Sermon Notes - MBBC and the Mission of God

MBBC and the Mission of God, Psalm 67:1-7
J. Josh Smith, MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church, attended February 7, 2010

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us!

1. We must be committed to humbly seek the favor of God

This is a humble prayer of a people hungry and desperate for God.

Humble – it begins with an entreaty of God, “...be gracious to us…” We are dead without the grace of God. If He isn’t gracious we cease to exist.

Hungry – they are not satisfied with where they are. They ask to be blessed. They are unashamedly asking for more blessings. We are sunk without the blessing of God.

Desperate – they ask God to “…cause your face to shine upon us.” God turns His face away to all those who rebel – that thought should terrify us. Not just turned to us but shine on us, so others can see the glory of God in us.

Those who love God always ask humbly, hungrily and desperately. They are asking for one thing – they want more God. God give us more of you.

This is a corporate prayer, not necessarily an individual prayer. God works through a group of people. In the old covenant it was Israel. In the new covenant it is the church. We will reach the nations through His church. He doesn’t intend for us to do this alone. You can’t love Jesus if you don’t love His bride.

2. We must aggressively focus on people for God

Their motivation was right. They were praying this for a reason; they were praying “that” (first word of Psalm 67:2). Take the blessing from Psalm 67:1 to bless other people. We can’t be a church stuck on verse 1. There is an inseparable connection between the love of God and the love of people. When God does His work He wants to do it through His people for other people.

3. We must fully engage in the mission of God

The Bible is about God’s mission. He didn’t create a mission for His church but created a church for His mission. We want to do what He has called us to do.

What is the mission? It is to gather together people to exalt His son and Himself. We are to present our lives as a reasonable worship (Romans 12:1). We don’t just present our words but everything we are as a living sacrifice to a living God.

NOTE: These are my notes, taken as I listened to the sermon live. Any errors, misunderstandings or misinterpretations are my responsibility entirely and not the fault of the preacher.