What Are People Hungry For?
11/25/12 Ready, Set, GROW!!
We have just celebrated the holiday of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, where it is common to celebrate with a great meal. People arrive at the place of gathering hungry for a great meal. They start hungry and walk away stuffed. They say things like,
“Oh, I don’t need to eat for a week.”
“I don’t want to look at food for a long time.”
Then, something interesting happens. Even though they don’t really feel hungry, a little later in the day, they start to graze the leftovers. The refrigerator door opens and it is all set out again and the family digs in again. One of the reason why some don’t like to eat out on Thanksgiving is that there are no leftovers. I even saw an ad for a restaurant that promised to send you home with leftovers if you eat Thanksgiving dinner there.
During the grazing time some will say, “I don’t know what I’m hungry for, I’m just looking.”
After Thanksgiving comes the Christmas season. The promotion of greed and good deals has already started. The focus of many on Thursday was as much on when they would head out shopping and plotting their moves in the store as it was on family and dinner. Some got no sleep, preferring to be the first in line to save money on something they simply could NOT live without.
So, as Christmas is coming, people are getting hungry for stuff. They are creating lists and circulating them among their relatives. This is what I want . . .
At Christmas, some are hungry for family fellowship. The really look forward to the gathering of those they don’t often see.
At Christmas, others really don’t know what they are hungry for. The question comes up in their thinking: What really satisfies? The question actually should be: Who really satisfies? Material things always fall short of expectations.
We seek relationships because that is how God made us. This is why so many people go from one bad relationship to another, because they are hungry for something and they can’t seem to find it.
*** (Be sure to get this point) We find the ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction in a real and growing relationship with Jesus. Out of that we can have satisfying human relationships based on God’s principles.
So, the key question: what/Who are people really hungry for? Let’s look at the answer, starting with a quotation from Jesus.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
“I’m hungry for what really satisfies. I don’t need any fluff.” Since we were made for real relationship with Jesus, anything short of that doesn’t live up to what we need. Life makes us weary and we feel the burdens. We need a connection with Jesus.
Think of this special invitation from Jesus to all who are weary and burdened. The sinful nature we inherited and the influences of the world around us bring many problems. Receiving the promises Jesus made by committing our lives to Him and living in obedience to His teachings, we live in freedom and rest. Being yoked to Jesus gives us strength to face the difficulties of life.
Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. What are you going through in life? What are you tempted with? Jesus lived on earth and understands what you are facing. Jesus can empathize with what you face. Jesus carried the burden of sin on Himself on the cross. He endured the weight of sin so we can experience victory over it. God gives us power to say no to temptation.
Since Jesus knows and understands what we deal with, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence. Our loving Savior is ready to help us. We have open and free access to the highest authority anywhere. Without fear we can come to God for help.
Please take note: your spiritual enemy will do anything it takes to pull you away from fellowship and connection with Jesus.
Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Look at these awesome promises that come from what Jesus did for us.
Again, the question: what/Who are people really hungry for?
Purpose, a reason to get up in the morning.
Have you seen the bumper sticker? I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. If that is the only reason to get up in the morning, life must be a major challenge.
**Is there a greater purpose in living other than simply gaining things and paying the bills?
**Is there a purpose that involves something that makes a real difference?
**Is there a purpose about things that last?
In Jesus we find our purpose. He gives us life that is so much more than simply survival.
1 John 5:12-13 NIV
12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
God has promised us more than just an endless existence. We have a unique quality in life as we live with Jesus here on earth and get to know Him. Jesus said that we have eternal life, not just hope for something special in the future. We must develop an active and in progress faith that leads to a growing relationship with Jesus.
We also have a future hope. We all recognize the fact that some day we will leave this earth. What an awesome hope that is.
This week I read a post on FaceBook by Rich Lemberg, our District Secretary. He was writing about his mother. He wrote:
I was sitting with my mom listening to some hymns and reading some Psalms. She decided to go to heaven. The angels are rejoicing with a great saint. We will miss you mom.
His father was a friend of mine and fellow pastor who passed away over thirty years ago. His mom finally joined the Lord and her husband this week. What a powerful promise. The family and friends don’t have to be consumed with panic and fear because of God’s amazing promise of eternal life. This is something we have in Jesus.
We have purpose in Jesus because what we are involved in will last. It answers the deepest questions of life.
Again, the question: what/Who are people really hungry for?
Friends, people who really care.
I want to put the emphasis on really care. This is where we as the local church can and must make a strong effort and really be the friends we all need. I believe we do a good job at that. We must continue to focus on this so we don’t miss out on caring for one another. This summer I was the recipient of “Christians acting like Christians”. When I received the phone call about my brother, Roger, and we headed to Missouri to be with the family, we were the recipients of genuine Christian love. His friends almost competed to see who could bring us lunch each day. They did an amazing job of carrying us through the days in the hospital and then through the funeral. Back here you were doing what you could for us. When we returned you were very kind to us as we continued to process all that happened.
It is always a good thing to be guilty of acting like Christians.
Acts 2:42 NIV
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
One phrase from verse 46 . . . and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
The church established a good foundation at the beginning. They devoted themselves, they steadfastly persevered in these important ingredients for being the church Jesus intended. This included their fellowship and sharing meals.
They were together, there was unity. They focused on the unity and would not let anything mess it up.
Just what is this Christian fellowship? There are discussions and debates as to what it is. Some thoughts:
❏ A bond of common purpose and devotion
❏ Unity in Jesus
❏ A close association
❏ Scripture study and learning
❏ Shared meals
❏ A common fellowship with Jesus through personal salvation
❏ A fellowship with Jesus through the Communion Table which leads to caring and compassion for fellow believers.
❏ Shared spiritual blessings
1 John 1 NIV
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
This fellowship is an important aspect of our Christian pilgrimage. Fellowship with Jesus is to emerge in fellowship with other believers.
I want to read a story written by Erwin Lutzer. Look for how you can make an application to this point we are talking about.
Lions Attack a Buffalo Separated from the Herd
Recently I watched a program on the Animal Channel that showed a herd of buffalo and six lions. The lions were plotting to have a buffalo for dinner. Well, they found one buffalo that had strayed from the herd, maybe a couple hundred yards, and they went after that buffalo. So how do a few lions stop a buffalo? One lion grabbed the heel of one back leg of the buffalo, the other on the other back leg. And they just hung on until that buffalo slowed to a stop. Then one lion hopped on his back, another went after his stomach. And from there on you can just visualize what happened. It was gruesome.
But here’s what shocked me. There were perhaps 100 buffalo, if not more, all standing and staring and watching this go down. I don’t know if buffalo can think. But if buffalo could think, you know what they’re thinking? Boy, am I ever glad that’s not happening to me! Imagine if this herd had decided we’re not going to let those lions get away with anything, and together they ran thundering in that direction with their horns down. Those lions would have scurried away immediately. The lions would never have a buffalo for lunch, if the buffalo stuck together.
There’s a lesson for us there. First of all, Satan separates somebody from the herd. He makes them mad at the church and Christians, or angry because of some other reason. Once they’re away from the herd, he intensifies his attack. And then when we hear of the spiritual/demonic struggles that a person faces we say to ourselves, Boy, am I ever glad that’s not me! What we have to do as a congregation is to hang together. We have to close in and say we will not allow the devil to do this to our people.
I think God wants us to humble ourselves, not just before him, but before others. Many people have been delivered from strongholds when they begin to share, and other people intercede for them. It’s in community that God grants victory. The spiritual resources are ours; we just have to use them.
Erwin Lutzer, “A Contested Universe,” Leadership Journal (Spring, 2012), p. 54
Think of the impact when these principles are fully implemented.
LIFE APPLICATION: The Next Step
Ready, Set, GROW!
What are the key points of this message?
How can we apply this message?
