Evangelism

Introduction

Announcements:

Colbert Park- help from 11-1, or just for part of it- PLEASE BE PRAYING!

Illini Bash- BE PRAYING, BE INVITING, let me challenge you- next week, if you see a student come in by themselves, SIT WITH THEM! (Can you give a ride? LET ME KNOW!)

Titus series- God’s Design for the Local Church- more specifically, we could say- Healthy Churches, Healthy Christians, HEALTHY GOSPEL! Join us as we look at this!

Intro:

Background of Psalm 96 ark is moved to Jerusalem— similarities to 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, 4 parts

1. Declare God’s glory to the World- That’s what evangelism is!

2.     WHO OUR GOD IS (Who we are declaring)

3.     Worship the Lord because of God’s STRENGTH AND GLORY

4.     God is coming back! (Even in the Old Testament this was a declared reality that we should long for!)

Main Point: Praising God leads us to telling people about God

Body

Today as we dive into Psalm 96, we are going to start off by looking at the first part of it- which is from verses 1-3.

Psalm 96:1-3

David or any other potential author, but we are going to stick with David today, encourages us in Psalm 96:1-3 to DECLARE GOD’S GLORY TO THE WORLD!

Really, that’s what evangelism is! We are declaring God’s glory- specifically about SALVATION- to the world!

So as David starts off, he instructs us to SING TO THE LORD!

He says to let the WHOLE EARTH SING TO THE LORD!

Let’s make sure that we are on the same page. The Old Covenant was based around being an ISRAELITE. The Israelites were not an evangelistic people.

But there’s something different about their most successful and God-Honoring leaders- they are EVANGELISTIC!

Because even within the Old Covenant, God still had a heart for the PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!

So when David says, “SING A NEW SONG TO THE LORD, LET THE WHOLE EARTH SING TO THE LORD,” We need to understand and see howVASTLY different this was! This is truly a GLOBAL VISION!

David instructs us to sing blessings about God’s name- or to sing PRAISE TO GOD!

And we are to do this as we PROCLAIM GOD’S SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY!

Now, on one hand, we can interpret this on the short-term, physical side of things.

In other words- God saved David from the Philistines- salvation.

But I don’t think that’s right.

David’s faith in God was HUGE! And when David specifically wants to praise God for something, he does it!

So I think this is larger. I think that the salvation David is talking about here is larger than David even fully understands!

And the beautiful thing is that we know and understand what TRUE SALVATION IS!

We know that salvation is what we have because of what JESUS DID!

(GOSPEL!)

So we are to PROCLAIM GOD’S SALVATION EVERY DAY!

Wherever we are, wherever we are going, we are to PROCLAIM GOD’S SALVATION!

We are also to DECLARE GOD’S GLORY TO THE NATIONS AND GOD’S WONDROUS WORKS TO ALL PEOPLES!

So we are to proclaim salvation AND declare what God is doing!

And we are to declare this among the nations, among ALL PEOPLE’S!

In other words- we declare these things to EVERYONE!

Every person, every adult, every child, everyone should hear about God’s GLORY, God’s WORKS, and God’s SALVATION that has been given to us!

Application

It’s a big task, but I love the way that David talks about it.

Instead of talking about it as just something to do, David talks about it as a way of life! It is what we sing, it is what we speak, it is how we live!

We are to live lives that PROCLAIM SALVATION, DECLARE GOD’S GLORY AND GOD’S WONDROUS WORKS!

I firmly believe, I’m deeply convicted, that if we approach evangelism from the perspective that it is a lifestyle, rather than something that we do, then we will be far more successful in living out the Great commission.

When I was in Youth Ministry we used to talk about worldview a lot to our students. How did they see the world, how should they understand the world, etc.

Worldview is super important. But one thing that we need to make sure that we KEEP IN MIND is that our worldview doesn’t just change how we see things; it should change how we live! Our worldview dictates our ACTIONS!

And what we are really called to have as Christians is a worldview that is built on replication and MAKING DISCIPLES!

We are called to be disciples who MAKE DISCIPLES!

We are called to work together to CONNECT PEOPLE WITH JESUS!

Psalm 96:4-6

Psalm 96:4–6 CSB

4 For the Lord is great and is highly praised; he is feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

The second stanza of David’s song really focuses on WHO GOD IS!

David has told us to praise God, to sing blessings to God, to WORSHIP GOD; but WHO IS GOD?

David declares that GOD IS GREAT!

GOD IS HIGHLY PRAISED AND GOD SHOULD BE HIGHLY PRAISED!

God is feared above all gods.

Notice the capitalization in verse 4. We have THE LORD, YAHWEH, the GOD OF ISRAEL, OUR GOD- and then there are “gods.”

These “gods” are the idols that the world worships.

To be clear; these are not just idols that are made from metal. We may not have temples to molech or baal, but our world has idols!

Idolatry is still a thing. Because an idol is ANYTHING THAT WE PUT IN THE PLACE OF GOD!

It is anything with an outsized influence in our lives. It could be entertainment, it could be work, it could be family, it could be comfort, it could be money, it could be sports!

None of these things are bad, but when we put them in the place of God- to think back to last week; when we pull our IDENTITY from these things and our VALUE from these things and our PURPOSE FROM THESE THINGS, then we have a problem!

And I’m going to be honest- this is going to be a life-long struggle. We all struggle with this.

So when we talk about God vs idols, please hear me- this isn’t just a “then” problem, this is a NOW thing!

But we need not worry, because GOD IS FEARED ABOVE ALL THOSE IDOLS AND GOD IS WORTHY OF PRAISE OVER ALL THOSE IDOLS!

See, those idols are worthless. They are powerless, they are fake.

But our God? Our God made everything! Our God made the heavens and the earth. Our God made us!

Our God makes everything splendorous and majestic! Our God is surrounded by strength and beauty!

Let me flip this around- OUR GOD IS THE MAKER OF ALL SPLENDOR AND MAJESTY AND GOD IS THE FOUNDER OF STRENGTH AND BEAUTY!

So when we see something beautiful, we should PRAISE GOD!

Application

When I was at the University of Wyoming, people would always ask me how often I went to Yellowstone. The answer was once, as a kid, but never during college.

It’s well over 6 hours away. But there’s a reason that EVERYONE I’d meet in Denver or KC after I graduated, had to know!

It’s BEAUTIFUL! (Even if my hot take is that I think the Grand Tetons are prettier.)

But when we see splendor like that, we almost feel the words taken out of us! How do you even describe that type of beauty?

And the simple reality is that we can’t. But we CAN give glory to God and PRAISE GOD for what HE MADE!

Because GOD MADE THAT! God designed that!

That’s who our GOD IS! OUR GOD IS THE MAKER OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS AND OUR GOD IS THE MAKER OF YOU AND OF ME!

That’s who OUR GOD IS! THAT’S THE GOD THAT WE PRAISE!

To praise God, we need to KNOW GOD! AND as we KNOW OUR GOD MORE, the MORE WE WILL WANT TO PRAISE GOD!

Psalm 96:7-9

Psalm 96:7–9 CSB

7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; bring an offering and enter his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.

The previous section was about WHO OUR GOD IS and this section focuses in more on how we should worship the LORD, specifically because of God’s STRENGTH AND GLORY!

David talks about how we are to ascribe, or attribute GLORY AND STRENGTH TO THE LORD!

We are to attribute GLORY TO THE LORD! Literally, in verse 8, David is saying, “God’s name is GLORIOUS! GIVE GLORY BECAUSE OF THE NAME OF GOD!”

Our God is so glorious that WE ARE TO PRIASE GOD NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING GOD HAS TO DO, but BECAUSE OF WHO GOD IS!

That’s unlike praise that we can give to other people.

Football season is starting up. And if I’m honest, growing up in a Detroit Lion’s family, the NFL could be depressing. But, with all my family members who went to Michigan, we could always cheer for Tom Brady.

But here’s the thing. We could talk about how Tom Brady was the best QB ever, but it wasn’t because TOM BRADY WOKE UP ONE DAY AND INTRINSICALLY WAS THE BEST, it was because of what he had done.

David is telling us, “GOD IS INTRINSICALLY THE BEST! IN EVERYTHING, GOD IS THE BEST!” GOD DIDN’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO BE WORTHY OF PRAISE! GOD ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE!

IN THE EASY TIME, THE HARD TIMES AND THE MOST AVERAGE OF TIMES, CORNERSTONE FAMILY, FIX YOUR EYES ON GOD AND PRAISE GOD!

It’s different than any type of praise that we can give a human, or that we can ever earn!

So David tells us to ATTRIBUTE GLORY TO GOD!

And there’s a specific way that we are instructed to do that. We are to bring an offering and enter his courts.

We’re going to talk about what this offering is in one second, but let me be clear on the picture David is painting. David is telling the Israelites- COME TO THE TEMPLE, COME BE CLOSE TO GOD AND COME CLOSE TO YOUR FATHER!

GOD IS WELCOMING YOU!

And David tells us to bring an offering and WORSHIP THE LORD BECAUSE OF THE SPLENDOR OF HIS HOLINESS!

Do you ever think about the SPLENDOR OF GOD’S HOLINESS?

Like God is SO HOLY THAT IT IS LEGITIMATELY SPECTACULAR!

One thing that we can praise is GOD’S HOLINESS! God is SO HOLY THAT GOD DESERVES OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP BECAUSE OF THAT!

David’s response to this holiness is to encourage us to WORSHIP GOD! COME CLOSE TO GOD AND WORSHIP GOD!

And Cornerstone family, here’s the BEST PART! We don’t even need to go to the temple to talk to God today!

We can talk to God and worship GOD HERE AND NOW, or this afternoon, or tomorrow, because we can worship God and talk to GOD ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE AND AT ANY TIME!

Application

And that’s one of the most applicable truths from Psalm 96! Our worship is not constrained to one place, or one time!

And our sacrifices are not constrained to bringing a burnt offering.

NO! Instead, our worship is to be the way that we live and our sacrifices are to be our lives.

Paul was a pharisee. He knew the Old Testament inside and out and listen to what he says in Romans 12 about sacrifices. Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

So what is our SACRIFICE? It’s our lives! We aren’t called to bring a lamb, we are called to give our lives to God! We are called to SERVE GOD ON A DAILY BASIS!

Let me put it this way- our offering is to live a life of worship. Oh that the world would see us and say, “Those Christians, they sure know how to worship!”

And friends, we can experience that! Worship isn’t about a place, worship is about our lives! So to apply these three verses- let’s live lives that are sacrifices to God!

Lives that are not built on OUR DESIRES OR OUR PREFERENCES, but lives that are sacrifices to GOD!

In everything that we do, say, think, let’s live FOCUSED ON GOD, rather than OURSELVES!

Worship is not about singing a song, but is instead about our full lives- sacrificing them to what GOD CALLS US TO DO!

Psalm 96:10-13

Psalm 96:10–13 CSB

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.” 11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound. 12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy 13 before the Lord, for he is coming— for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.

David closes out this psalm by giving us one last set of reminders.

There are three reminder that he gives us.

First, the LORD REIGNS!

Second, the LORD IS THE PERFECT JUDGE AND HE WILL JUDGE THE EARTH!

Notice how God will judge- with RIGHTEOUSNESS!

I can’t help but think about 2 Corinthians 5:21 when I hear that!

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

David’s Third reminder is that THE LORD WILL COME BACK!

Friends, each one of these things should bring us to rejoicing!

We can rejoice because no matter what GOD REIGNS!

We can rejoice because GOD REIGNED YESTERDAY, A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, GOD REIGNS TODAY. GOD REIGNS TOMORROW, GOD REIGNS IN THE FUTURE and GOD IWLL RETURN!

And we also can rejoice because in God’s TRIUMPHANT REIGN, THE LORD, GOD IS COMING BACK!

And as we rejoice, as we live out of this hope, we have a responsibility.

See, David is clear- God will judge the world with righteousness and will judge ALL THE PEOPLES!

So what’s our responsibility knowing all of this?

It’s what David covered in verses 2-3!

We are to PROCLAIM HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY, DECLARE HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDROUS WORKS AMONG ALL PEOPLES!

That’s our job!

We rejoice because God is firmly in control. We rejoice as we see how creation shouts for joy and shouts at the glory of God, and then we also rejoice because of the salvation God gave us!

And as we rejoice, we tell the world about it! What a great mission that we have been given!

Because see, Psalm 96 is showing us something- it’s showing us that part of our worship is declaring the truth of God to the world.

So to put this another way, part of our worship is EVANGELISM!

And I really believe that if we approach evangelism as an at of worship, our perspective on it will change!

No longer will evangelism feel quite so intimidating or even like a chore- because it isn’t! It’s an ACT OF WORSHIP! It’s a way that we bring GLORY AND HONOR TO OUR GREAT GOD!

Application

Evangelism is worship

Evangelism reminds us of the hope that we have (God’s promises and sovereignty)

Evangelism should be our heartbeat

Evangelism is Worship

If there’s one thing that I really want us to take away today from Psalm 96, it is that evangelism and proclaiming God’s gift of salvation is part of how we worship!

Whether in the Old Testament, or in the New Testament, we see the importance of PROCLAIMING SALVATION!

And we also see how worship can be any number of things.

Worship can be our singing, or worship can be our prayer, or how we live!

Worship isn’t just something on Sunday morning’s. So let me encourage us, that evangelism shouldn’t just happen at specific times.

I’d challenge us with this- we need to pay attention to the people around us every day so that we are ready to share hope as soon as we hear any form of brokenness.

When we hear someone struggling, when we see someone going through a hard time, that is where we have a great chance to share the Gospel.

But that only will happen if we make a choice to intentionally let God lead our lives and to live in an evangelistic and worshipful way!

Let me go one step further- when we take advantage of those opportunities that God gives us, we are WORSHIPPING GOD!

Think about it like this- Jonah isn’t worshipping God as he runs to Spain. But when Jonah goes and proclaims the message that God has given him, there is worship!

In the same way, when we proclaim the praises of God and tell people about GOD, then we are WORSHIPPING GOD!

So practically, let me encourage you- who can you talk to about how great our God is? How can you do that today and tomorrow and everyday?

It doesn’t have to be a true “evangelistic conversation,” every time. But let’s be faithful to take advantage of every opportunity to declare the glory of God to people around us!

After all, that is an act of worship!

Evangelism reminds us of the hope that we have

If I’m honest, I don’t think we talk about this enough.

David is pretty clear on it though. Even as we declare God’s salvation to the people around us, even as we worship God for His glory, we also need to remember what is coming!

And what is coming should give us great hope if we know Jesus!

Psalm 96:10-13 covers it well. Let me reread Psalm 96:13

Psalm 96:13 CSB

13 before the Lord, for he is coming— for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.

GOSPEL- the Lord is coming! Our hope is secure because we are not judged on our own righteousness, but rather on the righteousness of God!

Evangelism should be our heartbeat

At Cornerstone, we want to Connect people with Jesus! Our Vision is to see lives transformed by the power of the Gospel! Our DNA is all about the Gospel, Community and Mission.

Evangelism is deeply needed in all of those things. Evangelism has to be central!

I think it’s no accident that David sings this psalm as the people of Israel celebrate the Ark of God being moved and that David reminds them in that time of joy of what their job is- worship God and declare God’s glory to the world!

This mattered for them and it matters for us!

Evangelism MUST BE OUR HEARTBEAT!

So let’s talk about some practical ways that we do that.

Let me give us 3.

First, come and join us tomorrow for our event at The Village at Colbert Park. come from 11-1, or just for part of that!

But come and join us! Join us as we have conversations with students and as we seek to build relationships.

And if you can’t come, then PRAY FOR IT! Pray for relationships!

Second, come and join us next week for Illini Bash and bring a friend! We are having this event next Sunday with the specific goal being inviting people from our community to come together so that we can share the GOSPEL with them!

It’s really a WORSHIP EVENT because as we gather next Sunday we are going to be GLORIFYING GOD AND PRAISING GOD, EVEN AS WE SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH PEOPLE!

So let me encourage you, come next Sunday, bring people next Sunday! Come and WORSHIP TOGETHER!

See brokenness and meet it!

(See the people around you and give them Jesus! It isn’t self-help that we preach or that we need. Give them Jesus and what Jesus says about them- 2 Corinthians 5:20

2 Corinthians 5:20 CSB

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

Preach from the heart!