Psalm 9:10a sermon format

Introduction

The enormity of what takes place when a person is spiritually born again is so mind-blowing that I can only sketch a few inadequate word pictures. It is becoming a sparkling, totally new person with abilities, status and destiny beyond your wildest dreams. (Gerald 2002) It is:

falling in love

discovering a new dimension

receiving a last minute pardon on death row

discovering you are of royal descent; heir to a fortune and immense honor

embarking on life's most exciting adventure

finding your purpose in life

stumbling upon the secret of eternal life

after being the luckless black sheep suddenly becoming the darling of God himself (Eaton 2005)

We had all foolishly rebelled against our Maker; selfishly hurting people and grieving God by violating his holy standards. The result was catastrophic. The God of holy perfection cannot relate to anyone morally flawed. We had cut ourselves off from Creator God and there is nothing we can do to regain the moral perfection required to be rejoined to the God we desperately need. Except for Jesus trading places with us, our predicament is totally hopeless. (Gibb 2001) To be friends with God involves abandoning all hope of ever pleasing God by our own efforts and, instead, relying on Jesus to do it for us. We must trust Jesus to make us perfect in God's sight and to give us the power to please God. We must then choose a life of fulfillment that revolves around God, with all other things being of lesser priority. (Gerald 2002)

Additional resources on the above topic (Links like this appear at the end of each section. Some of them are most valuable for gaining a deeper understanding.) (Eaton 2005)

Constantly desire to know God more fully and more intimately

The more we fall in love with someone, the more totally we want to know that person. Take Moses and the Apostle Paul as examples. These great men of God, after having already experienced God in a very deep way, both expressed the yearning to know God in an even fuller, more intimate way (Exodus 33:13,18; Philippians 3:8,10). (Gibb 2001)

Knowing God is so basic that it is the essential part of eternal life (John 17:3). It is the one thing worth boasting about (Jeremiah 9:24).

Even in intimate human relationships, getting to know someone fully is a life-long process. How much more should this be the case in getting to know God. ...