The Thing about the Nations

What do you do when asked to share about God’s heart for the Nations?

Why talk about the Nations when there is so much here that can be done?

I looked at the Bible, and there were several places I could look. In fact it is everywhere.

I decided to look at Psalm 96

Read it and allow yourself to feel. What emotions arise? What sticks out to you?

Anything compared & contrasted?

 ¹Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
   sing to the LORD, all the earth!
²Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
   tell of his salvation from day to day.
³Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvelous works among all the peoples!
⁴For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
   he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
   but the LORD made the heavens.
⁶Splendor and majesty are before him;
   strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

 ⁷Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
   ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
⁸Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
   bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth!

 ¹⁰Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!
   Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
   he will judge the peoples with equity."

 ¹¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
   let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

 ¹²let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
 ¹³before the LORD, for he comes,
   for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
   and the peoples in his faithfulness.

What emotions are evoked? What feelings arise?

 People used words like exhilleration, passion, joy, excitement, fear, awe, right.

It just feels right.

And as it goes it just seems to build- become more and more consuming.

Yeah? Do you feel it?

This is a song of worship. The Psalmist is rejoicing in God. He is enthralled with the greatness of God. And he wants to express it, and get others to join in.

I compare it to when you see an amazing hit at a football game, and you exclaim “Woah! What a hit! Did you see that? You gotta see it. Wait for the replay… oh here it is… bam! Wow!”

You know, if something is amazing we want to tell others about it. We tell people to go watch movies or read a book. IF something is really cool , we may post it on facebook. This is what we do.

This is what the Psalmist is doing. He is worshipping God. And he wants others to see the greatness of God.

Someone took my illustration further. He said “If I convince people to go to Lucas Oil field to watch a game, I don’t just want them to enter the stadium, I want them to root for the Colts”

He compares the greatness of God to the worthlessness if idols.

He desires and craves that God be worshipped. He is disgusted by the worthless things being exalted.

He worships God, b/c God is great & greatly to be praised.

It is right. God is worthy.

If someone compliments me for cooking a great meal, but in fact my wife made it- well, I may take credit, but it wouldn’t feel right. I’d want to give credit to my wife.

Giving glory to God is right- because He is worthy of it.

And the reality is: in the nations, God is not receiving the glory He deserves. HE is not getting what He truly deserves anywhere.

He is God of all. And He is so great, He deserves praise from all.

Acts 17:16 Paul is grieved by the idol worship. Greived! He wants the name of Christ to be exalted.

In Muslim Nations, they say they honor God. But they insult the name of Christ. They call him a Prophet and say they honor Him better than Christians. But they insult Him by calling Him less than God.

He is great and greatly to be praised!

John Piper said it this way:

“Missions exist because worship doesn’t”

What do you think of that?

The whole quote:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man… 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 in the greatness of God… But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching… Missions begins and ends in worship.” – p.17

Missions is an act of worship.

We’re declaring what God does in the nations.

We’re not all called to go. We’re all called to be part of it.

If your worship doesn’t extend to the Nations, your worship is too small.

Here’s the thing:

God is working in the Nations.

People are coming to Christ all over the world.

This has always been part of His plan. From the time when the people were dispersed at Babel, He has had a plan to redeem.

We see it in His call to Abraham- thru him He will bless all nations.

We see it in Abraham’s new name: Father of Nations.

We see it throughout the Old Testament

We see it in the Great Commission: Go therefore into ALL nations…

Always there

Not only that, but it will happen

Revelation 7 shows us, there will be people from every tribe, tounge and nation.

Mattew 24:19. The message will be preached to the ends of the earth and then the end will come.

It’s going to happen.

And being there: well, it’s a priviledge, a blessing!

God is working and we get to be a part of it!

He is changing people, and what do we do? We watch as God amazes us.

And worship is a beautiful thing.

Worship in another language is a beautiful thing.

Worship in another culture is a beautiful thing.

We’re not all called to go. Some of us are blessed to go.

We can worship God in the Nations by going. By leaving our comfortable lives to serve the Lord. by leaving friends to follow God.

We can worship by praying for His glory in the Nations. By praying for Missionaries. By praying for the lost in different countries.

David Gap says Missionaries just go and reap the labor of those who prayed before them. Prayer is powerful & important- yea even essential.

We also are part of this work by encouraging those who are there, by supporting them.

And we worship thru giving. Giving are offerings of money toward God’s work in the world.

Still only 5-10% of all Christian workers go to the 90% most unreached people. So more people could go.

³Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvelous works among all the peoples!
⁴For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
   he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
   but the LORD made the heavens.
⁸Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
   bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth!

 ¹⁰Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!

The Lord is worthy of glory in the Nations.

We ask why go to the Nations when there is so much here to be done. We miss it. We so limit how glorious and great God is.

We have lost focus of God’s glory and scope.

He is worthy of worship- everywhere.

If your vision, your purpose, your goals, your worship – doesn’t extend to the world- it’s too small.

My perfect day

about ten years ago i first heard this question: Describe your perfect day.
The Turkey Stint team discussed it. The most fun & memorable answer was given by sheila Settle who mentioned riding 4-wheelers, then realizing they were late for the ball and having a big dance party.

The one thing i certainly would not want is a dance party. That ruins any day for me.

i like asking this question. A lot of people may mention specific restaurants, others would have a lot of time alone. There could be dance parties or games... i don't know.

What would your perfect day be?

I used to say the day would go like this

Wake up in the morning and play basketball with a bunch of my good friends (And some random people) for a good couple hours… (roughly 9-11ish

Then go eat lunch with those folks + have a lot of other good friends join me (girls could be at both of course- though maybe more guys at basketball). For lunch we’d have waffles and some other good eats (rougly 11ish-1ish)

Take a nice long shower, and maybe watch some sportscenter – it’d be 2:30

Then I’d meet my significant other- whoever that may be- and spend time with her and go spend time with God together. Read some Bilbe, journal, talk together, pray together, maybe read part of a book

Then around 6 meet up with a bunch of friends for a Cook-out I guess : grilled burgers- even better Bleu cheese on the burger… maybe some BBQ stuff too… and cake, brownies, cookies, all that good stuff…A lot more friends would be there too- all sorts of friends  and like lunch (which I forgot to mention) good conversation. Fun conversation, lots of laughs. And also a lot of DEEP conversation, a lot of talking about God, Jesus, Bible, deep theology, and life issues. Some small group convos, maybe some one-one type stuff too. A lot of smiles, a lot of laughs, a lot of encouragement, edfiication & challenge.

Then there would be a great time of worship & prayer and perhaps a talk from God’s Word… followed by discussion and more prayer and more singing.

(I’m think 6-8 for the dinner part 8-10 for Worship,prayer, talk part, then an extra hour for more prayer, worship, talking)

Then we’d finish the night with some tv shows (at the point I would have first said this: Seinfeld & Simpsons + friends, maybe Cosby – now, I’d add scrubs, maybe 30 Rock, that 70’s show, maybe Sportscenter)… with some pizza- deep dish pizza even better.

People would head home, I’d walk my girl home, I’d come back, spend a good chunk of time journaling, then fall asleep.

I’ve changed that a few times, but pretty similar most of the time.

I kinda realized that was pretty much every weekend for my last 2 years of college  minus the girlfriend part (which maybe why there is just a little time with her in there).

Or it could be like Christmas Conference or fall retreat I suppose.

My Saturdays certainly started that way. Sunday mornings were kinda like that with church. Friday night we did have some prayer & praise nights that were pretty good.

Yeah, I had a pretty good life in College.

Later I said: maybe the best I could get now- my best day in fact would be: My wedding day! All my friends together. With my wife. Worship, good conversation…

Well, the wedding day was pretty good: after all, we got married.

No time for basketball… we did take a lot of pictures + there were a bunch of people I wasn’t too close too, people we hired who didn’t fulfill their bargains and a lot of stress… but it was still pretty good, even if we didn’t get the food we wanted all day long and several friends didn’t show up.

We had a great worship set, a talk, edifying conversation & encouragement of some sort – though not a lot of deep conversations- a lot of friends, some good food- and most importantly: my wife!

The key components to my perfect day:

1.     Good friends (family too)

2.     Worship in singing

3.     Feeling intimacy with God: through song, through prayer

4.     Time alone with God

5.     My significant other

6.     Good food

7.     Fun

8.     Laughter

9.     Deep conversation

10. And usually sports.

I added one component later- when I planned my last birthday as a single: serving others, blessing others instead of myself.

I like that.

A couple years ago : birthday 32 I did that. I invited everyone over and threw a party. I think years of parties not going the way I hoped, influenced that. But also a going away party too… and really, yeah, even though saw how expensive it was, I saw it as a huge blessing to bless others.

So that bday, I invited people over for games like corhole and catch or whatever, but not many came. The evening was mostly just filled with conversation and some silly games over dinner- though not a whole lot. Mostly conversation- as I made pizza and pulled pork sandwhiches for everyone. Then we had a wrship time. A few songs… then I opened it up for sharing and asked people to bless me, by sharing things God had been doing. That was pretty cool. And I may have even asked for prayer requests. Then we sang some more and prayed together. That was what I wanted on my birthday. To come together and celebrate God, not me.

After that, a few people stuck around talked and watched some friends episodes and ate some more.

Oh and in the morning, I did spend some time with God… and since some ppl came over early, there was some good conversation going on too.

So, now… yeah, maybe I need a couple days since I’m older… and married… and my friends are all different places, so… whatever.

But yeah…

I would want some intimate moments with my wife

- and that would be after a good sleep, and before… and I guess during breakfast- waffles (or doughnuts)

A nice hour long massage

A good shower

Lunch out with a bunch of friends – maybe Skyline Chilli or a Bleu Cheese burger or Weber Grill- yeah Weber Grill sounds good. (12-2:30)

Then a good chunk of time alone at a bookstore – reading books and the Bible, but probably mostly journaling (with a nice refreshing drink). Then some time talking with Soo about stuff (2:30-6)

Then dinner with friends – maybe pizza (Deep dish, bbq chik, pepperoni) and cake… also cookies, brownies…

Again both lunch & dinner should be good conversation: about God, Jesus, the Word, etc + a lot of stories and jokes and laughter.

Then around 8-10+ have a worship time with prayer and maybe sharing, maybe a talk – but maybe more people sharing encouraging things from the Word and from stories God is doing… followed by more worship, prayer & discussion – til 11…. Yes then maybe a movie or tv shows til about 1….

Everyone would leave, I would talk with Soo, watch sportscenter, journal, thank everyone on twitter, and spend more time with Soo before bed.

Time with God, time with Soo, time with friends, time alone, time talking, good conversation, fun, laughter, maybe some sports, good food, worship & prayer... this makes a perfect day

Our Sunday Morning Service

Living overseas, Sunday mornings can look a bit different than if we lived in the states.

We gather with other American brothers & sisters on Sunday morning, which we call FT or Family Time.

It is structured similar to a typical church service. That is what church is, a family time.

We listen to talks from different pastors. Lately we've been going thru Mark Driscol's series on Proverbs.

Previously we listened to some Tim Keller.

After the talk we have some discussion based on the talk.
Sometimes we'll have some time share what is going on our lives as well and to pray with and for one another.

And we have time of worship, which includes singing and communion.

Today, the worship set included
1. Rain down by David Crowder band
2. Your Name is Holy by Skillet
3. You Never Let Go by Matt Redman
4. Mystery by Charlie Hall
5. Let us love and sing and wonder by Jars of clay
6. Prince of Peace

My church back home does communion every week, as it is proclaiming Christ. It is a Biblical act of worship. And it reminds us of Christ & the Gospel.

We really try to use that time of the communion to point us to Christ and fix our eyes on Him.



We also have food, and usually go out to eat together afterward.

i see the purpose of church to exalt Christ & develop the community of believers.
We accomplish these things.