HUNGRY for More // Pastor Drew Milliken

all right who's

grateful who is grateful come on I want

to start this year out with some

gratitude I want to start this year out

looking at

him the more I the more I look at

anything but him the more fear Rises up

in me the more anxiety Rises up in me

the

more shame and comparison and all that

stuff begins to rise up and the more I

Look to Him the more peace there is

the more gratitude there is the more

Comfort there is the more love there is

so I want to encourage I want to

encourage us this year that we're going

to look to him amen amen we're going to

do that here I want to I I I want to

invite you guys into this and uh I want

to say real quick to every single one of

us come on Happy New Year Happy New

Year I missed you guys last week I

missed getting to be together last week

I'm really grateful that we got to have

a break and a rest period every year we

do this sabbath Sunday and the Lord

teaches us about rest and so we want to

make sure that we model that and and if

you don't if you don't practice Sabbath

rest as a weekly Rhythm and habit I want

to invite you into that in fact I want

to invite you into this year I believe

in my prayer guys I just feel a burden

on my heart for every single person here

that this year 2025 is a is a year where

God does new and better different things

in and through us are you ready for a

season where God does new and greater

things through each and every one of

us and I I I desperately want it and I I

I just I can't shake it for each person

and yet at the same time

I recognize that most people it'll be

like water in our hands it'll be a

desire that we have and it'll it it

it'll disappear in a couple

weeks maybe in a couple

hours and I want to tell you that that

committing a year to the

Lord has very little to

do with getting my my emotions to line

up with going yes I really want God

right

now and it has a lot more to do with

choosing to follow him no matter

what even if my heart isn't leading me

in that

direction because I guarantee you this

year your heart's going to be on both

sides your heart's going to have times

where you're like oh Lord I just so

desperately want you I need you God and

you're going to have times where your

heart is

going man I'm questioning all of it I'm

I'm I'm I'm unsure of him and of his

goodness and I'm unsure of these people

that I've trusted in and and man I just

I just don't want to try it again I

don't I I want to give God this area but

I don't want to give God my whole life

this is an area I kind of like to play

in this is area I kind of want my own

freedom in this is an area where I'm

like come on God I can do it my way I

can do it the way like it's not that bad

it's not that dangerous and instead I

want to encourage you if you want to see

this year 2025 be different in a new and

better way in Christ I promise you it

will pass through the gate of Godly

habits you do not change the direction

of your life without changing the

direction of every single

step and I want to ask you this year at

the beginning of the year set in a new

habit whether it's Sabbath where you

take a day to rest and to focus more

intently on the Lord whether it is I'm

going to I'm going to make sure that my

morning time is his and his

alone whatever it is I want you to build

a habit because otherwise this is what

it's like it's like I want to walk

towards the Lord I want to chase after

him and I go okay I'm going to face this

way and I like that is my heart that's

my emotions that's where I'm at I want

that so bad

but I've been walking this way I've been

walking this way I've been kind of doing

whatever want in terms of the the

activity of my life I've been dating who

I want I've been hanging out with who I

want I've been drinking what I want I've

been smoking what I want I've been

reading what I want I've been listening

to what I want I've been watching what I

want I've been I I've been lying to who

I want to lie to I've been building

whatever Idols I want to build and I

don't really want to give that up and so

I'm going to face you God but I'm not

going to change anything and I'm going

to continue to move in whatever

Direction I want to move but I'm facing

you God I want you

God and I'm going to I'm going to

continue to do what what I want to do

and I'm not going to change anything but

pretty soon I'm going to find that I am

stuck here in a shadow and I'm going

where are you

God I've been trying I've been facing

you I've been wanting

you have you seen i' I've been going to

church now I'm stuck over here and it's

getting harder and harder and I feel

further and further away from you

because my habits are not modeling after

the convictions that God has given to

me my

habits I would if I'm not if I want to

move in a direction then I have to have

every

step move in that direction and no

single step is the radical

Amazing

lifechanging Leap that gets me across to

the other side of where I want to go but

every single step will get me closer

towards

him will continue and here's the the

reality if I'm taking no steps I am

moving

backwards the reality is that it's kind

of like I'm walking on one of those that

in in the airport when you got when when

you go to the airport and you got that

that walkway that'll move you and I'm

walking the wrong way on the walkway and

I'm just going to keep going or if I

stand still slowly I'm going to start

moving backwards because my flesh does

not desire the Lord my flesh is contrary

to him my sinful nature wants to run

away from him I want to lean on me I

want to have control I don't want to

give it to him and so if I'm not

regularly building

habits that point me to to him I will

never I will never see the

transformation that I so desperately

want and 2025 will be just like 2024 and

2023 and 2022 and it'll be another year

of well I I wanted it but nothing is

different because I'm still holding on

to that one thing that is my except for

that thing for the

Lord I'll give you

almost everything and I'm going to keep

this

one I'll give you almost every area of

my life but the I like my play area

here I like what I'm doing here it's

kind of my thing you don't understand

how much like it gives me it gives me

butterflies when I uh you you don't

understand how much it it satisfies me

when I'm looking at that stuff online

you don't know how much it's sadden when

I'm talking to this person and the way

that he or she talks to me and like oh

my goodness like they just they make me

feel so so everything else everything

else I'm fully mostly committed to you

except for the area that means the most

to me God and I will find myself facing

towards him and moving in the opposite

direction my prayer for Collective is

that we would build habit

that every day I don't know about you

guys you're probably way holier than I

am and I I need I need multiple times a

day I need to begin my day with him and

then a few hours later guys it's like

lunch hour right after that I it is like

Drew's in full Drew mode again and like

I have like I I have slow at the morning

I'm like God I'm all yours and I've

surrendered and slowly but surely I've

got a hold of my life again and I've

started to build my own control and then

when people come against me I'm like hey

why are you trying to kill my thing so

my my attitude starts to get a little

bit worse my my my weight that I'm

carrying of the things that I feel

responsible for I feel the way and I got

to Res surrender it again I need

multiple times every day to commit

myself to the Lord because because I

lose it D DL Moody was once asked why do

you always pray for for the Holy Spirit

to fill you and he says cuz I

leak I feel like I'm this this broken

pot this broken vessel and and it's

always like I'm just draining and I'm

dripping and I and I'm like I need to be

filled again because I feel empty again

because I've

drifted again

build habits if we can do one thing if

you hear one thing from me today it's

build your habits to chase after him I

guarantee you this is not a Drew

guarantee this is not a collective

guarantee I cannot do much from either

one of those but I guarantee you if you

go all in with God and if you chase him

this year harder than you ever have and

you build your life and your finances

and your relationships and your morning

and your evening and your meals and your

work and your friends and your coffee

shop and your neighbors if you build

that around the Lord I guarantee you at

the end of 2025 you are not going to be

regretting that you are going to be more

fulfilled you're going to be filled with

more purpose I don't know if it's life

is going to get easier or harder for you

but I guarantee you you will be shouting

the Praises of God more than

ever and that's my prayer for us

here my prayer is for 2025 in 2024 we

had the the phrase steps of

obedience and steps of obedience is is

just every single day saying yes again

and again and again and I don't think we

let that

go we have to continue every single day

is another step of obedience chasen

after him be faithful in the little

things

but I believe 2025 God has another word

for us and it's

hungry to be hungry for

him to be

hungry for his

Spirit to be hungry for his work in our

lives and that's why I don't know about

you guys over this Christmas season and

Christmas break we had kids at home and

and uh if you had a Christmas at all

like hours and you sit down and you eat

until you're pretty sure one more bite

will make you

explode right like I'm not just full I'm

like in pain anybody right am I alone in

that come on we have like i e and i e

and and and it's so and at that moment

you guys know what I'm saying we're in

that moment it's like I truly I don't

feel like I'll ever eat again like I I

can't even imagine being hungry I that

is so far outside of where I'm at I feel

like I'm probably good for the next year

and then an hour later I'm looking at

that cookie plate again did I have that

that one over

there I don't know if I did let me let

me let me see if I I got room for this I

got room for this I did have that that

one was good yeah I'm got to grab

another one of

those and yet then a couple hours later

I'm going what's uh what's for

dinner right I'm I'm getting hungry

again and this is the the there's

something about Hunger having an actual

position a a place of hunger that it is

so good for us I don't know if you

uh are into like the the health sides of

fasting and of hunger and how it how it

just starts to reset your system and

allows for for your body to like kick

out toxins and and use the the the the

the natural the fats that we got in us

and use that for it's like oh it's so

cool how the body uses this but it's it

I believe that that is a spiritual it's

a physical thing uh revelation of a

spiritual

reality that hunger is a place that we

need

that we need to live

in hunger is something that we need to

carry and that's why today we I want for

all of us to start here and online I

want to challenge all of us to step into

a

fast and we're going to fast and a fast

is a time where you cut something out of

your life and it's usually food and for

the next 14 days I want want you guys to

choose some type of food

fast a hungry for more fast something

that makes you

crave something that you can't have

something that makes you

hungry at least in a portion of the day

I recognize that that there's different

things that you you you got to make sure

don't don't put your body in Jeopardy

those of you with diabetes don't be like

all right I'mma bottom out on my sugars

every day that's what Pastor Drew said

to do no we're not saying that I am

saying I want for us to have a moment a

time at least every single day that we

go

oh I'm

hungry and then we can translate that

into

God may I carry because if I'm honest I

want to want God like I want

food but most of the times I

don't most of the time I want food more

than I want

God one of my favorite interviews with

Billy Graham A A young Pastor sat down

with him and he was celebrating like 50

years in Ministry and he says so so I

gotta be honest uh Pastor Billy I'm I'm

trying to figure out how I I I'm really

consistent in my time with the Lord I'm

really consistent uh but every once in a

while I forget to set my alarm or I

sleep through it or something happens

and my time in the morning I just miss

it uh and then chaos hits and and

sickness and vacation and then my my my

rhythms are all thrown off and and

sometimes how do you how do you get I

find when I do that I get off track and

it's hard for me to get back on track

when you miss a day how do you get off

how how do you get yourself back on

track Pastor

Billy and Billy Graham

said have you ever had a day where you

forget to

eat if you ever had a day where you

forget to

drink have you ever had a day where you

forgot to

breathe he

says I haven't missed a day since I was

22 I don't know how to miss a day I

don't know how to operate that way and I

think that's I think that's why when you

look at when you look at spiritual

Heroes of Our Generation so many of them

fall when it comes to holding them to

the candle and to the light of

longevity because that's every single

one of

us with a bigger Target on the back and

no one had a bigger Target on their back

than Billy

Graham and

yet he carried it so well for so long

because it truly I'm I I'm I'm Blown

Away by his ministry and by his life and

by the fact that even after it still is

like yeah he did it did it Pretty

stinking

well his boundaries if anybody's got

complaints about Billy Graham hiss

boundaries were a little too

strict I'm okay with that

complaint

oh to have the same testimony of saying

I've never missed a day of drinking of

eating or of breathing and I will never

miss a day of

consuming my connection with the Lord

and being with him oh what a desire if

there is one desire that I had is that

every single one of us would be able to

come to the end of 2025 and say I have

never missed a day I may have missed a

day of eating but I have not missed a

day of being with my

Lord and I want to hunger and thirst for

the

Lord and so I want I want us to step in

whatever it may be maybe you want to

skip a meal and you say that meal that

meal time I'm going to dive into prayer

so it's not just about saying no to

something saying no to food or a food

group or something like that uh it's not

a diet to lose weight it is a cutting

something off so I feel a a a weakness

in

myself oh you know

what there is something when I get in a

weak point when I'm missing the caffeine

when I'm missing the food when I'm

missing it is it's a it's a perfect

position where I go you don't want to

know it's really strong right now my

flesh you want to know what's really

strong right

now my impatience

right I don't have the energy right now

man I just and then I get to kill that

thing inside of me now the stuff the

heat has caused the dross to rise to the

top and I got to pull that

away make it hard make it frustrating

make it that thing that you say ah but

not that one right yeah but not coffee

ah but not sweets H but not breakfast oh

but not this right make it that that's

that's a good sign that it probably

needs to be

that okay I I want I want to encourage

us to hunger and to choose to say no to

something so that we can step into and

say Yes to God we can step into prayer

we can step into in into reading his

word and spending more time pick up a a

reading plan and dive into what you're

going to do and you're going to read in

his word every single day what how what

time are you going to spend an extra

time in prayer it may not even even be

sustainable it may be maybe God's

convicting you to tithe of your day and

you need 2.4 hours every single day of

giving to him and you're going to

journal and you're going to pray and

you're going to read and you're going to

and you're going to worship and he says

I want two and a half two hours and 20

minutes of your time to be for

me maybe it's really hard to sustain and

that's exactly the point of a fast I

want us to start hungry hungry for more

and if you're not I want to encourage

you to pray this

prayer is

God I don't hunger after

you but I wish I

did would you make me hungry for

you

Psalm

63 is the verse that I want to highlight

the passage I want to highlight for this

here it says you God are my

God I earnestly seek

you I thirst for you my whole

being everything my emotions my body my

mind my will my whole being Longs for

you in a dry and parched land where

there is no water and I can't think

about anything else that's how I feel

about my

God I have seen you in the sanctuary

I've experienced your presence and

beheld I've beheld your power and your

glory because your love God it's better

than

life so my lips I'm going to glorify you

I'm going to speak it even when I don't

want to I'm going to praise you as long

as I live and I in your name I will lift

up my hand

I will be fully satisfied as with the

richest of

foods with singing Lips my mouth will

praise

you there is there is a hunger that only

can be satisfied with

Jesus but here's the thing this is this

is why this is why the word hungry is

the is the word for the year because if

you know my story about uh about church

planting and about come and starting

Collective Church uh it really started

in the transition the the the time when

I stepped out of uh full-time Ministry

and established church and said I'm

going to go plant a church and we had

this plan we were going to go to this

training I was going to go visit this

Church in Chicago and then Seattle and

then DC and Miami and I had all these

different places that I wanted to go and

just learn and grow and pop the bubble

that I'd been living in and go what is

God calling us to and where what is this

going to be like it was an amazing plan

and the week before we left our jobs at

good news

Church covid

hit and

I I thought I had a great attitude about

it I thought I was like I I nailed it

because I looked to God and I said Yo

God don't you

worry you know who you got on your

team I know Co surprises you guys

God I got this I will build my church

don't you

worry and I thought it was this good

attitude of like I'm going to pick

myself up on my bootstraps and God

nothing's going to stop us and I know

this is your call and he made it really

clear and guys God says all right I'll

let you see your limits and I saw my

limits guys you're looking at a guy

who's got a leadership capacity of three

weeks

I don't want to brag it's kind of a big

deal in three weeks in I'm ticked I'm

like God I don't even know what to do

how am I supposed to how are we supposed

to lead through this and and I'm I'm

trying to get in this like prayer work

out and and pretty soon my entire body

begins going numb every muscle in my

body tenses up I get stuck on the floor

I'm having a panic attack I don't know I

I can barely breathe I can't speak and

I'm freaking out and I think it might be

the

end and I realize I hit this wall hard

in the next three weeks God says don't

touch your computer don't open anything

up but the Bible in your notebook and

that is what you're going to be doing

right now we're going to spending time

together this is my church I will build

it this is not your church

Dre this is not your burden to car

I never created you to carry

that the calling that God's given to

your life is the exact

same I was just learning it in my

weakness and I learned and I got this

this this lesson of dependence on God

that has been one of the greatest

lessons I've learned in my adult

life and to lean on him in ways that I

never would have been able to to carry

if it hadn't been for a panic attack

leaving me paralyzed on the

ground it taught me things I never could

have been taught pain has a way of doing

that when you give that to the

Lord but then about this time last year

I just finished talking to someone and

and and mentioning to them about this

story and there's another guy who is in

in church leadership and considering

planting a church and I was talking

about this and it was inspiring and it

was motivating and it was good and I

hung up on the zoom call and I finished

up and God says you don't have that

anymore and I

go what do you mean God I literally just

told the story about how I learned about

that don't you remember

and he he revealed to me that that

hunger is not a thing that you catch

desperation for God needing him and

wanting him with my whole being is not

something I catch and I go got

it it's like the chickenpox I had it as

a kid and now I'm immune and I'm fine

forever it's something that you have to

carry I have to carry this hunger at all

times and if I choose to ride on the

revelation of yesterday I'm riding on a

dead

thing I'm trying to ride on something

that God did and he says but I'm not

doing yesterday today I'm doing today

today and I'm getting ready to do

tomorrow tomorrow are you with

me I want us to carry a hunger for God I

want for this to be a thing that starts

with the fact fast at the beginning of

the year and yet it just continues to be

carried and there's nothing else that

matters more to me but to be with you my

God there is one thing I ask there is

only one thing I seek it's nobody else

it's no other thing it's no other

chemical it's no other solution it's no

other scrolling it's no other goal it's

no other job it's no other money it's

it's just you God and everything else

everything else points to that I will

work for your glory I will serve For

Your Glory I will love my spouse For

Your Glory I will give All of Me For

Your Glory it's all because I just need

I got nothing else there's one thing I'm

thirsty in the desert place and I just

desperately need one thing and that's

your

presence and if I can get to that

and if I can catch that and if I can

carry that every day and say God this is

my desperate cry and I'm waking up this

morning and I'm not feeling that

desperate would you help me to hunger

after you would you help me to want you

would you I don't want you God and I

want to want you please help

me and so this is this is what I've got

got here I

want up here at the altar I've got these

cards and prayer cards for

2025 it says hungry for

more and this is this is one of the

habits I want us to pick up that as a

church we would choose to

pray God make me hungry for

you God would I desperate

need you not just because here here's

the reality I'm always dependent on

God you don't you don't always realize

it but you just drew a breath that was

given by

him and your next heartbeat was allowed

by

him I'm actually fully dependent on God

at all

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times but I'm not always desperate for

him I'm not

always begging

to be with

him and this is this is this is our

prayer I want to pray in

2025 that we'd be hungry for more

prayer hungry for a deeper connection

with

God and this is this is the prayer Lord

know me Lord seek my heart know my

thoughts May the words of my mouth and

the meditation of my heart be pleasing

to you my God my rock talking my

redeemer it is this prayer of Psalm 42

it says As the deer Longs for streams of

water so I long for you oh God I thirst

for God the Living God when can I go and

stand before him oh Lord I just I need

you I need this I want to be hungry for

more

prayer and if

you if you pray this prayer 2025 is

going to be year of of spiritual depth

for

you if you pray God know

me I want to be hungry for more prayer

God know me it's going to be a year of

spiritual depth you are going to be you

are going to find that you are deeper in

your walk with the Lord that he is a

connection to your heart in the dark

hard places that no one else has

permission

to he has we're going to find that that

and and then second I want for us to

pray for more growth

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hungry for more growth god grow me do

you want to

know what Jesus says is is blessed for

those who hunger and thirst

for

righteousness I want to become more like

him rightous righteousness is aligning

with God's perfect plan and

design and I'm going to and I'm going to

align with that and I'm going to and I'm

going to chase after him

him and I'm actually going to let my

life reflect after it hungry for growth

is not me going God I want to feel more

spiritually mature it's I want to act it

I want to live it I want my life to look

more like you I'm going to I'm going to

drop the the the CBD I'm going to drop

the relationships that kind of feed me

I'm going to drop the alcohol I'm going

to drop my my need to get that next job

promotion I'm going to drop my need for

satisfaction from my spouse and I'm not

I'm not going to need all these things

and I can't be happy if not I can't be

happy if I don't have you and if I have

you God that is it and everything else

I'm going to learn to put on the altar

this this

year I'll kill it kill these things in

Me God I'm placing it on the Altar and I

give it to you because I love my spouse

and I want my spouse to love me but I

don't need need to constantly be fed by

them I need to constantly be fed by you

God hungry for more growth this prayer

is God change

me change

me the

secret the secret in the kingdom is not

become the best version of yourself the

secret in the kingdom is to be less of

you and more of him God change me shift

my heart kill these things inside of me

that want to rise up against you and

then our third prayer for 2025 is hungry

for more fruit Lord Use

Me Lord use

me if you pray this

prayer 2025 is going to be a year of

witness you're going to see God use you

not to tell someone else's story but to

tell your story and you're going to be a

witness and you're going to see God in

ways you're going to be witness of what

God's doing in you you're going to be a

witness to others people are going to

experience what God's done in you

through you you will see the purpose of

God rise up you will see the hope of God

rise up and living and active inside of

you at all times but we must lean harder

into

him I've got to build

habits that look like I'm hungry for God

even when I'm

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not John 15:5 Jesus says I am the

John 15:5

vine you are the

branches if you remain in me and I in

you I will use

you I will I you will bear so much fruit

you're going to see your life and you're

going to go holy smokes I know why my

life I know why I was

created you're not going to have any

questions about it and then he says this

apart from me you can do

nothing I don't know I do a lot without

you

God a a lot of stuff that

dies you earn a lot of money that's

going to end up getting transferred over

into someone else's

account you learn you get a lot of

things that's not actually

longstanding if you want to do something

that's actually going to fulfill you

that's actually going to faill that

you're actually going to see on the

other side of your

Tombstone you're going to need my

spirit you're going to need to Hunger

for More fruit God use

me so this is what I want if anybody who

says I want to be I want to be hungry

this

year and you want to grab one of these

prayer cards the back is blank and so

maybe you've got a specific prayer that

you want to pray that God's putting on

your heart this is exactly it this is

what I'm telling you to do this is what

2025 is going to be and you need to

write that on the back of the card you

can do that but for those of us we can

all stand up we can stand up in here and

those of you who go I want to commit to

this prayer and I want to pray for this

church and I want to pray for me I want

to pray that we are hungrier for him go

ahead and come on up and grab one of

these cards come on up grab one of these

cards and if you want to stay up and

worship what I want to do we're going to

sing a song and it's all about being

hungry for the Lord It's all about being

desperate for him and so make room at

the altar for other people to come on up

to grab a card and to stay up here and

we can worship together and I want for

us to sit in a moment a moment of

worship just like we had just at the end

of of singing earlier but this moment of

lingering saying I'm hungry I'm

desperate I'm thirsty I need to know you

God and I don't want you enough would

you help me to want you more would you

help me to hunger for you more would you

help me to be desperate for you

more 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 your 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

[Music]