Ambassadors: Our Strategy as a Church

Intro (Edmund)

Last week we began a new series, Foundations, where we will be looking at who we are and who we are called to be as a church

We began this series with 5 foundational truths about the church

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God

The truth of Jesus is revealed by the Father

Jesus builds his church (not us)

The church is on the offensive and

The church has authority here on the earth

And to set that up, I shared about the meaning of the name “Caspian” from The Chronicles of Narnia

This morning I want to return to Narnia - actually, go earlier to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

It’s the first story of Narnia and, if you are not familiar, here is the basic storyline:

4 human kids - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy - find their way through a magic wardrobe into the land of Narnia

However, Edmund betrays them and sides with the White Witch

Aslan, the Great Lion, negotiates a deal with the White Witch where she renounces her claim on Edmund’s life

Late one night, Susan and Lucy follow Aslan, witness his death on the Stone Table, and his resurrection shortly thereafter

In short: Edmund’s life was spared by the sacrifice of Aslan’s life

And that sets up the few sentences I want to read here for us

“Does he know,” whispered Lucy to Susan, “what Aslan did for him? Does he know what the arrangement with the Witch really was?” “Hush. No. Of course not,” said Susan. “Oughtn’t he to be told?” said Lucy. “Oh, surely not,” said Susan. “It would be too awful for him. Think how you’d feel if you were he.” “All the same I think he ought to know,” said Lucy. But at that moment they were interrupted.

Should Edmund know the sacrifice that was made for him?

Hold that thought and let’s turn to our passage for today from 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

2 Corinthians 5:14–21 ESV

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 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.

Pray

The Sandwich

Our passage here is set up almost like a sandwich

There is a great discussion on the mission of the church and what we are to be about

But it is sandwiched around the great hope of the gospel

Let me show you what I mean

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Three quick thoughts

First: “Love of Christ controls us”

God is not standing over on the side and whispering, “Hey, I love you. I hope you can learn how to obey me”

God is sovereign - when his love captures you, it controls you

God’s love moves us closer to himself

Second: “He died for all”

This is not a weak, passive love, but an active one

It literally cost Jesus his life as his love for you took him to the cross

Finally, observe that phrase: “And was raised”

Jesus did not stay dead, but rose from the dead

And thereby conquered death!

So that is the top of the sandwich - then we jump down to verse 21

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This verse is so famous, and powerful, that there is a nickname for what this verse teaches

We often refer to it as “the great exchange”

I like to refer to it as “the most lopsided, unfair trade in history”

We were wretched sinners justly deserving death

Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life justly deserving the righteousness of God

And he then he offers us this trade

He takes our sin, and we get his righteousness

He takes our death, and we get his life

Like I said, the most lopsided, unfair trade in history

But it is good… it’s a great deal for us!

So this passage opens with a declaration of the controlling work of God’s love and ends with the great exchange

It opens and closes with this stunning picture of the gospel to redeem sinners, to redeem you and me

Ambassadors

Which then allows us to ask, what is in the middle of that amazing sandwich of the beauty and power of the gospel?

There, in the middle, we see two descriptors of us who are in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

New Creation - I mentioned this verse last week, I’ll say it now and probably many more times

God created you good and you, in your sin, marred that beautiful thing God made

And now, through Christ, he is remaking you into a new creation

With that in mind, notice the second descriptor

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Ambassador

Listen to the definitions according to dictionary.com

“A diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign state to another as its resident representative” or

“A diplomatic official of the highest rank sent by a government to represent it on a temporary mission, as for negotiating a treaty”

As a new creation, you are given a new title: ambassador

And that is so cool

Highest rank - not some “assistant to the regional manager” - but a high ranking official

Sent - not someone who is off on his or her own but authorized to go

Resident representative or temporary mission - in a land that is not your own AND a purpose - a mission

An ambassador is one who is sent by the leader of one country to represent the interests, purposes, and priorities of their true citizenship

You, Christian, New Creation in Christ, are an ambassador to your community - to Sarasota

We, as a church, are ambassadors to Sarasota

We are residents of Sarasota, but we are citizens of the New Creation, to represent God’s interests, purposes, and priorities while we are here

And how do we do that?

As New Creation Church, we have 4 key words that we use to describe our strategy to represent the New Creation - to represent God - to Sarasota

Or maybe you can think of it this way

Last week we talked about being the church, about being Christ’s church

Imagine that is the top of a table

And that table is held up by four legs

Without any one of those legs, the table would get wobbly and fall

But together, they provide a strength for that table

As ambassadors, our strategy to represent God to Sarasota, the legs of the table, are: Connect. Belong. Thrive. Celebrate

Connect

Connecting the community to the church and connecting people to people

A few weeks ago we hosted Christmas at the Park

Why host an event like that?

To connect the community God is calling us to reach with his church

Very intentional event within our strategy to Connect

But it is also about connecting people to people

So here’s a simple challenge, and a simple tool, to help us connect with people

First, the challenge: Connect two families (or individuals) with the church before Easter (April 5)

It would be amazing to see what happens if all of us pray for and look for two families we can connect with the church!

And second, a tool: GBI

GBI: Greet / Befriend / Invite

Greet: Let me show you how to do it

[put out hand like preparing to shake hands]

“Hi, my name is Steve”

And, in case you are wondering, I’ll be really clear

Don’t use my name, use your own name!

Befriend: Show interest in getting to know people

Ask where they are from, about their interests, whatever

Invite: Look for an opportunity to invite them

Invite them to dinner

Invite them to church

Or invite them to pizza with the pastor and I’ll gladly join you and your friend for lunch

GBI: Greet / Befriend / Invite

Belong

Giving people a home in the people of God

I believe that, at an existential level, most people ask the questions (whether they would say it this way or not)

Who am I? A question of identity

Why am I here? A question of purpose

Do I belong? A question of connections

People want… need… a place where they belong - where they are accepted, welcomed, desired

A place to let their hair down, so to speak

Whether it be Cheers

Sometimes you wanna go Where everybody knows your name And they’re always glad you came You wanna be where you can see Our troubles are all the same You wanna be where everybody names your name

Or Friends

I’ll be there for you when the rain starts to pour I’ll be there for you like I’ve been there before I’ll be there for you, ‘cause you’re there for me, too

Or movies like Frozen or Toy Story

What resonates with those songs or shows or movies?

The search for family and relationships

A place to belong

And I believe all those are a reflection of the deep, God-given need for a place to belong

And at New Creation Church, it is our opportunity to give people a place of belonging in the people of God

One big thing that is coming is membership

In some ways, this series is helping set the stage by walking through our ministry plan

Membership is not really about some organizational requirement

It’s about that deep longing for belonging

The church has the unique opportunity to be a place of belonging that is rooted in our shared identity as the people of God

More is coming on this, and I’m sure many of you come from different perspectives and different histories with church membership

But that is the goal: how do we be the place where people find belonging!

Thrive

A whole-heart discipleship that sees the gospel transform the way we think, act, talk, build relationships, make decisions, and more

The challenge for Christians is it can be real easy for Christianity to become solely an intellectual endeavor

That is, it can become about knowing

Knowing the Bible more or knowing good theology

Obviously, those are really good… and really important… things

But if discipleship is the process of being formed more and more into the likeness of Jesus, then it can’t be solely about studying more

Christian education is often about the accumulation of information, not the transformation of the heart

We’ll come back to this idea in a couple of weeks when we look at our value of holistic transformation, but the point is simple

Thriving spiritually means being transformed in your whole being by the gospel

But we also believe that we will thrive as Sarasota thrives

Some of us are involved in the reading mentoring program at the school

This is just one example of community engagement where we are serving our community because we want to see our neighbors thrive

Maybe the Lord will provide opportunities for us to share the gospel with these kids and their families, and that would be incredible

But even if not, we believe we are helping these kids grow and mature in ways that will serve them throughout their lives

Celebrate

Honoring God’s work in every moment

We want to be a church that celebrates well

The Bible includes a variety of feasts and fasts

We are commanded to participate in both

But did you know that there is an 8:1 ratio in the Bible of feasts to fasts?

Or let me take this a little further, because feasting, celebrating, can feel misplaced in a broken, sinful world

For all the sadness and all the heartache that we may experience, sometimes fasts feel more natural

So why celebrate?

I believe that celebrating is an act of eschatological hope

The overarching image that the Bible gives in Revelation for the New Creation is that of a wedding feast - rich foods, fine wines, laughter, dancing

When we celebrate now, we get a little foretaste of the great celebration that is yet to come!

Conclusion (Edmund Redux)

Connect. Belong. Thrive. Celebrate.

The four legs of the table that form our strategy as ambassadors who are called to represent the kingdom of God here in Sarasota

But as I close, let’s go back to Edmund

Should he be told about the arrangement Aslan made with the Witch to spare Edmund’s life?

Should he be told that his life because Aslan sacrificed his own life?

We are never told in the story if they tell Edmund, though we see in future stories the growth in his character

But if you ask me, the answer is simple

Yes, Edmund should be told!

Why?

We can only know the love that compels us if we know the God who died for us

We can only treasure how great is the exchange we have been offered if we know that Jesus took the death we deserved

We can only grasp the beauty of being made New Creations if we understand the depth of what sin has done to us

And we can only go as ambassadors of the Great King when we rejoice that he has redeemed us through the death of Jesus

Pray