Rick Warren - We Are Ambassadors - Part One

Hey, everybody, we are so glad you're here with us today.

On Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, Rick Warren continues with an

inspiring news series called what does it Really Mean to

Follow Jesus Now. In this powerful teaching, Rick dives into

God's Word to explore how we grow spiritually represent Christ

in the world and find our place in God's family

through the church. It's a fresh look at discipleship, purpose

and the life changing power of spiritual community. And now

here's part one of a message called we Are Ambassadors.

This weekend, I want us to look at the word ambassador.

The Bible says in Second Corinthians five point twenty, we

are Christ's ambassadors. If you're taking note, circle that word.

We are Christ's ambassadors. Now, what is an ambassador. Well,

an ambassador is a representative send out on a mission

to build relationships. That's usually what an ambassador is, a

representative send out on a mission in order to build relationships. Now,

there are political ambassadors, there are economic and business and ambassadors.

There are cultural ambassadors, there are goodwill ambassadors, and the

Bible says there are spiritual ambassadors. And we are christ ambassadors.

If you are a follower of Christ. The Bible says

you are an ambassador for Him in the world. So

what I want us to do this week in is

three things. I want us to look at the role

of an ambassador. I want us to look at the

responsibilities of an ambassador. And I want us to look

at the rewards for being an ambassador Jesus Christ. Let's

get right into it first. What is my role as

an ambassador? Well, what it means. Number one, It means

that if I'm an ambassador, I am a representative of Jesus.

I am an representative Jesus. I represent Jesus in the world. Now,

to understand this, you need to understand the difference between

your career and your calling. You need to know the

difference between your job and your vocation. You might work

at Taco Bell, but you're not called to taco bell.

You might work as an insurance salesman, but you're not

called to be an insurance salesman. There's a difference between

your vocation and your job, between your career and your calling. Now,

the word vocation comes from the Latin word vosay, which

is the word for voice. We get the word vocal

from it. Like a vocalist or a vocation. It means

you're calling. It has to do with your voice. Now.

I was talking to somebody a while back and I

said what do you do? It's a person I just met.

I said what do you do? And they said, well,

I'm actually an ambassador for Jesus disguised as a businessman.

I talked to a woman one time. She said, I'm

an ambassador for Jesus disguised as a professional basketball coach.

So what's your disguise? You are an ambassador for Jesus.

If you're a follower of Christ, that's your primary calling.

You're an ambassador for Jesus. But you may be disguised

as a mom, as a nurse, as a truck driver,

as a mechanic, as a realtor, as a salesman, or whatever.

That's your job, that's your career, but that's not your calling,

it's not your vocation. The Bible says this on the

screen tewod Timothy Chapter one. God saved us and called

us to be his own people, not because of what

we have done, but because of his own grace and purpose.

And now notice it says he has called us, He

has called us what's your calling? This week, I looked

up the phrase calling and what we're called to do

in the Bible, and the Bible says this. In Romans

one seven, and we're called to be His people. John fifteen,

we're called to be God's friend. First Corinthians one, we're

called to be holy, and we're called into fellowship. The

Bible says in Second Corinthians five, we're called to speak

for Christ. Galatians five were called to serve each other,

and Colossians three were called to live in peace. Romans eight,

chapter eight, verse twenty eight says we're called, in verse

twenty nine, called to become like Jesus for God's purpose.

Verse Peter two, we're called to suffer for him. In

First Peter three, we're called to bless those who curse us.

First Timothy one says we're called to eternal life, and

second Thessalonians two says we're called to share his glory.

That's your calling. It's not your career, but it's your calling.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are

a representative of Jesus Christ. You are an ambassador. You

have an assignment, and your assignment is to build relationships. Now,

if you're going to follow Jesus as an ambassador, it's

going to have to affect the way you live. It's

going to radically change the way you live. In fact,

the Bible says this, Philippians one twenty seven, be sure

that you live in a way that brings honor to

the good News of Christ. Says, if you're going to

be ambassador, you're going to be a representative of Jesus.

You got to live like it. You can't just name

the name without playing the game. You've got to back

it up with your life. We need to remember that

we represent Jesus. Many years ago, when I was a

high school student, I was selected as one of eight

students in this state in California to be ambassadors to

the International Congress on Science and the Environment. And they said,

it's going to be eight high school students and you're

going for a week, all expenses paid, We're giving an

unlimited credit line and no chaperones. What a life. And

so I'm one of the eight ambassadors from the state

of California as a high school student to go to

this Congress. As I'm walking out the door, my dad

says to me, son. Remember who you represent? Remember who

you represent. I didn't just represent California. I represented the

Warren name. And I didn't just represent the Warren name.

I represented Jesus Christ. I think it's a good phrase

we need to ask ourselves quite frequently as we get

up in the morning. When you're going out for the

day's Remember who you represent when you're out playing a

pickup game of ball. Remember who you represent when you

go into a grocery store or a theater, or you're

in line with traffic. Remember who you represent when you're

frustrated with a clerk and you want to chew them out.

Remember who you represent. If you name the name of Christ,

the Bible says, you are an ambassador of Jesus. Now,

the Bible says in Ephesians chapter four, this live a

life worthy of the calling you have received. And I

have been called to represent Jesus in the world, and

so have you. This is not just for pastors, it's

for every believer. Now, Number two, an ambassador not only

represents someone. Number two, I've been given a mission. That's

the second thing an ambassador does. You're given a mission.

Ambassadors are sent on diplomatic missions. In fact, the embassies

where ambassadors work are called permanent missions. I've been in

many of them around the world, in many capitals of

different countries. I've been to the American embassy. And usually

when we go into a major city, a major like

a capital, we'll get invited to the embassy just to

meet with everybody. And they're called the permanent mission, the

permanent mission to China, the permanent mission to Australia, the

permanent mission to Israel, the permanent mission, whatever. Because the

word mission is what an ambassador does. Now, Jesus said

this in John seventeen. He said, in the same way

that you Father gave me a mission in the world,

I give them a mission in the world. Did you

know that you have a mission that the moment you

step across the line spiritually and you become a follower

of Jesus, God has a mission for your life, and

that is to be his ambassador. Now, when you're on

a mission, friends, that's all it matters. You're not there

to see the scenery, you're not there to take pictures,

you're not there to try the local As an ambassador,

you're there on a mission. Now, of all of the

missions in the world. The most important mission of all

is helping people get to know God and settle their

eternal destiny, because they're only going to be on earth

for sixty eighty years, but they're going to be an

eternity for trillions of years. And so our mission, the

mission of ambassadors of Christ, is more important than any

other mission, than a mission to the moon or a

mission to some other country. The Bible says this. Paul says,

I don't care about my own life. The most important

thing is that I complete my mission, the work that

the Lord Jesus gave me to tell other people the

good news about God's grace. He says, my job is

to complete my mission. At the end of his life,

Paul said, I finished the race. He completed his mission.

He said, I did what God told me to do.

Are you going to be able to do that? One

day when you stand before God, He's going to say,

did you complete the mission I gave you? Oh? Oh,

I didn't even know I had one? Well, yeah, you

did you think I put you on earth just to

live for yourself. No, I put you on earth for

a mission. Now, the Bible says, not only am I

given the responsibility of representing Jesus. And not only do

I have a mission number three, this is really important.

I have been given authority to speak. I've been given

authority to speak. Now, sometimes, you know, we don't feel

very confident in talking about God to other people, and

maybe we feel a little insecure or a little unsure,

a little timid, little hesitant. We go, who am I

to talk to anybody about Jesus? And I don't know

what to say. I don't know how to say it.

I'm not a professional witnesser or whatever. I don't know

what to do. But God says, nope, you're authorized. And

he says, whenever I ask you to do something and

I ask you to represent me, and I ask you

to have a mission, and I ask you to speak

for me, he said, I'm going to empower you to

do it. And in Matthew twenty eight, Jesus said this,

I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Circle the phrase all authority. I've been given all authority

in heaven. Obviously, God has all the authority in the universe,

and he says He's given it to his son Jesus Christ.

And he says, therefore, because I've been given all authority.

He says, I'm going to authorize you. Therefore, go to

all people everywhere and make them my disciples, baptize them

in the name of the Father and the Son and

the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I've

commanded you. And he goes, you can count on this.

I will be with you always. Now that verse is

called the Great Commission. It is our comission. It is

our mission in life. And the Great Commission was not

given to pastors, not given to missionaries. It was not

given to priests or elders or professional evangelists. The Great

commission Jesus gave to every one of his followers. It's

your commission. And one day God's going to say, did

you do the commission I gave you? Did you do

the mission? Somebody gave you the good news because they

represented me to you. Did you pass it on? Did

you share it with anybody else? And he said, I

have all the authority, and I'm authorizing you to speak.

Now there's a word most of you have probably never

heard of. It's the word plenty potentiary. Plenty potentiary is

a diplomatic term. Some of you don't know that I'm

a member of the Council of Foreign Affairs. And there's

a term that's often used in foreign affairs called plenty potentiary.

It's a Latin phrase that literally means full power. And

what a plenty centiary is is it's somebody who is

authorized to represent a government with offers without having to

check back with anybody else. A plenty potentiary is someone

who can negotiate on the behalf of a country without

having to say I'll get back to you. During the

Revolutionary War, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin where both plenty

potentiaries to both France and to England, which means they

were authorized by our young government to sign treaties will

that haven't even be approved by Congress. That's how much

power they were given. And they were saying, we give

you the authorization to make the offer in our behalf

without having to check back with us. Now, historically, the

people who have this ability, there's a word for them.

They're called ministers. Now when we think of minister today

here in America, we think of pastors and we think

of people in churches. But around the world, minister is

often a potentiary. For instance, we talk about a minister

of State, or a minister of Commerce, or a minister

of foreign affairs or a prime minister. We don't use

these terms in America. We use the term president. We

use a secretary of State, secretary of commerce, secretary of

foreign affairs, things like that. But most of the world

uses the word minister. And a minister is somebody who

has been authorized to act on behalf of somebody else. Well,

that's really a cool thing because the Bible says that

you you are authorized as a minister of Jesus Christ.

Every Christian is an authorized minister of Jesus Christ. You're

not a pastor, you're not a priest, you're not a

full time Christian worker, but every believer is a minister.

The Bible teaches this over and over, and he says,

you are authorized to speak on my behalf. You don't

have to go check with anybody else. You can talk

in the name of Christ to other people. And he says,

you represent me. I've given you a mission, and I'm

giving you the authority to speak. Now, there's one other

thing you need to remember as an ambassador at number four,

and it's this, I serve in a foreign culture. You've

probably never thought about this, but if you are a believer,

a follower of Jesus Christ, your home is not on earth.

Your home is in heaven. Your homeland is in heaven,

and your identity is in eternity. Because you're only going

to spend a few years here on earth. You're going

to spend a few decades, five or six, maybe seven

or eight day decades here on earth, but you're going

to spend trillions of years in eternity. And God did

not make you to spend eternity on earth. God created

you to be a part of his family, and that

film he's going to be on trillions of years in eternity.

So he's saying, this isn't my home. And as an ambassador,

I'm simply on a short term assignment. Now, where does

an ambassador live in their home country or in a

foreign country? They live in a foreign country. So, for instance,

America's ambassador to China lives in China, and America's ambassador

to Japan lives in Japan. They don't get to live

in their home country. Ambassadors don't live in their home country.

They live in somebody else's country. In fact, they often

live in enemy territory. During the Cold War, American ambassadors

lived in all the communist nations even though they were

our enemies, and we're actually trying to bring us down.

An ambassador will often live not just in a foreign

country or culture, but in an alien or enemy culture.

And he says, that's what you are as an ambassador

of Jesus Christ. This world is not your home. You're

just a passing through. He said, you were made for eternity,

you were made for heaven. If you want to go

out and read on this. In the first seven chapters

A Purpose Driven Life, I talk about this in detail,

and the Bible says this in one Peter chapter one,

here on the screen. If you call God your father,

he says, live your time as temporary residence on earth,

an ambassador. And I've met a lot of ambassadors around

the world. They don't buy a permanent home, whether they

live in Paris or in you know, Rio Dejaneiro or

anywhere else. They rent what because they know I'm just

an ambassador. And when the next administration comes in there

they're going to point a new ambassador. So they say,

we're not going to stay here for the rest of

our life. Nobody moves to a country and then lives

there their entire lives. If they're an ambassador, you're there

on short term assignment, and you're in a foreign culture,

and you're not really in your home homeland. What Jesus

is saying here is, don't get too comfortable living in

this world. You're just an ambassador. You're just an ambassador.

Don't get too comfortable. Don't think that this life is

all there is here on earth. Don't get sucked into

the myth that you know. All there is is the

hearing now, And don't forget your role. Your role is

not to create a little cushy pad and make your

life as comfortable as possible. That's not your role. Your

role is an ambassador. Your role is to represent me,

to fulfill your mission, and to speak in My name

with authority, and you're doing it in foreign territory.

Hey, thanks so much for being with us today and

listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are so glad

that you've been with us today, and I hope that

you were just as blessed as I was from today's broadcast. Hey,

have you ever wished that you could hear from God?

I mean, really hear his voice when you're facing a

big decision, struggling with pain, or just feeling lost. Well,

here's the amazing truth. The creator of the universe wants

to be your friend. And that's not just in theory,

but in a real daily relationship. And how does that

friendship grow through conversation. The good news is God is

already speaking. The question is are you tuned in? In

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Voice of God's series, you'll discover how to recognize when

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