Relationships 2 Your Relationship with God 1
Jesus Culture Building a Culture to Encounter 2
1. Hunger We will do what it takes to encounter God in a deeper way 3
2. Reverence We place Greater Value on the things of God over the things of the World 4
3. Community We are Committed to living as Active Members of God s Family 5
4. Discipleship We invest ourselves in Relationships that grow us and grow others 6
HUNGER FOR GOD
RAVENOUS APPETITE
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst " Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
William Booth "I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities. But from the day I got the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of all Jesus Christ could do with them, on that day I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life."
John G. Lake "Hundreds, and hundreds of people were healed by the power of God during these ten years. But at the end of that ten years, I believe I was the hungriest man for God that ever lived. There was such a hunger for God that as I left my offices in Chicago, and walked down the street, my soul would break out, and I would cry, 'Oh God!' I have had people stop and look at me, and wonder. It was the yearning passion of my soul, asking for God in a greater measure than I knew. But my friends would say, 'Mr. Lake, you have a beautiful Baptism of the Holy Ghost.' Yes, it was nice as far as it went, but it was not answering the cry of my heart. I was growing up into a larger understanding of God, and my own soul's need. My soul was demanding a greater entrance into God, His love, Presence, and Power.
Loss of appetite could be a symptom that we are spiritually unwell
How do we cultivate spiritual hunger?
1. Stop eating spiritual junk food Enoch s name means to narrow down
God has only to give you what you want to make you feel the emptiness of it!...you will generally notice that when the believer gets near to God, tastes the unseen joys and eats the bread that was made in heaven, all the feasts of earth, all its amusements, and all its glories seem very flat, stale, and unprofitable! - Charles Spurgeon
2. Taste and See Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Philippians 3:10 2. Taste and See I want to know Christ yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death Ginosko = Know by experience
2. Taste and See Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
3. Be around hungry people Song of Solomon 1:4 Draw me after you; let us run (one person) (many)
3. Be around hungry people Acts 13:36 Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.
Jacob Wrestles With God