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"Stay Hungry for God: A Sermon on Faith Amid Distractions" · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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  Hi, everyone. This is Angel from Half Faith Let It Begin. Today,
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  we're going to take a look back on July 13th as I did a sermon entitled,
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  Stay Hungry for God. I hope you enjoy it.
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  And don't forget, this Sunday, I'll be back doing another service entitled, God is my GPS.
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  I hope you enjoy it. Take care, everyone.
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  I want you to pray with me this morning. Heavenly Father, this for sure,
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  this sermon was difficult for me this time because there were so many distractions
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  that come into my way. You know that. They don't.
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  But the distractions that came to my heart and into our family home was cars
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  breaking down and seeing one after the other.
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  And it didn't give me the opportunity to write the sermon the way I would want.
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  That's okay because in your glory, Lord, you showed me how to do it with a t-shirt.
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  You showed me your glory with whispers in my ear.
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  And this morning, I am praying and hoping that this sermon reaches someone today
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  in your precious name. Amen.
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  We all love to sit down and have a good meal, don't we? I know I do.
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  And I know I will after this.
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  Whatever our favorite food is, we'll really look forward to enjoying the things that we love.
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  After our appetite is satisfied, it doesn't take but a few hours to feel hungry
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  again. but we seldom consider that our spiritual life functions in the same way.
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  For those of you who follow God, they have been given a new spirit which loves
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  to spend time reading, praying,
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  contemplating, praising, and enjoying his presence as this is how we absorb
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  our spiritual nourishment.
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  However, when we are busy and disregard our relationship with God,
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  we become weak. we become lethargic, just as we would if we went a long time
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  without eating. So here's a question.
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  How do you feel when you're hungry? I know you heard me ask that to the little
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  ones, but how do you guys feel when you're hungry?
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  I know when I'm hungry, I get a little shaky.
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  I feel like I could eat anything in sight.
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  There's actually two rules that I live by when I'm hungry. Number one,
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  I don't go food shopping when I'm hungry.
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  Somebody creeped me there. I heard that. Okay. Number two, and married couples can attest to this.
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  Boy, I'm going to hear about this one later when I say this.
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  Married couples can relate to this.
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  You want to make sure that your spouse is not as hungry as you are because you
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  don't want to see the other side of them.
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  That's a little side joke for my wife. She's hungry, got to feed.
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  But that's my two rules that I live on. Why does hunger change us?
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  That's because hunger is physical. When our body starts to run low on energy,
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  messages travel to your brain that prompt you to start eating.
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  Some feelings of hunger and more extreme than others.
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  Extreme feelings include dizziness, weakness, feeling shaky,
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  irritable, goby, even having a headache.
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  What does hunger feel like? Hunger feels like a physical sensation,
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  a combination of an empty stomach, and growing a need for food.
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  It can manifest as a stomach growling or a general feeling of emptiness.
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  Other physical symptoms include low energy, difficulty concentrating,
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  and I can relate to this one.
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  I recall going to college in my early 20s. I would forget to eat before class.
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  As the teacher would begin to give the lecture, every word that came out of
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  her mouth or his mouth, I would relate it to food.
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  I would feel the pictures would just hit me.
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  I would think of myself eating. The teacher would say things like,
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  we're going to take a couple dozen of these, you know, these chalks and I think
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  immediately of a dozen eggs, a dozen bagels or just a dozen of anything.
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  And before I knew it, I'd be salivating, watching the clock,
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  hoping and praying that the class would end so I could run down to the cafeteria and eat breakfast.
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  Yes, feeling hungry for food can be difficult.
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  Matter of fact some of you this morning probably looking at your watch saying
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  how long is this sermon going to be because I can't wait to get to that table
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  over there and choice of fellowship and I know that we can fellowship here on
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  the First Perform Church believe that.
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  But I want to ask you something. Have you ever heard someone say, I am hungry for God?
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  Ever heard of that? Or maybe you've heard the phrase, how does God satisfy your hunger and your thirst?
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  In Psalms 107, that's chapter 107, verse 8 through 9, states that God will satisfy
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  the thirst and fill the hungry with good things.
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  When we place God first above all else, and we seek him out like starving man looking for food.
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  He promises us that He and He alone will give us those things that can fill our holy hunger.
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  Are you hungry for God? Does God satisfy your hunger and your thirst?
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  How can we relate our hunger for God so that we can create a spiritual hunger
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  for ourselves? Let me give you an example.
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  Eight years ago, I started a podcast called Have Faith, Let It Begin.
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  I wanted to show the world that I can do a show about motivational topics,
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  inspirational stories, and personal testimony.
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  I'm set out to change the world. I was hungry for God.
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  Over the years, I started to gain a following. And along the way,
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  here at my First Reformed church, my home, they would reach out to me and say,
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  Jim's going to go away. Would you fill in for him?
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  I said, yes. You never say no to God, as my mother would tell me.
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  Sermon after sermon, I must confess, I had a lot of doubts about my abilities to be up here.
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  I felt pressure. At times, I was even scared.
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  It kind of changed because one day, I got a call from New Harley Church in Walk
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  Hill asking me to fill in because they had no pastor.
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  For one month, I was in and out of that church.
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  Before I went to the church, I called Pastor Jim. I said, Jim,
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  do you think I can do this?
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  And Pastor Jim, in his gracious way, said, you can do all things through Christ.
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  Angel, I think this would be good for you. Always remember that I am here if
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  you need me. Praise God to Pastor Jim.
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  It was in the last two years that I started to understand and realize that my
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  hunger for Christ was not in my gut. It wasn't in my taste buds.
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  No, my hunger for Christ was and still is in my heart. And it was crying out for more.
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  As you know, my hunger for Christ has grown to the point that I am in ministry
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  school. And boy, my plate is now full.
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  How does God satisfy your hunger? We all have that spiritual appetite and desire
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  for connection with someone greater than oneself,
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  often described as a longing for spiritual nourishment, growth,
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  and a deeper understanding for life's purposes.
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  Sometimes we don't even know it, but instead of the need for food,
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  it's a need for spiritual fulfillment.
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  This hunger can manifest as a desire for meaning, purpose, connection,
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  even relationship with Christ.
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  During my last semester, my summer semester, this actual story came about.
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  And ironically, of course, how God works.
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  He knew I was going to use this in this sermon.
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  He did. Why else would this story come out? It reads to follow.
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  Once upon a time, there was a man named Stephen who was known for his voracious
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  appetite for, well, pretty much everything except spiritual matters.
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  He could devour a whole pizza by himself, finish off a family-sized bag of chips
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  in one sitting, and still eye on the dessert table with hopeful longing.
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  His friends, all-devote Christians, often joked that Stephen's stomach was the
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  bottomless pit, except when it came to reading the Bible or going to church.
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  One Sunday, after yet another sermon about hunger and thirst for righteousness, Stephen felt the spasm.
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  Not for spiritual longing, but for literally food.
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  He ducked out of the church, skipped over for breakfast for a crucial football
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  game, and his stomach began to rumble, louder than the organ music.
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  He decided to sneak out for a quick burrito.
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  Breakfast burrito, Golden, thinking he'd be back for anyone ever noticed.
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  He was scarfing down his breakfast, and he noticed a stray dog watching him with mournful eyes.
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  Stephen, a softie for animals, tossed it, the piece of burrito, to the dog.
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  The dog devoured it eagerly, then looked at Stephen with an almost human expression
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  of gratitude and exception.
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  Stephen found himself thinking, this dog is really hungry.
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  Later that day, Stephen's friend Bob, ironically, maybe you were there, Bob.
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  Bob brought over a massive pot of chili, Stephen's favor.
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  Bob said, Stephen, you've always been known for your love of good food.
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  And that's not a bad thing, because food can represent God's provision and the
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  importance of gathering together in faith.
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  Just as the chili nourishes your body, God's word nourishes your soul.
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  And the more you seek him, the hungrier you become for his love and truth.
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  Stephen chuckled. You mean like that stray dog with the breakfast burrito I gave him?
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  He ate the very last time. Bob nodded. Exactly. You saw his hunger and you fed it.
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  God sees your spiritual hunger. And even though you don't realize it yet, he's ready to fill it.
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  Stephen at that moment realized that sometimes spiritual hunger could feel just
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  like a physical kind and a good kind of nourishment.
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  And God was just waiting to satisfy it. From that day forward,
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  Stephen didn't stop enjoying his meals, but he started hungering for God's love,
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  for God's word and fellowship.
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  And he's never looked back.
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  So God's hunger for you this morning is just fulfilling as you have hunger for him.
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  So you're ready each and every morning when you wake up. Maybe you're desiring
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  his fulfillment of your hunger.
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  I encourage each and every one of you today when we go to the fellowship table
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  to come to the table yearning and understanding that God's love for you can
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  be within food, can be within fellowship.
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  It's not always about the actual food that we take in.
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  Sometimes it's not even about the words that we speak to each other.
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  It can be just a look at one another, friendly nod, and a nod back.
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  So how does God satisfy your hunger? Four things that I thought of.
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  When you're feeling motionless, use these following ways.
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  Remember a time when you experienced the presence of God.
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  Get around people who live and produce the fruit of encounter with God.
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  And number three, worship Him. But most importantly, number four,
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  ask Him. He's always listening.
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  I believe that today, we kind of have a better understanding of our hunger for God.
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  If you want to be closer to Jesus Christ, who loves you more than anything,
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  you can reach out to Him right now and ask Him to surround you with His love and mercy.
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  I believe when we're going through a difficult situation and feeling down,
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  that many times we have simply drifted away from the peaceful harbor of His grace.
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  When life becomes heavy with discouragement, maybe we are further away from
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  Him. We feel distant and forgotten.
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  If we're not craving His presence, this should very well be an indication of
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  just how far we've drifted from Him.
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  His mercy can forgive any mistake we have, any mistake we've made,
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  and our past is never too damaged or dark that the light of compassion of God cannot restore us.
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  This life was never intended to be free from problems or distractions,
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  but we were promised we can have hope and joy and joy in the journey when we choose to hold his hand.
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  Some individuals can remember at a time when they were involved with God in some way.
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  Maybe as a child, their parents took them to Sunday school and to church.
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  Or maybe some read bedtime stories, Bible stories to them.
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  These are all good memories, especially if it leads us into personal relationships with God.
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  And we're truly grateful someone loved us.
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  So let me share one last story for you. I share with you the prayer that happened
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  this morning with my family, just before we were getting ready to go away for the 4th of July weekend,
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  or week, I should say, my wife's vehicle started to make a very strange noise.
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  So we took it in and we discovered that it was all her brakes.
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  So we had our brakes done. As I'm waiting for that car to be fixed,
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  my truck, which is the truck we drive to family vacations, started to make a
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  very similar noise, but with a knock.
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  So when I picked up my wife's car and switched vehicles and lo and behold, my brakes were all done.
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  So we paid for those brakes. As I was getting ready to pick up the truck,
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  they told me while they were driving it, the caliber on the truck broke.
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  It was a faulty equipment.
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  So we let them stay a little bit longer. And now the time is like,
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  you know, simply because we're getting closer to this big geesh.
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  Same time on that hold, our air condition broke.
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  Try to find air conditioner during this heat leave. Not going to happen.
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  As I went store to store to store to store, I found the smallest one I could afford.
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  And sure enough, they gave us some closure and a little bit of coolness.
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  As they told me to tell me the truck was fixed, I went and I remembered that
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  the Civic had a leak in the transmission.
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  So I swapped cars again. And that was another vehicle that needed to be fixed.
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  So a day before we get ready to leave, they call me and tell me,
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  hey, the Civic is fixed. Great.
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  Switch cars. I said, you know what I'll do? I'll leave the truck.
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  I'll drive this one home to make sure this truck drives all right.
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  I'll have my wife come back.
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  As soon as I leave the lot, I hear, oh, what is that?
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  My muffler fell off.
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  So we re-switched the cars.
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  We don't want to call that bad luck, right? We just, it's an inconvenience.
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  Why am I sharing this story? Not for you to feel sorry for me.
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  Not for you to just sit there and say, well, I don't know what to tell you.
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  You have a Bible in your car? I've got three.
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  Life can throw every single person a curveball. And you know what?
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  Every time the cars broke down, I laughed.
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  Every time I saw the bill, I didn't really laugh.
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  After I was done crying, I laughed. Thank you.
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  God has a very, very interesting way of getting our attentions back on track.
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  You see, my distractions became about money.
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  And the reality was, I would have rather been broken down locally than broken
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  down on the road heading to vacation. And that was the message.
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  Every message that is thrown your way, good, bad, ugly, remember to praise him,
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  whether it's good or bad.
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  Because regardless of how we feel in that moment, regardless of how we feel
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  in that struggle, he's holding us in the palm of his hand.
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  Trust me when I tell you he is the best God, the best friend,
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  the only father that will always, in addition to our earthly father,
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  never have turned our back, his back on us. He's amazing.
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  So I leave you with the passage that I read in the very beginning that will
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  now make a little bit more sense.
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  Matthew 5, verse 6. Blessed are
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  those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
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  This is an assurance from Jesus that for those who desire more of God,
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  they can certainly have all what they want whenever they want it.
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  Christ is saying the spiritual life can be very much like an endless buffet.
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  But the question for all of us is, do we really have the passion? Do we have the craving?
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  To be filled with his holy spirit it is my prayer that all of us here today
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  are filled with his glory his promise his love of the holy spirit in jesus holy
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  name amen before we get to the music,
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  if you look at the clock that's a really short service.
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  And I'm going to tell you why right after this song. Let's pray real quick as they're getting set up.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing the words to come from my heart.
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  Thank you, Lord, for having the Bible with us and keeping us connected to you,
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  allowing our words of each other to inspire one another and to spread your word
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  this morning and your wisdom.
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  We encounter all that you could throw at us and we praise you,
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  Lord, today on the good days and on the bad days.
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  In Jesus' name we pray. amen what better
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  way to sing holy holy holy after that story
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  receive the benediction please rise
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  because we're going to sing a song if you may and i'm going
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  to provide you with our benediction this morning as our time of worship is over
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  rather quickly of course than usual that's because i want each and every one
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  of you to enjoy fellowship as we come together in hunger of christ as my great
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  mother and my grandmother would say to us in Spanish,
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  which means may God bless you.
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  And as my mother would say to me, and I'm saying to you, when you were born,
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  all the angels came from heaven.
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  Do you know why? Because each and every one of you are special.
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  And in the words of my father, after this song.
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  Music.