Transformation Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma has been celebrating the summer with a sermon series called, “Fun Month” where diverse guest preachers have been delivering the word of God. Mike Jr., the Lead Pastor of Rock City “Birmingham” preached a message called “Scam Likely // ‘We Gon’ Make It.'”
Pastor Mike believes that in order for someone’s impact to be effective, their intent has to be right. There are many people seeking notoriety rather than impact. “Aiming to be popular is more about what you what from people, aiming to be influential is about what you want for people,’ he explained.
Secondly, he noted how our impact is predicated on pain because “adversity is the price that we have to pay for advancement.” He stated how ministers are not teaching younger Christians this truth. The “Big” singer warned that, “so many churches are developing a generation on celebration not suffering. We are teaching them to praise, but we’re not teaching them how to pray.”
The Stellar Award-winning singer noted that there are two types of adversity that believers face: external adversity and internal adversity. He described internal adversity as “me vs. myself” and external adversity as “me vs. my enemies.” “In the pain of being you, that created the power of being you,” the Birmingham pastor stated.
For scriptural support, Pastor Mike used the story of the Apostle Paul being imprisoned after he delivered a fortune-telling slave girl who continued to antagonize him by shouting that he was working for God. The slave girl’s owners were upset because her fortune-telling produced money for them, and Paul’s act of deliverance interrupted their revenue stream.
Pastor Mike noted that she was saying the right thing, but with the wrong motive. Sending Paul to prison sent a message that if I take your stuff away, I will take you, he added.
Finally, he observed how Paul suffered through adversity because he was a follower of Jesus Christ. This highlights an important point Pastor Mike wants believers to understand. “One of the common misconceptions about being saved is that you only catch hell when you’re wrong, but sometimes you catch hell for doing right.”
For the full message, be sure to watch it on Transformation Church’s Youtube page.
