Ambassadors for Christ

What a joy to be with you today as we prepare in just a moment to just jump into the scriptures

and see what God has for us.

I want to invite the kids to go ahead and be dismissed for their programming and the

ministry for children here.

So you can go ahead and do that now.

It is a joy again to be with you as a part of a district which includes around 140 congregations

throughout Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

And so on their behalf, I just bring a greeting to you today.

And I am so grateful to be able to say that you are part of that family of churches that

are committed to supporting one another to the missional calling of the church and for

the building up of the saints for the work of ministry.

It's truly a joy to be with you in that regard.

I also want to just thank you for being a congregation who so cares for the long-term health of your

pastor Mike Salvati that you have given him a sabbatical.

I know it's not convenient.

I was discussing with Steve just a few minutes ago.

I mean, it's a sacrifice for you to give him that opportunity.

And yet, knowing that your goal is his long-term faithfulness as a minister of the gospel,

I just thank you for your commitment to give him that opportunity.

I'm sure it is blessing him greatly.

And so, thank you so much for doing that.

Well, we're going to be looking today at some scripture verses from Paul's letter to the

church in Corinth, 2 Corinthians 5, verses 16 through 21.

2 Corinthians 5:16–21

Now, we're going to read that text in just a moment.

But before we do so, as we prepare to explore these verses, I want you to think for a moment

about a quote from Archbishop William Temple.

And this is what he says.

He says,

The church is the only society in the world which exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.

Now, just think about that.

It's kind of an unusual thought here.

Thought-provoking for sure.

He said,

The church is the only society in the world which exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.

Now, I know this statement.

It might feel a little bit controversial.

After all, we know the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Now, while this is true, we also need to remember when Jesus was teaching about his father in John 4, 23,

he said,

God is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and truth.

And what this shows us is that by his very nature, God is a missionary God.

He seeks more worshipers.

He seeks more and more people who worship him in spirit and truth.

And it's this idea behind a well-known quote in the Christian community by John Piper that says,

Missions exists because worship doesn't.

And all of this really illustrates this idea that we as God's people, as his church,

we are to have this missionary posture in life, an outward orientation of our fellowship

that exists for the purpose of benefiting, ultimately, those who are not yet with us.

Now, one of the main ideas we'll be learning today is that the more we understand who it is that we are as Christians,

as sons and daughters of God through the work of Christ,

that once we understand this, we will more faithfully embrace and live out this missionary identity,

both individually and collectively as a people.

Now, I want to provide some context as I prepare to read this text.

But in 2 Corinthians 5, it's helpful to know that what we learn from the trajectory of this whole letter

and the tone of the letter is that since Paul's departure from the church in Corinth,

which he helped to plant, some men had become influential teachers in the church,

and they began to criticize him and his work.

And so, in these few verses in particular, we're seeing Paul deliver a defense of sorts

related to his commitment to the missionary work of God.

And he wanted to make it clear that his ministry in Corinth wasn't motivated by building his own kingdom,

but rather the kingdom of God, and then what, therefore, are the implications for us as God's people in light of that.

And so, we're going to see three things in this text.

We're going to see that through the good news of Jesus, through the gospel, we're given three things,

a new identity, a new perspective, and a new role.

Through the gospel, we're given a new identity, a new perspective, and a new role.

And so, on that note, now let's go together.

You'll see the words on the screen, but feel free to also open your Bibles and follow along.

2 Corinthians 5, verses 16 through 21.

2 Corinthians 5:16–21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them

and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.

God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the reading of God's word.

Let's pray together.

Father, Father, I just ask this morning on behalf of us as a community and as one who has been called and privileged with the honor today of bringing this word,

we pray, Father, your spirit would illumine our hearts, that you would take my words as a broken and needy man,

inadequate to fully articulate the beauty and glory of who you are.

May you, through your spirit, open our eyes to see, our hearts to understand and minds to understand,

that we might be transformed more and more into your image as we look at your word and consider its truth for us today.

And so, do that work we pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

So again, the first point that we're going to be looking at today from this text is that through the gospel, we are given a new identity.

Now, I'm actually going to explore this identity based on some therefores, okay?

We see this in verse 16 and 17 throughout this text many times, therefore is used.

Now, those of you who are more knowledgeable in your Bible study, maybe you've been walked with the Lord for some time,

you may know that whenever you read a therefore, it's pointing to something outside that specific statement that follows.

In other words, it's saying that we're to do this or we're to live in this certain way because of something that has been stated before.

And in these verses, the therefores, they're really pointing to this gospel, this good news identity that is true for all who are in Christ, all who are Christians.

And this has been explained in the verses preceding this section, but it's also very conveniently restated in the last verse of these scripture verses.

And so, to explain our gospel identity, I'm going to go ahead and start at the end by unpacking verse 21.

And so, let's look again at where Paul states this in verse 21.

For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Now, in these verses, we see that those who are Christians, those of you who identify with this role and this identity, you have a profound benefit.

There is something really beautiful about the gospel and the good news of Jesus that Paul is laying out here for us.

This idea being that for those in faith, Jesus took our sin and gave us his righteousness.

And this is what Martin Luther calls the great exchange.

Now, so let's think about the first part of this exchange, this idea of God making Jesus our sin.

Now, if you're not a believer or if you're young in your faith, I want to make sure you understand that sin represents our unfaithfulness and disobedience to God.

I mean, all that is broken in the world and all that is broken inside of you is because of sin.

And so the idea here is that Jesus died on the cross for our sin, but that his death was much more than only paying off a spiritual debt.

It was even more than just taking our punishment.

While both of these ideas are true, there is this deeper meaning that Paul is wanting us to see when he says that Jesus literally became sin.

One commentator explained that God making Jesus our sin meant that Christ experienced the consequences for human sin.

The one who lived a sinless life died a sinner's death, estranged from God and the object of wrath.

He was treated as a sinner in his death.

And what this means for all of you who are Christians, Jesus died your sinner's death.

So that theft that we committed, when God poured out his righteous anger on Christ, he was treating him as a thief.

That lie we told that on the cross, God poured out his indignation on the Son of God, treating him as a liar.

That our impure and lustful thoughts that on the day God was delivering due punishment for our sin,

that punishment was directed towards his own Son as if he was the one with those impure thoughts.

That our laziness, our fits of anger, and even our failure to testify to the goodness of God to others.

When Christ became sin, he was being treated as the one who had done those things.

And so, this is what it means for Christ to become sin.

He was literally this wrath-bearing substitute for you and for me.

Now, as humbling as this is, as beautiful, really, as it is, as wonderful of a sacrifice,

as undeserving of a reward as this is, it is only half of the story, half of the exchange.

The other half is seen in the latter words of verse 21,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So what does it mean to become God's righteousness?

Well, what it means is if you're a Christian, in your conversion,

in that point of transformation and what the theological word regeneration happened,

that there was a switch that was turned inside of you.

Christ not only took your sin, but he gave you his righteousness.

In the words of one commentator, this means,

in the same way as the innocent was punished as guilty,

the guilty was rewarded as innocent.

This means that when God looks upon you, if this is you,

that in that state he is just as pleased with you

as he is pleased with his own son.

Not because of anything that you've done,

but because of what Christ did for you.

Now the Heidelberg Catechism describes it this way,

that in the moment of this great exchange,

God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction,

righteousness, and holiness of Christ,

as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner,

and as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.

Now aren't you amazed?

Aren't you amazed at what God has done for you in Christ?

Doesn't this wonderful truth inspire you to respond in awe and wonder and worship?

And so we've seen, number one,

that through the gospel,

we, those who are Christians,

those who have placed our faith in the work of Christ on our behalf,

we have been given a new identity.

Not as sinners, but as righteous sons and daughters,

redeemed, reconciled children of God.

And this sets the stage for our next two points.

Two, through the gospel,

we are given a new perspective.

Let's look together at 2 Corinthians 5,

2 Corinthians 5:16

verses 16 and 17.

From now on, therefore,

we regard no one according to the flesh,

even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh,

we regard Him thus no longer.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

So we see verse 16 that

before becoming a Christian,

before coming into this family

through God's gift of grace,

we judged and perceived people

according to the flesh.

And that we also regarded Jesus this way.

But Paul wants us to see,

hey, we do so no longer.

What Paul is saying is that

before Christ changed us,

that how we measured people, right?

How we saw them,

in particular, how we measured Christ,

it was no longer accurate.

It was not accurate.

Now I want you to think about this answer

to this question.

How does the world measure success?

In other words,

in the eyes of the world,

what makes a person successful?

You see, the world tells us

that our value comes from the things we own.

The world tells us that success

comes from how smart or beautiful we are.

The world tells us that success

comes from how much power

or influence we possess.

What Paul wants us to see

is that when Jesus comes into our life,

the standard of success changes.

That once our eyes are opened

by the grace and truth of the gospel,

we're given a new way of seeing everything.

Now, no one personally illustrates this

better than Paul himself.

You see, in Paul's life,

he was not a Christian,

but this zealous Jew early in life.

As a young man,

he was what some might call an influencer.

He was a celebrity.

He was well known as this young Jew,

the kind of young man

that every Jewish mother

would want their daughter to marry.

He was so zealous

that he persecuted

and perhaps even murdered Christians

in order to silence their message.

You can read about that in Acts 8.

But in Acts 9,

Paul, at the time known as Saul,

had this radical moment of conversion

while going along the road to Damascus.

A bright light blinded him,

and in that moment,

he heard the words of Jesus asking him,

Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Days later,

a believer by the name of Ananias,

placed his hands on the blind Saul,

and in the name of Jesus,

he healed him.

And at that moment,

it was as though scales causing blindness

fell from his eyes,

and he could once again see.

Now, we learn in this passage

that in that moment,

Saul's perspective changed immediately.

From a zeal for empty religion

to a wholehearted faith in Jesus

as the Son of God.

And so, as you can imagine,

Saul's whole world

was turned upside down.

It was like a switch had been flipped.

His measure for truth

was radically transformed.

And it's this experience

that I believe Paul is referencing

in verse 17.

Therefore,

if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold,

the new has come.

So again,

Paul is saying

when we accept

and receive the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

we're recreated

into something new.

And this new person

has a new way

of seeing the world.

The old measure of God

is gone.

The way we look at everything,

right?

From our hardships

to friendships

to the unbeliever

to God himself.

It's now entirely different.

Now, in the last few years,

I had the opportunity

to go from a single focus lens

with my glasses

to something called

progressive lenses.

Now, some of you,

most of you are probably

too young to identify

with this journey,

but let me fill you in.

Progressive lenses,

what they do

is they give you

this progressive prescription

that brings clarity

and clear vision

to every depth of field.

And so when I read a book,

I'm looking through

a unique part of the lens

that brings clarity

to that book.

When I look at my computer,

that prescription

gives me clarity.

When I'm out driving my car,

looking at a distance

at night,

again, a different part

of that lens

gives me clarity

when looking.

And what I want us

to see is this,

that the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

this idea when it comes

into our life,

when we are transformed

by the gospel,

forgiven for our sin,

that everything

in every depth

of field

of our life

looks different.

It comes into

crystal clarity.

We now see God

as our merciful Savior.

We now see others

as people made

in the image of God,

broken by sin

and in need of mercy

and grace of the gospel.

We see our motivations

and our suffering

and our purposes

in life

through a different lens.

And it's this shift

of perspective

that Paul is wanting

us to see.

And so it leads

to the question,

in what ways

has the gospel,

the good news

of Jesus Christ,

challenged the way

in which you see

the world,

in which you see

Jesus and others?

as you begin

to look now

through the eyes

of a gospel

that has saved

and transformed you

by grace.

When you think

of your Savior,

does it stir your heart

in love and worship?

When you think

of a brother

or sister in faith,

do you see them

as eternal family,

as brothers

and sisters,

as fellow children

of God

who have been adopted

into his family?

When you think

of your coworkers,

friends and neighbors

who are not

following Christ,

do you love them

as people made

in the image of God?

Do you weep for them,

longing for them

to know the same

transformation

that has remade

your life?

Do you adopt

the attitude

of Jesus

as he was in Jerusalem

in Luke 19

and he wept

over the city,

longing for them

to know the peace

and life

that he could offer them?

Now we're going to

continue to think

through this

and what this means

for us now

in the next section.

So we've seen

in verse 21

that the gospel,

it gives us

this new identity

as ones who have

been forgiven

as our sin

upon Christ

and his righteousness

for us.

We've seen

in verses 16

and 17

that this gospel,

it gives us

a new way of seeing,

a new perspective.

And now we'll see

number three

that through the gospel

we're given

a new role.

Let's look at

verses 18

and 19 there

in 2 Corinthians 5.

It says this,

All this is from God

who through Christ

reconciled us

to himself

and gave us

the ministry

of reconciliation.

That is,

in Christ

God was reconciling

the world

to himself,

not counting

their trespasses

against them

and entrusting

to us

the message

of reconciliation.

Now,

this word

reconciliation,

of course,

it implies

something.

It implies

that we were

once alienated,

far from God,

broken in our

relationship,

and of course,

as we discussed

earlier,

what alienated us

was this problem

of sin.

And so,

according to

verse 18,

as we came

to Christ

and the benefits

therein,

we were

reconciled.

And at that

moment,

something was

given to us,

okay?

You were

reconciled,

and now you

were given

a new ministry.

It's like

this idea

of a relay

on the track.

If you've

ever seen

a track meet,

maybe a 4x400

relay,

what happens

is the runners,

they're holding

this baton,

and as one

runner completes

the lap,

they hand

that baton

to another

runner who

then takes

the race

forward.

forward.

And this

is the

picture of

what Christ

did for us

when he

saved us

from our

sin and

reconciled

us to

himself.

What he

was doing

was giving

us the

baton,

the ministry

of reconciliation.

And it's

now our

responsibility

to take

the race

forward in

his strength

and by his

power and

the power

of the

Holy Spirit.

We are

now messengers

of reconciliation,

carrying that

ministry on

to others.

So according

to verse 18

and 19,

this message

bearing

responsibility

is part

of our

new role.

Roles

as ambassadors

for Christ.

And we're

going to see

this more

clearly in

verse 20.

Look with

me there.

Therefore,

we are

ambassadors

for Christ,

God making

his appeal

through us.

We implore

you on

behalf of

Christ,

be

reconciled

to God.

So according

to Paul,

we are now

bearers of

this message

of reconciliation.

We're assuming

an actual

role,

a specific

role as

ambassadors

for

Christ.

You are

an ambassador

for Christ.

Now during

World War I,

on the

western front

of that war,

there was

a method

of warfare

called

trench

warfare.

And this

was where

large

trenches

were dug

on both

sides

of a field

of battle.

And these

trenches

were what

would protect

soldiers

from small

arms fire.

And it

was a brutal

form of war.

Many casualties

were produced

because the

only way to

advance the

front was to

come out

of the

trench,

leaving yourself

vulnerable to

injury and

to death.

Now because

radio technology

was not

secure in

those days,

the only way

to communicate

from the

back of the

lines to

the front

of those

entrenched

troops was

through a

specific role.

And that

was the

role of

runner.

Runners

were the

ones who

took

communication

from the

commanding

officer to

the soldiers

at the

front line.

Now to

be a

runner

in trench

warfare

was to

assume

an

immensely

important

job

that

was

also

extremely

dangerous.

Now one

of the

interesting

realities for

runners was

that no

one questioned

their instructions.

Now why

is this?

It's because

they were

carrying the

message of

the commanding

officer.

They spoke

with the

authority of

another.

another.

And they

did so

at a

great risk

to their

own life.

Now what

I want us

to see

is that

this role

of runner

it has

certain

parallels

with this

idea of

ambassador

for Christ.

You see

like a

runner

we go

and tell

with the

authority

of the

one who

sent us.

Matthew

28

18

and 19

says

and Jesus

came up

and spoke

to them

saying

all authority

has been

given to

me in

heaven

and on

earth

go

therefore

and make

disciples

of all

nations.

So we

go with

the authority

of the

one who

sent us.

Like a

runner

we are

carrying

an important

message.

Verse 20

tells us

that message

is

be

reconciled

to God.

And like

a runner

we know

we are

vulnerable

to injury.

In chapter

4 of

2 Corinthians

the chapter

before this

one

Paul

details

all sorts

of afflictions

and persecutions

that he has

endured

because of

his calling

as ambassador

for Christ.

And so

like a

runner

we are

called

to go.

So to

review

we've been

changed

by the

gospel

and we've

been given

a new

way of

seeing

the world

and

this

good

news

of

our

reconciliation

with

God

it

changes

us

forever

and in

light

of

this

we

now

have

a new

responsibility

we are

ambassadors

for

Christ.

And so

the question

for you

to consider

in light

of this

is how

is your

role as

ambassador

for Christ

changing

the way

you live.

John

Stott

he said

that every

Christian

is a

missionary

cleverly

disguised

as a

mechanic

or teacher

or project

manager.

Do you

see yourself

that way?

If you're

a follower

of Christ

do you

see that

your

primary

role

in life

is

ambassador

for

Christ?

Even

more than

teacher

even

more than

student

even

more than

project

manager

even

more than

father

and mother

you are

ambassador

for

Christ.

And so

how does

that change

the way

you live?

As you

consider this

as a

church

what does

it mean

to be

an

ambassador

for

Christ

in

Kenosha

in this

community?

How are

you as a

congregation

intentionally

engaging

the needs

of the

city

in order

to

demonstrate

faith

and to

build

bridges

of trust

by which

you proclaim

the good

news

of the

gospel

of Jesus

Christ

that

those

who are

lost

and lonely

and far

from God

would

meet him

would call

him

savior.

Years ago

Rick Richardson

at the

Billy Graham

Institute

of Wheaton

College

he did

this research

study

of churches

who were

growing

by 10%

through

conversion

through

those

who are

lost

being

found

in

Christ

and

what he

found

was that

for these

churches

that were

growing

through

evangelism

that

evangelism

was a

top

three

priority

of the

church

it was

a priority

to them

and as

they made

much of

their role

as ambassadors

for Christ

God

was faithful

to work

through them

in order

to see

more and

more people

come to

faith

in him

and so

this is an

important question

for you to

grapple with

as a church

what does it

look like

what does it

mean for you

to be as

a community

of ambassadors

for Christ

in terms of

how you

evangelize

the lost

and the

priority you

give to

that end

is it

one of the

core values

of your

church

and how

are you

living that

out

so we've

seen that

in the

gospel

and in

Christ

we get

this new

identity

we get

a new

perspective

and we

get a

new role

as ambassadors

for Christ

now before

we wrap up

I want to

remind you

of something

this letter

is not

written

to unbelievers

it's written

to the

church

right

so all

this talk

of the

gospel

being

emphasized

to

saved

and redeemed

people

is what

Paul is

doing

here

this

suggests

that for

those of

us who

are

Christians

for the

church

that when

mission

lags

when we

are failing

or losing

sight of

our

responsibility

and role

to be

ambassadors

for Christ

no matter

how long

we've

called

ourselves

Christians

we've

drifted

because

we've

lost

sight

of the

gospel

in all

its

beauty

you see

when

mission

lags

Paul

doesn't

appeal

to a

guilty

conscience

he

doesn't

write

a new

training

program

he

simply

points

us

back

to

the

beauty

of

the

gospel

which

gives

us

a new

perspective

which

forms

a new

identity

so

this

suggests

that

when

mission

drifts

we

have

to

start

with

our

hearts

because

the

more

we

embrace

our

identity

and

the

new

perspective

it

forms

the

more

faithful

we

become

in

mission

as

messengers

of

reconciliation

you see

our

worship

fuels

our

witness

and

this

points

back to

my

statement

at the

beginning

of this

message

the

more

thankful

and

grateful

we

are

for

the

gift

of

God

in

Christ

and

how

that

gift

has

changed

us

the

more

likely

we

will

be

to

faithfully

share

that

gift

with

others

so

we've

seen

today

that

through

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

we're

given

a

new

identity

we're

given

a

new

perspective

and

we're

given

a

new

role

I

don't

know

how

many

of

you

have

seen

this

old

movie

called

Castaway

but

it

was

based

on

a

Daniel

Defoe

classic

adventure

novel

Robert

Robinson

Crusoe

and

in

the

movie

the

actor

Tom

Hanks

he's

playing

this

Federal

Express

employee

whose

company

plane

went

down

stranding

him

on

this

desert

island

for

five

years

and

in

doing

so

dealing

with

all

of

the

trials

of

food

and

heat

and

a

lack

of

good

water

now

during

Super

Bowl

37

the

shipping

company

Federal

Express

they ran

this

commercial

that

spoofed

the

movie

and

in

the

commercial

what

we

saw

was

this

character

looking

like

Tom

Hanks

he

was

disheveled

he

was

unshaven

and

tattered

clothing

and

he

is

holding

this

FedEx

box

and

he

goes

up

to

this

door

of

a

suburban

home

with

this

weathered

package

in

his

hand

and

when

the

owner

comes

to

the

door

he

explains

that

he

survived

five

years

on

a

desert

island

and

during

that

whole

time

he

kept

this

package

in

order

to

deliver

it

to

her

now

in

response

to

this

she

simply

said

thank

you

and

then

took

the

package

and

went

to

shut

the

door

and

of

course

this

weathered

delivery

man

was

not

satisfied

with

a

simple

thank

you

and

so

he

asked

the

woman

if

I

may

ask

what

was

in

that

package

after

all

so

she

opened

it

and

she

showed

him

the

content

saying

oh

nothing

really

just

a

satellite

telephone

a

global

positioning

device

a

compass

a

water

purifier

and

some

seeds

now

in

this

humorous

commercial

we get

this

profound

picture

of what

it means

to be

a

Christian

in

this

life

you

see

so

many

of

us

live

as

functional

castaways

unaware

that

all

we

have

for

life

and

joy

and

satisfaction

and

mission

it's

right

beside

us

the

whole

time

it's

right

there

and

so

for

those

of

you

who

are

living

as

functional

castaways

what

Jesus

wants

you

to

see

today

is

that

you've

been

saved

by

grace

and

this

salvation

it's

not

just

a

get

out

of

jail

free

card

it's

actually

an

invitation

to a

new

way

of

living

to a

new

identity

which

transforms

you

from

castaway

to

insider

from an

enemy

to a

friend

from

impaired

to empowered

from

recluse

to a

runner

from

shame

to

unashamed

from

aimless

to

ambassador

for

Christ

you

are

an

ambassador

for

Christ

and so

in light

of this

truth

in the

words

of

Paul

I

challenge

you

now

to

live

as

his

ambassador

knowing

that

God

is

making

his

appeal

to

the

world

through

you

to

live

your

life

and

to

speak

your

words

in

such

a

way

as

to

proclaim

to

those

around

you

be

reconciled

to

God

let's

pray

father

we

thank

you

for

the

beauty

of

the

gospel

which

saves

us

father

I

pray

that

by

your

grace

through

the

work

of

your

spirit

you

might

land

upon

us

anew

the

significance

of

what

it

is

that

you

did

when

you

took

our

sin

and

gave

us

your

righteousness

it

is

truly

unfathomable

such

beauty

and

sacrifice

and

yet

we

pray

father

that

it

would

land

upon

us

in

a

new

way

I

pray

for

those

who

for

whom

this

whole

message

is

new

today

father

may

today

be

their

day

in

which

they

step

through

into

this

new

relationship

with

you

becoming

a son

and

daughter

adopted

child

of

God

and

I

pray

for

all

of

us

that

as

we

dwell

in

this

reality

that

it

may

inspire

us

once

again

to

this

role

this

job

description

which

at

the

very

top

says

ambassador

for

Christ

and

that

whatever

we

do

in

life

whether

it's

parenting

or

working

or

studying

that

everything

we

do

might

be

done

as

a

vehicle

through

which

we

better

embody

this

identity

as

one

who's

been

saved

and

has

been

called

into

a

new

way

of

living

as

an

ambassador

to

those

around

us

and

so

I

pray

today

that

you

might

use

these

words

and

these

thoughts

to

advance

the

mission

of

Christ

the

King

Church

for

your

glory

and

for

the

benefit

of

this

city

and

those

who

are

far

from

you

we

pray

in

Jesus

name

Amen