10th December 2023 All Age All Nation Service

We're looking at a serious around Kingdom me today, and I want to talk

about being an ambassador for the king. I've had the privilege to travel recently

and I've used this. Anybody else got one of these? It's actually because

somebody gave me a very posh cover for it. You probably don't recognize it.

Let me get it out of the cover. Anybody got one of these?

Yeah, it gives us. It gives us permission to cross the border.

It gives us a permission to go somewhere. You know, if you

haven't got one of these, then when you cross the border, you're an

illegal immigrant. That's the reality. And so when we want to cross the

border, we need one of these. Now that that that's I know.

We've got many nationalities here, so your one's probably a different color, it's

probably got a different country on the front. That's fine. I'm not trying

to proclaim the gospel of a United Kingdom. I am trying to proclaim the

gospel of the Kingdom, not I mean, the United Kingdom is a great

name for a country, I guess, isn't it, Although I'm not sure

how united we are. But the reality is, this says who I am

and so when I come to a border, somebody says, okay, who

are you? And I just hold it up and they say, oh,

yes, okay, And then then they check that I've got permission, that

I've not been a naughty boy before, and I'm going to be allowed in,

And then they'll off and ask the next question. What's the next question

you asked me to the border when you handed over your past? What's the

questions? And ask you what's the person of your of your visit? Why

are you now? I want to think about this from a conspecutive that means

really to you two Corinthians. To Corinthians, we are this ambassador as the

God were making his appeal for us. We employ you on Christ's behalf,

be reconciled to God. We are Christ's ambassador. I wonder if somebody said

who are you and why you hear? What would we pull out? A

kingdom equivalent of this. It might be our testimony as Letty was encouraging us

to do. It might be exactly what Isabel did. Sitting there and having

breakfast. She starts talking to someone and suddenly who she is bursts forth.

She can't keep quiet about it. You know there are times when I can't

keep quiet. I'm not saying I'm doing that all the time. I'm being

honest with you, but there are times when I can't keep quiet, and

there are moments when I want to kind of declare and proclaim who God is.

And so, as an ambassador for the king, what do we pull

out? What is our evidence we're an ambassador? Well, what is an

ambassador? First of all, let's take a bit of a dictionary definition something

that might be helpful. A diplomatic official somebody who goes on behalf into another

country, goes on behalf. A diplomatic official of the highest rank sent by

one sovereign or state to another as it's resident representative. So there's some things

in this definition that I want us to get. When I read in the

scripture said we're ambassadors, that means we're sent. We're not an accident,

we're not a mistake. We're not doing something just because we feel good and

we want to travel. We're not just crossing a border for crossing a border's

sake. We are sent ones. You and I are sent, and as

a consequence, we should go with confidence, not I mean, I don't

know what you feel like when you get to the border. But I honestly

kind of feel a little intimidated. They've got their body armor on, they've

got all their dark uniform on, and they sometimes they smile, but sometimes

they don't. And then they say things like why are you here? In

a very official voice. And I felt like a little school kid. Sometimes

I'm here for a conference. Yeah that's nuts. I'm here for a conference.

Now why are you here? Let's walk with confidence, Let's lift up

our heads. And so a couple of things that I did the last time

I traveled. I decided I'm not going to be intimidated. Not that I'm

going to not going to be awkward or anything. But I looked at the

gentleman who checked my passport. I looked him in the eye. He's a

person too, he's just got a job to do. But it's a moment

of power. It's a moment of transaction. It's a moment where one kingdom

meets another. It's a moment where one nation meets another. I mean,

if he says no, go home, that's it. I've got to go

home. I can't. I might try and appeal, but he says go.

Sometimes people say I don't want to hear the gospel, and sometimes you

will sense in your spirit just a bit like Isabel. Well, I'm going

to tell you anyway because there's a confidence in me. There's a confidence in

me. That means that I have something to tell you. An ambassador and

emissary carry a message. So okay, So what message are you carrying?

Now? I'm not saying we all need to carry the same message. You

will express your testimony your faith in a different way than me, and that's

okay because your testimony is your testimony, as my testimony is mine. And

so let me encourage you be confident in the testimony that you have. Just

tell the little stories that you know where God healed you, where God saved

you, where God answered your prayers, and keep on telling them. Here's

the reality. We get bored with our stories. We get bored with our

stories, but the people we're telling me have never heard them before. You're

telling the story for the first time. So tell it as though you're telling

it for the first time, because think about the listener. The listener is

saying, Hey, I didn't know, I didn't know God healed I didn't

know God answered prayer. Not something I've experienced. And then there's another thing

in this definition. Here we are representatives. Represent How are you are you

proud when again, this is the last time I traveled? Okay, am

I proud of who I am? Because when I hand my passport over,

he's looking at me. He's not looking at anybody else, He's not looking

at the state of the United Kingdom. He's just looking at me and saying,

am I going to let you in? People look at us when we

meet with them, and when they look at us, they look at who

we are, how we dressed, how we behave, how we talk,

what they know about us if sometime reputation goes before us. I sat down

at a conference in London about it must be about six or seven months ago,

and a gentleman came and sat next to me and said, hello,

Dave, how are you? And I don't know what you're like, but

I'm pretty good with faces. I'm not so good with names, but I'm

pretty good faces. And I looked at him and I'm looking at his face

and thinking, I just don't recognize you, Chris. Have we met before?

He said no, I said, how do you know my name?

I realized I was wearing a badge, saying Dave. But it wasn't because

I was wearing a badge saying Dave. He said, I've been watching you

online. I said, oh, was it? Was it a conference or

something? He said, no, no, I've been visiting your church online.

I went, oh, how did you find it? He said,

well, I know someone who knows you. I know a guy called Paul,

and he and he re shared one of your services and I happened to

click on it. That's how I came a visit. I said, are

you a regular church go? He said, I go sometimes at Christmas.

I go sometimes at Easter. He said, but I didn't realize church did

online. I didn't realize that church shed stuff like this. Why do you

do it? Now, there's a question I can answer because when people ask

you why questions, you can go for it. You can absolutely go.

Even in other nations where it's illegal to preach the gospel, if someone asks

you a question, you're quite in liberty to answer the question. And I

would say, when someone asks you a why question, go for it.

Go for it with everything that you are, well you know, and it

might be as simple as do you know what why I do it is because

I know someone special and I want you to know them too. This might

be as simple as that. So, sitting in this conference, sitting at

his table with other people sitting around the table, and he said, why

do you do it? I thought, Okay, I've got an audience here,

and he's not just listening. There's four or five other people sitting around

the table. We're just about to get started, the conference is just about

to get going. I said, Will I do it for the same reason

that Paul told you about it? That's because there's good news to hear and

I'd love to share a bit more with you. And then the conference started,

so we stopped talking. But you know what, we've got to grab

those moments. We've got to grab those moments. We've got to declare who

we are. We've got to proclaim who we are. And we've got to

remember we need confidence, because you know what, people will listen to someone

who speaks with confidence and boldness and faith. And if all the boldness and

faith you've got is what you've got right now, that's enough. You don't

need my confidence or somebody else's confidence, or the convidence of Billy Graham.

Just go with what you've got. Go in the strength that you have.

So let's remember this. We are ambassadors, We're officials of the highest rank.

So I want to encourage you. Put your gold stars on. If

you haven't got real gold stars, put your virtual gold stars on. Hey,

hey, you know, you know when you dress up for a special

event, you know what you're go and look in the mirror and you look

at yourself and think, am I ready? And you look at yourself you

said, yes, I'm ready, having brushed a few hairs off or you

know a bit of dust or something. Yes, I'm ready. I want

to encourage you do this with confidence. Dress ready. And one of the

things even as we were worshiping, even as cherry and worship, do you

know what I felt. I felt God say to me, tighten your belt,

Dave. And I don't think it was because I literally physically tighten my

belt and then into the worship this morning, and I felt God say to

me, truth matters. Truth matters. And we know that it talks about

when we talk about when about putting on the armor of God, the belt

of truth. Now, if we wear the belt of truth loosely, then

our conversation will be loose, and sometimes we need to tighten our conversation.

Do not allow drollities to keep in. Do not allow misunderstandings to creep in.

Go for the truth, go for who God is. So, as

an ambassador, what can we ask about an ambassador? Who do you represent?

What do we carry? What can we say? Well, firstly,

I want to say and I want to move on from. Actually, before

I forget, I did leave it in the case. Here's a really interesting

thought that I had. You know, this is my identity. This is

just a piece of leather to protect my identity. How do we protect our

idents? Do you know what? Whenever you get to scat these modern scanning

machines, you try putting it in with this on and it won't accept it.

You have to take it out of the cover. You have to show

the real identity. And so please let me encourage you. Let's not put

on masks. Let's show the real us. Let's take out the covers,

the things that we hide behind. Because people respect reality, people expect reality.

People are looking for the real kingdom, they're looking for Christ in us.

You know, sometimes we get in the way. Sometimes we got too

much stuff in the way, and sometimes we just need to give a little

glimpse of who we are because we represent the king, the king of King.

So I know there's a king who is well, he has a house

not far from here. Actually, sorry, it's a castle, isn't It's

a castle, Windsor Castle. And do you know what, Just let me

again illustrate something that might be of interest to you, and I'll show you

the limits of my history. If you go to Windsor Castle, right in

the center of winter castle is a tower that's the central keep, and round

that is a moat, and then round that is a wider castle, and

that would be the castle grounds. And there are people who live in those

castle grounds who live under the protection of the king. But if you go

a little further out outside the walls of the castle, you come to a

place called home park. And home park is a farm and some land that

belongs to the king, and it's protected by the castle. It's within eyesight

of the castle. It's what's called home park. And often people when they'll

be under battle would come and reside in home park to feel safe. But

do you know what, if you go even further out, you come to

the Great Park. If you ride down the long walk you come to the

Great Park, which is also crown land, also under the protection of the

king. Not so well protected because it's a long way from the castle,

but it's still protected. And I want to encourage us to think about where

are we. Are we just abiding near the king? Are we on the

King's lands? And I'm talking about the King of kings? Now? Are

we abiding on his lands? Are we close to him? Are we in

his homekeep in his moat? There's a saying which I don't know how this

relates to for everybody else, but it says an Englishman's home is his castle.

And I know I say to my Spanish speaking friends, my Mexican friends,

my cassa souscassa, which I believe translates literally as my castle is your

castle. I know we translate it as my home is your home. It's

a way of welcoming people. But I love it when I say my castle

is your castle. Have a thought about the place that you live being a

castle. It may not have turrets, it may not have slit windows for

archers to shoot through, but it's your safe place. You When you get

home, you shut the door and think, oh, I finished for the

day. I'm home and I'm safe, and you kick your shoes off and

you make yourself at home. So who do we represent? We represent the

King? What do we carry? We carry something of his presence, we

carry something of his authority, and we carry a message. And that message

needs to be proclaimed. Now, proclamation is not you know, I don't

believe it's possible to proclaim like this, Oh it is great and greatly to

be praised. I don't think that's proclamation. I think proclamation comes with an

energy. It comes with the confidence, It comes with the sense of identities

that the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. It goes on to

say in one peter as I'll read it, why can we be good at

emissaries here? But we are a chosen people, a royal pret a holy

nation, God's special possession. That you may declare the praises of Him who

called you out of darkness into his wonderful life. It's once you were a

people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not

received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge

you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from simple desires which wage war

against your soul. And then it says in verse twelve, it says,

this live such good lives amongst the Pagans, that though they accuse you of

doing wrong, they see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he

visits us. If we walk in with the wrong reputation, if we walk

in with the wrong mindset, if we start abusing. What would happen if

I got to the border and I started being really rude to the border guard,

even though I've got my part, what happens He probably goes, do

you know what, go into the side room, go into the cide room,

and go and have to ask some more questions. You know, he

has the power to say no. You know, we need to recognize who

we are as God, and such live such good lives that our reputation goes

before us. That the way we carry ourselves will be glory to God,

will bring glory to Him because we do things by his grace. In Two

Corinthians, as God's co workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace

in vain, for he says, in the time of my favor, I

heard you, and in the day of your salvation. I helped you.

I tell you, now is the time of God's favor. Now is the

day of salvation. We put no stumbling block into anyone's path, so that

our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God, we

commend ourselves in every way in great endurance, in troubles, in hardships and

distress. Do you know what people actually look at us when we're under pressure,

When there is pressure in our world, People look at the way behave

because they want to see whether what we say is actually what we do.

We can say things like I pray, I trust God, I have faith,

and then suddenly we're doing it in our instrument. Well, I've got

a better plan. We don't trust God. And so let me encourage you

to come with boldness and with confidence, and with faith and with purpose.

And so as we go, let's ask others to pray for us. In

Corinthians, sorry, in Ephesians, it says this, pray also for me

that whenever I speak, words will be given to me, so that I

will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel, just like Isabelle, for

which I am an ambassador. In chains pray that I may declare it fearlessly

as I should, and I don't want to say me here, this is

not me. Let's make this a declaration for ourselves. Pray also for us

whenever we go that we are ambassadors for Christ. Let's pull out our credentials

if we need to, but let's our credentials go before us, and let's

declare who God is and bring him glory. Let me pray, Father,

we thank you for the privilege to be out your ambassador. And Father,

we thank you that you chose us. You made a way for us through

your son Jeesus. And Lord, as we head towards Christmas, we head

towards the story again of you sending your son born of a virgin, laid

in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, welcomed by angels, by shepherds,

by kings and wise men. And so, Father, help us to

be ambassadors for the king today, Help us to be ambassadors for the kingdom.

I just want to pause because I want to give a little bit of

space there, because sometimes when you present your passport, they might turn you

away because of something you've done before, some way you've been before. Sometimes

there are people who have to have two passports because to get across particular borders

they can't have a stamp of another country in that passport, they won't be

allowed in. Disqualifies them. Do you know what, Church? I sense

there are some, even as I'm praying, who feel disqualified from being an

ambassador for the king. Do you know being an ambassador for the King is

not about what you've done. It's about what He's done. It's not about

what you and I have done. Because we're getting we'll get it wrong from

time to time. We'll do things we shouldn't have done. We'll say things

we shouldn't say. But you know it's not because how good we are,

Because if it was about how good we are, there'd be regular times when

we wouldn't be allowed in. But it's not about that. It's about him.

God sent his one and only son that whosoever believes in him should not

perish but have everlasting life. So I just want to all those who are

listening, you are not discified as a follow of the King, as a

disciple of Christ, you are not disqualise. It's not about how It's about

His and we carry that presence, We carry that Holy Spirit presence. If

you feel like you're not qualified, then linger in his presence. Remind yourself

of who the King is. Remind yourself of who you are and ambassador and

am emissary to the King. And then lift your eyes up, look into

his eyes, and look into the Father's eyes and hear his heartbeat. That

says, son, daughter, you're special. That's why I sent my son

Jesus for you. You're precious. That's why I made a way. And

you're not alone. That's why I gave you others around you in church and

beyond who will encourage you, bless you, pray with you, walk with

you, and the Holy Spirit to empower you. In Jesus's name. And

so, Father, we choose right now. I want to encourage you to

choose right now to walk in his footsteps, to walk his ways, to

walk with his confidence and bring that which can only bring him glory. Declare

his kingdom for the sake of the lost, for those who have not yet

heard the good news of the Gospel, and for others in Jesus' name. Amen.