It has been said that there are two things can really drive a person...pain and hunger. The latter of the two is something that we all have to deal with on a daily basis as we re-supply our bodies with life giving food. But hunger can be more than just an empty stomach. Hunger can also be a desire that we have to really go after something that we really want. Such was the case in the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26-40. Here we find a man who after reading the Scriptures in Isaiah 53:7-8, has a hunger to know who these Scriptures are referring to. Philip, a follower of Christ, begins to share with the Ethiopian that the One the Scripture refers to is Jesus Christ. The Ethiopian believes and is baptized. This Ethiopian man had just come from Passover in Jerusalem, but it still left a hunger or a void in his life. Until he had read about Christ he was seeking for something more. But when he learned of Jesus, his hunger of knowing Him was fulfilled. The lesson learned in this story is that we all must have a hunger for the things of God. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” The question is...ARE YOU HUNGRY?

Hebrews 10:5 - “Therefore when He came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for me.” When Jesus walked on this earth, He was the full embodiment of Christ, the manifestation of God in the flesh. Although He was in a fleshly body, He represented in the flesh, what God would do in the Spirit, that is to prepare a “body” for His Spirit to continue to dwell in even after Christ had ascended to the Right Hand of God. Every believer comprises His body on the earth today! The total purpose of Christ’s death on the cross was to “bring many sons to glory.” Which means, He would dwell in us and through us that we would become the sons of God! Christ is the Head of the church, but believers are the Body. Although we come from different walks of life, different races, cultures and backgrounds, the Body of Christ is unified! When God meshes together different abilities, talents, and personalities, it creates a strong Body that can have many functions but work together for the same purpose. That is what the Glorious Body of Christ is... Power with purpose! What is the purpose? It is God’s purpose to fulfill His will in the earth through His Body.

Galatians 5:1 - “ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Freedom is a privilege that is shared in our nation. But freedom is not free unless someone makes a sacrifice. America is the home of the brave and the land of the free because people fought and died to allow others to enjoy freedom. But freedom is not just given through the sacrifice of brave men and women, freedom is given through One who can only give true freedom in every sense. John 8:36 declares, “ If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” There are three “freedom” principles that we should consider through Christ. 1. The rest that His freedom can bring. Why worry when God gives us perfect peace? 2. To respond with a life empowered by the Holy Spirit. The life of freedom is lived out wisely, when we respond to the Spirit that keeps us free. 3. Reach out to others and let your Christianity become contagious. Share Christ with others so they too can know the freedom in Him. As Christians, we must take our freedom seriously. Not only celebrating our freedom as a nation, but celebrating the ultimate freedom we have in Christ!

Matthew 8:1-4 records an event in the life of Jesus that occurred immediately after the great Sermon on the Mount. It was an act of reaching out to one who was considered untouchable. The Sermon on the Mount was one of challenge to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, which Jesus displayed as He came down from the mountain. Great sermons are more than just putting people on a spiritual high. Great sermons also prepare us to care and to serve. The man that Christ healed was a leper, whom society had labeled as untouchable. Jesus touched him and made him whole. As we serve the Lord, we must be Christ-like in the sense that we have compassion for those who are unclean. Like the leper, there is a world who is decaying from the effects of sin. As followers of Jesus, we must not only say the right things, we must demonstrate them through our willingness to touch the untouchable. Many need the touch of God in their lives and He has called us to go to them. Luke 19:10 says Christ came... “to seek and to save that which is lost.” As His ambassadors, that is our mission as well. There is no sin too deep, no sorrow too great that God cannot save. Let’s reach the hurting!

As believers, faith is an area of our life that must be used in order to please God so we get proper results in the destiny He has called us to. Although faith is the evidence of things not seen, it is NOT silent. Faith must be given a voice. Faith must be confessed daily in our walk with Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:13 - “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke...” The voice of faith should be loud and clear. When God’s written Word declares a truth, we speak that Word in faith over our lives. It is then that faith is established and His Word will do what it is sent to do. By making “faith declarations,” we come into an agreement with the Word of God. When we agree with the Word, the Word comes alive and our faith then becomes sight. However in exercising faith, let us be careful to discern the difference between faith and presumption. Proper faith is believing what God has already established through His Word... Presumption is only our own thoughts or desires. Abraham was a man who had faith in God’s Word and did not presume, but simply took God at His Word; and because of His faith confession, He was called the “friend of God.”