Empowered by Grace, Commissioned with Power

Church money to those who are joining us online. We

start a new season. It's August. It's August already. Are

you ready for the Are you ready for heading towards Christmas?

And somebody's gone, oh no, don't tell me that, Dave.

We're near at the end of the year than we

are the beginning. That's a statement of truth that's been

true for months, and we step into a new theme

as we step into August. So every one of you

has or should have a card either on the chair

that you're sitting on and you're sitting on the card,

or it's on a chair next to you. This is

a card that we used on our outreach yesterday and

I'm going to be preaching a little bit from this.

One of the things that we do as a church

is we want people to talk to people. Is it

good to talk? Is it good? Do you sometimes not

know how to start a conversation? You know, you go

to I don't know, you go to a cheese and

wine party, you go to a business meeting. You're all

standing around and some people are standing on the side

a little bit awkward, and other people are being really

loud in the middle, and sometimes you just don't know

how to start, and you're looking for a trick. You're

looking for something to help us to start something. That's

the purpose of everything that's on the table at the

back leaflets. If you want to take them away, take

them away. We give away some freebies and these are

really they're not about giving things away for free. You

get the wrong idea if we're just trying to give

away for free. For example, we have a carrier bag

and it says on it helping you to carry your load, okay,

And so if you see some if I want everybody

in church to have one of these in their handbag.

If you haven't got a handbag, gents, then in your

pocket or in your briefcase, so that when you see

somebody struggling down the road with a load of stuff,

you say, hey, I've got something that can help you,

and you take the bag out and you give it away. Now,

what's the first thing you would say if somebody offer

you a bag? Thank you? Yeah? And then you might

put stuck and then you'll maybe read on the outside

and say, oh, running me Christian followship, what's that You're

not having to work out a conversation here, guys, they're

asking you a question. Every single one of the things

that we give away says helping you to or should do.

And we give away a mug that says helping you

to quench your thirst. We give away a magnifier that

says helping you to have a clearer vision. They're all

simple things that people struggle with carrying things around. If

you have a workman who comes to your house and

maybe does some gardening and you offer them a cup

of tea, give it to them in a church mug,

and then when they get to the end and say,

why don't you take it away? Please be blessed. That's

the whole purpose of these things is not just to

give stuff away. It's to start a conversation. And the

card that we gave away yesterday to a number of people,

and thanks for all that. The number of people who

came and helped us as we met on the high

street and reached out to people was just having a

conversation with people. And I'm going to look through some

of these things today because we step in to a

new series for August. His story or my story? His story?

What's it about? It's about evangelism, and so the title

of what I want to share today could be summarized

like this Empowered by Grace, commissioned with power. Does anybody

you need a torch in the middle of the night

and you go to you know where it is because

you put it in that place where you always remember

to put your torch. You know you've done that kind

of thing, haven't you? In case of emergencies, you know

where your torch is. You reach in the dark into

the drawer, You get hold of your torch. It's a torch.

You press the button. Nothing happens. Now what do you do?

You can't see because you can't see. Now you're fumbling

around in the dark. And if there's no electricity because

the light the power's gone off, you're a bit stuck.

Maybe you need to find a candle in the dark

and find some matches in the dark, or find another torch.

Why might the torch not work? Number One, you've forgotten

to put any batteries in there. Number two, the batteries

are flat. Just let me encourage you. If you've got

an emergency torch, just test it once in a while.

It's always a good thing there. Emergency things are there

for emergencies. Two Corinthians five twenty says this, we are

therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal

through us. We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled

to God. You and I are ambassadors for something. Your

ambassadors for your family. You represent your family. Your ambassadors

for the nation that you were born in, your ambassadors

for the company that you work for. You might be

ambassadors for the church. Well, an ambassador carries something. An

our ambassador is never empty handed. They will go and

they will have They might be empty handed, but they

have a message. And what I want to explore today

is what might that message be? Because we're a commissioned

as ambassadors. The moment you were born again, you are

not just saved. You were sent. That doesn't necessarily mean

to another country. But maybe you've been sent to your work.

Maybe you've been sent to your postcode, maybe you've been

sent to your university. You know, I want to ask

the question, are we missing out on mission? We're sent

into the world, which is a place full of confusion

all the I don't know what your phone does, but

my phone regularly bleeps and says, oh, this terrible thing's happening.

It's always bad news. I think I don't want to

hear the bad news. Tell me some good news, please,

mister app But you know, the world's full of trouble,

the world's full of struggles. You know, the Church was

never meant to be a cruise ship. The Church is

meant to be a battleship. We're not sent into this

world of confusion with just a simple message. We're sent

with a message of reconciliation. We carry Heaven's diplomatic authority.

If you're a diplomat, if you're a representative, if you're ambassador,

you carry some authority. And you can choose whether you

want to use that or not. That's a different matter.

And I'm not going to go into today. But are

we Heaven's representative to our post code, to our workplace,

to our university, to the boardroom, to our friends, to

our family, to the high street. It's not in the

in the in the scriptures on screen. But Isaiah six

verse eight says this. Then I heard a voice from

the Lord's saying whom shall I send and who will

go for us? And I said, here, I am send me.

You know, if we're not going somewhere we're missing part

of our mission, and we need to carry the power

of the Gospel with us. Romans Chapter one, verse sixteen

says this, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel

of Christ. For it is the power of God to

salvation for everyone who believes, for the jew first, and

also for the Greek, so for all mankind. The Gospel

is not a weak, dusty, hopeless power. It's the power

of God. When we speak it, we release more than

just words and information. We release transform me. The Gospel

carries the fire of God. It breaks chains when spoken

with anointing. We don't need to have an excuse for it.

We don't need to edit it. Let's just proclaim the

word of God and let the spirit to the rest.

Romans ten, verse seventeen says, So then faith comes by hearing,

and hearing by the word of God. You know, salvation

is simple in some senses. Romans ten, verse nine. If

you declare with your mouth, if you declare with your

mouth and believe in your heart God that God has

raised him from the dead, you will be saved, not

might be not, maybe you will be safe. Salvation is

not complicated. It's a fashion it's a belief. It's a gift,

and we're called to deliver that gift to others. You know,

there's nothing better than presenting a gift to somebody. Do

you enjoy giving gifts to people? You know? Sometimes I

have the privilege somebody says, Dave, can you give this

to somebody else? I think, Oh, I didn't even have

to buy it, and I get the privilege of giving it. Yeah,

when you go up to anybody and say this is

for you, some people go for me. You know, they

don't even feel they deserve a gift. And then when

they accept the gift, even before they've unwrapped it, even

before they've used it, a smile appears on their face.

Someone's giving me something. Ephesians two, verses eight and nine

says this for it is by grace. You have been

saved through faith, not of yourselves. It is the gift

of God, not of work, Lest anyone should boast, it's

the gift of God. The challenge is that, because I'm

talking about empowered by grace, we've got to realize this

gift is free. Sometimes when we give these gifts away,

you know, we've done this on the high street. We'll

literally been on the high street giving away gifts to

start a conversation and people say, can I give you

some money? When we did love Eggham in May with

Saint John's, we stood outside the station giving away pastries

and giving away vouchers for coffee, and people said, where

do I put the money? He said, no, it's free.

Now do you know what was going on in their

heads and in their hearts? What's the trick? What's the

hidden idea? They couldn't believe that we wanted to give

something to them for free, So well, and here's the thing.

For quite a few people, we gave pastries to it.

Then went to the next question. Why. That's a fantastic

question when you give a gift. Why are you giving

me this gift? And you can go down a number

of roots here because the Bible says, because I love you,

if you want to go down that route, because I'm

being obedient, because we're we as the church, are doing

it because God loves you. You know, all of those

are valid. Pick your choice. One of the things that

we did yesterday as we prayed and outreached yesterday was

we I said, there's various different ways, but number one

talk to somebody. Number two asked the Holy Spirit to

help you in your conversation and see where you end up.

If you end up talking about football, and you felt

that was the direction of the Holy Spirit. Okay, that

may be their passion. You know, if they spend every

Saturday in the winter time with their hands up in

the air going yes, you can connect with him on

something and you can then bring it back to the

things that you're passionate about. It's free to us because

it cost Christ everything. So the price has been paid

not by the Church, but by the Son of God.

The Son of God died on a cross for our

sin and for our sickness and for our salvation. But

he rose again. This is not a dead faith that

we have. It's a living faith. And we receive him

in all his fullness and all his glory. Keith Hazel,

who is now with the Lord. He said this which

I don't just explain salvation prophesy. It call people to

their identity as sons and daughters of the Living God.

You know, there were a couple of conversations I had

yesterday and I ended up in a place I wasn't

expecting in terms of not physically. But in the conversation,

how why am I ending up here? I'm ending up

here because I'm connecting with the person in the space

that they feel comfortable in. We are empowered to impact

the world acts one verse eight. You will receive power

when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That torch is

useless without batteries that don't work. We as Christians without

the Holy Spirit are empty. We're just empty vessels. There's

another scripture talks about being like empty vessels clanging gongs.

But do you know what, when we're full of the

Holy Spirit, we resound well, we sound good, we look good.

People are drawn to us. You are the light of

the world. The Holy Spirit is not just here to

make us feel all ushy and goose bumpy. The Holy

spirits here to make us dangerous to the darkness. We

are the light of the world. What's the greatest enemy

of darkness? Light? And it doesn't take much light. I've

told many stories before now I've been caving. When I

was younger, I sat in a dark cave and they

told us to turn all the lights out, and we

sat in there in the darkness, and then they said, okay,

please cover your eyes, so We sat there for nearly

twenty minutes in the dark, and you could hear the

dripping water and everything else. And they said, please cover

your eyes. And I covered my eyes, but not properly

because I didn't listen to the instructor. And so when

they turned one light on, just one light in this

empty cave, it was ah and I couldn't see anything

for nearly a further ten minutes. Whereas everybody else who've

covered their eyes, who then just grew they gradually opened

their fingers, became accustomed to the light. But because I

hadn't listened to the instructors, I have my fingers like this.

Because I was interested what is going I litch my

eyes over reacted and therefore I couldn't see anything for

I mean, they were ready to go long before me.

I said, you have to wait. Sorry, I still can't

see anything. You know, when you get dazzled by lights,

it's the same with the good news. Sometimes we can

dump everything on everybody and it's like dazzling. And sometimes

how do you eat an elephant one mouthful at a time?

As you go proclaim this message The Kingdom of Heaven

is near, heal the sick, raise the Dad. That's what

it says in the Gospel of Matthew. We're not just

meant to explain the Kingdom, We're meant to demonstrate it.

I can say I love you hundreds of times, but

if i'm if I'm push you out of the way

and buy you out of the way and my body

language there's something different, then I'm not demonstrating the gospel.

If we love people, we need to show it to

We're a chosen people. It's not a mistake that you're here,

and it's not a mistake that you're part of church

one Peter two, verse nine. But you are a chosen people,

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people

that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called

you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The world's

needs a priesthood of believers, not just pastors, not just

people who do the pulpit, but people who will speak

in the hospital, people who will speak in your office,

people who will speak in the factory. Because you're God's

person in that place. You might look around and say me, God, me, Yeah,

there's no one else. You're the person in the room

right now, say what you want to say, share it

with passion and power and see what God will do.

It's not about personality. Some of us are quiet, some

of us allowed. It's not about personality. It's about identity.

We don't need a platform to make a difference. You

don't have to stand here to make a difference. We

have a privilege of broadcasting to the rest of the world,

and it's great to connect with those who are joining

with us from I mean, I saw people from South Africa,

from Norway, from Spain. Buenos Dias, Gloria adios. That's the

limit of my Spanish, by the way. So when should

we do this? The time is now in Romans thirteen eleven.

The hour has already come for you to wake up

from your slumber into Timothy four to preach the word.

Be prepared in season and out of season, Be prepared,

be ready, whether you think it's required or not. Forgive

me if you've heard me tell this story before now,

but it changed my attitude to preparing for Sundays. My

dad and my stepmom used to go to an Anglican

church up in Wakefield, and I got to know Stephen,

the vicar there very well, and I went up to

their church for an away day of refreshing. I drove

up on the Saturday morning and I said, I won't

get there for the start. I'll get there for the

coffee break, and I'll join you for the rest of

the day. I knew Stephen pretty well. He's a bit

of a joker from time to time. And I walked

into the end of the first session just about five

minutes before the coffee break, so I was on time,

and he looked up and he points to me and says,

I'm really glad we're about to take a break. But

I'm really glad Dave's made it because he's going to

be taking the next session. There had been no discussion

about me doing anything at all, and Steven just said

Dave's going to be and I just thought, did I

miss an email? What did I do? Anyway? So what

I didn't even go and check with him. I just

went took to one side, got a cup of coffee,

said hello to Dad and Maureen, and then went into

a corner and just okay, God, you're going to have

to give me something. And so I got some quick

notes and wrote out some things on a post it note,

and then came to the ready for the next session.

After the coffee break, sat down. I said, Stephen said,

I know I announced that Dave was going to be

you in the next session, but I was just joking.

What that taught me was never go anywhere without something.

It's a lesson that happened decades ago now, but I

never go anywhere. I was in Manor Cross School where

we used to meet many years ago, and I was

sitting in the front row. It's a special assembly with

all the parents in there, and they'd been raising money

for Water Aid and I was there, you know, as

a local pastor, just to say a prayer as part

of the as part of the assembly. There was three

hundred parents, you know, hundreds of kids. It was a

packed room. And the head mistress came up to me said, Dave,

the lady from Water Aid's not going to be able

to make it. Could you say something please about Water Aid?

I know something about water Aid. So again frantic research

into my phone got up. But I was ready because

I'd already arrived, saying okay, if I need to share something,

my heart was ready even though I had to do

some research. So the time is now be ready In

season and out season. It's a chiross hour. The harvest

is ripe, the workers a few. Don't wait, don't hesitate,

don't hold back. The gospel must be heard, The kingdom

must be seen. The church we must arise. Now is

the time for bold lions, not silent saints. Yeah, we

can be a bystander in the Kingdom of God. But

do you know what I believe? You and I are

sent people. We are anointed and appointed and armed with fire.

The power of God is not behind you, It's in you.

The Gospel of Story is not something you tell, it's

a fire that you carry. So rise up, ambassadors, speak

up priests, heal the sick, preach the word, break the chains,

and above all, never, never, never be ashamed of the gospel,

for it's still the power of God unto salvation. So

I'm done. That's what these cards are all about. I've

quoted those four scriptures on that card. Take it away,

use it as you want, put it in your pocket,

put it in your briefcase. Maybe pray over it. So

I'd want to pray about a couple of things. Let's

close our eyes and I'm going to ask you whether

you're listening at home, whether you're listening later, or whether

you're in the room. There's three things I want to

pray for. I want to pray for boldness. I want

to pray for a calling for ambassadors. And I want

to make an invitation for anyone who's not saved. So

let me start with boldness. We know what we might do,

but we just lack that umph, that sense of stepping out.

If that's you, whether you're at home, whether you're listening

later or in the room, would you stand where you

are if you just need a fresh download of boldness today.

A fresh boldness to talk to your colleagues at work,

a fresh boldness to share with your family, a fresh

boldness to be on the streets. Some of us are

not on the streets because we are ashamed. But I

want to encourage you be filled again with boldness. So

for those people who are standing, I'm going to pray

for you in a moment for fresh boldness to fall

upon you. I'm not saying you might be bold in

some places, in some seasons, in some locations, but not

in others. So maybe you're just standing and saying, Lord,

I need a boldness to be able to share with

my spouse, with my children, with my boss. Maybe there's

one particular area where you're saying I need boldness. Well,

I want to pray that the Lord will fill you

with his spirit and that will bring boldness. So Father,

I pray for those who are standing, Lord, I pray

the Lord. Lord, God, Lord, you'd fill us up with

your spirit with no fresh boldness, and we take a

step of faith easily in Jesus' name. Some of us

are sitting on the sidelines. So you know, well, you're

on the team. We're in the football team. We're in

the sidelines. We know how to play the game in theory,

but we're not on the pitch yet. I want to

encourage you if you I sense there are a few

people who just need to say, Lord, I want to

be an ambassador for you. I don't feel worthy. There's

things I've done that I shouldn't have done. Well, that's

that's repentance. Just turn to God and say Lord, I'm sorry.

Doesn't deny your validity as an ambassador. If you shouted

at somebody who pulled out in front of you, it

does not deny your worthiness. Just say sorry, Lord, maybe

even say you know, give a repentance sign to the

person who you're now shouting at. If you've been angry

with someone, if you've hurt someone, just take a few

moments to apologize, to redress, but don't allow it to

take you off course, off path from being an ambassador

for the King. I was literally just talking to Rue,

who welcomed people in the door today, and she said,

I've met the Key. I said really, She said yes,

got invited to go to the royal show and I

was there with some other people and I met the King. Wow.

You know she was excited at the front door about

meeting the King. We should be just as excited about

meeting King Jesus and introducing other people to him. So,

if you want a fresh sense of calling, if you

want to step into being that ambassador for Christ, would

you stand those at home, those listening later, would you

stand now? So? Father, I pray the Lord you'd help

us to be better ambassadors for you, help us to

step out in faith and into our calling in Jesus name. Amen.

And finally, as I read a couple of times, confess

with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe

in your heart that Jesus Christ is. Lord, maybe you've

sensed in your heart I've heard what Dave's talking about.

I don't know this Jesus Chap that Dave's talking about,

but I want to know him better. I want to

know who I am in him. Would you just raise

your hand, Would you just lift up your hand and

let me know. I'm just put it up. Thank you, Father, Father.

I pray for those who are listening, for those who

have been nudged Lord, towards you, Father, I pray that Lord,

you'd whisper in their ear, speak more clearly to them,

and let them know more about their place in your

kingdom family. In Jesus's name, Amen, Thank you,