(FULL SERVICE) My Soul Thirsts for the Living God — Shane Idleman

Hello, testing, testing, how's everyone doing? That's not encouraging. There we go, a little bit better. Remember, if possible, we're not sure if we're gonna open the balcony, but it looks like we have, but try to scoot in a little bit if you can, if you see somebody sitting.

And like last time, we're gonna do something a little bit different. We're not gonna have the lyrics to the song, to the songs on the screen. We're gonna do that tomorrow morning. Richard's helping with Madeline.

Tomorrow morning, we'll have the lyrics on the screen, some of the lyrics you haven't heard before. But what we wanna do is have scriptures rotating. So every couple minutes, a new scripture's gonna come up.

So as you're worshiping, and the altar's gonna be open, we're not afraid of the altar, as you know. Maybe just every five, six minutes, kinda look up, maybe there's a scripture you can pray over, and we just wanna start getting God's word into our hearts.

So this type of service is more of what I would call is it's worship that's ministering to you. So instead of corporate worship, which is good, we've got lyrics up there, we're singing corporately, this is more worship that ministers to you.

And I kinda feel that way, know that, because when I first heard Richard's music, I was at a men's event, and I think you were there too with me, right? Yeah, good to see you guys. And just heard it, and it was ministering to me, just about the repentance and deep brokenness, and God's a consuming fire, let that fire burn.

And so as you're looking at scripture, letting the lyrics minister to you, it's very powerful and very profound. So I'll probably come up a little bit later again, and just an exhortation from Psalm. I want you to meditate and think about this verse as well.

As a deer pants for the water brook, so my soul pants for thee. As that deer is looking for that water, looking for that refreshment, so my soul pants for thee. And I'll just give a quick exhortation, Richard was gonna stay up here, something kinda to just fuel those flames of revival in our own heart, and excited to do that.

So let's open in prayer. Lord, I thank you so much for what you're doing tonight. In the hearts of so many people, they're being set free and transformed. Holy Spirit, you're welcome in this place. Begin to heal, begin to set free.

Lord, I pray that deep repentance takes place, brokenness, humility. God, lead us to the throne. I pray for tomorrow's service as well. Anoint Madeline and her voice, and Richard and the instrumentals.

Lord, we just pray that people would walk in and feel the power and presence of Christ tonight and tomorrow, because atmosphere matters. Lord, begin to speak to people through your word tonight on these slides as well, and we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen, amen. All right, let's go ahead and stand if you would like. You don't have to, you can stand. You can come up to the front and kneel. Communion's gonna be available. I'll talk about that maybe a little bit at the end of the message, but you can take communion.

I'm not gonna come back and walk you through the elements. You can take it at your leisure. Up front, the altar's also available, and we're just gonna see what God wants to say to us. And I know during my times of worship, many of the sermons, I don't know if you know this, but they come from my times of worship.

God will really make a scripture come alive and just start pouring into my heart, and that's what worship is, is a form of prayer. You're praying and you're worshiping, and it's really life-altering and life-changing.

So with that said, let's go ahead and begin. Again, altar's open, and I'll come back up in a little bit. Thank you.

Hi, Maddie. The Savior's here, raise them high, the Savior's here As I lay falling, and then you found me On the bottom, the forgotten And then the angels came and surrounded all my problems Jesus springs, yeah, my problems, my traditions Break down the walls of all my religion, your way is better Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion, your way is sure Jesus inside, Jesus spotless, without blemish, unified The joy of the Lord, at times I forget, I've come alive Messiah, Messiah, risen Lord, return Messiah, return Messiah Until, until heaven, return Messiah, Messiah inside Everything else can wait, everything else can wait There's a part of me, that I don't wanna take from here Me down, me down, take this from me, set the camera down Captive in me, free the same, I don't wanna live with these chains Take this from me, lift your nails, take, I don't want the same There's a thorn here in my side, in a place I try to hide They're the same, these chains, oh till you bless me, oh till you bless me I won't go, till you bless me, I won't go, take this from me, I won't go, till you bless me, bless me, oh till you, I won't go, take this from me, I won't with my agenda.

I'm sorry that you're enough. Me back to. To. I'm sorry I cum with my agenda. I'm sorry for God that you're enough. Take me back. It's just nurse, but it's only five days. Take your pants after the water.

We want to pant after you. Lord, you are our.

Only hope. Strengthen us tonight. You can just stay where you're at if you'd like. I'm just going to talk about Psalm 42 one for just a minute as the deer pants for the water brook. So my soul pants for you.

Oh God. And that's the difference really between desire and desperation because you can have a desire for something, but until you're desperate, it's going to be hard to find that, that, that, that longing for God.

There's that, that, that's what sets the difference. I I'm, I'm thirsty somewhat versus absolutely famished and I have to find that water and guys, I'll just, I'll shoot you straight. It's either revival or we die where our nation is revival or we die.

We are so perverted worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Families are falling apart. Churches are walking away and embracing ungodly things. Truly we're calling good, evil and evil. Good. Revival is our only hope.

God awakening the spiritually dead. This is a very important topic. It's the only option we have before us is to truly pursue God and revival is when God honors our pursuit and satisfies our thirst. I think we have that up there on the screen for you.

Revival is when God honors our pursuit and satisfies our thirst and there's a lot of talk right now about this theme of revival and it's because we need spiritual resuscitation. We need to be revived and that's what it is.

It's when God honors our pursuit and let me tell you, you have to dig in. Sometimes you have to keep contending. You have to keep praying. You have to keep petitioning it. You have to keep seeking. This is not microwave Christianity.

Pursuing him. Arthur Wallace said revival is a strategic attack by God upon the strongholds of Satan and I am absolutely convinced. Listen, we deal with the demonic often. We deal with all kinds of things.

The only way to truly break down a demonic stronghold of Satan is to pursue God like never before. To be like that deer that pants after that brook. That's how you break down these strongholds. So what does a pursuit do?

The pursuit builds expectation as a deer pants. He's expecting something. I'm sure that that brook, that ice cold brook is just over that next little hill. There's an expectation brewing and sometimes when we don't feel a certain way or it was hard to maybe come to church tonight and the enemy wants to keep people away from church and when we start to fill that expectation and it starts to build and build and build and as a result your faith will be built as well.

The pursuit also reinforces the worth. I think we had that up on the screen as well. The pursuit reinforces God's worth, God's value. The more we pursue, the more we value it and so the reason I'm telling you this this is why sometimes things don't happen overnight.

This is why sometimes when we don't receive immediate answers to our prayers. This is sometimes why there's travail and why you have to go and and do things sometimes you don't feel like it and pull ourselves to worship and pull ourselves to worship morning tomorrow.

Your flesh is going to want to sleep in but I would encourage you tell the flesh to shut its mouth and get here and pursue God like never before. It also becomes a priority as you're as you're pursuing as the deer panted after that brook.

It became a priority. He had to find that brook. The pursuit also creates passion. Where does the passion come from? It comes from the pursuit. I know people often label me as this boy you're really passionate.

Well I'm pursuing God. Passion is the byproduct. You can't just wake up boy let me be passionate in it today. Passion comes from the pursuit as I'm pursuing. I've got to find that living water. I've got to find that brook and as you develop that and and pursue that that's where the passion comes from.

Also the pursuit gives us a deeper appreciation of God and His Word and standing on His Word and the the language I mean we have to unpack the Hebrew a little bit but as the deer pants uh means he's he's got to find this water pretty quick.

Panting is he's he's I'm I'm I got to find this. Have you ever been there? God you've got to answer. You've got to answer and there's a there's an appreciation. When he finds that brook he's very happy very thankful.

He's appreciative that it was there because he couldn't have went many more miles possibly. And it also the pursuit is about pressing in. Pressing into God like never before. Do you think that that deer was worried about other things in the wilderness there or the I should say the forest?

No he had to find that brook and that's what it does to us. We have to press in. We have to keep moving forward and I'm convinced many people remember what God once did in their life but they forget what He can do now.

I talked to so many people oh I remember years ago. I remember years ago. When are you going to get that fresh fire today? We need fresh fire. We can't go off what we experienced years ago. As a matter of fact that's a little dangerous.

Because you you lose that fresh fire of the Spirit. Now here's the interesting thing with Psalm 42. I don't know how many of you know the context. The context of this is he is talking about this in the midst of discouragement.

My tears he says he goes on to say my tears have been my food day and night. Doesn't sound very happy. Anybody here with anxiety, fear, trepidation, discouragement? The enemy can really use discouragement against you.

I get discouraged often especially in the ministry. So he says my tears have been my day my food day and night while they continually say where is your God? They mock us. Where is your God? And they might not say that those words but they do by their actions.

You watch what happened at the Grammys. It's almost like mocking where is your God? Or the halftime show at the Super Bowl. Where is your God? Or allowing little boys to become little girls. It's not possible.

Mocking God's Word. Mocking creation. Mocking his design. Where is your God? And discouragement sets in. Lord where are you? But here's the beautiful thing. The more you thirst for God the more you are refreshed by his Spirit.

The more you thirst for God the more you are refreshed by his Spirit. See I can drink this and I'm satisfied but when you drink of the water that Jesus gives you it's an all-consuming passion. It's a it's a thirst that that never leaves you.

It never forsakes you. It's that that desire is there and then you keep wanting more of that living water. Look for the brook. Look for the brook. It's the deer pants for the water brook. We have to be looking for that brook.

Seeking after God. And here's really what I wanted to get this point across as well. Your pursuit of God affects a lot of people. Negatively and positively. Ask the drug fiend how his lack of pursuit affects his family.

Or the alcoholic. Or the angry mom. The angry dad. Pursuing everything but Christ. That's why the nation is crumbling from within. It's crumbling from within. Our pursuit affects those around us. Whatever we pursue is going to affect those around us is it not?

And some of you heard the clip from the church I spoke at last weekend but I think it's important to re-emphasize it here. There was so much I appreciated about you know my dad teaching me a lot about sports.

We had pitching machines in the backyard when they weren't real popular. We'd go out and throw all the time. Practice makes perfect. Doing very well in sports. I still remember where I was. I remember 1981 when the Dodgers won.

World Series. Steve Garvey, Ron Say, Bill Russell, Davey Lopez, Linfield. He was really good at showing me those things. Hard work. Yeah I could hop on any caterpillar, any bulldozer, any excavator and run it.

Diligence. Discipline. But there was no pursuit of God. And that left me broken. I mean if the person you look to isn't pursuing God why should you? Think about that parents. Grandparents. People are looking at us.

It affects our families. And the big lie we believe is I can't do that. I'm not perfect. Our kids don't want to see perfection. They want to see direction. I'm striving. I'm seeking God. I'll fall short.

I'll apologize. I'll repent. I'll get back on track. But they see somebody living it out. They see that that's the pursuit I want. And I don't do very many memorials where you hear that about the person.

That their pursuit was ignited a fire in others. And sometimes I think we forget that. It's not just about me in this bubble. Your pursuit, my pursuit is going to affect others in a very deep level. At a very deep level.

And it doesn't mean you will never encounter the storm. But you'll have an anchor through it. Doesn't mean that you won't have problems. But you will have the answer. It doesn't mean that the old nature won't try to draw you back.

But the pursuit will keep you going in the right direction. Does that old nature ever taunt you as you're pursuing the cross? I'm pursuing it. The old nature begins to draw us back. And it actually begins with complacency.

A lack of spiritual disciplines. A lack of fervor. A lack of fire. A lack of being in God's Word and obeying it. And we become discouraged and disillusioned. It's the pursuit that keeps you on the right path.

Why? Because you have to walk somewhere. On the broad road. Narrow road. The pursuit for, the pursuit of Christ keeps you on the right path. And only one thing will satisfy this thirst. And the young adults, what they're going through now, I mean, statistics are alarming on the suicide rate, ODs, the transgender movement.

And they don't realize the only thing, one thing will satisfy this thirst. God and God alone. The right source. The deer could not go drink from a rock. The grass didn't have enough water to satisfy. The pebbles, the tree, the bark, nothing, nothing, nothing but that brook.

He had to find that water brook. But I need to give you a warning. We're seeing this a lot right now too, even in this church. You can be so spiritually, you can be thirsty spiritually that you'll consume anything.

You can be so spiritually thirsty that you'll consume anything. And that's why we see all these movements towards new age or magic and satanism. Satanism is really exploding. I don't know if you've followed After School Satan Club in schools and such.

Dad should be just had that. And other places, because they're so thirsty, they've got to consume something. So be careful. This comes with a warning label. Drink from the right brook, the healthy brook, the crystal living water.

It's been said that the early church, the early church wept, they worshiped, and they waited. That's a great combination, folks. They wept, they worshiped, and they waited. You can't force tears. It's not a good idea, obviously.

But what's hard for me to really understand is where is the anguish in the church today? Where's the brokenness? Do we see what's going on around us? Do we see the sex trafficking in 11, 12, 13? Fentanyl overdoses in our valley hooked to crystal alcohol?

God's word is being mocked. And that's my concern. America's angry, but she's not very humble. Oh, she's upset, but she's not very broken. She's not panting after the brook. Amen. The heart cry of the believer, the heart cry of the believer is this, I hunger and thirst for righteousness, but it's only found in one place.

I hunger and I thirst for righteousness, but it's only found in one place. Take me into the holies of holies. What wonderful lyrics. Have you heard that song before? I hunger, I thirst for your righteousness.

It's only found in one place. God, take me into the holies of holies. It even goes on to say, pass the people, pass the priests who sing your praise. Oh, I just want to see your face. There's only one place that I can find that through the veil, that veil that was brought down on the cross and going into the holies of holies, that desperation, that desire, I hunger and thirst for your righteousness.

And if you're saying, I don't really feel that way, that's okay. There's a beautiful word called repent. Repent. God, I want to feel that way. I need to feel that way. God, would you please come and change my heart and location and atmosphere?

Do matter, folks. He had to find the brook at the right location. They're not on the side of a hill often. It's called a waterfall or a desert area. He had to find the right location and atmosphere matter.

We've got to get our homes back to holy sanctuaries. We've got to get our churches back to times of worship and prayer and let the atmosphere saturate our hearts. Atmosphere matters. Think about this.

Would you rather be Peter preaching after the Holy Spirit fell on 120 ,000. I'm sorry, 120. And he's preaching. 3 ,000 were converted, the atmosphere. And then Paul goes and preaches on Mars Hill. I don't know if anybody was converted.

Atmosphere, the presence and power of God. It's incredible. So I just want to leave you with three takeaways. Pursuit has a price. Pursuit has a price that not many are willing to pay. It will cost you.

It will cost you. And I think if we don't look at that, we think, well, I can kind of play church and kind of play with the world too a little bit. And I don't really want to go to these meetings or prayer nights or worship mornings or I don't want to press in too much.

I don't want to read the Bible too much. I don't want to obey too much and I might become weird. And there's a pursuit. If you truly want to pursue, God, there is a price. And God pursues saints when they pursue him.

A wonderful truth. God says, I will pursue you if you pursue me. And then lastly, are you creating an atmosphere for the pursuit? Are you creating that atmosphere in your home and in your own personal life?

And here's what's interesting. I'm going to close here. Psalm 42, written by the sons of Korah. Does that name sound familiar? Korah? I mean, most of theologians agree that was when the earth swallowed up Korah and his family because they rebelled against Moses.

That Korah? And what I was reading, studying, it seems like it's the lineage of that Korah. But what a wonderful picture. Don't let your past stop the pursuit. Don't let your past stop the pursuit. It doesn't matter if you came in here broken tonight or on the wrong path or distant or the brook is dried up.

Anybody have a dried up brook? That can be refreshed tonight. Psalm 96, oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord. Blessed be his name.

And that new song is a something that's never been heard. It's a renewed or a fresh response. So, here's the wonderful thing. When we come back to the Lord and we begin to seek that brook and we take of that living water and we're refreshed and we're filled with joy and we're excited, we begin to sing a new song to the Lord.

A fresh response comes out of it. Did you know that the majority of the church is stagnant? Stagnant water, dead water. How many people have witnessed, told people about Jesus because the wellspring is springing up in you?

Not many, correct? In the store, weeks go by, months go by. Stagnant, dry, dead. But that's okay. Pain, pain can drive you to the power of the cross. The crisis can draw you to the cross. The disaster that you might be facing or challenges can drive you to the master.

Don't lose this opportunity, folks. There's not a lot of time left for our nation or for our families. We have lost our mind. We're out of control, morally, spiritually. We are bankrupt spiritually. That's why I often say business as usual is not going to cut it anymore.

Let's do a couple songs. I'll give you a quick message, another song. Let's go, let's go hit our famous, our favorite buffet. That's not going to cut it. It never has, but we have declined so far that we need to be revived and renewed.

And so with the communion up here, 1 Corinthians 11, 27. This verse is, to me, it's just amazing. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

And sometimes pastors can kind of soften up the scriptures a little bit. And this is one people tend to soften up a little bit, but it's pretty direct. Did you know it goes on to say that this is why many are weak and sick among us?

The Amplified Bible says this, that careless and unworthy participation is the reason why many among you are weak and sick and a number have died. But if we evaluate and judge ourselves honestly, if we recognize our own shortcomings and we correct our behavior, we repent, we would not be judged by God.

So it's a wonderful time. So the communion is going to be available. Let's go ahead and stand. We've got about, I think we're going to end about seven o 'clock. So we've got about 40 more minutes, 45 more minutes of just worship.

So come up and take communion at your leisure. Remember what Jesus did. Reflect on that. And what I would encourage everyone to do, no matter where you're at, where you're doing good spiritually, you've drifted, is say, Lord, I want to hunger and thirst for that brook again.

Lord, I need that brook. I need that living water. I need that Holy Spirit to come and set that fire in me. The Holy Spirit is a fire that comes in our hearts and we witness for Christ. We have the fruit of the Spirit, love and joy and peace and gentleness.

Could it be that the very thing we need is the very thing we're running from? We need that living water, but we go the other direction and we can become critical and bitter. Another hindrance is attitude.

What I call it, they got an attitude. You ever heard that? Pride, arrogance, all of those things will clog up that living water. Just repent tonight and say, Lord, I need you. And the altar is going to be open.

Communion is going to be on either side. It's just a wonderful time for the next 45 minutes or so to seek the heart of God. So Lord, I just, God, I would just want to give you the rest of this service.

In this way, God, speak individually to these people. There's people here tonight with prayer requests so deep, God, that only you can understand. Marriage is so broken that only you can fix it. Addictions only, it's so deep, only you can pull them out.

Bondages so strong, only you can break them. Holy Spirit, have your way in this place. Set us free by the power of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So let's go ahead and stand if you'd like, take communion, or come to the altar.

In his fist. Our God is joking when he's in that he shed his blood. His return is very close, so you better be. Our God is an awesome God. He spoke into the darkness and created the light. Our God is an awesome God.

The judgment and wrath he poured out on Sodom. The mercy and grace he gave us at the cross. I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that our God is an awesome God. Sing it out. Our God is an awesome God.

He reigns. God is an awesome God.

Lord, as we're back here in just under 11 hours, that you would keep this fire going. God, I pray just a strong anointing over Madeline tomorrow and Richard. We would not be in a hurry. Spirit of the living God, you're welcome here.

Set people free. Heal them in Jesus' name. God, we believe, but help our unbelief. God, I know you can do miraculous things. Help my unbelief. God, awaken this valley, awaken this area. Let us come here tomorrow.

Bring people from north, south, east, and west. Hungry for more of you. Anoint this worship team, the vocals and instrumentals. The people, before they even walk in, they feel there's something different about this place.

Thank you, Lord. Lord, I pray for those here who came tonight. They're broken. They're hurting. They're depressed, angry, upset, bitter, addicted. Lord, heal them. Holy Spirit, speak to them. Comfort and joy and encouragement.

We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right. Thank you so much, Richard. You ready to do this again tomorrow morning? All right, guys. If you need anything, let me know. I will be up here for a little while.

Also, the prayer team. I think I see Doug and Yvette. Lori's here. So, if you guys need any prayer, Barbara's here, too. You can find the prayer team over here. But I'll be up here if you need anything, too.

I'm trying to save my voice for tomorrow. So, be in prayer. Thank you, guys.