In his final sermon before entering a three-month sabbatical, Apostle Mike Signorelli delivers a deeply prophetic and intensely personal word. This powerful message closes out The Power of the Pause series and sets the tone for a season of rest, restoration, and revival—for both the leader and the church.
Apostle Mike parallels his own journey with that of Jacob: a man marked by struggle, desperation, and ultimately transformation through rest. He declares that while wrestling may win you a name, resting grants you an open heaven. In this word, he challenges the false humility that resists blessing, calls out the fear that keeps us stuck in old garments, and charges the Church to stop wrestling for identity and start resting in sonship.
- The greatest blessing may come not when you fight, but when you rest.
- You must go back to Bethel (God’s presence) to go forward in your calling.
- There is a difference between being childish and being childlike—God is calling you back to your first love.
- 99% obedience is still 100% disobedience—this is the season to destroy every idol.
- Don’t build a church around a celebrity pastor; build a circle that faces outward—a people commissioned, not just comforted.
This isn’t just a send-off message—it’s an activation. As Apostle Mike steps into rest, he commissions V1 Church to rise, go, and carry the fire. Expect a transfer. Expect elevation. Expect to see the power of the pause demonstrated like never before.
🎧 Get ready to be stirred, stretched, and sent.
👉 Visit www.v1.church to get connected.
🙏 Support the movement at https://donate.overflow.co/v1
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
How many of you know that weserve a good God, a mighty God, a
healer, a restorer, aredeemer, 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 Highand exalted above every name.
He's matchless.
He's wonderful.
(00:28):
Come on.
Is there anybody who cantestify 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 NisiLord, over my victory.
Is there anybody knows El Roy,the God who sees me, he saw me when
(00:50):
nobody else.
Can somebody testify to who he is?
Does somebody here knowJehovah 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?
(01:13):
As many names as you need, daughter.
How many names do you know him by?
As many seasons as you'veneeded him.
Every season unlocks another name.
Every season unlocks.
Come on.
Every season unlocks.
(01:34):
Oh, I've never been here before.
Well, you're gonna know me ina 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 relationshipof my life has been with him.
(01:58):
Does he wake you up with a kiss?
Does he send you to bed?
Does he run his fingersthrough your hair?
Come on now.
Somebody said.
Okay, that's the line.
Come on now.
(02:19):
Father, I commit this time to you.
Through the foolishness ofpreaching you transform lives.
Because your word is sharperthan any two edged sword.
It divides asunder even thesoul from the spirit.
And your word, it never comesback void.
It will always accomplish thatwhich it set out to accomplish.
(02:42):
And Lord, I thank you thatunder this roof tonight, Lord, you
form us into a clearer imageand 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 theCatholics like you done preached
15 sermons already.
(03:02):
But let me just tell youbriefly, like I went before God for
weeks and was like, what doyou want me to say?
Send off Sunday?
I have been more nervous forthis Sunday than any Sunday I've
ever done before.
And let me tell you why.
Because not only am I alegitimate introvert, and there's
my mama Am I lying, Mama?
I'm a real introvert.
But the thing I recognizetoday, and I never noticed this before,
(03:27):
is that ministry is a safehaven for introverts because it's
not about us, it's about Jesus.
So for all these years, I'vebeen building this church, and it
hasn't been about me.
So I felt safe in anenvironment that wasn't about me.
And imagine what happens to anintrovert when they walk into their
(03:47):
church and see 350 printoutsof their face on popsicle sticks.
And you know how hard it is toconvince people I'm not a cult leader.
And you're gonna go and printmy face.
I mean, y' all.
I am so embarrassed.
(04:09):
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.
(04:35):
She said, I'm keeping.
That's why.
Come on.
Come on, Minister Juliana.
I mean, somebody said, I'mtaking it to the hospital.
I'm putting it up.
People, that's weird.
Don't be doing that.
But I want to just teach youbriefly in the Word what the Lord
showed me and try to unpackwhat he gave me in the scriptures.
But in all seriousness, Ithink at our church, we love well,
(05:01):
and it's not with our ownlove, because our own love is so
broken and fragile.
It's just the love of theFather through us.
And we have just created sucha significant bond.
And the relationship that weformed is so intense because especially
for the visitors here tonight.
If I could narrate theintensity, it's like when there's
(05:21):
people in this room thatthey're the only Christian in their
entire family.
And they literally abandonedtheir 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 ahigh cost to walk this narrow road.
(05:45):
And so when we come together,it's like this celebration almost
seems necessary because it'sjust simply a counterbalance to the
gravity of the sacrifice we'vemade in our personal lives.
Am I right?
So I want to talk to you justsuper briefly.
And I promise I'm looking atthe clock, but they, you know.
Cause I know there's.
We're, you know.
Yeah, I'm almost scared, butthere's a man in the Bible that I
(06:12):
have come to identify with most.
And his name's Jacob.
And the reason why I identifywith Jacob is.
Okay, help me finish this sentence.
It's the God of Abraham, Isaacand Jacob.
Okay, let me tell you what itwas supposed to be.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau.
(06:32):
But the reason why it neverhappened is because this man was
so indignant that as hisbrother was being taken out of the
womb first because he was atwin, he grabbed before he learned
culture, he knew the strugglebefore he had language, he had desperation.
And he reaches and grabs theheel of his twin brother, almost
(06:56):
instinctively knowing thatbecause 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 thethings I hate about being a Christian
is the false humility in Christianity.
False humility.
And I want to free you of all that.
(07:17):
Oh, by and by, it's just theLord and I.
How you doing?
Well, made it here on the bus.
Haven't eaten in three days.
You know, there's somethingabout Christian.
You know, what it is, is somany Christians operate in the realm
(07:39):
of condemnation that it willmake you feel guilty for wanting
the blessing of God on your life.
Oh, that's prosperity gospel.
Well, please, sir, show me thepoverty gospel and what I love about
Jacob.
Because, you know, I wasraised in the church in the 80s and
(08:01):
the 90s.
And the preachers would get upand say, you have a purpose.
Yes.
You, daughter, you have a planfor your life.
Receive it.
Did you feel that?
And to be honest with you, Iwas raised in a trailer park with
(08:24):
a single mom on welfare withfive 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 wasmy heart cry, like.
And I just.
I was in an environment.
I was in a context that justfelt like, man, this.
(08:45):
This can't be all there is.
Is there anybody knows whatI'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 Genesischapter 27 and chapter 28, if I could
summarize Jacob, indesperation, he deceives his father
(09:06):
Isaac, and he steals his twinbrother Esau's blessing.
Then if you go further down inGenesis 27, Esau actually plans to
kill Jacob.
So the twin brother plans tothe other brother and Rebekah, who's
their mom, this is Isaac'swife literally says, hey, your brother's
plotting to kill you.
(09:26):
You need to escape so you canget away from this.
And then Jacob leaves a placecalled 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.
(09:48):
What's.
What's her name?
Martell.
My man Montel.
I forgot about it.
Yeah, you.
And you didn't go to schoolwhen you were supposed to go to school.
You just outed yourself.
You know, there ain't.
My tail don't come on whenkids get home.
I forgot about that show.
That's okay.
(10:09):
Okay, enough.
Some of y' all know moretelevision 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, thedrama was, in fact, the result of
Jake.
(10:29):
I'm about to preach this.
Jacob wanting more than he wassupposed to get.
See, everybody in yourfamily's gonna be okay with you as
long as you're under them.
Nobody's gonna have a problemin your family if you want less than
what they want.
But when you start believingfor the blessing and favor of God
upon your life, when you starttrying to be the first, I'm telling
(10:51):
you, you're gonna get attackedby the people who think they know
you, but they know you the least.
This is Jacob's life.
Isn't it funny how your samefamily members who took you into
the garage to smoke weed willcomplain about you coming to church?
The same family member thatintroduced you to alcohol is mad
(11:12):
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 iswithout honor.
The closer you get to theepicenter of those who you're related
to, the less they can relateto you.
(11:35):
Y' all, I'll take the glovesoff for this last one.
And you know how I know thatMike ain't no pastor.
Mike ain't no preacher.
Oh, I heard he's trying to bean influencer now.
Send some of that YouTubemoney to me.
Come on.
Heard he's driving a cybertruck.
(12:01):
Come on.
Come on.
See, they like you when youstruggle because they struggle.
And they feel comfortablearound you being at the same level
as you.
But, see, when you break thatmold of mediocrity, you start to
expose their mediocrity whenyou start Struggling for more.
You actually expose their lackof struggle.
(12:25):
And, oh, I'm speaking fromexperience because I'm the hobbit
that's gone farther than anyother hobbit.
I'm standing before you asBilbo Baggins.
I'm about to put the ring onand disappear for three months.
I've gone farther than anyonefrom my family.
I'll tell you, the price thatyou'll pay is wanting the acclaim
and the applause of peoplethat share your last name but don't
(12:48):
share your same destiny.
This is Jacob.
I can't wait to dine with Jacob.
We're gonna be sitting therehaving a good old time, and Esau's
gonna walk by, and we'll belike, you go to Genesis, chapter
(13:09):
20.
Some of you are like, I lovereading the Bible with Mike.
This is what I call my ADD translation.
I hope you like it.
When I read the Bible, it'sfull color.
I got, like, the vision pro onwhen I'm reading glasses.
Okay, so Genesis 28.
But here's what happens, though.
I said all that just to makethis point I'm about to make now.
Jacob knew how to wrestle.
(13:32):
He knew how to fight and struggle.
But then something different happens.
He shifts into a mode that hehad 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, chapter28, verse 12, he dreams from that
(13:54):
place of rest.
And he dreams of the heavensopening and this ladder with angels
ascending and descending.
And then as he awakens inverse 13 through 15, God says, I
am the Lord, the God ofAbraham, your father, and the God
of Isaac.
The land on which you lie, Iwill give to you and to your offspring.
I did not catch this earlier.
(14:15):
I just caught something.
The land, okay?
He told Joshua everywhere youput your foot, but he told Jacob,
it's the land where you lie.
Some of you need to learn howto take territory by laying down,
not marching in.
You learn how to march in.
(14:36):
You need to learn how to lie down.
He said, the.
The land where you lie down, Iwill give it to you.
I'm preaching to myself.
(14:56):
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 couldnever afford.
God, give it to me while I sleep.
God, give it to me while I slumber.
God, let it be a rebuke to theintelligent ones.
Let it be a rebuke to the rich ones.
(15:17):
God, for your glory, yourOffspring shall be like the dust
of the earth.
And in you and your offspringshall all the families of the earth
(15:40):
be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and willkeep you wherever you go and will
bring you back to this land.
When Jacob wrestled, he got aname change.
When Jacob rested, he got anopen heaven.
We got a lot of Christianswith a new name, but not access to
what the name gives.
(16:00):
See, I want to teach you howto fight.
But if I teach you how tofight but not how to rest.
See this.
But if I teach you how to restbut not fight, I believe I'm here
to give a revelation to thebody 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 adiscipleship church.
(16:21):
No, no, we're that too.
Oh, but they can't be atheology church.
Oh, yes, we are that too.
Oh, they can't be a movementworship church.
Oh, yes, we're that too.
But they can't be anentrepreneurial 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 notan either.
Don't put me in a box justbecause you're in a cage.
(16:46):
I'm about to preach this to somebody.
Y' all got me feeling like I'm 23.
Bethel, don't tell what theangels can bring up and down that
ladder.
Let them carry it up and down.
(17:06):
It ain't my job.
I'm sleeping.
Tell me what the angels canand cannot carry.
I'm here laying down.
Let them bring what they wantto bring from heaven.
Someone finna get sent out,tell me what I can't be.
(17:28):
I don't need you to affirm itfor me to be it.
I don't need you toacknowledge it for me to operate
in it.
This.
This is what J.
This is.
This is the mantle of Jacob.
Jacob would survive in NewYork City all.
Jacob's the kind of guy thatwithin seven years would go from
18 people to a sold outstadium because he's not asking for
(17:50):
permission, he's taking it.
This is what I'm trying to getinto you.
But come on.
That was good.
It's interactive.
We're not Methodist.
Praise God.
It was a little loud andobtuse, but we'll take it.
But what if I told you thatGod might be withholding your next
(18:14):
level until you learn how to rest?
What if God doesn't trust youwith more until you learn how to
rest more.
That's the message that I gotout 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 isGod tells Jacob to go back to Bethel.
(18:39):
And of course he doesn't.
Just like all of us have aproblem 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 enlargedhis family, it just increased his
(19:01):
problems.
See, sometimes the more Godgives 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 simplyGod entrusting you with bigger problems.
(19:21):
Because the first round ofproblems that Jacob has is his immediate
family.
Then you read later on inGenesis, chapter 31, 32, 33, and
34, and he has graduated tohaving many families and many family
problems.
So some of you are like, assoon as I get married, the problems
are over.
No, no, no.
(19:41):
You just graduated, man.
From taking care of yourselfto now taking care of a bride, you've
just graduated.
Come on.
Stop treating him like aTamagotchi on your phone, trying
to keep him alive through atext message.
Come on.
This is a relationship.
Y' all.
(20:02):
Remember that.
Come on.
Trying to keep a relationshipalive electronically.
Come on.
They need more than a textmessage, let me tell you.
Come on, y' all.
You know, you killed so manyTamagotchis, you know you couldn't
even keep a Tamagotchi alive.
You're trying to ask me tomake you a preacher.
(20:22):
Get out of here.
You can't.
Come on, now.
All right, all right.
Stop laughing.
Somebody's trying to downloadthe Tamagotchi app right now.
But what happens is hegraduates these greater problems
in Genesis 31, 32, 33, and 34.
(20:44):
Then God sovereignly anddivinely calls him back to Bethel.
This is Genesis 35:1 and says, Arise.
Go up to Bethel and dwell there.
Everybody say dwell.
Make an altar there to the Godwho appeared to you when you fled.
So in other words, stopwaiting for a problem to bring you
(21:06):
back to Bethel and actuallylearn how to dwell in Bethel.
This is the thing.
If your prayer life isdependent on problems, God's probably
going to keep sending you more problems.
Stop reading the Bible tosolve a problem and start reading
the Bible for intimacy withthe one who solved it.
All like, God's trying to getsomething to you.
(21:29):
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 dothree things.
He tells his entire family,we're gonna do three things.
The first thing we're gonna dois put away all these idols.
Because up until this time,Jacob had been divinely called by
(21:50):
God and blessed by him, butallowed mixture in his family.
And see, I think that many ofyou, if you're like, what was life
before V1?
It was the last church youwent to was your first time at Bethel,
and you've been introducingmixture into it.
And the reason why I screamedall across America, 99% obedience
(22:10):
is 100%.
Disobedience is because thesecond time you go back to Bethel,
you finally destroy all ofyour idols.
So many of you are here tohear 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'sgonna go through a process of purification.
(22:33):
And lastly, we're gonna changeour 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 weshare with Judaism.
And the priests were given aprescription for when to change their
(22:54):
garments and even change theappearance of their garments.
Because what happens in asystem when God gives you consistency
is that he has to introducenovelty into the consistency so that
you stay consistent.
And for those of you whodidn't understand anything I just
said, can I break it down?
If you wear the same clothesevery day, eventually they're going
(23:17):
to stink.
Eventually, you're gonna get tired.
So even the priest, if youread the Scriptures, were given a
prescription for what interval?
To change their garmentsbecause it keeps it fresh.
And you know, the singlegreatest way to change the way you
feel is to change the way you dress.
Am I right?
(23:38):
Like, when you put a suit on,don't you feel different?
I'll be walking around withthat suit on like I'm the Wolf of
Wall Street.
You know, you could have $6 inyour bank account.
You put a suit on, you'relike, yeah, what do you want, peasant?
Am I right?
You change the way you dress,you change the way you feel.
Am I right?
(23:58):
So Jacob is telling hisfamily, you've, oh, I'm about to
preach this.
You made all theseassociations 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.
(24:19):
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 thesecond time you go to Beth El, the
house of God.
So I got this hat on that says Dolittle.
Because half of my lineage isItalian, Sicilian, and the other
(24:46):
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'swomb, and she's sitting right here,
which is a tremendous honor tohave her here.
Thank you.
(25:06):
And so when I'm the firstborn.
And so she married my father,whose name is Michael Signorelli
Sr.
And she got pregnant with aboy, me.
And unfortunately, because myfather had so many issues, he subjected
my mother to domestic violence.
He would punch her in both ofher eyes.
(25:27):
She'd have double black eyes,broken ribs, literally grab her by
the hair, drag her down thehallway, throw her in a closet, and
even kick her womb with me in it.
But how many of you know itwasn't my father doing that.
It was demons in my father whoknew the destiny of my mother.
And my destiny as well.
Cause we don't wrestle againstflesh and blood, but principalities
(25:49):
and powers and rule.
Come on.
And so somebody sent me aprophetic word from our V1 Church
Indiana location, who said,the Lord showed me that.
Mike, you haven't even restedfrom the womb, not even knowing that
story.
And it actually got methinking about that story.
Cause, you know, when a motherdrinks alcohol, the baby drinks it
through the blood.
(26:10):
When a mother is traumatizedand 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?
(26:33):
Come on.
You remember that song.
I am Surrounded.
Come on.
That song was so monumental inmy life because I remember that God
in that season was trying torelease me from fear that had gone
back to the womb.
(26:54):
And so what happened at thattime was when I was born, my mother
brought me home.
And at that point, my mom andmy dad had divorced.
And so my mom could onlyafford 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 nowlooking back and reflecting, she
(27:15):
was triggered by my dad's name.
Because my dad was the one whoabused her daughter.
So imagine you hate this guynamed Mike Signorelli who abused
your daughter.
And then your grandson's nameis Mike Signorelli.
So my grandmother literallysaid, we'll never call him Michael.
We will all call him Doolittle.
(27:39):
So my nickname was Doolittle.
And none of you even know whatthat means.
Cause you're not as hillbillyas we are.
But there was a country musicstar 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.
(28:01):
And he just basically said,I'm gonna make you famous.
We're gonna tour all over.
And she rose from rags toriches and ended up accomplishing
amazing things.
There's a movie about itcalled 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 calledme Michael.
(28:23):
They called me Dolittle.
And then when I got older andI took responsibility and helped
my family and, you know, tookover before Dean showed up.
Praise God.
And Dean showed up.
And I said, dean, thank youfor being a real man.
You know why they call him astepfather, right?
Because they stepped in whenthe other man stepped out.
(28:44):
They stepped up when the otherman stepped down.
So we salute you, sir.
Come on, Papa Dean.
See, but the point is, as Iwas preparing for this sermon, and
this is my close, the Lordtold me, mike, I said, I don't even
(29:08):
want to go on sabbatical.
Cause you guys can tell I love this.
I have operated on thisprinciple 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 whyministers burn out.
Because they sow discord andthey reap what they sow.
(29:33):
They sow discouragement.
They reap a whirlwind.
So what's kept me in ministryis 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 todivinely speak to me about, you know,
the necessity of Sabbath.
And seven years ago, I had putin my bylaws when I only had 18 people
(29:55):
in the church, that everyseven 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 webegin to prepare for this moment.
But the Lord took me back toGenesis, and he said, mike, I'm asking
(30:16):
you to go back to Bethel andto change your garments.
And I was like, what do youmean, change your garments?
And he said, you've been apastor, 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 beenin a long time is Doula.
And the title of this message,now that I'm done with my intro,
(30:41):
it's, you have to go back inorder to go forward.
And see, the Bible says thatwe put away childish things.
But the Bible also says thatno one enters the kingdom until they
become childlike.
So the question is, are youchildish or childlike?
Because, see, Jacob wasfighting for so long, wrestling for
(31:03):
so long, that God had releasedthe greatest blessing when he rested
to prove to him that he'sgonna 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 sovereignwisdom, had people call me Doolittle
(31:25):
for the first 12 years of mylife because he was marking me with
a both and not an either or.
So I want to leave you withthis, because this message is not
about me.
It's about you.
Would you stand to your feetwith me?
(31:46):
Here's my question.
When did you stop painting?
When did you stop writing poetry?
When did you stop dreaming?
When did you stop believingthat God could do something through
your life?
Sometimes you got to go backto go forward.
Amen.
(32:06):
And I think when I look at thelife of Jacob, as I see such a wrestling,
such a fighting, but when heshifts 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 brieflypray over each and every one of you.
I know tonight's been alreadyan amazing service, but I kept thinking
(32:30):
about Revelation, chapter 2,verse 4.
It says, For I have thisagainst you, that you have abandoned
the love that you had at first.
Remember, therefore, fromwhere you have fallen.
Repent and do the works youdid at first.
If not, I will come to you andRemove your lampstand from its place
(32:51):
unless you repent.
And so Jacob goes back toBethel, 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 dois rest.
So, for me, what am I about to do?
I'll be honest with you, like,seeing what's ahead for our church
(33:13):
this fall.
The worst thing I can do istake 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 becausewe got a lot of witnesses here.
What happens to this church inmy life after this sabbatical will
(33:38):
prove to you the power of the pause.
It will prove to you whathappens when a Jacob learns how to
lay down.
It will prove to you that he'sGod and I'm not.
That.
That's.
That's why you need both.
We're not going to be thechurch that only rests and never
(33:59):
wrestles, but we're also notgoing to be the church that always
wrestles and never rests.
So I've been wrestling for along time, and I'm not afraid.
You know, I used to sayrevival 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 youbecause I hear the Lord calling you
(34:23):
back to poetry, calling youback to painting, calling you back
to music, calling you back toyour bicycle.
I know that sounds crazy for somebody.
I don't know what it Callingyou back to.
There's something that youabandoned that the Lord wants to
take you back.
And this is what the Jews sayevery Shabbat.
(34:43):
May you find God in your restlike you found him in your work.
My biggest audit of myselfover the last eight years of serving
as the lead pastor of thischurch is that I fear that I taught
you how to find God more inwork than rest.
But I got one more sermonbefore I go, and then I'm gonna walk
(35:03):
out and live this sermon forthe 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 itdoesn't have a purpose.
But what if God's message toyou is that if you delight in it,
he delights in your delight?
That is the purpose.
(35:26):
I know this is gonna sound crazy.
I wasn't intending on sayingthis, but because premature death
has ran in My family on both sides.
I have a penchant towardssaving everything because I never
received anything as an inheritance.
So for my whole life I've beensaving everything I can save to give
(35:47):
it away, to prove that Iexisted, to prove that my life had
meaning.
And the other day, the Lordled me.
He said, mike, I want you totake something of meaning to you
and I want you to burn it.
Because he's teaching me theart of letting go.
He's teaching me the art ofcreating for the sake of creating
and trusting that even thoughI'm in a finite body, my spirit is
(36:10):
eternal and I'll be writingpoetry forever.
And so it's not the poetry yousave to pass on.
It's not the poetry youpublish sometimes.
It's a poetry you burn infaith that you have a never ending
supply.
I know this might be too deepfor some of you, but man, stop worrying
about and fretting your lifeaway with the little details.
(36:33):
Don't waste your youthplanning for a future that never
comes because you always wakeup in the present.
Spend your life in worship andadoration in him, in your rest and
in your work.
And I feel something differentover this campus.
And I want to speak this lastthing and then pray for you.
Wouldn't it be just like Godto teach the residents of New York
(36:57):
City how to rest better thanthe residents of Oklahoma?
Wouldn't it be just like Godin the most chaotic, expensive, loud
environment in the UnitedStates to be like, I'm gonna teach
a people how to rest better inthat environment, to be assigned
to those in the nations, youknow what I'm saying?
(37:19):
I've been Jesus casting outdemons, been Jesus healing the sick.
For the next three months.
I'm going to be Jesus sleepingin a boat.
Come on, Father.
I pray for each and every oneright now under the sound of my voice.
(37:42):
You know there are marinespirits in the water, right?
And I wonder if when Jesuslaid down in that boat, it was like
Jacob taking territory overthe waves.
I wonder if he was arrestingevery demonic spirit over the water
when he laid down.
Lord, I thank you that you'regoing to teach us how to find you
(38:04):
in our rest.
We're going to rest in our20s, rest in our 30s, rest in our
40s, rest in our 50s and 60sand 70s and 80s.
Lord, we're going to learn howto rest in you, through you, with
you.
We, we will find you in ourrest as we found you in our work.
And Lord, I just thank you foreverybody here receiving what they
(38:27):
could never receive throughwrestling, through their rest in
Jesus name.
And everybody said amen.
Amen.
Come on, let's just celebratethe Lord.
Amen.
Amen.
Come on, let's give it up.
With more time for ApostleMike in the house.
(38:47):
Not just your lead pastor, butyour campus pastor here in Manhattan.
Man.
Can I just prophesy for a minute?
Can I prophesy?
(39:10):
There is a mantle of propheticevangelism at this campus.
Not just prophecy, not just evangelism.
Prophetic evangelism.
And it's gonna tear throughthis city.
So today, Pastor Mike knewhalf of something, but he didn't
know the second half of something.
(39:31):
There was supposed to be acity official that came today to
the Brooklyn campus thismorning, and he was going to give
Pastor Mike something.
He was going to give him a keyto the city, but he didn't show up.
(39:55):
And this is what I heard themoment I stepped foot in this campus.
Pastor Mike is that he isgiving you spiritual keys.
Spiritual keys.
The ceremonial keys can openup nothing but the spiritual keys
open up heaven and rain downon Manhattan, Rain down in Brooklyn,
(40:18):
rain down in New Jersey.
Those keys open up nothing.
You didn't need those keys.
The Lord says, you don't needthose keys, the Lord says.
And he's releasing spiritualkeys over his son.
Over his son.
And this is what I saw.
(40:42):
I saw these keys not justopening up physical structures here
in the city.
I saw vehicles, trains, andthis is what I saw.
And I was right before, I waslike, lord, what does this mean?
Why am I seeing this?
And I saw barges, tons of barges.
(41:08):
And these keys were unlockingthese barges, and these barges were
going away.
And I said, why am I seeing this?
You know how garbage gets awayfrom this city?
You know how they send garbageaway from Manhattan on barges?
Garbage doesn't lead by roads.
It leads by barges.
(41:29):
And the Lord says he isreleasing all of the sin in this
city out of here with these keys.
And there will bedeliverances, and there will be a
prophetic mantle released overthis city.
And there was a bunch of sinlining these streets, waiting for
(41:52):
someone to take it out.
But no one's come up untilthis 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 campuspastors from other campuses, Brooklyn
(42:15):
and New Jersey and Long island here.
In unity.
In unity.
In unity.
This is who we are.
But nine years Ago, PastorMike and I went to Domino park nine
(42:40):
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 webegan to march and we began to pray
over this city.
And I remember sitting therein Domino park in Brooklyn and looking
(43:03):
over at him saying, this iswhere 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 campushere in Brooklyn.
We looked at the Villainwarehouse in Brooklyn, and I remember
(43:26):
them saying it was going to besome astronomical amount of money
that me and him were like, Idon't even.
I've never seen that amount ofmoney in my whole life.
And now it's like, what, thecoffee budget?
Come on.
There's favor in this church.
There's favor in this church.
But it took.
Come on.
(43:46):
It took two immigrants fromIndiana to come here in March in
this city.
And we said, I'm gonna takethis city.
No one's gonna give it to me.
There's not going to be anykeys given to me.
There's no one's going to giveit, but I'm going to take it.
And we're going to see everysingle soul saved in this city, and
(44:08):
we're going to see everysingle person coming to the knowledge
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, Jesus.
(44:29):
Come on.
What happens when a prophetand 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.
(44:50):
I just want to say he is areal prophet.
Because I turn around andmouth to them, the apostle and the
prophet.
He goes, the apostle, the prophet.
But let me just say this.
The early church was notestablished by pastors.
Gotta flow with me.
Come on.
The early church was notestablished by pastors.
(45:13):
Why?
Because a pastor would havepet you so much that you saw comfort
instead of the grace cross.
It was apostles and prophetsthat came in with this attitude.
Come on, now.
Pastors are necessary, But apastor without a prophet and an apostle
is at risk of consoling youinstead of commissioning you.
(45:39):
And so we need it alltogether, because sometimes you're
wounded enough that you needthat pastor's touch.
You need the pastor's counsel.
But you also need the prophecy.
You.
There's something about thefivefold that's being birthed in
this room right now.
Come on.
Right now.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Listen, you guys.
(46:01):
There's.
There's something stirring inthe 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 beencomplaining how to get here.
Can I confront you for a minute?
(46:23):
Some of you guys have beencomplaining how you come from the
Bronx.
It's like, this is 30 minutesand I gotta take a train and a bus.
Come on.
He's looking for sacrifice.
He's looking for those thatare willing to travel the furthest
distance and say, I don't carewhere this building is.
(46:44):
I don't care if I gotta get ona 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.
(47:04):
Can you imagine putting yourscuba gear on?
It's time to dive.
Listen, prophet, I'm justtelling you, like, there's a synergy.
And I.
I really believe that when westepped in a Domino park, we didn't
know the Domino revival moviewas there.
We didn't know that that'swhere that first domino would drop.
But see, this lesson toeverybody here is, you will sow the
(47:27):
seed from your words, and inanother season, you will eat the
fruit of your words.
Come on.
So if you say that you can'tdo it, you will eat the fruit of
impossibility in another season.
But if you say you can, youwill eat the fruit of it becoming
possible in the next.
See, God always does somethingin two.
(47:50):
Come on.
It was Joshua and Caleb.
Jesus sent them out two by two.
One, one will put to flight athousand, two, ten thousand.
Why?
Because if you say it, then Iconfirm what you say.
And through.
Watch this through the powerof agreement, we are connected together.
(48:10):
I believe New York Citydoesn't have to agree.
Josh agrees.
New York City doesn't have toget on the same page.
We're all the same.
The power of agreement withwill command the blessing of God.
Somebody shout.
(48:34):
Let me just say this.
When we went into Domino Park,Pastor Mike taught me something.
And I teach it to this day inthe school of the prophets.
Shout out, S.O.P.
come on.
I see you guys.
I will never prophesy oversomeone that I've not prayed for.
(48:56):
I will never evangelize tosomeone that I have not Met yet.
But I have already prayed forin my spirit.
And this is what I was taughtby this apostle right here.
He said, josh, we gotta go to the.
To the city.
We gotta go to Domino, and wegotta pray for the people in Manhattan.
Pray for the people in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn.
Pray for the people of Long Island.
(49:16):
And before any of us knew you,before he knew you, he was praying
for you.
And now when he ministers toyou, favor flows because he's been
praying for you.
And when I prophesy over you,it's because I looked at your name.
(49:40):
Come on.
This is why we tell our campuspastors, 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 usand you to be.
You guys receive that.
(50:10):
I've never felt this before inthe history of our church, but tonight
I physically felt a transferin 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 biggesttravesty that ever happened in America
was people believing that yourjob is to stand.
(50:32):
Sit in a seat every Sunday.
That.
That was the worst.
That was the.
The devil said, I can't stopthem from going to church, but I
can stop them from becomingthe church.
And.
And that's why, yes, you needa seat, but a seat without being
sent is not enough.
And today I felt something.
(50:52):
And, you know, let me say this.
When I first got to New YorkCity, I recognize that the reason
why.
Why you never got trained toprophesy at your other church is
because the pastor eitherdidn't trust you or the Holy Spirit
or both.
And so what happens is, inthis house, there's such a freedom
sometimes, not because I eventrust you, but because I trust the
(51:15):
Holy Spirit in you.
Who's the Holy Spirit in me?
And if he's corrected me, hewill 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 aunity 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.
(51:37):
Well, I remember that day vividly.
And here we are standing inthe promise.
We've done 15 services acrossseven campuses today in seven years,
but I pray that this is thesmallest we will ever be.
I.
I pray that this was just thetrial run, the test run, but I really
(51:57):
believe that the shift thatneeds 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.
(52:20):
And I'm going to turn it backto you, Josh, Okay?
I need you guys to make a circle.
Okay?
Now look, watch this.
I did not tell them whichdirection to face.
Okay, now hold on.
Now, I did not tell them toface each other.
(52:42):
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 YorkCity and I started this church, the
(53:05):
Lord told me, do not buildthis structure.
But here's the thing.
You get to know all these people.
There's an intimacy in thiscircle right now.
There's matter of fact,because you're facing inward and
you have me in the middle.
There's a comfortability inthis circle.
Now do the same circle facing outward.
(53:25):
Okay, now watch.
This is what the Lord told meto 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 worldout there.
I'm ministering through you.
(53:47):
See this?
I'm commissioning you.
And we still have a circle,but it doesn't make me a celebrity.
It makes me a generalcommanding 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 facinginward or outward?
(54:13):
See, this is.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Go back.
Go back before you fall out inthe spirit.
But see, when the circle facesinward, it's a click.
When the circle faces outward,it's a clinic.
(54:33):
See, I'm trying to teach you something.
Don't.
And this is why, like, facingoutward, this is who we are.
And I really believe that'sthe 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 prophetand apostle.
(54:55):
There's no place I'd rather beanywhere in the whole world than
right here.
One Other thing.
The keys that the Lord is giving.
Apostle Mike not only unlockinfrastructure, but there's something
about unlocking, gifting, andwhat's happening right now.
(55:16):
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.
(55:43):
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.
(57:01):
Come on.
There's something.
There's a transaction taking place.
Like, I literally see, like aswipe of a card.
It's like there's.
There's something about yousaying, come on, come on, come on,
Holy Spirit.
Come on, Holy Spirit.
I want more.
I want more.
I want more.
I want more.
(57:35):
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 bethe best minister in the world.
You could be a garbage man andbe the best minister in the world.
(58:00):
People come to me and they'relike, pastor Josh, one day when I'm
in full time ministry, I'mlike, yeah, that's too late already.
Then do it now.
Do it now.
(58:32):
If.
If we could have seen thisnine years ago.
But here's the thing.
I believe that he did see it.
I believe that the Lord didgive 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 thesmallest it will ever be.
(59:02):
If we could have the ministerscome up here real quick.
The three ministers, this campus.
(59:23):
So what.
What?
Minister Juliana doesn't know either.
It's just like, our wholechurch is just so prophetic.
I'm just like, man, anytimesomeone says something, something,
I'm like, oh, if they knew.
So here, why don't you come uphere real quick?
Pastor Mike.
Yeah.
Pastor Julie.
(59:45):
Arise from your slumber oh,sleeper Dry bones rise.
It's been a long day, y' all.
So the ministers got togetherand bought you a present with their
own money.
And minister Juliana, and shecould confirm this before we started,
(01:00:09):
she said, we got him theseshoes to represent a key to the city,
to represent a spiritual keyto this city.
And I was like, man, I justwant to tell her right now, but come
on, come on.
You know what those are?
(01:00:29):
You know what those are?
Manhattan.
You know what those are?
Manhattan.
You know what those are?
Manhattan.
Come on, come on, come on.
(01:00:54):
Is that not prophetic or what?
She's like, we're gonna givehim 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.
(01:01:19):
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 youkeys at night.
I will give you keys to the city.
The Lord says, come on.
(01:01:47):
Come on.
Hey, come on.
Come on.
(01:02:09):
Hey.
Hey.
Come on, Pastor Julie.
Come on.
Apostle Mike.
Yeah.
(01:02:32):
Wow.
How many of you know that weserve a good God, a mighty God, a
healer, a restorer, aredeemer, 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 Highand exalted above every name.
He's matchless.
He's wonderful.
(00:28):
Come on.
Is there anybody who cantestify 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 NisiLord, over my victory.
Is there anybody knows El Roy,the God who sees me, he saw me when
(00:50):
nobody else.
Can somebody testify to who he is?
Does somebody here knowJehovah 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?
(01:13):
As many names as you need, daughter.
How many names do you know him by?
As many seasons as you'veneeded him.
Every season unlocks another name.
Every season unlocks.
Come on.
Every season unlocks.
(01:34):
Oh, I've never been here before.
Well, you're gonna know me ina 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 relationshipof my life has been with him.
(01:58):
Does he wake you up with a kiss?
Does he send you to bed?
Does he run his fingersthrough your hair?
Come on now.
Somebody said.
Okay, that's the line.
Come on now.
(02:19):
Father, I commit this time to you.
Through the foolishness ofpreaching you transform lives.
Because your word is sharperthan any two edged sword.
It divides asunder even thesoul from the spirit.
And your word, it never comesback void.
It will always accomplish thatwhich it set out to accomplish.
(02:42):
And Lord, I thank you thatunder this roof tonight, Lord, you
form us into a clearer imageand 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 theCatholics like you done preached
15 sermons already.
(03:02):
But let me just tell youbriefly, like I went before God for
weeks and was like, what doyou want me to say?
Send off Sunday?
I have been more nervous forthis Sunday than any Sunday I've
ever done before.
And let me tell you why.
Because not only am I alegitimate introvert, and there's
my mama Am I lying, Mama?
I'm a real introvert.
But the thing I recognizetoday, and I never noticed this before,
(03:27):
is that ministry is a safehaven for introverts because it's
not about us, it's about Jesus.
So for all these years, I'vebeen building this church, and it
hasn't been about me.
So I felt safe in anenvironment that wasn't about me.
And imagine what happens to anintrovert when they walk into their
(03:47):
church and see 350 printoutsof their face on popsicle sticks.
And you know how hard it is toconvince people I'm not a cult leader.
And you're gonna go and printmy face.
I mean, y' all.
I am so embarrassed.
(04:09):
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.
(04:35):
She said, I'm keeping.
That's why.
Come on.
Come on, Minister Juliana.
I mean, somebody said, I'mtaking it to the hospital.
I'm putting it up.
People, that's weird.
Don't be doing that.
But I want to just teach youbriefly in the Word what the Lord
showed me and try to unpackwhat he gave me in the scriptures.
But in all seriousness, Ithink at our church, we love well,
(05:01):
and it's not with our ownlove, because our own love is so
broken and fragile.
It's just the love of theFather through us.
And we have just created sucha significant bond.
And the relationship that weformed is so intense because especially
for the visitors here tonight.
If I could narrate theintensity, it's like when there's
(05:21):
people in this room thatthey're the only Christian in their
entire family.
And they literally abandonedtheir 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 ahigh cost to walk this narrow road.
(05:45):
And so when we come together,it's like this celebration almost
seems necessary because it'sjust simply a counterbalance to the
gravity of the sacrifice we'vemade in our personal lives.
Am I right?
So I want to talk to you justsuper briefly.
And I promise I'm looking atthe clock, but they, you know.
Cause I know there's.
We're, you know.
Yeah, I'm almost scared, butthere's a man in the Bible that I
(06:12):
have come to identify with most.
And his name's Jacob.
And the reason why I identifywith Jacob is.
Okay, help me finish this sentence.
It's the God of Abraham, Isaacand Jacob.
Okay, let me tell you what itwas supposed to be.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau.
(06:32):
But the reason why it neverhappened is because this man was
so indignant that as hisbrother was being taken out of the
womb first because he was atwin, he grabbed before he learned
culture, he knew the strugglebefore he had language, he had desperation.
And he reaches and grabs theheel of his twin brother, almost
(06:56):
instinctively knowing thatbecause 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 thethings I hate about being a Christian
is the false humility in Christianity.
False humility.
And I want to free you of all that.
(07:17):
Oh, by and by, it's just theLord and I.
How you doing?
Well, made it here on the bus.
Haven't eaten in three days.
You know, there's somethingabout Christian.
You know, what it is, is somany Christians operate in the realm
(07:39):
of condemnation that it willmake you feel guilty for wanting
the blessing of God on your life.
Oh, that's prosperity gospel.
Well, please, sir, show me thepoverty gospel and what I love about
Jacob.
Because, you know, I wasraised in the church in the 80s and
(08:01):
the 90s.
And the preachers would get upand say, you have a purpose.
Yes.
You, daughter, you have a planfor your life.
Receive it.
Did you feel that?
And to be honest with you, Iwas raised in a trailer park with
(08:24):
a single mom on welfare withfive 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 wasmy heart cry, like.
And I just.
I was in an environment.
I was in a context that justfelt like, man, this.
(08:45):
This can't be all there is.
Is there anybody knows whatI'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 Genesischapter 27 and chapter 28, if I could
summarize Jacob, indesperation, he deceives his father
(09:06):
Isaac, and he steals his twinbrother Esau's blessing.
Then if you go further down inGenesis 27, Esau actually plans to
kill Jacob.
So the twin brother plans tothe other brother and Rebekah, who's
their mom, this is Isaac'swife literally says, hey, your brother's
plotting to kill you.
(09:26):
You need to escape so you canget away from this.
And then Jacob leaves a placecalled 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.
(09:48):
What's.
What's her name?
Martell.
My man Montel.
I forgot about it.
Yeah, you.
And you didn't go to schoolwhen you were supposed to go to school.
You just outed yourself.
You know, there ain't.
My tail don't come on whenkids get home.
I forgot about that show.
That's okay.
(10:09):
Okay, enough.
Some of y' all know moretelevision 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, thedrama was, in fact, the result of
Jake.
(10:29):
I'm about to preach this.
Jacob wanting more than he wassupposed to get.
See, everybody in yourfamily's gonna be okay with you as
long as you're under them.
Nobody's gonna have a problemin your family if you want less than
what they want.
But when you start believingfor the blessing and favor of God
upon your life, when you starttrying to be the first, I'm telling
(10:51):
you, you're gonna get attackedby the people who think they know
you, but they know you the least.
This is Jacob's life.
Isn't it funny how your samefamily members who took you into
the garage to smoke weed willcomplain about you coming to church?
The same family member thatintroduced you to alcohol is mad
(11:12):
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 iswithout honor.
The closer you get to theepicenter of those who you're related
to, the less they can relateto you.
(11:35):
Y' all, I'll take the glovesoff for this last one.
And you know how I know thatMike ain't no pastor.
Mike ain't no preacher.
Oh, I heard he's trying to bean influencer now.
Send some of that YouTubemoney to me.
Come on.
Heard he's driving a cybertruck.
(12:01):
Come on.
Come on.
See, they like you when youstruggle because they struggle.
And they feel comfortablearound you being at the same level
as you.
But, see, when you break thatmold of mediocrity, you start to
expose their mediocrity whenyou start Struggling for more.
You actually expose their lackof struggle.
(12:25):
And, oh, I'm speaking fromexperience because I'm the hobbit
that's gone farther than anyother hobbit.
I'm standing before you asBilbo Baggins.
I'm about to put the ring onand disappear for three months.
I've gone farther than anyonefrom my family.
I'll tell you, the price thatyou'll pay is wanting the acclaim
and the applause of peoplethat share your last name but don't
(12:48):
share your same destiny.
This is Jacob.
I can't wait to dine with Jacob.
We're gonna be sitting therehaving a good old time, and Esau's
gonna walk by, and we'll belike, you go to Genesis, chapter
(13:09):
20.
Some of you are like, I lovereading the Bible with Mike.
This is what I call my ADD translation.
I hope you like it.
When I read the Bible, it'sfull color.
I got, like, the vision pro onwhen I'm reading glasses.
Okay, so Genesis 28.
But here's what happens, though.
I said all that just to makethis point I'm about to make now.
Jacob knew how to wrestle.
(13:32):
He knew how to fight and struggle.
But then something different happens.
He shifts into a mode that hehad 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, chapter28, verse 12, he dreams from that
(13:54):
place of rest.
And he dreams of the heavensopening and this ladder with angels
ascending and descending.
And then as he awakens inverse 13 through 15, God says, I
am the Lord, the God ofAbraham, your father, and the God
of Isaac.
The land on which you lie, Iwill give to you and to your offspring.
I did not catch this earlier.
(14:15):
I just caught something.
The land, okay?
He told Joshua everywhere youput your foot, but he told Jacob,
it's the land where you lie.
Some of you need to learn howto take territory by laying down,
not marching in.
You learn how to march in.
(14:36):
You need to learn how to lie down.
He said, the.
The land where you lie down, Iwill give it to you.
I'm preaching to myself.
(14:56):
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 couldnever afford.
God, give it to me while I sleep.
God, give it to me while I slumber.
God, let it be a rebuke to theintelligent ones.
Let it be a rebuke to the rich ones.
(15:17):
God, for your glory, yourOffspring shall be like the dust
of the earth.
And in you and your offspringshall all the families of the earth
(15:40):
be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and willkeep you wherever you go and will
bring you back to this land.
When Jacob wrestled, he got aname change.
When Jacob rested, he got anopen heaven.
We got a lot of Christianswith a new name, but not access to
what the name gives.
(16:00):
See, I want to teach you howto fight.
But if I teach you how tofight but not how to rest.
See this.
But if I teach you how to restbut not fight, I believe I'm here
to give a revelation to thebody 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 adiscipleship church.
(16:21):
No, no, we're that too.
Oh, but they can't be atheology church.
Oh, yes, we are that too.
Oh, they can't be a movementworship church.
Oh, yes, we're that too.
But they can't be anentrepreneurial 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 notan either.
Don't put me in a box justbecause you're in a cage.
(16:46):
I'm about to preach this to somebody.
Y' all got me feeling like I'm 23.
Bethel, don't tell what theangels can bring up and down that
ladder.
Let them carry it up and down.
(17:06):
It ain't my job.
I'm sleeping.
Tell me what the angels canand cannot carry.
I'm here laying down.
Let them bring what they wantto bring from heaven.
Someone finna get sent out,tell me what I can't be.
(17:28):
I don't need you to affirm itfor me to be it.
I don't need you toacknowledge it for me to operate
in it.
This.
This is what J.
This is.
This is the mantle of Jacob.
Jacob would survive in NewYork City all.
Jacob's the kind of guy thatwithin seven years would go from
18 people to a sold outstadium because he's not asking for
(17:50):
permission, he's taking it.
This is what I'm trying to getinto you.
But come on.
That was good.
It's interactive.
We're not Methodist.
Praise God.
It was a little loud andobtuse, but we'll take it.
But what if I told you thatGod might be withholding your next
(18:14):
level until you learn how to rest?
What if God doesn't trust youwith more until you learn how to
rest more.
That's the message that I gotout 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 isGod tells Jacob to go back to Bethel.
(18:39):
And of course he doesn't.
Just like all of us have aproblem 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 enlargedhis family, it just increased his
(19:01):
problems.
See, sometimes the more Godgives 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 simplyGod entrusting you with bigger problems.
(19:21):
Because the first round ofproblems that Jacob has is his immediate
family.
Then you read later on inGenesis, chapter 31, 32, 33, and
34, and he has graduated tohaving many families and many family
problems.
So some of you are like, assoon as I get married, the problems
are over.
No, no, no.
(19:41):
You just graduated, man.
From taking care of yourselfto now taking care of a bride, you've
just graduated.
Come on.
Stop treating him like aTamagotchi on your phone, trying
to keep him alive through atext message.
Come on.
This is a relationship.
Y' all.
(20:02):
Remember that.
Come on.
Trying to keep a relationshipalive electronically.
Come on.
They need more than a textmessage, let me tell you.
Come on, y' all.
You know, you killed so manyTamagotchis, you know you couldn't
even keep a Tamagotchi alive.
You're trying to ask me tomake you a preacher.
(20:22):
Get out of here.
You can't.
Come on, now.
All right, all right.
Stop laughing.
Somebody's trying to downloadthe Tamagotchi app right now.
But what happens is hegraduates these greater problems
in Genesis 31, 32, 33, and 34.
(20:44):
Then God sovereignly anddivinely calls him back to Bethel.
This is Genesis 35:1 and says, Arise.
Go up to Bethel and dwell there.
Everybody say dwell.
Make an altar there to the Godwho appeared to you when you fled.
So in other words, stopwaiting for a problem to bring you
(21:06):
back to Bethel and actuallylearn how to dwell in Bethel.
This is the thing.
If your prayer life isdependent on problems, God's probably
going to keep sending you more problems.
Stop reading the Bible tosolve a problem and start reading
the Bible for intimacy withthe one who solved it.
All like, God's trying to getsomething to you.
(21:29):
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 dothree things.
He tells his entire family,we're gonna do three things.
The first thing we're gonna dois put away all these idols.
Because up until this time,Jacob had been divinely called by
(21:50):
God and blessed by him, butallowed mixture in his family.
And see, I think that many ofyou, if you're like, what was life
before V1?
It was the last church youwent to was your first time at Bethel,
and you've been introducingmixture into it.
And the reason why I screamedall across America, 99% obedience
(22:10):
is 100%.
Disobedience is because thesecond time you go back to Bethel,
you finally destroy all ofyour idols.
So many of you are here tohear 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'sgonna go through a process of purification.
(22:33):
And lastly, we're gonna changeour 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 weshare with Judaism.
And the priests were given aprescription for when to change their
(22:54):
garments and even change theappearance of their garments.
Because what happens in asystem when God gives you consistency
is that he has to introducenovelty into the consistency so that
you stay consistent.
And for those of you whodidn't understand anything I just
said, can I break it down?
If you wear the same clothesevery day, eventually they're going
(23:17):
to stink.
Eventually, you're gonna get tired.
So even the priest, if youread the Scriptures, were given a
prescription for what interval?
To change their garmentsbecause it keeps it fresh.
And you know, the singlegreatest way to change the way you
feel is to change the way you dress.
Am I right?
(23:38):
Like, when you put a suit on,don't you feel different?
I'll be walking around withthat suit on like I'm the Wolf of
Wall Street.
You know, you could have $6 inyour bank account.
You put a suit on, you'relike, yeah, what do you want, peasant?
Am I right?
You change the way you dress,you change the way you feel.
Am I right?
(23:58):
So Jacob is telling hisfamily, you've, oh, I'm about to
preach this.
You made all theseassociations 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.
(24:19):
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 thesecond time you go to Beth El, the
house of God.
So I got this hat on that says Dolittle.
Because half of my lineage isItalian, Sicilian, and the other
(24:46):
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'swomb, and she's sitting right here,
which is a tremendous honor tohave her here.
Thank you.
(25:06):
And so when I'm the firstborn.
And so she married my father,whose name is Michael Signorelli
Sr.
And she got pregnant with aboy, me.
And unfortunately, because myfather had so many issues, he subjected
my mother to domestic violence.
He would punch her in both ofher eyes.
(25:27):
She'd have double black eyes,broken ribs, literally grab her by
the hair, drag her down thehallway, throw her in a closet, and
even kick her womb with me in it.
But how many of you know itwasn't my father doing that.
It was demons in my father whoknew the destiny of my mother.
And my destiny as well.
Cause we don't wrestle againstflesh and blood, but principalities
(25:49):
and powers and rule.
Come on.
And so somebody sent me aprophetic word from our V1 Church
Indiana location, who said,the Lord showed me that.
Mike, you haven't even restedfrom the womb, not even knowing that
story.
And it actually got methinking about that story.
Cause, you know, when a motherdrinks alcohol, the baby drinks it
through the blood.
(26:10):
When a mother is traumatizedand 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?
(26:33):
Come on.
You remember that song.
I am Surrounded.
Come on.
That song was so monumental inmy life because I remember that God
in that season was trying torelease me from fear that had gone
back to the womb.
(26:54):
And so what happened at thattime was when I was born, my mother
brought me home.
And at that point, my mom andmy dad had divorced.
And so my mom could onlyafford 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 nowlooking back and reflecting, she
(27:15):
was triggered by my dad's name.
Because my dad was the one whoabused her daughter.
So imagine you hate this guynamed Mike Signorelli who abused
your daughter.
And then your grandson's nameis Mike Signorelli.
So my grandmother literallysaid, we'll never call him Michael.
We will all call him Doolittle.
(27:39):
So my nickname was Doolittle.
And none of you even know whatthat means.
Cause you're not as hillbillyas we are.
But there was a country musicstar 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.
(28:01):
And he just basically said,I'm gonna make you famous.
We're gonna tour all over.
And she rose from rags toriches and ended up accomplishing
amazing things.
There's a movie about itcalled 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 calledme Michael.
(28:23):
They called me Dolittle.
And then when I got older andI took responsibility and helped
my family and, you know, tookover before Dean showed up.
Praise God.
And Dean showed up.
And I said, dean, thank youfor being a real man.
You know why they call him astepfather, right?
Because they stepped in whenthe other man stepped out.
(28:44):
They stepped up when the otherman stepped down.
So we salute you, sir.
Come on, Papa Dean.
See, but the point is, as Iwas preparing for this sermon, and
this is my close, the Lordtold me, mike, I said, I don't even
(29:08):
want to go on sabbatical.
Cause you guys can tell I love this.
I have operated on thisprinciple 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 whyministers burn out.
Because they sow discord andthey reap what they sow.
(29:33):
They sow discouragement.
They reap a whirlwind.
So what's kept me in ministryis 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 todivinely speak to me about, you know,
the necessity of Sabbath.
And seven years ago, I had putin my bylaws when I only had 18 people
(29:55):
in the church, that everyseven 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 webegin to prepare for this moment.
But the Lord took me back toGenesis, and he said, mike, I'm asking
(30:16):
you to go back to Bethel andto change your garments.
And I was like, what do youmean, change your garments?
And he said, you've been apastor, 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 beenin a long time is Doula.
And the title of this message,now that I'm done with my intro,
(30:41):
it's, you have to go back inorder to go forward.
And see, the Bible says thatwe put away childish things.
But the Bible also says thatno one enters the kingdom until they
become childlike.
So the question is, are youchildish or childlike?
Because, see, Jacob wasfighting for so long, wrestling for
(31:03):
so long, that God had releasedthe greatest blessing when he rested
to prove to him that he'sgonna 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 sovereignwisdom, had people call me Doolittle
(31:25):
for the first 12 years of mylife because he was marking me with
a both and not an either or.
So I want to leave you withthis, because this message is not
about me.
It's about you.
Would you stand to your feetwith me?
(31:46):
Here's my question.
When did you stop painting?
When did you stop writing poetry?
When did you stop dreaming?
When did you stop believingthat God could do something through
your life?
Sometimes you got to go backto go forward.
Amen.
(32:06):
And I think when I look at thelife of Jacob, as I see such a wrestling,
such a fighting, but when heshifts 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 brieflypray over each and every one of you.
I know tonight's been alreadyan amazing service, but I kept thinking
(32:30):
about Revelation, chapter 2,verse 4.
It says, For I have thisagainst you, that you have abandoned
the love that you had at first.
Remember, therefore, fromwhere you have fallen.
Repent and do the works youdid at first.
If not, I will come to you andRemove your lampstand from its place
(32:51):
unless you repent.
And so Jacob goes back toBethel, 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 dois rest.
So, for me, what am I about to do?
I'll be honest with you, like,seeing what's ahead for our church
(33:13):
this fall.
The worst thing I can do istake 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 becausewe got a lot of witnesses here.
What happens to this church inmy life after this sabbatical will
(33:38):
prove to you the power of the pause.
It will prove to you whathappens when a Jacob learns how to
lay down.
It will prove to you that he'sGod and I'm not.
That.
That's.
That's why you need both.
We're not going to be thechurch that only rests and never
(33:59):
wrestles, but we're also notgoing to be the church that always
wrestles and never rests.
So I've been wrestling for along time, and I'm not afraid.
You know, I used to sayrevival 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 youbecause I hear the Lord calling you
(34:23):
back to poetry, calling youback to painting, calling you back
to music, calling you back toyour bicycle.
I know that sounds crazy for somebody.
I don't know what it Callingyou back to.
There's something that youabandoned that the Lord wants to
take you back.
And this is what the Jews sayevery Shabbat.
(34:43):
May you find God in your restlike you found him in your work.
My biggest audit of myselfover the last eight years of serving
as the lead pastor of thischurch is that I fear that I taught
you how to find God more inwork than rest.
But I got one more sermonbefore I go, and then I'm gonna walk
(35:03):
out and live this sermon forthe 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 itdoesn't have a purpose.
But what if God's message toyou is that if you delight in it,
he delights in your delight?
That is the purpose.
(35:26):
I know this is gonna sound crazy.
I wasn't intending on sayingthis, but because premature death
has ran in My family on both sides.
I have a penchant towardssaving everything because I never
received anything as an inheritance.
So for my whole life I've beensaving everything I can save to give
(35:47):
it away, to prove that Iexisted, to prove that my life had
meaning.
And the other day, the Lordled me.
He said, mike, I want you totake something of meaning to you
and I want you to burn it.
Because he's teaching me theart of letting go.
He's teaching me the art ofcreating for the sake of creating
and trusting that even thoughI'm in a finite body, my spirit is
(36:10):
eternal and I'll be writingpoetry forever.
And so it's not the poetry yousave to pass on.
It's not the poetry youpublish sometimes.
It's a poetry you burn infaith that you have a never ending
supply.
I know this might be too deepfor some of you, but man, stop worrying
about and fretting your lifeaway with the little details.
(36:33):
Don't waste your youthplanning for a future that never
comes because you always wakeup in the present.
Spend your life in worship andadoration in him, in your rest and
in your work.
And I feel something differentover this campus.
And I want to speak this lastthing and then pray for you.
Wouldn't it be just like Godto teach the residents of New York
(36:57):
City how to rest better thanthe residents of Oklahoma?
Wouldn't it be just like Godin the most chaotic, expensive, loud
environment in the UnitedStates to be like, I'm gonna teach
a people how to rest better inthat environment, to be assigned
to those in the nations, youknow what I'm saying?
(37:19):
I've been Jesus casting outdemons, been Jesus healing the sick.
For the next three months.
I'm going to be Jesus sleepingin a boat.
Come on, Father.
I pray for each and every oneright now under the sound of my voice.
(37:42):
You know there are marinespirits in the water, right?
And I wonder if when Jesuslaid down in that boat, it was like
Jacob taking territory overthe waves.
I wonder if he was arrestingevery demonic spirit over the water
when he laid down.
Lord, I thank you that you'regoing to teach us how to find you
(38:04):
in our rest.
We're going to rest in our20s, rest in our 30s, rest in our
40s, rest in our 50s and 60sand 70s and 80s.
Lord, we're going to learn howto rest in you, through you, with
you.
We, we will find you in ourrest as we found you in our work.
And Lord, I just thank you foreverybody here receiving what they
(38:27):
could never receive throughwrestling, through their rest in
Jesus name.
And everybody said amen.
Amen.
Come on, let's just celebratethe Lord.
Amen.
Amen.
Come on, let's give it up.
With more time for ApostleMike in the house.
(38:47):
Not just your lead pastor, butyour campus pastor here in Manhattan.
Man.
Can I just prophesy for a minute?
Can I prophesy?
(39:10):
There is a mantle of propheticevangelism at this campus.
Not just prophecy, not just evangelism.
Prophetic evangelism.
And it's gonna tear throughthis city.
So today, Pastor Mike knewhalf of something, but he didn't
know the second half of something.
(39:31):
There was supposed to be acity official that came today to
the Brooklyn campus thismorning, and he was going to give
Pastor Mike something.
He was going to give him a keyto the city, but he didn't show up.
(39:55):
And this is what I heard themoment I stepped foot in this campus.
Pastor Mike is that he isgiving you spiritual keys.
Spiritual keys.
The ceremonial keys can openup nothing but the spiritual keys
open up heaven and rain downon Manhattan, Rain down in Brooklyn,
(40:18):
rain down in New Jersey.
Those keys open up nothing.
You didn't need those keys.
The Lord says, you don't needthose keys, the Lord says.
And he's releasing spiritualkeys over his son.
Over his son.
And this is what I saw.
(40:42):
I saw these keys not justopening up physical structures here
in the city.
I saw vehicles, trains, andthis is what I saw.
And I was right before, I waslike, lord, what does this mean?
Why am I seeing this?
And I saw barges, tons of barges.
(41:08):
And these keys were unlockingthese barges, and these barges were
going away.
And I said, why am I seeing this?
You know how garbage gets awayfrom this city?
You know how they send garbageaway from Manhattan on barges?
Garbage doesn't lead by roads.
It leads by barges.
(41:29):
And the Lord says he isreleasing all of the sin in this
city out of here with these keys.
And there will bedeliverances, and there will be a
prophetic mantle released overthis city.
And there was a bunch of sinlining these streets, waiting for
(41:52):
someone to take it out.
But no one's come up untilthis 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 campuspastors from other campuses, Brooklyn
(42:15):
and New Jersey and Long island here.
In unity.
In unity.
In unity.
This is who we are.
But nine years Ago, PastorMike and I went to Domino park nine
(42:40):
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 webegan to march and we began to pray
over this city.
And I remember sitting therein Domino park in Brooklyn and looking
(43:03):
over at him saying, this iswhere 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 campushere in Brooklyn.
We looked at the Villainwarehouse in Brooklyn, and I remember
(43:26):
them saying it was going to besome astronomical amount of money
that me and him were like, Idon't even.
I've never seen that amount ofmoney in my whole life.
And now it's like, what, thecoffee budget?
Come on.
There's favor in this church.
There's favor in this church.
But it took.
Come on.
(43:46):
It took two immigrants fromIndiana to come here in March in
this city.
And we said, I'm gonna takethis city.
No one's gonna give it to me.
There's not going to be anykeys given to me.
There's no one's going to giveit, but I'm going to take it.
And we're going to see everysingle soul saved in this city, and
(44:08):
we're going to see everysingle person coming to the knowledge
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, Jesus.
(44:29):
Come on.
What happens when a prophetand 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.
(44:50):
I just want to say he is areal prophet.
Because I turn around andmouth to them, the apostle and the
prophet.
He goes, the apostle, the prophet.
But let me just say this.
The early church was notestablished by pastors.
Gotta flow with me.
Come on.
The early church was notestablished by pastors.
(45:13):
Why?
Because a pastor would havepet you so much that you saw comfort
instead of the grace cross.
It was apostles and prophetsthat came in with this attitude.
Come on, now.
Pastors are necessary, But apastor without a prophet and an apostle
is at risk of consoling youinstead of commissioning you.
(45:39):
And so we need it alltogether, because sometimes you're
wounded enough that you needthat pastor's touch.
You need the pastor's counsel.
But you also need the prophecy.
You.
There's something about thefivefold that's being birthed in
this room right now.
Come on.
Right now.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Listen, you guys.
(46:01):
There's.
There's something stirring inthe 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 beencomplaining how to get here.
Can I confront you for a minute?
(46:23):
Some of you guys have beencomplaining how you come from the
Bronx.
It's like, this is 30 minutesand I gotta take a train and a bus.
Come on.
He's looking for sacrifice.
He's looking for those thatare willing to travel the furthest
distance and say, I don't carewhere this building is.
(46:44):
I don't care if I gotta get ona 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.
(47:04):
Can you imagine putting yourscuba gear on?
It's time to dive.
Listen, prophet, I'm justtelling you, like, there's a synergy.
And I.
I really believe that when westepped in a Domino park, we didn't
know the Domino revival moviewas there.
We didn't know that that'swhere that first domino would drop.
But see, this lesson toeverybody here is, you will sow the
(47:27):
seed from your words, and inanother season, you will eat the
fruit of your words.
Come on.
So if you say that you can'tdo it, you will eat the fruit of
impossibility in another season.
But if you say you can, youwill eat the fruit of it becoming
possible in the next.
See, God always does somethingin two.
(47:50):
Come on.
It was Joshua and Caleb.
Jesus sent them out two by two.
One, one will put to flight athousand, two, ten thousand.
Why?
Because if you say it, then Iconfirm what you say.
And through.
Watch this through the powerof agreement, we are connected together.
(48:10):
I believe New York Citydoesn't have to agree.
Josh agrees.
New York City doesn't have toget on the same page.
We're all the same.
The power of agreement withwill command the blessing of God.
Somebody shout.
(48:34):
Let me just say this.
When we went into Domino Park,Pastor Mike taught me something.
And I teach it to this day inthe school of the prophets.
Shout out, S.O.P.
come on.
I see you guys.
I will never prophesy oversomeone that I've not prayed for.
(48:56):
I will never evangelize tosomeone that I have not Met yet.
But I have already prayed forin my spirit.
And this is what I was taughtby this apostle right here.
He said, josh, we gotta go to the.
To the city.
We gotta go to Domino, and wegotta pray for the people in Manhattan.
Pray for the people in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn.
Pray for the people of Long Island.
(49:16):
And before any of us knew you,before he knew you, he was praying
for you.
And now when he ministers toyou, favor flows because he's been
praying for you.
And when I prophesy over you,it's because I looked at your name.
(49:40):
Come on.
This is why we tell our campuspastors, 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 usand you to be.
You guys receive that.
(50:10):
I've never felt this before inthe history of our church, but tonight
I physically felt a transferin 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 biggesttravesty that ever happened in America
was people believing that yourjob is to stand.
(50:32):
Sit in a seat every Sunday.
That.
That was the worst.
That was the.
The devil said, I can't stopthem from going to church, but I
can stop them from becomingthe church.
And.
And that's why, yes, you needa seat, but a seat without being
sent is not enough.
And today I felt something.
(50:52):
And, you know, let me say this.
When I first got to New YorkCity, I recognize that the reason
why.
Why you never got trained toprophesy at your other church is
because the pastor eitherdidn't trust you or the Holy Spirit
or both.
And so what happens is, inthis house, there's such a freedom
sometimes, not because I eventrust you, but because I trust the
(51:15):
Holy Spirit in you.
Who's the Holy Spirit in me?
And if he's corrected me, hewill 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 aunity 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.
(51:37):
Well, I remember that day vividly.
And here we are standing inthe promise.
We've done 15 services acrossseven campuses today in seven years,
but I pray that this is thesmallest we will ever be.
I.
I pray that this was just thetrial run, the test run, but I really
(51:57):
believe that the shift thatneeds 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.
(52:20):
And I'm going to turn it backto you, Josh, Okay?
I need you guys to make a circle.
Okay?
Now look, watch this.
I did not tell them whichdirection to face.
Okay, now hold on.
Now, I did not tell them toface each other.
(52:42):
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 YorkCity and I started this church, the
(53:05):
Lord told me, do not buildthis structure.
But here's the thing.
You get to know all these people.
There's an intimacy in thiscircle right now.
There's matter of fact,because you're facing inward and
you have me in the middle.
There's a comfortability inthis circle.
Now do the same circle facing outward.
(53:25):
Okay, now watch.
This is what the Lord told meto 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 worldout there.
I'm ministering through you.
(53:47):
See this?
I'm commissioning you.
And we still have a circle,but it doesn't make me a celebrity.
It makes me a generalcommanding 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 facinginward or outward?
(54:13):
See, this is.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Go back.
Go back before you fall out inthe spirit.
But see, when the circle facesinward, it's a click.
When the circle faces outward,it's a clinic.
(54:33):
See, I'm trying to teach you something.
Don't.
And this is why, like, facingoutward, this is who we are.
And I really believe that'sthe 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 prophetand apostle.
(54:55):
There's no place I'd rather beanywhere in the whole world than
right here.
One Other thing.
The keys that the Lord is giving.
Apostle Mike not only unlockinfrastructure, but there's something
about unlocking, gifting, andwhat's happening right now.
(55:16):
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.
(55:43):
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.
(57:01):
Come on.
There's something.
There's a transaction taking place.
Like, I literally see, like aswipe of a card.
It's like there's.
There's something about yousaying, come on, come on, come on,
Holy Spirit.
Come on, Holy Spirit.
I want more.
I want more.
I want more.
I want more.
(57:35):
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 bethe best minister in the world.
You could be a garbage man andbe the best minister in the world.
(58:00):
People come to me and they'relike, pastor Josh, one day when I'm
in full time ministry, I'mlike, yeah, that's too late already.
Then do it now.
Do it now.
(58:32):
If.
If we could have seen thisnine years ago.
But here's the thing.
I believe that he did see it.
I believe that the Lord didgive 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 thesmallest it will ever be.
(59:02):
If we could have the ministerscome up here real quick.
The three ministers, this campus.
(59:23):
So what.
What?
Minister Juliana doesn't know either.
It's just like, our wholechurch is just so prophetic.
I'm just like, man, anytimesomeone says something, something,
I'm like, oh, if they knew.
So here, why don't you come uphere real quick?
Pastor Mike.
Yeah.
Pastor Julie.
(59:45):
Arise from your slumber oh,sleeper Dry bones rise.
It's been a long day, y' all.
So the ministers got togetherand bought you a present with their
own money.
And minister Juliana, and shecould confirm this before we started,
(01:00:09):
she said, we got him theseshoes to represent a key to the city,
to represent a spiritual keyto this city.
And I was like, man, I justwant to tell her right now, but come
on, come on.
You know what those are?
(01:00:29):
You know what those are?
Manhattan.
You know what those are?
Manhattan.
You know what those are?
Manhattan.
Come on, come on, come on.
(01:00:54):
Is that not prophetic or what?
She's like, we're gonna givehim 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.
(01:01:19):
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 youkeys at night.
I will give you keys to the city.
The Lord says, come on.
(01:01:47):
Come on.
Hey, come on.
Come on.
(01:02:09):
Hey.
Hey.
Come on, Pastor Julie.
Come on.
Apostle Mike.
Yeah.
(01:02:32):
Wow.
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