Father, we bow our hearts before you, the father from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is

named, that according to the riches of your glory, you may grant us to be strengthened

in the inner man, and that we being rooted and grounded in love may have power to comprehend with all the

Saints what is the height and depth and length and breadth and to know the love of

God that passes knowledge and be filled with all the

fullness of God. Lord we know it takes strength to see you, strength to know you, strength to receive you, strength to rest in you.

As paradoxical it is, we are so rebellious and wired in other directions.

If your almighty strength, according to the riches of your glory does not overpower us. We will not see you. We will not taste you. We will not love you. We will not obey you or or adore you, or treasure you, or worship you, or glorify you, but if you

would come, we will do them all. So come now and receive our worship that we have just sung and our

worship now over your word in Jesus' name. Amen. Before I look at the nature of gospel worship and focus on Paul's unstoppable ambition to see God, Christ worshipped among the peoples.

I want to link up with Zain Pratt's message and draw your

attention to four realities in our day concerning the cause of global Christian missions.

I'm assuming that everybody in this room at least theoretically,

is committed to the cause of missions seeking the glory of Christ in the conversion of sinners

among the peoples of the world and what I would pray for and long for is that

This message along with all of the others would be used by God to turn theoretical agreement

into joyful and fruitful engagement in missions for the sake of the worship of Christ among the people.

So four realities, and then we're going to turn to a text.

So reality number one, to quote Mark Noel, Christian church historian, the

church, the Christian church has experienced a larger geographical redistribution

in the last 50 years than in any comparable period in its history,

with the exception of the very earliest years of church history.

...