Here is a collection of helpful verses and quotes related to my message, "Why the Good News is So Good". I pray these are as encouraging to you as they were to me:

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
[2] So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
[3] Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you. (Psalm 63:1–3)

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? ” (John Piper, "God is the Gospel")

One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

"The Redeemed have all their objective Good in God. God himself is the great Good which they are brought to the Possession and Enjoy|ment of by Redemption. He is the highest Good, & the Sum of all that Good which Christ purchased. God is the Inheritance of the Saints; he is the Portion of their Souls. God is their Wealth and Treasure, their Food, their Life, their dwelling Place, their Ornament and Dia|dem, and their everlasting Honour and Glory. They have none in Heaven but God; he is the great Good which the Redeemed are received to at Death, and which they are to rise to at the End of the World. The Lord God He is the Light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the River of the Water of Life that runs, and the Tree of Life that grows, in the midst of the Paradise of God. The glorious Excellencies and Beauty of God will be what will for ever entertain the Minds of the Saints, and the Love of God will be their e|verlasting Feast. The Redeemed will indeed en|joy other things; they will enjoy the Angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the Angels, or each other, or in a|ny thing else whatsoever, that will yield them Delight and Happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them." (Jonathan Edwards, "God Glorified in the Work of Redemption")

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
[6] The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance...
[8] I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken...
[11] You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:5-6, 9, 11)

“Many people seem to embrace the good news without embracing God. There is no sure evidence that we have a new heart just because we want to escape hell. That's a perfectly natural desire, not a supernatural one. It doesn't take a new heart to want the psychological relief of forgiveness, or the removal of God's wrath, or the inheritance of God's world. All these things are understandable without any spiritual change. You don't need to be born again to want these things. The devils want them. It is not wrong to want them. Indeed it is folly not to. But the evidence that we have been changed is that we want these things because they bring us to the enjoyment of God. This is the greatest thing Christ died for. This is the greatest good in the good news. Why is that? Because we were made to experience full and lasting happiness from seeing and savoring the glory of God. If our best joy comes from something less, we are idolaters and God is dishonored. He created us in such a way that his glory is displayed through our joy in it." (John Piper, "God is the Gospel")

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
[18] yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
[19] GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17–19)

“He loves You too little, who loves anything together with You, which he loves not for Your sake... You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in You.” (Augustine, "Confessions")

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit... [6] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:6)

"The revelation made of Christ in the blessed Gospel is far more excellent, more glorious, and more filled with rays of divine wisdom and goodness, than the whole creation and the just comprehension of it, if attainable, can contain or afford. Without the knowledge hereof, the mind of man, however priding itself in other inventions and discoveries, is wrapped up in darkness and confusion. This, therefore, deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them. For if our future blessedness shall consist in being where he is, and beholding of his glory, what better preparation can there be for it than in a constant previous contemplation of that glory in the revelation that is made in the Gospel, unto this very end, that by a view of it we may be gradually transformed into the same glory?" (John Owen, "Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ in His Person, Office, and Grace")

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8–11)

“When the gospel of Jesus Christ frees us to see and savor the glory of God above all things, the way is opened for us to experience seamless joy in God and his gifts. We are able to see every gift as a beam from the sun of God’s glory. Every joy in the beam runs up to the fountain of light and ends there. No created thing becomes a rival but only a revelation of God.” (John Piper, "God is the Gospel")

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. [39] And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. [40] But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” [41] But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, [42] but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42)

“Faith has tasted the glory of God in Christ and treasures it enough that the fullness of it is worth waiting for and suffering for. Faith has seen the truth that part of Christ's glory is his trustworthiness. Therefore, faith can cast itself on the promise of Christ and trust that the fullness of glory and the fullness of joy will surely come.” (John Piper, "God is the Gospel")