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what’s up transformation

family i am so

grateful that i have the opportunity to

be with you all

serving this weekend as we start a

brand new series called the generals

this is are you all ready i mean this is

going to be

something that i believe is going to

allow us to see

ourselves no matter what generation

you’re in

you’re going to be able to see the vital

role that we

all play in lifting up the name of jesus

this series is about honor yeah this

series about

is a is about letting those know that

have come before us

that we see you that we feel you

and that if it had not been for you

doing what you did

in your generation we could not be doing

what we are doing in our generation and

so i want to go to the word of god

the book of exodus chapter number three

the book of exodus chapter number three

and i’m only reading one verse

when i tell y’all i’m about to read this

verse

and then the holy spirit is going to

speak to us through these verses

and i think at the end of this we are

going to understand

what god wants to say to generations in

a way that we have

never seen it before you all ready

they’re like for real are you already

though are y’all ready though

exodus chapter number three verse number

15. i i know that i’m

jumping right into what seems like the

middle of a movie

have you ever walked in a room your

family started watching a movie

and you just walked in on it but you got

interested as soon as you saw it like

what did i miss

i’ll give you a little bit of context to

what is going on here but i just want to

read

this verse and then i’ll go back and get

some context to it

in a minute exodus chapter number 3

verse number 15. here’s what it says

god also said to moses now see right

there the fact that i just said also

means that there was something that he

said before that i’ll explain that in a

minute okay

exodus 3 15 god also said to moses

say this to the people of israel

yahweh the god of your ancestors

the god of abraham the god of isaac

and the god of jacob has sent

me to you

this is my eternal name

my name to remember

for all generations i i need just to pay

close attention to that last sentence

this is my eternal name my name

to remember for all

generations so it is my assignment to

sermonize the subject today

on the first day the first

week of this series remember my name

that simple yeah that’s good remember

my name

about your hands let’s pray before we

get into the word shall we holy spirit

help us to remember

god’s name

amen y’all know i pray quick so we just

jumping right into it

have you ever been hanging out

with some friends and some family

somebody that you

had just met maybe a week or two ago

walks into the house or walks into the

office and

they greet you they say hi to you

but then you pop quiz them and say

what’s my name

anybody beside me ever done that you you

you were hanging out with people that

you were familiar with

and you had just met somebody uh maybe a

week or two before and then they just

have the nerve to pop quiz you

or you pop quiz them and ask them what’s

my name

and if the person has a really good

memory they’ll say don’t test me

i know your name but if they don’t have

a good memory have you seen the ways

people will front

[Applause]

the way people will get uncomfortable

when they know they don’t remember your

name but they do it anyway they start

saying stuff like haha

you know you know i know your name fool

don’t be trying to act like i don’t know

your name you know i know your name and

they like well just say my name then

and then they’re like you already know i

know your name i don’t even need to be

saying your name

and then this is what i’d be doing if i

don’t know somebody’s name

and they’ve tested me and asked would

you please say my name

i will like delay until my wife or

somebody else comes

and then i’ll be like oh my goodness

y’all need to introduce yourselves

i just gave somebody a tip right there

y’all introduce yourselves to each other

and then the one person would say oh

well my name is this and the other

person would say that their name is dad

and i’d be like shirley see i knew it

was

i knew it was shirley the reason why i

bring this up is because

um there’s a lot of people

that don’t know god’s name

they know about god but they don’t

actually know

his name let me tell you one of the

reasons why we don’t have

a good concept on what it is to know

god’s name

is because we haven’t been around people

that have used

his name we haven’t been around the type

of people

that have stood with his name we haven’t

been around the type of people

that have that have labored with his

name that have literally

been saved by his name that have been

delivered by his name that have been

changed by his name

and this is why we’re starting this

series on being

generals what it is

to have people in your life that are

actual generals

in the faith now here’s the thing that

you need to know up front

i am not a general i’m too young to be a

general

okay i’m still generally doing some

stuff

i’m not at general status yet i don’t

know if i’ll ever get to general status

that’s what somebody else would say

but i do know some generals i do know

some people that

have labored with god and have put their

faith in god

in a way that has caused other people’s

lives

to be changed and here at transformation

church we

honor those that have come before us

here at transformation church

we honor those that have labored in the

faith

so that we can step into the purpose and

the plan of god that we have

right now we are not here by ourselves

none of us that are doing anything for

the lord right now got here

by ourselves

[Music]

it was because of people that remembered

the name of god

and decided to give that name to us

that allow us to proclaim the name of

god with conviction

to proclaim the name of god with with

with

vigor with strength with life the only

reason why we’re doing it like we’re

doing it right now

is because somebody else came before us

and they

did it like god told them to do it back

then they remembered

his name in this passage of scripture

that i decided to read

uh we find moses

moses a man who had

seen pain and suffering

all around him growing up while he lived

in a palace

he saw the pain of his own people in the

land of egypt

and when he got of age where he could do

something about it

he saw the tension that he had between

the palace

and the people that he was actually born

from

bred from related to by blood

and he rose up one day when he saw one

of his people being oppressed

and he killed an egyptian for the sake

of a hebrew he flees

as a fugitive into captivity hides off

in the desert for about 40 years

but how many of you all know that even

if you try to run away from god god can

still come and find you

aren’t you glad that church is not the

only place that god can show up

and deliver himself to you in a way that

allows you to change your life

you don’t have to just come to church

for god to have an encounter with you

god will come to your house to have an

encounter with you

it doesn’t matter if you’re watching us

right now drinking a 40 ounce it doesn’t

matter if you’re smoking a blunt

watching us right now god can have an

encounter with you

right where you are and it doesn’t

matter what you’re into

at the time moses is a straight-up

fugitive

from justice from egypt

and on the back side of the desert he

has an encounter with god that literally

changes his life

he protests back and forth with god on

whether or not he was going to do the

thing that god called him to do when

mose when moses is called by god

and told to go back to egypt and to say

to pharaoh let my people go

moses literally says no i’m not going to

do it

you’re not going to make me do it

anybody beside me ever told god no

i mean straight up god tells you to do

something and you like no i’m good

i would do it but the way my whole life

is set up

right now i’m in the season of

disobedience so i’m not gonna be doing

that for you

lord not not right now if you call me

like in a month after revival hits then

maybe i’ll do it but not

right now god is patient

[Music]

i’ve i’ve always been enamored by god’s

patience

that he can he can he can just uh well

let me put it this way he has way more

time than we do

being that god is the author of time

standing outside of time breathing into

time

he has way more time

than we do and so your no

is nothing more than a yes that hasn’t

manifested yet

you thought you were saying no to god

but really you were saying yes the

timing just hadn’t lined up yet

as a matter of fact for everybody that

has ever said i’ve been

running from my calling you actually

haven’t ran from your calling

you ran into your calling because the

one who calls you stands outside of time

speaking into time and because he is

alpha and omega the beginning and the

end the first and the last

who breathes and lives in the middle

whenever you come

is the right time you were supposed to

come because he knew that that time

would be when you would get there so for

anybody that just needs to know that

you’re not running from him you are

running

to him moses says no

i’m not going and you can’t make me

until god convinces him of such

and the last thing that he needed to

know is who

should i say sent me

they’re going to ask me who is coming

and who

sent me and i can’t just say it’s me god

who am i going to say

sent me and god says i’m gonna say

me tell them i sent you but don’t just

tell them i sent you

i want you to say it this way tell them

i am

that i am sent me to you

now that should make 100 people happy

because

i am that i am is a different name than

any other name that had been given to

god

based on an experience jehovah jireh

means my provider jehovah shalom means

that he is the god of my peace

all of these different names give a

different attribute of god

but when you get ready to deliver over a

million people at the same time

these are a million different needs

and so you need a name big enough to

deal with

all the needs that are going to pop up

at the same time

so he says i can’t just be provision

because somebody might need peace and i

can’t be peace

because somebody might be deliverance

and i can’t be deliverance

because somebody might need healing so

tell him i

am that i am is coming

to you i don’t know who that’s for

i am that i am is coming

to you it’s the it’s the blank check

name

it’s the only name that’s really a blank

check

whatever you need me to be i’ll be that

no matter what you need when you get

ready to call me i will

become that so whether you need me to

split a red sea i will become

that if you need manna to come from

heaven

i will be that if you need

a cloud by day i will become that if you

need a pillar

of fire by night i will become that if

you need water out of a rock i will

become

that i am that

i am it’s a kind of a saucy name

if you slow it down it starts to get a

little saucy you know what i’m saying

who sent you i am

that i am

what’s his name again his name is i am

that what’s his name

his name is i am that

what you pointing to right now yes he is

that

[Applause]

i just got healed he is that

i just got delivered he is that i just

had a breakthrough he

is that he just gave me a supernatural

peace he

is that he just broke a generational

curse he is

that i am that i am he goes

he goes um tell them i am that i am sent

them

yes i’m sending you to them it’s i am

that i am that’s going

but then in verse 15 it says something

else and we read it already

god also said to moses it’s you god

thank you holy spirit

you have to listen for the alsos

you have to listen for what scripture

also

says scripture says uh uh in deuteronomy

and it’s quoted by jesus in matthew

chapter number four uh that man shall

not live by bread alone but by every

word that proceedeth out of the mouth of

god

it’s not just the word that’s given it’s

the word that’s given after the word

that’s given it’s not just what he says

it’s what he follows up to say with

it’s not just that he’s saying one thing

he’s saying multiple things and if you

only hear the first thing and don’t

listen for the second thing

you can wind up doing something that

will ruin your life

because the first thing was supposed to

get you up

the also sometimes gets you out

[Music]

god also said to moses say this to the

people of israel

yahweh i am that i am

the god of your ancestors the god of

abraham the god of isaac and the god of

jacob has sent me

to you he has sent

me to you he has sent

me to you god

remembered the names

of the people that he had gone into

covenant with

god remembered the names

of the people that have found themselves

faithful to follow him

god remembered the names

long after they had died god was still

calling on the names

of the people that he had gone into

covenant with

because you do know that even though

they had died here on earth

they were still alive with him in heaven

so he’s calling their names

in present tense the god of abraham

the god of isaac and the god of jacob

i’m calling on the names of the people

that are in my presence right now

the god of abraham the god of isaac and

the god of jacob

they are dead on your side but they are

still alive on my side

and my covenant cannot die because

they’re not dead

the god of abraham the god of isaac

and the god of jacob god remembers the

names

of the people he had been in covenant

with and he calls them out like a roll

call

generationally the god of abraham the

god of isaac

and the god of jacob i i did something

in the life of abraham that i did

something in the life of his son isaac

and i did something in the life of his

son jacob i’ve also done something in

the life

of joseph i’ve done something in the

life of ephraim i’ve done

something in the life of naphtali i’ve

done something in the life of gad i’ve

done

something in the life of tina i’ve done

something in the life of marcus i’ve

done

something in the life of michael i’ve

done something

in the life of christina

he remembers the names

of the people that he’s in covenant with

this is why we’re talking about generals

in this series is because we have to

honor the people

that god honors if god

won’t forget their names we cannot

forget their names

he’s honoring the people that came

before him

he’s telling moses i’m about to do

something for the children of israel

not because of the children of israel

has nothing to do with the children of

israel and everything to do

with abraham

[Applause]

with isaac and with jacob

his biggest implication that he’s

telling moses is my memory

is not short i haven’t got i haven’t

forgot the prayers of your grandmother

i have not forgot the prayers of your

father i still remember

your sister getting on her knees praying

for your salvation

i still remember your ancestors crying

out to me

and saying lord will you deliver my

family and i’m coming to get you

come on not because of anything you’ve

done

but something your grandmama did

something your great-grandfather did i’m

coming because i remember the names

of the people that have said yes to me

abraham is the first one he calls he

says

i am the god of abraham

and if you know anything about abraham

abraham is known for one thing and one

thing only

he left

that’s what he’s known for he’s known

for leaving

everything that he knew to follow jesus

it’s not a big deal in the real

parameter of things it wasn’t like he

had killed goliath and

all he did was say yes

and walk away and god says that’s enough

for me wow

there’s some people that god is honoring

your faith simply because

you left what you knew to follow

his voice he leaves

just walks away where we going lord

just follow me go give me any indication

nope we just gonna walk

abraham has this promised child

isaac i can’t even get to isaac yet

i’ma skip isaac for right now because

isaac has a part to play

in this generational thing that is

actually more important than both

abraham’s and jacobs so let me skip over

isaac and go straight to jacob okay so

so so

so so so abraham says yes

and he goes but it’s with

jacob that he grows

there’s multiplication with jacob

abraham has one child isaac

isaac has two children jacob and esau

eat and then jacob has 12 kids

now it was through four different women

i’m not preaching on that today

but rachel leah zilpah and bill her

if your name is zilpah or bill

i’m not talking about your name i’m

talking about your parents

[Music]

he has 12 children

through four different women leah gives

him six kids

rachel gives him two zilpah gives him

two bilhah

gives him two and the promise that was

given to abraham

is multiplied in jacob

he says i am the god of abraham i’m the

god of isaac and i’m not god of

jacob he grows he goes with

abraham but he grows with jacob

and we love talking about the the

wonderful things of

of abraham and and the and the growth

that happens with jacob but

but but we don’t talk about isaac enough

we don’t talk about the the the the

bridge between these two

great men that are talked about in

scripture

the one that had the faith to go and the

one that had the faith to grow

is pinned together held together bridged

together

by isaac the one who

simply continued

in the faith

see we’re talking about generals this

month

and you’re going to hear from generals

that you’ve never heard of

you’re going to hear from people that

have been have made such an

impact in the lives of michael and

natalie todd the pastors here

they have made impact in the lives of

everybody that’s on staff they’ve made

an impact on my life as well

and y’all don’t even know about them you

have probably never heard of them

outside of what we say but trust and

believe that if it was not for the

faith that they had we would not be here

where we are right now

isaac doesn’t get the credit of going

he doesn’t get the credit of growing

he just gets the credit of keeping

[Music]

we think all generals have to do

something big

look where they went look how big they

blew up

look how many people they led look how

much they did look

look look look look

but have you listened

for all the looking that we’re doing in

this culture

has anybody been listening have you been

listening for the honor that’s given to

the

generation that came before to say if it

wasn’t for this person

yeah i wouldn’t even be here right now

when you hear

the testimony of bishop gary mcintosh

and you hear what this man said yes to

and you

hear the testimony of what he did in his

life to be where he

is do you not know that transformation

church would not be where it is right

now

if that man did not hear from god and

decide

to plant a church

it’s it’s amazing to me that we only

look for big

we only look for those that go and we

only look for those that grow but we

don’t look for those that keep

the ones that are faithful enough steady

enough

committed enough what did they do they

just kept praying

what did they do they just kept giving

what did they do they just kept

discipling

what did they do they just kept

mentoring what did they do they just

kept showing up

what did they do they just kept on

praying for the kids

in the youth group what did they do they

just kept on studying

those people and learning from them

until they grew up and decided who god

was going to call them to be

we don’t talk about the keepers enough

but god did not forget the keeper he

said i am the god of not just the one

that

goes and not just the one that grows i

am the god of the one who keeps

and i know their names i know abraham’s

name i know jacob’s name

i know isaac by name

i know you only own oh no isaac because

he was the one

that was about to be sacrificed by

abraham but i know him

because he just kept his covenant with

me

he wasn’t lying too much like his daddy

and he wasn’t tricking too much like his

son

he was just steady in the middle

keeping the covenant alive we need some

people that can just keep the covenant

alive

not everybody in your family is going to

be a preacher not everybody in your

family is going to be a worship leader

not everybody in your family

is going to be this big world changer

but you can change

the world around you

if you just stay committed to what he’s

calling you to do

everybody at this point

for some reason knows my name

i don’t like it that much because i am

an introvert

and i’d rather keep my privacy but

here’s who you don’t know

charles and maxine ross my parents

my mama who was faithful enough

to say yes to the lord to start a church

in her living room

we got a pulpit from my godmother’s

church in compton california and we

wheeled it into our living room we took

all of that beautiful

living room furniture pushed it into

storage and we went to

ace hardware and bought 30 brown chairs

and lined them up

and the first two members at god’s way

holding this fellowship church

in valencia california were timothy and

miles ross

my daddy wasn’t even in that service

because he had one more service at the

other church

because he was a deacon he had to count

the money so he didn’t show up to the

church to the next weekend and my mama

was preaching in that church

like it was 80 000 people in there me

and myles was sinking in that seat like

please

mama the neighbor’s gonna hear us mama

didn’t care

she said yes to the lord and it’s in

that church that i gave my life to jesus

christ

so when we talk about generals don’t

just start looking for the names you all

know

there are some generals in the church of

god

that you have never heard of but heaven

has kept a clear record that they are

the ones

that pushed people into the next season

their next destiny the next momentum

that god wanted to do in the earth my

mother maxine

hardy ross has two surgically repaired

knees

as a direct result of preying on them

doctor confirmed

my mama went to the to the doctor about

15 years ago

and she was having trouble with her

knees and they did x-rays and they said

mrs ross you have uh you have no

cartilage in your knees

it’s bone on bone that’s why it’s

hurting so bad were you an athlete

did you run a lot did you do do you if

she goes no

i don’t i don’t run a lot and they go

well you you

this type of this type of cartilage wear

down we only see in athletes

and she said well i do pray a lot

i do pray on my knees a lot

the doctor said like hours

she said well yeah i’ve i pray on my

knees for hours

he said that’s how you lost that

cartilage in your knees

but those same prayers are the reason

why a gunman could put a gun in me

and miles’s face and could not pull the

trigger

it’s the same reason why when i fell

asleep at the at the wheel of a car

trying to get home from a club i ran

into a center divider and then run off

into a ditch

it’s the same prayers that kept me from

the time i

i was a baby all the way up into this

moment right now

you want to know who a real general is

they may not be the ones that show up in

your book

but i promise you some of them keepers

are the ones that got us

over to the ones that did the growing

they got us over

to the ones that did exploits i know you

know who billy graham is but do you know

the person that led billy graham

that’s the general wow

so we’re gonna honor this month

those that have come before us

who said i will not let you live in my

house

[Laughter]

i will not let you go in this church

and not remember god’s name

here’s what it says the last verse this

is my eternal name

my name to be remembered for all

generations somebody say all generations

again all generations

one more time real loud all generations

do you know what that means

what that means is that there’s no

situation you’re going through right now

that ends with you

i don’t know who i don’t know who needs

to hear this

but whatever you’re going through right

now god’s trying to give you a testimony

for

it so you can tell the next generation

when it’s time

if his name is to be remembered for all

generations

then they can’t stop with you

i’m gonna let this marinate right here

because there’s some people right now in

the body christ that think that they

have

the end all be all anointing

that after you there will be no more

you think that god gave you the

revelation

you think that your church is doing the

best thing

i promise you church was going on before

you

and it will be going on after you you

play

a moment in this movie you are not

the movie

if it’s supposed to be for all

generations it can’t stop with me

if it it’s supposed to be for all

generations it can’t stop with pastor

mike

if it’s supposed to be for all

generations then we have a moment

in time to remind people of god’s name

not ours i needed to say that

right there my assignment is not to

leave a mark so

everybody remembers my name our

assignment is to leave a mark so that

everybody remembers

his name every other knee is going to

bow every tongue is going to confess

not at the name of tim not at the name

of mike not at the name of gary not at

the name of charles

at the name of jesus

every knee is going to bow and every

tongue is going to confess that jesus

christ is lord to the glory of god

that only happens if you remind

people of who he is

so remember his name

i need everybody to remember

his name

that those that came before us gave us

the reminder

of who god’s name is and what it means

to our life right now

and it’s not just those that go and it’s

not just those that grow

but it is those that keep i wish

here’s what i had hoped my life was

going to be i hoped i had become a cop

i wanted to be in law enforcement want

to be a homicide detective

in los angeles that wasn’t just like

passion and pursuit that was also about

job security

l.a homicides i’m gonna keep my job

i could have sat on the back row of the

church

with my city salary

paying my tithes being in a life group

enjoying my life with jesus

and perhaps my sons nathan and noah

could have been the next preachers

that would have made me no less of a

faithful believer

in god because i didn’t preach around

the world

see i want us to get understand that

when we turn

when we talk about lessons that we

are learning from their legacy

that a lot of the stuff that these

people have done

are the only reasons why we are here

right now

all the things are behind the scenes all

the prayers

that nobody heard but god the sacrifices

that were made that no one else

could see except god the decisions that

were made

to give up certain privileges so that

the next generation can be boosted up

and do some incredible things that’s

what makes us

honor those that have come before us

because um

it’s one thing to plant a church

it’s one thing to see it grow it’s

another thing to see it start to

diminish and god say

i need you to i need you to point to the

next person

fully empower them to go and i need you

to take a step back

and watch me work through them it’s one

thing

to shine in your moment it’s another

thing to show up to see somebody shine

in theirs

[Applause]

i’m telling you you’re going to hear

from some people this

month that are going to give you a

context

to what it means to have faith like

you’ve never heard

they remembered god’s name and it’s a

name that they’ve shared with us

they’ve told us their stories they’ve

told us what they’ve learned they showed

us their scars

they gave us their pain they

cried tears and they dripped sweat

to allow us to do what we do right now

and i’m telling you

our lives are never going to be what

they are supposed to be

if we don’t remember those that came

before us

we only proclaim the name of god

because they remembered to remind us

of god’s name

i don’t know who you are i don’t know

what you do

i don’t know why you tuned in i don’t

know why you kept watching i ain’t mike

i know y’all i know how y’all get y’all

get real possessive with pastor mike

you’re all like hugging me in here i

don’t like this guy

he had hair last time now he doesn’t

he keeps confusing us

i want you to know and i don’t know who

this is for

but i need to talk to you your

grandmother prayed for you

your grandmother prayed for you to have

a relationship

with jesus

and those prayers are not going to go

unanswered

you will never enjoy the life you’ve

chosen for yourself

because god has a plan that’s better

than the life

that you’ve chosen and the reason why he

keeps coming after you

is not just because you’re special

because you are

but he remembers your grandma

he remembers your grandmother praying

for you

believing god for you on days that you

were so drunk out of your mind you

couldn’t remember

what you did the night before she was

praying for you

she’s a general because of it

she’s remembered the name of god

until you proclaim the name of god

i don’t know why i can’t get off this

but i’m telling you

you are part of a spiritual legacy

that god will not let go of

because he remembers the prayers of your

parents and your grandparents

and your ancestors

life is never going to be as fulfilling

as it will be when you say yes

to who your mama said yes to yeah and

your daddy said yes to

your grandparents said yes to well

nobody in my family is a believer tim

so you ain’t talking to me psych yes i

am

because there’s some people that have

been praying for you that you don’t even

know about

and you are the one to break the

generational curse in your family

and step into a revelation that nobody

else in the family has

so would you bow your heads and close

your eyes because i feel like praying i

don’t know why this is a holy moment

that i feel

and i don’t know why i’m feeling it but

i am feeling it so i just want to dig

into it

god i pray right now for every single

person

who is watching there is an anointing

that you have placed

on every single person watching right

now and you want them in a relationship

with you

you want them to call on the i am that i

am god you want them to have an

experience

with the god of their salvation the god

that their grandparents knew the god

that their parents knew

the god that their youth pastor knew the

god that their teacher knew the god

that that their neighbor knew that their

friend knows you want them to have

a relationship with them you want to see

them

come into an encounter with god

so that they can have the testimony

like abraham isaac and jacob

i i want there to be a generational uh

blessing on your life like the god of

abraham

isaac and jacob i want i want god to say

about your family i am the god

of michael deborah and frankie

i am the god of susan

martha and gabrielle i

am the god of chris

thomas and earl i’m the god

of this family

[Music]

generals are made and legacies are made

because

somebody will go because somebody will

keep

because somebody will grow

the name of god

until all generations know

that jesus christ is lord

god i pray that you would seal this

message

and this moment in a posture

that allows us to grow in jesus name

amen listen if you want to give your

life to jesus christ

if you want to be the first in your

family you might be the abraham of your

family

you might be the one to say yes that

goes and you leave

everything you know to follow this god

this will be a perfect opportunity

for you to give your life to jesus and

see him transform not only your life

but the life of your kids and your

grandkids your family and your friends

and so

if you want to give your life to jesus

christ text

saved to 8 2 8

2 8 2. god is going to do something in

your life

that is forever going to change the

landscape of the world around you

listen i love you

transformation church loves you next

week you’re going to hear from bishop

gary

and he’s going to tell you about the god

that he decided to walk with that we are

now

walking in it’s gonna blow your mind

i love you guys your legacy is about to

grow

and you might be the next general to go

[Applause]

peace