DO as He did and let’s see what God can do. Preach the Gospel. Following Jesus is not just a life of believing right things, it’s also a life of doing right things. Doing things in his name for his glory. John 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations… John 20:21 As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. That’s why it’s not surprising that we read this in Luke 9:1… Luke 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Jesus is telling his disciples that wherever they show up he will show up. Whatever is happening in the space and the place where they are, he will be there with them by virtue of giving his disciples his authority. How do you see yourself because God sees you as his ambassador. 2 Corinthians 5:18 And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18 And God has given us this task – we have a job. of reconciling people to him. What is the message we speak to the world? I can sum up the message in 4 words that you can find in Romans 8. God is for you. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. We are ambassadors of Jesus. An ambassador is a person from one country that has been placed in a foreign country in order to represent his country. And Paul is saying that we are ambassadors – meaning that our home, our kingdom, our citizenship is from another place. Notice how the Scripture says that we speak for Christ. What an awesome responsibility. We have been placed in this world to speak on behalf of the kingdom of God. Luke 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. One of the things that we are to do is to proclaim the kingdom of God. We are to talk about Jesus. We are to joyfully proclaim the kingdom of God. What does this mean? It means that as joyful ambassadors we have good news. The good news is that God is for you. The good news is that Jesus desires to be present in your life and act on your behalf. The good news is that if you give your allegiance to Jesus you will experience his blessing. Here’s something that is true… You are proclaiming something. You are preaching some kind of a gospel. But what is it that you are proclaiming through your life? We talk about whatever we love the most. And since we love Jesus, we talk about Jesus. Romans 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Right here is a beautiful description of the ultimate message of Christianity. In verse 9 being saved is… Being justified are being made totally right before God. In verse 12 having all the riches of God fall on us. In verse 11 is an end of shame and now we have full inclusion in the family of God. In verse 12 it is for everybody. Same Lord. Same salvation. Same riches. In a simple transaction is that we confess with our and mouth that Jesus is Lord. We believe in our heart that Jesus is alive. And we call on the Lord. But then Paul goes on to make a different point Romans 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. How can you call on someone that you don’t believe in? And how can we believe in someone we’ve never heard of? And how can we hear about Jesus without somebody coming. Someone being sent. And then this stunning observation; how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. Are your feet beautiful? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news. My challenge to you is to be a good news person in a bad news world. To be a joyful ambassador of generosity in a world of scarcity. To be positive in a negative world. To be happy in a sad world. Let’s see what God can do! Pastor Brian Harrell