Talk

Ambassadors for Christ

Grant Partrick
November, 10, 2024

Grant Partrick kicks off week one of Orbit, a collection encouraging followers of Jesus to share the Good News. Through studying 2 Corinthians 5, we learn five takeaways that help guide us in this urgency for evangelism.

Key Takeaway

We are commissioned by Christ to be ambassadors of Christ, sharing the Good News wherever we are to whoever we are with.

Have you ever considered sharing the Gospel to be a kind of generosity?

Knowing Christ intimately is the greatest gift we could ever be given, and when we understand the weightiness of this gift, our response should be to share the Good News with others so that they, too, can partake in the splendor of having a relationship with their Creator.

Not only should we desire to share this truth with our neighbors because of what we have witnessed, but we are to live with missional urgency because of what we read from Matthew 28:18-20, "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

It's not merely a suggestion, but a command that we engage our communities and infiltrate them with the light and hope of Jesus.

We see evidence of this type of missional urgency through the life of Paul, and through studying 2 Corinthians 5, we can apply these truths to our own lives to become better followers of Jesus.

Read 2 Corinthians 5.

Here are our takeaways from this text:

1. We are CONFIDENT in our future hope.

  • The Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance.

  • As we will see, His hope for then was fuel for now. And so it should be for us.

2. We are COMMITTED to living for Christ.

  • We know why we are here; we were made by God and for God. Think about that: you can be pleasing to God. What more could you desire than that?

3. We are CONSIDERATE of the lost around us.

  • Vertically, we're losing our minds. Horizontally, I’m self-controlled for your sake. To God, we are ecstatic. To the lost, we are rational. Why? So that we may persuade others.

  • There is more than what the natural eye sees. Even if someone is putting off that they are disinterested…our spiritual eyes tell us that  “God has set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

  • Not only do we not regard people from a worldly point of view, but we need no longer to see our circumstances from a worldly point of view.

  • There are no coincidences in the economy of God. His sovereign hand doesn’t make mistakes. His hands never come off the wheel. So that means…where you are, you are there on purpose. There are no accidents. There are only assignments. So much would change about our hearts for evangelism if we could have eyes to see that we are being sent on gospel mission, not by random happenstance.

  • The challenge for us today is to evaluate our circles, spheres, and relationships.

  • Reasons we don't evangelize:

  1. We’re afraid that we don’t know how.

  2. The enemy convinces us that we don’t know enough.

  3. We’re afraid it might be awkward. Change our relationship. This is the one that kept me silent with my coach.

  • For some, we aren’t actively participating in evangelism because there is no space where we are purposefully and consistently building relationships with those who don’t yet know Jesus. We have so insulated ourselves that we have lost touch with the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people in the carpool line with you, in your apartment complex, in your office, or your city are going to sleep tonight trapped in their sins without a way out.

  • We are praying that God would awaken us and give us a sense of urgency to tell those in our Orbit about the good news of Jesus.

4. We are COMPELLED by the love of Christ

  • If we genuinely want to share the gospel with those who need it—to those stuck in darkness with no hope—we must be compelled by the love of Christ.

  • We should be motivated by Christ's love. If Christ did this for me, He can do it for you.

5. We are COMMISSIONED by Christ

  • You have been chosen by Christ

  • Ambassadors of Christ

  • Ambassador: an official representative of one country to another country.

  • Ambassadors are not:

  • Elected based on the popular vote

  • Self-appointed officials

  • Ambassadors are chosen as trusted representatives.

  • We have gone from being enemies of God to ambassadors for Christ. That is wild! And that should change the way we live our lives.

“
"You cannot be Biblical and avoid being missional. The two are tethered together. You are saved, and you are sent."
”
Grant Partrick

Discussion Questions

  1. Are you on mission? Are you considering the lost by showing careful thought and attention to them?

  2. Have you shared your testimony with anyone recently? If yes, when? If not, who is someone you want to share your testimony with?

  3. Is there someone in your life that you have stopped praying for or sharing the Gospel with because you think they're too far gone? How has this message challenged you?

  4. How far back on your text threads until you find someone you are intentionally pursuing? What are steps you can take to find someone you can help lead to Jesus?

  5. How far back on your calendar would you have to scroll to see an intentional and strategic meeting in which you were trying to share the love of Jesus with someone? How can you take steps to set up more meetings with people to tell them about Jesus?

  6. Do you believe that you are where you are for a purpose? How has that changed how you live?

  7. What are some reasons you struggle with evangelism?

  8. Do you live with a sense of urgency to share the Gospel? Why or why not?

Scripture References

11They triumphed over him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.

18Then Jesus came to them and said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
1For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,
3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
7For we live by faith, not by sight.
8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.
13If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16So 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.
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19that 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.
20We 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.
21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1And Saul approved of their killing him.

The Church Persecuted and Scattered

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
4Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
5Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
6When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
7For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
8So there was great joy in that city.
Grant Partrick
Grant Partrick
Grant Partrick is a part of the team at Passion City Church and serves as the Cumberland Location Pastor. He is passionate about inspiring people to live their lives for what matters most. Grant and his wife, Maggie, live in Marietta, Georgia with their daughters, Mercy, Ember, and Charleigh. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary where he earned a masters of theology degree.