Racial Reconciliation // Relationship Goals Reloaded (Part 6) – Michael Todd – Transformation Church

Charles Metclaf’s Introduction during Worship

• Some of you are mentally tied up
• The enemy has had your mind in chains
• Now you’re living your life in a way that God has already paid the price for
• By the power of Jesus, you are free – old mindsets and habits that have kept you stuck are gone in the name of Jesus
• Thank you Lord for breaking chains and producing freedom
• Families are being transformed
• Generations are shifting
• Thank you Lord God that the enemy cannot stand up against what you have said Lord God
• The spirit of the Lord is with you right now
• God is working in your life right now
• Things that have held you back are being shifted and changed by God
• It doesn’t matter what virus happens or the government says, God is in in control
• In the middle of this pandemic, he is still worthy of the praise
• Your obedience is connected to somebody else – when you give, it is going around the world – you can Text ‘TCGIVE’ to 77977

Mike Todd’s Introduction

• Mike wants to say “I love you”
• Today, Mike’s heart is heavy
• The state of our world, the state of America has made Mike take a seat
• All week, Mike has been in a state of contemplation – dealing with emotions of confusion, anger, pain
• It’s not normal
• This week has been the hardest week of Mike’s life as a black man in America
• It would be disingenuous to put on a show and act like it’s okay
• We need to hear different perspectives and feel this for a moment
• This has to start with organisms, not an organization
• Evaluate what’s going on in the world and how it affects your life
• Mike thought that the best way to do that is to share from our lives – his life – racism is alive right now
• When Mike saw the execution of George Floyd, all he could picture was his face in the ground, asking for his mother as a grown man gasping for breath as a grown man
• Mike’s hope is in Jesus
• Mike is going to share his heart
• Mike’s book was number one in the world this week, but it didn’t feel complete, or fully joyful, because at that same moment of being number one in the world, Mike found out that just as easily, if he got stopped by the cops, they wouldn’t care – they wouldn’t care that he’s the pastor of our church or has a book
• This church was to help reverse the curse of racial divide and to allow for racial reconciliation
• They wouldn’t care that the church is 50-60% white – they would just see another black man
• 10 days ago, as Mike was walking to the property line, someone drove by and said “get out of there, you’re not supposed to be there” – then shortly after, the police came
• Mike had to govern himself in a way to not appear as a threat
• He knew that the situation could go another way
• One call from that lady produced two cops on Mike’s property
• A normal reaction could’ve caused Mike’s life to be over
• Today is the day as the church that we celebrate Pentecost – the day the Holy Spirit met a group of people in an upper room and changed everything – it was in that moment that we got the helper, the comforter. Today, we should be celebrating that we got the Holy Spirit. This is also the anniversary of the 1921 race massacre that happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• How do we add value to this broken world?
• I’m a Christian, but I’m pissed. I love God, but I’m hurting.
• As we acknowledge that there are so many tragedies going on all over the world, today, Mike is asking us to take a better look at what’s happening in our country when it comes to racial divide, prejudice, and just evil
• When Mike saw George gasping for air, Mike saw his brothers, his Dad. One day MJ will grow up to be a big black man
• Mike thought to himself, what would he do if he got a call that MJ was no longer with us because of the color of his skin
• The answer is Jesus
• This isn’t a white washed, lets just pray type of situation
• Prayer is our first response, not the last resort
• That’s the first step to doing a lot of other things
• We have to get God’s word in the midst of how we feel
• How we want to respond is our flesh
• Mike prayed that he would speak by faith today
• Today, Mike has faith that something would change
• God is doing a deep work in someone’s heart
• It may not be a change for the organization, but there will be a change in you
• Transformation only happens with the word of God
• Be transformed by the renewing of our minds
• Today, we’re going to put God’s word in the middle of this
• We need a light in this darkness
• Mike doesn’t have the emotional capacity to minister today like he usually would – he’s emotionally drained
• God is so good, that when we don’t have enough – He has already been enough
• We need racial reconciliation
• We need to step out of our bubble and represent Christ
• Today, open up your heart and mind
• Mike is going to give us some plays on how to start with us for racial reconciliation – it’s going to start with us
• God gave Mike this two years ago
• Full of hope, but still hurting
• Today, our relationship goal is racial reconciliation
• Thank you Father for invading homes and hearts – God, be the God that brings your super to our natural – change us from the inside out
• Let us be able to be the change for racial reconciliation

Message Title: Racial Reconciliation

There are things that are culturally and racially probing that are trying to make us divided. That was never God’s intention.

We were never supposed to see colors of skin before character.

We see many of our experiences through a racial lens.

If you’re white and you walk into a room full of black people, your heart might beat a little faster.

If you’re black and enter a room of Hispanic people, you might think, “this must be a quinceanera.”

We assume.

An assumption is one of the deadliest things you can do. It leaves you looking like the 1^st three letters of that word.

Your forfeit relationships that could benefit your life.

Today as the church, we can’t take sides. We have to be able to live biblically on everything that is happening in our society and lives.

Change has to start with the church and each one of us.

Revelation 7:9 New International Version (NIV)

The Great Multitude in White Robes

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

God gave us a picture of the end. Every race will sing worthy is the lamb.

Make the decision for the picture heaven has painted for us, on Earth.

Matthew 6:10-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Are you living your life to see the picture of heaven on Earth?

God is asking that we do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

He said, love your neighbor – not your black neighbor, or white neighbor, or affluent neighbor.

The saddest part about the narrative of the racism is that it happens in God’s church. The most segregated hour of the week is at this time in church. White churches, black churches, etc. We should be able to walk into any church and feel comfortable, loved, accepted, and able to pray. That means there may be something wrong in God’s house.

2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version (NIV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

When you come to Christ, He gives you the title of new creation. The old life is gone. The old life is no longer valid now that you’re a believer. Your old response is no longer acceptable.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 New Living Translation (NLT)

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

God is literally giving us salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 New Living Translation (NLT)

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Can you be the representative in your place of influence?

You have been given the responsibility of representing Christ wherever you go.

How can you if you don’t have any friends that don’t look like you? When was the last time you saw someone in need that didn’t look like you?

One good interaction could change someone’s perspective on a whole race.

This message of reconciliation is to change people.

We know these things but we haven’t taken a hold of this message.

It’s about humanity, not just a white friend or a black friend. Do you think about their problems or needs before you think about their race or where they come from?

Do you think about race before grace?

Nobody has been given the responsibility to reconcile except the church.

Jesus reverses 800 years of racial division in less than 24 hours.

John 4

• Jesus is healing and baptizing everybody
• The Pharisees started talking about it
• Jesus was in one place and decided to go another to make interaction
• In the middle of those places, is a place called Samaria
• Samaria is a place with Samaritans, who are Black or Hispanic
• The Jews and Samaritans hated each other
• As a Jew, you would go all the way around just to avoid Samaria
• Jesus said let’s go to Galilee, but through Samaria
• The Samaritans had seen injustices
• Jesus went right through the heart of the issue

4 He had to go through Samaria on the way.

• 1.Organism Not the Organization

 Jesus knew if something was going to be done, it would have to start with him.

It won’t start with the government, it has to start with you.

Jesus would meet a woman at noon and sent his disciples away because they were still racist.

Jesus gives a picture of how he stopped at the place of the issue and met her at a specific place, Jacob’s well.

The Samaritans rejected most of the Old Testament except the first 5 books of the bible. Everybody loved Jacob. Jesus was smart and met her on common ground. He met her at a place where they agreed.

We have to start where we agree.

Walk up to a different race and compliment their children. Everybody loves their kids.

Meet people on common grown.

People love themselves, compliment them and meet them on common ground if you want to see racial healing.

John 4:7-9 New Living Translation (NLT)

7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.[a] She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

She used the past to predict the future.

Jesus didn’t declare anything about being a Jew, but he was obviously a Jew.

Jesus didn’t have to change who he was to help someone else. You don’t have to deny your heritage/culture. You just have to respond first biblically.

He is asking us to live biblically.

Tony Evans once said, most people identify as a white Christian, or Black Christian, etc. We cannot put Christian as the noun, it has to be the adjective. Whatever we do, or however we become, we have to put it in the Adjective to avoid conforming our Christianity to the preceding word. Be Christian first; be biblical first. This can be scary because it forces us to disassociate with what we have been. For instance, the things we say.

To live biblically, we have to live comfortably uncomfortable.

• 2. Comfortably Uncomfortable is the New Normal

This is the only way to see racial reconciliation.

You will not be comfortable in all of the places God puts you.

That’s why it’s a faith walk. He’s faithful to continue to provide for his children.

You will have to get used to asking questions or not knowing much about the topic.

It’s going to take you putting yourself in experiences completely uncomfortable to find out something new.

For instance, when Mike went duck hunting with his friends from Unite My City. It’s funny cause you never hear that in the black community. Mike had to ask them why they never invite him to go hunting. They just assumed that black men don’t hunt ducks. Mike told them to invite him the next time they go. They invited him 3 weeks later. They expected Mike there at 3AM. It was a hugely elaborate operation. It was amazing. Mike got to spend 3 hours in the blinds talking faith, family, dreams, visions of God, as they shot ducks out of the sky. It was one of the most enriching experiences of his life.  If Mike didn’t take the chance to live his life comfortably uncomfortable, it wouldn’t have enriched his life, their lives, or have been enable to connect and relate with other people.

If we’re going to live and see racial reconciliation, we have to connect with others.

Start with them; cross the line over to someone with a different ethnicity.

One interaction can change their entire thought process.

Jesus was willing to put his Jewish lips on her Samaritan cup.

 John 4:15 New Living Translation (NLT)

15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

You can’t engage somebody’s problem until you engage their humanity. She could recognize that he was able to identify with her.

John 4:16-19 New Living Translation (NLT)

16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. 17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.

Jesus engaged her humanity to drink from her cup, and it granted access to her personal and spiritual needs.

Until we engage people’s humanity, we won’t get access to their real needs.    

They went from talking about water to her immoral lifestyle.

Then, she could ask him about race.

John 4:20 New Living Translation (NLT)

20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

He then told her that it doesn’t matter where you worship, you don’t know a lot about who you’re worshipping. You need to think about the spirit and truth paradigm.

John 4:21-22 New Living Translation (NLT)

21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

The absolute truth is the word of God.

When the Bible says love our enemies, turn the other cheek, live for the least of these, this is what we must do.

This is about spirit and truth.

If your father was racist, if your grandmother was prejudice, if your uncle who raised you had just a racial bend, then these are the things you learn and these people have no clue what they’re talking about. They have no clue about how much life comes when different ethnicities embrace each other.

It comes when we decide to leave what we’ve been taught and are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

John 4:23 New Living Translation (NLT)

23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

John 4:25 New Living Translation (NLT)

25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Jesus said, no, now.

John 4:26 New Living Translation (NLT)

26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”

Isn’t He on the inside of all of us? And greater works that we should do?

John 4:27 New Living Translation (NLT)

27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”

They wanted to know why He was talking to another ethnicity.

None of them had the nerve to directly ask.

The disciples, as many miracles as they performed, at this place in their journey, they were still racist. They weren’t healed all the way in this area. God can use you even when you don’t have it all together.

This is a progression journey, not a perfection thing.

John 4:28-30 New Living Translation (NLT)

28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

One man had an interaction outside of the city and she went back inside the city and did more than the disciples accomplished within the city.

John 4:31-33 New Living Translation (NLT)

31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”

33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.

John 4:34-35 New Living Translation (NLT)

34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe[a] for harvest.

Either we’re going to be the church that goes at this issue, or delay it. The field is ripe for harvest.

The light shines bright in the darkest times.

The field is ripe right now for one of God’s children to rise up and have a conversation.

We have to live comfortably uncomfortable because we have been given a ministry of reconciliation.

God is telling us to wake up, look around at the ethnicities around us. Don’t still go with your 4 friends. Open your mouth, God will fill it.

God will change all the things you perceive as a block.

• 3. Love Requires Relationship

1 John 4:20 New Living Translation (NLT)

20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer,[a] that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

Jesus’ one interaction changed the whole trajectory of the racial situation.

This was either going to be a race riot or a revival.

John 4:40 New Living Translation (NLT)

40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days,

When their relationship came to a place where they exchanged with God’s creation, it became a place where many were saved.

• 4. Take the Risk

Take the risk,

• To look stupid…
• To be the only white people at a predominantly black congregation…
• To invite someone to your family reunion…

You’ve been given the ministry of reconciliation and now it’s time to use it.

The emulsifier in Miracle Whip is the egg. One part of the egg grabs the oil, and the other part grabs the water.

When you meet Jesus, it becomes the emulsifier of every race.

No longer will we be a part, but it’ll be a miracle.

Cross the line, be the organism that lives comfortably uncomfortable, is able to identify with others, take the risk, and get relationship with somebody who doesn’t look like you.

It’s our moment right now to take the risk.

It’s so applicable right now today in our lives.

• 5. Practical Handles

This week, what do we do?

We take a RISK.

R – Develop RELATIONSHIP

For over 400 years, we haven’t been aiming. It’s time to aim at right relationships. We need to have relationships with people who don’t look like us, believe like us, etc. We need to find out how much we are the same.

Form relationships that your cousins, parents, friends etc. may not approve of. It’s to get a well done from God, not these people. God will present the opportunity for you to connect on a deeper level.

Nobody has to think, what do I get out of it. Just give a listening ear, and be there in that moment.

I – Be INTENTIONAL

Racial reconciliation has to be intentional, it won’t happen by accident. Have a conversation with your kids, no matter what their age is. Racism is learned.

Find things to help you understand what everybody is going through from every side of the coin. What happens if the 40k people watching live are intentional? What if you are intentional about praying for people? There is no distance in prayer. Ask God to give you His heart for them. Let’s get the heart and pray for George Floyd’s family, our neighbors, coworkers, white people, etc. This is where we rely on the Holy Spirit. Where we are weak, He is strong. Take the risk to be intentional.

S –  START AT HOME // SPEAK UP

If it’s already in your home, speak up. If you have any kind of influence, speak up. If you see injustice happening, speak up. Right now, there are people that can’t speak for themselves. We as believers have to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves. Go to prayer and say things that change lives, policies, and move things beyond where they are right now.

K – Find KNOWLEDGE

My people perish because of a lack of knowledge. Don’t allow things to happen. Find knowledge. First look in the word of God. Many of you need to take a fast from the new and social media. We need God to consume us with his fire and get on our knees. As a church, we now have the opportunity to kneel. Get in the most powerful posture that you could ever be in. This is how we fight our battles, on our knees. This is how we start. Every time you see a knee, you need to take a knee. Remember that kneeling is supposed to be our posture to the only one that can change this whole thing.

As we kneel before Him, we will get up with knowledge, know who we need to elect, what policies we need for change. Get knowledge.

It’s going to be embarrassing to ask some of the questions you don’t know. It might be uncomfortable to share what you don’t know.

There is still hope. This is a picture of hope:

If you need more knowledge, in addition to the Bible, there are other books you can read too.

Books for this time, to understand and be a part of the change:

 Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice by Pastor Eric Mason:

The Third Option: Hope for a Racially Divided Nation by Pastor Miles McPherson:

The Good Life, What Jesus Teaches About Finding True Happiness by Derwin Gray:

These are all resources that can help you this week. If you need to sit down and watch something to understand the plight of what’s going on, here are a few movies.

Movie List:

The Hate You Give:

When They See Us:

Thirteenth:

These will give you a picture of reality; perspective.

Prayer: Today we’re asking Father God that you take the brokenness that is America, and I thank you that you would paint a brand new picture today. White, black, young, and old, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Irish, Father, it doesn’t matter, Father you are taking us, and under the name of Jesus, that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. That we would come together and you would do what we can’t, that you would create a picture of unity and racial reconciliation as it is in heaven. We want it to be on this Earth. Today God, it doesn’t start with an organization. It’s starts with this organism. Today Father, I thank you that you are not leaving us to figure this out. The Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost was poured out on everybody, every person. You were poured out so that we would know how to walk and how to live. You said we could ask for your help and You would be the comforter and today we need your help. Father we pray for everybody on the streets right now, everybody protesting, everybody rioting and trying to figure out what to do with their rage and anger. Father, I’m asking you Father right now, send your peace to our country. God we are humbling ourselves, praying, seeking your face, we’re admitting that we don’t know how to do this and we’re turning from our wicked ways. God, we’re asking you, could you hear us and heal us in the name of Jesus. Thank you that there would be much grace on people today. We give you glory, we give you honor, and we give you praise.    

Altar Call: If you’re in this moment and have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, the only thing that connects all of us, is the day that we gave our lives to Jesus Christ. Mike might be black, others may be white, others may be mixed, and we may have a bunch ethnicities, but the blood of Jesus is red. That’s the only color that matters when it comes to your life. Today, we want to give you the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. If you want to stop having to carry this load and this burden by yourself…Mike doesn’t know what he would have done this week had he not known Jesus. Do you know how rough it is to live this life of sin without the saving grace of Jesus? Today, Mike wants to offer that to you. If you’re like Mike, who is not a perfect person, who has failed several times continuously, was addicted to pornography, a liar, a manipulator, somebody who had racism and prejudgment in his heart, if you are somebody like that and you need a new shot, a reset, a restart, today God wants to give you that. According to Romans 10:9 if you would just accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and believe that He lived and He died just for you, right there, you are saved. Today, you call on that name, you will be saved, and today is your day of salvation, not tomorrow. If you’re saying, Pastor I want to be included in that prayer, today we want you to pray that, “I accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior”. On the count of three, just lift your hand. 1. You’re making the greatest decision of your life. 2. We are all proud of you, but more importantly, God is proud of you. 3. Just shoot your hand up in the air. Mike can’t see you, but God can see you, and that’s just a sign of your heart posture being open to God. Today we’re going to pray for you. At Transformation Church, we’re going to pray, not just for you, but with you. We’re a family here, and so nobody prays alone.

Let’s Pray Together: God, thank you for sending Jesus, just for me. Today, I know I need a savior and I choose you. I believe you lived, and you died, just for me. Today, I give you my life. Change me, renew me, transform me, I’m yours, in Jesus name, Amen.

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SUMMARY NOTES

1. Organism Not the Organization
2. Comfortably Uncomfortable is the New Normal
3. Love Requires Relationship
4. Take the Risk
5. Practical Handles
6. R – Develop RELATIONSHIP
7. I – Be INTENTIONAL
8. S – START AT HOME // SPEAK UP
9. K – Find KNOWLEDGE

Link to full Video: TBD

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