What Are You Hungry For?
What ARe You Hungry for?
Human hunger extends far beyond our physical needs for food and drink. We are created with deep emotional longings for connection and belonging, intellectual desires to understand and learn, and spiritual appetites for something greater than ourselves. Even during abundant seasons like Christmas, when we gather around tables filled with food and surrounded by family, we discover that physical satisfaction is temporary and our deeper hungers remain. Jesus addresses this universal human experience in Matthew 5:6, declaring that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. This righteousness isn't about achieving moral perfection, but about pursuing a right relationship with God - being aligned with His character and ways rather than the world's offerings. The Greek words used for hunger and thirst represent desperate craving and intense longing, not mild interest or casual pursuit. The challenge we face is that society constantly competes for our spiritual appetite, offering temporary satisfaction through success, recognition, possessions, and security. These worldly substitutes act like spiritual snacks that dull our hunger for God while leaving us ultimately unsatisfied. God wants to transform our appetites, replacing our desires with His desires. When we seek His kingdom first, as Matthew 6:33 promises, everything else falls into place. This choice to hunger after God's righteousness doesn't depend on our circumstances or feelings, but represents a daily decision to trust that His ways are higher than our ways, bringing lasting satisfaction that nothing in this world can provide.
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What Are You Hungry For? Understanding Our Spiritual Appetite
As we approach Christmas, it's natural to think about food, family gatherings, and the abundance of the season. But beyond our physical appetites lies a deeper hunger that every person experiences - a spiritual longing that only God can satisfy.
Why We're All Hungry People
Every single person will experience hunger and thirst at some point. It's how God designed us. But our hunger extends far beyond the physical realm.
We Hunger Physically
No matter how much we eat during Christmas dinner - the roast lamb, crispy pork crackling, honey-glazed carrots, and all the trimmings - we'll always get hungry again. Even when we push our plates away saying "never again," hunger returns because that's how we're created.
We Hunger Emotionally
We crave connection with others, seek approval, and long to belong. We want to know we matter to somebody and that we're making a difference. This is why rejection hurts so deeply - we're created for community.
We Hunger Intellectually
When we don't know something, our first response is to find out why. Whether it's watching Netflix, listening to podcasts, or questioning decisions, we're constantly consuming information because we desire to know and understand.
We Hunger Spiritually
There's an innate desire within us to believe in something bigger than ourselves. Even those who claim there's no God are satisfying their hunger for logic and reason through that belief system.
What Does It Mean to Hunger for Righteousness?
In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." This isn't about calling ourselves righteous or feeling righteous sometimes - it's about actively hungering and thirsting for it.
Understanding True Spiritual Hunger
The Greek words used for hunger and thirst in this passage represent desperate craving and intense longing. This isn't mild interest - it's the kind of hunger that consumes every thought, where your ribs ache with desperation.
Righteousness means being in right relationship with God - aligned with what He says about your life, family, and future. It's about pursuing God's character and ways rather than the world's offerings.
Getting the Right Appetite
The question isn't whether you'll hunger, but what you'll hunger after. We often don't feel spiritually hungry because we're snacking on worldly things that provide temporary satisfaction but leave us empty.
What Competes for Our Appetite?
Society constantly tries to grab our appetite for other things - success, recognition, possessions, security. We chase feelings over substance and settle for shallow supplements instead of the deep satisfaction God offers.
God Wants to Transform Your Appetite
God doesn't demand your perfection. He wants to replace your desires with His desires. Instead of constantly trying to become the perfect Christian, friend, or family member, we can rest in the perfection of Jesus and allow Him to shape our hunger.
Accepting God's Promise
When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, God promises we will be satisfied. Isaiah 55:1-2 extends God's invitation: "Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink... Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?"
God's Satisfaction Is Different
When we hunger after worldly things, we're always left wanting more. But God's satisfaction is different. It's like eating a meal where you don't want the moment to end, where you could stay forever in His presence.
Seek First the Kingdom
Matthew 6:33 continues this promise: "Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need." When we put God's kingdom first, everything else falls into place.
Finding Hope in Difficult Seasons
Sometimes life presents challenges that make it difficult to hunger after God. Loss, disappointment, and adversity can tempt us toward bitterness or despair. But even in these seasons, choosing to hunger after God's righteousness brings peace that surpasses understanding.
When we face the worst circumstances, we can still choose God daily. This choice doesn't depend on our feelings or circumstances - it's a decision to trust that God's ways are higher than our ways.
Life Application
This week, examine what you're truly hungry for. Are you snacking on worldly things that leave you unsatisfied, or are you pursuing the righteousness of God that brings lasting fulfillment?
Make a conscious choice to hunger after God's righteousness. This might mean changing some habits, relationships, or priorities. It definitely means spending time in God's word, prayer, and community with other believers.
For families, this is especially important. Parents who pursue God's righteousness create a pathway for their children to follow. Choose to be full of faith rather than just faithful, speaking God's truth over your family and those around you.
Questions for Reflection:
What am I currently hungering after most in my life?
How can I develop a deeper appetite for God's righteousness?
What worldly "snacks" do I need to eliminate to make room for spiritual hunger?
How can I lead my family or those around me toward hungering after God?
There's no better time than now to choose Jesus and allow His power to transform your appetite. When you taste and see that He is good, you'll experience satisfaction that nothing in this world can provide.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Isn't it good to be in the house of God? Hey, on a Sunday, there's nothing better than being able to worship and hear the word of God. So it's an honor to be able to share God's word with you this morning. And I really pray that God would be speaking that it's not my words, that it would be his.
For those of you that don't know me, yes, my name is Harry. My middle name is Heinz, like the beans. And my last name is Funky. And yes, my dad's sitting in the front row over there. His ringtone is Play that funky music.
And so he loves that. Take him to funky town. And if you know us, then that explains a lot. So it makes a lot of sense. But yes, I've grown up in the church for the last 20 years, my whole life serving and being a part of it and it's just been so, so good.
And I've just been. It's really honor to serve behind the drum kit there. If I had the option, I'd stay back there. But we're here this morning and just to be able to be a part of the walls. So it's really good.
Taking over the youth ministry over this last six months has been a really Incredible season of. Of just seeing growth and really seeing God move. I think we're seeing a generation in our youth ministry that are hungry for God, that they're hungry for truth and hungry for righteousness and authenticity. And we're just seeing God do an amazing thing, just transforming lives and bringing change in the community. We're seeing just God really just provoke young people to seek after him.
Even outside of a Friday night. We're not just seeing more people come on a Friday, but we're seeing more people come. But come and join the church, come on Sundays and reading their words and reading their Bibles and starting Bible studies. And so we're seeing God do an amazing thing. And so I just want to say thank you for all your prayers and for everything that you sow into the ministry, because it's not just me, it's not just our team, it's all of us together.
So why don't we pray and then we'll get into the word. Amen. All right. Lord Jesus, I just thank you for this opportunity to get around your word, Lord Jesus. And I pray that as we do, as we hear your voice, that you would just speak to our hearts, that you would open our ears, Lord God, and open our eyes to see what you want us to see, Lord Jesus.
So would you have your way this morning? And in Jesus mighty name, we all said amen. Well, today I want to turn to the Book of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 6. If you have your Bibles, turn with me. That's something we encourage in youth on a Friday.
But it says this. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Or it says in the NLT there, God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. If you like to take notes or maybe you just like a title, I don't know. But the title of today's message is, what are you hungry for?
Now, I think for everyone in this room, I think I know two things about every single person in this room. I can guarantee it may not be right now, but they're definitely true. Number one is you will get hungry. And number two is you will get thirsty at some point in your life. It may not be right now.
You might have had a good breakfast and you're looking forward to lunch a bit later and dinner. But at some point in the rest of your life, you will get hungry again. You might go home and you're going to wake up in the morning and you're going, oh, I need a drink. It's something that we can't live.
I don't want to alarm anybody, but it is four days out till Christmas. So if you have organizing to do, I encourage you to get on top of that right away. But if, you know, me and my family, we go a little bit overboard for Christmas. You know, we're jumping around on the front row here. But if you look at our house, you'd be thinking, who are those crazy people?
You know, when you drive around the streets and you're seeing those houses with lots of lights and you're seeing the inflatables and all these crazy things and decorations and you think, what is all that clutter? Oh, my goodness. Who are those crazy people? We are those crazy people. We are those crazy people.
My dad and I, we get up on the roof, we're hanging poles and swinging lights down and around the driveway and up the up the garage doors in the garden. We've got inflatables on the roof. We've got little Christmas villages in the window for people to take photos. We've got a little dancing reindeer that likes to dance and talks to you. We've got a little.
A special Santa letterbox so that people can drop off their letters to Santa. But we've got it all. And so I think you get the idea. I like to dabble a little bit in the Christmas light department. But there's another thing about Christmas that I look forward to every year.
And you might be able to guess, but that is eating way, way too much food for lunch. Way too much food. I got an amen in the front here. But Christmas is one of those days where I don't know about you, but I just like to eat and eat and eat and load that plate up as much as possible because who knows that calories don't count on Christmas. Amen.
Even just thinking about it makes my mouth begin to water. You've got the aroma of the succulent roast lamb. You've got the golden roast pork with the crispy, perfect crackling. You've got the slow roasted beef drenched and sitting in the delicious gravy. You've got the slow.
You've got the roasted potatoes and the rosemary. You've got the honey glazed carrots and the cauliflower cheese, the roast pumpkin and the broccoli. And you load that plate up and then there you are, your eyes are popping out of your head. You see the table set before you. People are everywhere.
And you load up your plate and you're eating and you're eating and you're eating and then what happens? We push the plate away and say, I'm never having another bite. Never. I could never fit anything else in. And then dessert comes out.
And you know what they say about dessert. There's always room for dessert. Amen. But here's the truth. No matter how much we eat and fill ourselves up, no matter how many times you say, I will never be hungry again, I will never eat again, no matter your experience or your background, that is a lie.
You will always get hungry again. It's the way we created. It's the way that God designed you and I. Hunger will always come back. But we don't just hunger physically, do we?
We hunger emotionally. We crave desire and connection with other people. We chase relationships and seek approval from others. We long to belong to something, to be a part, to know that we matter to somebody, that we're making a difference. To share experiences in a coffee, to connect through interest, in sharing a meal.
That's why rejection seeps so deeply. Because when someone lets us down, or when we experience pain through difficult times and losing a loved one, it hurts.
Because at the core of who we are, we are created for community.
We also hunger intellectually or mentally. When you don't know the answer to a problem, what is our first response? To find out why, we need to know the answer. You might not enjoy reading books or listening to a university lecture every day of the week, but we'll happily turn on our favorite Netflix show or a YouTube video or put on a podcast. Or maybe you watch American pickers at 6:30pm Every night of the week.
That's what me and my dad do. It's really good, but it occupies our mind. We're consuming information. Not always the most useful information, but we consume information. If someone tells you no, our first response is to question why?
No, you can't have that. Why? No, you can't have that. No. Why?
Back and forth and back and forth. It's because we desire to know. We're desperate for answers. We're hungry. Then we hunger spiritually, too.
The innate desire within you to believe in something bigger than yourself, bigger than the world that we live in. The reason you're all here in this room, whether you believe in Jesus or not, is because we search and desire to satisfy our appetite for logic and reason. You might say and believe that maybe there is no God. But that in itself is a belief that satisfies that hunger for logic and reason. We're hungry people.
You are made with a hunger deep inside of you that needs to be satisfied. We try and fill it with more things. More possessions, more connections, more success, more recognition, more knowledge, more promotions, more security. But why do I tell you all this? It's to let you know that you are hungry people.
You are a hungry person. You are a very hungry person. We are hungry people. So turn to the person next to you this morning and say, you are a very, very hungry, hungry hippo.
And then you can turn to the other person and say, you are a very, very, very, very hungry, hungry hippo.
Isn't it good to be in a room full of hungry, hungry foes? Amen. God made us. It's so good. But if we come back to the scripture, in Matthew 5, 6, it said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied, for they will be filled.
Jesus gives us two promises in this scripture when we choose to hunger after righteousness. So this morning, that's what I want to explore. I want to explore the two keys for us if we want to hunger after the right thing, if we want to hunger after God's righteousness. So point number one this morning, if you're taking notes, is this. We have to get the right appetite.
What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? It's a good question. It doesn't say in the scripture, blessed are those who call themselves righteous. It's not. Blessed are those who like to think that they're righteous.
It's not. Blessed are those that feel like they're righteous sometimes. No, it says, blessed are those who hunger for it and thirst for it. Righteousness in our context today talks about this idea of the quality of being morally right. We know that God is the ultimate example of righteousness.
He is righteous. So if we think about righteousness, that God desires for us to hunger after we get this picture and this idea of a right relationship with him. If me and Justin are friends here, we have an agreement to be honest and respectful, to communicate with one another, to encourage each other. But if me and Justin start going behind each other's backs and we start gossiping and causing division and drama, all of a sudden, I've broken that unspoken agreement. So to be in right relationship with God, righteous means to be aligned with what he says, with what his word says, to know what he says, what he says about your life, what he says about your family, what he says about your future, what he says about you.
Jesus says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for right relationship with me. If we dive a little bit deeper, this Morning and put on our theological hats. We can look at hunger and thirst in the Greek in the original language. You have to forgive me for my pronunciation, but the two words for hunger and thirst are panau, like pay now, like pay now for the Big Mac meal, and dipseo. I couldn't come up with one for that, so.
But panel represents this idea of a desperate craving or desire to be famished. When we tell people today that we're hungry, it doesn't often hold the same intensity that the word actually means, you know, but for the people that Jesus was sharing this with, it was a lot more common for people to die from starvation than it was overeating.
Food was more difficult to come by. And there would be times, as time would go on, they would get this hunger inside of them, this desperation where their ribs would begin to ache in pain. After it, a rib aching. Hunger. It's a kind of hunger that consumes every thought.
You can't think until you satisfy it. When someone's trying to talk to you and you're. You're too hungry, haven't eaten all day, you have to say, hey, I'm really sorry, I'm not listening at the moment. I'm just a little bit hangry. You have to.
Gonna have to wait till I get some food. It makes us irrational and we can't focus. That might be even some of you here this morning waiting for lunch, waiting for Christmas lunch. Oh, that'd be good. So when Jesus says, blessed are those who hunger, he creates this vivid picture that blessed are those who have a deep desperation and desire after righteousness.
What about thirst? Dipsail. In the Greek, it refers to an intense and urgent longing, not just a mild craving. Again, it's desperate, a desperation. It's not just, I need a little bit of water or I'm a little bit parched at the moment.
No. When Jesus was on the cross and he was whipped and beaten and he was bleeding and carrying his cross up the hill and the crown of thorns on his head and his nail, pierced hands and his body weight hanging on the cross, he says in John, after all of that, I am thirsty. It's a desperation. If you think about your own life right now, can you confidently say that you hunger with a deep craving and thirst, as if your life depends on it? Do your ribs hurt and your body become weak with desperation after righteousness?
It's a pretty high bar to follow.
Who could ever follow like that? And there are so many things in our world and society today that are trying to grab our appetite for other things. We see in the youth ministry and our young people that the world and society just wants to cause division and destruction in their lives, wants to get them caught up in the things of this world and decisions that they have to make and becoming someone important and it's attacking their identity. And so that's why we do youth and we serve every week, all the youth leadership team. We're hungry to see a generation that are after the truth.
People want purpose and that's what we're chasing after. That's why we go into Mount Aaron, the school just across the road, to build community and show that there's more to life than the things of this world. There's more to life. There's something that can satisfy. And his name is Jesus.
Because we can't do it alone. We were created for community. The question that we should be asking is not if you will hunger, but what will you hunger after? Because you are hungry. We established that you are desperate.
Your ribs are hurting for something. It might just not be righteousness. You have an appetite. You are thirsty. It's not a matter of Harry, you don't get, I'm just not hungry.
I'm just not hungry. Sometimes our hunger is just occupied by other things. Our good ambitions to live a life that satisfies and is fulfilling ends up relying on a mindset that chases feelings over substance and settles for shallow supplements. We don't feel hungry because we start snacking on the world. We need to allow Jesus to transform our appetite to hunger and thirst after him, to live in the plural and walk with him daily.
A duet. We're not alone to acknowledge that sometimes we do chase after the wrong thing, but to come before a savior who is waiting with open arms and invites us to take a seat at his table.
If there's one thing that you walk away with from this morning, let it be this one thing. That God does not desire your perfection. He doesn't need your perfect desire. He doesn't need your perfect appetite. Instead, he wants to replace that desire to be after what he desires, to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Because unless if we're constantly chasing to become the perfect Christian, or if I need to become the most successful or the perfect drummer, or the perfect preacher and speaker, or the perfect friend or the perfect Son, then there will always be distance between me and God. We have to be willing to rest in the perfection of Jesus. Do you want to hunger after Jesus this morning and not just let it stay here, but for the rest of Your life because you have an appetite. It's true. We established that at the beginning.
It's true you have an appetite. So we have to get the right appetite. Which leads me to my second point this morning. Point number two is this. Accept the promise.
If we want to hunger after God's righteousness, we have to accept the promise. In Isaiah 55:1 2, we see the prophet Isaiah. He extends an invitation on behalf of God to the Israelites who are in exile. God is urging the people to turn away from the things of the world and to come pursue God for the nourishment that they're after, that they're desiring. It says this, is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink even if you have no money. Come take your choice of wine or milk. It's all free. That would be nice. It's all free.
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. See, we see here.
God says to the people, hello, is anyone out there? Is anyone thirsty? Even if you have no money, just come, come, eat, buy food and drink food that will satisfy you and give you strength. When we get hungry, we can't focus. We start to feel weak.
Our stomachs rumble. Our first response is to go find the closest source of food to something to satisfy. A quick fix, an instant fix, a microwave meal. We give so much power to what we desire, to what we hunger and thirst for. It directs our life.
So imagine if we allowed that hunger to be after righteousness, to chase after the righteousness of God. Because when we pursue righteousness, God promises to fill your life with something better. Better than anything that this world can offer you. It says in the end of verse 2 in Isaiah, listen to me and you will eat what is good. Listen to me and you will eat what is good.
When we are in right relationship with God, pursuing His righteousness, his voice becomes clear and we can eat what is good and be satisfied. Investing in fuel that gives us strength instead of leaving a void. This is God's promise for your life. Surrendering our appetite for the things of this world and allowing it to be replaced by something that is everlasting. So again Jesus says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
It's a promise. The beautiful thing is that God doesn't force feed you his presence or force feed you his righteousness. He just desires to transform our appetite for us to believe in our heart. That Jesus is Lord of all, then we can experience the satisfaction that does not compare to anything in this world. And this promise is continued in Matthew chapter 6:33, a chapter later where Jesus continues talking and it says this.
He says, seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need. Seek first the kingdom of God. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness in alignment with God's word, we are assured that our needs will always be met. To seek the kingdom of God first and above all does not mean giving up everything in your life. It simply places our life into perspective.
When we put God's kingdom first, everything else in our lives that we're worried about and we're concerned with begin to fall into place and we will be satisfied because God's promise is true and he invites us to taste and see that he is good. See, when we hunger after the things of this world that try and distract and discourage us, we're always left unsatisfied. There's something missing.
Like our food. When we eat and we eat and we eat and we eat, we eat so much that we have to push the plate away. And I couldn't possibly eat anymore. But it's different with God. The hunger and satisfaction that God wants to bless you with by accepting his promise and allowing him to transform your appetite is a hunger where we begin to eat and we eat and we eat and we say, ah, I don't want this moment to end.
It's the kind of satisfaction that means that we could stay here forever. You know, better is a day in the house of the Lord than a thousand elsewhere.
And you might be here today. And I know some of you may not be feeling hungry for righteousness. You say, harry, that's all. Well, that sounds really nice, but how do I hunger after God like that?
You don't need the perfect appetite to hunger after Jesus. It simply starts with the desire to be hungry. See, because the desire to hunger is in itself the beginning of hunger. You have to want to be hungry first. See, I stand before you this morning by nothing more than God's grace.
If you would have asked me two years ago, this would not have been on my bingo card of things preaching in front of you all. In September of 2023, I unfortunately lost my mom to a long five year journey of fighting breast cancer and a brain tumor. We saw God do amazing miracles and breakthroughs that whole time. Through the first bout of breast cancer in the first month, we saw it shrink until they couldn't find it and had to put a tracker in there. And that's by God's grace.
We saw miracle after miracle. And God has truly been so good to our family, to my dad and my two sisters. But suddenly when she passed, what had become the new normal for our life for the last five years of navigating this journey that just suddenly changed again. There were no longer any hospital visits or having nurses running around the home for over 10 hours a day, or just even to be able to walk into her room and check in to see how she was feeling or to share something with her like I am with you today in an instant, at the most unexpected time. We never stop believing for healing or anything like that.
But still. But this period of navigating loss while deciding what my life is going to look like has presented a lot of challenges over the last couple of years. Who do I want to become? There are many other things that try and capture our attention and consuming my mind. Every reason to be bitter and to be depressed and to be frustrated, to fall into temptation, to lose motivation.
What is the point? To get angry at the doctors and nurses for not being able to fix my mom.
And to be honest, the only thing that I wanted after all that time is to just find comfort again. But it was during my mom's journey where her faith and desire to choose God every day despite the worst of adversity is truly the living testimony of why I'm here in front of you today. She knew where she was going.
And it's a challenge for me to understand how she could remain so hungry for God, how she had that assurance, to know where she was going to continue to press on when the enemy was trying everything in his power to destroy and to divide everything around her. See, when you choose to hunger after God, you can receive his peace. That's why I can stand before you today. That's the reason that I said yes to becoming the youth pastor when it came at the most unexpected time. And I'm only 20 and just finished school and it didn't quite make sense in the natural.
It's because it's not my strength, it's God's strength. Let his will be done. You will be satisfied. When you hunger and thirst for righteousness, when you pursue and receive God's promise to fill you and bring blessing far greater than anything else the world can offer. There's no better time than now than to chase after him, than to pursue him, than to ask him to transform our appetite, to walk with him daily, not just when we feel like it.
So what will you hunger after heading into next year, from this day forward, what will you hunger after? Can I encourage you that there's no better time right now than to choose Jesus. To choose to hunger after his righteousness and his will because his promise stands true. And when we taste and see that he is good, we can experience a peace that surpasses all understanding. The invitation is open.
To choose righteousness, to accept his promise to satisfy and to change lives. That's why we're here. We love God, love people and change lives. God can use you when we hunger after Him. To choose Jesus and allow his power to transform your life and your situation to impact the world.
It doesn't just stay here. I may not know what you've gone through this last year, or how your life is going right now, or how much hope you have for the future. But I do know that when you choose Jesus, the greatest days are ahead.
There's no better time than now than to pursue his righteousness. Than to put your foot in the sand and say, for me and my house, I will serve the Lord. To not be led by our stomachs like it says in Philippians, but to be led by the spirit of God that lives inside of you. To invite Jesus to walk into our lives and to take control of. It's time to get hungry.
It's time to get hungry. After God. Let him transform your appetite and accept his promise, Church. You will not regret it. There is no better time than now.
There is no better time than now.
Thank you for letting me share with you this morning, Church. I pray that it wouldn't stay in this room. Amen. Thank you.
Awesome.
Well done, Harry. That's a pretty good first time on a Sunday, wasn't it?
But 20 years old.
Yeah. I think it's a brilliant. It's a brilliant challenge for us, you know, going into next year. You know, this is what I felt God put on my heart. You know, in the service before when Harry was preaching, I felt like God was saying, my invitation is out there.
My invitation is for you. And he's put a. There's a scripture that talks about. He's put a feast before us and he says, there's a feast before me and I'll dine in the presence of my enemies. You know, the enemy wants you to feast on the things that his throwing you.
This fast food junk that doesn't satisfy. But God says, I have a feast for you in my righteousness in pursuing me. For you, for your family. And if you Enter into it and you hunger for him. You will be filled.
You will be filled. But it's up to you and I. And there's a challenge going out there because mums and dads, we need to pursue the righteousness of God for ourselves so our children follow in our footsteps. That's what you're talking about with Harry. His parents followed Jesus Christ for their whole lives through thick and through thin.
And now all of their children are following after God. It's a choice they have to make. But I've said, and I want you to say is for me and my house will serve the Lord. Young people, will you choose to serve him rather than serve the ways of this world? It's got stuff to offer, but God's got more.
Amen. And so we're going to pray. We're going to pray and we're going to ask God saying, God, going into this year, God, what are you hungry for? Will you hunger after him? Will you hunger after his righteousness?
Will you hunger after the good things that God has? Some of us know that we've been hungering and pursuing things that aren't righteous. They're not of God and the Holy Spirit. I don't want to put it in a harsh thing, but sometimes God gives us a message because it's a warning in love to say, hey, don't pursue that, don't choose that because that'll end in destruction. Choose now to change and say, God, I'm going to pursue you.
Change your choice, change the way you've been going down and choose what you know God wants for you. And you watch what he does. You watch what he does. So we're going to pray. We're going to pray and we're going to see God.
I was just sitting at the back there and I saw, I don't know that your names, but I think you're done. And Queens. Mum and dad. And. Is that you guys?
You got the. Your sons, I think, wearing the red shirt. Have I got the right people? That's you guys back here. And yeah, you're looking at me and I just, I saw you and I just felt God wanted to encourage you and he's got greater things and he says there's a stirring that God wants to put in your heart to rise up and be the man and woman of God and lead the way for your children.
He's actually got amazing things for your kids. He's got huge hand. You know that. You know what God has. And I'm sorry I've gone out of the light for the stream.
You know that God's got amazing things for your kids. He's put it on your heart and he wants you to. He wants you to lead the way. Lead the way for them and keep believing in them. Keep being the man and woman of God in your household.
And you watch what God's going to do in your family. And you watch what he's going to do in your lives. There's more. There's a greater spirituality in you than you've entered into. I don't know if you know what that means.
There's a greater sense of faith and confidence in 26. God's stirring your hearts to say, rise up and be those people. Because God has more for you. Not just to fit in and just go through and be faithful, but to be. This is the word.
Not to be faithful, but to be full of faith. Full of faith and speak it over your children, speak it over those around you. God's going to bring people into your lives to engage courage. And they're going to say, because you spoke something over me, because you encouraged me, you changed my life. He's got something in store for you.
And the devil has tried to dismay and tried to.
He's tried to pull you off the. Right, off that track and just say, well, this will settle for this. But God has greater things. You're his sons and daughters. He's proud of you.
He says, listen to the call. Let me pray for you right now, Holy Spirit. I just pray, God, that you would put a steel inside of them, a holy spirit fire, that they would know that God, you've called them and there's greater things. And the devil's tried to do. I don't know what it is, but there's something there.
He's tried to dismay and pull it down, but God says it will not succeed because I am with you. I am for you. Rise up, mighty man and woman of God. Rise up and be who I've called you to be. Because I have greater things for you.
I've got greater things. Breakthroughs. And I see you leading the way and pushing down barriers and seeing like the Red Sea open, that Moses saw it so the people could be led through. God says, lead the way and see those doors open and step into it because others will follow in your footsteps, God. I pray for them your blessing.
We pray for your protection that God, you do mighty things through them. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. All right, here we go. We're going to pray together.
Hey, we. We're Going to pray together. And I want us to all stand to our feet as we're about to finish. Maybe you want to close your eyes. You want to lift out your hands before God and say, God, I'm going to hunger for you.
I'm going to hunger for your righteousness. I'm not going to hold on to the things of the past. So, Lord, we pray.
I pray for your people, God, that they would become mighty men and women of God who choose righteousness, Lord. And they shall be filled with the Holy Spirit. And they shall be filled with fresh fire. And they shall be filled with the blessing of God. And they shall be filled with the righteousness of Christ where condemnation is being got, Lord, your grace will flow, your love will flow, your power will flow, God.
And we will see breakthroughs in family, breakthroughs in our schools, breakthroughs in our workplaces, in our church, Lord. We will be people of righteousness, Lord. And the gates of hell will not stand against us. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. All God's people said, amen.
Come on, give the Lord a hand, a shout thanks to the Lord. Come on, let's sing. Worthy, you are worthy. You are.
He's worthy. In the house.
You will be forever.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, we give you thanks in the house today. You got good things in store for us. Hey, maybe in this house today. And you say, you know what?
I gotta come into right relationship with Jesus because I've been away from him. And so we're gonna say a quick prayer together. And maybe you need to say this prayer to rededicate your life to Christ or to do it for the first time. What better time to do it than at Christmas? Easter is also good, actually, any day's good.
But now's the best time to do it. Right this second. So we're gonna say a prayer. Let's do it together. Dear Lord Jesus, I want to give my life to you.
I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin, and you rose again from the dead. So forgive me, Jesus, be my Lord and Savior. In your name, I pray. Everyone said, amen, Amen.
If you said that prayer and you want a Bible, go to the bookshop over on the right. And we've got a Bible. We want to give you that. We will get your details and we'll give you that Bible so you can follow Jesus and we'll help you. However, we can pray with you if you need.
Who thinks Harry did a brilliant job today?
Very good. Well done, Harry. We're proud of you. Proud of the team. And we're gonna have a good day tonight.
We've got Carol's 5pm and don't miss that. Well, we're gonna sing one more song. We wish you a merry Christmas and we might just have a little visitor that I'm introducing myself because he go, oh, oh, the old Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas who gave our gifts to the poor. And now here he is. So welcome.
Let's sing.
Merry Christmas, everyone. God bless you, church. We'll see you tonight.
You a merry Christmas we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year Good tiding we bring to you and your dream we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy with we wish we wish you a merry Christmas we wish you a merry Christmas we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
See you all tonight at our carol service, 5pm here. Have a A blessed afternoon. See you, Church.
Related Bible Verses
Matthew 5:6 (NLT)
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
Click here to read Matthew 5:6 (NLT) on Bible.com
Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Click here to read Matthew 5:6 (NIV) on Bible.com
Isaiah 55:1–2 (NLT)
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.”
Click here to read Isaiah 55:1–2 (NLT) on Bible.com
Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Click here to read Matthew 6:33 (NLT) on Bible.com
John 19:28 (NLT)
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfil Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”
Click here to read John 19:28 (NLT) on Bible.com
Psalms 34:8 (NLT)
Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Click here to read Psalms 34:8 (NLT) on Bible.com
Psalms 84:10 (NLT)
A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
Click here to read Psalms 84:10 (NLT) on Bible.com
Joshua 24:15 (NLT)
But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.
Click here to read Joshua 24:15 (NLT) on Bible.com
Philippians 3:19 (NLT)
They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.