SERMON OUTLINE:
• The world needs light (vs 1-2).
• The world needs Joy (vs 3-4).
• The world needs life (vs 5-7)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• “Watson, come here! I want to see you!”
• With these famous words,
• Alexander Graham Bell catapulted himself into historic notoriety,
• Bell was the inventor of the first practical telephone.
• And during an experiment on June 2nd, 1875, working with his assistant, Thomas Watson,
• The telephone as we know it was born.
• It was a miraculous invention, and it changed the world forever.
• And even in a changing world where we use texting, email, social media,
• And a host of other communication mediums as new forms of “talking” to one another.
• The telephone is still probably number 1,
• And you probably all have a mobile phone with you this morning!
• TRANSITION: The telephone of course connects you to someone far away.
• Although not physically together you can speak to one another,
• As if they were by your side.
• And with modern technology you can make a video call,
• So, you can even see the person you are talking too as well!
• Note: As well as being a harvest psalm; “The land yields its harvest” (vs 6).
• It is also a call to mission psalm: God wants to be connected to his people:
• Vs 2: “All nations”.
• Vs 4: “The nations”
• Vs 7: “Ends of the earth”
Quote: John Stott:
“We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.”
Quote:
“Every Christian is a missionary
and every non-Christian is a mission field”
Question: Why do we need to go?
The short answer:
“Every Christian is a missionary
and every non-Christian is a mission field”
The long answer: According to this psalm is threefold:
(1). Because the World Needs Light (vs 1-2).
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face SHINE on us
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.”
• According to verse 1:
• The light of God is demonstrated three ways:
FIRST: “MAY GOD BE GRACIOUS TO US”
ill:
• Question: How many gallons of water are in the ocean?
• Answer: The ocean contains 352 quintillion gallons of water!
• Question: How many stars are in the KNOWN universe?
• Answer: 70 sextillion (7 followed by 22 zeros),
• It was calculated by a team of stargazers based at the Australian National University.
• Question: How many grains of sand are in the world?
• Answer: 7,500,000,000,000,000,000,
• Or seven quintillion five hundred quadrillion grains of sand*.
o *They said, if you assume a grain of sand has an average size,
o And you calculate how many grains are in a teaspoon,
o And then multiply by all the beaches and deserts in the world,
o The Earth has roughly (and we're speaking very roughly here)
o 7.5 x 10 18 grains of sand, or seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains.
o That's a lot of grains.
• TRANSITION: Even if these answers are incorrect, here is my point:
• God’s grace is bigger than all these numbers!
Ill:
• Take a man like John Newton,
• The inscription on his gravestone reads:
“John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy.”
• Grace took hold of this evil, vile man and changed him!
• But grace did not free him to serve no master, but a new Master.
• His testimony is in that great hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’
• ‘Amazing Grace’ is probably the most beloved hymn of the last two centuries.
Ill:
• Let’s listen & watch it: Amazing Grace - Matt Redman and Friends (Official video).
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/LXBsCkIxVRU
• Words of the original version below:
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.
Someone else added the verse:
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
• TRANSITION: God deals with people in grace,
• Not because they are nice and deserve it,
• But because he is!
SECOND: “MAY GOD BLESS US”
Ill:
• "To be blessed" means 'to be favoured by God'.
• Blessings therefore are directly associated with God and come from God.
• So, when you express a blessing on someone,
• Non-believers would see it as bestowing a wish on someone,
• Believers should see it as a mini prayer for someone.
• We are saying/praying that the person will experience the favour of God in their lives.
Ill:
• A young boy went to the local sweet shop (candy store) with his mother.
• The shop owner, passed him a large jar of wrapped sweets and said,
• “Help yourself, go on take a handful”
• The boy uncharacteristically held back.
• So, the shop owner pulled out a handful of sweets and gave them to him.
• Outside the shop, the boy’s mother asked why he had suddenly been so shy,
• The boy smiled and replied, “Because his hand is much bigger than mine!”
• TRANSITION: God blesses us with big hands!
• He has provided far more than we need!
NOTE:
• The Psalmist asks for blessing in verses 2-3.
• So that God’s ways may be known on the earth.
• The Psalmist is not saying, "Bless me so that I can be comfortable."
• He is not saying, "Bless me so that I don’t have to work hard to make a living."
• He is not saying, "Bless me so that others will be envious of me."
• He is not saying, "Bless me so that I can be successful in the eyes of the world."
• Now listen carefully:
• He is not even primarily saying, "Bless me so that I can bless others."
The Psalmist is quite specific:
• "Bless me, so that I might glorify you,”
• Bless me so that I might show your power, your love, your majesty,
• Your goodness to all nations."
• By all means, God blesses us and gifts us so that we might serve and bless others.
• But still, this is not the underlying, fundamental reason for God’s blessing.
• God blesses us first and foremost so that we can bring glory to His name.
Notice: Verse 3. It shows to us that God’s goal is much bigger than we would naturally think.
• “So that your ways may be known on earth,
• Your salvation among all nations.”
• God aims to glorify himself not only among those already identified as His people,
• But among all nations, among all the peoples.
THIRD: “May God shine his face on us”
Ill:
• A person’s face is very revealing:
• i.e., Often, we can tell the emotions of people by the looks of their faces.
• i.e., As a preacher you can tell when people have had enough.
• i.e., You can tell when someone is not happy because their face will be “downcast.”
• i.e., if you were happy – it was said that your face would “shine”.
• Notice: What the psalm says about God’s face:
• “The LORD makes his face SHINE on us”
Ill:
• Think about the difference between rainy days and sunny days.
• Rainy days can often seem very unpleasant; dark, cold, windy & miserable.
• And yet that same day if the sun comes out.
• It is able to be transformed the same day into something beautiful.
• TRANSITION: For the believer the sunshine of God’s love is always on us!
• Because “The LORD makes his face SHINE on us”
(2). Because the World Needs Joy (vs 3-4).
“May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
and guide the nations of the earth.”
Ill:
• The man in the photo is called Robert Reed.
• You can read his story in his book called; “Bursting with Life.”
• Let me give you a quick snapshot:
• His hands are twisted, and his feet are useless.
• He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself.
• He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear.
• Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together.
• His speech drags like a worn-out audiocassette.
• Robert has cerebral palsy.
• The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk.
• But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school
• Or attending University,
• From which he graduates with a degree in Latin.
• Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at a Junior College.
• Or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
• And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
• He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972.
• There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese.
• He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour.
• And a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
• Then he stationed himself daily in a park,
• Where he distributed brochures about Christ.
• Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord,
• One of whom became his wife, Rosa.
• When he speaks at a Church.
• He is not after sympathy or pity, but rather the opposite.
• He holds his bent crooked hand up in the air and he boasts,
• “I have everything I need for joy.”
• TRANSITION: His shirts are held together by Velcro,
• But his life is held together by joy!
Joy is a theme of these verses:
• The psalmist wants the nations to be “glad” (vs 4).
• To “Sing for joy” (vs 4)
• Twice he wants the nations to “Praise God” (vs 5).
• The desire of the psalmist is that the nations,
• Would come into a knowledge and into the joy of the Lord.
Ill:
• Robert Rainy (1826 – 1906), was a Scottish Presbyterian clergy man;
• He was principle at New College, Edinburgh.
• (The Divinity faculty in Edinburgh University) is named after him.
• He is more commonly referred to as Principal Rainy,
• He was known for his happy manner,
• And when people asked him why he was so joyful all the time,
• He would reply using a metaphor about a Christian's joy.
• "Joy is the flag, which is flown from the castle of the heart,
• When the King is in residence there."
• TRANSITION: That was Principle Rainy’s belief.
• And the psalmist would add a loud, “Amen!” To that.
(3). Because the World Needs Life (vs 5-7).
“May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.”
• I guess it is no coincidence that in a missionary psalm.
• The psalmist talks about a harvest
• Because whenever the gospel is preached (if you sow good seed).
• Sooner or later, you are going to reap a harvest of souls!
Ill:
• A few years ago for a Christmas present,
• My Mother-in-Law gave me a plastic flower!
• Now it was a specific flower, a water lily,
• And it was designed to float on my fishpond (giving colour to the pond all year round)
• But here is the irony, a seed was either blown into the flower or a bird dropped it,
• And somehow in the middle of this plastic flower,
• A real stem and flower started growing!
• TRANSITION: Every seed has the potential for creating life,
• Good seed will always produce life!
• Harvest is a reminder that for all our food a miracle of life took place!
• Without life-giving food we die, without a harvest we die!
• But with food, we live!
• In Biblical times the people saw harvest as tangible proof of God’s blessing.
• He provided all that they needed for life!
• Without food, without a harvest we die!
• But with food, we live!
Ill:
• Jesus used that metaphor when talking about himself.
• John chapter 6 verse 35 Jesus said.
“Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”.
• Jesus made this claim after he had fed 5,000 people.
• Maybe as many as 10,000 as women and children were not counted in those days.
• I do like that story of how he fed them.
• We are told that “Jesus took the bread in his hands”:
Ill:
• i.e., Place a have a scalpel in my hands, it’s merely a scalpel that could cause damage,
• But when you place that same scalpel in the hands of a surgeon,
• It turns into an object that can bring life.
• i.e., Put a golf club in any of our hands, and it’s merely a golf club,
• But when you place that same golf club in the hands of Rory Mcllroy or James Day,
• It allows him to be the best golfer in the world.
• i.e., A paintbrush in my hands might result in a pretty good picture,
• (If it’s painting by numbers).
• But when a paintbrush was placed in the hands of Van Gogh,
• It would turn into incredible works of art.
• i.e., A gun placed in the hands of a UN peacekeeper is a tool used to attain safety,
• But when placed in the hands of a terrorist,
• That same gun becomes a weapon of destruction.
• Question: Why is it that the same instruments and the same tools.
• Can bring about such differing degrees of results?
• Answer:
• It simply depends upon who is holding them and how they’re being used.
• TRANSITION: Make sure you are placing your life in the hands of Jesus.
• And he will bless you and make you a blessing!
Note:
• The last line of the psalm.
• “So that all the ends of the earth will fear him.”
• The psalmist wants the nations to look at him and his people.
• To see how God has blessed him,
• And to trust in the Lord.
• If they see this, they will fear God, they will fear they are missing out on the blessing.
• They too will come to faith.
Punchline:
• What do people see when they look at our lives (and they do)?
• Do they see Christ or just a caricature of Christ?
• If they see him, do they will fear they are missing out on the blessing.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=0ahMUt8DkRXH99oARPGIPYsmcekYKD8B
SERMON VIDIO:
https://youtu.be/pFggd5eY3WM
