1 00:00:02,002 --> 00:00:04,437 Psalm 67. 2 00:00:04,437 --> 00:00:06,623 May God be gracious to us and bless 3 00:00:06,623 --> 00:00:09,626 us, and make his face to shine upon us. 4 00:00:09,743 --> 00:00:14,397 That your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 5 00:00:15,415 --> 00:00:17,450 Let the peoples praise you, oh God. 6 00:00:17,450 --> 00:00:19,652 Let all the peoples praise you. 7 00:00:19,652 --> 00:00:22,706 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you. 8 00:00:22,706 --> 00:00:26,609 Judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. 9 00:00:27,327 --> 00:00:30,714 Let the peoples praise you, oh God, let all the peoples praise you. 10 00:00:31,581 --> 00:00:33,867 The earth has yielded its increase. 11 00:00:33,867 --> 00:00:36,503 God, our God shall bless us. 12 00:00:36,503 --> 00:00:38,038 God shall bless us. 13 00:00:38,038 --> 00:00:41,041 Let all the ends of the earth fear him. 14 00:00:44,461 --> 00:00:46,463 Well, good morning and welcome to the weekend 15 00:00:46,463 --> 00:00:48,415 gathering of Christ Community Chapel. 16 00:00:48,415 --> 00:00:50,483 My name is Mike, one of our pastors here. 17 00:00:50,483 --> 00:00:52,702 Really great to be with you. 18 00:00:52,702 --> 00:00:55,972 If you here often, you know, regularly Pastor Joe or Pastor 19 00:00:55,972 --> 00:00:58,975 Zach alternate weekends preaching and don't worry, 20 00:00:58,975 --> 00:01:00,443 that's not going anywhere. 21 00:01:00,443 --> 00:01:03,446 But every now and then we have something called staff Pastor Weekend, 22 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,683 where other pastors on staff get a chance to preach. 23 00:01:07,016 --> 00:01:09,419 Same passage, same points. 24 00:01:09,419 --> 00:01:10,587 Same period. 25 00:01:10,587 --> 00:01:13,139 And so, I'm with you this morning. 26 00:01:13,139 --> 00:01:14,607 Really glad to be with you. 27 00:01:14,607 --> 00:01:16,593 And the good news is for you, you have options. 28 00:01:16,593 --> 00:01:17,811 So right now in East 29 00:01:17,811 --> 00:01:20,814 Hall, pastor Mark Lyle is preaching probably the better option. 30 00:01:20,997 --> 00:01:22,732 Certainly the shorter option. 31 00:01:22,732 --> 00:01:26,302 So I won't be offended at all if you head over to see him preach. 32 00:01:26,903 --> 00:01:29,189 Well, I'm really glad, to be with you. 33 00:01:29,189 --> 00:01:31,941 And I have to share. I've developed a bad habit. 34 00:01:31,941 --> 00:01:33,543 In recent months. 35 00:01:33,543 --> 00:01:36,563 I like to maximize my gas tank as much as I can. 36 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:38,131 I'm not sure if you're like me, 37 00:01:38,131 --> 00:01:41,568 but I'm like a competition I have with myself in a weird way. 38 00:01:41,868 --> 00:01:44,988 How much can I get out of one tank of gas? 39 00:01:45,321 --> 00:01:47,307 And the problem is, well, probably a few problems. 40 00:01:47,307 --> 00:01:50,310 But one problem is my gas gauge doesn't actually work properly. 41 00:01:50,877 --> 00:01:53,463 So I'm driving on E more often than not, 42 00:01:53,463 --> 00:01:57,717 and more often than not, I have no idea how much gas I have left. 43 00:01:57,717 --> 00:01:59,002 So just a word of caution. 44 00:01:59,002 --> 00:02:01,070 If you want to ask me for a ride. 45 00:02:03,389 --> 00:02:05,191 It's so easy for us to fall 46 00:02:05,191 --> 00:02:08,178 into that place with God and His grace. 47 00:02:09,112 --> 00:02:11,815 We think he is running on E, and we have no idea 48 00:02:11,815 --> 00:02:15,001 how much grace that might be left for us in our lives. 49 00:02:16,202 --> 00:02:18,738 And Jesus has come to change our view of God. 50 00:02:18,738 --> 00:02:21,741 Jesus has come to change our view of grace. 51 00:02:21,941 --> 00:02:23,459 Now his grace is not low. 52 00:02:23,459 --> 00:02:26,679 It is not small. But God's grace is high. 53 00:02:26,696 --> 00:02:29,449 It is bigger and greater and grander than you. 54 00:02:29,449 --> 00:02:33,953 And I realize one of the first things, absolute first things said about Jesus 55 00:02:33,953 --> 00:02:38,341 in John chapter one, that in him there is grace upon grace. 56 00:02:38,842 --> 00:02:41,427 So maybe, if nothing else, this morning, 57 00:02:41,427 --> 00:02:46,015 that God would raise our view of his grace through His Son, Jesus. 58 00:02:46,399 --> 00:02:48,084 We're going to need it in our lives and actually 59 00:02:48,084 --> 00:02:52,038 when we need it for this passage, for the only way that Psalm 67 60 00:02:52,038 --> 00:02:56,309 makes sense is if our God is a God of grace upon grace. 61 00:02:56,359 --> 00:02:58,912 So let's get started. Psalm 67. 62 00:02:59,913 --> 00:03:00,530 I invite you. 63 00:03:00,530 --> 00:03:01,648 There's Bibles in the pew. 64 00:03:01,648 --> 00:03:03,716 You can go to page 450. 65 00:03:03,716 --> 00:03:06,319 You can pull up on your phone or the screen behind me. 66 00:03:06,319 --> 00:03:06,953 Three points. 67 00:03:06,953 --> 00:03:09,956 Psalm 67 this morning. 68 00:03:09,956 --> 00:03:11,841 God's people, 69 00:03:11,841 --> 00:03:14,611 God's plan and God's pleasure. 70 00:03:14,611 --> 00:03:15,528 God's people. 71 00:03:15,528 --> 00:03:17,213 God's plan and God's pleasure. 72 00:03:17,213 --> 00:03:20,216 Look with me very first verse. 73 00:03:20,250 --> 00:03:22,969 Let's look at God's people 74 00:03:22,969 --> 00:03:25,338 says, May God be gracious to us 75 00:03:25,338 --> 00:03:28,708 and bless us and make his face to shine upon us. 76 00:03:29,309 --> 00:03:31,678 A couple of observations right off the bat. 77 00:03:31,678 --> 00:03:33,897 You see, the word us is repeated several times. 78 00:03:33,897 --> 00:03:37,667 This is a group prayer, a collective prayer, a prayer for God's people. 79 00:03:38,117 --> 00:03:41,487 And you notice the words of be gracious to us and blessing 80 00:03:41,487 --> 00:03:43,856 make his face to shine upon us. 81 00:03:43,856 --> 00:03:46,492 Words of seeking God's help. Very simply. Verse one. 82 00:03:46,492 --> 00:03:50,847 God's people are seeking the help of God's grace. 83 00:03:51,147 --> 00:03:56,185 God's people are seeking, asking, longing for the help of God's grace. 84 00:03:56,669 --> 00:03:59,672 And I wonder what what the needs were for that. 85 00:04:00,056 --> 00:04:00,240 Right. 86 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,942 It's always a sense of me that drives our ask of God. 87 00:04:02,942 --> 00:04:04,861 What was their sense of need, 88 00:04:04,861 --> 00:04:08,147 what was going on in their lives, in their hearts and their relationships. 89 00:04:09,382 --> 00:04:09,832 Then I started 90 00:04:09,832 --> 00:04:12,835 to think, what are what are the needs in this room? 91 00:04:13,653 --> 00:04:15,288 What are the things going on in your life? 92 00:04:15,288 --> 00:04:16,556 In my life? 93 00:04:16,556 --> 00:04:19,892 In your heart and mind that we say we are seeking. 94 00:04:19,892 --> 00:04:21,377 We are longing for God's grace. 95 00:04:21,377 --> 00:04:24,380 We just finished a four week series, great series 96 00:04:24,380 --> 00:04:27,617 called Good News for Every family, about marriage, about parenting, 97 00:04:28,284 --> 00:04:31,287 messy families and those with no family. 98 00:04:32,121 --> 00:04:34,007 And I have to imagine some of us are sitting here saying, 99 00:04:34,007 --> 00:04:37,010 I could use some grace for my marriage today. 100 00:04:37,427 --> 00:04:39,329 I could use some grace for my parenting. 101 00:04:39,329 --> 00:04:41,698 Let me put my hand up. 102 00:04:41,698 --> 00:04:43,616 I could use some grace. 103 00:04:43,616 --> 00:04:46,619 The family situation is really, really messy. 104 00:04:46,953 --> 00:04:48,538 You know what? I feel really alone. 105 00:04:48,538 --> 00:04:51,057 I have lost those closest to me. I have no family. 106 00:04:52,258 --> 00:04:54,627 God, I need your grace. 107 00:04:54,627 --> 00:04:57,630 What needs do you bring in this morning? 108 00:04:58,014 --> 00:05:00,800 And Psalm 67 is encouraging us, 109 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,754 more than anything else to bring our needs to God. 110 00:05:04,771 --> 00:05:07,190 That's what we do as his people. 111 00:05:07,190 --> 00:05:08,992 Sometimes we need some encouragement. 112 00:05:08,992 --> 00:05:12,412 We just do, right? Two ways to reason. 113 00:05:12,412 --> 00:05:16,149 We get stuck sometimes, and we don't ask for God's grace. 114 00:05:16,165 --> 00:05:19,852 The first is we don't think that we actually need it, right? 115 00:05:19,852 --> 00:05:20,570 We think we are. 116 00:05:20,570 --> 00:05:21,921 We're doing fine on our own. 117 00:05:21,921 --> 00:05:22,405 We're good. 118 00:05:22,405 --> 00:05:25,408 We got it. We don't need his grace. 119 00:05:25,408 --> 00:05:27,827 If that's you this morning, I don't pretend I can convince you. 120 00:05:27,827 --> 00:05:30,680 And 20s of your need. 121 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,683 But I am confident at some point, life will convince you. 122 00:05:34,467 --> 00:05:36,719 I just want you to know when that day happens, God's 123 00:05:36,719 --> 00:05:38,788 grace will be there for you. 124 00:05:38,788 --> 00:05:39,772 We need encouragement 125 00:05:39,772 --> 00:05:42,775 because we don't think that we need God, and we need encouragement 126 00:05:42,959 --> 00:05:45,745 because you don't think God will actually help us. 127 00:05:45,745 --> 00:05:49,098 I've been a pastor here for a little over 11 years and I see it in myself. 128 00:05:49,098 --> 00:05:50,600 I see it in so many people I talk to. 129 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,636 We have this low view of ourselves when it comes to God 130 00:05:54,587 --> 00:05:56,372 and our situations and our needs. 131 00:05:56,372 --> 00:05:58,941 That God can't be bothered. 132 00:05:58,941 --> 00:05:59,909 God isn't interested. 133 00:05:59,909 --> 00:06:02,195 Not in in our needs. 134 00:06:02,195 --> 00:06:05,148 Like the old, Seinfeld episode came to my mind. 135 00:06:05,148 --> 00:06:06,332 I'm not a big Seinfeld fan. 136 00:06:06,332 --> 00:06:07,884 Sorry, but, 137 00:06:07,884 --> 00:06:11,571 the episode came to my mind where Jerry and his girlfriend are going to get soup. 138 00:06:12,388 --> 00:06:15,241 They go into the soup kitchen, and there's a famous line with the soup owner. 139 00:06:15,241 --> 00:06:17,076 What does he say? 140 00:06:17,076 --> 00:06:17,810 No soup for you. 141 00:06:17,810 --> 00:06:18,144 Thank you. 142 00:06:18,144 --> 00:06:21,647 I'm terrible at impersonation, so that saved us all some embarrassment. 143 00:06:21,647 --> 00:06:24,650 But no soup for you. 144 00:06:25,201 --> 00:06:28,187 And I wonder how many of us expect God to say the same thing. 145 00:06:28,588 --> 00:06:30,273 No grace for you. 146 00:06:30,273 --> 00:06:32,158 No grace for you. 147 00:06:32,158 --> 00:06:33,960 No grace for you. 148 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,878 Let me show you something. 149 00:06:35,878 --> 00:06:39,232 Let's go back a few chapters in the Bible Numbers chapter six. 150 00:06:39,232 --> 00:06:39,982 Hang with me here. 151 00:06:41,117 --> 00:06:43,403 If you go back in the Bible, we're going to see that the Bible. 152 00:06:43,403 --> 00:06:47,607 I love the Bible for a lot of reasons, but the Bible is consistently telling us 153 00:06:47,607 --> 00:06:50,610 one story about one God 154 00:06:50,610 --> 00:06:53,613 who is full of grace upon grace. 155 00:06:53,696 --> 00:06:57,950 And the encouragement for the people of Psalm 67 comes from this passage. 156 00:06:58,801 --> 00:06:59,001 Right? 157 00:06:59,001 --> 00:07:02,004 So what we're going to see here is the conversation between the Lord 158 00:07:02,388 --> 00:07:03,473 and the leaders of his people, 159 00:07:03,473 --> 00:07:07,226 Moses and Aaron, the Lord and the leaders of his people, Moses and Aaron. 160 00:07:07,376 --> 00:07:10,797 And the thing to keep in mind is God is driving this conversation. 161 00:07:11,431 --> 00:07:13,733 He's leading it. He's initiating this conversation. 162 00:07:13,733 --> 00:07:17,386 And this is what he says, God to his leaders, to his people. 163 00:07:18,721 --> 00:07:20,490 The Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron 164 00:07:20,490 --> 00:07:23,493 and his sons, this is how you are to bless the Israelites. 165 00:07:23,843 --> 00:07:27,947 Say to them, verse 24, the Lord bless you and keep you. 166 00:07:28,464 --> 00:07:31,467 The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 167 00:07:31,501 --> 00:07:35,371 The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. 168 00:07:35,388 --> 00:07:36,355 That sound familiar? 169 00:07:37,557 --> 00:07:37,907 Where 170 00:07:37,907 --> 00:07:41,027 did the encouragement for the people in Psalm 67 come from? 171 00:07:41,027 --> 00:07:42,745 It came from number six. 172 00:07:42,745 --> 00:07:44,747 But more than that, the encouragement 173 00:07:44,747 --> 00:07:48,651 for God's people to seek God's grace comes from God Himself. 174 00:07:48,651 --> 00:07:51,654 He is driving the conversation, leading the conversation. 175 00:07:51,871 --> 00:07:56,692 And the reason they seek God's grace is because God has told them to. 176 00:07:56,726 --> 00:07:59,729 He's encouraging them to. 177 00:07:59,996 --> 00:08:03,382 Earlier this summer, my nine year old son had a birthday party. 178 00:08:04,083 --> 00:08:06,052 And, of course, the nine year old birthday party. 179 00:08:06,052 --> 00:08:09,388 You have to have a pinata. What better idea? 180 00:08:09,422 --> 00:08:13,342 Blindfold, kids, give them a bat and tell him to swing as hard 181 00:08:13,342 --> 00:08:15,895 as you can for sugar. Okay. 182 00:08:15,895 --> 00:08:18,030 Anyways, we did it. 183 00:08:18,030 --> 00:08:19,382 And there was this moment, right? 184 00:08:19,382 --> 00:08:23,519 Almost like slow motion moment where the pinata broke, right? 185 00:08:24,053 --> 00:08:26,222 And opened up. And the candy came pouring out. 186 00:08:26,222 --> 00:08:29,575 And the kids are sprinting and diving and they're just gathering up 187 00:08:29,959 --> 00:08:31,611 all the candy that they can. 188 00:08:32,962 --> 00:08:33,296 That is a 189 00:08:33,296 --> 00:08:36,382 really great picture for what it means to be God's people, 190 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,887 that God is opening up his grace to us, and we sprint and we run 191 00:08:40,887 --> 00:08:44,874 and we gather and we collect and we gather all the candy, all his grace, 192 00:08:45,107 --> 00:08:47,910 all the blessings that we can. 193 00:08:47,910 --> 00:08:48,811 And for God's people. 194 00:08:48,811 --> 00:08:54,600 In Psalm 67, it was their leader, Moses, encouraging them and for us. 195 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,888 Now we have a new and greater Moses encouraging us, telling 196 00:08:58,888 --> 00:09:02,792 us, come, receive grace, come gather all that you can. 197 00:09:03,259 --> 00:09:07,947 You see, Jesus is known as the Greater Moses, the perfect leader of God's people. 198 00:09:08,548 --> 00:09:12,051 And at the cross of Christ, the pinata was broken. 199 00:09:12,902 --> 00:09:18,291 And grace is just spilling out everywhere because Jesus, the Son of God, 200 00:09:18,858 --> 00:09:21,928 endured the curse of God instead of us. 201 00:09:22,261 --> 00:09:24,330 So now we could receive blessing. 202 00:09:24,330 --> 00:09:28,618 Jesus endured the judgment of God so that we could experience grace. 203 00:09:29,268 --> 00:09:31,971 The father's face literally turned against his son. 204 00:09:31,971 --> 00:09:32,572 So now 205 00:09:33,589 --> 00:09:36,359 he could shine upon us. 206 00:09:36,359 --> 00:09:38,961 The pinata has been opened up, 207 00:09:38,961 --> 00:09:41,814 which means to be a Christian, fundamentally. 208 00:09:41,814 --> 00:09:44,867 If you're here and you're not a Christian, I hope you hear and see this. 209 00:09:44,867 --> 00:09:48,170 To be a Christian is be a little kid at a birthday party. 210 00:09:48,871 --> 00:09:51,324 And God's grace is spilling out. 211 00:09:51,324 --> 00:09:55,227 And we sprint and we dive and we gather as much as we can. 212 00:09:56,462 --> 00:09:58,831 I don't know your need today. 213 00:09:58,831 --> 00:10:02,868 I don't know your struggle today, but I do know that in 214 00:10:02,868 --> 00:10:05,871 God there is grace upon grace for you. 215 00:10:06,889 --> 00:10:08,457 That's God's people. 216 00:10:08,457 --> 00:10:11,093 Second is God's plan. 217 00:10:11,093 --> 00:10:13,729 And remember, our view of God's grace is not a low view. 218 00:10:13,729 --> 00:10:17,333 We have a high view, a great a grand view of God's grace. 219 00:10:17,783 --> 00:10:22,138 So that's going to mean something that God's grace isn't just for us. 220 00:10:22,938 --> 00:10:25,524 God's plan. Let me show you. Look with me. 221 00:10:26,993 --> 00:10:29,996 Verse two. 222 00:10:30,146 --> 00:10:32,331 Psalm 67, verse two. 223 00:10:32,331 --> 00:10:35,518 That your way may be known on earth. 224 00:10:35,868 --> 00:10:39,121 Your saving power among all nations. 225 00:10:39,138 --> 00:10:42,291 One of the most important words in this whole psalm 226 00:10:42,291 --> 00:10:45,378 is that word that you see at the very beginning of verse two, 227 00:10:45,378 --> 00:10:48,648 that is that of purpose, that God has a plan. 228 00:10:48,781 --> 00:10:49,882 God is up to something. 229 00:10:49,882 --> 00:10:52,918 He is doing something by giving us grace. 230 00:10:53,703 --> 00:10:56,122 And fundamentally, the plan for God 231 00:10:56,122 --> 00:11:00,543 is to give grace to his people so that we would give grace to others. 232 00:11:00,710 --> 00:11:03,329 Do you see that? Verse one we gather. 233 00:11:03,329 --> 00:11:04,697 Verse two we give. 234 00:11:04,697 --> 00:11:06,982 Verse one, we seek his grace. Verse two. 235 00:11:06,982 --> 00:11:09,685 Then we share God's grace. 236 00:11:09,685 --> 00:11:14,156 Grace isn't meant to be this, like pool of standing water, right? 237 00:11:14,490 --> 00:11:19,045 God's grace is a stream that flows to us and then through us, 238 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,248 so that God's way may be known among the earth. 239 00:11:22,248 --> 00:11:25,284 God's saving power among all nations. 240 00:11:26,485 --> 00:11:29,238 Almost all the kids at the birthday party 241 00:11:29,238 --> 00:11:32,908 did the same thing that you and I would do when the pinata broke. 242 00:11:33,209 --> 00:11:36,712 Almost all the kids, they they sprinted, they di, they elbow, 243 00:11:36,712 --> 00:11:38,097 they did everything they could. 244 00:11:38,097 --> 00:11:41,100 They gathered up all the candy for themselves. 245 00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:42,468 But there are two kids who were different. 246 00:11:42,468 --> 00:11:46,222 Two kids who responded differently at the birthday party for my son. 247 00:11:46,922 --> 00:11:49,709 And part of what you need to know is that we have three kids. 248 00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:52,862 My wife Christine and I, we have a nine year old, a three year old, 249 00:11:52,862 --> 00:11:55,848 and then a one year old and two of our three kids. 250 00:11:57,299 --> 00:12:00,302 They have some medical and social challenges. 251 00:12:00,536 --> 00:12:03,539 And so they weren't participating in the same way as everybody else. 252 00:12:03,923 --> 00:12:06,859 They weren't getting the candy like everybody else. 253 00:12:06,859 --> 00:12:09,829 And two kids, they noticed that. 254 00:12:09,829 --> 00:12:10,613 They sprinted, 255 00:12:10,613 --> 00:12:13,616 they dove, they gathered, they got everything they could for themselves. 256 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,403 But then they saw my kids and they came over 257 00:12:17,403 --> 00:12:20,906 and they gave the favorite candy to them. 258 00:12:21,540 --> 00:12:24,293 See, that's the plan for God's people. 259 00:12:24,293 --> 00:12:26,996 And that we would gather all of God's grace. 260 00:12:26,996 --> 00:12:28,280 Then we would look up and see 261 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,517 who was on the outside looking in, who doesn't have the candy. 262 00:12:32,251 --> 00:12:33,953 And we run to them. 263 00:12:33,953 --> 00:12:37,490 Now, from the very beginning, this is how God has meant God's people to be. 264 00:12:38,607 --> 00:12:41,360 See, the Bible is telling one story about one God 265 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,363 who is full of grace upon grace, and it goes all the way back 266 00:12:45,114 --> 00:12:47,283 to Genesis chapter 12. 267 00:12:47,283 --> 00:12:49,618 Let me show you something. 268 00:12:49,618 --> 00:12:50,719 Genesis chapter 12. 269 00:12:50,719 --> 00:12:53,756 The Lord driving another conversation says, 270 00:12:53,756 --> 00:12:56,876 now the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred, 271 00:12:57,743 --> 00:13:01,130 and your father's house, to the land that I will show you, 272 00:13:01,697 --> 00:13:03,449 and I will make of you a great nation. 273 00:13:03,449 --> 00:13:06,452 Notice the language, and I will bless you, 274 00:13:06,769 --> 00:13:10,723 and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 275 00:13:10,739 --> 00:13:15,144 I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse, 276 00:13:15,144 --> 00:13:20,182 and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 277 00:13:20,216 --> 00:13:24,770 God has a plan for his people, and it's always been the same plan 278 00:13:25,437 --> 00:13:28,824 that God in his grace he would bless us, that we would bless others. 279 00:13:29,124 --> 00:13:33,379 He'd be gracious to us and we could be gracious to those around us. 280 00:13:33,746 --> 00:13:36,415 An Abraham God filled a pinata up, 281 00:13:37,383 --> 00:13:40,369 and now in Christ the pinata has been broken open. 282 00:13:40,436 --> 00:13:43,789 And there is grace for us as we experience his grace. 283 00:13:44,273 --> 00:13:46,792 Then we share with others. 284 00:13:46,792 --> 00:13:48,594 We gather to give. 285 00:13:48,594 --> 00:13:51,096 We seek to share. That's the plan. 286 00:13:51,096 --> 00:13:51,680 First people. 287 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:52,982 That's by the way. 288 00:13:52,982 --> 00:13:55,968 That's why we are the church. That we are. 289 00:13:56,519 --> 00:13:59,121 If you're around here for a while, you probably know if you're new here, 290 00:13:59,121 --> 00:14:02,057 might not know, but we've set some pretty big dreams 291 00:14:02,057 --> 00:14:05,811 and some big goals and some big prayers of the next 30 years 292 00:14:06,562 --> 00:14:09,198 that we are praying, hoping, and dreaming that God would plant 293 00:14:09,198 --> 00:14:12,568 60 churches in Northeast Ohio in the next 30 years. 294 00:14:13,135 --> 00:14:16,789 That we would give away $30 million to global missions 295 00:14:17,089 --> 00:14:20,042 in the next 30 years. 296 00:14:20,042 --> 00:14:22,127 Because our view of God's grace is not down here. 297 00:14:23,512 --> 00:14:25,464 Our view of God's grace is here. 298 00:14:25,464 --> 00:14:30,386 Jesus has shown us, and he's shown us, that it's always been the plan of God 299 00:14:30,836 --> 00:14:34,189 to use the people of God to tell the world 300 00:14:34,590 --> 00:14:37,409 about the Son of God. 301 00:14:37,409 --> 00:14:39,361 That's true for our church. 302 00:14:39,361 --> 00:14:41,881 And if I can, that's that's true for us personally. 303 00:14:41,881 --> 00:14:44,133 That's that's true for you. 304 00:14:44,133 --> 00:14:46,552 I'm not sure if someone has told you yet, but you are. 305 00:14:46,552 --> 00:14:49,555 You are, as God's people, a part of God's plan. 306 00:14:49,738 --> 00:14:50,839 Dad's in this room. 307 00:14:50,839 --> 00:14:52,374 God has a plan for you 308 00:14:52,374 --> 00:14:55,494 to be gracious to you so that your grace within spill over into your kids 309 00:14:56,629 --> 00:14:59,031 wives. God has a plan for you. 310 00:14:59,031 --> 00:15:03,002 The guy would be gracious to you so that you can be gracious to your husband. 311 00:15:03,002 --> 00:15:04,136 Students in the room. 312 00:15:04,136 --> 00:15:06,088 God has a plan for you 313 00:15:06,088 --> 00:15:09,291 that he would bless you so that you can be a blessing to your classmates. 314 00:15:10,075 --> 00:15:11,877 Singles. In the room. 315 00:15:11,877 --> 00:15:14,063 God has not forgotten you. 316 00:15:14,063 --> 00:15:17,549 God has a plan to include you, to be gracious and to bless you. 317 00:15:18,384 --> 00:15:21,720 So his grace and blessing can go to others. 318 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,342 If you're like me, 319 00:15:26,342 --> 00:15:28,127 sometimes that's simple. 320 00:15:28,127 --> 00:15:29,845 Sometimes it's not. 321 00:15:29,845 --> 00:15:31,497 More often it's not. 322 00:15:31,497 --> 00:15:34,466 I'm a much better gatherer than I am. Giver. 323 00:15:34,466 --> 00:15:37,086 I'm much better at asking God for grace for myself 324 00:15:37,086 --> 00:15:38,904 than always giving it to others. 325 00:15:38,904 --> 00:15:40,339 Maybe you're like me. 326 00:15:40,339 --> 00:15:42,408 I've been thinking on this for the last, 327 00:15:42,408 --> 00:15:46,078 really several weeks, and I want to share one thing that's really helped me. 328 00:15:46,278 --> 00:15:49,281 One thing that's really changed how I even pray. 329 00:15:49,798 --> 00:15:51,317 Simple. Two words. 330 00:15:51,317 --> 00:15:53,102 Changed my perspective. 331 00:15:53,102 --> 00:15:54,169 Changed my prayer life. 332 00:15:54,169 --> 00:15:57,172 Two words so that. 333 00:15:57,323 --> 00:15:58,607 So that God. 334 00:15:58,607 --> 00:16:01,727 Would you be gracious to me this morning so that 335 00:16:02,428 --> 00:16:05,097 your grace would go to the people of this church? 336 00:16:05,097 --> 00:16:08,100 God, would you fill me with understanding of your word 337 00:16:08,250 --> 00:16:11,236 so that I can teach my kids? 338 00:16:11,537 --> 00:16:14,873 God would you help me to be patient and kind and gentle 339 00:16:15,808 --> 00:16:18,177 so I can help the parents of my kids soccer team? 340 00:16:18,177 --> 00:16:21,080 See the truth of who you are. 341 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,599 What would that be like in your life 342 00:16:23,599 --> 00:16:26,085 if you included two words in your prayer life? 343 00:16:26,085 --> 00:16:29,038 What would happen in your marriage? What would happening in your parenting? 344 00:16:29,038 --> 00:16:30,572 What would happen to us as a church? 345 00:16:30,572 --> 00:16:32,541 God, would you be gracious to us? 346 00:16:32,541 --> 00:16:37,563 God, would you bless us so that we can plant churches in Northeast 347 00:16:37,563 --> 00:16:41,300 Ohio so that people around the world can hear the truth of your son? 348 00:16:42,718 --> 00:16:45,237 God's people, we gather 349 00:16:45,237 --> 00:16:48,240 so that we can give. 350 00:16:48,657 --> 00:16:53,162 It's always been the plan of God to use the people of God 351 00:16:53,429 --> 00:16:56,432 to tell the world about the Son of God. 352 00:16:57,149 --> 00:17:00,085 And as we do that, as we can learn. 353 00:17:00,085 --> 00:17:01,704 That brings me my third point. 354 00:17:01,704 --> 00:17:04,707 We will sense God's pleasure. 355 00:17:05,207 --> 00:17:07,109 God's pleasure. 356 00:17:07,109 --> 00:17:10,379 I mentioned I have three kids, Braden, who is nine, 357 00:17:10,496 --> 00:17:13,499 Kason who is three, and Brianna, she is one. 358 00:17:13,982 --> 00:17:15,567 And people would often ask in the beginning, 359 00:17:15,567 --> 00:17:18,237 how are the boys doing with the little sister? 360 00:17:18,237 --> 00:17:20,039 And, our answer would always be the same. 361 00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:22,791 Braden is doing great. 362 00:17:22,791 --> 00:17:25,310 Braden is doing great. 363 00:17:25,310 --> 00:17:27,079 Kason is. He is learning. 364 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,631 If we had to give a dollar to the church 365 00:17:29,631 --> 00:17:32,718 every time we had to remind Kason to share with his sister, 366 00:17:32,718 --> 00:17:34,737 we probably would have funded every Minute Matters by now. 367 00:17:35,821 --> 00:17:38,006 That's no joke. 368 00:17:38,006 --> 00:17:39,508 But things are changing. 369 00:17:39,508 --> 00:17:42,778 He's slowly starting to get it right. 370 00:17:43,045 --> 00:17:46,048 Big moment happened in our house on Tuesday. 371 00:17:46,231 --> 00:17:47,966 Tuesday morning. 372 00:17:47,966 --> 00:17:50,519 With snack time and, 373 00:17:50,519 --> 00:17:53,305 the snack that is like gold in our house is go-gurt, right? 374 00:17:53,305 --> 00:17:56,191 I'm not sure how go-gurt became such a thing, but they are. 375 00:17:56,191 --> 00:17:59,128 And if you're three go-gurt are gold in case. 376 00:17:59,128 --> 00:18:01,914 And went into the kitchen, went into the refrigerator, 377 00:18:01,914 --> 00:18:06,085 and he got one go-gurt for himself, and he got one go-gurt for Ariella. 378 00:18:06,085 --> 00:18:09,288 And as a dad, right may seem small, but as a dad 379 00:18:09,288 --> 00:18:12,691 I could not have been more proud and more pleased with Casey. 380 00:18:13,442 --> 00:18:15,661 Why? I've always loved him, 381 00:18:15,661 --> 00:18:20,149 but now I'm starting to be proud and pleased with how he is becoming a brother. 382 00:18:21,116 --> 00:18:22,651 I'm not sure if you know this, but 383 00:18:22,651 --> 00:18:27,439 God has a category of being pleased with his people, of being proud. 384 00:18:28,157 --> 00:18:31,477 Jesus tells a story in Matthew chapter 25. 385 00:18:31,493 --> 00:18:33,445 It's called the parable of the talents, 386 00:18:33,445 --> 00:18:37,015 where different people are given different amounts one, five, and ten talents 387 00:18:37,466 --> 00:18:40,886 and the person with ten talents who uses it well and faithfully. 388 00:18:41,420 --> 00:18:44,423 Jesus says to him, well done. 389 00:18:44,573 --> 00:18:45,440 He says, well done. 390 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,660 Words of pleasure, words of being proud. 391 00:18:49,761 --> 00:18:52,281 And I want to make a distinction here, right. 392 00:18:52,281 --> 00:18:55,284 Between God's love and God's pleasure. 393 00:18:56,151 --> 00:18:56,902 Because on some level, 394 00:18:56,902 --> 00:19:00,122 what I need you to hear is God's love always stays the same for you, 395 00:19:01,173 --> 00:19:02,791 never goes up and down. 396 00:19:02,791 --> 00:19:04,793 God's love is always consistent. 397 00:19:04,793 --> 00:19:08,964 There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God that's found in Christ. 398 00:19:10,132 --> 00:19:10,682 But God, 399 00:19:10,682 --> 00:19:15,921 being the perfect father that he is, has a sense of seeing how we live, of 400 00:19:15,954 --> 00:19:21,059 seeing how we gather and give and seek and share, being proud of us. 401 00:19:21,710 --> 00:19:25,547 And how great would it be to hear God say, well done, 402 00:19:26,698 --> 00:19:27,933 well done. 403 00:19:27,933 --> 00:19:31,770 And every time we add a so that to our prayer life. 404 00:19:32,421 --> 00:19:33,872 God is pleased. 405 00:19:33,872 --> 00:19:37,609 Every time we give money away to the global partners around the world, 406 00:19:37,609 --> 00:19:39,478 God is pleased. 407 00:19:39,478 --> 00:19:44,933 Any sort of movement, any sort of growth, any sort of progress where we as God's 408 00:19:44,933 --> 00:19:49,521 people are participating in God's plan to tell the world about God's Son. 409 00:19:50,272 --> 00:19:53,208 He's pleased. And two reasons for that. 410 00:19:53,208 --> 00:19:55,194 Two reasons why God is pleased. 411 00:19:55,194 --> 00:19:58,197 First, very simply because we're getting it. 412 00:19:58,530 --> 00:19:59,748 We're getting it right. 413 00:19:59,748 --> 00:20:02,117 If you're a parent, if you're a teacher, if you're a coach, right, 414 00:20:02,117 --> 00:20:04,770 you have your kid, you have your students, your player. 415 00:20:04,770 --> 00:20:09,107 That moment right when something clicks and they understand, right? 416 00:20:10,042 --> 00:20:13,128 That's how God feels about us, that he's proud. 417 00:20:13,128 --> 00:20:14,730 He's like, you're getting it. 418 00:20:14,730 --> 00:20:16,915 You're getting this is what it means to be God's people. 419 00:20:16,915 --> 00:20:19,818 You gather and you give. You seek and you share. 420 00:20:19,818 --> 00:20:21,153 You're getting it. 421 00:20:21,153 --> 00:20:24,089 So God is pleased when we get it. 422 00:20:24,089 --> 00:20:27,092 He's also pleased when others get him. 423 00:20:27,709 --> 00:20:31,580 He's pleased when we get it, and he's pleased when others get him. 424 00:20:31,580 --> 00:20:33,715 There's this, chapter in the Bible. 425 00:20:33,715 --> 00:20:36,919 Luke 15 tells the story of the lost 426 00:20:37,135 --> 00:20:40,138 sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. 427 00:20:40,405 --> 00:20:41,757 And the end of every story. 428 00:20:41,757 --> 00:20:46,862 The coin is found, the sheep is found in the son is found, and God rejoices. 429 00:20:47,246 --> 00:20:50,599 He rejoices like you've never seen anybody rejoice. 430 00:20:50,599 --> 00:20:51,984 He is full of pleasure. 431 00:20:51,984 --> 00:20:55,938 When people come home and find him, there's a direct link 432 00:20:56,521 --> 00:20:59,658 to God's pleasure and people's praise. 433 00:20:59,858 --> 00:21:02,928 And that's exactly where this Psalm has been taking us. 434 00:21:03,078 --> 00:21:04,680 Let me show you a couple of things. 435 00:21:05,731 --> 00:21:07,199 Look at verse three. 436 00:21:07,199 --> 00:21:09,768 Let the peoples praise you, O God. 437 00:21:09,768 --> 00:21:11,987 Let all the peoples praise you. 438 00:21:11,987 --> 00:21:13,488 Same thing in verse five. 439 00:21:13,488 --> 00:21:17,693 Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. 440 00:21:18,327 --> 00:21:22,047 And a similar thing at the very end, God, our God shall bless us. 441 00:21:22,848 --> 00:21:24,182 God shall bless us. 442 00:21:24,182 --> 00:21:26,601 Let all the ends of the earth fear him. 443 00:21:26,601 --> 00:21:28,787 Praise upon praise upon praise. 444 00:21:28,787 --> 00:21:31,440 We're not just giving and gathering for our own sake. 445 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,559 We're not just seeking and sharing for sharing sake. 446 00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:36,178 But there's this end goal. 447 00:21:36,178 --> 00:21:39,181 There's the end movement where the psalm is taking us, 448 00:21:39,381 --> 00:21:42,617 where the Bible is taking us, where God's plan is taking us. 449 00:21:43,201 --> 00:21:48,056 There ends in praise upon praise, up on praise of God. 450 00:21:48,473 --> 00:21:52,344 See, God is pleased with us when we help the world 451 00:21:52,761 --> 00:21:55,797 and those in our family start to praise him. 452 00:21:58,850 --> 00:22:01,553 God is a God of the pinata 453 00:22:01,553 --> 00:22:05,657 and Jesus the pinata has been absolutely broken wide open. 454 00:22:05,657 --> 00:22:10,379 There is grace upon grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing, upon blessing. 455 00:22:11,013 --> 00:22:15,233 And so as God's people, may we learn to gather and to gather 456 00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:19,371 and to gather and then give and give and give. 457 00:22:19,371 --> 00:22:23,041 Let us add two words to our lives, two words to our prayer life, 458 00:22:23,275 --> 00:22:28,196 so that God's way of grace may be known among all the earth 459 00:22:28,530 --> 00:22:33,118 in God's saving power in his Son may be known among all the nations, for 460 00:22:33,118 --> 00:22:34,202 it is the plan of God 461 00:22:34,202 --> 00:22:37,639 to use the people of God to tell the world about the Son of God. 462 00:22:38,306 --> 00:22:41,309 Let's pray. 463 00:22:43,578 --> 00:22:46,882 Father in heaven, we thank you for Psalm 67. 464 00:22:47,332 --> 00:22:52,170 Thank you for how it is in reshaping even my approach to you and to others. 465 00:22:52,170 --> 00:22:54,773 And I pray that'd be true for everyone in this room. 466 00:22:54,773 --> 00:22:56,608 I pray you convince us of your grace, 467 00:22:57,926 --> 00:22:58,310 that there is 468 00:22:58,310 --> 00:23:01,313 grace upon grace through your son, 469 00:23:01,313 --> 00:23:04,099 and that we would learn to gather 470 00:23:04,099 --> 00:23:06,868 the people in this room that would move towards you today, 471 00:23:06,868 --> 00:23:09,871 bringing their needs and their sins and their struggles to you. 472 00:23:10,188 --> 00:23:12,474 And they would find your grace. 473 00:23:12,474 --> 00:23:12,958 God is. 474 00:23:12,958 --> 00:23:15,961 Then, as we gather your grace, would you use us 475 00:23:16,561 --> 00:23:19,548 uses to spread your grace, to share your grace 476 00:23:19,681 --> 00:23:21,266 with our family members, with our friends, 477 00:23:21,266 --> 00:23:24,453 their coworkers, their students, with people around the world? 478 00:23:25,337 --> 00:23:28,557 God, as we learn that may we maybe for the first time, 479 00:23:29,357 --> 00:23:33,962 experience your pleasure and hear you say to us, well done, 480 00:23:34,563 --> 00:23:39,000 well done, good and faithful servant, well done, good and faithful church. 481 00:23:39,684 --> 00:23:42,471 We pray these things in your son's name. 482 00:23:42,471 --> 00:23:42,988 Amen.