DESIGNED | Part 3 | Designed for Hunger

Hallelujah.

It's been brought to my attention that I

open every time that I preach with the

word hallelujah.

>> It became a habit. I said I did. I broke

the I broke the trend last uh first

service and said, "Oh my goodness."

Praise the Lord.

Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Oh my

goodness.

Sheesh.

>> Almost started preaching.

Yep. Somebody asked me when I'm actually

going to start preaching. When's that

going to happen?

Hey, if you're a guest with us, my name

is Ben and uh so grateful you're here.

Uh I get to serve as lead pastor here. I

don't know if you guys have recognized

God is on the move in this house.

>> Amen.

>> Uh there's a whole lot of good happening

and a whole lot of God happening uh at

Grace Summit Church. And uh today we're

going to continue our series called

designed. And uh if you've been tracking

with us the last few weeks, uh

everything kind of comes down to one

specific statement uh that you were

designed by God on purpose and with

purpose. Amen.

>> You're designed by God on purpose and

with purpose. Would you pray with me?

Father, we thank you Lord for revival on

the inside of our souls. Father, we're

thankful today, Lord, for a healthy

church that's moving forward, for a

people, Lord, that's chasing steadfast

after you and you alone. And Father,

we're so excited, God, for all that you

have for us in the coming weeks, the

coming months, and the coming years.

Father, we believe that you have vision

for this house. Lord, we're thankful

that you have a heart for this house.

And Lord, we pray in this moment, God,

that all other distractions,

all things would be laid aside. And

Father, that you would have our

undivided attention.

And Lord, we're so thankful that you are

a father that likes to speak to his

children. So give us ears to hear now in

Jesus name. Amen.

>> So you're designed by God

on purpose

and with purpose.

Let me share this with you.

You're not an accident.

>> You're not random.

You're not just the sum of your past

mistakes or the labels that others have

put on you. You're designed by God.

Let's just hang there for a minute.

You're designed by God.

I'm a nature guy. I grew up in the

country, man. I love You ever go outside

and uh see something in nature that's

just breathtaking?

You know, we're in spring. We got spring

flowers. Uh I'm a fan. I love orchids.

Anyone in here like orchids? Aren't they

cool? I'll just sit and look at an

orchid and just know that God created

that thing, right? And man, just the

intricacy and the beauty and the majesty

that's in creation. Uh a and I were just

talking last night about uh one of our

favorite things is when the sun is

rising

and you can still see stars in the sky.

You ever done that before? And it's just

like wow. I mean that's the power and

the beauty and I mean how the the

rhythms of the earth and and the fact

that we have oxygen and water and all

these different things were all

intentional by God and are the design of

God. And you are part of that design.

You're not random. You're not an

accident. God had intentionality

for you when he made you. And you don't

have to try to be like anyone else.

Pastor Dan said this to me this week.

He said, "Let the one who designed you

define you.

Let the one who designed you

define you.

Nobody

has the right to tell you who you are

except the God who designed you.

That includes you.

That includes you. Because sometimes

you'll speak some things over your life

or think some thoughts uh that are not

in alignment with who God says you are.

H

and what I found is what you believe

about you can feel very real

but it may be very wrong.

I want to preach this morning. Is that

okay?

>> I want to preach a message that I

believe is for this house and for this

season

and it's Mother's Day.

I want to say thank you to every woman

in this room.

We honor every mother, every

grandmother,

every spiritual mother, those who carry

children in their womb, and those who've

carried people in prayer. And uh man,

I've been in some all men areas before

where it's just guys. And uh it makes me

more thankful for ladies on earth,

right? Uh because guys, you're pretty

stinky sometimes and and disorganized

and kind of a mess and a little crew.

Can you imagine what the earth would

look like without women?

My goodness.

I'd be I'd be ready for glory right now,

man. Get me out of this place. Guys, I

love you, but we're thankful for women.

We're thankful uh for the mothers in our

life, for the nurturers, for those that

have that compassion gift. Amen.

So, ladies, we honor you. If you're

sitting near a woman, a mother in your

row or close to you, would you turn to

them and say, "Thank you.

Yeah.

You know, I didn't come with a

traditional sentimental Mother's Day

sermon. I came to preach the word

because I believe the greatest way that

we can honor mothers and fathers and

sons and daughters

is to become the people God designed us

to be.

>> Amen.

If you have your Bible, turn with me to

Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5. This is a portion of

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

scripture often referred to as the

biatitudes,

which are the beatitudes.

These the attitudes you supposed to be.

Amen.

We're going to look at just one

beatitude.

Today in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Jesus says, "Blessed are those

who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they shall be filled."

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness. Look at your neighbor

and say, "You look hungry."

>> Ain't lunchtime yet.

past few weeks we've kind of unpacked

uh his design for us and what we're

designed for. Amen.

We've last week talked about the

assignment. Uh today we're talking about

your responsibility to the design. How

many know that we have a responsibility

to steward what God gave us? How God

designed us

to steward it? Well, you are the temple

of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we don't

treat our temples so good.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to get off

track and into things that are

dishonoring to God.

What's our responsibility to the design?

Title of the message today is designed

for hunger.

Designed for hunger.

In my Christian life,

I've found really only two options.

One is to live by default. The other is

to live by design. What am I designed

for?

Let me say it this way. The life you

were designed for will never be lived by

default.

Will never be lived by default. We all

understand what default is, don't we?

>> We all Every device has default mode.

And uh you ever had a device? It seems

like we're keeping cell phones longer

than we used to. And uh you ever had a

phone for a couple years? And man, you

I'm the guy. I like to I'm a little

techy. I'm I'm old now, but I'm techy,

right? So I dig in. I change all the

settings and I I customize things and

and make it my own, right? So the way

that I function then so over time, my

phone gets uh kind of customized to me

to a certain uh format. And have you

ever had a major issue where you have to

return it to default mode

and you're like, "Yuck." I mean, I can't

find anything. I can't figure stuff. I

just have to start all over. And so, we

uh kind of understand the idea of

default. Matthew 5:6, he says, "Blessed

Matthew 5:6

are those who hunger and thirst for

righteousness,

for they shall be filled."

They shall be filled.

Are you hungry?

>> So, there's a lot of days my schedule I

look at my calendar. It's a little

overwhelming sometimes, but a lot of my

days I go from meeting to meeting to

meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting

to meeting to meeting to meeting to

meeting and go home.

And uh when I first came to Grace Summit

Church, we didn't have office space. So,

I didn't have an office. So, I got in a

real habit of going to um cafes and

restaurants for a lot of meetings. I'm

out in public and uh one of the things

I've learned the hard way a few times um

is that I better discipline myself when

I eat because I've had 4:00 meetings

before where it made sense to get a

little hungry. Yeah, you're having some.

I'll have something too and we'll we'll

talk over a meal. And then uh the

meeting's done at 5:00. And then I go

home

and my wife has prepared this amazing

meal.

I try to be nice about it. I sit down

and eat. And then I don't eat very much.

And she goes, "You didn't like my food."

I'm like, "No, I just full, man. I had

three meetings at restaurants today,

right? Other people were buying my food.

How can I say no to this?

I really learned it from Pastor Larry,

uh, hanging out with him that he knew at

a specific time he's going home and

Sherry's going to have a meal and he's

going to eat it whether he likes it or

not. He's going to enjoy it.

You guys have been around Miss Sherry,

too.

But Larry at a certain time would

discipline himself and not eat anything.

And so I took a page out of Pastor

Larry's book and said, "All right, got

to discipline myself because mama does

some good cooking at home. I got to make

sure I'm hungry when I get home." Let me

say this. You don't accidentally end up

hungry

spiritually. You don't accidentally end

up hungry for the things of God. I've

disciplined myself to eat at the right

times

and with the right people on purpose.

You don't accidentally become a man or

woman of prayer.

You don't accidentally end up become a

man or a woman of the word. You don't

accidentally end up spiritually strong.

You don't accidentally end up in

revival.

Contrary to popular belief in

Christianity, we're just playing God

does a revival here. Revival starts with

you.

Amen.

You don't accidentally end up walking in

freedom. You do it on purpose.

I'm going to talk to you today about

default versus design.

If you're designed for power, if you're

designed to be a carrier of the presence

of the living God, if you understand

your assignment in that design is to go

into all the world and make disciples of

every nation to preach the gospel. If

that's the design,

if that's the truth, you'll never end up

there on accident.

Heard too many in the church world say,

"Well, I'm I'm not like him. He's he's

spiritual. He He knows how to pray

and he knows how to communicate the word

or he knows how to uh talk to

non-believers and get them say he I'm

not like them.

And often times what you don't see are

the hours of discipline and prayer that

came for months and years prior to that

one thing that you saw that you look at

and you go, I I'm not that. That's not

the way God made me. Well, the Bible

lays out specifically what your design

is and specifically what your assignment

is

and you won't accidentally

get there. That doesn't happen by

default.

Do you know that you were born with a

sin nature?

Number one in your notes is default mode

is sin nature.

David said it this way in Psalm 51. And

he says, "In sin did my mother conceive

me."

You know what I have learned is you

don't have to teach a little kid how to

sin.

>> Amen.

I don't know what kind of kid you were.

I I was a bad little kid.

I was a I was a nice little kid, but I

was a bad little kid. Uh I have three

older sisters and uh my sisters would

babysit me and they hated it. I have one

sister, we'd still pick on her about it

because every time that she would

babysit us, uh she's she doesn't like

confrontation as a personality type,

right? And she would lock herself in the

bathroom and cry every single time my

parents would leave because we were just

little tyrants, man. We would just go do

all sorts of stuff and and uh they tell

me stories. I don't remember when I was

that little. I was a little kid. And uh

they would tell me that I would go in,

I'd jump up and down on the bed cuz I

wasn't supposed to. And I would uh yell

every curse word that I knew.

Yeah. I was a bad little kid.

Nobody had to teach me how to do that.

All right. Nobody had to teach me how to

be irritating as a kid. Sit there and

poke you.

>> You know, you're born with this sin

nature. And what we need to understand

is that that's our default mode is to go

back to sin nature. Now, we we've

matured a little bit in our sin, didn't

we? We became teenagers and we became

adults. And just because you prayed a

prayer one Sunday doesn't mean you don't

have a default mode.

>> Yeah.

>> Romans 7:14, Paul said this.

Romans 7:14

He said, "For we know that the law is

spiritual,

but I am of the flesh."

He says, "I am of the flesh." He says,

"Man, I know I know the things of God.

This is a spiritual thing. I understand

prayer and I understand the fruits of

the Holy Spirit. I understand all these

things.

But here what he says. But I'm of the

flesh. I was born with a sin nature.

Sold under sin.

For I do not understand my own actions.

For I do not do what I want, but I do

the very thing that I hate. You ever

been there before?

>> You know what God said. you know that

you're supposed to,

but there's this default mode that we

keep kind of gravitating back to.

We're not able to do the thing that we

love.

Verse 16. Now, if I do what I do not

want, I agree with the law that it is

good. So now it is no longer I who do

it, catch this, but sin that dwells

within me. This is not a new believer, a

casual believer. This is Paul the

apostle that was radical for Christ.

Amen.

>> Wrote most of the New Testament is the

is the main vocal piece for God in his

generation.

He says, "Man, I want to do good things,

but there's something happening on the

inside of me that there's a struggle.

There's a war going on.

It's no longer I who do it, but sin that

dwells within me. For I know that

nothing good dwells in me, that is in my

flesh. For I have the desire to do what

is right,

but not the ability

to carry it out. Can you identify with

Paul the Apostle?

Paul says, "Man, there's something

living on the inside of me that wants to

do the things that I hate.

There there's something in my flesh and

my personality and the way that I am

that that pulls me away from the thing

that I love. I mean, I love God, but

there's this thing that keeps pulling

me."

Look at your neighbor and say, "That's

default mode."

Default mode is what happens when you

stop choosing the spirit.

And what's natural to the flesh is not

righteousness.

And we need to understand that default

is not nothing is happening.

Default mode is nothing good is

happening.

There's something happening. And and

default mode is not like neutral.

You're just kind of not doing anything.

Default mode is like reverse where

you're going backwards. My pastor used

to uh give an analogy about an

escalator. He said uh climb uh serving

God is like climbing an escalator that's

going backwards.

When you stop, what happens? You don't

stay in the same place. When you stop,

you slowly start going backwards.

Stay in the climb.

Stay intentional.

You can write this down. If you do not

live by design, you will drift by

default.

Number two,

design is intentional.

Design is intentional.

All we have to do is stop being

spiritually intentional

and we begin to slide back. Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, chapter 2 verse one.

Therefore, we must pay much closer

attention

to what we have heard, lest we drift

away from it. That's intentionality.

We have to pay much closer attention to

what we have heard lest we drift away

from it. So default is drift.

Design is a decision.

When you stop praying,

stop reading the word, stop showing up

in the presence of God, stop showing up

where God is calling you to be. You

don't stay where you are.

You drift.

And default

is not the design that God has for you.

When you drift, you start thinking

differently. You start feeling things

differently. You start responding

differently.

Christians, have you been there?

Man, you just those seasons you're on

fire for Christ and man, the Holy

Spirit, you oh, you get the Holy Ghost

goosebumps during worship.

Something's happening. Amen. Powerful

stuff. And you're seeing breakthroughs

and miracles. And then and then

something happens. You don't really know

when. You can't quite put your finger on

it, but but you've evaluated that now I

think differently about myself. Now I

respond to things differently. Now I

don't feel like I once felt.

That's the drift.

Jeremiah 29:13

Jeremiah 29:13

says, "You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart."

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me

with all your heart. Man, I think about

the greatest commandment. To love the

Lord thy God with all thy heart, with

all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is

the one that we lose sometimes. With all

my strength,

with all my strength, come hell or high

water, I'm serving Jesus. I've got to

stay in the climb. I've got to stay in

the fight. I've got to I've got to be

intentional. I've got to be disciplined

if I want to continue to move forward

because I know the second I stop, the

enemy will move in.

Seek me and find me when

you seek me with all of your heart.

in 2 Chronicles chapter 15,

2 Chronicles 15 · chapter mention

a little area there. It's uh King Assa

and the prophet Azeriah.

And uh the people of God have really

drifted. They've really found themselves

separated from God. They're they're

worshiping these uh false idols. You

know, they've gotten tied up into all

sorts of stuff. and and Azariah gets

this word from God and prophesies it

over the king and over the people. And

uh man, it it shifts something. It it

sparks something on the inside of them.

Listen to the result. 2 Coronicles 15

and verse 12. After the prophecy was

spoke over them. It says, "Then they

entered into a covenant to seek the

Lord, the God of their fathers, catch

this, with all their heart and soul."

You know what the results were? is after

this man, they they enter the covenant

on a contract. They enter a covenant to

chase after God with everything that

they are. And they go tear down those

idols. They they go they get rid of all

of them and they begin to build altars,

brand new altars to the one true God.

I want to prophesy over you today

something in such a way that that that

sparks something on the inside of you.

Because there's one thing I know that

God spoke clearly to me to deliver this

message to you today. That enough is

enough.

That the drift is nobody else's fault

but our own.

>> And there's one way out, and that's to

make a new covenant with God today that

I'm going to chase after you with

everything that I am.

H

quiet in here.

Maybe that was just for me. I don't

know.

You would turn off the default mode.

Turn off the things that are stealing

your hunger.

Discipline yourself. Drop to your knees

and pray. Seek the Lord while he may be

found. that you make a declaration today

that default mode is not an option.

Default mode is not an option.

And you don't have to choose rebellion

to drift. You only have to stop being

intentional.

It's why Paul tells Timothy,

he says, "Fan into flame the gift of

God."

Fan into flame the gift of God.

Uh we have a fire we have two fireplaces

in our home. One that we use more than

the other. Uh I've never walked past my

fireplace and looked in there and been

like, "You were burning 3 weeks ago.

What the heck?"

Right?

I stopped feeding the fire. I stopped

tending the fire.

There's a reason why it went out. And

why do we do this with our spiritual

life? I just don't I just don't feel

like going to church. I don't know why.

I just I just not in the mood to read my

Bible. I just I don't know.

I try to pray, but then something

happens with my phone. I'm just not into

it anymore.

Why did the fire go out, man?

Why did the fire go out?

Oh, it's so quiet in here.

>> Stop putting wood on the fire.

Thank you, Pastor Jack. I appreciate

that.

>> Fannon the flame.

The gift of God. I don't care if that

thing's down to embers.

Put some fuel on the fire.

Man, I I'm old school. I'm a country

boy. I can take some some little coals

covered in white ash. Yeah. Give me some

paper, man, and some wood. Good. I'm

going to get that thing. 5 minutes it's

back to a raging fire. You girls

laughing at

just picking on you. We're filming this

one. Hello.

Hi, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

If you're watching live stream, it's

much more fun in the room.

Very quiet in the room.

fan into flame the gift of God. Why?

Because fire has to be tended. Fire has

to be fed.

Fire left unattended

will go out. Number three in your notes,

you're designed to be filled.

You're designed to be filled by God.

Nothing else quite satisfies.

Jesus said, "Blessed."

You ever notice that's the only time I

say blessed that way is when I'm reading

scripture.

I never see Pastor Mark and be like,

"Blessed are you,

Pastor Mark."

Sounds better in scripture. That's cuz I

cut my teeth on the old KJV man. Blessed

are those that hunger and thirst for

righteousness. Catch this. Hunger and

thirst for something. For righteousness.

for I only want what's right with God. I

only want to be in right standing with

God. And so every decision I make, every

deal that I make, every every place that

I go, I need to know that it's in right

standing. I'm just hungry hungry to be

in right standing with God. And anything

that's going to that's going to mess

that up or get me off a little bit, I

have to have a hard intentional no

hunger and thirst for

righteousness.

Then it says, "For they shall be

filled."

Says, "If you're hungry for

righteousness, you'll be filled." So the

issue is not whether God will fill you.

The issue is whether you're hungry.

Are you hungry?

You'll never be filled by God if you're

not hungry for God.

Spiritual hunger

is the blessing of God.

It's interesting. Every mother in this

room knows this. And the ladies uh are

much better at this than men are. Uh can

pick up on those little signals and

signs of a child. Uh anyone in here,

your firstborn child, you just that like

look and you're like, I feel completely

illquipped to do this. Like I really

have no idea actually what I'm doing.

Right. And uh yeah, I remember uh Ava,

you know, just a little little thing,

man. Uh, I holding her. I just remember

holding her and she's just crying and

screaming at me. And I'm like, I checked

the diaper. I offered you food. I don't

Those are the only two tools dad has.

Like, I don't know what we're supposed

to do. And so, I just walk through the

house with a screaming baby trying to

find my wife. And I'm like, here, this

is yours. I don't know.

And she rolls her eyes. She needs a

binky. I didn't think of that.

Okay.

But ladies have a unique uh sensitivity

to understand uh one of the clearest

signs that a child is unhealthy is if

they lose their appetite.

When they lose their appetite, it's

serious,

isn't it? It's serious business.

Appetite is connected to health.

If you've lost spiritual hunger,

if you've lost spiritual appetite for

God,

you're sick.

You're spiritually sick. If you never

want to pray, if you never want to read

your Bible,

uhoh.

And you'll never get free from it until

you identify it.

When you can recognize it and say, "God,

I I lost my passion.

I hear about it on Sunday, but man,

Tuesday morning, I just don't have it."

Confess that. Get freedom.

Meet a lot of Christians that claim to

be healthy but have no appetite to pray.

no appetite for the things of God. Uh

I'm friends with a lot of pastors and uh

we have some pastor jokes that we kind

of throw around a lot. Do you want to

know the smallest meeting that you can

call in any church is a prayer meeting?

Well, we can do a worship night. I don't

know what Pastor Mark's doing, but we

can do a worship night. Man, we packed a

house. People worshiping.

We say, "Hey, we're going to pray Friday

night."

Six, four. I remember in Michigan, we'd

have prayer meetings. Oh, man. We'd

promote it. We'd push it. This is a

great thing. There were times that it

was my wife and I that showed up.

You've been there?

>> Yeah.

>> I stand there and I go, "Huh? I guess

we're the only ones.

So, let's pray.

Little awkward. We could have done this

at home.

Let's take advantage of it. Let's pray.

Don't claim spiritual health if you

don't have an appetite for the things of

God.

Be honest with yourself. Be honest with

us. And it's okay. That's what the

church is for. To come alongside

and to help get you healthy again. This

is a Holy Ghost hospital.

That's right.

>> For those that are spiritually sick, to

get saved,

to get on fire, man. Uh

you want to know the quickest way to get

a raging fire going with with cold, wet,

dirty

fuel is to have another large raging

fire right next to it and to move it as

close as you can to get them together.

Amen.

>> We got an outdoor bonfire thing. Guess

what I got last year? Oh, this thing is

rad. Lincoln and I have a blast with it.

I hook it to a 20 lb propane cylinder

and this thing shoots a flame like that.

Yeah. Turn it on. It's got the little

flame and it's like I'm like, "All

right, dude. This is how we're lighting

bonfires from now on.

This is rad." And I'm like burning weeds

on the sidewalk on the way. I'm like,

"This is so much fun."

Yeah. And I've tested it, man. After a

heavy rain, we got wood and all this

stuff. And I'm like, "Just throw it in

there. We're going to get this thing

going.

and fire. So, I got the little holes on

the side of the bond. Fire's shooting

out the side of it.

It's the way It's the way a man lights a

fire right there.

Yeah.

So, you got a little cold, you got a

little wet, you lost your fire, man.

Find somebody else that is a burning

inferno for Jesus and get as close to

them as you possibly can. Surround

yourself with people that love God way

more than you. People that pray way more

than you. People that carry the presence

of God. People that are walking in that

design. Just hang out with them, man. Go

have lunch with them. Call them up when

you're struggling. Get Man, can can we

just hang out because because you have

something that I need.

I got to get close. I've got to get my

fire back. Blessed are those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness. It does

not say blessed are those who are

impressive.

Yeah.

I've met some people that's what their

goal in life is to be impressive to

other people. And in that I watch them

and I go that's not impressive at all.

Doesn't say blessed are those who are

the most talented.

glad that you have talents, but that's

not the goal.

It doesn't say, "Blessed are those who

have attended the church the longest."

Yeah. Says, "Blessed are the hungry.

Blessed are the hungry."

I like when I talk to people that have

been attending church longer than I've

been alive.

I'm old enough now where I'm like,

"That's pretty impressive.

Yeah,

but I've talked to some that are

living on and celebrating the fire of

yesterday. Oh man, you should have been

there in 1973.

Oh man, God was moving. They wiggle now.

God was moving,

man. Picking on the old folks.

Hallelujah.

That's awesome, man. I've had some moves

of God myself,

but is the fire burning in you today?

Is the fire Where's the revival today?

Hunger is proof of health.

Hungry people tear down idols. Hungry

people build altars for the one true

God. Hungry people push through

inconveniences.

Hungry people show up early and stay

late.

Hungry people have already been prayed

up long before the crisis strikes.

People who are not hungry

are easily distracted.

Have you ever been really hungry?

I I'm talking like it's an issue. You're

starving.

I've been homeless before. I know what

hunger is, right? I'm talking we've

we've done some pretty radical fasts

before, haven't we? Yeah. I've got done

with some of those and like I get out of

my way. I need food

like now, right?

Uh man, if I'm hungry, I'm not like

really hungry. I'm not really up for

conversation.

Hungry people are focused and

determined.

I become kind of like a dog with a bone.

All right. You ever watch people that

are so hungry like the the room

disappears for them and they just catch

rhythm on something?

You just sit back like, "Man, that boy

was hungry." Sheesh, he is getting it

in. You know, that's some fantastic

soup. Or that guy was starving when he

walked in here. Yeah. Hungry people get

determined, man.

Uh when you're starving and you're

really hungry, you have that intense

desire. You have to have it. You know,

I'm not real worried about the ambiance

or the atmosphere.

Just give me the food. I don't care if

the restaurant's dirty. Give me

something. I'm starving to death. Right.

Man, I like to mess with my dog.

He gets a bone. He's he's this big

little furball and he thinks he's big

sometimes, but he gets something in his

mouth and he's he's over there until I

stick my hand out like this and come at

him and he'll look up at me and start

growling.

Yeah, man. I I sometimes I get

spiritually hungry. I get a little

nippy. Not against people, but against

the distractions. Amen. Because don't

get between me and my spiritual food.

I have set and established this time to

be with God. And why is it when we set

and establish a specific time to be with

God, the enemy wants to show up right

then?

Yeah. It's not the devil with horns come

showing up in your life. It's just a

simple distraction to get you to stop

pursuing God.

That's all.

Some of you need to drive your phone to

the next county and drive back home so

you can pray for an hour.

every little distraction.

If you're all authentically hungry,

you're chasing after it.

People get worried about the

entertainment,

worried about the ambiance

of where they eat.

The church is just too dark on Sundays.

I don't like that. I have a hard time

worshiping in that atmosphere.

It's just so loud. I just wish they

would turn it down a Listen, for years I

preached in a lot of different church,

90 different churches a year for six

years is Wednesday night, Sunday

morning, Sunday, and I was in every

denomination. And man, some of these

denominations,

God bless them. I love them. They was

hard. You know, incredibly lurggical.

And they come out with the robes and the

shalice. I got it this time, Pastor. I

couldn't remember how to say shalice for

a service.

Those are weird meetings. You ever I've

been in the ones where they where

they're taking communion and they do

this and then they wipe it and hand it

to the next person. And I'm like, I

ain't drinking out of that thing after

35 people.

I'll take mine in a little church shot

glass if you got one.

Yeah.

And I've been in the services where they

uh they have the uh every the things

that everyone else has memorized that

you don't know.

Yeah. And I stood there uh going

watermelon. Watermelon. Watermelon.

Watermelon. Watermelon. Cuz I had a

really good choir director that taught

me that trick in middle school. Right. I

don't know the words. You just say

watermelon over and over. Not out loud.

Keep it quiet.

It's hard to engage. It's hard to

worship cuz I'm so concerned with what's

going on in the room, right? And the

ones that really got me are the stand up

sit down ones, the kneel ones

cuz we're all doing this thing and then

all of a sudden everyone drops and I'm

like, "Uh-oh, okay." I'm the guest

speaker. I'm a preacher. I'm supposed to

know this stuff. So about the time I get

in, I'm like, "Okay, we got to get back

up now. Don't know what we're doing."

And it's just hard to, you know.

Yeah,

man. and I preached in some of the most

backwoods little Pentecostal churches

you've ever seen in your life. There was

one man that had blue shag carpet going

right up the walls. This was in the

2000s, not the 70s. I'm not that old,

man.

Yeah. And the the church building didn't

have enough room uh for the drum kit on

the stage. So, they sat the drum kit

right down by the front row.

A sizable lady was their drummer.

She had a mullet.

my sense of humor that messes with me a

little bit, right? It's very

distracting. It was so loud in the front

and it was cheap symbols and she's just

and the whole place is getting in.

There's tambourines and going all

around. I'm just like, "Woo!" And then

there's a woman back here sizzling like

bacon and this one's this one's

whooping. She keeps going.

You've been there.

Probably that same church.

Yeah.

Pastor coming down the line, wiggling,

pushing folks over, and I'm just

standing there like, "Oh man, he's

coming to me. I think I got to use the

restroom."

Yeah.

>> Back to your notes.

>> I know that none of this was in my

notes.

My wife says, "Back to your notes.

It's Sunday. I'm feeling relaxed. Maybe

we'll just tell stories.

I say all that to say.

Don't start.

Sheesh.

It's much funner in the room if you're

watching online.

Because I was traveling every Sunday. I

was very rarely at my own home church.

It was more of a rare thing to be at my

home church.

So, I had to resolve within myself that

I don't care what the environment. I

don't care what the atmosphere. I don't

care how weird or how lukewarm.

I'm going to chase after God. I'm going

to worship my God. Amen.

>> And so, I had to push through and I had

to stir something on the inside of me to

get a hunger.

to get a hunger.

Don't care what the room looks like. I

came to worship. I came to pray. I came

to be filled.

Here's my prayer for Grace Summit Church

is that God gives us a passion,

a stirring, a hunger for the things of

God.

And default mode redirects your

appetite.

Default mode redirects your appetite.

The question is not are you hungry?

Everyone's hungry. The question is what

are you feeding on?

What are you feeding on?

What I've learned is that if I get going

with my day and I have not been hungry

for the things of God, when I get out

and the enemy will show up, when the

enemy's offering a little something, I'm

so hungry. I'll just take it

because my needs haven't been met.

There's something living on the inside

of me that goes, "Man, I'm just so

hungry. Just give me give me some type

of comfort. Give me some type of give me

something." What I've learned is that if

I am intentional

and I get filled up with the things of

God, when the enemy comes, I'm already

full. I'm not hungry for anything. The

devil can come with the greatest of

greats and offer it to me and I go,

"Man, I'm good. I'm I'm I'm filled up

with God." Amen.

>> And once you've tasted of God,

everything else tastes fake.

>> Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness.

for righteousness. That means not every

appetite is blessed.

Not every craving is holy. Not every

desire is from God.

Not everything you want is what you were

designed for.

Man, if you wake up and eat Twinkies all

day every day,

you're not going to feel so good.

Like, if that's your only diet. So,

don't get me wrong, I like a good

Twinkie as much as the next guy, right?

But man, if that's all you eat

day in and day out are Twinkies, you're

going to start to have some physical

issues. And then you're going to

complain. I don't know why in the world

my stomach hurts. All you eat is

Twinkies, bro.

You need some meat, some veggies. You

need some healthy stuff with some

minerals and vitamins and nutrients and

proteins and

yeah,

and we do this spiritually. We we feast

on social media. We feast on Netflix. We

feast on on the things of the world and

the and the uh other people, what

they're telling us. We feed on all of

these things that are not God. And then

we wonder why we're spiritually sick.

Default mode doesn't remove hunger.

Default mode redirects hunger away from

God.

The tragedy of our culture is that

people are starving.

They're full but starving.

Full of information, starving for

wisdom,

full of entertainment, starving for

presence,

full of religion, starving for God.

That's why

some people can scroll for two hours but

can't pray for 10 minutes.

That's why some people can binge watch

seven seasons

in Netflix but can't read one chapter

of the Bible. I'm not saying this to

condemn you. I'm saying this to

challenge. What are you hungry for?

What are you hungry for?

Discipline your hunger.

It's not the issue that you're not

hungry.

The issue oftentimes is that we're sat

at the wrong table.

Look at your neighbor and say, "Check

your table."

Galatians chapter 5, Paul said this. He

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

said, "Walk by the spirit and you will

not gratify the desires of the flesh."

Walk by the spirit and you will not

gratify the desires of your flesh. I'm

so full of the spirit, not hungry for

anything else.

And you cannot keep eating from the

table of the flesh and expect to stay

hungry for the things of the spirit.

Your appetite reveals your direction.

Amen.

Hunger shapes your identity.

And here's what I've learned. What you

feed grows. What you starve dies.

Number four in your notes. You have to

taste it for yourself.

You have to taste it for yourself.

Kids, you can't ride in on your parents'

salvation.

Husbands, you can't ride in on your

wife's relationship with God.

Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the

Psalms 34:8

Lord is good." Taste and see that the

Lord is good.

Once you've tasted of his goodness,

everything else

doesn't seem to taste so good. And men,

let me say this. You better be leading

your home well. And you better be

leading your home spiritually.

Don't let your wife be the spiritual

leader of your home.

Amen. You be the one that instigates

prayer. You be the one that instigates

scripture. You be the one that's excited

to go to the church service.

We have a lot of men that take a back

seat

and it's the women leading the home

spiritually.

Moms, that was for you. That was free.

Yeah, man. Time to straighten up.

Taste. Taste and see. Taste and see. Not

just study. Not just hear about. Not

just watch somebody else eat.

Taste and see.

Psalm 42. As a deer pants for flowing

streams,

so pants my soul for you, oh God.

It's not God, if I can fit you in, it's

God, I need you like a glass of water.

I I need you like it's a life source.

As a deer pants for the waterbrook, so

my soul longeth after thee. I I've got

to get more. I've got to chase after

this thing.

Number five. in your notes is spiritual

hunger creates kingdom culture.

Spiritual hunger creates kingdom

culture. It really changes the

atmosphere in which you live.

Hunger is not just personal.

Hunger becomes cultural.

And when a house gets hungry for God,

you can feel the atmosphere change.

I want to spark a hunger in you today.

My hope and prayer is that something has

stirred us

to chase after the things of God.

Revival puts a God hunger in people.

Revival is attractive.

When I see people that I know, not just

playing church, not just being weird,

but people that are authentically

chasing after God,

that's attractive to me.

I want to worship in that crowd.

And somebody in here, I don't know who,

somebody needs permission to express

yourself to God,

to be hungry for God.

I want to give you a license today to

express yourself

to God.

It's amazing. I watch

humans

sometimes. They go to a ball game Friday

night and scream and clap and or they go

to the concert. They paid $3 $500 for

these tickets. They go listen to an

unsaved artist and they dance all night.

They come into the presence of the King

of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the one

that died for them. They came with an

opportunity to worship the King and they

sit there like they're watching golf on

TV.

I don't like watching golf on TV.

It's very boring to me. I think it's the

guy's voice, too. It's very monotone.

Yeah.

Not asking for emotionalism.

Not asking for fake.

I'm asking for real people that serve a

real God that are so hungry for him we

have to get to him again

not into emotional performances

expression doesn't prove

hunger

but authentic hunger for God will

eventually find expression

I'll ask the worship team to join me up

here.

I'm praying for Grace Summit Church.

I believe that God has us moving the

right direction spiritually.

But my prayer is that we don't become a

polished church with no hunger.

Yes.

>> I don't want a room full of people that

simply know how to behave in church but

don't know how to pursue God.

Don't want excellence without fire.

Don't want big crowds without the

presence of God.

I don't want a form of godliness denying

the power.

My prayer is God, make us hungry,

hungrier than we've ever been before.

Father, discipline us to not eat

at any table, but discipline us that our

hearts, our minds, our souls are

reserved

to fellowship with the King

to sit and taste and see that the Lord

is good.

watch revival fire spread through every

household

and beyond. Would you stand to your feet

all over this house?

Praise you, Jesus. Father, we thank you,

God, for life.

We thank you for freedom.

And Lord, I pray God for

the people in this room,

your people.

Father, I'm so grateful for those that

are in this room that are on fire. God,

there's so many that have been stirred

in such a way as to chase steadfast

after you. And Father, it's evident

every time we meet together, Lord, of

the revival fire that you've placed in

individuals.

Father, the breakthroughs and the

miracles and the salvations

that are happening in this house, a

hungry house.

Father, I'm praying for those few in

this space,

God, that have lost their hunger,

lost their appetite for the things of

God. Lord, I pray

for them specifically

in this moment. Father,

there's no special formula,

no unique prayer to recite, but Father,

I pray with your Holy Spirit, God, that

you do in their hearts what only you can

do. And that you spark a fresh

revival,

a fresh fire,

a fresh appetite on the inside of them

for the things of God.

Father, I thank you for life.

Thank you for the mothers in this space.

Pray that you would continue to bless

them and strengthen them and pour out

your grace upon them.

Father, we're so grateful for them and

who you've made them to be and who they

are to us individually.

Father, I pray on this day as we

celebrate them,

Lord, that they feel your love and feel

honored.

Lord, we thank you now in Jesus name.

Amen. Just a moment, we're going to

worship, but I'm going to ask our prayer

team to come forward.

Whatever the need is, I want to

encourage you to step out,

to come to seek God in a new way. Maybe

you don't need an individual to pray for

you. Maybe this is the first time that

you'll ever step out and come to an

altar to worship, to pray, to chase

after God. Whatever that thing is that

God's laying on your heart, don't leave

here today without putting some action

behind it.

We serve a good God. Amen.

The altars are open. Won't you come?