Exalted and Enjoyed
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles and go to Psalm 67. We'll look at a few other passages before we get there, but we'll be in Psalm 67 and we'll be in Romans 15 this morning and we'll also have some other things we jump around to. Right after Easter, on the Monday after Easter, the pastors met over here and Isaac, who's an elder in training.
We met over here early on Monday morning, loaded up in a rental van and drove to Louisville, Kentucky to go to T4G, which is a pastor's conference in Louisville. And this was the last time they were having it. So Spencer loved that conference. He kept telling us we should go. We kept telling him, neat. And then when it was the last one, he was like, you're all going or I'm fighting all of you and then we're all going.
So we just said, okay, we'll go. So we went and it was encouraging. There was about 10,000 people there and it was a pretty intense conference. The first session we went to was four hours long and they had a lot of sessions that were from seven o'clock to 10 o'clock at night. And so you would show up early in the morning, go to a session, you go to lunch, you go to a session, you go to dinner, you come back, go to a session, you'd go home and try to sleep at an Airbnb where elephants had rented the room above us. So, and we, but it was, it was great.
We ate really well and then went to hear a lot of preaching. And then we sang hymns to a piano with 10,000 people. It was, it was very encouraging. I was well fed both at restaurants and in the conference. And I think all of us thoroughly enjoyed it except for maybe Isaac who doesn't like to eat as much as we do and wants to move around a lot more than we did. So he, he, he struggled through a little bit, but the rest of us, I think, ate it up.
And we, there was a session there where David Platt spoke. And David Platt is a pastor of McLean Bible Church in, around DC. And he was the, he wrote the book Radical. And if you're familiar with that, and he was the president of the International Mission Board for about four years. So from about 2014 to 2018, he was the president of the International Mission Board for the Southern Baptist, which is the foreign, it used to be called the Foreign Mission Board, but it's sending missionaries from the U.S. overseas.
And he spoke about the need and the call for global missions. And as he spoke, we just, we sat there. When he was done, everybody, you know, dismissed, people got up, moved. We didn't. The, the five of us just sat and didn't have much to say and then started looking at each other and going, okay, we need to, we need to address this. We need to talk about this with our church family.
We need to acknowledge some of what he walked through. And so that's what this is. We're going to walk through much of what he went through. I'm going to quote some of his stats. He actually listed three problems. I'm going to read word for word those three problems as we go through this morning.
And then the next couple of weeks, we'll continue to look at this idea and kind of how we get to respond as a church. So that's what we're doing today. I would encourage you to go watch it. After you listen to this, you can get online, go to T4G, watch David Platt's most recent sermon there. You'll say, hey, that sounded a lot like what you said. Yes, because a lot of this is stuff that he walked right through.
So we're going to walk through that this morning. Let's pray and we'll jump in. God, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your glorious, joy-filled, eternal plan to rescue the nations. We pray, Lord, that we'd get to participate as those who are going to live eternally with you, that we would be about your business while we're here. We ask for your grace and your help and your empowerment in Jesus' name.
Amen. So this is a direct quote. It's a helpful way to word this. Anybody could kind of come to this conclusion from the scriptures. It's just well-worded. It's the ultimate goal of God is his glory enjoyed and exalted among the nations.
If you've read much of John Piper, you'll hear phrasing like that. But it's looking at the scriptures and saying this is God's plan. The ultimate goal of God is his glory enjoyed and exalted among the nations. And we're going to walk through and help show that through the scriptures, that this is his plan. This is what he wants. And it's wonderful that the word enjoyed is in there.
That's part of his plan, that he will be enjoyed and exalted among the nations. So we're going to walk through and see those three things, enjoyed, exalted, and among the nations. The first place we'll look is Genesis 12. It'll be on the screen. We won't spend much time here and we'll get to Psalm 67 in a second. Genesis 12.
This is God calling Abraham. It's before he's even renamed him to Abraham. But this is in the book of Genesis. We fall into sin and there's a promise that God's going to fix this. And then this is the first bit of God fixing this where he's coming to begin his rescue plan. And here's the promise he makes to Abraham.
It says, Now the Lord said to Abraham, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So the very first time God says to Abraham as he begins to call him and begins to work out this plan, He says, In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
It's in God's mind at that moment that this will not just be for the nation of Israel. This will not just be for Abraham and his bloodline. But that his plan is all the families, all the peoples, all the people groups of the earth to receive this blessing that's going to come through Abraham. And ultimately the blessing that comes through Abraham is Jesus. So at Galatians 3.8, Paul picking up on this says this, Says the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles, that's all the peoples who aren't Jewish.
So if he's going to justify the Jewish peoples and all the people who aren't Jewish, I don't know if you have a Venn diagram of people, but that's all of them. Okay? He's going to rescue all peoples, all nations, all families. He says, Preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed. So this justifying the Gentiles is the preaching of the gospel.
He's going to justify the Gentiles by faith, meaning that's the stuff we talked about. There's justification by faith that if you trust in Jesus, he forgives us and makes us right. That's the gospel. And he's saying that gospel was preached the very first time he mentioned it to Abraham. This is how this is going to work. That I'm going to rescue through you the nations, and that ultimately comes through Jesus.
That Christianity is not tethered to a language. It's not tethered to a location. It's not tethered to a people group. That Christianity, that the center of Christianity has actually moved around the globe throughout history because it is for the nations. Psalm 67. We read this together just a few moments ago.
But this is a blessing in the Psalm. And the Psalms are songs and poems that God gifted his people in order for us to understand who he is, in order for us to worship. And it says, may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among the nations. So this is a Jewish blessing that the Jewish people would be blessed so that the nations will see God's glory, so that the nations will be able to participate. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity, and you guide the nations upon the earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. So I want to show you a few things here. This is God's plan. This is the plan that God has for the nations, is that we would praise, and that in our praise, our gladness and joy would be tied up.
Did you all know that about genuine praise? I've given this some thought, and you might come up with some other categories, but I think we have flattery, begrudging acknowledgement, and genuine praise. Flattery is where I say something nice to you that I don't believe for my own good. I'm just saying things, but usually that's just for my purposes. And if you've been around someone, and you can pick up on it when they're not good at it, and they're constantly flattering, there's something kind of gross about it. But that's, the Proverbs talk about this, this flattery, this buttering somebody up.
That's not what God wants. He doesn't want us to flatter him. Then there's begrudging acknowledgement. This is when they interview the fighter who lost, or the coach who lost. They will say, well, you've got to give them a lot of credit. They don't want to have to give them a lot of credit, but you've got to give them a lot of credit.
They played really well. He's the best there is. They say these kind of things. Maybe there's enjoyment there, but usually it's just begrudging acknowledgement. He hit me harder than I hit him, and that is why I passed out. Begrudging acknowledgement.
And then there's genuine praise. And whenever we're in genuine praise, there's genuine delight. They go together. Whenever you're just overwhelmed by something so that you begin to talk about how great it is, your enjoyment is tied up in that. If you've ever been eating a meal and just went, oh my goodness. People are like, what?
And you had stuck food back in your mouth already. It's like, I'll tell you in a second. And you finish chewing, you go, these biscuits. Like that idea that we're just caught up. If you've ever been in love, or you've been around someone in love, and they won't shut up about the person they love, there's genuine delight and enjoyment that rolls up into praise. And God is glorious and delightful.
There's pleasures at his right hand forevermore. He's wonderful. And so when he calls us to praise, I remember my cousin arguing this out with my grandmother at one point, that God calling people to praise him, God saying you will glorify me was narcissistic. Not if God is the most glorious thing, then it's gracious. God who made all things, if he said I've made everything and what y'all should really, really like is money, what does that say about him? If he said, y'all, I'm telling you, roller coasters.
He just needs some adrenaline. That's where it's at. No, he says I'm where it's at. And he's graciously having us participate in his goodness. And us singing his praise is enjoyment and delight and gladness. That's what it's saying.
Let the nations be glad. Let them praise you. Let them see how wonderful you are so that they are swept up in it. That's the hope. That we would get to know him so well that we get swept up in all of the joy and all of the delight and all of his glory, that he would be enjoyed and exalted among the nations. Revelation 5.
Let me say this about God having us participate in his enjoyment, in his glory for our enjoyment. His exaltation is our enjoyment. I remember in elementary school, my dad picked me up early from school one day because it was my birthday. And his plan was come hang out with me. That was it. He came and picked me up and we just went and did stuff.
And I just got to hang out with my dad for a day without my brothers there ruining it. And it was great. And he understood that the right relationship between us is enjoyment and that it would be enjoyable to just get to spend time with him because he's my father. And that's what God's doing when he invites us in. He's saying this is actually the right relationship is enjoyment and mutual love and delight in one another. He's inviting us into that.
Okay, Revelation 5. Verse 9. It says, They sang a new song saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll. These are the angels in front of God. Sing a new song. It says, to sing it to Christ.
It says, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation that when Jesus died he purchased with his blood people that now belong to him through his sacrifice and where do they come from? every tribe every people every language every nation and it says all that so that we won't get confused. well is it does it have to do with like national borders? Does it have to do with heritage? Does it have to do with the way you talk? Yes. He's gotten all of them. He's ransomed from all of those places.
Well is it does it have to do with like national borders? Does it have to do with heritage? Does it have to do with the way you talk? Yes. He's gotten all of them. He's ransomed from all of those places. Somebody belongs to Jesus. And then as John gets to look forward he gets to actually see in a vision what this looks like at the end of all time in Revelation 7 two chapters later it said
After this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Look back at verse 9 from every nation from all tribes and peoples
And languages standing before the throne the first time God says this he says you're going to be a blessing to all peoples and then in Genesis and then in the book of Revelation it says he did it. it will be accomplished all of them will be present everyone will be represented God did not make a language that will not sing his praise God does not have a people group that will not get
To participate in his glory no one is excluded that is his plan that God's glory the ultimate goal of God is his glory enjoyed and exalted among the nations and we could we could say that because that is true then we could say that the ultimate goal goal of his church is his glory enjoyed and exalted among the nations if it's his goal
Then it's our goal if that's where he's moving history then that's what we're participating in so I want to talk a little bit about our church before we look at this idea of the mission of the church from the scriptures when we first felt called to plant a church and felt called specifically to the south we had a lot of people say like there's a lot of churches in the south
Yes there are a lot of churches in the south and my general response to that usually was there's also a lot of people who don't know Jesus in the south and there's also a lot of people who think they know enough about Jesus they've been inoculated to the gospel they know enough things about Jesus to think that they don't need him and so we set out to reach people who weren't going
To go to a church if you wanted to show up to a church there was a church to show up to so we said we need to get out in places where these people have no desire to go to the church we need the church to go to them we need to join their jobs we need to join their gyms we need to live in their neighborhoods and we need to harass them until they love Jesus and some of you are a testimony
To that that was your baptism video they would not shut up and now I love Jesus and he's great but that's it we said we needed to do those things we needed to participate in that and that we needed to set about the work of convincing some people that they were not Christians so that they could become one and when I grew up I had this understanding of missionaries
Were people who left the country and then everybody else just was here and basically what God wanted from you was like some general good behaviorousness like just show up do what you're supposed to and I kind of missed that there were people who needed Christ here and that we're supposed to be missionaries here so when that clicked and we went to plant a church
And felt like we were supposed to be here that was the song we played that's what we've said over and over again if you've been around enough you've heard everyday missionary you've heard groups on mission you've heard that you're supposed to be a missionary you're supposed to look at your schedule we don't want to fill up your schedule with a bunch
Of things we want you to look at your schedule and already see where are you where do you spend 40 hours a week where do you spend 50 hours a week and then you need to use that as an opportunity for mission and we've said if you look at your schedule and realize I'm not around anybody
Then you have to add some things to your schedule to be around some people who don't know Jesus you've got to start walking around your neighborhood you've got to start prayer walking in your cubicles you've got to start making a friend if you're bad at that you need to go with someone in
Your group who's good at it and make a friend with their friend so that you can participate this is what we've said and we've said it over and over again but there's a danger that we miss the grand picture of God there's a danger that we get a little tunnel
Vision and we miss that his desire is his glory enjoyed and exalted among the nations if you get to spend enough time with me you'll learn that I have great ideas and I don't understand the laughter and because I care about you if I'm
Around you enough I will share my great ideas with you I'll watch your life and then I will give you good helpful suggestions for your life because I care about you and I want your life to be good so I'm going to share one such idea that
I had that I have shared with some people who have just failed to see how good of an idea it is Chris and Danielle Rocky are in my community group for a couple years and then we helped send them to Honduras
And then they have come back they were overseas missionaries for a little over a year and came back and they were up here this morning that's Danielle's bass guitar and this is where Chris is playing drums and so here's my
Suggestion that I've made to them and I'll help them do it I've even offered to help execute this we help make some photos of a band that they're in and we book them some gigs but when they show up it's just the two
Of them and they act like they're all aggravated that the rest of their band quit right before the gig and they see how many songs they can play just from the bass and the drums before they make them stop that's my plan
Like I want Chris to go free bird one two three and then just play the drums and her just be on the bass going and I want them to pick really where like the bass doesn't do much and the drums don't do
Much and maybe even at times go this next song's acoustic guitar and just sit periodically Daniel can lean into the mic and go ooh cover as many hits as they can but just from the
Bass and the drums and just see if they can get away with it and we'll book them as many gigs as we can around town they have not taken me up on that and you can tell foolishness I know y'all can talk to
Them about it afterwards here's the danger and the way we've talked about mission is that while the idea of what we're talking about is important and important for you as you live here and important for us as a church is we are sent to
This area very specifically if that's all we ever talk about then we're just a bass line and you're missing the whole beautiful song we're just the drums and that's our part that's where we are we get to participate in that but we miss the rest of it
If that's all we ever talk about so I want you to see that this goal of God is also the specific mission given to the church let's look at this so Genesis 12 he always chooses people to participate in his plan God wants
This to work out through human actors he wants to not just rip open the sky and announce it but he wants humans to participate in what he's doing he's always inviting us into relationship with him and participation with him and so that's what happens in Genesis 12 in
Matthew 28 it says this this is the great commission go therefore and make disciples of all nations that that word there is ethne or ethnos it's all ethnicities all people groups baptizing them in the name
Of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I'm with you always
To the end of the age one of the things that David Platt said that I thought was extremely helpful was the great commission
Is not to go make as many disciples as possible but it is to make disciples of all nations that God's plan is not
Just a lot of believers but believers from all the peoples Matthew 24 14 this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the
Whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come Luke 24 47 repentance for the forgiveness of sin should
Be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem this is what it says in Acts chapter one that they would begin in
Jerusalem and they would work their way out to the ends of the earth or Romans 1 5 Paul Paul Paul's writing he says through
Whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations if
We belong to the church we care about the nations if we belong to Christ we care about the nations Romans 15 this is
Paul writing in the book of Romans he's walked through all of the theology he's finishing his letter and he says this we're starting
Verse 18 for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience
By word and deed that links back to what he just said in Romans 1 that it's this obedience of all nations and by
Power and signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum
I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ and thus I make told of him will see and those who have never heard
Will understand this is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you but now since I no longer have
Any room for work in these regions and since I have longed for many years to come to you I hope to see you
In passing as I go to Spain and be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a
While at present however I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints this is the apostle Paul he's gone on three missionary
Journeys at this point this this is his first one they're in Antioch the Holy Spirit says to set Paul and Barnabas aside for
The mission so they leave the church at Antioch they go down to Cyprus they loop around in the area of Galatia and they
Come back that's missionary trip one missionary trip two they leave from Judea they go up to Antioch they go through the places they
Had already been and then they work their way across through Asia then they feel like they're supposed to go to Macedonia so they
Go up that way that's where they hit Philippi Thessalonica Corinth and Ephesus and they work their way back down that's missionary trip two
Missionary trip three they leave Antioch you notice they go back to Antioch a lot they leave Antioch they go through the areas of Galatia
They cut through Colossae they go through Ephesus back around Philippi Thessalonica Corinth back up another loop come back down back over Caesarea Judea and
Then he says I have no more room for work I did it nothing else to be done around here so he says I'm coming
To Rome and then y'all are going to send me to Spain that's the plan now look back at that verse verse 23 since
I no longer have any room for work in these regions what you read the New Testament there's no room for work in Corinth nothing to do there Galatia
Maybe doesn't need you to swing back by everybody here knows Jesus you did it mission accomplished banner we've done it that sounds crazy
Yeah I made three laps nailed it I'm out of here no more room to work what he doesn't mean is that there's nothing
Else for the gospel to do here there's nobody else to be reached the reality is when he sent out of Antioch everybody is supposed to
Stay except for two of what Paul is saying is I'm supposed to preach where they haven't yet heard that's verse 20 I make it
My ambition to preach the gospel not where Christ has already been named lest I build on someone else's foundation and then he says
In 21 those who have never been told of him will see and those who have never heard will understand we have to have
A special place in our to Spain I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and be helped on my journey
There by you he just says I know that nobody's been telling anybody about Jesus in Spain so I'm going so David Platt who
Was over the international mission board for several years who's now a part of joining with his radical organization with Joshua Project he listed
Off three problems that we are currently facing the first one is this over three billion people are currently unreached by the gospel it's 3.29
Billion people are currently unreached by the gospel there are 7.9 billion people on the planet so that's around 41% of the people on the planet now we
Have to define the word unreached unreached does not mean they do not know Jesus unreached means no one around them is going to
Tell them about Jesus the way he put it is he said it does not define one's status before God but one's access to
The gospel the word unreached does not define one's status before God but one's access to the gospel meaning that there are people who
Do not know Jesus in your neighborhood where you work out or at your work but they are not unreached because you are there
God has commissioned someone namely you to be there to pray for them to plead with them to tell them about Christ but there
Are 3.29 billion people without anybody that knows them that loves them that's going to share the gospel with them there are plenty of
People in this area who don't know Jesus but there are people here proclaiming Christ but there are 3.29 billion people around the globe
In areas where no one is proclaiming Christ this is a map from the Joshua project green is areas that are reached that there's
Gospel work there there's access to the gospel there yellow is areas where it's in the middle and it's either in the middle because
It's growing or because it's declining it used to be an area of strong faith and now it's less and less Christian or it's
An area where it used to be red and now it's becoming more Christian and red is and nations and nobody's telling them about
Jesus and there's 3.29 billion people in the red and in that section of red right there where it's all clumped together it's the
1040 Window and 3.18 billion of those people are there so there's little spots of red if you look around and the reason that
Place is red is because they are hostile to the gospel they are hard places to go they are hard languages to learn they
Don't want you there telling people about Jesus but Jesus does the second what that means for places that are unreached like Algeria like
Sudan Yemen like Yemen Yemen right now is in the middle of a crisis and war there are people who will be born who
Will live their entire life and who will die and they will never heard the hope of the gospel they will never heard the
Name of Jesus there are billions of people now who will live who will die and will never hear about Jesus and in many
Of those places they will have lived in an earthly hell fighting to survive fighting to eat fighting just to just to straggle along
And then they will go to an eternal hell never having anybody tell them about Christ so the second problem he listed is this
The church is practically ignoring the people and places most unreached by the gospel the church is practically ignoring the people and places most
Unreached by the gospel so look at this map again this is a stat I came across as I was looking at this in the US people who
Are Christians 98% of their income goes back to them so that 98% of the money that comes in is spent on them their household
2% Leaves for charitable purposes I would encourage all of you to actually look at your spending and see where you fall in that
Of that money that goes out billions are given to churches most of the money is spent locally so a lot of that makes sense
But that's how it works most of the money is spent locally most of our we pay for plumbers to come by here twice
A week spend most of our money locally then billions of dollars are still given to global missions 99% of the money given goes to
The green 97% of the missionaries go to the green green or yellow 99% of the money goes to green or yellow 97% of the missionaries goes to
Green or yellow which means that 1% of the money and 3% of the people are going to the red now again some of
That makes sense we have access we have inroads in the green people take mission trips to the green they have their heart touched
They want to go back and serve they see needs we don't take many mission trips to the red it's hard to take people
You don't pile people don't go to the red there's a lot of languages that are hard to learn there's a lot of small people groups
In those red some of them belong to Jesus he's already purchased them but there are a lot of people groups in the red that
It's hard to learn their language it's hard to get there we don't have direct connections with them and the people in the red
Don't want you there so there's a lot of avenues for us to send money to the green and a lot of avenues for people to
Get their heart to where they fall in love with an area of the green and go back and there's needed work there we're
Here this place is green and you know there's people who need to meet Jesus and some of you are thankful that we came
Here if 97% of our missionaries keep going elsewhere and if 99% of our money keeps going there I mentioned the Rockies earlier they
Won't do my band idea but they did do God's idea of going overseas to share the gospel with people and we got to
Get behind them and participate and we got to help send them to Honduras and I'm not saying that kind of work is needed
I'm here I think this kind of work is needed but the church has to get really serious about the red or it'll stay
Red third problem he listed is this the number of unreached people is higher today than ever before and will continue to increase until
The church decides to change the number of unreached people today is higher than ever before and will continue to increase until the church
Decides to change unreached meaning having no access to the gospel that number is growing not shrinking so the church has to do something
Has to participate in God's plan I'm going to read one more quote from him he said if we are not living and dying to make
Disciples of unreached nations then we are disobeying the great commission and disregarding the goal of God that if we don't care about that
If the church is not living and dying for that if we are not sending some money towards that if we are not giving
Effort towards that if some of us are not going towards that then it is a practical rejection of the great commission which calls
Us to go to all nations now the United States is among the nations but we currently sit in a place of affluence we
Currently sit in a place where we spend money on things we do not need and we currently sit in a time when there
Are more unreached peoples than ever before and something has to change those are the three problems I have three encouragements for us as we finish
Up our time first one God's plan is wonderful that his desire is to rescue people from all nations from all tongues from all
Tribes to bring them to himself for an eternity of delight that's wonderful and if you belong to Jesus that is your future that
I actually have an eternity before me where I have all my good things there which means that all my good things aren't here
If you belong to Jesus all your good things are there they're not here so we ought to live as if we know that
And we ought to be willing to sacrifice here so that more people can get there because there's 3.29 billion people in unreached people
Groups that currently have no hope of getting there but his plan is wonderful secondly God's plan will be fulfilled Revelation 5.9 says worthy are you to
Take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe
And language and people and nation the church can send people to the red we can send people to the most hostile areas on
The globe some of them will die and step into a glorious eternity and we can send over and over and over again with
The knowledge and the certainty that somebody is coming out somebody there is going to praise the name of Jesus for eternity so we
Can go you can send money and you can go personally and we can send missionaries and we can go not knowing how it
Will turn out ultimately with our lives but knowing ultimately how it will turn out with somebody that tribe is going to be there
God will not fail to have a tribe or a language or a nation or people gathered around his throne we don't know how
Many but we know somebody is coming out we know that God will fulfill his mission and by his grace we get to participate
By his grace you get to join in the delight of God to rescue the nations that's my third encouragement is that we as
A church are uniquely positioned we are uniquely positioned as a church to join God's global plan and not because KC South Carolina is the epicenter
Of travel or something there are three missions organizations that do their work in the red that we give free office space to they help pay
Some utilities three one of them is in power one they're doing work in Sudan and a few other places and they're right over
Here another one is Novo a member of our church family Patricia is married to Ben Johnson she works for them she's there United
States eastern office I don't know if she has that kind of title but she's here working out of here for Novo who's doing work in Lebanon in the Middle East
And Ben Johnson his organization 1040 Hope who we've gotten to go on a trip to Egypt with is here our church that has 10 community groups 130 members
Has three missions organizations in our building that are going to the 1040 window praise Jesus and how dare we not join in what he set up for us praise Jesus and how dare we not
Participate in his goal to be exalted and enjoyed among the nations for eternity and if we belong to him this is our heart because it's his and we get the hope of enjoying
And exalting in him forever and may we live as if that is true and may we participate in his mission to see some of those people come out to praise his name in a tongue we don't
Understand the band is going to come back up we're going to get to sing together over the next few weeks we're going to get to talk about this we're going to get to have some of those organizations come talk to us
Answer some questions tell us about what they're doing so that we might continue to pray and see how we might participate in what God's doing my hope from today is that we would begin to wrap our mind around this and begin to ask the Lord
How can I participate where would you have me let's pray by the way thank you for your grace we thank you that by your blood you have ransomed from every tribe and every language and every people and every nation someone out
Of their sin someone out of darkness someone out of hopelessness into your glory and we thank you that for all of those who have trusted in Jesus who have been justified by faith who have been justified by your grace who have
Been justified by the work on the cross through Christ that we have an eternity filled with delight Lord we don't know why you've placed us where you've placed us we pray that we'd be mindful of the people who don't know you around us we pray that we'd
Be active in being missionaries here but Lord we know that you've given us an opportunity to go to the nations to participate in what you are doing to send and to serve and Lord may we by your empowerment
Through your Holy Spirit fulfill the good work that you've laid out for us and we ask this in Jesus name Amen