Hungry for Growth // Pastor Morgan Milliken

I am excited to preach the word to you I

pray that this message um captivates

your heart that it encourages you and

that it challenges you to do some things

differently um I've had this message

stirring in my heart for about two

months and I just really believe that

God's going to speak today so I want to

just start off with telling you that I

love puzzles anybody else

yes so every winter I do two about two,

1500 piece puzzles and I don't like

doing the Thousand piece ones cuz

they're they're not they don't take long

enough and they're not challenging

enough um they are puzzles are a stress

reliever for me and I want to show you

just a picture of the one that I'm doing

right now at our house I recently went

to Italy and so this is a picture of

Italy and it's just a fun way for you to

see what I'm doing at home um there is

something about finding a piece that's

kind of like a rush of energy for me I

sometimes I go to sleep and I dream

about the pieces that I'm laying down it

is bad um but as I was finishing up my

last puzzle and starting another one I

found a blue piece on the ground and I

couldn't figure out which puzzle that it

went to cuz I had already already broken

down the other one I was starting a new

one and because the uh both that piece

had a blue it was blue and this new

puzzle has blue pieces I couldn't tell

until I got further along which puzzle

that it went to and so I I had this idea

in my mind of two puzzles and not being

able to tell the difference between the

pieces it got me thinking about our

spiritual life and the journey that it

is and as you heard today our word for

the year is hungry and we're we're

asking God to make us hungry for more

prayer to make us hungry for growth and

to make us hungry for more fruit is this

okay can you guys is it

distracting okay okay good okay and

today I want to talk about being hungry

for more growth and I want to give you

an analogy today that I hope and pray

that it opens your eyes to see the

difference between

these two plans please don't pay

attention they're sea

creatures and that is because I could

not find another puzzle that was

magnetic that was not sea creatures so

we have two plans we have the enemy's

plan and we have God's plan and you

could also say you have your plan and

you have God's plan um this is your old

life and this is your new life and

you'll hear me kind of say different

things as the morning goes on but every

puzzle piece represents a part of your

story and your life that's made up who

you are and I want you to think about

your life before Christ and some of you

would say well I feel like I've always

known him well I want you to think about

when you begin to take your faith

seriously in your old life the enemy's

plans you may have had some bad

relationships maybe you've felt hopeless

or anxious or had a bad mindset maybe

you were depressed fill in the blank for

your life I want you to to think about

that this

life okay I don't know if I can do this

this life is the enemy's plan and we are

told that this life we put it together

and we're told we have to move on from

this old life when we come to this new

life and so we find that when we come

over to this new life we start with this

one piece and the one piece is salvation

that's all we have on that

side and the enemy's plan we we are to

throw this one away and to begin this

new

life and we're told in scripture second

Corin Corinthians 5:1 17-18 says

therefore if anyone is in Christ they

are a new creation the old is gone and

the new has come so this life it says

that we're to get rid of it we're to

become a new person same

personality

same thank you I can't do it I got you

okay I'm going to take it off okay

sorry I'm like distracting Myself by

the um okay have you ever met someone

where you go wow they are not the same

person that they used to be right Jesus

must have changed their whole life you

can probably say the same for your life

that Jesus changed everything about you

you are not the same person and you're

not going back right amen do you believe

that and feel that for your life yeah we

have this new

puzzle that we're building

upon and yet all of us we have these

moments in our faith whether we are

spiritually young or when we are mature

where we want to go back to this old

puzzle and when young in faith it might

be because we don't know where to start

it's like we're starting with this one

piece of Salvation and and now what what

do I do or you're mature in your faith

and you know what to do but you've let

your guard down and there's this

internal tension inside of us that's at

War at all times it's called spiritual

warfare and in Romans Paul says this he

says I do what I don't want to do and

it's this

wrestle that we have at moments in our

walk with Jesus that come up it's our

sinful nature our flesh F that's

colliding with our spirit that longs for

the things of God and this tension isn't

a Salvation issue it's a sanctification

issue somebody say

sanctification sanctification is a big

word and alls it means is the process of

becoming more like Jesus and it's a

process that's not going to stop until

we get to heaven and this was my tension

that I had and I still have and when I

was younger in my faith it was

relationships I wanted this one but

something about it doesn't feel right

and it's not that I didn't love Jesus

enough and it wasn't that The

Temptations were too big for

me scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13

The Temptations in your life are no

different from what others experience

God is faithful and he will not allow

the temptation to be more than you can

stand so when you are tempted he will

show you a way out so when you're

tempted and you say I just can't stop I

just can't stop from looking or going

there yes you can scripture tells us

that there is always a way out we can

overcome so that wasn't my excuse I just

didn't want to overcome

them the tension for me was because I

didn't have a revelation yet that God's

plan was better than my own I thought

that I had the better plan and that I

knew me best I knew what I needed I

loved Jesus but my flesh wanted

otherwise and fill in the blank for your

life I was saved but I was not

surrendered and scripture says that we

can't love Jesus and love the things

that are not his

design and it's not always I want you to

hear this today that it is not always

things that are written out point blank

in

scripture often times God will ask you

to give up the little things the things

that are blurry it's the things that

don't deepen my relationship with Christ

but they keep me right where I

am I'm too busy to serve people I don't

want to give this up I don't want to get

up early I'd rather stay in my cold bed

than read my Bible before work I don't

want to give up my

dream the idol of

comfort I don't want to give up these

things that feel good to

me but the things that you are unwilling

to surrender are the things that will

keep your relationship with Christ from

growing so that was my younger my more

immature life in Christ Desiring bad

relationships it was mostly actions and

lifestyle that weren't adding up and

those types of things are not my

struggle anymore because I've tasted his

faithfulness and his goodness and now I

trust him in those areas the struggles

and The Temptations for me today look

different and they're in my

mind and different seasons it's

different things the same for your life

what it looks like for me today is

different than it was 10 years ago I'll

be vulnerable with you this morning

because I'm I'm asking for that back

from you four years ago anxiety showed

up as a piece that I laid on God's plan

I laid it

there never struggled with it prior

three years ago I started getting a

complaining

spirit I laid it

there just last week and if I want to to

be really honest and vulnerable today

just today anxiety showed back

up in my

life scripture says to not be

anxious so it's sinful for me to be

filled with

anxiety and for years I would let it

take hold of me it would consume me and

this piece would sit over here for weeks

or for months

I let it become my master and I would

mle on it and now that I've matured a

little bit more and have a little bit

more longevity with Christ I'm able to

put it back in its place and remind

myself that what Romans 16 says it says

I'm not a slave to my thoughts I'm a

slave to righteousness I'm a slave to

righteous

things and I can do this not because

hear me not because I'm better not

because I'm stronger I'm not not because

of my title I am weak just like

you it's because I've had a revelation

that God's plan is better and it's

because I trust him with my puzzle I'm

not trying to lay down and figure out

where to lay the pieces anymore I'm

Allowing God to place the pieces in my

life

I've surrendered my desires and it

doesn't mean that I don't sin it doesn't

mean that I don't mess up or that I

don't have dreams or that I don't have

desires it means that when I catch

myself longing for other things than

where I am today or longing for sinful

things what do I do I've chosen to

direct my heart back to the decision

that I made that this puzzle is not an

option for me that the enemy's plan is

not an option for your

life that life is not in God's design

for

me and I have a deep desire today for us

to all have the same Revelation that we

don't submit to the plans or the ways of

the

enemy you no longer have to believe what

they said about you that you don't have

to perform that you're not not worthless

you're not a terrible person you're not

unlovable you're not broken and God

isn't done with

you you turn to Jesus why because he was

different than this life right you

turned to him because he was different

than the thoughts that you were having

and you turned to Jesus because the

enemy's plan was

hopeless you turned him to be saved and

set free and some of us today we've

turned to him but that's all we've done

we're not walking in the

freedom and you feel like some of you

today I feel in my spirit that some of

you today you feel like life with Christ

is

mundane you feel like it's blah you feel

like it's just this ordinary

thing there's nothing ordinary about a

transformed life

but you may feel this way because you've

turned but you aren't walking you're

standing still which we talked about

last week standing still means we're

going backwards we're going back to old

ways and old ways of thinking without

even knowing

it and I'm not just talking about the

sins that everyone sees I'm talking

about your secrets I'm talking about

your habits your discipline I'm talking

about your stunning Ed spiritual

growth you're not walking in your

salvation and being Sanctified by

him and some of you are seasoned

Believers today and you've struggled in

the same sin patterns for 10 20 40 years

and your faith if you were honest today

your faith doesn't look different than

it did last year and when somebody asks

you how God is growing you you have the

same answer as you did

then and I want to be bold with you

today and say that anybody that stands

still and dances and plops thems in the

enemy's plan day after day year after

year no change no repentance no growth

you are submitting your life to this

plan because it's not an active Faith

it's a stunted faith

and for whatever reason you've told

yourself that you are not capable of a

holy and righteous

life but guess what my Bible

says it says in Romans 6:14 for sin will

Romans 6:14

have no dominion over you because you

are not under the law you are under

grace his Mercy is new

every single morning and so at any point

on any given day and in any moment you

can turn from the patterns of sin and

walk into his grace and allow it to

transform your life and this year does

not have to be like last year you don't

have to keep faking it you don't have to

keep giving the same answers because

whether you've known him for a day or

for thousands of days he still has

transformation for your life and my life

amen anger doesn't have to have a hold

on you tormenting thoughts don't have to

complacency doesn't have to addictions

they don't have to

faithlessness doesn't have to have a

hold on you and you have the power

within you to overcome it cuz guess what

great face has a hold on you amen do you

believe that

today and yet at times we know

it and we still want to bring these

pieces to that

puzzle maybe you were an alcoholic at

some point in your life and you

turned and you got

saved and for some reason

you want to carry a little bit of that

with

you and so what do you

do you like the taste and you feel

comfortable with the drink in your

hand maybe it's not alcohol maybe it's

something else that you do but you do it

in moderation and you're telling

yourself that it's not a sin but you

know that there's a hidden motive and a

part of it that reminds you of who you

were and there are parts of that that

your flesh

craves attention does the same thing

having people's attention can be such an

idol that it looks okay until you check

your heart alcohol and moderation is not

a sin but maybe it is for

you whatever it is bring it to the Lord

and ask him to search your heart and to

search your

motive this one may

be a touchy one but we're going there

some of you are choosing the same types

of relationships but this time you're

keeping

boundaries and you know that this one

isn't going to grow your relationship

with Jesus but you love the familiarity

of it because that relationship is

similar to your old

life but can I tell you that new people

New Creations choose different types of

relationships

that when you choose God's plan you

choose different types of people who

love the Lord and are chasing him and

going hard after him if that isn't their

focus they got to

go maybe it's not alcohol or

relationships it could be the com the

idol of comfort and

laziness and the tricky thing about the

enemy's plan is that he will skew God's

plan to make it look like God's plan

when it's not and so we have to daily be

seeking him to

know what I'm trying to get us to

understand today is that sometimes the

enemy he'll offer us

pces because he wants to destroy you and

he will try to get you to place them

over here because he wants to destroy

your

ministry he wants to destroy your

testimony your marriage your calling

your faith your home and so he will do

things that look like God's thing and

all of a sudden you're like maybe that

wasn't God's

thing and so you you back away from

everything he's the deceiver and he's

the father of lies he's crafty and he's

manipulative and unless you know the

heavenly father better then you won't be

able to tell the difference on whether

it's the father of Lies speaking or your

heavenly

father and so we have to have a strong

salvation we have to be rich in the word

and prayer if you have your Bible today

would you just grab it and would

you believe with me this is our

defense this is the weapon in this

battle called life and we have to to

take our faith seriously we've got to

put in a lot of work we've got to get

around the right people people that are

more mature than you are in their faith

we've got to ask questions and take a

posture of being a

learner and until that happens you will

find that a lot of the pieces that you

are putting over they don't fit just

like this

one and if I'm laying down

pieces on this puzzle from both puzzles

it becomes really hard to tell which

puzzle it is because this piece is my

Bible time and this piece is my bad

friendships right this piece this piece

is my good friendships and this is the

relationship that I still

want and it's really hard to tell which

puzzle it is is which one am I submitted

to because it looks it starts to look

like I want you to picture all of these

pieces on here it starts to look like

the same puzzle it looks like you prayed

a Prayer of Salvation and it stopped

there and you're still kind of doing

things your way because when you engage

in both the enemy's plan and God's plan

it doesn't matter how long you've

identified as a Believer you won't be

able to see it with Clarity God's plan

because you have so much of the enemies

mixed

in so how do we stop choosing the

enemy's plan and submit to

God's because the fact is we've all have

pieces that we have laid on that puzzle

that we are not proud of pieces that we

want to throw away and the good news is

is that puzzles they're not permanent

right and so at any mo moment we can

just throw it

right but it starts with being hungry

being hungry to grow and as you hungry

as you hunger for Holiness and

righteousness you begin to see the

difference in the

puzzles you'll get an opportunity like

all of us do every day to lay a peace

into God's plan from the enemy's plan

but as you Hunger for More of him all

all of a sudden you'll look at this and

you'll go that doesn't

fit it's because your hunger for God has

grown therefore the things of God is

what your body and your mind

crave you become to get an appetite for

the things of God if you don't have an

appetite for the things of God that is

your prayer today God would you give me

a hunger for

Holiness you start to tell that the

pieces don't fit and you don't want it

to fit at one point it felt nice and

satisfying but now my eyes have been

opened and it doesn't even look good I

no longer have the pain of saying no to

this I have the joy in saying no because

saying no to this means saying yes to

that to God's plan and that's the life

we want because he's the

designer and I begin to submit every

piece before him God my

flesh My Flesh wants to quit

today I submit it to

you before I lay this pieace God my

heart wants to be bitter today

I'm going to lay it before

you God I'm I still have this

addiction I don't want it but I want

it I'll lay it before you God God I'm in

this

relationship and I want it but God I

want you more and so God if you don't

want it tell me I submit it before you

before I lay it down what is it for you

that God's what's the peace for you the

God's asking you to lay down I'll tell

you that when I wasn't mature in my

faith that saying no felt really painful

and that's because I couldn't tell that

they were different

puzzles and say so for some of you today

saying noce some things if you take this

message to heart it's going to be really

hard and really painful

but it gets easier the more you say no

it's the more you're saying yes to God's

plan and some of you in this

room you have a piece or maybe

two that you are

holding and you really want to keep

it there's decisions that you're holding

there's Rel relationships that you're

holding jobs whatever it is that you

want to keep it's part of the enemy's

plan maybe you don't know and maybe you

do but you want to keep putting it over

here and the crazy thing

about God is that God says that you

can that he doesn't make us do anything

that we have

choice and what you will find that

happens is that you will get a

picture but you will be left feeling

like something's off you'll be left

feeling like something's

incomplete things will begin to feel

tainted and as you look at the picture

that you're creating it's not going to

be as beautiful as you thought that it

could be as God intended for it to look

and The Godly men and women around you

will see it listen to those people when

you don't know what to do you go to God

In Prayer you repent you go to his word

and you go to his

people

because even if you just bring One

Piece One Piece over it taints the whole

picture if you put one in the wrong spot

it affects the whole puzzle and it I'm

not saying please don't hear me I am I'm

not saying don't ever

sin we will every

day but the more that I decide to throw

these Pieces

away the more I become like him and the

farther that these pieces get away you

see some of you you're holding them so

close and they're like it's so easy it's

so easy to just put it there like it

doesn't cost me anything I'm not like

I'm not too involved I'm not too

invested I don't I haven't really kind

of decided about Jesus so let's just

live both ways let's let's live both

lives but the farther they're away the

harder it is to pick them back

up

addictions bad mindsets bad view of

yourself hopeless thoughts lack of faith

and some of you you're holding them so

close to you that it's so easy to just

give in one more

time the more that I become like him the

more my focus is on God's plan and not

my own and not the

enemies some of you are so

fixated on your dreams on your desires

and they're not even sinful

things things that God placed inside of

you but you've become so fixated on them

that you have

lost what God's plan actually is for

your life and you've lost the joy in it

and you haven't because you haven't

surrendered whatever it is for you only

God and you really know but because you

haven't you're gripping these pieces so

tightly that you've lost sight of what

God is doing and how he's working

Ephesians 2:10 I want to give you this

Ephesians 2:10

scripture we're about to

close we are his

workmanship created in Christ Jesus for

good works which God prepared beforehand

that we should walk in

them and the enemy will tell you to stop

building on the new puzzle

because you have too many missing pieces

he'll tell you not to hang around the

church that one time was building you he

will place shame upon you and he will

tell you that you've been hurt too much

hurt too much by the people that you

that you

trusted you're never going to be able to

figure it out the enemy tells us you

can't possibly lay down all those pieces

he'll tell you that his plan is better

and that your old puzzle was easier

because you know your old puzzle because

you put it together so just stay

there and I want you to hear me today

that that is a

lie that the truth that Hebrew

says Hebrews says that without Holiness

we can't see

God that's

big the truth is that the father of this

plan is Satan

and the father of that plan is

Jesus the truth is that this puzzle will

always and

forever give you death and

destruction and this puzzle will always

bring you abundant and joyfill and hope

filled

life the truth is today that this puzzle

is a quick

fix this puzzle I'm telling you it will

satisfy you for about 5

Seconds this puzzle lasts

forever this puzzle dies

quickly that's why you keep going back

to the same things because it never

actually satisfies it's just this

momentary temporary satisfaction that we

all in our nature crave because it feels

good for a moment

this one takes

time it takes a lot of

work and it takes the hardest thing

about it is that it takes everything

that our flesh does not want to

give but the truth is that this puzzle

it's the only puzzle that

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matters it's the only thing

and some of us today we've got to lay

some things

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down just

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recently there's a point for me God

Strip

Me of

everything every

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desire every dream

everything in

me that craves this

plan rid me of

it because at the end of my life if alls

I did is build for this plan guess

what it doesn't

last only this one does and so I want to

spend my time on Earth building this as

best as I

can and so every day that I get up I say

God rid me of

myself every desire every

thought that I crave and I

want here it is take it

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some of you have a lot of your pieces

together and you see other people

struggling I want to ask that you walk

with somebody else disciple somebody let

go of the idol of comfort and give

somebody your time invest in somebody

else's spiritual growth

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today would you stand

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there may be some of you in this room

that you've never surrendered

ever and you're feeling impressed on

your heart today that you want to give

your

life you want to give your life to this

plan I promise you that this plan's hard

this plan is going to take you a lot of

work and you're going to be building it

until you see

Jesus and some of you you're ready for

that

challenge and God is asking

you to give your life over to him today

and so with every eye

closed it's only

me looking out at you

today but if you want to surrender your

whole life to Christ if you want to take

up the challenge

of building God's plan would you just

raise your hand so that I can see

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you come on there our hands all over

this

room but God is

moving can I first ask for those of you

that want to for the first time would

you raise your hand for the first time

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ever come on I see your

hands if that's you would you look at me

in the eye it's just me and

you I see

you I see you and I want you to know

that this is a pivotal pivotal and a

powerful moment for you that your life

is going to forever be changed and the

hope that you've been

Desiring the things that you've been

longing

for are going to come to pass you just

keep trusting him and I don't want you

to walk out of here

today without praying with you so I'll

be over here at the end we're going to

pray a Prayer of

Salvation then I'm going to move on to

the rest of us so everybody in the room

repeat after me

Jesus I repent

of my sinful

ways of the ways that I have followed

after the enemy's

plan and God I submit

myself and I submit my

life into your

hands I'm not going

back I'm saying yes to

Jesus yes to your plan

and all that you have for my

life in Jesus name

amen come on if you prayed that prayer I

would love it if you would just move

right over right over here to this

Banner please please please everybody in

this room has done that at some point

please head on over there to the rest of

us in this room let's Close Our Eyes

again if you are hungry for growth I'm

not even going to say anything else I'm

just going to ask you to come to these

altars who in the room is hungry to grow

this year and make this year a different

year that we are not going to submit to

the plans that the enemy has for us that

we are submitting

wholeheartedly fully to God's

plan come on would you lift your

hands we're going to call upon his name

would you just begin to cry out

with your voice to your father God I

submit my life to you I submit my plans

to your plans God I give over all that I

am come on in your own words would you

begin to tell him this is your year God

I'm done I'm laying down the pieces for

once and for all I'm giving them over to

you God and I'm asking for every person

up here God every struggle every

addiction every lie that they believed

God would you rid them of it

today God we submit our life we submit

our plans to your plans we surrender all

to you come on David would you lead

us hey thanks so much for watching

today's message our prayer is more than

the words that were spoken in the

message that you would remember the

things that God spoke to your heart yeah

and no matter what it was that God spoke

to you I know that part of your journey

is other people being in a community

because we are better together so if you

made a decision to follow Jesus today

would you click the link below and fill

out the form this is going to help us so

that we can celebrate with you and equip

you with some tools so that you're next

steps are great steps yeah thanks so

much for watching we're praying for you

we're cheering you on we believe that

the best days are ahead of you

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