Hello Everyone,

The First element of this worship is It was rooted in a Hunger for the Word.

Nehemiah 8:1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

"We want to hear what God has said!" This happened at the water gate, a symbol of the Word! The people gathered there in great number because they were hungry for the Word.

Are you hungry for the Word? Is that why you are reading this today? Are you really hungry for it? Does that mean you'll gather at the gate again in Life Learning (Sunday School), Wed. night, or in a Life Group this week? Will you be hungry at family devotions and private devotions?

A little boy brought his father the family Bible from the coffee table. "What is this daddy?" "It's the Bible, it's God's book." his dad replied. "Then should we give it back to Him since we don't use it?"

How about your Bible? Does it collect dust on a table or shelf? Do you even need to take it home or could it just stay in your seat all week?

Another lady wanted to impress the preacher when he dropped by for a visit. She said to her daughter, "Honey, go get the blessed book mama loves so much." She ran off and came back with the Sears catalog!

I hope you're hungry, because we have a feast set before us, and it would be a shame not to clean our plates!

Psalm 19:9-10 ... the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

We are only going to see revival when God's people want the WORD more than they want money, prosperity, or healthcare.

Job 23:12 ... I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

I'm addicted. I'm addicted to food! So are you!! Just fast from it for 24 hours and you'll know it. In just a few hours you'll find yourself looking longingly at that fridge, saying, remember what we used to have together? Remember when I would throw open your door and indulge in anything I wanted? Oh my love, we can have it all again, you and me!

We've got a love affair with our refrigerator and we cheat on it with many restaurants! But abstinence is not the choice we make...at least not for long. Most of us can't go 7 hours without eating, but we can go 7 days without reading the Word of God! Something is wrong.

We feed the flesh abundantly but we don't feed our Spirit properly. No wonder our flesh grows and our Spirit shrinks up against our spine!

"These hath God married and no man shall part,

dust on the Bible and drought in the heart."

Psalm 119:162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

That's hidden treasure! David said, I go on a daily treasure hunt, and it's not hard to find gold nuggets in this Book! We may call it hidden treasure, but its hidden right under our noses!

Nehemiah's people were hungry for the Word more than food, gold, or treasure. Keep in mind they didn't all have copies of the Word. They didn't have a Bible bookstore on the corner. Most of them only heard the Word when someone would stand and read it publicly.

What a hunger they had. They didn't have their own copies, but they longed to hear. We have many copies, and seem content to go about our lives without cracking it open on our own.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil