Worship: The Fuel and Goal of Missions

Now church, you have three options when it comes to missions. You have three choices you can make. You can go. You can send. You can make it so other people can go. Or you can disobey. Like that's all it is. If you are a church. If you are a Christian. Then you're a part of God's plan to redeem the world. You're a part of his missionary plan. So you have three options. You can go, send, or disobey. And really. You can go. If you profess Jesus. Disobedience isn't an option. So you either go. Or you make it so other people can go. [00:34:59]

The church gathers weekly to worship. But it scatters every other day. For people that are outside of these walls. We exist for people that haven't been through these doors yet. Some of your misery. And your depression. Is caused by the fact that you think about yourself too much. It's caused by the fact that. You're too introspective. You don't think how you can be a blessing to somebody else. So we're going to continue to bring people like Elliot and Bethany here. We will continue to celebrate what should be celebrated. [00:36:23]

Turns out the Bible is full of missionary texts. Because we serve a missionary God. The second person of the Trinity slapped on flesh. And became a missionary. A missionary himself. I finally landed on Psalm 96. And it reminded me of something I needed to be reminded of. And I hope it does the same for you. Psalm number 96. Oh sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord. Bless his name. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations. His wonders among all peoples. [00:38:20]

There's an inextricable link between worship and missions in the Bible. And this will make sense in a minute. But like. In Acts chapter 13. Paul and. Saul. Barnabas and Saul were called to missions. And what the scripture says is they were. Ministering to the Lord and fasting. So in the midst of the church worshiping. God set apart. A couple of his first missionaries. In Matthew 28. Jesus tells the disciples after he's resurrected. To meet him on the mountain in Galilee. And the scripture says they worshiped him. But some doubted. And then he proceeded to give him the great commission. [00:40:11]

Worship is the fuel for missions. And worship is the goal of missions. So first worship is the fuel for missions. Look at verse 1. Sing to the Lord a new song. You know if you don't like singing new songs you're being disobedient. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord bless his name. You know worship is more than singing. But it's not less than singing. You even see the goal there. The goal is for everybody. For all of creation to sing to the Lord. That's the goal of missions. [00:42:33]

The reason we praise God is because he deserves it. The reason we go and tell people about Jesus is because God is great. He deserves to be feared above all other gods. The gods other people worship they make with their hands and their idols. And God created the heavens. We don't do a good job proclaiming the greatness of God if we don't appreciate the greatness of God. There's a huge disconnect there. The best salesmen actually believe in their product. Some of us are miserable missionaries. Because we've never been gripped by the greatness of God. [00:43:41]

If the sea is going to roar. The Christians should roar. If the field is joyful. We should be joyful. And if the trees and the woods. Are going to rejoice. How much more should men and women with redeemed souls do the same? You see a tree doesn't have a soul. The ocean doesn't have a soul. I have a soul that has been bought and purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. How come I can't rejoice? I'm a redeemed soul. If the creation will cry out. Why wouldn't I? [00:44:59]

We worship because God is king and God is judge. And all of creation will be judged. Why do we go on mission? Because every person on the face of the earth is going to be judged. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord. He won't let us 예. And then you want people to say the Lord is king or is. Take it away from me and make a believe U. Who would die foraissee him. [00:46:09]

What I'm trying to get at this morning is your worship is what actually empowers your witness. The worship you do is fueling your witness. And I think the order absolutely matters. There's a difference between telling somebody about Jesus out of duty and telling somebody out of Jesus because of the overflow of your relationship with him. Now, I appreciate you doing both, honestly, but one is so much better than the other. [00:47:01]

You want to know this morning how to tell if your worship is genuine or not? It's not whether you left this place feeling emotional. It's not whether you shed a tear. It's not whether you raised a hand. It's does your worship result in works and witness? You see, if you don't live in obedience and on mission, there is something wrong with your worship. If you don't leave here repenting of your sin, you didn't come and worship our God. Mission is the outcome of true devotion. Worship leads to witness. It's the feel for mission. [00:49:15]

If you're in here and you're not singing and you're a Christian, you're being disobedient because God is worthy. I don't care if you're a macho guy that doesn't sing. Scripture says, sing to the Lord a new song. You're ignoring the Bible. If we want to be any good for God outside of this room, we have to learn to praise him inside of this room. We have to learn to meditate on his goodness, his holiness, his majesty, his grace, his mercy. If you really want to love others the way you're supposed to, you've got to learn to love God first. [00:51:01]

Worship, therefore, is the field and goal of missions. It's the goal of missions, because in missions, we simply aim to bring the nations into the white, hot enjoyment of God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples and the greatness of God. Psalms says, And then it says, Let the peoples praise thee, O God. Let all the peoples praise thee. Let the nations be glad and sing. The worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God and worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. [00:52:21]