TODAY: New Series: Soar Like An Eagle How the life of the eagle compares to the life of the Christian.

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1 Sermon Notes: October 6&7, 2012 Believers Chapel Sean Obergfell, Lead Pastor Listen to the Message!: TODAY: New Series: Soar Like An Eagle How the life of the eagle compares to the life of the Christian. God created the eagle on Day 5. Who has seen an eagle in flight? Would you agree that it is quite amazing? Proverbs 30:18-19: 18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand: 19 The way of an eagle in the sky, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a maid. Focus Scriptures for Today: Psalm 103 and Psalm 51 Psalm Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 5 Who satisfies your [a]years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. BLESS - means to praise! give thanks! to extol! There are some things we might want to forget. You might want to forget about a past girlfriend or a past boyfriend. Paul said to forget that which is behind. The things referred to in this Psalm are those to NOT be forgotten!

2 Remember these things! When you are going through bad times, come back to Psalm 103. This is good news! He has done everything to cleanse us from our iniquities, He bought us back! Remember the good things! He crowns us with loving kindness and satisfies our years with good things...so THAT YOUR YOUTH IS RENEWED LIKE THE EAGLE! Eagles molt. MOLT - lose feathers from being beat up by the weather and flight at high speeds. Their feathers take a beating and get weathered. What are some things that take a beating in our lives? Our cars. Our shoes. We keep these things clean and refresh them to keep them in good shape. Eagles molt. When a feather on the left wing falls out, the same one falls out on the right side. The eagle does not lose all feathers at once. It would die. SO THAT OUR YOUTH IS RENEWED LIKE AN EAGLE. There are seasons in our lives that we have to molt. Being in this world we go through hard times, seasons of life that are hard, where we get weathered. If an eagle can t fly, it will be a dead eagle. Don t forget the good things! RENEWED - refresh; restore; make new. Have you ever gone through a season of life that you came out beaten, hurting and weathered? Then you get before God and you praise and worship Him and stay steadfast and never back down? Then the refreshing comes; the restoring of your soul; this newness comes to you. You are being renewed just like the eagle. 1. FRESH START Colossians 3:10: 10 and have put on the new self who is being [a]renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him Our goal is to be closer to the image of Jesus Christ; and it takes a fresh start.

3 Titus 3:5: 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Not based on anything that we have accomplished, or what we have materially, but based on his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. This is what we want to see happen in this area. That truth would be preached, that the Holy Spirit would draw people in and that they would know what it means to have a fresh start. If you pray for God to open the door for opportunities, start watching for the doors to be opened! It is by HIS blood we are saved. Not by what we do! When someone asks you about your faith, this is what you will tell them! It is by Jesus and by nothing we have done. 2. FRESH PASSION II Samuel 11 David, a man after God s own heart. David sinned by lingering and watching Bathsheba bathe. She was another man s wife (Uriah). David called her up to him, slept with her, got her pregnant and had Uriah killed. David had had God s favor in his life. God picked him to be king. And David then sinned with Bathsheba. God pointed out clearly that David had blown it and that there would be consequences. The child would die. David accepted the consequences of his sin. This is why David was a man after God s own heart: This is what he prayed to God after his sin: Psalm 51

4 7 [g]purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; [h]wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 [i]make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create [j]in me a clean heart, O God, And renew [k]a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will [l]be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, [m]open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. 16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. David knew worship. We get most of our worship songs from the Psalms. David wanted his passion back because of his sin. He wanted to get back to that passion to have joy and gladness and joy in salvation again. When you have unrepentant sin in your life, the passion is not there, the zeal is not there. Your salvation does not go anywhere, but the joy and passion of the salvation is destroyed by sin. 15 O Lord, [m]open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. 16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Ask God to get you back to that place to molt. How many of us could use

5 our passion back? How many of us need to get back to that joy of our salvation? The enemy loves to steal our joy! He wants to steal that joy. We are FREE FROM SIN, GUILT AND CONDEMNATION. When we come to Him repenting of that sin, He forgives us and restores our joy! He removes our sin as far as the east is from the west. What an incredible God! That we can come so freely to worship Him and come back to a place of passion just like David did. Where is your life in this? Have you lost your joy because you ve been weathered? Or because of sin? The heaviness and weight of sin? The heaviness and weight of being weathered? 3. FRESH STRENGTH II Corinthians 4:16: 16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Who we are on the inside (our hearts) is being renewed day by day. Our character is being renewed day by day. Do we really get before Him and ask that our hearts be renewed and get stronger and stronger? Even though the outside is decaying, our inside can grow stronger and stronger through Him. This is who we really are; what we are is on the INSIDE. Oh, that we would grow stronger and stronger on the INSIDE. We can be renewed, restored and refreshed EVERY DAY. Isaiah 40:31: 31 Yet those who [a]wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will [b]mount up with [c]wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. WAIT - to actively participate. We need a fresh start, to have our passion back, to have our strength back... to be strengthened on the inside day after day. Regardless of the storms and circumstances, the inner man would get stronger and stronger. A fresh

6 strength. That we would fly free again! Walk and not grow tired or weary. It takes renewal. Have you been weathered? Taken some hits? Pray to have your passion back! Pray to have God molt off those circumstances. Pray to have that fresh strength. Spend time in the Word; with other believers; in prayer. Develop your inner person to be stronger day after day after day. Next Week: To Mount Up as eagles. SDO/kam