1. "Faithful churches are launch pads for global missions, and not only in Kabul, Afghanistan, everywhere."

2. "Churches are God's global cross-cultural evangelistic plan. Missions begins here with us at the weekly worship gathering, but it does not end here."

3. "A faithful, ordinary church is God's plan A for reaching the nations for Christ."

4. "Friends, here is the ultimate blessing: knowing God, welcomed by him, walking with him."

5. "In his death, my friends, he was made a curse for us, and in his life, he is our blessing from heaven."

6. "The first, necessary ingredient to being a mission-centered church is not hosting elaborate missions conferences. It is not organizing short-term mission trips or sparking interest through annual missions weeks. It is simply celebrating the gospel week after week."

7. "If we don't marvel at Jesus Christ, nobody else will."

8. "Missions must be proclamational. The goal must be that your saving power may be known among all nations."

9. "It is not exceptional people who are required for this mission. It is the exceptional message that is required. This is why ordinary people for 2,000 years have been leaving comfortable places to go to harder places for the sake of Christ."

10. "In our churches we meet every Sunday in order to reprogram ourselves as to what is truly praiseworthy. Realign our affections. We hear the truth, we respond to it, we exhort one another, and then we sing for joy."

Observation Questions

1. According to Psalm 67:1, what three things does the psalmist ask God to do for His people, and how does this language echo the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:24–26?

2. In Psalm 67:2, what is the stated purpose for God blessing His people—what two things does the psalmist want to be known "on earth" and "among all nations"?

3. What refrain is repeated in verses 3 and 5, and who specifically is called to participate in this praise according to the psalmist?

4. In verse 4, which serves as the central pivot of the psalm, what two reasons does the psalmist give for why the nations should "be glad and sing for joy"?

5. According to verse 6, what has the earth done, and what does verse 7 promise that God will do in response?

6. How does the psalm conclude in verse 7b, and what response does the psalmist envision from "all the ends of the earth"?

Interpretation Questions

1. The sermon explained that Israel's blessing was never an end in itself but was meant to make God's "way" and "saving power" known to all nations. How does this understanding of Israel's role as a "beacon" help us interpret the relationship between verses 1–2 and verses 3–5?

2. The preacher connected the Aaronic blessing (God's face shining upon His people) to the work of Jesus Christ as our eternal high priest. Why is it significant that Jesus, unlike Aaron and his successors, lives forever and continues to bless His people from heaven?

3. According to the sermon, verse 4's call for the nations to "be glad and sing for joy" finds its ultimate fulfillment in the vision of Revelation 5, where people from every tribe and tongue worship the Lamb. How does this future reality shape our understanding of what God is accomplishing through the spread of the gospel today?

4. The sermon emphasized that missions must be "proclamational"—that humanitarian work alone does not qualify as missions. How does verse 2's focus on God's "saving power" being known support this distinction?

5. Why does the psalm's structure—beginning and ending with God's blessing of His people (vv. 1, 7) while centering on the nations praising God (v. 4)—suggest that the local church's experience of God's grace is inseparable from global mission?

Application Questions

1. The sermon challenged listeners to ask whether they are still "captivated by the Good News" and noted that "you can't command what you don't cherish." What specific practices or habits could you adopt this week to rekindle your wonder at the gospel and guard against spiritual dullness?

2. If the most important missionary training happens through "years of membership in a faithful congregation," how might you more intentionally invest in relationships within your church—both receiving from others and building into those who may one day be sent out?

3. The preacher asked those who stay and send to consider whether they are getting to know their supported workers, giving sacrificially, and praying for laborers. Which of these three areas is weakest in your life, and what is one concrete step you could take to strengthen it?

4. The sermon illustrated how a diverse group of Christians from different nations prompted a Turkish woman to ask, "What are you all doing together?" In what settings this week could the unity you share with other believers become a visible testimony that opens doors for the gospel?

5. Verse 4 calls the nations to "sing for joy" because God judges with equity and guides the nations. How should the truth that Jesus brings objective moral clarity and shepherds His people all the way home affect the way you face uncertainty, confusion, or fear in your daily circumstances?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Genesis 12:1–9 — This passage records God's original promise to Abraham that through him "all the families of the earth shall be blessed," the foundational covenant that Psalm 67 anticipates being fulfilled among the nations.

2. Numbers 6:22–27 — The Aaronic blessing prescribed here is the direct background for Psalm 67:1 and helps us understand what it means for God's face to shine upon His people.

3. Isaiah 49:1–6 — In this Servant Song, God declares that it is too small a thing for the Servant to restore Israel; He will also be "a light for the nations," echoing Psalm 67's global vision.

4. Romans 15:7–13 — Paul quotes multiple Old Testament texts to show that Christ became a servant so that the Gentiles might glorify God, demonstrating how the New Testament sees Psalm 67's hope fulfilled in Jesus.

5. Revelation 5:6–14 — This heavenly scene of every tribe, language, people, and nation praising the Lamb portrays the ultimate answer to Psalm 67's prayer, "Let the peoples praise you, O God."

Sermon Main Topics

I. Returning Missionaries Express Gratitude for Partnership in the Gospel

II. Faithful Churches Are Launch Pads for Global Missions

III. Point One: Missions Begins Here with You

IV. Point Two: It Spills Over to the Nations

V. Point Three: Joy and Gladness for the World

VI. Call to Respond to Christ and Commit to the Mission

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Good morning. It is a joy to be back.

When we left you exactly 20 years ago, I'll never forget the outpouring of love and support and prayer and encouragement. You know, one of you, a member, Elizabeth, actually went with us to Dubai in order to help out with our kids. And I always remember Connie who prepared this special bulletin board with a list of recycling resources that people could purchase and give us to go back so we would be fully supplied for the work there. And one evening after the prayer meeting, several folks stayed around afterward to assist me as I unpacked my office back there and packing my books in particular. And a couple weeks later, I was in Dubai as the shipment had come in.

I was unpacking my boxes of books and handwritten on the outside of the boxes were messages of encouragement and prayers like, may the word of the Lord speed ahead and be honored. And those are just little tokens that have remained with us of your love and support of us. What an enormous blessing it is not only to know Jesus Christ and to be involved in the ministry of proclamation, but to have been sent out by you has meant the world to us. In the decades that we've been in Dubai, we've seen amazing things. Not only have we been able to meet and share life with people all over the world.

But we've seen a number of people come to faith in Christ, and we've seen people's lives strengthened, and we've seen people die in hope in Jesus Christ, and we've also seen churches started there, and churches growing in Christ-likeness. And I'm convinced that a big reason for this is because of you. It is because of your self-sacrificial prayer for us and countless expressions of love. How many people of you over Over the years have come and visited us and all kinds of support. We really can't thank you enough.

It is such a privilege to be in partnership with you in what is the greatest cause and what we're going to be considering actually this morning. So let me pray as we approach God's Word and we will commence. Let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would quieten our hearts now. As we approach your holy Word, we pray that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Allow me to tell you about Christie Wilson.

Wilson was a respected missionary to Afghanistan for 22 years and not only did Did he bear witness to Afghans? Did he see people come to faith in Christ? He also pastored a church comprised of expatriate Christians. And along with his wife Betty, he recognized the strategic value of the church in the Muslim world standing as a beacon of hope in Afghanistan. In fact, they built the only church building that was ever permitted in the city of Kabul, at least in modern history.

And through the witness of that congregation, people began coming to faith in Christ and predictably, opposition began to arise. Eventually Wilson was deported. Years later he wrote, Betty and I were ordered out of the country in three days. And then only three years after giving permission for the building, the government raised it to the ground. On July 17, 1973, the building was actually bulldozed.

Christy Wilson explained, the Afghanistan government received a secret police report that there was an underground church in Afghanistan. Since they did not understand this term, they dug 12 feet below the foundation looking for the underground church.

And then after exhausting all of their considerable diplomatic resources, He said, the congregation, instead of opposing them, offered them tea and cookies.

Faithful churches are launch pads for global missions, and not only in Kabul, Afghanistan, everywhere.

When Jesus said, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, he meant baptizing them in local assemblies like yours. The Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper mark off the church from the world and the gospel goes out to the world from these gatherings. Churches are God's global cross-cultural evangelistic plan. Missions begins here with us at the weekly worship gathering, but it does not end here.

Let's consider that as we turn this morning to Psalm 67. Psalm 67, you can find it if you're using one of the Bibles in front of you on page 481.

Just open up your Bible to the middle, you get to the Psalms. We're in Psalm 67, page 481.

While you're turning there, you know those Baptist hymnals tucked into the front of the pews and in the chairs? Well, the Psalms are the hymnal, the hymnbook of Israel. 150 poems ranging from the heights of praise and thanksgiving down to the depths of lamentation and confession. The Psalms are prayers that God gives us to pray. Divided into five books, mirroring the five books of the Law of Moses.

Within these five books, the Psalms are not randomly arranged, rather they're grouped together intentionally. If you keep reading the Psalms, you'll notice this more and more. We see many collections within the Psalms like the Psalms of Korah, 42 to 49. Or the Psalms of Ascent, 120 to 134. Those are the ones that were sung on the annual pilgrimages ascending up to Jerusalem.

Or those five final Psalms, 146 to 50, a ringing call to give praise to God. Here's the point. There is an intentional arrangement within the Psalms, roughly tracking the history of Israel and always pointing forward, always anticipating a greater redemption still to come.

Psalm 67, to the choirmaster, with stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. 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 all nations. 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 guide the nations upon the earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its increase. God, our God, shall bless us.

God shall bless us. Let all the ends of the earth fear Him.

Never skip over the titles of these Psalms. They are part of the inspired text. To the choirmaster, it says, with stringed instruments. A Psalm. And then notice that next word.

A song. Now this is unusual. It's a double title. And if you have an open Bible in front of you and you look back at Psalm 65, well that says a song as well in the title. And Psalm 66 and Psalm 68.

We have here a collection of four songs with this unique title obviously meant to be read together. And in Psalm 67, our Psalm for the morning, that word Selah there in verse 1 and verse 4. It's probably a musical notation of some sort, and it reminds us that these were poems that were to be sung in public worship in the temple. So here we have the hymnbook of Israel. This means we're reading poetry.

And notice verse 1. May God be gracious to us and bless us, is matched by the last verse, God shall bless us. Repetition of the idea of God's blessing. Verse 3, Let the peoples praise you, is matched by verse 5, again, repetition. So there is an artistry in the shaping of this poem.

Verses 1 and 7 go together. Verses 2 and 6, verses 3 and 5 all match thematically, leaving verse 4 as the pivot point. So here's the climax in verse 4. Here's the main point. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.

Psalm 67 is a missions psalm and wrapped around that main point is the repeated refrain Let the peoples praise you. Not just more and more individuals worshiping. No, it says the peoples, that is the different tongues and tribes and nations that will one day be gathered before the throne and before the Lamb. So the prayer of Psalm 67 is ultimately answered in that heavenly vision that we read earlier from Revelation chapter 5.

But until that day, until Christ returns, well the Great Commission continues and it begins here in the local church. So if you're taking notes, here is the first point. Missions begins here with you.

A faithful, ordinary church is God's plan A for reaching the nations for Christ. Look at verse 1. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.

Who was originally singing this psalm? It was the people of Israel, the covenant people of God. This is the famous Aaronic blessing. Aaron In the Old Testament, he was the brother of Moses, and Aaron had been designated as priest, and God actually told Aaron how to bless the people in Numbers chapter 6. Actually, keep your finger in Psalm 67 and turn back to Numbers 6.

I just want you to show you how God prescribed the priestly blessing.

At the end of Numbers 6, Number 6:22, it says, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you: shall say to them, And by the way, we know from the book of Leviticus that when Aaron blessed the people, he would lift up his hands.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. But in Psalm 67, instead of the priest pronouncing it, the Psalm asked God for the blessing.

Now, how were these people blessed?

If this is your first Sunday and you're not that familiar with the Bible, let me just give you the back story. God, He created this universe and He made you and me in His own image, but all of humanity revolted against Him.

We have collectively ignored God, become polluted as a result of our disobedience, but instead of condemning humanity instantaneously, God chose one man, Abraham, to do a restart, as it were. Abraham's family became God's people, and for a unique period of world history, God tied his reputation to these people particularly. Not because they were more numerous. It wasn't because they were more powerful or more attractive than the other nations. God just chose them by His own sovereign choice, which is quite surprising actually, since from the very get go, these people turned away from Him in a radical way, kind of like an adulterous wife.

They immediately broke covenant with Him, so God graciously rescued them from misery in Egypt and brought them to himself on the mountain. And Moses went up to the mountain to receive the law. And what were the people doing down below? They were worshiping a cavorting with a counterfeit God. They were grumbling and rebelling and trying to return to Egypt and committing immorality.

The question was how could God continue with these people? How could a holy God live with such an unfaithful bride? Well, we see a hint of it in verse 1. May God be gracious to us. That is, may He not treat us as our sins deserve.

In fact, may He give us blessings that we do not deserve. And the greatest blessing of all, make His face to shine upon us. What that means is restore us to a warm, reconciled, personal relationship. You know, when you're having an important conversation with someone, you don't look him in the shoulder. You don't look him in the elbow.

You look him in the face. That's relationship. Friends, here is the ultimate blessing: knowing God, welcomed by him, walking with him. Now look at the last verse of the psalm.

Verse 7, God shall bless us. Psalm 67 is a prayer for blessing, verse 1, and a promise of blessing, verse 7.

In the capital city of the UAE called Abu Dhabi, a new temple recently went up and the news media described how the Hindus blessed the bricks one by one as the building went up. Here in America, sports stars feel blessed when they score the winning touchdown. Prosperity preachers urge us to bless ourselves as though speaking activates good things coming into your life. And they write books with titles like 55 Ways to Be Blessed, Not Stressed. But what does that even mean?

For God to bless you. In the Bible, blessings are God bestowing His loving kindness on people in material or spiritual ways. God bestowing His loving kindness on people in material or spiritual ways. That is what the psalmist is asking for. And as the people ordered their lives according to the law, they would continue to know that blessing.

Psalm 1, Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord. But as you keep reading the Old Testament, well, God's people earned not the covenant blessings, but the covenant curses. They earned condemnation. So how could a failed people, a lawless people, even pray this prayer? Here's how.

By waiting for someone else to bring them the blessing. Who did we say gave the blessing in the Old Testament? Well, it was Aaron. But later in the book of Numbers, it tells of the time when Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar, his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.

And years later, Eleazar died, and Phinehas was appointed in his place. Eventually all of them died. But of course, dead priests can bless no one. But this psalm anticipated a priest who would live forever. The psalm awaits the true new covenant partner who would live a morally flawless life.

Not only that, you know, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, it was not merely an exhibition of pity or compassion. Something more was going on a transaction of sorts. He took upon himself the curse that we all deserved so that we might know God's blessing, the shining of his face upon us. In previous eras, God had told Moses, no one can see my face and live. The idea is he's so far above us, he's so high and holy, and we've fallen so far short.

But now, in the gospel, we have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He's benevolently, graciously shining upon us.

Since he's been raised, our high priest represents us not just for a generation or two. No, he's animated by the power of an indestructible life. It's very interesting that after his resurrection, Jesus was ascending into heaven. And you know what Luke says at the end of his gospel? Luke says He let them out as far as Bethany and lifting up His hands He blessed them and then it says, while He blessed them He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

It seems that the Lord left them in the very act of blessing them. As Charles Wesley said, See He lifts His hands above, see He shows the prince of love.

Hark! His gracious lips bestow blessings on the church below. In his death, my friends, he was made a curse for us, and in his life, he is our blessing from heaven. May God be gracious to us and bless us through Jesus Christ. When he appeared 2,000 years ago, God sent the blessing, prayed for in Psalm 67, he sent it down to us personally.

Mike Reeves said, Some religions offer paradise or nirvana. Jesus shares with us himself. Others can offer up God or salvation, but only when someone offers Jesus do they offer the same thing as the gospel. Well, this message is what makes a church missions centered. The first, necessary ingredient To being a mission-centered church is not hosting elaborate missions conferences.

It is not organizing short-term mission trips or sparking interest through annual missions weeks. It is simply celebrating the gospel week after week. Ed Clowney said the gospel message is celebration before it is communication. In other words, it's just the outflow of who we are as those redeemed in Christ. Missions naturally, inevitably emanates from the church.

That's why the most important missionary training does not happen in a seminary or at a missions agency's training center. No, it occurs during years of membership in a faithful congregation. Carrie and I had the privilege of being built into by you all for years before we were sent. To Dubai. Missionaries are made, they're equipped, they're qualified through the ordinary work of the entire congregation.

So CHBC, my friends, are you still captivated by the Good News like you were 20 years ago?

You know, if we don't marvel at Jesus Christ, nobody else will. John Piper said, you, can't command what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out, Let the nations be glad. Who cannot say from the heart, I rejoice in the Lord. So, my friends, is that true of you?

Still?

Missions begins at home. It begins here with you. That brings us to the second point. It spills over to the nations. It can't remain here.

It inevitably, inexorably spills over. God's blessing of Israel It was never an end unto itself. Why would God bless Israel? Verse 2, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

Israel was to be a beacon attracting the peoples to the true and living God. This is why the psalmist asked for these blessings.

Not just so they might have more rewarding marriages or better harvests. You know, it is possible for evangelical churches to become ingrown, kind of religious cushions, clubs consumed with our own needs and our own wants and our own feelings, low-impact churches Israel's calling was much more vast than that. She was to be a beacon to the whole planet. Now, in the old covenant, bountiful harvests would give visual proof that God was there among them. And like a magnet, the goodness of God would draw people to themselves.

It's just like Isaiah predicted, the nations shall come to your light. Look down at verse 6. The earth has yielded its increase. God, our God shall bless us. And as God blessed Israel, she would be the source of blessing to the entire world.

So the Psalm closes out, God shall bless us. Let all the ends of the earth fear Him. That's not a fear of judgment, it is a proper joyful reverence to God. He becomes central to your field of vision. No longer are you living for your ambitions or your pleasures.

You're living for Him with a marvelous recognition, a fear of God. Isn't that what God had promised Abraham centuries earlier? I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed. All of this anticipates the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You know, the Gospel doesn't begin with Matthew or Mark or Luke.

It's the point of the whole Bible from Genesis onward. In fact, the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:8 said, the Scripture preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, 'And you shall all the nations be blessed.' that's what this psalm is asking for. Verse 2, that your way may be known on the earth. Remember, the non-Jewish nations were plunged in darkness. They didn't know God's ways on the earth.

This is why God called His people a priesthood. The priesthood would mediate the presence, the character of God to the watching world. His way, His goodness would become known. What does it look like?

When a whole congregation of people begins living that way. An American missionary in Turkey helps an Iranian member of her church find work as a hairdresser. And she and this woman, together with two other members of their church from Iraq and Afghanistan, decide they're going to visit the non-Christian Turkish owner of the salon where this lady works. And curious about this strange mix of people coming into her salon, the salon owner asked about the women's nationalities. And when they told her, well, we're from Afghanistan and Iran and Turkey and United States, the salon owner replied, what are you all doing together?

Aren't you supposed to hate one another?

It was a perfect opening to explain the unity that is secured through Jesus Christ and His shed blood. I mean, what could possibly to bring that group together in the salon, only Christ.

When you go to places that are dominated by Hinduism and Islam, it is immediately obvious that they do not believe in humanity made in God's image. For example, like all the nations, they had no law. They had no prophets, no temple worship. Paul described them as darkened in their understanding. Left to themselves, the nations must be taught not only God's ways, verse 2, but also His saving power.

Friends, this is why missions is never merely humanitarian work. There are many good things that Christians can do overseas. Disaster relief, orphan care, HIV relief. But if we do these things no differently from UNICEF or the Red Crescent or the Red Cross, whatever we're doing out there, it doesn't qualify as missions. Missions must be proclamational.

The goal must be verse 2, that your saving power may be known among all nations. As when God parted the sea, delivered his people causing them to marvel, who among the gods is like you, O Lord? God's deliverance of Israel in the exodus was a foreshadowing of a still greater deliverance to occur. So look then, we're in verse 2, look at the matching verse 6. The earth has yielded its increase.

This points to a future messianic age when the earth would be transformed into a new Eden. Yielding its increase. And the picture is wonderfully filled out in one of the companion Psalms here. If you look over at 65, look at Psalm 6511, at this glorious harvest.

6511, you crown the year with your bounty. Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow. The hills gird themselves with joy. The meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together with joy.

That's more than a harvest. That's a glimpse of paradise. Together, what these psalms are giving us is a dazzling preview of the new earth when Jesus Christ returns. Paradise is regained just as Paul predicted in Romans 8, creation itself will be free from bondage. Brothers and sisters, every day when we go to work, when we get online, when we do the mundane things of life like shopping and eating, the world is telling us in its advertisements, in conversation, in the schools that life is all about us.

Right? Our happiness will be found when we chase our dreams, our fulfillment. But have you considered that the things you've been living for are actually stale water compared to the sweeping vision that's on display in this psalm. This is a cosmic transformation of the universe. But it's not only a future fulfillment because in New Testament terms, this harvest is the spread of the gospel in our era.

God's saving power Going together with verse 6, the earth yielding its increase, finds its fulfillment in the sayings of Jesus like when Jesus said, the fields are white for harvest. Or another time, Pray the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into the field. The harvest has already begun. So the earth is beginning to yield its increase. Our calling is to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out laborers.

And inevitably when we do, well, some of us will end up going as well.

Just like Andy and Rebecca to Central Asia, or Rob and Katie to South Asia, or Ryan and Emily to East Asia, Carrie and I are in West Asia. So we've got all of Asia covered, as it were, the four points of the compass. In their excellent new book on missions that Aaron Menikoff and Harshit Singh have written, they ask a question that I want you to consider. Okay, here's the question for application: why do young adults go to the mission field, leaving behind lucrative careers and time with parents, grandparents, and decades later children and grandchildren? Why do men and women move to the darkest corners of the most dangerous cities to pronounce there is salvation in no one else but Jesus Christ?

That's something for you to talk about over lunch. I mean, how would you answer that question? Why do people voluntarily go to places like that? Have you considered doing that? Maybe you have considered devoting yourself to cross-cultural missions but you've concluded that the best way for you to support the Great Commission cause is by staying here and sending.

Good and well. If that's you then what are you doing as you stay and send? Are you thinking intentionally about relationships?

For example, are you getting to know your supported workers? Or, financially, do you sacrificially support this church's budget in its giving and sending? Or prayerfully, do you pray to the Lord of the harvest? J.C. Ryle said, Churches may educate men, colleges may ordain them, patrons may give them livings, but God alone can raise up and send forth laborers who will do the work of saving souls. This is why we must be about the business of praying.

If you are considering going and you find it a daunting thing to look forward to, be encouraged by this simple truth that it is not exceptional people who are required for this mission. It is the exceptional message that is required. This is why ordinary people for 2,000 years have been leaving comfortable places to go to harder places for the sake of the gospel. This is why Sarah Hosman went to Arabia in 1911. She was only the fifth Western woman to go there as far as we know.

She arrived in Bahrain, studied Arabic for two years, and then lived in tents and palm frond huts in blistering pre-air conditioning conditions. She rode a donkey throughout Oman, she traveled up and down what was called the Pirate Coast on Arabian dhow ships. Can you imagine, 1913, how culturally strange it must have been? For this single handicapped Western female doctor to be riding her donkey from village to village. Foreigners had been banned in Arabia for years at this point, and yet there she was, among these Arabian tribes.

She could enter closed villages when no one else could. Why was she there? Dispensing her drugs in gospel tracts. It was said of Dr. Sarah, her approach was always the same. She gave the gospel message at every opportunity.

That is our job description. It is not to give good advice. It is not primarily even to do good deeds. It is to proclaim Christ's saving power among the nations. So missions begins here with the equipping and the shaping and it spills over to the nations and then what's the result of that spilling over?

Thirdly and finally, it is joy and gladness for the world.

Joy and gladness for the world is the result.

Friday night, Chloe and Christian and Carrie and I went down the hill to Broadway at the National Theater. And it's very interesting when you're in a darkened theater and you're sitting in your seat and you're about to watch a play and suddenly the spotlight shines on one actor on the stage.

Your attention is inescapably drawn to that person. That's how Israel would be on the stage of human history. A worldwide savior was coming out of Israel and like a flying banner, a rallying point for the nations, Jesus, it says in John's Gospel, was lifted up, just as he had said, and I, when I am lifted from the earth, will draw all men to myself. And the whole Gentile world would soon be on the move toward this crucified king. Why?

Because he paid our price. He was the Lord of glory. He was the transcendent creator of the universe through whom the worlds were made, and yet he stooped down. He came down. Jesus hung on the cross like a common criminal lifted up from the earth, a shameful public spectacle.

Martin Hengel said Jesus did not die a gentle death like Socrates with his cup of hemlock, much less passing on old and full of years like the patriarchs of the Old Testament. He did not die just any death. He was given up for us all on the cross in a cruel and contemptible way, but what they intended for humiliation, God intended for exaltation.

What they intended for exhibition in shame and ignominy, God intended for exaltation. You know, it's when Jesus was most publicly shamed and disgraced, when the nation saw who that Savior was and what He had accomplished, there would be this eruption of joy not only in Israel. Look at verse 3. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.

The non-Jewish nations for ages had been without hope and without God in the world until this universal Messiah accomplished victory for the nations. And now, the message of forgiveness would be broadcast to the whole world, Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian. It was as though the river had begun to flood its banks. Let the nations be glad, let the peoples praise you, regardless of religious background, leading to the hinge, the central point of the psalm in verse 4. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.

I want you to hear the repeated refrain in all these collected Psalms. It's not just Psalm 67. The praise of God is going global. Look over at Psalm 66, verse 1.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth.

Look down at verse 4. All the earth worships you. And sings praises to you. They sing praises to your name. Or look at 68:4.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name. Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts.

What is it that the world exalts in? Where do we see the equivalent of verse 4 out in the world? Maybe F1 Grand Prix?

Or Coldplay concerts? Calvin Harris on the mixing board? What is it for you? What stirs your affections lately? Is it a good show on Netflix or is it songs on the radio that stir your affection?

Let me ask you, if you've been following Jesus for a number of years, are your affections for him beginning to grow dim. Brothers and sisters, in our churches we meet every Sunday in order to reprogram ourselves as to what is truly praiseworthy. Realign our affections. We hear the truth, we respond to it, we exhort one another, and then we sing for joy. It's very interesting that the other religions don't do that so much.

In Dubai, down the hill from where we live, there's a mosque. And in that mosque, every Friday, you'll see the men pouring in and they're going about their religious rituals and reciting the prayers and they're listening to mosque messages. But one thing they won't be doing is singing. There is no corporate praise in the mosque. William Clow said, Muslim worshipers never sing.

A Buddhist temple never resounds with cries of praise. They're never jubilant with the songs of the forgiven. Why is that? Because they have no definitive redemption. On the other hand, it seems you can't stop Christians from singing in catacombs, in cathedrals, throughout church history.

You know, in Saudi Arabia, the underground churches actually soundproof the walls. They put mattresses up on the windows. Why? So that they can lift their voices in exultation.

It seems impossible to stop them from singing. Let the nations be glad. And sing for joy. You and I, everyone in this room has offended a high-ranking official. In fact, the highest-ranking ruler in the universe, we have offended him because we were made in his image and to display his glory, but we turned away from him.

We have ignored him and we've sought to displace him from center stage so that we might get the honor and the attention. Jesus Christ took that penalty onto himself. And we know that it's true because on the third day, the tomb was empty. He had been raised from the dead in victory and giving us the gift of righteousness. And so if you will repent of your sin, you will be saved.

Turn from your sin and entrust yourself to Jesus Christ. It does not matter what family you grew up in. And it does not matter if you went to church growing up.

You know, the first time I walked into this building, I sat up there in the balcony, and I didn't know Jesus Christ. It was 30 years ago. I came here, and for the first time ever, I was introduced to this simple message of Christ dying on the cross in the place of sinners and rising in triumph in my place for my justification. I turned from my sin. I began living for Him.

This is the testimony of every Christian in this room. If you're here as one who's not a follower of Christ, can you imagine a more beautiful Savior than this? The world exults in F1 Grand Prix and cold play. We exult in Christ. Turn to Him and trust Him.

It's what that angel at Jesus' birth called good news of great joy. It wasn't good news of mild assent or agreement or just a one day out of seven acknowledgment. No, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Two reasons why we should sing for joy. They're in verse 4.

Reason number one is because you judge the peoples with equity. That doesn't mean just fairness or lawfulness. This means that He would bring truth to the world. Objective truth. Amid all the moral confusion, Jesus brings clarity.

He brings meaning and hope. Everyone on the side of truth, He said, listens to me. That's the first reason, equity. The second reason is because you guide the nations upon the earth as an all wise shepherd of the sheep. No longer will they wander aimlessly, exposed and vulnerable.

No, he will guide his people all the way home. As Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice and I know them. And they follow me. Can you imagine a Savior more worthy of praise than this? In the same way that not even the whole world could contain all the books written of Him, so not even all eternity will exhaust the songs of praise for Him.

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does its successive journeys run; His kingdom spread from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more. To him shall endless praise be made, and endless praises crown his head. His name like sweet perfume shall rise, With every morning sacrifice. This is the job description of a missions-centered church and indeed of every true church. I was entering the Dubai Mall when I passed by the Muslim prayer room.

It was full of men. And they were observing their rituals. Interesting to have a prayer room in a shopping mall there. But what struck me was all the sinks and water faucets and all these men washing their faces, their heads, their hands, their feet in a a purification rite called woodhu. It's ceremonial.

These water fountains are outside every mosque. The idea is they must be clean and presentable before they approach God. Not so Jesus Christ. He's the friend of sinners. You need not clean yourself up before you come to him.

All the washings in the world, all the self-help techniques, cannot begin to meet our greatest need. Only Christ and Him crucified. Missions begins here. It begins in the local church. It spills over to the nations, resulting in joy and gladness for the world.

I don't mean a shaky, vulnerable, joy based on your circumstances, your job, the quantity of your harvest. No, I'm talking about a joy that is anchored in heaven, one that frees you to live a life here of joyful abandon. Let's pray.

Father, how we thank youk for this mighty Savior, this worldwide Redeemer who came to rescue us. Lord, in view of His majesty and greatness, we offer to offer ourselves to youo afresh. We pray that yout might be honored in our singing, our response to this gracious message youe've given us, and that in and through this congregation, ye might send still more workers out into the harvest, and that yout would continue to use this body as an evangelistic engine for your glory. For Jesus' sake, Amen.