It says, Then Lord said to Moses, behold, I am about to rain

bread from heaven for you.

And the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every

day that I may test them.

Okay, now, if you're prone to write in your Bible and I give you

permission, I think it's okay to write in your Bible.

I want you to underline this part.

That I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not.

That I may test them that they will walk in my law or not.

I waited the whole sermon for this moment because this ministered

to me so deeply.

And I hope it ministers to you, God.

So the children of Israel are walking through the wilderness.

And they don't have the ability to plant seeds and to wait

for them to come up and to hunt and to build fires.

So they were nomadic.

They were on a Journey to what was permanent.

Listen, they were on a journey to what was permanent.

They were on a journey to legacy.

But you have to go through impermanence.

You have to be nomadic and you have to learn how to travel.

Be a sojourner.

Like, you're not home yet.

You gotta learn the daily existence, right?

And so then all of a sudden, the Lord says to Moses, I'm gonna

rain bread from heaven.

Which is crazy.

I'd be like, lord, send a chopped cheese, Lord, please.

Double quarter pounder.

Please, Lord.

So he's raining bread from heaven, and he says, you're gonna

get a day, everybody.

Thousands of people are all gonna be able to catch from the sky

this daily bread.

They're gonna get a daily portion.

That's it.

Not enough for tomorrow, not enough for next week.

Just today and every day you're gonna grocery shop from the

sky.

Think about it.

This is literal, by the way.

This is literal.

When I say daily bread, I'm not speaking in metaphors.

Like, I'm saying literally, somebody got hit in the head with

a loaf.

Somebody wasn't watching and was like, I just got hit in the head

with a heavenly bread.

And it was probably an angel throwing it at a bad kid.

That was a joke, okay?

For the theologian, that was a joke.

So this is the context.

I wanna make sure you understand the context.

But here's the thing I saw in the verse.

I have never heard a pastor explicitly focus on.

Let's look back at the text.

This is what it says.

It says, they shall go out and gather a day's portion every day

that I may test them.

See, the way that we preach it is that God is gonna give you daily

bread to bless you.

But what the Bible says is he gives you daily bread to test you.

So it's not to bless, it's to test.

Oh, come on.

So the thing is, everything you have in your life is a test.

So people are like, blessed life.

No, no.

Hashtag test life.

Like, we are.

Matter of fact, Christians are notorious for calling something a

season.

That word.

I want it to go away this year.

We're not gonna call it a season, we're gonna call it a semester.

Because when it's a season, you can blame God, but when it's

a semester, you blame yourself for not passing your test.

So we wanna graduate this semester.

And what happened in this wilderness is they kept going through

this.

They took the same semester for a generation.

If you think about it, it was not supposed to be a long season,

but it was a semester.

They couldn't pass.

And so by that, some of you are like, I'm in a single season.

No, you're selfish.

And why would God entrust you to take care of somebody else when

you want them to only take care of you?

It's not that you're single.

The problem's not that you're single.

The problem's that you're selfish.

Because to have a mate is you asking God, will you give me permission

to take care of myself and somebody else?

Nobody gets married for that reason.

You get married cause you want to kiss.

Y'all are nasty.

I know what you want to do, but think about it.

Who gets married saying, I want to increase my responsibility,

but when I'm in marriage counseling, that's what I'm asking.

Are you ready to take care of them and yourself?

Specifically the men I'm talking to, right?

Because it's not a season.

It's a semester.

And sometimes, if you can pass that test, you'll go into what's

next.

You'll come out of the temporary, into the permanent.

Y'all with me.

Okay, so it's a test.

Somebody say, it's a test.

And the test is, what will you do with the temporary?

Like, I know you don't.

Like.

Many of you are like, I don't like where I live, but will you clean

it like you do?

Oh, come on.

Come on.

I'll just face this way, because the Lord is asking, will

you take care of.

Here's the thing.

Let's talk about Hebrew.

Now, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.

So out of curiosity, I was like, you know, I never looked this

up.

What does the word manna mean in Hebrew?

I was like, it's probably got some crazy meaning.

And I was shocked.

The word manna literally means translated in Hebrew, what is this?

The word manna means, what is this?

You fact check me, Millennials.

Go look it up on ChatGPT right now.

It means, what is this?

So what was happening was, as the bread was raining down from heaven,

the Israelites were looking up, going, what is this?

And what is this in Hebrew is manna.

So this is what's so funny about it.

Oftentimes, when God sends you provision, it comes in a form that

you didn't expect it.

Therefore you're asking the question, what is this?

It showed up in a way you didn't expect it to.

So it is God, but it doesn't feel many of you.

This is how you look at your check every week.

What is this?

This is God's provision.

But we look at it.

And we're like, what is this?

We treat God's provision like how the Israelites treated manna.

And we say, because in our mind, I should be a baller by now.

I should be a shot caller right now.

Like, how am I supposed to live my Instagram fantasy off of

this?

It's gonna have to be an Airbnb rental.

Not at least.

Just joking.

Come on, Y'all don't think we know that you pull the rental car

sticker off the car and take the picture with it like you own

it?

You don't think we know that?

Come on, now, somebody.

You don't have an online business.

You're just online faking somebody out.

Okay, I'll be not.

Please, Jesus, please.

Please, Jesus, please.

I'm just keeping it 100.

Because when we look at our check and we treat it like man, and

we say, what is this?

But what God is saying is, we need to change the question, what

is this?

To who is this?

Because the thing is, many of you say, if this was bigger, I would

be more generous.

But the thing is, what you do with this is what you would do with

more.

The thing about it is, the question is not, is this check generous?

It's is the person who received the check generous?

Because if the identity determines the outcome.

And so this is what Israel did not understand.

It's the same thing with Brooklyn.

People are like, oh, I'm getting out of Brooklyn.

I'm moving back to Puerto Rico where the weather's better.

I'm going to at least Florida.

You know, we make these plans, and it's funny, because we'll curse

the community that we live in, but somebody else with a different

vision will show up, and they'll start a revival and a movement

in the same place you cursed.

And so this is.

We're always asking, what is this?

Instead of asking, God, show me, what is this?

Like, change me.

And y'all are so quiet that probably I'm stepping on your toes

and mashing your toes right now.

And that's okay.

You can be quiet, but I'm trying to get you free.

Because my whole life, I've been surrounded by people with victim

mentalities that think that they got to change their geography,

they got to change their spouse.

Matter of fact, they change everything in their life except for

themselves.

And they end up in the same mental condition they started.

Some of us don't know the difference between moving and escaping.

Like, I need to move.

I need to move.

Are you moving or are you escaping?

Because if you think that you get peace by changing your address.

You get peace by changing your mindsets saying, holy Spirit, tear

down these strongholds.

Tear down these.

You know, in the book that I just wrote, inherit your freedom,

I have this section where I talk about how when we moved to Queens,

I was remodeling our house and I tore the walls out and there was

rat's nest in the wall.

But the guy said, oh, no, these are very old.

And I was thinking about, many of you got delivered from demons

in the last couple of years.

And it's.

The rats are gone, but the nests remain.

Nests are ways of thinking.

And it's like, the problem is Jesus does not inhabit nests.

He sits on a throne.

And sometimes you gotta dismantle a demonic nest so that

you can put a throne in its place and say, okay, Jesus, rule

and reign in this place.

And let me tell you why.

Cause we gotta learn how to live off a daily bread.

How many of you doing this?

How many of you are with me?

You could still get one if you haven't gotten one.

All around the world, we're doing these daily growth journals.

And you know, it's funny.

Cause some of you are like, you saw this?

And you're like, I'm shocked.

I thought it was gonna be so much more profound.

I thought we were gonna do Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic and

historic context and all this.

He's asking me, who can I encourage today?

This is so basic.

Yes, Sometimes basic is the most profound.

Because sometimes you're asking God to take you where your

negativity is not allowed.

You want God to promote you to a level where you cannot come into

that place a critic.

You've got to come into that place with the heart and mind of

Christ.

And so that question, who can you encourage today?

Did you know that the base level of prophecy is encouragement?

So it's literally training wheels for the prophetic is encouragement.

We got too many people walking around Old Testament prophets.

In a New Testament era, you want to prophesy doom and gloom when

Jesus died on the cross.

For redemption, we need new covenant prophets that understand

how to encourage.

And so where's that at?

And it's not that we stop talking about sin.

It's that we tell people, God sees what you're doing, but he's

calling you higher through sanctification.

And there's a new covenant prophet that comes out of the midst

of that.

But this book, as we've been going through it, it says, you know,

what are you grateful for today?

Let me just tell you gratitude is the hinges by which the doorway

to greatness is hinging.

And so the way that you.

It's like some of you wanna be great without being grateful.

You will not ever become great without being grateful.

And if you can't be grateful for what God has right now in your

life, you will never.

It's not like you get to this place where you finally say, wow,

now I'm grateful because we're on a journey of stewardship.

And I just believe that when you will begin to be grateful, then

you will step into greatness.

And Maybe you need 365 times this year where you're asked the

question, what are you grateful for?

You know, it's funny because when human beings get together, we

do not organically talk about what we're grateful for.

Our default mode is what?

Grumbling and complaining.

And so when they were in the wilderness and the daily manna was

coming, they weren't saying, I'm grateful for this.

They were saying, what is this?

And then they were like, then guess what?

They said, let's go back to Egypt.

Let's go back to Egypt.

Because when you're not grateful, you'll end up going backwards.

You'll end up.

You'll miss how God is provisioning you in the present,

and then you'll actually long for something in the past.

And God's speaking to many of you right now.

And when I think about these verses, it's the daily bread.

I know right now your life is not in the permanence that you want.

I know that it's not.

Many of you are like, hey, you know, I don't like where I live.

I don't like this.

I don't like that.

But the journey to legacy is through being grateful in the present

moment for what God is providing for you.

Is this helping you?

You know, I was at the dentist this week because I had a crown break.

Like, one of my crowns broke, which I'm like, that's not supposed

to happen.

And it was such a weird experience.

And, you know, like, when I go to the dentist or anywhere I go,

there's like, different, you know, Personas.

It's like, hey, I'm Mike.

When I call, I don' Global Apostle Mike Signorelli.

And, you know, it's just like, hey, I'm Mike.

I'm here to get my whatever.

So I walk into the dentist office, and all of a sudden the woman

at the desk is like.

And who I don't know is like, hey, Pastor Mike.

And I'm like, uh, oh, what's going on here?

And I was like, it's gotta be YouTube.

And then.

Then this other woman comes up and she's like, hey.

And I recognize her from our Manhattan campus.

And she's like, pastor Mike, it's so good to see you.

I'm like, yeah, we're talking or whatever.

So she starts telling me about the Daily Growth Journal and how

she's been doing this every day and how she's getting all these

prophetic confirmations.

Like, she'll read something and then that day it'll happen.

Or vice ver.

Wave at me if that's happened to you.

Anybody that's happening to you where you're reading something.

And so she's talking about that, and as she's explaining it,

and she tells this story, which I won't tell.

It's her story to tell.

And as she's telling the story, all of a sudden, the co worker

that I don't really know her, she just starts, like, tearing up,

and these tears are forming, and she's wiping them away.

And she's like, you see?

Every single time she starts talking about the Bible and talks

about God, this is what happens.

She's like, you know what?

I just need to go to this V1 church.

Pastor Mike would like, can I watch it online or something?

And what I'm thinking in my heart is this woman is being softened.

Her heart is being softened by the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is.

Here's what I thought.

That member of our church that works in a dentist office is not

trying to escape the office.

She's trying to bring the presence of God into the office.

And she's being salt and being light and she's leading her co workers,

and there's a little.

A dentist office revival that could take place.

You know what I'm saying?

And so I think for us, we're always obsessed with God.

Promote me God.

Give me another job.

But what if instead of you leaving your job, you bring Jesus

into your.

Like that was the prayer of Jesus.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And I just.

When I was in that dentist office watching.

This woman is not a global apostle.

She is a young woman who attends our church.

But just her telling her co worker about what she's reading daily

has caused a little mini revival up in that place.

And we need more believers like that.

We need.

Oh, me sticking up on me like that, bro.

Wrong with you.

I'm from the hood.

You let him get through.

Both y'all are in trouble now.

Okay, that was a joke.

Because it was an illustration.

See, it's one thing to be concerned, but when you're overly

concerned, it becomes anxiety.

Now watch.

He didn't do.

You didn't do nothing to me.

But because of what happened to me in my past, somebody walking

up behind me could be interpreted as a threat, when in

fact, it was support.

He wasn't walking up to hurt me.

He was walking up to help me.

But because of what happened to me, my concerns turned into anxiety.

So really, it had nothing to do with him.

It was everything to do with me.

So can I just tell you, there's many of you in this church.

I never hurt you, but because another pastor hurt you, you're acting

like I just acted a few minutes ago.

And sometimes you gotta get out of the PTSD trauma response,

and you need to grow in your discernment to say, God, am I actually

fighting the people that you have sent to help me?

Am I pushing back on somebody that is really coming to support

me?

So when he came up to play the keys, he came to help me.

But my own past can misinterpret when they walk into

my life.

See, there's many of you.

David felt the same thing.

He was being stalked by Saul to be murdered.

And you know what David said in the midst of being stalked?

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

He prophesied the opposite of his situation.

He was being stalked by Saul.

But he literally said, no, no, I'm being chased down by goodness

and mercy.

I'm not gonna live a PTSD trauma response.

I'm not gonna be fighting the people who are here to help me.

And if God's gonna make me the king, I'm gonna learn how to rule

and reign before I get there.

I'm gonna.

I'm training for raining.

And this goes back to daily bread.

It's like, many of us are like, what do you think about V1?

I don't know what I think about V1 Church.

Well, listen, what would your opinion be if you had never gotten

hurt at the other church?

What kind of person would you be?

How would you act if you never got hurt?

That's the true you.

And I think for many of us, this year is a year of healing.

This is a year of getting through the triggers, through the

trauma, and simply saying, God, thank you for your help.

Thank you for your help.

I just want an excuse to hug him.

He said, what is this?

That's how we are.

We don't get it?

God is miraculously sending provision.

You go to church.

What is this?

Hey, that's your daily bread.

I'm getting you to the promised land.

But this is a test.

See, this is.

This is just.

Hopefully this is helping you.

I want to look at one more verse before we close.

We got done two and a half hours early.

Praise God.

James, chapter four.

I'm preaching on some hard things.

And if I've been funny today, it's literally just to help the medicine

go down.

Remember that song, A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

I'm giving you some really high dose of medicine, and it's called

the Word of God.

And if we've joked today, it was just to help you deal with some

heart issues because some of you are the greatest asset to come

to V1 Church in the last 18 months.

But you have refused to get into community and relationship because

you were hurt at the last church.

And you're willing to hold back the gift God gave you and hold

it back from God's people because you were hurt by another

group of Christians.

Even in your marriages.

God's going to do a work next month, in the month of February,

in your marriages.

And I believe that God can reconcile.

God can heal, God can restore.

But oftentimes we're looking outward when we need to look inward.

This is the message, the victim mentality.

Victim God.

There's something about that in this service.

Specifically, the Lord keeps telling me, mike, break that victim

mentality off of them.

Because what happens is, and I'm seeing this so clearly in the

spirit.

When you're engaging in a church and you have a victim mentality,

you'll either become extremely apathetic where you're just like,

you know what?

I'm just gonna come, I'm gonna attend, and I'm gonna leave, and

I'm gonna stay away, and I'm gonna get a good word and I'm gonna

get some good worship, and I'm gonna leave.

And you're apathetic, or on the other end of the spectrum, you

will start trying to control everything, to mold this church into

your vision instead of God's vision.

And then you'll end up becoming a witch or a warlock.

Christian version.

So it's like a healthy church is not full of apathetic people who

are just coming to hear a sermon and be a spiritual consumer.

And a healthy church is also not a whole bunch of people fighting

over what they think the church should look like.

But a healthy church is somewhere in this tension between

the Two to say, God, I trust you.

I trust your holy spirit in Pastor Mike.

I trust your holy spirit in the eldership of the church.

I trust you.

And you gave me this gift.

So now, instead of being a spiritual consumer, I'm gonna actually

use what you've given me in the house.

And I'll just tell you this.

Some of you might need to start on the coffee team.

Shout out, Coffee team.

The only legal addiction a Christian can have is caffeine.

I give you permission.

Cause I give myself permission.

Joking aside, the coffee team, I believe that we could have some

of the greatest preachers of our church start in the coffee team.

It just.

Where you start is not an indicator of where you're going.

Matter of fact, oftentimes the lower you start is revealing how

high God wants to take you.

Because Joseph, he was on the ground level, but he was gonna go

so high.

The Lord said, put him in the well.

Let him go even lower than the ground level.

Cause the lower you take him, the higher I can take him.

And so it's like, we have no shame in the coffee team because

we know the coffee team is just where I start, it's not where

I finish.

Because I trust in God.

This whole spirit of rebellion is really a lack of trust, but it's

not a lack of trust in man.

It's a lack of trust in God.

Because the Bible says that God promotes.

So when you trust in God, you're like, nobody can stop what

God started.

And he's gonna put me in place.

They can't cancel me because they didn' they can't stop me because

they didn't start this thing.

He started it with a prophetic dream.

He started it with a confirmation.

So I trust God, but rebellion occurs when you trust yourself more

than him.

And I really believe there's something different about this 1230

service.

And, you know, I don't ever speak like that because I try to

keep it relevant to people watching for the next 20 years, this

sermon.

But I'm speaking right now to this servant where I believe the

Lord is divinely causing some people to say, and we're done, we're

done.

I'm not going back to Egypt.

Hey, hey.

There's stake in Egypt, but so is slavery.

I'd rather have bread in the wilderness.

Give me my daily bread, God.

Matter of fact, there's so many people who've been in the faith

for decades who are confessing to me that they were eating steak

once a month, but now they're eating bread every day.

You know, you can still starve to death by having steak once a month,

but you won't if you have bread every day.

There's something about daily bread.

There's something about observing.

And we're gonna pray in a moment.

You know, when I was younger, I was on construction and I used

to flip houses.

And I remember this guy told me he was in his 70s.

And my young wife and my.

You know, Bella was walking around with a crunchy diaper.

You know when they're wearing the diaper and you hear a crunching.

That was my favorite, that crunchy diaper sound.

You know what I'm talking about?

Yeah.

When she'd be walking, you hear that little crunchy diaper.

And so every day for lunch, Julie and Bella would come visit

me and bring me a lunch while I was doing construction.

And I remember that guy pulled me aside.

Cause it was only me and him working in this house.

And he said, hey, I know I didn't ask permission to do this,

but can I just kind.

I want to speak into some things.

And I say something.

I said, yeah.

He said, I'm older now, and you've got a young wife, and you

have a baby that's walking around.

And he said, there's many times where your wife and your kid

come to visit you.

And I'm jealous because I'm old now, my house is empty, and I

would do anything to go back to that season.

And he said, would you do me a favor?

I noticed that when they're around you, you're not paying attention.

Would you just pay attention to them?

And I think what he was doing in some ways, was talking to himself

in the past.

It's like he was also.

He was trying to talk to himself through me.

Cause he was saying, I wish I would have done that.

So I started deepening my relationship with Bella and Bella

and Julie in that season and paying more attention.

But it's so funny because we just celebrated Bella's 18 birthday,

and she's no longer in a crunchy diaper.

But I thought back the other day to that guy who probably has

passed away.

You know, I don't know.

I couldn't tell you where that guy's at.

And I was like, it's gone so fast.

Can I just tell you, I know that in your negativity and in your

critical mind, you keep cursing the day, but what if I told

you that you're in the good old days right now?

I know it's hard to believe, and I think that one of the most

supernatural sermons I can preach in an impending inauguration

with a quademic.

With all this craziness around us, is that we can actually be at

peace in worship.

And we could actually be enjoying.

I know this is a revolutionary thought, but we can have joy.

It's not the same as happiness, because it's not conditional.

Joy is a fruit of the spirit.

And we could say, everything's not like how I want it.

I hate this house.

God, you know I hate this house.

But I'm.

I'm contending for a hallway revival.

And I want your presence in this hallway.

And I want yout glory to abide in this.

Lord, you know I can't stand that job.

But, Lord, if youf presence will come into this job, if youf

glory will reside with me in this place.

God, you know I don't like this.

I sometimes want to go back to Egypt.

But, God, I've got my daily bread.

And please, Lord, let your spirit be here with me.

I'd rather have a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night than

go back to Egypt under Pharaoh.

And we need to be people of the cloud.

We need to be people of the pillar of fire.

I am thankful for the Lord's provision.

It wasn't more than enough, but it was always just enough.

I don't want to look.

Oh, God, what's this?

I want to say, oh, Lord.

Thank you, God.

Oh, Lord, thank you.

I'm going to learn how to be generous with a hundred dollars.

So when you make me a millionaire, they still call me me

generous.

Those who are faithful with little will become ruler over much.

I can't give you Canaan until you master the wilderness.

Stop asking God for more and start asking God to enlarge you.

God, make me bigger.

God, and I don't pray.

God, give me a big church.

I say, God, make me a big person so that I can.

I can contain all that you have for me.

So here's what I want you to do.

I think about.

The reason why I'm crying is I'm thinking about manna.

I remember one time somebody gave my mom a purse.

She opened it up, there was a $100 bill in it.

Just, you know.

Anybody have stories of manna?

Stories of manna?

It's a test.

He didn't do it to bless.

He did it to test.

Did you tithe off that hundred dollars?

See, because what happens is fear makes you selfish.

Faith makes you selfless.

So what we're gonna do in this moment is just close your eyes to

remove the distractions Manna is not your forever meal.

It's a semester that you have to pass.

So what we're gonna do right now, if you're willing, and I just

ask you to close your eyes to remove the distractions, we're not

always gonna be in the Brooklyn Monarch.

We're not always going to be in the Lutheran Church in Huntington

on Long Island.

But see, what happens is God's taking us through these venues to

change us.

He's renovating us.

He's tearing our walls apart and pulling the rat's nest down out

of them and putting a throne in place of a nest.

Man, I feel the glory of the Lord's triumph.

I've been so upset the last two weeks during this 12:30.

And I told our leaders, I said, these people are so broken.

I can feel it when I'm preaching to them.

These people are so broken.

I don't know what happened to you.

I'm sorry that it happened.

Matter of fact, some of you need to hear that from a man.

I'm sorry that it happened to you, but when that.

When he came walking up to play the keys and the way I reacted,

that's many of you in the spiritual realm.

And I feel like the word of the Lord for you is abide.

I want to release the word abide.

Abide.

Because the Lord wants to heal you this year.

So here's my.

I know I don't know you, but I love you because I know you by the

spirit.

And some of you are like, but I've never even had a conversation

with my pastor.

Listen, conversations are superficial, but pastoring is supernatural.

Matter of fact, conversations are the worst form of data because

you'll tell me what you think I want to hear.

The Spirit shows me what I need to know.

And I'm looking at many of you in the Spirit, and I know you by

the spirit, and I have a great compassion for you.

I know I preach hard sometimes, but it's because I.

I have been given the responsibility to preach to legends.

If I.

Cause I see many of your future, I see what the Lord's desiring

to do, and I'm trying to hold you accountable.

And I know sometimes it's harsh, but it's out of love because

I see what you could become.

But you've gotta stop making excuses, and you have to stop being

a victim and you have to stop being ungrateful.

And I want us to take this next several weeks and just start

saying thank you in the wilderness and just eat our daily

bread and say, God, I'M about to pass this test.

So if you're willing to say, okay, Lord, I'm here, I'll sign up.

Just lift both your hands towards heaven.

Heaven.

Come on.

Praise God.

I see many of your hands now.

Here's what you did when you lifted your hands.

It's a sign of surrender.

But also the Lord showed me a vision of you reaching towards heaven

and pulling the daily mana down.

And when you lifted your hands, it's like you're pulling the

daily mana.

God, my job is not enough.

You need to change that to God.

It's just enough.

God.

There's something about he's locking your heart into position

because you will inherit a legacy and it will not be able to

be taken away.

You will be deeded homes.

You will.

I'm telling you, you're gonna be the first in your bloodline to

own.

You are no longer a slave.

You are a child of God and you will not always be in this situation.

But you have have to pass your test.

The Lord said, I'll feed them every day to test them.

Oh, Lord, let's pray together.

You can use my words.

Just say, heavenly Father, thank you for manna.

Jesus, you're the daily bread.

I will feast on your word.

I will feast on your presence.

I will be grateful in this season.

Break off every mentality that's not from you, Lord, that I

will speak your word.

I will align my tongue to speak your word.

God, I will bless and not curse.

And I will begin to declare your word like never before.

Say, heavenly Father, I thank you for this season.

That is a semester and I am being equipped to pass the test.

And Lord, I thank you for legacy.

In Jesus mighty name, can somebody say amen?