AND HE ADDED... | DR. MIKE WOODS, SR. | 21 AUGUST 2025

Well, grace and peace everyone. This is the day the Lord has made and we shall rejoice. Hallelujah and be glad in it. Welcome tonight to Thursday Night Thirst. Listen, if you're just joining us, please do me a favor and share, uh, this live stream. Uh, we want to make sure that we get as many people on here tonight as we possibly can. So please do me a kind favor, uh, tag people below like you see Pastor Jeffrey Jasper doing. Um, also share this with your family, with your friends, on your timeline. Uh, the reality is we want to make sure that every single person gets an opportunity to hear what the Lord is going to share with us on tonight. So please, guys, go ahead and share this live stream. What I'm going to do, uh, with tonight, we're teaching, uh, our fourth installment actually, family, of the series Assigned to Shine. So tonight this is going to be good. Um, I want you to make sure you get this in the hands of as many people as you possibly can. Praise God! We want to make sure that occurs. We want to make sure that happens. What I'm going to do, I'm going to play— glory to the name of God— uh, the series opener, and then after that I will be back. I want y'all to keep sharing while this is on, and we're going to get started with this teaching tonight. I love you guys. Welcome to Thursday Night Thirst. God bless you.

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. 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 that is near. But someone 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.

Absolutely, categorically. Well, praise God for that. Someone is waiting on your voice. Glory to the name of God. Let's pray, and we're going to get right into this tonight. I don't want to prolong the time, but I really want you guys to share this teaching. These messages are vitally important because it is so packed with so much information that the church at large really is not participating in. And we really need to do better in this regard to make sure that we are aligning ourselves with God's ultimate plan, his master plan to see people born again, to see people saved. And in so many sects of the body of Christ, people have abandoned this very thing, which is the reason why we're all here. All right, so let's pray. We're going to trust God tonight that he would meet us. Glory to Jesus. And that his power— glory to God— will stand strong, stand tall, uh, be with us tonight, and that lives would be changed. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, We give you praise, we give you glory, we give you honor. We thank you for your goodness, your mercy, your grace. Father, we thank you for salvation that you extended to us. And Father, we thank you that by your stripes we are healed. You were wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and now we're whole and we can live in you and we can have abundance. We can actually have a good life because you died for us, God. And so, Father, we thank you for that, and we give you glory for that. Thank you for every person that is assembled tonight under the sound of my voice. I pray that this word will land on the good ground of their heart and that they will reap it in due season if they faint not. I pray, God, that even as we plant, God, and water seed of the gospel, if someone perhaps— and I just believe, God, that someone tonight, or multiple, will see this video and give their life to Jesus. We give you praise, we give you glory for it now, in Jesus' name, amen. Listen, I've felt that. Glory to God. Here's what I want you guys to do right now. I want you to share the link to this video, share it in Messenger, whatever you got to do, send out a text, direct them to Weather Watch. But if you got someone in your family hear me, that's not saved. They do not know Jesus. If they died tonight, their business is not straight, heaven would not be their home. I want you to get a real concern right now in this moment, glory to God, and invite them onto this live stream because I believe, hallelujah, that salvation for your family, for your loved ones, is nearer than when you first believe. Hallelujah. Glory to God. So please, uh, make sure you get someone on this live tonight who needs Jesus in their life. So tonight again, we're— hallelujah, I'm so grateful for this teaching, praise God— we're talking tonight from the subject And He Added. Again, this is part 4 of our series Assigned to Shine. Matter of fact, right where you are, put your hand in your belly and say, I'm assigned to shine. I want you to really believe that tonight. You are assigned— glory to Jesus— to shine. Hallelujah! The Bible says that we are lights of the world. We are a city that sits upon a hill that cannot be hid. We are assigned to shine. Now tonight I want us to go to real quick— praise God— And I'm not going to be long, but I want to because I want us to get this. Glory to God. I want us to get this. Glory to Jesus. Uh, the Acts, the book of Acts. Glory to God. Chapter number— praise God. Hallelujah. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. Glory to God. Acts chapter 2. God is so good. Wonderful Jesus. Acts chapter 2, and I'm going to read verse number 47. All right, glory to God. And I'm going to read it out of— hallelujah— the NIV. Let's read it out in NIV. Glory to God. The Bible says this, it says, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people— listen to this— the Lord added to their number. King James says added to the church daily those— watch this— who were being saved. So I want to really concentrate on 'and the Lord added,' because really what we want in this hour is for the Lord to add to our number. Those who are being saved. And unfortunately, family, and, uh, we're gonna get into this teaching tonight, there are— whoo-wee— tons of churches in America, tons of churches in the state of Georgia, tons of churches in that region. Wherever you are, there is a bunch of churches everywhere. Here's the problem. Most of what people are calling church growth is not real church growth. So pastors gonna not like me for this, and I really do not care, I promise you, because we got to get back to God's business. I, I've been telling the church throughout this series, the Lord spoke very emphatically to me and said, son, you gotta let leaders know, you gotta let the people who follow these leaders know that we got to get back to the business of winning souls. And the reality is, souls and humans is God's business. We— John 3:16, the scripture says, for God so loved the world— not the church— he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on the Son should not perish but have eternal life. So this whole thing Oh my God, it's based in a soul believing in the efficacious, vicarious, substitutionary, redemptive work of the cross. And we are the conduit that should be letting people know that, hey, salvation is available for you. You don't have to live in darkness. You can live in the light. You can come out of the kingdom of darkness and literally be translated into another kingdom, the kingdom of his dear son. But we're so bent on just having good church, man, and the reality is God has a problem with that. And then when churches begin to grow, we'll say, oh my God, we're having exponential growth. Well, honestly, real exponential growth— and exponential is growth that is happening in multiples It is growth that continues and doesn't stop. When you having that kind of growth, it's because really for real, people are being introduced to the truth that your ministry carries about Jesus, not based on how popular you are because of TV or because of the internet or because of social media. Ma'am, sir, your church could be adding new people But it is not real church growth. 2:47 in Acts gives us real— somebody say that— real church growth. Real church growth is not membership transfer. Oh my God, help us tonight. It's not membership transfer. It's adding to the church daily those who are being saved. The only way this is possible, you gotta have people who love God and love people enough to make sure that daily they are—

whoo-wee—

talking about Jesus, talking about the word. Glory to God. And ministering to those that need the light that's on the inside of them. So just because People are transferring from one church to another. They might have got some new people, but it's not real biblical church growth. Hmm. Okay, so because we got a problem in most major cities, the number is below 10% of the people who are actually saved per the population. That's a challenge, man, right here in Atlanta alone. 7.9% born again, Spirit-filled, go to church. Watch this, the number is lower than that. Glory to the name of God. When you start talking about, uh, operating in dimensions of apostolic and prophetic dimensions according to scripture, it's lower than that. I mean, we might have about 11% who are not Spirit-filled who are in the church, but still with a little over 7 million people in this Metroplex and only— let's say there's 12% born again. That tells me where all of the big churches here, with all of the outreach programs, with all of the food we give away, with all of the clothes that is given away— the reality is we are not converting sinners to Christ. Which, if you are giving away clothes, come on, if you are giving away food, if you are taking care of the homeless these people should ultimately be led to God, not we take care of them and they remain the same in their soul. Because it's one thing to take care of the outer, and I think we should do that, but after we do that, we need to make sure we're taking care of their spiritual well-being and getting their soul aligned and right with God. Oh my God, this is Not gonna be popular tonight, I already know. Glory to Jesus, I already know. Let me tell you something, the reality is, man, every attack the enemy sends— glory to the name of God— there's a demon attached to it to thwart the church from its influence and power. So every attack the enemy sends toward the church, there's a demonic entity attached to that attack. Oh God, trying to kill the testimony or the influence of the church. That's a problem. That's why when we see— and I'm going to get into this— we're going to see how we add to the church daily for real. We're gonna see what we need to do to make sure this happens. Listen, understand this, the devil doesn't play fair. And so he understands, if I can have them fighting against each other, if I can have preachers constantly falling, if I can have the saints living any kind of way in the world, not being a light, then the people who are under his influence He already knows they're not going to want to follow us because they see no difference. So if we are to see people added to the church family, there are some prerequisites to verse 47. My God, tonight this ain't popular preaching, but I'm gonna preach it anyway. Glory to God. So let's walk through it. Let's just look at it. Praise God. Don't kill me, I'm just the messenger tonight. Glory to God. Because y'all, what y'all want to do is post and think that's evangelism. It's not, it's not. Uh, most of the people that follow you on social media, because of how algorithms work, these are people that go to church, okay? Most, probably 99.3%. Yes, it's because you post a flyer about your church, share your pastor's message. Most of the people that watch that are already in the church. Most of the people that watch preachers on YouTube, no matter whether they got a million followers or 5 followers, most of the people that's watching them because they're not employing wise strategies to reach people are already saved. And so our goal as a people is to change this whole game. We got to do it because the world needs Jesus. And we got to stop appealing to the people that keep our business fun. Oh, oh, Pastor. Oh, Pastor, I'm gonna work on you tonight. Listen, I'm gonna work on your— I'm gonna work on you, leader, you that got a ministry, you that have a church. We must stop looking at people as stockholders and shareholders to keep the business of church going. No, these are souls that need to constantly grow and increase and reach other people. And then when you have new people come in, they're not just a stockholders, another number to keep your budget afloat. Actually, souls that come in the building should be viewed as God's children. Are you hearing this? And when we do this, our expectation from them Watch this, it's transformation, nothing else. It's not that they become a tither. Our expectation is not that they become a giving unit so we can do more things. No, we look at them as a unit of transformation. We want to see them transform, and our dedication to that person that comes through the door should be to consistently see them trans— formed. Oh boy, this is not going to be easy tonight, people, because there again you got leaders who are notorious for building epicenters around saints so that they can continue to expand their personal dream. I get it, God gives us all vision, he gives us all dreams, all of us want to see different things for our ministry. But the reality is we cannot lose sight of the fact that people need to be saved. So how do we add to the church daily? Enough, enough introduction. How do we add to the church daily such as would be saved? How do we add to our number new converts? How in a city like Atlanta where there's 7.1 million people in the 6-county metroplex and only roughly about 12% of all religious demographics are into church or some type of— glory to the name of God— denominational ministry, nondenominational, whatever. Only about 12%. Hear me, how do we change that number? Because that tells me, family, listen, listen, that 88% of our population in this region alone And again, it's— that's the average across the board in the U.S. 88% are not saved, and I'm inclined to believe that number is decreasing daily when it ought to be, according to the text we just read, increasing daily. He— oh boy, listen, wherever you're watching from Glory to the name of God. I want you to share this because what we want to do is have conferences, we want to have conventions, we want to have convocations, we want to have revivals, we want to pack out arenas with nothing but church folk in the name of revival. But I'm telling you, you have not seen revival for real until people start coming to Jesus. There's a real awakening, and watch this, real revival is really happening when you leave a meeting and something is stirred in you to go reach somebody that doesn't have what you have. Oh God, oh God. So how do we get here? How do we get here? How do we get here? Let's go, let's go, go back up to verse number 38. So there's some prerequisites for adding daily, some prerequisites to God adding. So let's deal with this, let's teach this tonight. Glory to the name of God. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. This again, this will not be a popular teaching tonight. I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, it's not going to be popular. Glory to God. But let's look, let's, let's drop down to verse 38. I'm still in the NIV. The Bible says, watch this, Peter replied, hallelujah, repent and be baptized, every one of you. In the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are— for all, for all whom our Lord will call. So the promise of the Holy Spirit, first of all, the promise of salvation— I'm gonna do this backwards in these two verses— is for everybody. So it's God's plan for every person that will hear, that will receive, to be saved. So the first prerequisite— here we go, oh my God, tonight, here we go— the first prerequisite is this, family. Hear me, hear me. Glory to God. Y'all ready? There must be a message of repentance that leads to transformation, that leads to new identity. That's what these verses share. Watch this. He said, because the verse before, the, the other disciples were saying, what should we do now? All these people, they're gathered. Apostle says, okay. Peter says, this is what we're gonna do. This is what everybody needs to do. Is repent, be baptized, be filled with the Holy Ghost. The 3 important things there. Number 1, repent. So when a person gets saved, repentance is necessary. Perhaps if you're watching tonight and you're not saved, you cannot be born again without repentance. What is repentance, Michael Woods? It is metanoia. Metanoia in Greek, which literally means a change of thought, a change of heart. Here we go. And a change of behavior. So true repentance means my mind, my heart, and my actions have changed concerning sin. That's, that's really concerning error. I don't repent and then start trying to justify. Are you hearing this? That the sin that I was doing is right, or try to find scripture to make me feel good about sinful behavior. But true repentance, in the true sense of metanor— repent, re-, to return or go back to, pent-, the root of word like penthouse, to go back to the top. So that's the first key. Now watch this. You cannot declare repentance to someone else that needs to repent if you yourself— hear me— has never truly— oh God, oh, I feel like running. Oh my God, oh my God. I'm trying to behave tonight. I'm trying to behave, but I'm telling you You gotta— now, if we want to see people added daily because you out there with them, you got to live a life that reflects you are repentant. See, we have created this thing that, okay, if I do this, I'm just gonna repent, or if I say this, I'm just gonna repent, when your actions should be every single day you wake up, you want to live a life that brings pleasure to God. Watch this. And is a witness for God in the spaces that he has ordained for you to operate in throughout the day. But if you're living like the people you're around— okay, okay, y'all don't, y'all don't like this, I see. Let's go to Leviticus real quick. Leviticus, Leviticus 10. I want to show you something real quick. Leviticus 10:10. Let's go here. Hallelujah, hallelujah. NIV again, he says, that you may put difference between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean. So watch this, every day you should wake up saying, I'm gonna be a difference, I'm gonna be a light, because I'm assigned to shine I'm gonna be a light in the space I am called to occupy daily. Because remember, he added daily. And if, if you're a repentant soul— oh God— and you showing up daily, I promise you, your life, because it's different than the other people around you, is going to attract people to you that want what you have. So true repentance means to return to the top. It ain't to continue to do what you want to do. You gotta return to the top, return to your rightful place with God. I mean, you don't live in the same sin every day and then just say, I'm gonna just keep repenting. No, that's not true repentance. True repentance, again, is a change of mind about what you're doing, a change of heart concerning what you're doing, and a change of action, which means you choose to not do it. Which really leads me to believe, y'all, hear me, look, look dead in my face. I'm right here with you tonight. I'm ready for you too. Gloria, come on with it, whatever you got, I'm ready. I'm telling you, you got to repent for real, man. You got to change. You got to stop doing it. At some point, you just have to decide, I'm going to please God with my behavior. This is not legalistic, this is holiness. Holiness is right. Somebody else is wrong. So, okay, so again, if I want to see people saved daily, I don't want to jump in— jump too deep into that. I gotta operate in true repentance. Somebody say true repentance. Type true repentance in the comments. That's how you got to live. That's how you got to walk. That's how you got to operate. But watch this, wait a minute. He also says, and be baptized. Oh boy, here we go. And be baptized in the name of Jesus. Now I'm not going to talk about what y'all think I'm getting ready to talk about. Now for the record, because I am apostolic in nature, I am an apostle in the Lord's church. This is what God called me to do in 2005. I was affirmed by my spiritual father as an apostle. Didn't just wake up and decide I want to do it. Matter of fact, if you talk to him today, he'll tell you I fought him every step of the way on this. But the reality is, this is who I am. So because of that, if I baptize you, I'm gonna baptize you like the apostles, and I'm gonna baptize you in Jesus' name. But I'm not going to tell somebody that's been baptized the other way they're wrong. That's just not what I do. But the reality is, he's saying here, really, baptizo in Greek, to be submerged, because that's— it's a commercial word that means to be submerged until the result is achieved. So he's telling you to be baptized into the identity of Jesus Christ. See, it doesn't matter if you go in the water in Jesus' name, but if you don't come up and now you take and don't take up the identity of Jesus in your life, which means now, because that's what the commercial word— it's a word that says, okay, I'm gonna keep dunking until I achieve the result. So you have to begin to be baptized in the identity of Jesus so that everything in your life lines up with what Jesus wants for your life. So it goes beyond the water. You got to be baptized in his name so that your name— hallelujah— fades out of the picture. Oh, this society, the devil ain't gonna like that one. And his name is supreme because watch this, if he precedes you, he's gonna always draw all men to you. Remember, we're talking about souls, we're talking about evangelism. So he says, if I be lifted up on the cross dying, if I be lifted up in your life, if you operate out of identity in me, I'm gonna draw all men to you. I'm trying to help the church. Jesus, I'm trying to help y'all, man. Because guess what Ezekiel said? If we don't warn the people for God, he said the blood will be on your hands. What you don't want, after all the praise breaks, all the crying in worship, all the sermons you heard preached, is to stand before God on Judgment Day and he tells you there were souls that were applied to who you are and who you were in the kingdom, and you fail to reach them. And you don't want him to say the blood is on your head. Watch this. People wonder how, uh, that scripture in Matthew works when it says many will come in that day saying, Lord, Lord, did not I preach in your name, baptize in your name, did not I cast out demons, did not I lay hands on the sick? The Bible said He's going to say to many, depart from me, I never knew you, your work was of iniquity. Watch this, your work— iniquity, it means without boundary, without influence from Kingdom law. So you are operating in your flesh, building something in the name of God, staying in your stream, as you say, to reach church folk. And never bring— see, preachers ain't gonna like this— never bringing anyone into the kingdom. I'm telling you right now, guys, we have to do a lot better because God is not pleased, and it's evident in the numbers that we are not doing what we ought to be doing. And this is why I'm teaching this. We got to get back to the business of the kingdom. Glory to Jesus. So you got to repent, you got to be baptized. Watch this, then he said be filled with the Holy Ghost. This is so important if you want to see people coming, you come to God daily, because if you're filled with the Holy Ghost, that means you also have access to his gifts: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, word of faith. Prophecy, discernment of spirits, healings. Oh my God, you got access to the gifts of the Spirit because you got the Holy Spirit. Yeah, glory to God! That's why you need it. So now in the space you occupy daily, you can live out the gifts among people that don't even understand them but you can use them to awe them. Glory to God. We gonna get there, we gonna get there, we gonna get there. So, so, so the first thing, if we want to see God add daily, there's got to be true repentance, true baptism, and filling, infilling with the Holy Ghost. And this is why I'm telling y'all right now, I'm— this, this generation of church, man, This generation of the body of Christ is missing it on so many levels. Hear me, family, hear me. I'm missing on so many levels because most of these people really are not filled with the Holy Ghost. You know, when I came up, we had— and I'm not saying you have to do this because I've laid hands on people as an apostle and they got filled with Holy Ghost evidence, speaking in tongues immediately. I get it, though. That happens, right? That impartation can happen, will happen. I'm just telling you my experience, and this is why I appreciate Holy Ghost in my life. So I got in on the altar calling on the name of Jesus, and I called Jesus until my tongues changed, until my life changed. I left the church speaking in tongues, got home, was still speaking in tongues, woke up the next day speaking in tongues. Tongues because I really was filled. We need some real Holy Ghost-filled people in this hour. Most of these folk that say they have the Holy Ghost do not have him living on the inside. They might be saved, but they've learned tongues. Oh my God, you can't teach nobody how to speak in tongues. The Bible said we speak in tongues as the Spirit give And this is why, because you got these churches now, somebody come to the altar, get saved, and they take them in the back room and teach them prayer languages. It's the language of the spirit for a reason. I love teaching, and trust me, if there was a way that it could be taught, I would teach it. But you can't because it's a spiritual act, and when you try to teach it, you reduce the spiritual influence of it. I'm here for you tonight. I promise you, I'm here. I ain't going nowhere. I'm right here. Glory to God. Because maybe, you know, some of you went that route, but I'm just trying to tell you, man, you better cultivate a relationship with Holy Ghost and let him not only dwell in you but dwell upon you. Listen, let me show you something real quick. Let me grab my jacket. Let me show you something real quick. All right, this jacket right here represents Holy Ghost. The Bible said you're filled with the Holy Ghost on the inside, right? But watch this, in Acts it says after the Holy Ghost comes upon you, you shall receive power to be witnesses. Oh God. All right, so it's in me. You can't see it when it's in me, right? So it's in me. This jacket is in me. But when it comes upon me, it's upon me now. Are y'all here? You can't see me, and I personally deteriorate to the background, and Holy Ghost now gives me the power to speak to those that need— glory to God— deliverance, that need breakthrough, that need to be transformed. But I gotta let him come upon me. Are y'all hearing this? I gotta let him come upon me, so I got to spend time with him so he comes upon me. Oh boy, God have mercy. Ah, so we need people filled within, and then we need people to be mature enough to allow him to come upon them. So they can— and watch this— when this happens, we could see people saved daily and add it to the church daily. But if all you're doing every day is operating in your world and handling your business— I said this last week— most of the time people leave church on Sunday and they spend the entire week minding their business, and they pick the church and the kingdom back up when they get back to church the next time. No, this stuff should be happening daily. Miracles should be happening daily in your life. You should be getting prophetic inclinations for people who are not saved daily. You should be operating in the power of God daily in your business, at your job. If you're a young person, at your school. This stuff should be happening every single day. I got— okay, I've been on that too long. So that's the first thing. There has to be a message of repentance that leads to true identity and baptism and a filling of the Holy Ghost that comes upon us to operate in power. Ah, I got to get out of here, man. Number 2, number 2, number 2, number 2. Let's look at verse 42. Glory to God. And this— oh, this part right here, man. This part right here, let's look at verse 42. We're gonna get out of here, I promise you. I just sound long. Here's the next thing. Glory to God. He says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. This is powerful right here, and I really don't have time, but If we want to see people saved daily, this text is saying you need, number one, a devotion to apostolic teaching. Okay, all right, so every believer— this is why the apostles' ministry is in the fivefold ministry. I know there are some preachers out there that says that they will say all all apostles are dead. That's the biggest lie ever been told. I want you to understand that all apostles are not dead. I'm— my heart beating, glory to God, and God knows I'd have been through so much hell to be qualified for this office. I am indeed who I say I am and who God has said I am. Now, all apostles are not dead. With that said, he gave some apostles The word apostle, because the word apostolic, it means that which pertains to the work of an apostle. Part of an apostle's ministry is to unlock mysteries on various subjects. And so that's why a lot of times you see me teaching in series, because that's how Holy Ghost gives me things, so I can systematically unlock a revelation so that people not just can hear it as good teaching or good revelation, so that you will take what you hear and make application so that it produces manifestation. See, the apostles' teaching is a teaching that disseminates from a governmental place. So again, apostolic pertaining to the work of an apostle. Watch this, an apostle Greek word apostolos, which is a sent one who is sent by God— watch this— to act in the stead of God on earth. God equips the apostle. Oh God, we're not God by far, but the office— this is why so much hell comes with it, because it keeps you on your face, it keeps you studying, and it keeps you— glory to God— creating intimacy with the Father so you can carry the grace. Watch this. My God, I got to get out of here. God knows I didn't want to get down this rabbit trail, but listen, the apostle is sent into the world. One, he's a special messenger sent by God with gubernatorial authority, which means the apostle has governmental ability given to him directly from heaven to exercise authority and government in the earth. Ooh-wee, ooh-wee. So apostles, when they show up, they bring a government that equips the believer— watch this— to be able to sweatlessly fulfill their purpose. That's why every believer carrying any kind of gift at some point needs to be exposed to authentic apostleship. Watch this. This is why, glory to God, If you're pastored by a pastor, your pastor needs to have enough intellectual capacity. Glory to God, it's a good way to say it. Hallelujah. That he brings to you apostles who can speak into your life gubernatorially to give order and structure and deployment. Oh my God, to the gift that you carry. That's the gubernatorial authority that apostles operate in. Secondly, an apostle has plenipotentiary status. I love it. Come on, Nancy. Yes, God. Glory to God. Again, this is why the apostle's life is filled with study, filled with time with God, so that his plenipotentiary ability can be matured, groomed, and moved toward a place of excellence. Watch this. Plenipotentiary is the ability to operate in a diversity of offices, which means the apostle should also be able to operate as a prophet. He ought to be able to operate as a pastor. He ought to be able to operate— oh my God— as a teacher. He ought to be able to operate as an evangelist. Oh boy, oh boy, because he's plenty potential. He should be able to seamlessly and sweatlessly operating all 9 gifts of the Spirit. He should be a bearer of the fruit of the Spirit at all times. And again, this grace is matured over time, and you get better and better the more you walk with God. But all apostles ain't that, and all apostles don't just have a grace to establish churches. Thank God in my life I've been blessed to plant churches. I've been blessed to build people. People. Glory to the name of God. I thank God for that. I've been blessed to do that part of apostolic work, but all apostles may not necessarily do that. But the plenipotentiary status is consistent, which means all 9 gifts are gonna work. Are y'all hearing this? All 5-fold offices are going to work. If somebody's running around here calling themselves an apostle and they don't— they can't teach, all they're doing is hollering all the time, You need to question that. They don't have gifts operating in life, you need to question that. All right, so he said they got— you got to have an apostolic devotion to teaching. I said all that to get here. If we want to see people saved daily, you got to be devoted to learning, because first of all, people are not going to receive you if you don't know what you're talking about. Oh boy, here we go. Oh boy, here we go, here we go, here we go. Glory to God, here we go. People are not— I kind of feel like y'all just here because y'all not coming a lot tonight. Glory to God, because this message calls you to responsibility, and I'm glad you ain't all happy-go-lucky in the comments tonight. The reality is I want you to think about this. I want you to leave this live and go do this stuff, man. So you— if we want to see people say daily, you got to be equipping yourself daily. Oh boy, people don't want to go to Bible study. People have— want to come to church on Sunday. Something is wrong with your desire to grow and increase, and you need to check that. Because in the end of the day, these people devoted themselves to teaching and to fellowship. Koinonia in Greek, community. They decided, hey, we're going to be around the people that we're in ministry with. You know why? Because when you're around other people that's thinking the same thing, that wants to see people saved, it strengthens you and it encourages you to want to do the exact same— oh my God— the exact same thing. Because you see somebody else doing it, you know it can be done. When you're in a community of believers where there's no fighting and there's no isms and schisms, where there can be peace, you learn to value the gifts of every person around you. You don't take for granted anything God has given anybody else to carry because you know everybody's valuable. Watch this, to the only thing that matters, getting somebody saved. Oh boy, the moment you make this about you, you're going to fail that fellowship. The moment you make this about your feelings and how you feel like somebody makes you feel, the reality is you better put your game face on and you better make up your mind that you ain't gonna let somebody looking at you a certain way or even saying something to you that you feel like they don't need to be saying. You have to understand We gotta win souls. It's not about tension. Glory to God. It's not about being frustrated at another person. Some people can't fellowship because they're so frustrated with somebody else. Some people can't come to church consistently because they're frustrated with another person's presence, and it's going to cause you to miss God. I need you to hear me. I love you. Seriously, don't let your frustration with how you deal with somebody else cause you to Mr. Father. I got to get out of here, man. They, they were— they were devoted to apostle teaching and fellowship, to breaking the bread in prayer. This is good. They didn't just pray when they was in trouble. They didn't just break bread together every now and then. They spent time eating together all the time. I think it's important. Now, most leaders act like celebrities. They won't go nowhere with their people, which you gotta have opportunities to spend time and break bread where you can impart. And listen, if your leader extends the invitation for you to go somewhere with he or she, to sit at the table and eat with them, the smartest thing you can ever do It's gone because you don't know what kind of impartation you're going to receive in that time of breaking bread. And guess what? All it's going to do is strengthen you the more to do what you have to do as a kingdom citizen to bring other people into the kingdom. But you know what some people do? You, you listen, the reality is, man, When I was growing up in church, it was a privilege. And my daddy was a pastor, but it was a privilege to sit at the table with my father because you know what? Every time we sat down, he was dropping wisdom. Every time we sat down, he had something edifying to say to everybody that was sitting there. And even though that was my dad, I got to watch him build people. And you know what it gave me confidence as a 14, 15, 16-year-old kid? I can build people too. Look how my daddy is encouraging these people. Look how they are wanting to do better. Look how they're— they want to change. They are changing because they get to break bread with him. And a lot of times, you know, me and my siblings, we were like, okay, you know, we got to go out and deal with church folk every Sunday. But at the end of the day, it was an invaluable lesson, and it taught me something about valuing the presence of wisdom and leadership, and it made me want to serve God better. So again, your leader invites you somewhere to spend time with he or she, smartest thing you could do is go, because you could have a leader that don't care, because there's a lot of them out there that don't care about imparting anything to you. Are y'all here? All right, next thing. So first thing We got to have repentance, baptism in identity, being filled with the Holy Ghost. Secondly, we got to be devoted to teaching, fellowship, breaking the bread, and prayer. Here's the third thing you want to see people added. Watch this. Everyone was filled with awe— watch this— with the many signs and wonders performed by the apostles. And I'm gonna take this a step further— by the apostles and those who are connected to him or her. See, a real apostle doesn't just want to do all the work and doesn't just want to see the miracles come through their hands. That's why a lot of times I call people up around the altar to pray with me, because It takes a joint effort, and the awe is not on the man, it's toward God. But here's the point: we must create awe through signs and wonders. If you watch this— go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they'll cast out devils. In my name they'll speak with new tongues. In my name, glory to God, they'll tread upon serpents and scorpions. In my name they'll lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Hear me, hear me. The signs are with you always, right? You have an opportunity daily to create moments of awe. I mean, somebody's got a problem, take them in the bathroom, pray, and let God do what he does. See, the reality is We do— and what we do in faith, we stretch forth our hand and we believe God to perform the miracle. It's never us. Notice it says they were in awe at the signs and wonders wrought through the apostles. So there's something, and I talked about this I think last week, apostolic hegemony, which means the authority of the apostolic house comes through the apostle, and now the weight of that authority because of the devotion to apostolic teaching. Watch this, it rests on every other person in every other office. So, which is the advantage of being in the apostolic house for real, because the weight and the government that's on the house gets on your gift and your obedience and it moves for people, creating an effect that causes people to get saved daily and people to be added to the church daily. I'm telling you, I want to see God add to our church daily. I want to see God add to every church in America daily. You know what happens when that happens? We're truly being the light of the world when we start seeing that happen. Now, yeah, I don't care really how many people— how many, how many people you packed out in 5 services on Sunday. How many folks got saved? Really, how many folks got saved? That's what we're going for. For. How many folks got saved? Hallelujah! Monday through Saturday. And how— and God added to the church because our people were mobilized in the spaces they dwell. Oh boy, I hope y'all getting something out of this tonight. I'm almost done, I'm almost done. So they went— we got to create all— all signs lead somewhere. And the signs in your life should lead to God. So people who are not saved need to see the signs that follow you and to catch up to you and come through you so they can be born again. If that doesn't happen, we're missing it, you know, because a lot of times we're using gifts heavily on each other, man. On the people that's all— watch this— that's already healed. Jesus said himself, those that are healed don't need a physician. Those that are sick need the physician. The physician's tools are for those that are sick in sin, those that don't know him. I just told you the staggering numbers. I don't care how big your church is, the numbers are staggering, big or little. We got a great harvest out there, man. Let's use the tools we've been given to reach people and bring them to God and create— oh, glory to God. Watch this, verse 44. I'm going. All believers were together and had everything in common. Verse 45, they sold their property and their possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together, verse 46, in the temple courts. They had church every day. Let's just deal with that right now. Yeah, I'm back. All right, they met every day. Ask some of y'all to do anything in these verses, you gonna freak out. All possible. I mean, we got a weekend coming up where we're going to be learning how to win souls. People already— 5 services, Apostle. Yes, 5. Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night. These people met every day, okay? The reality is, if you want to get what you need, if you got a hunger for it, you'll be looking forward to that, not falling out, uh, fives hurt, Jesus. No, no, no, come on, we gotta, we gotta grow up, right? We got to get a hunger and prioritize the things of God. These people met every day. They continue, meaning every day. And you know why? This is why people getting saved every day. They were getting empowered every day. Glory to God. I'm about to— so we're about to launch two podcasts simultaneously, uh, At Home with Mike and Felicia. That's me and Felicia's podcast, which will stream once a week. But I'm about to launch another podcast called The Apostle's Table. I, I started on it a couple of years back and kind of just put it on the shelf because I wanted to revamp some things, because I really wanted to hear from God on how he wanted me to do it. This is going to be a daily show, Monday through Friday, where we're going to just really talk about the things of God, where people can do just what I'm reading— be devoted to apostolic teaching and apostolic prayer. We're gonna do it every day. Glory to the name of God. We're gonna stream a new episode every single day so people can have access to these teachings. Daily, daily. I listen, I got enough word in me to do it. Glory to the name of God, we're gonna get it done. But listen, listen, they continue to meet together. Well, look, look what else they did. Verse 25, they sold their property and possessions to give to anyone. Now how dare we ever ask anybody to do that, because it ain't gonna never happen. Glory to God. But they sold all their stuff, brought it into the community. It. Glory to the name of God. So that anybody that had need that was being saved daily, they could distribute it. And to the folk that were in the community, whatever they needed, it could be distributed. Okay, not even talking about that because that's not gonna happen, right? But you should be willing to give of yourself. You should be willing to give up your time. You should be willing to give your tithe, to give your offering, so that the church can be in a position to help those that are in need when they need it. All right, that's all they're saying. So we want to see people daily. We gotta— so this tells us we got to make sure we're meeting the needs of people, natural and spiritual. I spoke to this in the beginning. I'm almost done. He said all believers were together and had everything in common. And this is where I'm closing. They had a synergy, they had a unity family. Glory to God, they were on the same page, they were in one accord. Glory to God, hallelujah. They walked together, they had synergy, they loved one another. They didn't mind occupying the same space, they didn't mind learning together, growing together, they didn't mind assembling together, being accountable to each other, man. I'm telling you, when we could do that, the world look at us and say, man, they are operating in unity. I want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of that brotherhood, that sisterhood. I want to be a part of God's family because we operate like a family instead of having isms and schisms and divisions. You know what isms is? And I'm closing. I-S-M. It's ignorance that separates members. Most of the time we're operating in isms because of ignorance. One, because we don't really understand the person that we separate from or that we pull away from. And instead of praying about it and seeking to understand their plight— are y'all hearing this— we just pull back because there's some eternal fear we deal with. Or you, you could just not like somebody, which is so immature, and separate yourself when you ought to be praying about how you can fellowship with everybody. Oh boy, I know this is tough, but the Bible said when we do these things, we have a devotion to apostolic prayer, teaching— glory to the name of God— apostolic wisdom. When we, glory to God, repent are baptized into his identity, filled with the Holy Ghost. Glory to Jesus. When we have all things in common, glory to God. He said he will add to the church daily. I'm done, man. Such as would be saved. Let's pray. Father, I give you praise. I thank you for this word tonight, God. That's tough for some people. It's not very popular teaching, Father. But God, I thank you for the truth, and I thank you for the authority to declare the truth. And I pray, God, under the sound of my voice, one, that you will make every person a serious evangelist. Give them a heart for souls, God, that is even greater than Billy Graham's. God, I pray that you will cause us to begat sheep. To be a light in a world filled with darkness, and that we will cause men to awe at what you're able to do in and through their lives. And I give you praise and glory for it now. I thank you, God, for transformation. I thank you for many that will be born again. I thank you that as we begin to embrace your desire and embrace your business as we go into the hedges and highways and compel them to come in. I declare, God, that you will add to the church daily. I thank you for the awe that you'll create through every person under the sound of my voice. It won't just me as a leader that operates in signs and wonders, but I thank you that every person listening to me tonight as a believer, because these signs shall follow them that believe, As a believer, I thank you that they will operate in signs, wonders, miracles, and that the authority through apostolic hegemony— God, I thank you. Hallelujah. Many will be in awe of you because of the miracles, because of the signs, because of the prophetic words. And many will be turned to righteousness, and many will be born again, and many will be saved in the mighty name of Jesus. Us. I do pray. Amen. And thanks be to God. Hallelujah. I love y'all tonight, man. Y'all a great group of people. Thank you for bearing with me, everybody that did. Glory to God. Listen, I want to challenge you to give tonight. The ways to give are on the screen tonight. Get your seed in the ground. Glory to God. It's more blessed to give than it is to receive. Before you scroll, before you get off, you know, as soon as I went here, yeah, people start dropping off, but I just need you to understand It's more blessed to give than it is to receive. The Bible says, if I sow unto you natural things, to spiritual things, you should communicate to me, or to ministry, and in this case ministry, not me, your natural things. So get— pray about what you're going to give tonight. Get your seed in the ground. Be a blessing to the kingdom of God. Listen, while you are doing that, don't go anywhere. Stay with me. Glory to God. I want to take a moment, praise God, to invite you out to something I believe is going to be life-changing. Praise God. You know, he that wins a soul is wise. So God, he really told me to put this meeting together so that we can have wise strategies to win souls. And, um, so starting next Friday night, glory to God, August 29th through Sunday, August 31st, we're having what is called Soul Winners Weekend. And we're going to strategically and deliberately take the time to train you on the act, the deliberate act of winning people to Jesus Christ. We're going to have revival, we're going to preach, we're going to trust God. Listen, I want you to come out and bring people who are not saved. Bring— let's— every session, the Friday night session, the morning sessions on Saturday. And by the way, on Saturday after those two classes, we're gonna feed you lunch. Listen, if you do not register, you will not be able to eat because we, we need a number. Glory to the name of God. So let me tell you something, if we have 10 that registered, that's all the food that's going to be available. Available for 10, but if we get 50, if we get 100, who— I mean, whatever it is, registration is free. We want to feed you lunch between the two sessions, so please register. You could do that by texting the word SOULS. Somebody type that in the comments: SOULS. Text SOULS to the number 470-777- 8972. Make sure you text it so you can get your seat reserved. Text it, fill out the form. Once you do that, that's all you need to do so we can count you for Saturday afternoon. Listen, you want to be involved in this. I'm gonna tell you why. Because we're really— what I just talked— the blood cannot be required on our hands for not winning We got to get this right, man. And the church, again, nationwide, is really failing. Do you realize that there was a time we were sending missionaries and evangelists to Africa and other parts of the world? Now them same nations looking over here saying, we need to send some folk away. And they are sending people because the church is not doing its job. We got to get back to doing what God says. All right, so please make sure you get registered. Again, text the word SOULS to 470-777-8279. 470-777-8279. And get registered. Registration is totally free, but we want you to RSVP your seat for next week. And we're believing God for heart. I'm believing God that people are gonna get saved next weekend at Rhoda Church, and they're going to get saved in a way. So you're going to be a part of that, and heaven is going to rejoice. Glory to the name of God. All right, family, I love y'all. Y'all be blessed. Thank you for your giving. Father, bless every gift, every giver, return it back to them a thousand times more even as they have sown it. Father, we thank you for what's to come. And we, even as we was talking about next Sunday, thank you for this Sunday at Rhoda Church, how you'll meet us there and what you're gonna do when we walk in the building. Joyfully-yam. Hallelujah and amen. Y'all be blessed. I love y'all. Peace.