The Gospel is Ours to Give Away
Notes
Transcript
Call to Worship
Call to Worship
To all who are weary and in need of rest
To all who are mourning and longing for comfort
To all who fail and desire strength
To all who sin and need a Savior
We, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, open wide our arms
With a welcome from Jesus Christ.
He is the ally to the guilty and failing
He is the comfort to those who are mourning
He is the joy of our hearts
And He is the friend of sinners
So Come, worship Him with us.
Sermon Introduction
Sermon Introduction
Thank you for such a warm welcome this morning… may we remember Isaiah 40:8 on this morning, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
If you’re able, please stand for the public reading of God’s Word
Today’s reading comes from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord
Congregation: Thanks be to God.
Let’s respond to God’s Word in a moment of prayer.
Pray.
Sermon Introduction
Sermon Introduction
I was reading this past week about some of the deepest, most closely guarded secrets in the world — artifacts so dear that people have gone to great lengths to secure — and at the forefront of those secrets are vast empires of great wealth and influence. I want to share with you a few of those closely guarded secrets, and the great lengths that people have gone to, to keep them under a tightly held grasp.
The first is the long-speculated 11 herbs and spices of Colonel Sanders and the KFC recipe. History.com reports that this secret recipe is located “in a hidden location with two-foot thick walls, security guards, and round-the-clock surveillance in place. There are two unique pin codes held by two executives who can only open the vault with a combination of these codes.”
The next highly guarded secret is the recipe of Coca Cola. Coca Cola goes to great lengths to guard their 260+ billion dollar company, and it’s said that only two executives in the company know the proprietary formula. Get this… they aren’t allowed to fly on the same plane together. If you couldn’t shake them down, you could try to get into the secret vault that’s somewhere in Atlanta. In 2007, a secretary for Coca Cola was sentenced to eight years in prison after offering trade secrets to Coca Cola arch-rival Pepsi.
Can you imagine being put in charge of holding onto some of the greatest treasure the world has ever known? Can you imagine the responsibility that you would have placed over you, if, let’s say, you were handed a copy of the Coca Cola secret recipe? Or better yet, you walk into a closet at your Grandmothers house and there covered by some old sheets, was a Faberge egg?
There is a far greater treasure that we’ve been given — and I want to talk about this incredible gift this morning from the Apostle Paul’s point of view in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5 is wrapped up into a much larger subject, namely the transformation we experience in and through Jesus.
Jesus is a force to be reckoned with.
Meeting Jesus, becoming a follower of Jesus, lends itself to a kind of transformation that we often forget about.
Let me be clear about what kind of transformation this is.
Remember when you were a kid and you’d find somebody in your class that you had a crush on… what would you say? You didn’t just like them… you liked them, liked them.
We don’t mean just transformed, we mean, transformed, transformed.
Look at verses 16-17 with me this morning in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Having experienced the grace and love of Jesus, having an encounter with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and the Lord’s Spirit residing in us — that changes us. You could say that we will experience a transformation.
There’s certainly an appeal though… to not have all of us transformed.
Years ago, churches who had conflicts with other churches, would hire mercenaries to manage their conflicts… so, before their soldiers-for-hire would engage in battle they would baptize them to show that this person belongs to God, and often times at baptism they would say, “This person’s soul now belongs to the Lord as they do their bidding.” and at the very last second before they were submerged under the water, they would thrust their swords high and say, “but my sword belongs to me.”
Jesus will take up ownership over your whole nature — you will be transformed, transformed. Every part of us is surrendered to the Holy Spirit, so that every part of us will be made different.
Paul says in verse 16 — you’ll learn to see others differently, you’ll learn to see the world differently.
Verse 17 announces that massive shift in our lives… When you are in Christ, you are new. The old has gone away.
There’s a comparison at work.
Before Jesus, we saw the world differently. We treated people differently. We behaved differently. We looked at our spouse differently. We looked at our work differently.
But now… through Jesus, you’re seeing for the very first time.
The transformation of the Christian life is so massive that the comparison is often made that you were once DEAD but now you are ALIVE — and here’s what Paul is getting at:
Dead people can’t see.
Dead people can’t speak.
Dead people hold no ambition.
They have no capacity to dream, dreams.
But when you’ve found Jesus… When you’ve met Him, when He calls you by name, now… now you’ve suddenly
Full-Color Vision
You can finally articulate what it means to be free, no more baggage or bondage.
You’ve got purpose and a future and it’s finally in view.
And we can, by faith, see a life we’ve never dreamed of.
Encountering Jesus is a far greater treasure than we’ve ever dared dream of… I know of no human wealth that offers us that.
I’ve made the decision to title this short series over the next couple of weeks: Best to Come.
The Best to Come won’t be because of me, or any other leader of staff member, the Best to Come for MVPC will be because of you, coming alive to the truth about you — because of what Jesus has done.
Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, we will see the Best to Come when we see every part of this church under the umbrella of the new thing that Jesus is doing.
Here’s the slide I made for you all, just for fun:
The Best to Come will be when you know you’ve been transformed-transformed.
Look at verse 18 with me as we continue on...
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
If you’ve got a pen or highlighter handy, circle the phrase “all this” --
Here’s what I want you to know about it...
Every current state of affairs, in your life, in this church, up until this moment, is a gift — an extension of pure grace.
To be clear, grace is still grace, even when grace is a hard pill to swallow, when it’s hard grace, it’s difficult grace — nonetheless, God’s grace.
There’s a deep root in what grace is, that God the Father saw me in my estate and thought of me when He sent the Son.
The new nature, the new creation work in Christ, that’s all from God.
And if you’ve ever wondered what God is doing up there with his James Earl Jones voice in the sky, verse 18 tells us...
God, has been reconciling us to Himself through Jesus, and He has given us a calling, a duty, a job to fulfill, which Paul calls, “the ministry of reconciliation.”
We have had an estranged relationship with our Heavenly Father, which the scriptures tell us it was caused by sin, but Jesus has removed every hostility that would have hindered that relationship, and now we’ve been brought near, brought back, restored.
Reconciliation is a $6 dollar word for “fixing things that were broken.” The old adage of “if it ain’t broke,… don’t fix it.” doesn’t stand here… what has been broken, is now being restored… what has been dead, is now being made alive.... what has been lost, is now being found.
And Paul says, that’s your job!
Fixing things in the way you’ve been fixed!
In verse 19, Paul explains what this ministry of reconciliation
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
This is the gospel in a sentence. You have been restored back to the Father, through the Son, and your sins are forgiven.
If this is Good News, which is what gospel means, then why have we been treating it like it’s one of the most highly guarded secrets in the world?
The greatest treasure of the world has been entitled to you!
I get it though… there are people who genuinely have no connection to being restored back to their Heavenly father, that they don’t buy that, but it’s the second part that I find no reasonable argument against!
the job which we have been given is to declare to the world that Jesus doesn’t remember our sins anymore.
There’s an old story about a woman who claims to have met Jesus and she starts telling people about it. And she’s pleading with them, you can meet Him too… He’s over there, just go talk to Him, He’s the Savior of the World, just go talk to Him and see. And people are skeptical, naturally, and one guy goes, “how do we know you’re telling the truth?” And she goes, “here’s what you’re going to do: go over and ask him what my sins are, and then I’ll tell if what he said is right” So the man goes to meet Jesus and eventually comes back to the woman and she goes, “well… what did He say?” The man responds, “He said He doesn’t remember.” And she says, “Exactly! He’s the One!”
So you may not connect with missing out on a relationship with your Heavenly Father — but I can almost guarantee that you come with a shortcoming, with a flaw, with something that you cannot shake or forget, with some lingering regret, and to which Jesus says, “I’m not holding any of it against you.”
Not the failed marriage.
Not losing everything in one transaction.
Not in choosing your work over your family.
He says, “I don’t remember any of it.”
The end of verse 19 creates a level of palpable urgency for us, we should be able to taste it.
“And he has commited to us the message of reconciliation.”
The secret recipe! The treasure under lock and key! IS YOURS TO GIVE AWAY!
Another translation actually says, “entrusted” rather than “committed” — This Good News, this great gospel, has been entrusted to you! You’ve got the prized secret! The family recipe! And what are we to do with it: GIVE IT AWAY!
The Best to Come at MVPC will be when we harness the truth, that the gospel is ours to give away.
Look with me at verse 20 --
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.
We have received the greatest treasure of all, and now we are to give away the greatest treasure of all. — We’ve not just been given this duty, but we are sent with the task — and verse 20 says, that when we go, sharing the greatest riches in the world, He is making His appeal through us.
Being sent as an Ambassador implies AUTHORITY — to everyone in captivity, bondage, caught in sin, lonely, broken — they will be met by the Lord, Himself.
This is the anxiety reduction we needed… and, if you’ll indulge me for a second, the secret sauce the world needs. — This is not a pitch to perfect, not a product to sell, not a brand to support, not a self-help scheme. It is God Himself bringing back to life those who were dead, finding those who are lost, and fixing every broken thing — and He does it through us!
At the end of verse 20, Paul makes this plea, “Be reconciled to God.” And he says he is doing so on behalf of Jesus Himself.
Paul has heard the words of Jesus in John 20:21
John 20:21 (NIV)
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
As Paul has been sent, we have been sent, and have been given a message of great value.
Jesus told a similar story… He called it the Pearl of Great price, it’s a story from Matthew 13. Matthew 13:45-46
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The pearl of great price isn’t a jewel—it’s a person. And if you have Him, you have everything.
R. C. Sproul
We’re nearing the end of our message this morning, but I want to end with verse 21 and the beginning of Chapter 6.
We didn’t explain the origins of how we became transformed-transformed.
Verse 21 and the beginning of Chapter 6 read as follows:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
At the Cross, Jesus becomes the sin-bearer for every person, past-present-future, and in that moment, a verdict was rendered for the whole world, that because of Jesus, the court, if you will, has found in favor in you — and there was no track record of wrongs, the slate was made clean, your sins weren’t remembered anymore.
We’ve been given the very gift of Jesus Himself. All the treasure of the Kingdom,… is ours.
This is the great treasure, lock and key family recipe — what verse 1 in Chapter 6 says, “don’t deal with this gift in vain.”
The Best to Come for MVPC will be when we hold tightly to Jesus over all else.
My prayer, in this next season as your Pastor, is that MVPC experiences great transformation because we give away the message of Jesus — nothing more, nothing less.
As I think about this next season in the life of this church, I hear the Words of Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”” and I hear it in response to Paul in the task of carrying out the gospel message, “Here I am Lord, send me!”
May the renewed cries of our heart be, “Here we are Lord, send us!”
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Communion
Communion
I would be remiss this morning if I failed to mention that the ideal starting place for us to experience the beauty and wonder of our sins not being remembered, was at the Table.
Every month our community enters into this moment where we, again and again, receive the reminder that Jesus has a seat at the Table for us — not waiting to withhold our reservation because of apathy, because of past offenses, or even because we’ve neglected him this month… He considers it a joy to dine with His friends, and holds no wrongs over our heads.
This morning we’ll be participating in Communion, or what others have called the Lord’s Table, this is a meal for those who find themselves a part of God’s family by faith, through what Jesus has done.
We are going to be participating in receiving the Lord’s gift of grace this morning by coming down in two lines down the center aisle, and then breaking off to either side to return to your seat.
As you’re taking the bread this morning, please remember to take the bread with one hand and to create a basket underneath with the other.
I encourage you to wait until you’ve returned to your seat to take the bread and juice until you’ve gotten back to your seat with your loved ones, your family, or someone who shares the row with you. Use it as an opportunity to pray together and thank God for His blessings.
If you’d prefer a Gluten-Free option, or would prefer taking an individual cup and bread as a health precaution, they are available to our right and left.
I’d like to invite some friends of mine, that you know very well, to come forward now to help us prepare to serve you all.
Scripture reminds us that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave to His disciples saying, “this is my body, as often as you eat of this meal, do this in remembrance of me.” In the same manner also, after they had eaten, Jesus took the cup saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. Jesus reminded them, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again.”
Let me pray for us as we prepare to come forward.
Pray.
“Come, for all things are ready.”
Benediction
Benediction
1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.