Well thank you. It's great to be with you today and really it's been great to be with you for the past 10 months, serving as your mission Pastor. Thank you again for how well you have welcomed me to your church family and not just me, but my own family as well. We have loved every minute of our time here at MERT Hickory and we're just getting started. I've had the opportunity in the past six weeks to travel and see our ministry partners in Kenya, our ministry partners in Guatemala, and even this past week take a trip to Senegal, which I'll share more about later. And in all of these places, I've been so encouraged to see how God is moving throughout the world in a variety of cultures, in a variety of contexts and the way that burnt Hickory has been involved through short term trips.
And I think we have an exciting future together when it comes to missions. Now, as Pastor Matt mentioned in the introduction, we are in a sermon series called the Summer of Psalms. Each Sunday we've looked at a different psalm and if you've been out of town or if this is your first Sunday visiting man, I encourage you to listen, to check out those past sermons. You will be blessed. Now, today we're gonna look at Psalm 67. This is a short psalm, only seven verses, but you know what they say, the shorter the Psalm, the longer the sermon. But don't worry, I promise the next three hours are gonna fly right by. I'm not even joking, this is the last service, so I really probably could get away with that, but no, I'm just kidding. Um, in all seriousness, we're gonna read the text. I'm gonna make three observations.
I'm gonna ask three diagnostic questions along the way and then leave you with three takeaways or three next steps. So if you have your Bible or your digital device, I invite you to turn to or swipe to Psalm 67. I'll also have the words on the screen and I'll be preaching out of the ESV. So Psalm 67 verse one starts, may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known among the nations, your ways may be known on earth. You're saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, oh God, let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you. Judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth. Let the peoples praise you. Oh God, let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its increase. God, our God shall bless us. Let all the ends of the earth fear him. Now if I just read verse one, may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, then this is an easy sermon to preach because we all like to be blessed. And reading those other phrases in the Psalm, God being gracious to us, that sounds pretty cool, having his face shine upon us. Okay, I'll take some of that. And so really if you just stop at that first half of that verse, it sounds like God is really into me. So all we need to do is hear how much God likes me, uh, and then figure out where we're gonna go for lunch. And uh, it's been a great week, but the text is much deeper than that.
Now, the Hebrew word used here for bless is Brock. Now this is a different word used for bless. Uh, that's than in other um, psalms that we've already studied this summer. That word is asray, which means to be happy. So to blessed, to be blessed is to be happy. Uh, but ball rock has a different meaning and really it means help us flourish and help us flourish so that we can help others flourish as well. It's much more than be happy. It has an outward focus. And we see this in verse two of Psalm 67, that your way may be known on the earth. You're saving power among all the nations. We also see this very clearly all the way back in Genesis chapter 12.
Now, the Lord said to Abram, 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'll be a blessing. 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. The same word used here in Genesis Brock is the same word used in Psalm 67 for bless. So in this passage, God calls Abraham known at the time as Abraham to leave his country. Now this is often cited as an example of great faith, which it is. But it also demonstrates that God didn't just simply want to bless Abraham, but through Abraham he wanted to bless others and not just those who would become the future nation of Israel, but all the families of the earth, which means all the nations.
This is blessing with responsibility. Now I think about when my oldest daughter got her driver's license, she was blessed. Why? Because she didn't need mom and dad to drive her to places anymore. She was blessed because she had autonomy, she had independence. However, there were some expectations with that blessing because she has a younger brother and sister that needed to be driven to all their things. And so her being blessed allowed her to bless others, namely her mom and dad <laugh>. So we didn't have to drive her brother and sister to all the things. Now, the driving wasn't conditional on whether she agreed to do that or not. We never said, Hey, you've gotta drive your brother and sister all over town in order to get your license. But there was an expectation on our part and her part that she would have that responsibility as part of being blessed with her driver's license in a car.
And so this leads to our first observation. We are blessed to be a blessing to others, especially those that are far from God. Now, why do I say those who are far from God? Because the words used throughout the Psalm, earth nations, peoples all apply to those outside the nation of Israel. And this tracks with a command from God to Abraham in that the nation of Israel is to be a blessing to all the nations on the earth. So in our context, that means the Big Sea Church, which is all Christians everywhere as well as our local church here at Burnt Hickory. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to those outside the family of faith, those that are far from God. And this means people in our community, people in our nation, and people across the world. And one of the ways that we bless others is by making God's ways known to others, namely introducing people to God through Jesus.
And this leads to our first diagnostic question, how are you doing? Making God's ways known to others? Now, this isn't meant to be a guilt trip. I know we're all busy people leading busy lives, and for most of us it's hard to live intentionally in such a way that we are sharing our faith and having gospel conversations. So I want to introduce a way of praying that has been very helpful to me and many others that helps us look for ways to be intentional about sharing our faith with others. Now I call this the Bob Prayer, and you may be wondering, who is this Bob and why should I pray for him? But Bob isn't a person in this case. Bob is an acronym. And the first being Bob stands for burden. Each morning ask God to give you a burden for the people in your lives that you perceive to be far from God.
Maybe you have family members, coworkers, neighbors, friends from school, anyone who doesn't seem to have a relationship with God through Jesus. Now, if you're like me and you work around a bunch of Christians, then pray for the places that you'll be going that day and pray for a burden for the people you'll meet there. If you're going to a restaurant, pray for the person who's gonna be serving you your food. If you gotta take your car to the shop, pray for the mechanic or pray for a burden for the mechanic, the front office personnel who will be serving you. Really, you can pray for any number of places. The possibilities are endless. We just need a burden for it. And that's something that we can ask God for. So the O in Bob stands for opportunity. After asking for a burden for people that are far from God, ask God to give you the opportunity to have a gospel conversation.
And this causes us to open our eyes to the people around us, people that might be in spiritual need. Now, I've prayed for servers at restaurants. I've prayed for employees at Whole Foods and Targets and other businesses. Um, I've even prayed for my neighbor in his front yard. But the main reason I've done that is because I've asked God to make me aware of the opportunities that are around me. And the final be in Bob boldness. Ask God for boldness to take advantage of the opportunities to bless those around us. Now, I can't tell you how many times I've had a conversation with a person, whether it's someone I know well or a stranger, and I've perceived that there's an open door for a gospel conversation, yet I have failed to walk through it. Why not? Because I don't care, but if I'm honest, because I'm scared.
So ask God for boldness to have spiritual conversations with those for whom he has given us a burden. Brothers and sisters, what would it look like if everyone listening right now prayed this prayer every morning? Don't you think this is the kind of prayer that God wants to answer? What would it look like if the 2000 plus people that gather together every Sunday for worship here at Bern Hickory? What if we prayed every day? Lord, would you give me a burden for the lost, the opportunity to bless someone by sharing my faith? And would you give me the courage to do it? Do you think we could reach West Cobb, east Spalding, the metro Atlanta area and beyond? Yes, we could do it. So let's commit to pray Bob every morning and let's commit to making God's ways known among those around us, his saving work among those that are far from him.
Now, Psalm 67 continues verses three and four, let the people's praise you. Oh God, let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. So what should our response be to this gracious and saving God praise with joy, with gladness? This truth is so important that the psalmist repeats it twice in the span of three verses and it occupies the central part, the focal part of the psalm. And notice again that the psalm doesn't say some of the people or most of the people or only the good looking people or the well-dressed or the well put together people, but it says all the people should praise you. That means all the nations, all the ethnic groups of the Earth should be in a relationship with God through Jesus worshiping. But many are not. 4 billion people in the world still have no idea who Jesus is, which is one of the reasons our church participates in missions.
Now, there are a lot of great reasons for missions remissions. One great reason is to meet physical needs. There are a lot of people that are hungry. There are a lot of people that need medical attention. And so going to meet physical needs, that's a great reason for remissions. Another is to meet emotional needs. There are a lot of people that live with crippling anxiety, that live with depression, that live with fear. And going to serve those that live under that is a great reason for missions. Another great reason for missions is to fight injustice. There are corrupt governments, corrupt regimes, people who are enslaved, people who are being trafficked, and so engaging with ministries that are attempting to fight. That is another great reason for missions. But the greatest reason for missions is lack of worship, which leads to our second observation. Missions exists because worship doesn't listen to what John Piper says about this.
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is missions exist because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate not man. Worship is ultimate not missions because God is ultimate not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity, but worship abides forever. John Piper continues worship, therefore is the fuel and goal of missions. It's the goal of missions because in missions, we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples and the greatness of God. But worship is also the fuel of missions, passion for God and worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out. Let the nations be glad if they cannot say from the heart, but I rejoice in you, Lord, I will be glad and exalt in you.
It's hard to give away what you don't have. And if we are not cultivating a heart of worship for king Jesus, then how can we expect to introduce others to the joy of that same worship? Which leads to our second diagnostic question, how is your praise and worship? We are all worshiping people because we are created by God to worship him. But if I am being honest, my worship of him is often half-hearted and distracted. Now, that's not anyone's fault but my own. It's certainly not Carrie and our worships team fault because they do an incredible job each and every week of leading us to the throne of God through worship. And the problem isn't that I'm bad at worship, I'm good at worship. You wanna know how good I am at worship. I went to college at Florida State University in the nineties when the football team was the best in the country.
And for six to eight Sunday Saturdays a year, I gathered with 80,000 other worshipers. And for three hours we were locked in to what transpired on the field below us. We cheered in unison. We sang songs, we chanted. There were even games when we were on our feet for the entire three hours. And this was to watch a group of 18 to 22 year olds play a sport. No, my problem is not that I'm not good at worshiping, but that the object of my worship is often deficient. Now I like, I like college football as much as the next person. I didn't like it so much last season, but generally I like college football as much as the next person. But I think we can all agree that we gather each week here to celebrate a more and substantial mission, a greater unity of purpose.
Now, there have certainly been times in my life when I've worshiped and I've felt locked in connected to God in a special way. I remember one time several years ago, I was at a conference in Europe with all of the IMB missionaries from North Africa and Middle East. IMB stands for International Mission Board and it's the international missionaries that have been sent out from Southern Baptist churches like our own. At this conference, we would open each session with extended worship. Now, I don't know if you've ever worshiped with missionaries before, but they sing like they believe what they're singing is true. And we were singing a song called Salvation's Tide and the chorus says, let the walls come down in Jesus' name. Let the loss be found in Jesus' name. Let the church arise to shine your light to the world. And I sang that next to brothers and sisters laboring in hard places that many can't even gather together in church like we are right now.
They would have to meet in house churches, meeting in secret, worshiping in secret, and they were serving in places where they had to pray daily in the name of Jesus that the walls of sin and oppression would come down. They sang like they believed it, and the hairs on my arms were standing up and I wanted it to go on forever and ever. And that's appropriate because that's what we'll be doing in heaven forever. Consider Revelation chapter five verses 11 through 12. Then I looked up and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
If you don't like worshiping with the church here on earth, then heaven is going to be very boring. So let's examine our hearts. Let's diagnose what hinders our worship and let's commit to gathering faithfully every Sunday when we can and singing our guts out. So the one who is worthy of all our praise and worship and adoration and let's that do that in our lives throughout the week as well as we worship God daily and week, we pray for peoples and nations that are cut off from that same worship. And this helps fuel our desire for missions because the reality is there are about 6 billion people in the world who are not worshiping God through Jesus. And of that amount, over 4 billion have never even heard of Jesus. That means unless things change, they will be born, live their lives and die. Never knowing the God of Psalm 67, never having the opportunity to join in the worship of the one true God.
Now that number represents over 7,000 people, groups, groups with their own language, their own customs, their own culture and identity that are not engaged in worship. And I know numbers like this can get abstract. So think about the people you know just in your life that don't have a relationship with God through Jesus. Maybe it's a family member, close friend, coworker, a person you go to school with, person in your neighborhood. Just think about that person or those people right now, even though they are far from God, they have access to the gospel. How do I know this? Because you're in their life. You're their access to the gospel. Yet there are billions that don't have access to the gospel that haven't had the chance to hear about much less follow Jesus.
Another way that I've grown in my worship is going on mission trips. I know shock of all shocks. The mission pastor is talking about short term mission trips. But the reality is I've worshiped in so many different contexts that it has helped me understand the diverse and beautiful and complex worship that exists throughout the Christian world. In Jamaica, I've sung Jesus is my Daddio in reggae style. True story in Tunisia, I've sung, how great is our God in Arabic with persecuted believers from across north a Africa, their voices strong and beautiful despite how much they have suffered for Jesus In Malaysia, I met in the house of a secret believer. Our partners in Malaysia said that in a country of 45 million people, there were perhaps only 100 believers of the Malay people, which is the majority culture in that country. And I got the opportunity to meet with and worship one of them.
He pulled out his guitar, he sang a song in the Malay language. Now to this day, I have no idea what the words were. Hopefully it was a Christian song. I really don't know. But the song was so achingly beautiful that it made me long for heaven. Just this last Sunday, I was in Senegal singing songs in French. Well, I was humming songs because I don't speak French, but I was worshiping with Senegalese, Kenyans, Sudanese, Canadians, Americans, and other cultures. And I can provide example after example like this. Like you, I have my worship preferences, but I've learned it's not about my preference for worship, but God's preeminence in worship. It's not about my comfort in worship, but God's glory being demonstrated through my worship. So worship is both the reason we do missions and the fuel that moves us to leave our comfort zones and engage others in God's mission.
We praise and worship God, not just because he saved us and made himself known to us, but also because he judges and guides us. Let's read verse four of Psalm 67. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you. Judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth. And this leads to our third observation from the text. God is the perfect judge and guide. Notice the conjunction. Four, why should we be glad and sing for joy? Because Jo God judges all peoples with equity. That means fairly, he judges people fairly and he guides the nations. Now, we don't like the word judge in our culture. No one wants to be thought of as judgmental, but judgment is a good thing because we don't want to live in a world where the atrocities committed in conflicts around the world go un public, go unpunished.
We don't wanna live in a world where genocide goes unpunished. We don't wanna live in a world where the crimes in our own country or even the crimes in our own community go unpunished. Yet this psalm tells us that God judges all people with equity that includes people who don't know him, people who have actively rejected him, and it includes Christians as well. Does that surprise you? Well listen to Paul's words in second Corinthians five 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Now, Paul's writing to Christians in the church in Corinth here. Now this is a judgment reserve just for Christians based on what we do as Christians for the purposes of receiving heavenly rewards. But what about people who are not Christians?
Well, they experience judgment too, but it's a different type of judgment. We read about this in Revelation chapter 20. I don't have the passage on the screen, but you're welcome to turn to it if you'd like. As I read it, revelation 20, starting in verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it and from his presence, earth and sky flood away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small standing before the throne and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life and the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were who were in it, death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them and they were judged each one of them according to what they had done.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. So you see, those who are not in Christ will be judged for their sins and condemned to eternal separation from God in hell. Which leads to my final diagnostic question, what kind of judgment will you face? Now we all face judgment for our sins. For the Christian. We are found not guilty, not because of what we've done, but because of what Christ has done on our behalf by dying on the cross, paying the penalty that our sins deserve. And so Christ satisfies the legal requirement and we are declared not guilty.
Salvation is not a benefit we earn, but a gift we are given. Amen. However, for a gift to have its effect, it has to be received. Now, I think of the many wonderful Christmas mornings that I've shared with my family, the excitement of opening present, sure, but more than that, the excitement of seeing others receive their gifts. But I could get the best gift for my children, but if they don't receive it, it's of no benefit to them. I could walk over, put it in their lap, I could even open it for 'em. But if they don't receive it, then it doesn't benefit them. God provides the gift of salvation from the judgment our sins deserve, but it only benefits us if we receive the gift. So I ask, have you received that gift of salvation?
But for those who are not in Christ, when they face judgment, they are found guilty. I know this is a heavy way to end a sermon, but I would be remiss in a text that talks about God judging all people fairly not to ask the question, which kind of judgment will you face? Now as we wrap up, I wanna leave you with three takeaways, three possible next steps in response to this sermon. The first takeaway be a blessing locally. There are lots of ways you can get involved locally. In fact, this afternoon at 1230, just after this sermon, as long as the pastor doesn't run too long in room two 90, we are having a lunch and learn about how to be involved in supporting our disaster relief ministry. Now, you may be thinking, I don't know how to use a chainsaw. So how can I be involved in disaster relief ministry?
Well come to the meeting, get a free lunch and learn how you can be involved in disaster relief efforts. Even if like me, your mechanical expertise ends with changing light bulbs, you could also get involved in our foster and adoption care ministry. Again, you might be thinking, I have no interest or no capacity to foster or adopt. So what part can I play in this ministry? That's a fair question. And we are having a lunch and learn on August 24th at one o'clock where you'll be able to learn how you can support families that are fostering and adopting. You can learn, learn more about the process yourself. You could even get any training or support that you would need. We have a lot of local ministry partners you can serve with. You'll find them on our website under missions. But I would be happy to have a conversation with you about how you and your family can support our local ministries, how you and your family can be a blessing to those in need right here in our community.
We are also starting a local evangelism initiative in September called Beyond the Walls, the Hands and Feet of Jesus one Saturday a month. We're gonna gather here for some training and prayer. We're gonna go out in the community seeking to have go gospel conversations. And then we're gonna meet up for lunch to share about our experiences. This is a great way to put the Bob Prayer into practice and we'll have more information about all of these dates and all of these events available shortly. A second, next step or second takeaway could be going on or supporting a short-term mission trip. Now at Burt Hickory, we want to obey and glorify God as we proclaim the gospel and demonstrate the love of Christ by going to people living in spiritual brokenness and places of spiritual darkness, pointing them to hope in Jesus. And we want to do this locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
In short, we want to invite people into the worship of the one true God. And a wonderful way of doing just that is through participating in a short term mission trip. We have several wonderful trips planned for 2026, but you can still register for our 2025 fall break trip to Kenya. You could also register for our October trip going to Trailways Camp in South Florida, serving and ministering to adults with special needs. Now speaking of trips, I just returned on Thursday from a trip to Senegal in West Africa. And the purpose of this trip was to meet with potential ministry partners on the ground as we look towards teams from mert, Hickory going in 2026 and beyond. Now, Senegal is pre a predominantly Muslim country, yet there is almost complete freedom to do C Christian ministry there. And I was so encouraged to meet men and women, missionaries and nationals using their gifts and talents to serve Jesus.
For example, we went to a school that provides training for nurses and midwives as well as internship opportunities so their students can go serve in rural clinics, caring for people without uh, access to adequate healthcare. And in the process demonstrating the love of Jesus. Uh, the head of school was telling us different ways teams have served them in the past, medical personnel, leading training, not just in their specialized medical field, but talking about how they've integrated their faith and work in the medical profession. They've had teams to come help sort files and and help them out administratively. One lady on a trip sewed curtains for the facility. Newsflash, it's hot in Africa and they couldn't afford curtains. So a lady on the trip spent the entire day using her gift and talent of sewing to make curtains and provide comfort to those students and personnel.
Do you see the many ways we can use our gifts and talents to serve the Lord in unique ways on short-term mission trips? So I encourage you to consider going on a trip this year or next year when we have even more trips. You won't regret it, but even if you don't think this is the right season for a short-term trip, you can st still support our short-term trips through prayer. Our prayer ministry has organized prayer teams for every trip that goes out and they're always looking for volunteers. This is a great way to serve those who are going. This is a great way to hold the rope for others who have given of their time, their money, even their comfort so they can serve somewhere strategically for God. So even if you don't go on a trip, you can still be involved in short-term missions at burnt Hickory.
The third and final takeaway, next step, you can follow Jesus as you've been listening. Maybe it's occurred to you that you're not sure if you're a follower of Jesus. You're not sure what kind of judgment you would face from God. The great news is that you can make that decision today to follow Jesus in just a few moments. I'll be over by the next step banners to my left, your right, and I'd love to pray with you if that's a decision you want to make. And as I close, I want to note verse six of Psalm 67, the Earth has yielded its increase. God, our God shall bless us. Notice that the psalmist refers to God as our God. This means God is personal. He's not distant. This incredible God who makes his way known, who guides the nations, who judges all peoples fairly, who saves us from our sin, who is worthy of all our worship can be known personally.
Now, I have traveled to 28 different countries and I've seen a lot of different religions. I've seen a lot of little G gods being worshiped. I've been to a Hindu temple complex in Malaysia, seen a man slither like a snake towards an altar to offer a sacrifice to his God. I've been in a hotel dining room in Tunisia as the Muslim called a prayer sounds and the janitor gets out his prayer rug and prays. In both of these cases, I've seen religious men trying to reach God, but what makes the God of the Christian faith different from all other religious conceptions of God is that he is personal. He sent his son Jesus into the world so that we can know him. And the good news is that God meets us where we are despite of our, our flaws, despite our imperfections. This reminds me of something I read about Abraham Lincoln.
Apparently his wife, Mary was frustrated by how available Lincoln made himself to everyone that came to see him. And this is what she said about him. He's so like a child. Mrs. Lincoln began. I sometimes wonder if he understands even that he is the President. I cannot teach him. He will see them all, mere servants, washer women, anyone. He talks with anyone who will come, the wounded office hunters, women with dead or wounded boys. And the more ragged they are, the longer he will sit and hear them. Is that not how God is with us? With just this past week, I was reading Luke's gospel, chapter 18 verses 15 and through 17, parents wanting to bring their children to Jesus, his disciples, his followers denying them access. What does Jesus say? Let them come to me. And that is what he says to us. No matter what we've done or haven't done, as the song goes, our sins, they are many, but his mercy is more.
He still invites us to follow him because our God is personal. As I look at everyone that has gathered here, as I think of all that are listening and occurs to me that he has gifted us with talents and opportunities and experiences, even bad experiences, he has given us those so we can serve him and he empowers us to continue to make his ways known. Will we do that? Will we do that in our community? Will we do that in our nation? And will we do that across the world? Will we do that one person at a time, one family at a time? Because if we do, then that person or that family, they join their voices with ours and our voices join with a billion other people as we cry out. Let us praise you. Oh God, let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Let's pray.