Activating The Spirit of Excellence | Dr. Mike Woods, Sr. | Radah Church | 31 AUGUST 2025

Great are you, Lord. Yes, just sing how great he is.

Yes.

Great are you, Lord. You was there for me when no one else was but you, God. Nobody but you, Jesus. Great are you, Lord. Yes. Nobody could do it but you, Jesus. Nobody could do it but you, Jesus. Yes. Great are you, Lord. Oh, we sing how great. Yes. Great are you, Lord. Oh, there's no one but you, Lord. How great. Great are you, Lord.

Yes.

You are great. Yes, you are. Great are you, Lord. Oh, nobody but you, Lord. Yes, great are you, Lord. Yes, yes, to you we are doing praise. Great We're talking about the true and living and loving God, how great he is. We're talking about the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Yeah, he's our healer and our deliverer. Just how great he is.

Hallelujah!

You got two hands lifted. Glory to God.

How great is our God. With me.

How great is our God! All will see how great, how great, how great is our God! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! How great, how great is our God!

Come on, everybody sing.

Sing with me, how great is our God.

And all sing.

And all will sing, how great.

How great.

How great is our God. Is our God.

He's a great God for real. Why don't you declare it? How great is our God.

How great Is our God. Is our God. Sing with me how great is our God. Is our God.

And all will sing.

And all will sing how great, how great is our God.

He's an awesome and mighty King, and he's worthy to be worshiped. I want you to lift your hands, glory to God, and just begin to give him the fruit of your lips. Hallelujah. God wants to hear the corporate man, so open your mouth and worship. He's here. The first song they were singing, it was saying, Lord, make us more aware of your presence. The scripture says in Psalm 16:11, it's in his presence where we find fullness of joy. The word joy in the text is a Hebrew word, shea, which means fullness of profit, fullness of increase, fullness of— watch this— maturity, fullness of wholeness. We find that in his presence. And I'm telling you, what you ought to always want to do is raise your awareness of his presence. So in this room this morning, I just want you to open your mouths and just begin to give him the fruit of your lips. This church too quiet for me. Come on, open your mouth and begin to worship him. Now I don't expect people who don't normally worship to really worship, but y'all that know you need to be worshiping, I need you to open your mouth. Come on, I need you to increase your awareness of his presence. For one moment, Pastor Jeffrey, no music. I just need pure worship to come out of your belly. Jesus, we declare your greatness. We declare your authority. We declare your awesomeness. God, you are a great God, and these bones will praise, these voices will sing, and we will shout, how great is our God! I don't expect people that don't know he's great to open your mouth and say it, but if you know he's great, if he's been anything to you, I'm telling you, he's He saved me from— oh my God— myself. He saved me from sin. He saved me from damnation and shame. And how great is his name! He's prospered my way. He's opened doors. He's blessed me beyond measure. How great is our God! How dare we come in the house of God and not— again, I don't expect those that don't know this, but those of you who If you know, you know. If you know he's been good, if you know he's been great, if you know you should be crazy but he kept your mind, if you know you should be dead sleeping in your grave but your heart is still beating, I need you to open your mouth and give God a razzle-dazzle. The song said it's your breath in our lungs. It ain't your breath, it's his breath. And if you got breath, I need you to open your mouth and give God praise. Watch this, Psalm 146:1. It begins by saying praise ye the Lord! Psalm 146 concludes by saying praise you the Lord! Psalm 147:1— it begins by saying praise thee the Lord; it concludes my same phrase over God to give me life. Psalms 148:1—it begins by saying praise he the Lord; it concludes by saying I got praised either large or small one for this year's song of 149 and 1, it begins by saying, praise ye the Lord. And guess what? These ain't suggestions, it's a command. It concludes by saying, praise ye the Lord. Psalm 150 and 1, it begins by saying, praise ye the Lord. It concludes by saying, let everything that have breath praise ye the Lord. I wish I had there's somebody that knew you were breathing because it's his breath in your lungs to open your mouth. Jesus, we bless you. Jesus, we honor you. We are alive because of you. We live because of you. It's in you we live. It's in you we move. It's in you we have our being. And God, we bless you. Okay, tell them I'm blessed. I can't talk for nobody else, God, but you've been good to me. I should be dead. I should be crazy. I should be in jail. But God, you covered me and you protect me all the days of my life. Thank you for your mercy. Yahshua, thank you for your grace. We bless you, God. We bless you, God. We honor your great name. How great is our God? How great is our God? Glory to God. Every time we come to church, we should enter his gates with thanksgiving. You shouldn't wait for somebody to take the mic. You— oh my God, you shouldn't wait to the right song. You shouldn't wait for the the beating of the drum, you should enter with thanksgiving. On your way to church, something ought to be stirring in you. God, I'm thankful that I'm alive. I'm thankful that I can see, I can walk. I'm thankful, God. And you ought to enter his gates with thanksgiving. We coming in here waiting for the right hook. Waiting for the right song. The devil is a liar. We exalt him and him alone. It ain't about me, it ain't about Tanya, it ain't about Felicia, it ain't about who prays. It's about him. And when we get on that same page, God can move.

We bless your name, God. We honor you, Jesus.

Precious God, you're so worthy, you're so amazing, you're so glorious. Shabba. We love you with our whole heart, Lord. We love you with our whole mind. We love you with our whole spirit. When we're in your presence, we change. When we're in your presence, we're not the same. I declare I'll never go back. To what I was. Everything about being saved is better. I bless your name, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

Mighty God, mighty God, come on, raise our wings. We Bless you, God. Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus.

Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness.

Let us become more aware of your presence.

Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become, let us become more aware of of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness. Your presence, Lord. Your presence Lord, that's what we want, that's what we need, that's what we desire. Jesus, your presence, Lord. Your presence, Lord. In your presence is fullness of joy. Let us become More aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness.

Let us become, let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience, let us experience The glory of your goodness.

Let us become, let us become more aware, more aware of your presence, God. Let us experience, let us experience. That's what we want, an encounter, an experience. Your goodness. Let us become more aware of your presence. Let us experience the glory of your goodness.

Your presence, Lord. Your presence, Lord.

Fill this room with your presence, God, until nothing that's not like you remains. Fill this room with your power, with your presence, for in your presence is fullness of joy, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Your presence, Lord. Your presence, Lord. Yes, yes, yes, yes. One time, Pastor Jeffrey, to the top.

And Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, you are welcome. Come feel this atmosphere, feel this atmosphere.

Your glory, Lord. What our hearts long for, to be overcome by your presence, Lord.

Your presence.

Thank you, Lord. What a mighty God he is. What a glorious King he is. We yield to you, God. We surrender to your plan. Our lives are not our own. Our lives are surrendered to your blessings. As a father, I declare that even every person under the sound of my voice will begin to live a presence-driven life, that your life will drive their life, and that they will follow hard after you, and they'll know the goodness of living in the of hosting you daily, of allowing you to control our world.

We bless you, Father.

Thank you, Lord. Your presence, Lord. I'm trying to get out of this, but he's here and he longs to be worshiped. Holy Spirit, flood this place. Master.

Glory to God. I am overcome by your presence, Lord. Yes, God, we surrender to your will.

You're such a mighty God. You're such a glorious King. We honor your name. We honor your presence. God, let your intelligence Intelligence rule in this place. Let your light and your illumination fill our life even now. And even as we open your word today, God, speak to us, show us a more excellent way, and we'll bless you, God. Thank you in advance for what you're gonna do. I thank you for what you're already doing. Your credit is good with me. So I thank you, God, that you never have failed. And we praise you for what we've already experienced this weekend in this meeting. Thank you for this morning, and we even speak a word into tonight. Your glory will rest with us, and you You will do great things in our midst, and we bless you for it now. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place, fill the atmosphere, your glory I'm telling you, you need something from him right now. The only key is worship. You just worship him, he will visit you right where you are. I need you to forget about who you rode with. I need you to forget about everything else. But if you need God to work a miracle in your life right now, just worship him a few moments. I'm going to preach, but just worship him a few moments. Glory to God. Your presence, Lord.

Your presence, Lord. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. You are welcome.

Love you. Great. Come flood this place and fill me and my city with your glory. It's what we long for, is what we want. Sante le mani anciene.

The presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord.

Let us become more aware of your presence.

Let us experience the glory of your goodness.

Oh, gosh. Your presence, Lord. Hallelujah, Jesus! We love you, Father. We're streaming right now on 4 different platforms. There's someone watching us on YouTube right where you are. I heard the Lord say, lift your hands. His presence is filling the very room you're in. I need you to worship him right where you are. God. Matter of fact, in the next 30 seconds, there's going to be liquid fire that flows through your body, and that heart condition that you've had— I heard the Lord say he's going to heal you even in this moment. His presence is coming through this camera into your home. Receive it now in the name of Jesus. Your presence. We bless you, God.

We bless you, God.

So good, God. You're so good.

You're so good, God.

Your presence, Lord.

Your presence, Lord. All right, last time, Pastor Jeffrey. Holy Spirit, you're welcome. Holy Spirit, you are welcome. Come flood this place. Come flood this place.

Feel the atmosphere. Feel the atmosphere. Your glory, God. Your glory, God, is what I long for, to be overcome by your presence, Lord. I want everybody that's got two hands to clap them and give God praise in this building. Hallelujah! Y'all can do better than that. Come on, clap your hands, open your mouth, and tell the Lord thank you. Glory to your name, God. We honor him. He's such a good God. Margo, do me a favor, run that video. We going to preach, man.

Glory to God. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. The messengers who bring light to darkness, declaring Christ as our hope and salvation. Jesus Christ. But how will they believe in the one they do not know? How will they call on him if they have never heard? In distant fields, in crowded streets, there are souls longing, unaware of the hope hope that is near. But someone must go. A voice must speak. The footprints of the faithful are never forgotten in eternity. They step into the unknown. They walk into places of need. They run toward the broken. They kneel beside the weary. These are not just feet. These are messengers. Bringers of peace. Carriers of hope. Bearers of light. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. The world is waiting. The gospel must be heard. Let your feet move. Let your hands give. Let your voice proclaim, because someone somewhere is waiting to hear.

Hallelujah! Clap your hands and praise God for that. Somebody needs what's in you. Glory to God. For real. All right, this morning I'm I'm going to be as extemporaneous, as quick as I possibly can. I'm going to share with us, said the Lord. I believe there's a word from the Lord. We've been, been blessed all weekend. Amen. And, uh, I want to talk this morning about activating the spirit of Exodus. And, um, this is Soul Winners Weekend 2025. We've been getting some awesome word on reaching people who are lost. God spoke to me a while back and said we need to get back to the business of winning souls. Amen. Glory to God. And you know, I said it yesterday in the teaching, uh, to our people that were here for the classes. You know, I've been in ministry a while. I planted 8 churches. I've seen churches grow. I've seen them increase. And many times, honestly, the churches that I've seen grow, they've grown mostly through membership transfer. Somebody came because they saw what we were doing, they wanted to be a part of it. And not saying they didn't need to be there, but at the end of the day, we start taking a lot of emphasis off of the outreach piece and reaching people who are lost. And honestly, the whole kingdom is like that. I gave the statistics: 7.5 million people in the metropolitan Atlanta area. That's the 6 counties— Cobb, uh, DeKalb, Fulton, all the counties, Gwinnett, Coweta— all the counties in the Metroplex. 7.5 million. Out of that 7.5 million Only 7.2%, Sharon, is born again. That's crazy. And we got all these churches. The Secretary of State of Georgia records that there are over 420,000 churches organized correctly in Georgia. So we got 420,000 churches. If each church— are y'all hearing this? Just won 50 people to God, we'd have the whole state. But what it suggests is that the church has become more interested in creating a corporation, right, that a machine that drives kingdom business. Are y'all here? Yeah. And most of the time you go to a church and you look around, it is packed out with people from other churches. So I've determined that even in this ministry, you know, we, we have been plowing in Atlanta since we planted the Jackson church. Actually, we planted another church in Mississippi, um, and we were going every week to that church planting. And when I got through with that and released that to the people that needed to get that done. I said, you know what, when we go back and start plowing Atlanta the way we need to, we're going after people that's not saved. And so this meeting is about getting wise strategies to win people to God. One of those strategies is excellence. You will never win the world operating in mediocrity. I'm gonna say that again. Here. People who are not saved, they look to excellence and they follow patterns of excellence. So we don't— that's why I thank God. I thank God, Mr. Tanya, thank God for our praise team, thank God for Pastor Jeffrey. They sing in excellence, they rehearse. We tap into God, but they take their time and make sure, because you know, people in the world, they get good music. Y'all ain't got to say nothing. They listen to worldly music. The worldly musicians entertain well, they do, and they love that kind of music. But if we come to church and all we do is to take our mistakes in love— no, listen, no, we need you to rehearse and we need it to be excellent. Oh yeah, let the Spirit have his way. God is— no, no, rehearse and let the Spirit to move on to excellence. Amen. Are we hearing this? Amen. So I want to really jump into this with both feet. So let's go to Genesis first. Let's start here as a foundation. Genesis chapter number 1, uh, verse 28. Mario, you on it this morning, son. The Bible said, then God blessed them. Touch yourself, say I'm blessed. So from the beginning of time you were blessed by God, and God blessed them. It's interesting that when we grow in our life, we start trying to bless ourselves, and we start trying to make a life for ourselves when God says you're already blessed. All right, this— he blessed Adam, that means all humanity is blessed. We come out of Adam, right? Matter of fact, we are the Addams Family. Y'all never watch that on TV? Weird. Glory to God, we the Addams Family. We're different. And thank God for the second Adam, Jesus, that saves us. So rub your belly, say I'm blessed. The word blessed is makarios in Hebrew, and it means you are marked with a quality of deity, which means blessed means not just happy, but God is in you. So there's a type of him in you, saved or not. If you never confess Jesus as your Lord, God is in you. Touch your belly again. Say I'm blessed. So after God blesses you, he wants to now have a conversation with with you. He blessed them and said to them— so blessed people, watch this, follow instructions, right? Come on. So you can't be saying I'm blessed and highly favored and you don't do nothing God say. I know some people that every time you talk to them, how you doing? I'm blessed and highly favored of the Lord. But they're the most disobedient people on the planet. They don't obey nothing the word say. Because you don't see the fruit in their life. So God gives the blessed the instruction. First, he says, be fruitful. He didn't say— watch this, the man of God was preaching about doing it, being last night— he didn't say do fruitful, right? He said be fruitful. So in other words, watch this, he didn't give them apples, he didn't give them oranges. He gave them seed and said, go out and plant this apple seed and be fruitful. Watch this, inside of every one of us is a seed begging to bear fruit in our life. When you were born, you were born with seed in you to produce something greater than anything you can imagine in your natural intelligence. The word fruitful is para in Hebrew, and it means to manifest the purpose of Only when you manifest purpose are you being fruitful. Are y'all with me this morning? Can I teach this like I feel it? Touch yourself and say, I got a purpose. Say, I'm alive for a reason. Watch this, everybody in this room. The Bible said many are the plans in a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that stands forever. So all of us have dreams, all of us have things we want to do. But the reality is the only thing that will stand is the purpose. Purpose is God's original intent for creating you. So many times we're created and we operate outside of his authentic original intent. And watch this, when you do that, your life becomes hard because you're transgressing now against a plan. That was initiated before you were born. Matter of fact, say that, say that out loud. I want you to get that in your spirit. Say, there's a plan for my life that wasn't designed by me. It was designed by him. You came to earth with it in you. You came to earth with purpose packed inside of you so you can live a meaningful life. And also so you can impact others through your purpose. There's a few things about purpose, and I'm gonna move because this is how you bear fruit. I gotta touch it. The reality is purpose is the key to fulfillment. When you discover something that's purpose for your life, it fulfills you in every way. Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. My wife fulfills me in every way. She's purpose for me, so I ain't got to sleep with nobody else. That ain't always been my story. I was in a marriage before, I went all the way for Phil. Y'all ain't got to talk, okay? And it was sin, it was wrong, but I, I did something with somebody that wasn't her. See, y'all don't like that kind of transparency. Hallelujah! But I thank God for deliverance. Are y'all here? Cause purpose is the key to fulfillment. If you're working a job and you sitting there all day talking about, I can't wait to 5, you looking at the clock all day, Jesus, I can't wait to get out of here, that job ain't your purpose. Cause when something is purpose, you'll get up in the— out the bed in the morning, throw your clothes in the air, run up under and run out the door, and you'll stay overtime, you'll work all day cause it's your purpose. Purpose. Prophetess Greta's husband got the job where he's got him working on something. That job ain't his purpose. So every time he go, he frustrated, he mad. Look, wish I was at church, turning the whole workplace into church. Are y'all here? Talking to Amazon, he gonna shut Amazon down because that job ain't his purpose. And listen, when you're in purpose, you're fulfilled. Say that with me. Say, purpose is the key to fulfillment and fruitfulness. So when you're walking in purpose, you can bear the right fruit. Watch this. You saw an apple seed, it's going to give you an apple, because that's packed inside of that seed are instructions from God, because man can't even figure out how that happened. How can you plant an apple seed and it actually gives you an apple? How do you plant an orange seed in an apple, it actually obeys what God said to the seed? Do you realize when you start operating in the seed purpose that's in you, it's already designed to bear that fruit? It's hard when you're trying to bring forth something else that God didn't ordain. Oh boy. So purpose is the key to fulfillment and fruitfulness. Secondly, watch this: everything in life, including you and I, has a purpose. The cockroach has a purpose. I don't know what it is, but it got one.

Shanna said to die, to be—

it's got a purpose. Purpose. The nose hairs in your nose, they have a purpose. That little crusty toe on your foot, it has a purpose. It's, it's crusty, Pastor, because since you said something, it's crusty because folks invested— didn't invest in their feet young. Y'all got to talk. My mama bought us— well, no, I can't say that about my mom. My daddy did this— the 2 for 1 at Payless. Them weren't good shoes, and it hurt your feet, young. And then having her let you wear it too long when your feet start growing, right? That's, that's how you get that little crusty toe. That's why now that I'm able to invest in my feet, I do. Glory to the name of God, because I went through it. Glory to the name— my wife is saying, yeah, you invest way too much in your feet. I hear complaints every day about my shoes, man. Listen, listen, it's an issue. Glory to God, because y'all pray for me. Praise God, because at the end of the day, I mean, my feet suffered in the beginning of my life. Okay, another mess for another day. Where's my scripture? Okay, so, so purpose— everything has a purpose. That little toe, you cut it off, it's going to take away your equilibrium, your balance. Say everything has a purpose. Here's the problem: every purpose is not known. This is why we got so many issues in the world, because every purpose is not known. And what purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. Oh boy, are y'all here? Oh God, my battery went out. Glory to the name of God. Y'all give me another— say that one more time. What purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. Watch this. The word abuse— abuse, or abnormal use. You use your life wrong when you don't know the purpose of it, when you're not clear about it. Here's why most people don't know purpose. Watch this. Oh, it's because they've been asking the wrong people what their purpose is. If you want to know what your purpose is, ask the manufacturer. Ask the one that designed you. Listen, I understand. So that camera that Sharia is— when I first got that camera, it's so many buttons on that camera. It's a professional 4K movie camera. That camera can shoot anything. But guess what? I had no idea how to use some of this stuff on. It came with a manual. I had to go online and look at the manual. I downloaded it and I started reading what buttons were for. I started reading what different things to do. Now watch this. I now am fulfilled in the operation of the camera because I know purpose of certain functions in the camera. When you don't know purpose, you're going to abuse your life. Abuse is inevitable. If you don't— if I don't know the purpose of my life, I'll abuse abuse her. That's called spousal abuse. You don't know the purpose of children, you'll abuse children. That's called child abuse. You know the purpose of money, you'll abuse money. That's financial abuse. So you gotta— if you don't know the purpose of your life, you're going to abuse your life. That's called life abuse. Are y'all here? Amen. So if you're gonna be fruitful I'm gonna— because I can go on it all day. Say this with me. Say, in the name of Jesus, I'm a person with great purpose, and I was created to bear fruit. He says, be fruitful and multiply. So now watch this. You cannot multiply until you're fruitful. Fruitful and multiply. Now here's what a lot of people are doing. They're trying to multiply unfruitfulness. Remember, not— they're not trying, they're doing it. They're multiplying unfruitfulness. They're not bearing purpose. So now we're multiplying— watch this— imitations, copies, mimics, counterfeits. Listen, nobody can beat you being you. Are y'all here? Nobody can beat you doing your purpose. Matter of fact, you're the only one created to perform that purpose. It's unique to you. So once you tap into it, now you multiply that and find others who are called to that same purpose and multiply and duplicate yourself in them so that they can walk— oh my God— sweatlessly through what you already endured. He said, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, or replenish the earth. And subdue it. The word subdue there— watch this— oh God, it means to enslave the earth. I know black folk don't like the word slave. I don't like it neither. But listen, enslave the earth means to bring the earth under control of God's ways, to subdue them. The man of God talked about it last night. He had no idea I was going to preach it. To compel them to come in means to— watch this— threaten them with bad results, to show them a different mindset. So when you subdue them with excellence— I'm gonna get in this— he said, and then have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. I'm not gonna dig too deep in that, but here, watch this. Dominion is radah. It's on— there it is, that word right there. Radah is the Hebrew word for dominion. It means to have control. We should be in charge. Are y'all hearing this? As people of God, we should not be operating as second-class citizens. Uh, the fish of the sea, the fish gates, which is the import and exports, which happened on the sea. Y'all complained about terrorists, and we control the gates, you wouldn't worry about it. Are y'all hearing this? Listen, y'all don't like when I start talking about Trump stuff, but listen, y'all complaining about stuff that we are allowing. We should be controlling the fish gates so no matter what he do, we're in control. We should be controlling imports and exports. We should be controlling influential areas in the world where And things are being exchanged in the marketplace and in the mill. We ought to be manufacturing and creating things. The birds of the air— watch this, this is what I'm gonna dig in this too much, but if you got dominion over something, you should be able to do what they do. I'm just leaving it right now. You can't have dominion over a bird. Cuz some of y'all might not be ready, cuz if you can't fly like him— are y'all here? You ought to be able to go. Some of y'all don't want to swim. I mean, you won't even get in the pool. That's not even talking about fishes. You scared to go put your head under the water. Well, okay, all right. See, I told y'all I wasn't gonna get in there too much, but Honestly, you ought to— we ought to have influence and control and rulership over fears of influence, all right? Where the church is the go-to when something is needed in the world. All right, are y'all hearing this? Yeah. So if the government has to bail out banks and it creates a deficit in the government The church should be in so much control that the government can come to the kingdom and say, we got a trillion dollar deficit, but because the kingdom controls the world, we can pull our nation out of debt. Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. We can help fund— instead of us using a 501 to get grants from them, they're coming to us to get grants from us. Oh yeah, that's dominion, that's rulership, that's authority. That I've been— this has been coming out of me prophetically all weekend, and I'm gonna hit it right here. God spoke to me and said there was going to be a financial inversion. Yeah, well, he was going to invert your finances where the way money has looked to you before, it won't look that way anymore. And he says, as you align dominion. As you align to his authority, he's going to turn your finances around, and now you will see abundance, not for you to flaunt the abundance. Because you realize something, the, the average millionaire lives off 17% of his income. You wouldn't even know he was a millionaire. It's us that want to go buy rims and, and flaunt and jewelry and flaunt our money. The reality is, when you're really wealthy You ain't walking around with a wall of money talking about, I got it. But God's about to invert your finances so we can advance the kingdom, so we can fund entrepreneurs, so we can build buildings. Y'all not talking to me here. And I ain't talking about churches, I'm talking about build infrastructures in the city that take care of the homeless, infrastructures that educate our children. God says, I'm going to invert your money and do something that's never been done before.

Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord! God says, I want you to be excellent. Excellent!

Tell somebody and say, I didn't come to take sides. I didn't come to take sides. Say, I was born to take over.

I was born to take over.

Put that on the screen. Yeah, there it is. Yeah, here it is. You, you didn't— you ain't here to take sides. You on this earth to take over. You on this earth to operate at a level of excellence that every time people see you, they want what's on you. They want the life that you live, not the stuff you got, but they want the stuff that's in you. You know, I was talking to a drunk man one time. He was just tipsy and just couldn't hardly stand up. And I said, you know what, ain't no need me keep talking to him. He is not going to receive nothing I'm saying. I'm saying, man, why is you can't stand up? He said, it's the stuff that's in me got me like this. And you ought to be so drunk in God, drunk on the things of God, that when people see you, they say, why is it that you acting like that? Oh, it's the stuff that's in me. I'm so blessed, you know, I can't even articulate it. I'm so anointed, I can't even talk about it. It's the Stop! Oh, just touch yourself and say, I got some stuff in me.

Oh God, let me get through here.

I spent way too much time on this. Let me get through. Glory to God. Watch this. So let's look at what excellence really is. So number one, excellence is not an attitude. Are y'all hearing this? It's an altitude that doesn't happen by accident. It's a place that— watch this— every reverence to God in heaven is up until heaven comes to earth. Go ahead now. Then when heaven comes to earth, that up place is still in us. So people ought to still be looking up to to us because we carry the excellence of heaven. Not because we're trying to flaunt something and flaunt ourselves, but people ought to look up to you because the excellence of heaven is flowing out of you. Go next slide, Martin. Put it up there. It's in the stack there so they can see it. I want to say it. Excellence is an attitude, not An accident. Says an altitude that happens on purpose. You got to decide you want to be excellent. Next slide, Mario. Sure. Secondly, excellence is a decision, not a default. You got to decide you want to operate in excellence and not mediocrity. Oh boy, it ain't a default setting just because you got saved. I know a whole lot of saved people who operate in mediocrity, who have low mindsets, who don't want no more than what they have, who are just satisfied where they are. And I don't have anything against those people. But here's the, here's the issue. If you're satisfied, don't try to push that on people who are not. And don't judge people who are not. Don't beat them down for one more. Oh boy, because it's not a default setting. You got to decide, I'm gonna do the work I need to do to obtain excellence. Say, I got to work. All right, next one. Excellence is a discipline, not a desire. Yeah, glory to God. I think, I think you went past one slide, Mario, or it may not be there. Say, say that with me. Say, excellence is a discipline, not a desire. So you can't just desire it and think it's going it's going to show up in your life because you want it. You got to discipline yourself to produce the results. Amen. Fourthly, excellence is a distinction, not a decoration. Oh, go ahead now, because some people want excellence to be seen, but there's a difference in being decorated and distinct. See, some people dress up because for decoration. All right, watch this. If you, if you study royalty in the East, the royal family dresses the way they dress not for decoration. They do it for distinction so that they can be identified differently. Than the rest of the kingdom, and they got the means to do it, right? Because they, they create a standard of external perception. Are y'all hearing me? Yeah. Now you got some people though who don't need to be buying clothes. I mean, they don't need to be buying expensive stuff trying to decorate because they ain't got no money, right? Are y'all hearing this? I mean, you— if you shopping at Saks and you take your whole check and buy one shirt at Saks, that's wrong. That's irresponsible. Are you here? You're trying to just be decorated, to be seen, right? Because it don't make no sense to be the sharpest thing in the room and broke. Are y'all here? Sharpest thing in the room and your light's about to get cut off. Sharpest thing in the room and your house in foreclosure. That's decoration, that's not excellence. But you can be distinct without spending a lot of money. All right. Y'all ain't got to talk to me here. You can operate in a power and an anointing that creates a distinction about it. My son, and he does a whole lot better now, but I used to talk about how he dresses, and I said, boy, I just need you to put on some clothes because, sir— but he does a whole lot better now. And I love him. But guess what? His distinction is the power that flows out of his life. And so the Lord said, leave him alone, because look what's coming out of him. What makes him distinct is the anointing that's on him. Glory to God. And, and even, even in now how he dresses, he dresses really nice, but it still is distinct. It's distinguished. You could tell he's different. Are y'all hearing this? You have to decide you want to show up in the world in a way where people can see the difference.

That's right. Are y'all hearing this?

That's it, probably. That's the important piece, being yourself, because most people want to decorate because they ain't being themselves. Are y'all hearing this? Amen. Watch this. One time I had a Christmas tree and, uh, I didn't have a whole lot of stuff to put on, but the tree— somebody gave me the tree. The tree was like 8 feet. It was a big tree and it was an expensive tree. I had about 5 bulbs. Hanging fires, you dig? Because I ain't had no money to get no more. Well, guess what? Everybody that came to my little apartment at that time said, man, that's an amazing tree. Because it was distinct because of the stature, because of how it looked even without all that stuff on it. Because in my mind, I wanted to throw everything on it— garter, all the bulbs I could. A big old star on the top, but that would have been just decoration. But the true beauty of the tree was shown just in the essence of what the tree was. Are y'all here? All right, I'm moving, I'm moving. Finally, I'm just trying to tell you what excellence is. Excellence is a demonstration of divine DNA. Yeah, it's a demonstration. When you're operating excellence, you're demonstrating the DNA of God coming out of you. People see that dominion that he put in you. Yes, yes, that seedbed that he put in you. They can see. Are y'all hearing this? Because it's divine DNA. Not again— notice it has nothing to do with you. It's him on display. So how do I develop an excellent spirit? I'm glad you asked. First thing you got to do, you got to conquer complaining. Write it down. Listen, never complain about what you permit. If you're going to be excellent, you can't— you don't get to complain about what you are allowing. I told a lady one time, husband was beating her and she was just complaining every week. He keep hitting me. He keep putting his hands on me. I love him and I don't want to leave him. I said, well, don't complain another day about what you allow. I said, one of two things: you need to leave, or you need to go down there and take you some taekwondo lessons. So the next time he raise his hand at you, you going to something like this. He going to think twice about putting his hands on you. Are y'all hearing me? That's right. You either— you going to fight back or get out of there. But stop complaining about it, because what you're doing now is accepting mediocrity. So if you want to see excellence come forth, you got to conquer complaining. Watch this: excellent people conquer what average people complain about. That's demonstrating divine DNA, man. Why everybody else complaining about it, you conquer it. Everybody else complaining about Trump, you just living through the covenant that he— not because the big— the— what's the beautiful bill? You just live through the big beautiful bill. Everybody else complaining about what's going on and it don't affect you. Because Jesus is your king. Are y'all hearing this? You worried about what's going on, but— and you know what, the news anyway, let me just say this, can be a terrorist. CNN, ABC News, Fox News, all of them are terrorists. And if you sit there and watch that all day, they will torment your mind. Y'all hear me? Second thing, if you want to develop an excellent spirit— I'm gonna run through these— you need to cultivate creativity. Negativity. Watch this. Excellent people pursue solutions. Touch yourself, say, I'm a solution to somebody's problem. Say, somebody needs me. So when a problem arises, instead of you complaining about it, if you operate in excellence, you, you're looking for solutions. That's right. I become so solution-oriented, whenever problems arise, I don't even talk to God technically about the problem. When I talk to him about it, I said, Lord, this is what's going on, but give me the solution. I don't have time to rehearse what's going on. He knows that I need the solution. Excellent people solve issues. They see something, instead of complaining, they become a creator and bring a solution. Third thing, you want to develop an excellent spirit. Not only do you need to conquer complaining, cultivate creativity, you need to also control conversations. You need to guard your spirit from negative talk, from mediocre mindsets. I don't even listen to people that got poor mentalities. Y'all ain't got to talk to me. I ain't got time to talk to you about what I can't do or what I can't have. I, I, I need conversations on another level that can talk to me about the potential of what God wants to do and where God wants to take me. Listen, and then you got to watch what you say, because it starts in your mind. You be thinking about it. I don't know how I'm gonna do this, and I got this pressure on me. Then bam, you mess up and let it come out of your mouth. You know what? And then your words now shape the world you live in. Your world creates the atmosphere that you dwell in because of what you spoke. Oh God, it shows up in your life. It starts right here, comes out of here, and then bam, you got it. How about we do that in reverse? How about we think on these things which are lovely, which are peaceful, which are pure, which are kind, which are of faith, which are of a good report. Let's think on that stuff. Let's think on those things that are not as though they were. And let— instead of speaking what you think, speak the opposite of that. Speak God's promise concerning it. Yeah, you might have pain, but it's— and thinking about the pain, but instead of saying, 'Oh, my head sure do hurt,' it's just as easy to say, 'My head is healed by the stripes of Jesus.' It's easy to say headaches can't live in my body. So, so, I mean, you just gotta choose what you want to do. So excellent people, glory to God, control conversation. They control what they hear, they control what they say. Oh, here today, yes sir, I gotta get out of here. Y'all saying this preacher's long. I promise you, Pastor Jeffrey— I don't know about promise, she preached this long today— but Pastor Jeffrey, glory to God, he preached short, so we'll make sure he's up so y'all can— glory to God. Watch this. Say, I cannot complain, I must create, I must speak words that create. Say, in the name of Jesus, I must Is the last one. Have consistent character. So if you want to cultivate a spirit of excellence, your character must be consistent. You can't be one way today and then tomorrow I don't even know who you are. What kind of demon is that? You— I mean, what you— that's— they call it bipolar. It's a demon. Today, I mean, you is just wonderful, and then tomorrow I can't even deal with you. That's a problem. Your character needs to be consistent. If you'll create excellence, you need to consistently follow godly character. Watch this. Integrity is doing what you say you will do, and when you can't do it, saying you can. That's right. So you say you're gonna do it, do it. But if something happens and you can't, character says, okay, I can't do it. I know I committed to that, but I can't. And, and you don't even really have to go into why, but the fact that you're admitting you can't, that's integrity. Watch this. Jesus was consistent in his character. He was the same way all the time, because character is an integration of speech and behavior. Whatever Jesus did was something that he had already said, or what had been said about him. So watch this, you shouldn't be a product of what other people have said about you. All right. Oh boy, the battery's going dead in this one. Give me that blue one back. Glory to God. These— we got to get this together. We've been preaching with these mics for 3 days. We got to change the batteries. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Say, my character must be consistent. My character must be consistent. So watch this, because people can control your character with their narrative concerning you. You can't respond to every word spoken about you. Go ahead now. Are you hearing this? There's some words that have been spoken about all of us in the past that if you're gonna tame them, they will torment you today. And that person has gone on doing something else, and what they said still troubles you.

Are y'all hearing this?

You got to choose to detach yourself from yesterday. That's right. You can't let something that traumatized you yesterday control your Say I'm bigger than that. Say my God has given me power over that. Hallelujah. And here's this last one. So you need to also, if you're going to cultivate excellence, have continual calibration. You need to calibrate your excellence, which means you can be impressed but never satisfied. Go ahead now. Yeah, you can be impressed with something but say, okay, but I still ain't satisfied. There ought to be something in you that always wants more. There ought to be something in you that always wants to go to the next space. There's something in you that says, you know what, this DNA in me commands that I experience other things. Are y'all hearing this? I often, for especially for my family, trying to make sure they experience things that they— I know they're not going to do on their own. So I plan trips, I do things that I want to make sure they have the experience. Part of the reason, because when I was young, my parents had no money. So I see something on TV I wanted to go do. Oh, we ain't got no money, we ain't going down there. I see Disney on TV, I want to go Disney. No, we ain't got no money to go to Disney. We ain't giving Mickey Mouse our money. That's what we— that's what we heard. I see— I used to love the show Hawaii Five-O. I always wanted to go to Hawaii. So when I got old enough to take myself to Hawaii, I go every chance I can me because I love the island. I love all three of the islands. I love playing golf in Hawaii. But at the end of the day, it's something in my DNA that desires more. I saw Apostle Hill on pictures in Dubai. I said, okay, I got to go to Dubai now. I said, I got to go to Dubai. Dubai is beautiful. I saw them pictures, I'm like, man, I got to go over there. Because at the end of the day, there's something always ascribing for another experience in the natural. Now watch this, in God, if you operate at a high level of excellence in God, you should always want new realms to open to you. You shouldn't want the same old church experience. Hymns, Kwagi or A&B. Are y'all hearing this? Preacher give you a sermon with 3 points and a hoop and tell you how to keep your blood pressure down, and then a long offering line. They're going to take 4, 5 offerings in some churches, right? Are you hearing this? You ought to want something more. You ought to want something different. You want to want a level of excellence that says, my God, is amazing. And when people look at you, they see that amazing. That's right. Amen. Amen. We're gonna move. Glory to God.

Y'all getting anything out of this so far?

All right, so I want you to go to Proverbs 26 and 13. I want to show you the dangers of average and mediocrity. Say, I'm not average and I'm not mediocre. Watch this. You cannot live in the dimension of Rada— I'm gonna say this and we're gonna move— or Dominion until you actually, for real, y'all, embrace the discipline of excellence. And all those disciplines I just gave you, you got to embrace them, and you got to constantly train your mind, teach your mind and allow the Holy Spirit to transfer to you discipline to pursue his way of doing things. The Bible said he'll show you a more excellent way. He talks about that in, uh, 1 Corinthians 12:31. He says, I'll show you a more excellent way. He was talking about gifts and people wanting prophecy and discerning spirits and healings and miracles, but he says there's something more excellent than those gifts. And the thing more excellent way he was talking about, he runs into chapter 13 and starts talking about love. He said, do I speak with tongues of men and of angels, have not love, it profits me nothing. If I speak with tongues of heaven and I don't love, glory to God, he says, a sound of brass and a tinkling cymbal. So the more excellent way is to fall in love with God's way of doing things. Is to love God and his way. That's right. Are y'all hearing this? Yes, because God doesn't want you average. He doesn't want you mediocre. Proverbs 26:13 is on the screen. It says this, it says, the slothful man says there's a lion in the street, in the way. A lion is in the streets. Slothful means basically a lazy man. The root of the word slothful is sloth. Sloth is an animal that sleeps upside down most of the day. So the sloth sees life from an upside-down perspective and is only awake about 3 hours. Are y'all hearing this? Most of his life is spent sleeping. Interesting thing, he has a very long life because he sleeps all the time, because he gets rest. He wakes up enough to eat and goes right back to sleep. This text talks about how a slothful, lazy person really just makes excuses. This is about excuses. I would do it, God, but it's a lion in the way. It's a lion in the streets. Ain't no way I'm going out there because it's a lion. When you're mediocre, you're going to always make excuses. I always say excuses is a well-planned lie, and most of the time you lie to yourself. Even if you're making excuses to others, you're really not doing them a favor. It really is not doing you a favor. It's not advancing the cause with them because you made an excuse. Excuses are the nails that houses of failure are built from. If you want to fail, keep making excuses. Keep talking about the line is in my way, it's something to stop me, the man got me down. Are y'all okay? Everybody talking about the man, the man downtown, the man around town, the man that left town. Listen, I know a man from Galilee, glory to God, that if you trust him, he'll make life easy. Yes, glory to God. Go to 2 Timothy 3:5. I'm almost done, cuz the average is a grave. It buries destiny. 2 Timothy 3:5, it says, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. Listen, the, the scripture in those first— glory to God— 4 verses, the first thing it says that In, in that day, perilous times will come. Many will be lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God. And watch this, the reality is when you love yourself more than you love God, you only gonna have a form. You will look like God, you will talk like it, you'll have the lingo, you'll go to church, but in the end of the day, if you deny the power You're operating in less than excellence. I don't want to be in church with no power. Listen, I'm so glad I'm saved the way I am. I'm so glad I know power. I know the anointing. I've seen God do great miracles. I've seen him work in my life. I'm so glad I understand power, because if I had to get it the other way The other time, it wouldn't be enough to hold me because this thing needs to be real. Power makes it real. I need somebody just right back and say, we need power. Come on, say it again. So we need power. I need you to understand, the church has lost its— oh my God— connection to power. We got pageantry, we got all of the look of church, we know how to do the smoke and the light. But at the end of the day, we need power because there's a people in the world, they're not gonna come to God unless they experience power. They need— listen, they need to see the miracles of blinded eyes open. I'm so glad I've seen the power of God open blind eyes. I've seen him heal cancer. Somebody shout, we need power! We gotta stop having a form of godliness sound good, look good, talk good with no power. Watch this, big church full of people, no power. I'd rather be in this little church with 15, 20, 30, 50 people with power with God than in a huge place where there is no power, where all the preacher is doing is making noise but nobody gets healed, nobody gets delivered, nobody gets nobody gets saved. I got a problem with that. It's a form of godliness. Oh my God, but we got to bring excellence back into the church where we just don't look like we doing the right thing, but actually we get results. Oh my God, that are born out of our desire for excellence. Hallelujah, that we see cracks Crackheads come to the church and they testify, I used to be a crackhead, but now I'm a preacher. Prostitutes come to the church, I used to be a prostitute, but now I'm saved, now I'm delivered, now I'm living holy. We need businessmen, athletes, and celebrities to come to God and say, the power of God changed my life. We can't play with people to make them feel good. We got to walk in power. Power. Cuz guess what? The devil doesn't play fast. He will keep people bound. Hallelujah. Cuz all of us who are saved, at one time in our life, we were bound. But he who the Son sets free is free indeed. Form of godliness, religious and pious, denying the power. Watch this. From such turn away. You know, my wife is a little more liberal than me. She'll be saying, well, let's go over here and just support this meeting. And I'll be like, you don't need me going there and wasting my time and getting grieved. And I know I understand her heart to just say, let's fellowship. So most time I just go, but the whole time I'm like I just want to get up and walk up and just snatch the mic out of the person talking, because I mean, because there's no power, no anointing. We just here. From such, turn away. So you just got to choose how you spend your time, right? If you want to operate in excellence, you spend time around excellence. To us. Are y'all here? I'm just trying to show y'all this morning how to activate this spirit of excellence. Because watch this, mediocrity masks greatness. See, watch this, it'll cause you to start pretending that you carry something you don't. We got a lot of pretenders in the body. We got a lot of pretenders in the kingdom. Them. They pretend. Well, matter of fact, Hollywood has missed it with these casting calls. They really want to put people in stuff. They just need to come to the church. Some of the biggest pretenders and actors right in the church, because the operating is for Are y'all hearing me? But when you pretend, you blocking your opportunity to have greatness, because guess what? You start believing you are what you pretending to be. That's called deception. Yeah. Excellent people make improvements in life. They don't try to fake it till they make it. They work to improve. They don't make excuses. It's dangerous to try to fit in. You got to be uniquely you. I talked about purpose in the beginning. Fitting in is it'll kill destiny, it'll kill your dream. But you got to decide, I'm gonna be who God made me to be, and I'm gonna be it loudly. Listen, don't you apologize another day for being who God says you are. Oh yeah, here it is. Don't you make any apologies for the uniqueness God has afforded He has caused you to be who you are for a reason, because there are people who are assigned to your spice, your life, your anointing, your authenticity. There are things you can give them I could never give them.

Go ahead now.

Fitting in is fatal. Stop trying to change for people. Change for likes and clicks, change because the algorithm say I need to say it this way. I preached a message a few weeks ago, said God is my algorithm. God is my algorithm. He's the only structure of my life. I'm not going to change because the algorithm telling me I need to say something different. I know what the algorithm likes. It likes when I post pictures with my wife. So I mean, I'm gonna post them anyway, but at the end of the day, of my other post, I'm gonna put up what God tell me to say, and I'm gonna say exactly the way he tells me to say it, and I don't care who like it.

Go ahead now. Are y'all here?

I've even had people who are actually experts in the area say, have you if you just didn't say it like that and do it this way, then, you know, you have more engagement. I'm not trying to fit in like that. The people that need to see it are the people that's gonna see it. And guess what? God controls the algorithm. Because even, even when I do it, people still engage and they get involved with what's being said. Are y'all here? Go to Proverbs 22:29. I'm almost done. Yeah, the Bible says, see a man diligent in his business— say diligent— he shall stand before kings. He shall not stand before mean men. A lot of times we stand for me and judges and police officers and mean people in society. That— watch this— most time when you're standing before me, man, is because you've tried to take a shortcut outside the purpose, right? But you got to be diligent in business. This, this is key, man. Excellent people are diligent in work. Watch it. Business is not busyness. Business deals with the pursuit of a preordained plan. Watch this. God has already established your business. The business he has for you is already set. But you got to spend enough time hosting him in his presence so he talks to you about the business. What's the business of your life? What should you be doing? Not again, not being a cheap copy of somebody else, but what's the business for you? Sometimes it ain't even what you're good at. Many times God will put you in business in a way and you don't know nothing about it. Oh God. And he'll teach you how to operate in that business. I got a friend, Apostle Jerry Howard, and I'll use him instead of myself because it's the same thing that's happened to me. But Apostle Howard was on drugs Well, he was a drug dealer first, started using his product, became an addict, dropped out of high school, never went to college, went to church. Preacher prophesied to him, told him he was going to be an apostle. He was high when he got the word. Are y'all hearing this? Got delivered that night. Gave his life to God, met his wife a few months later, end up getting married, had kids, realized I need to take care of these people. Drugs had given him a life that he didn't want to give up. Cuz he was a big-time drug dealer. He was flying drugs all over the country. I mean, you know God was protecting him. You that dumb— I tell him all the time, how you that dumb to put all the cocaine in a suitcase and check it? My God, that bag is connected to your name. And he was so blessed, they never opened his luggage. Never checked. He was flying drugs. Oh, I probably shouldn't be saying this on— well, he— that's been a long time. Yeah, he's delivered now. If y'all ain't caught him by— y'all didn't catch him then. Anyway, I'm about to get somebody a case. Listen, the reality is he said, I got to take care of these folks and I want to take care of them the right way. He said, God, I want to do something with computers, but you know I ain't got no degree, I ain't been to school. God gave him instructions, said go apply for a job at this software company. He applied for the job, hear me, with no degree, with not knowing how to do nothing with a computer. He'll be here in December, and I promise you he'll tell you a story. God anointed his mind, and now he can build a computer from the ground up. Never read a book about computers, never went to a school, never went to a class. He walked in the door making $280,000 a year. Y'all ain't got to say nothing because the creatorial power of God anointed his mind. Again, this, this is what happened when you host the presence for real. So we also present for real, God will anoint your mind. He will teach because guess what? You are a creator because the Holy Spirit lives in you. He's a creator. So all that knowledge he got about computers now, went on, worked for that company, ended up leaving that company, started his own IT company, and made so much money because God anointed his mind. Are y'all with me? I'm just trying to tell you, when you're diligent in God's business business. He'll give you ideas. He'll show you how to do things that you don't even think you're able to do. That's right. The Bible said when you do that, you'll stand before kings. God will put you in rooms that you will never be able to get in on your own.

Are y'all with me?

I'm almost done. We're gonna give you these last few points to get out of here. So watch this. If you're moving in excellence, here are some distinctives that set you apart. Number 1, and when I give you these, we're going to be done. You set standards. Excellence is a bar you raise. Touch your belly and say, I gotta raise the bar. Come on, say it again. I gotta raise the bar. Say I'm valuable. Say I'm necessary. Say somebody needs me. You got to set the standard high. Stop lowering your expectations. Yeah, I told a lady one time, she was believing God for her husband, and her standards were way up here, and she was like, I ain't gonna accept nothing less than this, Michael. And I told her, I said, well, God's out trying to build that man. It's going to take a while because all the stuff on that list, he building him. But that, that fellow right there, he don't exist. So God is building him. But she refused. She's an apostle. I ain't coming down. And guess what? She kept that bar up there. And God sent her the man she wanted. Took a while, but she ultimately ended up married with the man she was praying for. And my philosophy was, you come down and compromise a little, you know. Do we have to make six figures? She— yes. Do we have to be 6'1"? Yes. All this stuff. How about saved and got a job and love you? Are y'all hearing me? But you— she raised that bar, man. Took about 10 years, but God built it. He showed up. But if you— if she would have came down— but so I'm telling you, if you got standards, don't compromise them. If God has set them in place, this— we ain't talking about you. She know who I'm talking about. She don't know. That's right. No, we ain't talking about you. Number 2, number 2, if you're gonna be distinctive and excellent, not only do you need to set standards, but you also need to go the extra mile. Excellent people go beyond the call of duty. Listen, amen. Whenever I travel— I travel a lot— I thank God for the excellent leaders that are around me, because at the end of the day, I don't ever worry when I'm gone. I don't— you know what I worry about? I don't worry about what people do when they're in front of me. I worry about what people do when they're not in front of me. So if you, if you are excellent when I'm here Great. But really, if you really excellent when I'm gone, that's what makes the difference. And I, I watched them always go the extra mile. So you gotta always make up your mind, I'm going to go farther than I've been required.

Go ahead now.

Some people just do just enough to get by, and that's mediocre. That's average. You got to learn to push yourself to the limit and say, I'm gonna walk in excellence. Because if you operate in this level of excellence, you're gonna reach somebody. Somebody's gonna get saved. Amen. Thirdly, not only do you need to set standards, go the extra mile, but thirdly, an excellent leader values visibility. Watch this. Your work is your witness. Go ahead now. I said it yesterday. What you do for God needs to be seen. This thing wasn't done in the corner. Matthew 5:16, a city that sits on a hill cannot be hid. Don't you master excellence and go hide. Get excellent and get on the hill so people can see what God has done. Hallelujah. Number 4, if you're going to operate in excellence, glory to God, you honor humanity. When you're an excellent person, you treat people good. That's right. You can't operate in excellence and you don't know how to treat people. I've seen leaders, man, and it saddens me. You know, I've been doing what I do a long time, and I've been trying— I've traveled all over this world for the gospel's sake. I was sitting in a man's office. I was here to preach for him. It was about 3,500 people waiting. His church is that big. He came in to talk to me. We were talking before I go out and preach. One of his people came and said, Pastor, such and such needs you. You need to come now, it's urgent. Now me as a pastor, it's just me. I'm gonna get up and go see what the person that needs me needs. He looks at the person, I ain't thinking about these people, I'm in a meeting, I'll deal with that later. That thing grieved my spirit because excellence says I love people, I love humanity. When you're operating excellence in your assignment, you understand your assignment is never about you. Your purpose is never about you, it's about people. That thing did something to me. So you, when you walk in this spirit, you understand I need to honor humanity. And finally, X-Force always chooses challenge. Let me say this to you. Compete with yourself and not others. Go ahead now. When you operate in the spirit of excellence, you make the choice to compete with yourself. You always challenge yourself to higher levels. You always challenge yourself to deeper depths. You activate the spirit of excellence when you don't settle for where you are and decide this is it. You ought to challenge yourself to higher places. I'm done, I'm done. One more thing, one more thing. Excellence is your signature. Don't let mediocrity be your signature. You'll be remembered for one or two things. The problems you create or the problems you solve. Excellent people solve problems, remember? So you got to decide you're going to be a problem solver and solve it in excellence, and let that be your signature. Everybody stand up. Done. I know I didn't scream and rap back and preach like the old preacher. It's okay. I pray you got something out of this today. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. I want to activate this excellence in us this morning. I want you to grab hands, please. Leave nobody untouched. Just touch and agree all over this building.

How excellent!

How excellent! How excellent! How excellent! In thy name. Sing it, Felicia. Oh Lord. Sing how excellent. How excellent. Oh, how excellent, how excellent, how excellent is thy name, thy name. Come on again.

Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord. Come on, sing. How excellent, how excellent, how excellent, how excellent, how My name, my name.

Can we do it again on the earth? In all the earth. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. In all the earth. In all the earth. Jesus. In all the earth.

In all the earth. Jesus is the Lord.

He is thy name.

In all the earth! In all the earth! In all the earth! In all the earth! In all the earth! Jesus loves us! in thy name.

Squeeze that hand you're holding. Stay right there, Pastor. Just squeeze that hand. We going to activate excellence in this room. Just squeeze that hand and begin to intercede for the hands you hold, that excellence will flow into them now. That they will discover a more excellent way, that they will raise the bar, that they'll never settle for less, that they won't settle for mediocrity and average. But because we serve an awesome God, because we serve an excellent God, Father, And we decree and declare right now in the name of Jesus that every person in this building, I declare that the excellency of God, the excellency of our King will overtake them now and that they will understand that they are called to move in dominion. They're called to rule. That they were not sent to this planet to take sides with systems. Systems and structures that are not kingdom. But God, we are here to take over because we serve an excellent God. And in the name of Jesus, I activate excellence, I activate power, I activate anointing, and I command it to flow in your life even now. In Jesus' name. Well, put your hand on your belly. Loose your hand, put your hand on your belly and say, in the name of Jesus, say, excellence is my way of life. Say, in the name of Jesus, I will never, never, never, never be mediocre or average. Another day of my life. My Father is excellent. My Father is a king, and because of that, I will embrace the discipline of excellence. And when I do, dominion shall flow out of my life in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Come on, shout about it if you believe it.

Jesus, Jesus.

Clap your hands, praise him! Come on, everybody, come on, praise him for excellence! Come on, your life will never be the same! Your life will never be the same! Come on! Oh God, we bless you! Father, we praise you for this word. Thank you, God. And now, if there's anyone in this room that's not born again, God help us to understand today that the spirit of Excellence starts with knowing you. So there's someone in this building this morning that does not know you in the free pardon of their sin. God, I'm asking you to draw them. Use the foolishness of preaching to draw them to you, not to a man, not to a church, but to draw them into the kingdom of God. Yes, Lord. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, God, that you will help us to understand that we cannot live without you, and that receiving you erases the penalty of sin. It takes hell out of the way of our lives. So, Father, today I'm asking you to save, to heal, to deliver, to I feel God. Yes, in the mighty name. I see in the mighty name of Jesus.

Do it, God.

Do it, God. Do it. If you're in this room, every head bowed, every eye closed, please be obedient. No one looking around, please be obedient. Every saint in the building, pray. You're in this building and you're not saved, you don't know Jesus, you ain't got your business straight, you know if you died today you would go to hell, you know what you've been doing. But if you say, I want to get my business straight this morning, I want to give my life to Jesus, I'm not going to embarrass you, I'm not going to put you on the spot. Every head bowed, every eye close. But if that's you, I just want you to lift up your hand and say, I want to get my business straight. I want to get my business straight. I want to live for you, Jesus. I want you to take control of my life. Maybe you here and you backslidden. You once were saved and you say, I want to renew my covenant with God. If that's you, I want you to lift up your hand. God wants to accept you home. The Bible say he's married to the backslider. We give you praise. And maybe you're here, you're not filled with the Holy Ghost, and you say, I want to operate in the excellence of the Holy Spirit. I want to experience his gifts, his love. I want a personal relationship with him. I want the evidence of speaking in tongues. I want the signs of I want the Holy Spirit to follow me. You said, Apostle Woods, I want that in my life. Maybe you're at home watching and you want it. Just type it in the comments so we can make sure that we reach out to you and get this salvation to you. If you're here, just lift your hands. Any of those three things you say, I want Jesus, I need him. Secondly, I'm a backslider, I want to come home. Thirdly, Glory to God. I want to be filled with the Holy Ghost. I just want you to do me a favor. Turn to someone next to you and ask them. I want you to witness to them. Ask them, are you saved? Are you filled with the Holy Ghost? If they say no, I want you to help them up here. Glory to God, man. Bring them down this way. Glory to God. Well, if everybody's saved, we need to just give God praise for the salvation of Jesus Christ. Come on, bless him! We bless him! Hallelujah for his redeeming love! Jesus. Glory to God. Give him praise.

Give him praise.

The ways to give are on the screen. Glory to God. For those of you online, the ways to give are on the screen.

We need you to trust the Lord.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Father, bless every gift and every giver. Give it back to them a thousand times more. Father, your word says as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God.

So Father, we bless you and we honor you in Jesus' name.

Glory to God. While you're giving, I want to do something. Come up here, Nicole, real quick. I want to do this quickly. Um, we raised some money for Nicole a couple weeks ago, and, uh, she needed $1,500 to take her mission trip to Spain, and God blessed us to be able to eliminate her knee totally. Hallelujah! So today, Cole, my plans was to have one of them big old checks. It just was going to take up too long, but, but you can cash this one. You won't be able to cash that other one, but thanks be to God, we want to present Cole with this check from the church for $1,500. And I want y'all to stretch your hand this way as we pray for her. Father, we thank you for the anointing on this daughter's life, and I decree and declare, God, that you're going to use her. And God, thank you for all you've done for her. Thank you for the deliverance she's seen, the, the glory she's seen, and thank you for the many souls you're going to turn to righteousness because of her. And thank you, God, that even as she goes on this trip, it'll be the first of many, as she will travel this world as an evangelist, declaring your truth and seeing breakthrough and seeing deliverance in the lives of so many. And so, Father, we thank you for the demographic that you assigned to her, and that they will turn to you, and they will be saved, and they will be delivered, and they will experience your power because of the anointing that's on her life. And we give you praise and glory for it now. In Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God.

So be it. Shout! Toast! Pops! Shout! Pops! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is good.

Why are you giving? We trust God for new beginnings for every person in this room. The number is 5785 that you see on behind me. They're indicative of the Hebrew year. It's not 2025 in the Hebrew year, it's the year 5785. A Hebrew calendar only has 9 months. 5785 means what you say you shall receive. We've gone through this Hebrew year and I've seen God manifest a lot of stuff. I've seen— I want you to accept this this prophetically today. Tomorrow, September 1st, turns the calendar in the Hebrew, 5786. And 5786 means that it will be a year of balance and manifestation. So God will balance your life and manifest his promises. So these next 9 months, I want you to be in expectation of total balance, total manifestation, because if God promised it, he's able to do it. So just look at somebody, say happy New Year. I know it ain't January, but I'm telling you, it's the prophetic New Year of 5787. Balance, yes sir, and manifestation is coming. Glory to God. We give God praise. Father, bless every gift, every giver. Return it back to them a thousand times more. Bless every person that came in the building digitally, online digitally. Give them their money back, God. Their seed leaves their hand but never their life. Bless every tither today that gave as you have instructed them to do. And Father, Father, we thank you that we don't lack one thing, neither do we ever care, but we walk in the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and adds no sorrow. In Jesus' name, amen. God praise. Hallelujah.

We're going home, we're going home.

Glory to God. I pray y'all all blessed today. We got visitors. Amen. So I'm gonna start with this lady right here. Just stand up, young lady, and tell us how you got here this morning. Good morning. Good morning.

My name is Catherine Johnson. Yes. My church is Great Liberty Hill in Decatur on Black Folk Drive. Okay. The lady right here, I met her at Kroger.

At Kroger, looking good.

And we got to talking, showing love. Yes. And I was telling him something about testimony and being involved in the movement. Yes. And he invited me. Amen. I love it. And why my phone kept acting up when I put in that map I came and I didn't even see the place. I passed the place, turned around, went back, and went all the way around to come back to the same place right there. I said, "Oh, there you go, right there." I was right at it. Yeah. Thank you. Um, about— it's going on, okay, June 15th on Father's Day, that was my birthday. Okay, I'm gonna tell y'all a little bit. Okay, I was in North Carolina at a Juneteenth thing at my cousin's house. And that Sunday, me and my granddaughter, I said to— I called Meemaw. I said, Meemaw, we're not going back to Atlanta. I said, we're gonna move to Merle Peake for just a day. Then we go home that Monday. We was driving, my phone rang. My oldest son, he called me, and I said, "You know I can't talk when I'm driving. I don't have the thing in my ear." He said, "Mom, I called to tell you I'm in the hospital." So I said, "Well, when I get settled, I'll call you back." But I didn't call him back. That's funny. I talked to him when I got home that Monday. Okay, that Thursday, they let— I think that Thursday, he got out the hospital. I called the phone, I said, "You doing all right?" "Mama, I'm at home."