This message is Part 1 in the message series “AWAKENING” by Pastor Chuck Bernal. In this message titled, “Awakening To Longing”, Pastor Chuck talks the emptiness we feel in our lives and how we looks to pleasure, possessions and people - but they can never bring ultimate satisfaction because they are temporary in nature. Using the stories of Solomon and the Prodigal Son, he discusses the fact that each of us has a "God-shaped" hole which only God can fill - and that is where we will find our ultimate satisfaction and meaning in life. This message was delivered at LifePointe Church in Crowley, TX on Sunday, April 23, 2017.

1. Awakening To Longing (There’s Got To Be More)
Pastor Chuck Bernal - April 23, 2017
THE CRY OF EVERY HUMAN BEING: “THERE’S
GOT TO BE MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS”
These are the words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in
Jerusalem. “It is of no use,” says the Preacher. “It is of no use! All
is for nothing.” What does a man get for all his work which he does
under the sun? People die and people are born, but the earth stays
forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and travels in a hurry to the
place where it rises . . . All things are tiring. Man is not able to tell
about them. The eye never has enough to see, and the ear is never
filled with what it hears. What has been is what will be. And what
has been done is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the
sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “See, this is new”? It
has already been there since long before us. No one remembers the
things that happened before. And no one will remember the things
that will happen in the future among those who will come later.
(Ecclesiastes 1:1-5, 8-11 – NLV)
Our problem is our ________________________________ - we view
life horizontally
I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all
meaningless—like chasing the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1:14 – NLT)
But when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had
worked so hard to achieve, I realized that it was pointless—a chasing
after wind. Nothing is to be gained under the sun.

2. (Ecclesiastes 2:11 – CEB)
I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice, there was
wickedness; and in the place of what was right, there was wickedness
again! (Ecclesiastes 3:16– CEB)
Living life horizontally with a “LHP” (limited human perspective)
creates 3 huge problems:
______________________ _____________________ ______________________
THE PREACHER’S QUEST FOR SOMETHING MORE
(ECCLESIASTES)
In my opinion, nothing is worthwhile; everything is futile . . .
everything is unutterably weary and tiresome. No matter how much
we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are
not content. (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 8 – LB)
______________________ _____________________ ______________________
But as I looked at everything I had tried, it was all so useless, a
chasing of the wind,
and there was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. (Ecclesiastes 2:11 –
LB)
He who loves money shall never have enough.
The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness! (Ecclesiastes
5:10 – LB)
So I came to hate life because everything done under the sun seemed
wrong to me.
Everything was pointless. It was like trying to catch the wind.
(Ecclesiastes 2:17 – GWT)
In my opinion, nothing is worthwhile; everything is futile . . .
everything is unutterably weary and tiresome. No matter how much
we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are
not content. (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 8 – LB)

3. THE PRODIGAL’S QUEST FOR SOMETHING MORE (LUKE
15)
A man had two sons. When the younger told his father, “I want my
share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die!” His father
agreed to divide his wealth. A few days later this younger son packed
all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there wasted
all his money on parties and prostitutes. (Luke 15:11-13– LB)
______________________ _____________________ ______________________
About the time his money was gone a great famine swept over the
land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him
to feed his pigs. The boy became so hungry that even the pods he
was feeding the swine looked good to him. And no one gave him
anything. (Luke 15:14-16– LB)
WHERE THE QUEST LEADS - THERE IS A “GOD-SHAPED”
HOLE IN EACH OF US
What else does this craving and this helplessness proclaim but that
there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains
is the empty print and trace. This he tries in vain to fill with
everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help
he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this
infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object;
in other words, by God himself. (Blaise Pascal, French Mathematician
& Philosopher)
Lord, you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until
they find rest in you. (Augustine)
If the meaning to life cannot be found “under the sun”,
then I must look above it!
The preacher’s quest led him back to the
_____________________________

4. When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God
[worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is
almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to
every person. (Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Amp)
The prodigal’s quest led him back to the
_____________________________
He got right up and went home to his father. When he was still a
long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out,
embraced him, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20 – Msg)
AWAKENING PRINICPLE 1: I was created to have a
______________________
with God and until I do, my life will have no real
________________________,
_________________________________ or _____________________
His purpose in all this was that people of every culture and
religion would search for this ultimate God, grope for Him in the
darkness, as it were, hoping to find Him. Yet, in truth, God is not
far from any of us. (Acts 17:27 – Voice)
God, if you are real, make Yourself real to me.
Awaken in me the ability to see that You are what’s
missing from my life.
We cannot live the life of our dreams without an irrational sense of
destiny . . . All of us long for something more than we have and
become something more than we are. We are driven to achieve, moved
to accomplish, and fueled by ambition. It burns hotter in some than in

5. others, but it is within all of us. We are all searching for our unique
purpose and our divine destiny. (Erwin McManus)