Blessed for God’s Glory

Blessed for God’s Glory

Psalm 67 January 19, 2020 – 75th Anniversary

I. Introduction:
A. What we have heard today is God’s grace, God’s blessing, God’s face shining,
and God’s divine favor on this church. We also heard about God’s blessing going
through this church to people both locally and all over the world. We also have
blessed Him today for these blessings by praising Him as the hero of the story of
MVC over 75 years!
B. This really is a micro picture of what God is doing in the world.
1. It all starts with God, a God who has a heart to bless!
2. Then God pours out His divine favor upon His people
3. Then God’s blessed people take that blessing and bless others with it.
4. Finally, those who have experienced God’s blessing return blessing/praise
back to God for His goodness to them.
C. This has been God’s plan from the beginning
1. Turn to Genesis 12:2 - God lays out his plan for Abraham. Many consider
this the foundational passage in Scripture regarding God’s plan in this world.
I happen to be one of those.
2. Read v2...3c
3. God promises to bless Abraham by making him a great nation and his name
great!
4. Then tells him to be a blessing to others (2d) followed by the fact that God is
going to bless the whole world through him (3c)
D. As the story goes on
1. The great nation God made of Abraham was Israel and they became His own
possession among all the peoples of the earth, who were to be His priests and
His representatives, to the rest of the world.

2. Then Jesus came, who is the seed of Abraham through whom God would
bless all the world, and God so loved the world that He gave his only Son,
Jesus, so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have
everlasting life.
3. Then in Matthew 28 Jesus commissions the church, the seed of Abraham
through their relationship with Jesus the seed, those who have been blessed
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, to go and make disciples of all
the nations!
E. In Revelation 7 we see the fulfillment of this plan of God’s blessing going full
circle, as peoples from every nation bless God in worship for His blessings upon
them. Listen as I read Revelation 7:9-12.
• Now turn to Psalm 67 we see this same pattern of blessing laid out
II. Psalm 67
A. We will see here the God of blessings, blesses His own people Israel so that His
blessing, His salvation, might go through them to all the world and in turn people
from all the world would fear and bless/praise God
B. As I read note that “us” refers to God’s people Israel and that the “peoples” and
“nations” refer to the rest of the world.
1. Also, note at the start of this Psalm is a prayer for blessing and in that prayer
he states the reason why he is asking for this blessing upon them. At the end
of this psalm, he states the reason why God blesses His people.
2. Read
C. Point out
1. Purpose for praying for blessing in v1-2
a) We see a prayer for blessing does not have to be a selfish self-serving
prayer if it is prayed with the right motive!
2. God’s purpose for blessing in v6-7
D. In between these two, we see the prayer for all the peoples of the world to praise
and bless God!
• So how does that apply to us at MVC?
III. Challenge

A. God has blessed MVC so we can be a blessing to those around us and even to the
end of the earth. We have been blessed to bless!
1. In the last five years alone, MVC has contributed $928,450 in support of
missionaries and mission work as we have supported 41 missionaries in a
variety of ministries to various different kinds of people in different parts of
the world.
B. So my prayer now is that God would even bless us more so we can be a greater
blessing to each other, to the communities we live in and around the world. I
personally desire this in three ways:
1. I would love to see God’s blessings on our offerings so we do not have to
struggle as a church just to make ends meet and rob from Peter to pay Paul.
But that we not only meet budget but exceed it so we can pay off our
mortgage and fix what remains in this building to be fixed so we can pour
even greater blessings beyond these walls on those who need and to further
God’s kingdom agenda!
2. On the personal level take the blessing God has built into each one of our
spiritual lives and pour that blessing upon someone else! That is called
discipleship – take what God has given you and give it to someone else.
a) We all need people who can help us grow closer to Jesus and we all
know people whom we can help grow closer to Jesus
3. I long to see MVC make a greater impact upon the world right around us here
in the Chicago area by each one of us seeing ourselves as missionaries,
witnesses, ambassadors, ministers who impact the part of the world we live in
and the relationships we have with people both inside and outside the church.
We want to be world changers!
a) You and I may not change “the world” but each one of us can change
“someone’s world,” - one person at a time, one step at a time, one
conversation at a time, one act of kindness at a time.

C. My God bless MVC to be a blessing!
IV. Prayer – Ron Benton