Make Me Thirsty | Herbert Cooper

Jesus came so lost people could be saved. This church is not a cruise ship where we lay by the pool. This is a battleship and for 23 years we've been on mission for Jesus. For 23 years we've been worshipping Jesus, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching lost people, baptizing people, helping people know God and grow in God, discover a purpose and make a difference. We've been on the mission of Jesus. For one reason, to see more changed lives. Welcome to People's Church everyone. Hey we'd like to invite you to stand to your feet. It's time to worship the Lord. We have a choir today. Come on will you stand to your feet. Put those hands together. Let's celebrate the joy that we have in Jesus. Come on let's worship. You are more than enough, more than enough for me. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing oh my soul, oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Let it rise up like a river overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it rise, let it rise up like a river overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour, let it pour out with no limit overflowing Holy Spirit. Sing oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I got the joy. Do you have joy? He gives us joy, yeah. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on.

The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing oh, my soul, oh, my soul, bless His name. All that is within me today. Oh, my soul, bless His name. All that is within me today. Oh, my soul, bless His name. All that is within me today. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. My strength. As people follow the Lord and water baptism, you can turn your attention to my left, your right. Will you put your hands together for more Change Lives? God was there at the beginning His Spirit brooding like a dove Spoke the earth into existence Formed creation that He loved Man was born a perfect image Made to be a friend of God Meant to dwell within His presence Yet it's where we all belong Holy Spirit All we need is more of You We want more of You Holy Spirit All we need is more of You We want more of You Holy Spirit The truth, the living water All we need is more of You We want more of You Holy Spirit The helper and the healer All we need is more of You We want more of You Let this be an opera room Light the flame, we burn for You Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Like a mighty rushing wind Pour Your Spirit out again Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Let this be an opera room Light the flame, we burn for You Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Like a mighty rushing wind Pour Your Spirit out again Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Let this be an opera room Light the flame, we burn for You

Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Like a mighty rushing wind Pour Your Spirit out again Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit Holy, Holy I need Thee Oh, I need Thee In every hour I need Thee Oh, bless me now My Savior I come to You I need Thee Oh, I need Thee In every hour I need Thee ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, bless me now my Savior, oh, my Savior ♪ ♪ I come to, oh, I come to Thee ♪ ♪ I come to, oh, I come to Thee ♪ Come on, if you need the Lord, will you just lift your hands all across this room and say, I need Thee, oh, oh, I need Thee, yeah. ♪ And every hour of my life, I come to Thee, oh, oh, oh, oh, ♪ Every hour I need Thee, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ♪ Bless me now, oh, bless me now, oh, my Savior, oh, oh, oh, ♪ I come to, oh, I come to Thee, oh, oh, I need Thee, oh, ♪ I come to, oh, I come to Thee, oh, oh, I need Thee, oh, ♪ I just want You, nothing else, nothing else, ♪ Nothing else will do, I just want You, nothing else, ♪ They say, nothing else, that's the cry of my heart today, ♪ Nothing else will do, come on, cry it out, ♪ I just want You, nothing else, nothing else, ♪ Nothing else will do, I just want You, ♪ I just want You, nothing else, nothing else,

♪ Oh, nothing else, nothing else will do, ♪ Oh, I just want You, nothing else, ♪ Nothing else, nothing else will do, ♪ Oh, I just want You, nothing else, ♪ Nothing else, nothing else will do, yes. You're all we need, Lord. You're all we need, God. Father, we hunger and thirst for You, Lord. You're the one that we desire, so Father, fill us up today in Your presence. Speak to us, change us. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Come on, give God praise one more time, church. Amen. But church, before you're seated, find a couple people around you you may not recognize, learn their names, shake their hands. Let's take a few moments to connect. Amen. ♪ Hey, welcome to people's church, everybody. My name is Rob Champion, I'm the campus pastor here at the Oklahoma City campus. Whether you're joining us online or in the house we're so glad you're here today. I want to take a moment to welcome all of our first time guests.

People's church family, show them up. We have an exciting update for you, so I want you to check out this video. Church family, I have an exciting update on the construction of our new Edmond campus building. We are building a 1,000 seat auditorium with kids and youth space, a lobby for people to connect in and make lasting friendships, discipleship space to help people grow in their faith. This building is for one purpose, to change lives. We are seeing some incredible progress on this building. building. All structural steel has been completed. The metal framing is 80 to 90 percent complete and will be done in the next week or so. The team is currently working on the exterior sheathing and it will be done in the next 30 days. They've also begun roofing the kids wing where many kids will encounter the love of God. They've started to run the HVAC duct work. Over the next couple of months the construction crew will be working on exterior waterproofing, continuing with the roofing, start interior framing, and interior rough in for electrical and plumbing. Church family, I'm so excited for this building to get completed because this building is not about a building. It's about the thousands of people who will fill this building and their life, their future, and future generations will be changed for all of eternity. Thank you to all of you who are giving consistently. Thank you to all of you who are tithing. Thank you to all of you who are giving above your tithe to the More Campaign to help us build this building. Thank you for your faithfulness

and for helping your church see more changed lives. For some of you, I know it's been a challenging season financially and maybe you stopped giving, you stopped tithing and giving to the More Campaign. Don't let the devil beat you up. Don't you dare live under condemnation. Just start today trusting God. One of the things that Tiffany and I have learned throughout the years is during challenging seasons, that's not the time to stop trusting God. That's the time to trust God and His Word like never before. So let me encourage you to start giving, start tithing, start giving to the More Campaign and trust God to do only what He can do. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 2 and 3, in the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability entirely on their own. The Macedonian church in extreme poverty gave beyond their ability because as they gave to the Lord, He met their needs. Church family, during challenging times, we cannot stop trusting God. Instead, we must trust God more than ever before to be our provider and our sustainer. And as we trust our faithful God, He's not only going to provide for our needs, but He's also going to use you and I to see even more changed lives. We trust God. I love you, church family. Thank you for your generosity. Yeah, praise the Lord. This is exciting times, church. Exciting times as we expand and so that we can reach more people. And pastor said it so powerfully that we need to trust God in our giving and we don't stop trusting God and His Word in challenging times. Because we know why? Because we can trust God because He is faithful. Father, we pray, Lord, for the expansion that's happening at our Edmond campus. God, we pray that you would bless, Lord, all the construction workers, keep them safe. Father, we pray that things would continue to move smoothly. And Lord, today I pray for your people that as they trust you, God, in their finances, as they trust you in their life, as they trust you in every facet of their life, Lord, that they would trust you even to a greater degree, Lord, knowing that you bless those who have put their faith and their trust in you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I know a name that can empty out a grave. I know a name it's the only name that saves and it's worthy of all praise. I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you healer risen and reigning ♪ Power, something comes out of the grave ♪

♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you Savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, I have a key to it all ♪ ♪ Yeah, with dominion over death, he holds the key, yeah ♪ ♪ In his holy nail scarred hands, he is the healer, yeah ♪ ♪ That has crushed the serpent in our resurrected grave, yeah ♪ ♪ I am, I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you Savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, chains break, dry bones wake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake ♪ ♪ The gates of hell shake, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ Chains break, dry bones wake, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ The gates of hell shake, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, oh I call your name Jesus ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name Jesus, there's power in his name, yeah ♪ ♪ Where, oh death, is now your sting ♪ ♪ And where, oh grave, your victory ♪ ♪ Where, oh death, is now your sting ♪ ♪ And where, oh grave, your victory ♪ ♪ Your victory, oh where, oh death, is now your sting ♪ ♪ And where, oh grave, your victory, yeah ♪ ♪ Death is come alive, death is come alive ♪ ♪ Death is come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ You're death is come alive, death is come alive ♪ ♪ Death is come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Death is come alive, death is come alive, death is come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Death is come alive, death is come alive, death is come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you healer ♪

♪ Risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, shame breaks, triumph over pain ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the world takes a hell shake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, death is come alive, death is come alive, death is come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Death is come alive, death is come alive, death is come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ Come on somebody Give God some words Come on, how many of those dead things come alive with Jesus? Come on, how many of you were lost spiritually? You were dead spiritually, but you're alive now. Come on, your marriage was dead, but it's alive now. You had a kid that was dead spiritually, on drugs, and God saved him. Come on, you ever been dead in your money, dead in your health, dead in your mind? And the Lord, hey, dead things come alive. Come on and give God some praise today, hallelujah. You're worthy, Lord. How about the People's Church Choir? Great job, choir, thank you so much. Thank you to all the other campuses, the choir, wow. I love Choir Sunday. If you can't preach now, your preacher's just broke, amen. But I just made it up on the spot for you. Welcome today. It's good to see you. I sure do love you. Good to see all of our guests today. Welcome to People's Church. If this is your first time, we are so glad to have you at People's Church. I took a couple of weeks and went on vacation and had a great time.

Me and Tiffany got away for a week, and then we spent a few days with the kids and went to Utah, Moab, Utah, and that was beautiful, and hiking. And so we had a great time. And then I spent some time just on a study, studying and praying, and was able to write all the messages for this series and wrote the messages for our August series and started writing our messages for our September and October series and spent time praying about 2027. I felt like the Lord laid a word in my heart for the year, for 2027, and started mapping out the preaching calendar for 2027. And I just want to say on behalf of me and my wife, thank you for allowing us 24 years in to be able to pull away and to pray. And one thing that we value 24 years in of pastoring People's Church is going at a sustainable pace and being able to hear the voice of God. There's nothing like being in a season where you don't feel like you're hearing from God. And so I'll thank you for allowing us to be able to pull away and hear the voice of God. And I'm excited. I'm so excited to be back and to preach God's word today. As we begin this new series called Holy Thirst, today I want to kick off with a teaching titled Make Me Thirsty. Make Me Thirsty. This time of the year brings me back to some high school memories when I was in high school having two-a-day football practices. I remember, I remember, I remember. And I think they got a picture just back of me back in the day in high school. I'm telling you what. The morning practices were a little challenging, but the afternoon practices were miserable. The sun was blazing hot.

And let me just say this. I appreciate you laughing at me, but that's a whole other part of the service. But it was hot, man. I mean, Oklahoma heat. We had our pads on. That afternoon practice, we were running and tackling, and it was just hot and sweating like crazy. And our team had this plastic pipe that had holes in it, like this plastic pipe that just went along the ground, and the water was shooed out. And that's how we got a drink of water. But we could not get a drink of water until there was a water break. And, man, when coach said, it's water break time, we were like a bunch of cattle running to get a drink of water. And sometimes I would be so hot at football practice, I thought I was going to pass out. There were times I know I was getting dehydrated. And getting dehydrated is not a good thing. In the early stages of dehydration, our brain registers the fluid drop. This triggers thirst, a dry mouth, and darker and less frequent urination. We might also experience mouth fatigue, a dull headache, or muscle cramps. And in the early stages of dehydration, we may not even realize we're getting dehydrated. We just might have a little muscle cramp. But if we don't get some fluids quickly, we'll go into the compensatory phase of dehydration. And this is where our heart rate increases to try to keep up with our blood pressure

so we can just kind of stabilize the blood pressure because we're having this fluid drop that's happened. Our blood vessels constrict, which can temporarily cause fluid retention or swelling in our feet. If we continue to neglect drinking some fluids, we will go into what's called the severe stage of dehydration. This is when our brain struggles to function properly, leading to confusion, just kind of this dizziness and extreme weakness. I feel like some of my relatives might be dehydrated all the time. Anybody got here ready to like say, you might be dehydrated, why are you so confused? That's a whole nother part of the sermon. I'm not gonna preach that today. But what happens when you're severely dehydrated is if left uncorrected, our organs begin to fail and our blood volume drops to dangerously low levels. Physical dehydration is a bad deal and so is spiritual dehydration. And some of you are experiencing spiritual dehydration. You're in the early stages, so you don't even realize how much you need the living water that only Jesus can give you. You're still working and you're still going to the job and you're still going to the grocery store and you're still going to the kids' games and you're still smiling, you're still posting on social media, you're still attending church, you're still living life,

but you're spiritually dehydrated. Some of you are in the compensatory stage and some of you are even in the severe stage of spiritual dehydration. You're going through the motions of life and church, but your heart is far from God. You desperately need living water. And the good news is living water is available for you today. Jesus wants to give you living water that your soul desperately needs and only his living water satisfies. I want to teach today from John chapter seven. If you have a Bible, would you open it with me? John chapter seven. I want to teach a few verses today, beginning in verse number 37. It says, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the spirit, the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. And the first thought I want to get deep into your heart today is you must acknowledge your thirst for God.

Jesus cried out, if anyone thirst, if, if, if, many Christians find themselves on the wrong side of the if. Jesus said, if you thirst, you can drink. If you thirst, I have rivers of living water for you. If you thirst, I have more of the Holy Spirit for you. If, it's a difficult place to find yourself spiritually when your thirst for God has diminished, when your passion for God is running low, when you're spiritually dehydrated. Some of you are spiritually dehydrated, but you're pretending to be full of the Holy Spirit. You're spiritually empty, but you're pretending to be spiritually full. You know all the church lingo, you know when to clap, you know when to stand, you know when to shout, you know when to say amen, but you've lost your spiritual thirst. And the first step to regaining your spiritual thirst is to acknowledge the if. Today, you need to acknowledge that you thirst for God. You need to cry out to God, God, I'm thirsty for you. God, I need you. God, I need more of you. I need living water. The psalmist wrote in Psalm chapter 42, verse number one, as a deer pants for flowing streams, pants for the water, so pants my soul for you, oh God. The writer of Psalms acknowledged his need for God. In this particular Psalm, he said,

I need you, I'm desperate for you. And we need to be like the psalmist and say, God, I pant for you, I thirst for you. God, I need you. And here's what's so amazing about Jesus is he does not rebuke us for being thirsty. John wrote that Jesus stood up and he cried out, if anyone thirsts today, Jesus is crying out to every tired, weary, dry, and dehydrated soul. And he's saying, I want you to thirst for me. Somebody came to church today, I believe it, and you're tired of pretending. You're tired of going through religious motions. You're tired of pretending. tired of being spiritually dehydrated. You're tired of pretending. And Jesus is crying out, thirst for me You're tired of pretending. because I have living water that will satisfy your soul. The second thought I want to get deep into our hearts today is you can't feel spiritual thirst with temporary fixes. John chapter seven, verse 37, it's easy to overlook this. I want to draw attention to it. It says on the last day of the feast, this feast was the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths. Every year the Israelites would take a journey to Jerusalem and live in tents or booths to remember when they left over 400 years of slavery in Egypt and how God sustained them in the desert for 40 years.

The feast was also a celebration of the harvest season. They would thank God for the rain and for the produce that came from the land. And every day of the feast, they would walk down from the temple to the pool of Siloam and they would draw water from the pool of Siloam and they would carry it back to the temple and they would pour it into the basin by the altar by the temple. And this signified God's provision for them in the wilderness. Their prayers for rain and the hope for the coming Messiah. And as they poured out the water, they would read Isaiah chapter 12 and verse three, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And as I was studying, some scholars believe it was right after they poured the water into the basin by the altar at the temple is when Jesus cried out, if you're pouring water in the basin, if anyone thirst, let them come to me and drink. And what I want you to notice is the crowd that surrounded Jesus that day. They were full of religious activity. They had ceremonies, traditions, songs, celebration, scripture reading, but they were still empty. They still lacked living water because religious activity doesn't equal spiritual thirst. Outward appearance doesn't equal inward appetite. Knowing about God doesn't equal pursuing God.

Religious performance doesn't equal relational passion. Spiritual rituals doesn't equal spiritual renewal. Activity for God doesn't equal abiding in God. Being around the fire of God doesn't equal you being on fire for God. Doing for God doesn't equal delighting in God. Religious motion doesn't equal spiritual devotion. Busy hands doesn't equal a burning heart. Having a platform doesn't equal having the presence of God. Proximity to Jesus, like these people had that day at the temple, doesn't equal passion for God. And too many Christians, if we're not careful, Christians become used to be, but used to be's. They used to be on fire for God. They used to pray, they used to fast, they used to seek God, they used to be passionate for God, they used to thirst for God, but now they just have religious activity. They have practice, but no passion. They have tradition, but no thirst. They have songs, but no seeking. They're trying to feel spiritual thirst with temporary fixes like money and cars and houses and education. Temporary fixes like promotion and successes and follows and likes and approval and popularity. And none of those things in and of themselves are wrong. But if that's what you're thirsting after, you will live empty on the inside because temporary fixes will never satisfy your soul.

You will be spiritually dehydrated. The third thought I want to get deep into our hearts today is you must come to Jesus. Notice in John 7, verse 37, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. Jesus didn't say come to religion. He didn't say come to your pastor, come to church. He said come to me. Coming to Jesus is about intimacy not information. Spiritual thirst happens when you move toward intimacy with Jesus and not just more information about Jesus. You can learn more information about Jesus and still not have intimacy with Jesus. You can attend church, read devotionals, consume Christian content, and still not come to Jesus because information is not the same as intimacy. John chapter 5 and verse 39 Jesus said this, you study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Jesus was talking to people who knew scripture but did not know him and if you're not careful you will confuse getting more content about God with having more connection with God. And we live in a society, I mean we value getting more and more information. I mean this is the information age. Most of us are drowning with information overload, even information about God. I mean it's everywhere. Podcasts, sermons, clips, quotes, reels, AI, chat GPT. People can find themselves focused on getting more and more spiritual information but still lack spiritual intimacy with the living God. Would you think about this for a moment? Are you coming to church just to get more knowledge about God or do you come because you want to know God better? Are you coming to the Bible just to know more biblical information or do you come to know God better? Are you only praying to get something from God or do you want to know God better? Are you just seeking God's blessings or are you seeking his presence? Are you just consuming more church services? Are you really pursuing your Savior? Coming to Jesus is a

personal pursuit. John 7 verse 37, Jesus said, let him come. Not let them come but let him, let her come. He's talking to each of us individually because understand this church, this is so, so important. Nobody can come to Jesus for you. Nobody can thirst for you. Like you can't hit your spouse and say, baby, would you go get some of that what he's talking about for me? Can you do that for me? No. Like nobody can thirst for you. Nobody can pursue God for you. Nobody can spend time with God for you. Nobody can worship for you. Nobody can read the Bible for you. Nobody can lift their hands and praise God for you. Nobody can sing songs of praise for you. Nobody can come to revival nights for you and to seek God for you. And let me pause and say this, God always, if you've never been, God always moves powerful, just powerful ways in a revival night. We said it, I'm telling you, people are saved, healed, set free. We see miracles, people delivered, filled with a powerful Holy Spirit, refreshed and renewed. God has something special for your life at revival nights but you can't send someone to get your blessing. You have to come and seek God for yourself. What I'm teaching us right now is you have to thirst for God yourself. Your spouse can't do it for you. Your parents can't do it for you. Your boyfriend or girlfriend can't do it for you. I wish I could but your pastor can't do it for you. You cannot live off somebody else's spiritual thirst. You must come to Jesus for yourself. You must say to yourself, God, I need you. You got to be at a place where you say, God, I'm thirsty for you. God, I want more of you. Nobody can seek God for you. And then you got to come to Jesus. You have to realize coming to Jesus, it requires your faith. Notice that next verse, John 7 verse 38, whoever believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart his belly will flow rivers of living water. You receive more of Jesus by believing in Jesus. You have to believe that Jesus, who Jesus is and what he promised in his word. And then you need to start moving towards Jesus by faith. Even when you don't feel like it emotionally, you must come to Jesus by faith. Spiritual intimacy always begins with faith. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse number six says,

and without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. If you want spiritual intimacy with God, it begins with you believing that God exists and that he will reward you for earnestly seeking him. Spiritual thirst requires believing. Spiritual hunger requires faith. You must seek God by faith. You must pursue God by faith. God always, always responds to the person who pursues him by faith. He rewards and fills those who seek him by faith. I like how Jeremiah says it in chapter 29, verse 13, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. James says it like this in the New Testament, chapter four, verse eight, come near to God and he will come near to you. God always responds to your pursuit. When you start moving towards God, he will move towards you. When you start worshiping by faith and reading your Bible by faith and coming to church by faith and seeking God by faith, God will meet you and reward you. The fourth thought I want to get in our hearts today is spiritual thirst precedes spiritual filling. This is a very important scriptural principle that we have to understand. The more spiritually thirsty you are,

the more God fills you. John chapter seven, verse 37, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirst. He said, if you thirst. Thirst is the requirement for filling. And the more you thirst for God, the more God will fill you. Let me take you back to Jeremiah, what he says that verse in chapter 29, verse 13. He says, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with, here's the key word, all. You have a paper Bible circle that all your heart. Some of you are not experiencing more levels of the presence and power of God because you're not seeking God with all of your heart. You have a measure of what God has for you, but I'm telling you there's more. I don't care if you're 99 years old, you've been saved for 62 years, living for Jesus. There's more, but the more God has for you is determined by your level of pursuit. If you seek God with a little of your heart, you'll get a little filling. If you seek God with half your heart, you'll get a half filling. If you seek God with two thirds of your heart, you'll get a two thirds filling. If you seek God with all of your heart, you'll get a full filling. Your level of thirst determines your level of filling.

Let me say it another way. You are as full of God as you want to be. You currently have as much of God as you want. The issue is not God, he wants to fill you with more of his spirit. The issue is your want, it's your thirst, it's your pursuit. Are you at a place where you say, God, I want to pursue you. I desire you, I have a passion for you. You see, casual Christians get a casual feeling, but thirsty and hungry Christians get filled full. You have as much of God as you currently desire. And for some of you, if you're honest, that's not very much. You've got more of the world in your heart and you do the presence of God. It starts with your pursuit. It starts with your hunger. The psalmist said in Psalm 107 verse nine, for he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul. He fills with good things. Matthew chapter five and verse six, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Luke chapter one, verse 53. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich, he has sent away empty. Psalm 34 10, the young lion suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord, let no good thing. Deuteronomy chapter four, verse 29.

But from there, you will seek the Lord, your God, and you will find him if you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul. We seek and God satisfies. We thirst and God fills. We bring our hunger and God brings his presence. Question, are you thirsty for God today? Do you have a deeper hunger for God to move in your life? That's where spiritual intimacy begins. Some of you today, what you need to do is you need to ask God to put a hunger back in your heart for more. You need God to give you a thirst for more of Jesus, for more of God's Word, for more of God's presence, for more of the Holy Spirit. And when you start getting filled with more of the presence of God, your appetite for the shallow substitutes of this world will start to diminish because the things of this world will never satisfy your soul. Jesus is crying out to you today. He's crying out. If anyone thirsts, if anyone has any kind of desire for me, if anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink. Today, come to Jesus and drink. Today, by faith, come to Jesus. Come thirsty. Come desperate. Ask God to make you thirsty because thirsty people get filled. Would you stand with me all around this building? Would you stand? Would you stand? Every location, would you stand? Would you stand? Would you stand? Come on, just right now. Don't slip out early. That really shows you're trying to get to the grocery store because you don't got no thirst at all. Come on, somebody. Come on, but just right now, would you just begin to lift a hand right now and just maybe close your eyes and just say, God, I'm thirsty. Come on, out of your own mouth. Come on, right now, just begin to say, God, I'm hungry for you. I need more of you. Come on, church. Do you want more of God? Are you thirsty for God? Let Him hear you as we sing this song. Lift your voice. God, I need you today. I'm thirsty.

Pour your Spirit out on me today, God. Let this be an opera. Light the flame. We burn for you. Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit. Like a mighty rushing wind, pour your Spirit out again. Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit. Let this be an opera. Light the flame. We burn for you. Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit. Like a mighty rushing wind, pour your Spirit out again. Holy, Holy, Holy Spirit. Church, you can't raise those kids all by yourself. You need the Lord. You can't do marriage by yourself. You really do need the Lord. You can't find the right husband or wife by yourself. You really do need the Lord. You can't do that job by yourself. You can't make the business grow by yourself. Listen, you can't do this by yourself. If there's anything we got to do today is we got to confess our need for God. We got to be reminded how much we need the Lord. Church, right now, Shannon, would you sing it? If you're comfortable, would you just let the Lord know, Lord, I know I need you today. I need your help in my thinking, in my life, in my relationship, in my money, in my health. Come on, Church, would you just cry out to Him? Let it go in my head and say, God, I know I need you today. I'm desperate for you. I thirst after you. I need you, Lord. Oh, yes, in every hour. I need thee. Oh, we thirst for you, God. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come. Oh, come, say I need thee.

Oh, I need thee. Oh, in every hour. Oh, I need thee. Oh, bless me now. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to you. Oh, come to me. We need you, God. We need your presence. We need your spirits. We need all that you are, God. We declare it today. Father, we're hungry for you. We're thirsty for you. God, you're all that we desire. You're all that we want, God, today. We need you. With every head bowed, every eye closed in this place today, there's some of you here today you don't know Jesus. I didn't say you don't know about church. I didn't say you don't know about scripture. I didn't say you don't know about songs and Christian songs. You don't know Jesus. You are far away from God. Today he loves you, and he's calling you to draw near. If you're here today, you don't know Jesus today. God wants to change your life. Some of you here today, you used to know Jesus, but you started hungering and thirsting for the things of this world, and it dragged you away, and it pulled you away into a life that you look at right now, and you say, I'm not as hungry and thirsty for Jesus as I used

to be. And God's saying, it's time to come back home. Today's your day to turn around and say, God, I'm going to give you my life. I'm going to hunger and thirst for you. So if you're here today, you don't know Jesus as your Lord, I'm going to give you an opportunity to make him the Lord of your life, to turn away from your sin and turn towards God. So if you're here today, you don't know Jesus, or you drifted away, and you need to come back home today, when I count to three, I want you to lift your hand. I want to lead you in a prayer to make Jesus the Lord of your life. He's going to come in, he's going to wash your sins away, and he's going to start you on a brand new path today. If that's you, when I count to three, would you lift your hand? One, two, three. Would you lift your hand all over this place? Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I see those hands. Anyone else? You say that's me. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. I see that hand. I see those hands. I see that hand. Praise the Lord. If you have your hands raised, I want you to pray this prayer with me. The Bible says, confess it with your mouth and believe it in your heart, and you will be saved.

Pray this with me now. Father, heavenly Father, I come to you today. I need you today. I confess that I'm a sinner, and I thank you that you sent Jesus on the cross to die for my sin. Today I make him my Lord and my Savior from this day forward and for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Come on, church. Can we praise God? Come on, all of heaven's rejoicing. Before we go, can we sing this one more time, I need thee, Pastor Shannon. Before you leave, come on, let's take one more moment and sing this out, we need you, Lord. I need thee. In every hour, I need thee. Oh, bless me now. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. Come on, let's sing it one more time. Come on, declare your heart to the Lord. We need you, God. We need you, God. We're hungry for you, Lord. We're thirsty for you, God. I need thee. In every hour, I need thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee. Come on, isn't he a good God? Amen, amen.

Well, we're family around here at People's Church. I'm going to ask our prayer team if you would make your way to the front here at this time. We're a church that believes in prayer. If you need prayer, come. Our prayer team would love to agree with you for a breakthrough in your life. We're family here at People's Church. We shout it at the end because we really do believe it. Come on, shout it with me on three. One, two, three. We're family. God bless you, church. Have a blessed week. ♪♪♪