WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.379 We're in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We have two 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:04.860 weeks left. We have this week, and then we finish 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:08.519 Just Camping next week with Easter, and I'm so 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:10.980 excited to celebrate the tomb is empty. Like, 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.199 what better way to celebrate Just Camping, right? 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:18.059 And so within that, we've been in 2 Corinthians 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:21.699 chapter 5, and specifically now, we've read this 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:23.339 verse before, but it kind of frames up where 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:30.109 we're going today. Therefore, verse 17, is in 00:00:30.109 --> 00:00:34.350 Christ. The new creation has come. Is anyone 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:41.850 in the room or online in Christ today? Then that 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:44.670 means, what this means is you are new today. 00:00:45.090 --> 00:00:47.289 You're not waiting for it to come. You are new 00:00:47.289 --> 00:00:50.689 today. It is here. So much so that then he says, 00:00:50.750 --> 00:00:54.329 the old has gone, the new is here. All this is 00:00:54.329 --> 00:00:55.810 from God. We talked about this last week. It's 00:00:55.810 --> 00:00:59.570 all by grace. All this is from God. who reconciled 00:00:59.570 --> 00:01:05.790 us to himself through Christ, who reconciled, 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:08.750 so all this is from God, who reconciled, he brought 00:01:08.750 --> 00:01:13.569 relational harmony between us and God. How did 00:01:13.569 --> 00:01:16.629 he do that? He removes the barrier of sin, the 00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:19.689 thing that was between us, he removes it so that 00:01:19.689 --> 00:01:22.170 you, as someone who is new, those of you that 00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:24.549 cheered, those of you that were too shy to cheer 00:01:24.549 --> 00:01:28.159 or missed the prompt, Right? Like you, you are 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.900 new. And what that means is you are in relational 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:36.180 harmony with God right here, right now. All this 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:40.140 is from God. Who reconciled us to himself through 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:44.060 Christ and gave us, and gave us the ministry 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:48.859 of reconciliation. God has given to us. Who is 00:01:48.859 --> 00:01:50.859 the us? Those that are new. Those that have said 00:01:50.859 --> 00:01:53.280 yes to Jesus. Those that have relational harmony 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.700 with God, that have had sin removed. Those who 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:57.439 are in relational harmony with God. He goes, 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:02.140 he has given you the ministry of reconciliation. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.159 And you're like, what in the world is that? Well, 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.640 remember, reconciliation is. Harmony brought 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:10.379 between two groups. So your relational harmony 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:13.900 with God, he has given you the ministry to show 00:02:13.900 --> 00:02:17.520 the world your relational harmony with God. What 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.180 does ministry mean? It's the idea of serving. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.360 It's the idea of as you go through your life, 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:27.159 as you step into this life, it is a service to 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:30.080 everyone around you. And what you're now a broadcast 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.860 for in your actions is, hey, I'm someone, if 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:35.780 you wanna know what relational harmony with God 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:38.280 looks like, look to me, because this is what 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.360 it looks like, right? He goes, he gave us, it's 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.219 a gift. And I'm just curious, what are you doing 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:47.060 with the gift? Like, is it still unopened on 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:48.479 the shelf? You're like, I don't know if I want 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:51.500 that one. Right? As part of being new, he gave 00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:54.879 you the gift to serve others in such a way that 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:57.960 they would see you and go, man, I understand 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:00.580 what it looks like to be in relational harmony 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:04.680 with God. Isn't that beautiful? That your life 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:07.319 could point somebody else to what it looks like 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:09.400 for what they were created for? He carries on 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:11.099 and he says, kind of doubles down on this idea 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:15.139 in verse 19, that God was reconciling the world. 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:19.680 To himself in Christ. So God, the initiator, 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:22.219 he is bringing relational harmony. What's the 00:03:22.219 --> 00:03:24.900 point of it? To bring you back to himself, back 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:26.979 to where you always belong, back to what you 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:30.080 were created for. How did he do that? Through 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.860 Christ, not counting people's sins against them. 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:37.319 And he has committed, he has entrusted, he has 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:39.819 entrusted to us, those that have said yes to 00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:42.560 Jesus, those that are new, he has entrusted to 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:47.710 us the message. of reconciliation. Okay, so you've 00:03:47.710 --> 00:03:50.310 got the ministry, which is the service, serving, 00:03:50.490 --> 00:03:54.909 and now you have the message, which are the words. 00:03:55.810 --> 00:03:58.409 Maybe an easier way to say that is this, that 00:03:58.409 --> 00:04:02.969 it is the story that your mouth tells, right? 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:07.430 That your life, your life, both in action of 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:11.740 service, But your words can lead somebody else 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:14.280 to understand the relational harmony that you 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.420 have with God. That you've been entrusted. God 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:22.680 is entrusted to you. That you would be the person 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:25.800 that tells the story of how to come into relational 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:28.060 harmony with God. It's so interesting. People 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:33.699 are like, well, I can't share my faith. That's 00:04:33.699 --> 00:04:35.759 for those evangelists, right? We use a big word, 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:37.459 big church word when we're like, oh, that's for 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:40.550 them. We dump it on them. Those were given a 00:04:40.550 --> 00:04:42.529 gift of evangelist. We quote the verse out of 00:04:42.529 --> 00:04:44.269 the Bible so that I don't have to tell people. 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:47.990 And even worse, when somebody's got the gift 00:04:47.990 --> 00:04:49.850 of giving, we're like, praise God you got that 00:04:49.850 --> 00:04:53.149 one and I didn't. Or you got the prayer warrior, 00:04:53.389 --> 00:04:54.829 you know what I mean? Like, oh, you're a prayer 00:04:54.829 --> 00:04:59.230 warrior. I don't have to pray now because isn't 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:01.810 it interesting? God entrusted, he entrusted to 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:05.310 you that you would tell your story of how you 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:07.250 came into relational harmony with him. It's that 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:10.759 simple. How do you come into relational harmony? 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:14.680 And he connects. Look what he just did. He connected 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:17.060 the actions of your life with the words of your 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.500 life. And he goes, God has committed, he's entrusted, 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.540 and he's given as a gift the ability to do this. 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:25.959 And then he carries on, kind of puts more language 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:29.639 to it in verse 20. Therefore, we are therefore, 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:34.620 we are therefore, based on all of that, Christ's 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:39.600 ambassadors. As though God were making his appeal 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.819 through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.579 be reconciled to God. And what he's just done 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:50.379 when he says that we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.259 he's taken us all the way back, all the way back 00:05:53.259 --> 00:05:56.860 to the Garden of Eden, to the beginning of the 00:05:56.860 --> 00:05:59.259 book. He takes us all the way back to the beginning 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:02.399 where it says that human beings were created 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:07.519 in the image of God. The first humans were created 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.000 in such a way that everything they did, spoken, 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:12.439 everything that they did with their actions, 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.459 they reflected the relational harmony that they 00:06:16.459 --> 00:06:19.199 had with God, the relational harmony with one 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.779 another, and they were a reflection in everything 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:24.660 they did. So when they rolled up to Jamba Juice 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:28.259 in the garden, they're at the juice bar because 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:32.000 that's all there was, and they're adding their 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.600 protein. Can you imagine what that? Grass was 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.279 like put in there. Because your reflection, your 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.040 reflection, your image bearers, you're showing 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:44.079 everything around you what it looks like to be 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.600 in harmony with God, to have a relationship with 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:50.019 God. When you interact with one another, when 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:53.839 you go about your tasks. He goes, you're acting 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.720 as one that is in perfect union with God. What 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.920 is Paul getting at here? He's going, hey, what's 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.459 been restored for you and for me as followers 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:05.160 of Jesus is that we have been restored as brand 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:08.540 ambassadors for God. That you've been restored 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:12.540 into image bearing. That your life can now be 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:16.420 a display. This word ambassador. We are therefore, 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:18.980 we are therefore. It's a statement, right? So 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:22.399 it's declaring who you are. You are Christ's 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:24.980 ambassador. And often when we think of ambassadors, 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:26.759 I don't know about you, but I grew up traveling 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:29.620 a lot as a missionary kid. And it was often in 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:32.459 a foreign country. You needed the embassy and 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:34.620 you needed the ambassador for your country to 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:36.980 represent you. And whether that was getting a 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:38.839 passport, a visa, whatever it happened to be. 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:41.680 And so what's interesting with that is we often 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.000 take this. and it's not wrong, and we put it 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.839 into the foreign idea, right? Because we are 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:48.399 foreigners. You know, anywhere you go on this 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:51.120 planet, once you say yes to Jesus, you're a foreigner. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.360 It's not home, which is why you're just camping, 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:57.259 right? But as an ambassador, here's where it 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:00.000 breaks down for me. An ambassador in a foreign 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.079 country normally lives in an embassy. They're 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.860 not with the people, and the people come to them. 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.959 What I see when we say that we are Christ's ambassadors, 00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:13.370 As I see it more culturally, we have the language 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:16.550 of a brand ambassador, right? We understand that 00:08:16.550 --> 00:08:19.769 somebody gets an endorsement, a company chooses, 00:08:19.829 --> 00:08:23.550 and they choose to pick an individual, and then 00:08:23.550 --> 00:08:25.949 that individual begins to represent them and 00:08:25.949 --> 00:08:28.370 speak for them, and as they carry out their life, 00:08:28.509 --> 00:08:31.850 represent who they are. One of these was Kobe 00:08:31.850 --> 00:08:36.789 Bryant. And Kobe Bryant in 96, he got signed 00:08:36.789 --> 00:08:39.899 by Adidas. And he was with Adidas till about 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:44.519 2002. And in 2002, it became clear that he'd 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:46.919 kind of reached the ceiling. So he took a risk 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:49.460 and bought his contract out with them and then 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:51.779 stepped into kind of his own platform. Why? Because 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:54.600 his game was good enough at that point and his 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:56.860 reputation was good enough and he was waiting 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:59.059 for the next endorsement. Well, then what happened? 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:01.220 If you follow the Kobe Bryant story, there was 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:05.159 this very public scandal, misstep that happened, 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.759 right? all the endorsements around him started 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:13.820 to back away. And so in 2002, he went into brand 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:16.379 management of Kobe, if you like. He started, 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:18.340 the way he played, he started wearing different 00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:20.820 shoes, and so he's representing different companies. 00:09:21.139 --> 00:09:24.039 And in 2003, Nike go, hey, we're going to take 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:27.639 a risk on you. The risk came at a $40 to $50 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.799 million contract. That's quite the risk. And 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.700 they said, but what we think we can do is we 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:37.320 can rebuild you for long legacy. And so, true 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.379 story, walking through Miami at the airport, 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:40.980 and I see this guy coming towards me. He's got 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:43.840 this black sports shirt on across the front. 00:09:43.860 --> 00:09:46.600 It just says Mamba. And I was like, man, I'm 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:48.620 so curious what's on the back. Sure enough, who's 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:50.820 he representing? Kobe Bryant, why? Because what 00:09:50.820 --> 00:09:53.919 Nike did is they rebuilt Kobe Bryant to be their 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.639 representative and a Mamba mentality that is 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.279 now known by so many people within the basketball 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:02.860 world and beyond that this idea, this brand, 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:04.600 and he went on to be one of the most successful 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:09.519 people Nike have had. Everything he did represented 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:14.700 what? The brand. Every aspect of life, good or 00:10:14.700 --> 00:10:19.759 bad. Johnny Depp, right? Jack Sparrow, Captain 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:23.139 Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp had some stuff outside 00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:25.580 of the movie world in his personal life and Disney 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:29.220 back away from him. Why? Because he was representing 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:34.440 them to the world. You have Lance Armstrong. 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:37.299 Lance Armstrong with the whole doping thing that 00:10:37.299 --> 00:10:39.259 happened. And what happened? Nike go, hey, we're 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:42.519 not going to have you endorsed anymore. What's 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:46.409 amazing is this, Kobe Bryant. He took a risk. 00:10:46.490 --> 00:10:49.909 He stepped up his stats. He had this long legacy 00:10:49.909 --> 00:10:52.250 in front of him. They thought he could be a lifetime. 00:10:53.649 --> 00:10:56.429 And here's what's fascinating. It was all based 00:10:56.429 --> 00:10:59.750 on Kobe Bryant. If he got the brand ambassador 00:10:59.750 --> 00:11:03.350 stamp or not for that company. Guess what? The 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:07.590 person of Jesus Christ has looked at you and 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:12.129 said, you are my ambassador. And it's not based 00:11:12.129 --> 00:11:15.409 on what you did. It's based on what Jesus did. 00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:18.230 It's based on what was done on the cross for 00:11:18.230 --> 00:11:21.570 you. And guess what? When you mess up, he doesn't 00:11:21.570 --> 00:11:24.129 go, I'm going to back out of that endorsement. 00:11:24.789 --> 00:11:28.169 Whether you're good in how you represent the 00:11:28.169 --> 00:11:30.909 brand or you are poor in how you represent the 00:11:30.909 --> 00:11:34.549 brand, you are an ambassador of Jesus Christ 00:11:34.549 --> 00:11:42.730 in everything you do. You represent to the world. 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:47.299 what it looks like for a human being to be in 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:51.000 relational harmony with God Almighty. And Paul's 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.240 been kind of driving this idea that our lives 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:55.779 are what's happening. If you turn back, I have 00:11:55.779 --> 00:11:58.899 to turn back one page, but chapter 3. So 2 Corinthians 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:02.240 3, verse 2. You yourselves, so he's speaking 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.120 to the church in Corinth. He goes, you yourselves 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:10.820 are our letter, written on our hearts. known, 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:17.220 listen to this, known and read by everyone. You 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:21.320 show that you are a letter from Christ, the result 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.340 of our ministry written not with ink, but with 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:27.019 the spirit of the living God, not on tablets 00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:33.080 of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. What's 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:36.120 he saying? He goes, your life, your life is a 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.669 letter. And your life is being read by those 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:43.250 around you. There's a gentleman, Bobby Conway, 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:44.830 who wrote a book called The Fifth Gospel. And 00:12:44.830 --> 00:12:47.529 in that, he kind of based it on a quote from 00:12:47.529 --> 00:12:52.190 Gypsy Smith that said this about your life. There 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:58.929 are five gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 00:12:59.289 --> 00:13:02.350 You heard of those four, anybody? Right, like 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:04.629 there's a story that tells us about Jesus when 00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:07.519 his time on earth. They're the recount of his 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:10.320 life. They show us what Jesus is like. They show 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.679 us what God is like. There are four gospels. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.399 The fifth one and the Christian. But most people 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:24.419 never read the first four. What is Gypsy getting 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:28.460 at? The average person is never going to read 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:31.389 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They're not going 00:13:31.389 --> 00:13:33.929 to see Jesus in the scripture, but guess what 00:13:33.929 --> 00:13:36.429 they will read? They will read your life like 00:13:36.429 --> 00:13:42.090 a book. What version of Jesus does your life 00:13:42.090 --> 00:13:45.909 portray to the world around you? What gospel 00:13:45.909 --> 00:13:48.289 is your life portraying? And that's what Paul's 00:13:48.289 --> 00:13:50.669 getting at. Like your life really matters. This 00:13:50.669 --> 00:13:53.669 camping trip matters because what you are doing 00:13:53.669 --> 00:13:58.429 leaves a version of the gospel. When you said 00:13:58.429 --> 00:14:01.059 yes to Jesus. what it looks like to be new, what 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:02.659 it looks like to have relational harmony, what 00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:05.279 it looks like to have life as worship, you get 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:10.460 to live that everywhere you go. The next chapter 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:12.779 over, he talks about hardship and how this works. 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:17.000 Chapter four, verse seven. But we have this treasure 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.679 in jars of clay to show that this all -surpassing 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:24.980 power that we've been given inside of us is from 00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:29.250 God, not from us. We are hard pressed on every 00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:31.230 side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:33.129 despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck 00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:36.850 down, but not destroyed. We always carry around 00:14:36.850 --> 00:14:39.509 in our body, in this tent, on this camping trip, 00:14:39.629 --> 00:14:42.629 we always carry around in our body the death 00:14:42.629 --> 00:14:46.990 of Jesus. Why? So that the life of Jesus may 00:14:46.990 --> 00:14:53.049 also be revealed in our body. For we who are 00:14:53.049 --> 00:14:56.450 alive are always being given over to death. For 00:14:56.450 --> 00:15:00.529 Jesus' sake, why? So that his life may be revealed 00:15:00.529 --> 00:15:03.649 in our mortal body. So then death is at work 00:15:03.649 --> 00:15:07.190 in us, but life is at work in you. What is he 00:15:07.190 --> 00:15:10.169 saying? That this camping trip, when things get 00:15:10.169 --> 00:15:13.190 hard and the imagery in one of these is like 00:15:13.190 --> 00:15:15.789 an olive that is being pressed, right? And the 00:15:15.789 --> 00:15:20.159 oil is coming out. That when you are hard pressed 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:22.539 in this life, what's supposed to come out of 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:25.519 you because you are new, because you are in relational 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.580 harmony with God, you get to put on display for 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:30.700 someone. What does it look like to go through 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:35.960 hard things and the result be them see your harmony 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:42.419 with God. The result be them see Jesus is your 00:15:42.419 --> 00:15:47.909 life. What does it take for you in the midst 00:15:47.909 --> 00:15:50.629 of hardship for them to see? I'm just camping, 00:15:50.769 --> 00:15:54.450 man. I ain't holding on to this too tight. That 00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:58.250 diagnosis is okay. I'm just camping. Does it 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:01.370 hurt? Sure. All that hardship I'm going through, 00:16:01.409 --> 00:16:02.850 I don't know how those financial things, it's 00:16:02.850 --> 00:16:06.009 all right. I'm just camping. Worst comes to worst, 00:16:06.090 --> 00:16:09.669 I know I win. I know I'm getting the upgrade. 00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:14.210 I know that this life, all of a sudden it allows 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:17.169 you, it allows you to what? In hardship to display 00:16:17.169 --> 00:16:20.090 what is really true. Remember, Pastor Todd a 00:16:20.090 --> 00:16:21.610 couple of weeks ago talks about your behavior. 00:16:21.850 --> 00:16:25.049 Your behavior follows what? Your belief. If I 00:16:25.049 --> 00:16:27.029 really believe I've been saved by Jesus, if I 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:28.950 really believe heaven is waiting, if I really 00:16:28.950 --> 00:16:31.269 believe this life is just camping and I'm on 00:16:31.269 --> 00:16:33.710 a mission and the mission is to show Christ to 00:16:33.710 --> 00:16:35.549 everybody around me, why? So that they can see 00:16:35.549 --> 00:16:37.149 what it looks like to live in relational harmony 00:16:37.149 --> 00:16:41.889 and just maybe they find Jesus. then man, I'll 00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:43.750 go through this hardship if it means you find 00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:48.049 Jesus. Because that's my job. That's my role. 00:16:48.190 --> 00:16:51.830 I've been given it as a gift. And I get to live 00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:56.049 it out. And in the message translation, the verse 00:16:56.049 --> 00:16:57.870 we read about being we are therefore ambassadors, 00:16:58.070 --> 00:17:00.250 in the message translation, there's just some 00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:03.549 language that's really helpful for us. I'd love 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:09.089 to just walk through it together. God has given 00:17:09.089 --> 00:17:13.730 us. Given who? Those that are new, those that 00:17:13.730 --> 00:17:16.269 are followers of Jesus, said yes to Jesus, of 00:17:16.269 --> 00:17:21.190 telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's 00:17:21.190 --> 00:17:26.970 representatives. God uses us to persuade men 00:17:26.970 --> 00:17:31.289 and women to drop their differences and enter 00:17:31.289 --> 00:17:35.309 into God's work of making things right between 00:17:35.309 --> 00:17:41.799 them. We're speaking for Christ himself. Now, 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:46.200 become friends with God. He's already a friend 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:52.799 with you. Isn't that so good? Right now, okay, 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:57.380 hang on, hang on. Those of you that have said 00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:03.000 yes to the gift, you are a friend of God right 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:14.200 now. And your life, Your life, you get to show 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:18.420 the world all the time. This is what it looks 00:18:18.420 --> 00:18:23.980 like to be a friend of God. All of a sudden, 00:18:24.019 --> 00:18:25.839 this whole thing just got real simple, didn't 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:28.920 it? I just show what it's like to be a friend 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:33.900 of God. I can do that. And so this week I was 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:37.180 dropping my kid off at school. And those of you 00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:41.579 that know me. I'm always late. I think time is 00:18:41.579 --> 00:18:44.019 more like a rubber band. It's meant to be stretched. 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:51.079 It's elastic, not fixed. Spoken like a true missionary 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:56.660 kid, I think. But the idea behind it is, because 00:18:56.660 --> 00:18:58.940 I'm that way, I have a daughter who also thinks 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:03.279 time is elastic. And so when I'm taking her to 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.039 school, there's a good chance we ain't making 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.529 it before the gate closes. So we've been working 00:19:07.529 --> 00:19:09.470 really hard to be there on time. This day I get 00:19:09.470 --> 00:19:11.630 there, she's on time, the gate's still open, 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:14.549 and she rushes in through the gate, and I flip 00:19:14.549 --> 00:19:16.650 a Yui and come back, and it's a four -way stop. 00:19:18.069 --> 00:19:20.849 And as I'm sitting at the four -way stop, I notice 00:19:20.849 --> 00:19:22.769 another parent is pulled up, but they're not 00:19:22.769 --> 00:19:24.269 coming in to where I was. They're just going 00:19:24.269 --> 00:19:25.670 to sit at the four -way stop and let their kid 00:19:25.670 --> 00:19:28.619 out. And so their kid jumps out and you can tell 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:30.299 like we're all beating the gate, right? Like 00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:32.240 we're all beating the gate closure. So the kid's 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:33.700 in a little bit of a rush and I see the kid look 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:35.900 at me and the parent look at me like, are you 00:19:35.900 --> 00:19:38.480 gonna go or is my kid gonna go? And then I look 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.019 over at the crossing guard and the crossing guard's 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:46.299 like, and I was like, I'm just gonna relax and 00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:51.799 go ahead. So even though it's my turn, kid walks 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:54.039 down, crossing guard comes out, they go across. 00:19:54.890 --> 00:19:59.890 And I drive away, and God goes, you left a brand 00:19:59.890 --> 00:20:03.049 of what it looks like to walk in relational harmony 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:07.269 with me at the crosswalk. And I went, huh? I 00:20:07.269 --> 00:20:11.890 started a process. I was patient. Well, we know 00:20:11.890 --> 00:20:14.670 God is what? Extremely patient. That's the only 00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:17.089 reason we're here, right? He's extremely patient. 00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:22.859 We know God is kind. We know God is not self 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:26.019 -seeking, right? I could have gone first. And 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:28.019 so 30 minutes later, I'm studying for the message. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.359 And there was like a quote that I remembered 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:32.519 that I thought I saw on Instagram somewhere. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.839 And so I jump on Instagram and open it up. And 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:39.980 like what pops up is a comedian. And the comedian 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:42.779 pops up and I don't get a lot of comedians on 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:44.240 my feet. So I'm like, well, why are you here 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.339 for starters? So I start listening. Person's 00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:50.390 funny. Well, then it turns dark. And it turns 00:20:50.390 --> 00:20:53.069 into a topic that I'm like, I hope nobody walks 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:56.509 in. And I'd love to tell you that I turned it 00:20:56.509 --> 00:21:01.769 off. But I laughed to the very end. And I got 00:21:01.769 --> 00:21:04.309 done and I got the quote and I got moved on. 00:21:04.390 --> 00:21:07.470 And God goes, what brand of relational harmony 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:09.650 with me did you leave in your usage of Instagram? 00:21:11.390 --> 00:21:16.069 And it got me thinking, you guys, that when we 00:21:16.069 --> 00:21:20.799 go through life. That the idea of being an ambassador 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:26.859 can be a really big kind of concept. But I think 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:28.720 it's supposed to be a whole lot more simple. 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:35.440 Here's what I mean. You can purchase one of these 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:37.319 hats outside. This is the camping hat I was telling 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:45.180 you about. When you go hunting with your buddies. 00:21:49.349 --> 00:21:52.569 You're just camping in this life. Which tells 00:21:52.569 --> 00:21:54.589 me that as part of just camping, we're left here 00:21:54.589 --> 00:21:56.029 with a mission. We're left here with a message. 00:21:57.049 --> 00:22:00.089 We're left here to be brand ambassadors for God 00:22:00.089 --> 00:22:05.549 Almighty. What brand of relational harmony with 00:22:05.549 --> 00:22:11.029 God do you leave with your hunting buddies? What 00:22:11.029 --> 00:22:17.289 do they experience? Let's see what else we got. 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:30.420 You know, when you're working out, taking care 00:22:30.420 --> 00:22:33.500 of your health, doing the things your body needs, 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:38.940 you're just camping. What does that mean? Don't 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:41.779 become obsessed with the wrong thing. Oh, I'm 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:43.819 not saying don't look good, right? Everybody 00:22:43.819 --> 00:22:47.019 likes to look good. But I'm saying don't become 00:22:47.019 --> 00:22:49.000 so obsessed with looking good that that's your 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:50.599 motive for why you're doing what you're doing 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:51.940 to take care of your health. You know why you 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:54.309 take care of your health. Because you're just 00:22:54.309 --> 00:22:56.589 camping. And part of the camping trip is this 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:59.410 body has been made the temple of God. And this 00:22:59.410 --> 00:23:01.630 body has a mission by God. So I need to take 00:23:01.630 --> 00:23:03.509 care of my health. Why? So I can continue with 00:23:03.509 --> 00:23:06.710 the mission. So I need to steward what God has 00:23:06.710 --> 00:23:08.450 given me on this camping trip. And my health 00:23:08.450 --> 00:23:12.609 is something that I need to steward. Why? Because 00:23:12.609 --> 00:23:16.170 there are people all over that need you to steward 00:23:16.170 --> 00:23:18.589 your health. Well, why? So that you can show 00:23:18.589 --> 00:23:22.720 them in living flesh color. Just like the person 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.140 of Jesus did what it looks like to be in relational 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:28.000 harmony with God. That's why you take care of 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.000 your health. And you drink your water that you're 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.400 supposed to drink. Especially in Arizona, you 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:46.920 look like a lizard. Let's do this one first. 00:23:55.240 --> 00:24:00.200 The books you read, reading is a crazy, crazy 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:03.299 trend right now. Maybe it's always been and I 00:24:03.299 --> 00:24:07.000 just noticed lately. But there are more people, 00:24:07.059 --> 00:24:10.980 more people reading things and investing time 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:17.240 and energy into a space to escape reality, to 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:21.220 escape what's actually my life. And in the midst 00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:23.339 of escaping what is actually my life, in the 00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:27.299 midst of creating a fantasy world, I'm missing, 00:24:27.420 --> 00:24:30.420 I'm missing what God has done. This camping trip, 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:32.880 what I read and the way I read it and the way 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:35.500 I represent it to everybody tells something about 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:37.859 the relational harmony that you have with God. 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:43.119 Why? Because what you consume is what you become. 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:47.500 And so in this day and age, and I'm not saying, 00:24:47.539 --> 00:24:49.500 please don't hear that John said, you only read 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:52.140 your Bible. This is just, I just put it on this 00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:53.720 one because I didn't want to carry another book, 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:58.220 if I'm honest. But what we read, we represent. 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:00.440 Why? Because we are ambassadors. We're brand 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:02.420 ambassadors. You represent what it looks like 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:04.940 to be in relational harmony. And if in relational 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:06.779 harmony with God, reality is not good enough, 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:10.539 we got a problem. And then there's this one. 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:22.200 Maybe you open a laptop because you got work 00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:25.900 to do. Maybe you open a laptop because you're 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:29.359 gonna stream something. Maybe you open a laptop 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:34.039 because you're gonna go on Facebook. Maybe you 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:35.119 go on your laptop because you're gonna leave 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:40.880 a review. All of the things that I do on here 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:45.420 represent someone in relational harmony with 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:49.059 God. Right, like everything I do on here, right? 00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:51.519 So think about it, when you leave a review or 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:55.440 you decide to get in the comment section, the 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.859 way that you respond is being a brand ambassador 00:25:58.859 --> 00:26:02.839 for God Almighty and you are expressing through 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:05.240 your words, this is what it looks like to live 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:07.119 in relational harmony and be a friend of God. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:09.299 And they're like, if that's a friend of God, 00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:11.099 I don't know if I want to be a friend of God. 00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:15.039 Why? Because what I do on here, it's not just 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:18.319 me. I'm representing something so much bigger. 00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:23.660 I saw a stat recently. It was in an article that 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:28.700 Arizona is the fifth highest state in the nation 00:26:28.700 --> 00:26:32.359 when it comes to, and they measured it by money, 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:39.930 money spent that's being spent on OnlyFans. If 00:26:39.930 --> 00:26:41.549 you don't know what OnlyFans is, it's an adult 00:26:41.549 --> 00:26:45.730 website. Don't look it up. The fifth highest 00:26:45.730 --> 00:26:51.329 state in the nation. Remember, when you decide 00:26:51.329 --> 00:26:56.009 to enter whatever website, you are a representative 00:26:56.009 --> 00:26:58.630 of what it looks like to be in harmony with God. 00:27:00.630 --> 00:27:04.869 You're representing the brand who is Jesus. And 00:27:04.869 --> 00:27:08.910 I just wonder in our computer usage and... And 00:27:08.910 --> 00:27:11.890 how we go about it, if we're aware that I'm actually 00:27:11.890 --> 00:27:14.950 representing, maybe this one's a little closer 00:27:14.950 --> 00:27:24.670 too, or a little easier. Your private life should 00:27:24.670 --> 00:27:29.710 be the same as your public life. Integrity is 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:32.730 not what I do in public. Integrity is what I 00:27:32.730 --> 00:27:36.299 do when nobody is looking in private. Integrity 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:38.200 is when I'm on a device and nobody really knows 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.740 and there's a delete button and I can delete 00:27:39.740 --> 00:27:42.140 my history and I figured out how to delete all 00:27:42.140 --> 00:27:46.240 the connections to it, right? Like you're representing 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:50.519 Jesus even in your private moments. You are leaving 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:54.980 a flavor of the brand of Christ in everything 00:27:54.980 --> 00:28:00.119 that you do. We're still going, okay? We're not 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:11.890 done yet. This one's fun. In your sports and 00:28:11.890 --> 00:28:16.869 your recreation, you're just camping. Right? 00:28:16.910 --> 00:28:19.170 What does that mean? That means that at a U7 00:28:19.170 --> 00:28:21.950 soccer game, you're not going to lose your mind 00:28:21.950 --> 00:28:28.390 as a parent. How do I know that happens? I used 00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:32.849 to coach club soccer for a long time. But what 00:28:32.849 --> 00:28:35.369 it means is this, that you show up and you show 00:28:35.369 --> 00:28:37.650 up as somebody who's in relational harmony with 00:28:37.650 --> 00:28:40.609 God. I'm a friend of God, right? And yes, my 00:28:40.609 --> 00:28:43.730 kid's doing terrible, but I realize I'm just 00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:50.950 camping and this isn't the end. I realize that 00:28:50.950 --> 00:28:53.910 I don't have to coach my kid in how to be the 00:28:53.910 --> 00:28:56.509 best soccer player, especially at the expense 00:28:56.509 --> 00:29:00.769 of not coaching my kid to be an ambassador for 00:29:00.769 --> 00:29:06.059 Jesus. In that game. You guys, I talk to a ref 00:29:06.059 --> 00:29:09.380 every week from this town. And he coaches high 00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:11.819 school and he coaches rec leagues and whatever. 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:14.559 And he goes, John, it's getting worse, not better. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.160 What if the brand representatives of Jesus show 00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:19.859 up and make it better? What if we show the world 00:29:19.859 --> 00:29:22.759 what it looks like to actually respect a referee? 00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:28.880 I don't know, gentlemen, it often falls on us, 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:32.690 I think. When your team loses, it's okay. You're 00:29:32.690 --> 00:29:36.410 just camping. I know you spend a lot of money 00:29:36.410 --> 00:29:40.230 to watch them. And I know they're terrible. And 00:29:40.230 --> 00:29:41.890 I know they're still looking at Aaron Rodgers. 00:29:43.309 --> 00:29:46.289 But you losing your mind communicates something 00:29:46.289 --> 00:29:52.509 to everyone around you. And you probably don't 00:29:52.509 --> 00:29:56.670 look very harmonious with God. Because we're 00:29:56.670 --> 00:30:00.529 called to what? Even in our recreation, we're 00:30:00.529 --> 00:30:03.170 just camping. Hopefully worship doesn't trip 00:30:03.170 --> 00:30:06.049 on that on their way in. I don't know why I looked 00:30:06.049 --> 00:30:13.289 at my laptop. There's no notes. This one hopefully 00:30:13.289 --> 00:30:25.759 connects. By the way, we're just camping. This 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:27.200 one hits a couple of ways, right? Because this 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:30.319 hits on the, I'm gonna go help you with your 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:32.160 car. You know what I mean? Stranded in the parking 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.539 lot. How many times as a brand representative 00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:38.920 of Jesus does this make you feel good? Versus 00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:40.759 you go, no, I'm living on service that you would 00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:42.559 see somebody who cares about other people because 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:45.019 that's the brand I represent. You would see somebody 00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:47.099 that's gonna put, oh yeah, I'm on a time crunch. 00:30:47.140 --> 00:30:48.880 Well, I got rubber band time so I can stay and 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:53.789 help you with your car, right? Or I carry jumper 00:30:53.789 --> 00:30:55.910 cables because I know I'll meet somebody that 00:30:55.910 --> 00:30:57.509 needs them, right? There's all that. There's 00:30:57.509 --> 00:30:59.950 also the element that this could represent work, 00:31:00.049 --> 00:31:04.369 that whatever work you have, whatever you do 00:31:04.369 --> 00:31:07.109 in your life from a professional perspective, 00:31:07.549 --> 00:31:12.269 mechanics in the room don't be that mechanic 00:31:12.269 --> 00:31:14.569 that gives people something that they don't need, 00:31:14.730 --> 00:31:18.470 right? No, I'm going to take my work and I'm 00:31:18.470 --> 00:31:20.829 going to do it before God. There's a verse in 00:31:20.829 --> 00:31:23.970 the Bible. That says, whatever you do, do it 00:31:23.970 --> 00:31:28.890 as unto the Lord. So my work becomes as unto 00:31:28.890 --> 00:31:31.609 God. What that does is that frees me. That frees 00:31:31.609 --> 00:31:33.529 me from people that don't know Jesus, like the 00:31:33.529 --> 00:31:36.009 manager I had at 19 in a restaurant that threw 00:31:36.009 --> 00:31:37.950 a trash can lid at me and hit me in the neck. 00:31:38.329 --> 00:31:43.910 Metal trash can lid. I wish I responded at 19 00:31:43.910 --> 00:31:46.609 like I was harmonious with God. Not so much. 00:31:48.289 --> 00:31:51.230 But that's the opportunity we have, right? That 00:31:51.230 --> 00:31:52.950 when everybody else is stressed and losing their 00:31:52.950 --> 00:31:55.809 mind, we can go, hey, we're just camping. We're 00:31:55.809 --> 00:31:57.789 just camping. We don't have to take this so serious. 00:32:01.809 --> 00:32:03.650 It's interesting. If you got stressed, go to 00:32:03.650 --> 00:32:07.410 counseling. Right? Let's take care of our stuff. 00:32:07.470 --> 00:32:09.450 Why? Because we're brand representatives of Jesus. 00:32:10.990 --> 00:32:16.789 This one. Some of you are like, can you buy all 00:32:16.789 --> 00:32:22.910 this out there? No, you can't. Some of the women 00:32:22.910 --> 00:32:24.349 in the room was like, is that gonna come off? 00:32:24.970 --> 00:32:26.450 Do you know how hard that's gonna be to peel 00:32:26.450 --> 00:32:35.670 off of that? How you rest. You are a brand representative 00:32:35.670 --> 00:32:38.009 in how you rest. We may do a collection on this 00:32:38.009 --> 00:32:40.450 at some point, but the way that you rest as a 00:32:40.450 --> 00:32:43.769 human says an awful lot about the brand, the 00:32:43.769 --> 00:32:46.700 God that you trust. You know what's amazing? 00:32:46.940 --> 00:32:48.460 You were designed to sleep. No matter how long 00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:49.940 you go, at some point you're gonna fall asleep. 00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:51.539 And you know what happens? The world keeps turning 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:53.259 while you sleep. Why? Because God is in control, 00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:57.079 not you. Right? And so what I do when I rest, 00:32:57.119 --> 00:32:59.079 when I rest, I acknowledge that I have limits. 00:32:59.140 --> 00:33:01.660 I acknowledge that he is God. I acknowledge that 00:33:01.660 --> 00:33:03.640 in this life, I'm just camping and I'm not the 00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:06.259 one holding it all together because I'm just 00:33:06.259 --> 00:33:07.960 camping. And what it does to everybody around 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:11.000 you when you have rhythms of healthy rest, when 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.619 you're not on the grind and getting ahead of 00:33:12.619 --> 00:33:15.599 everybody else, what it says is this, that, That 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:18.160 getting ahead is his business. My business is 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:20.019 to show you what it looks like to be in harmony 00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:21.819 and put my head down and go to sleep. Another 00:33:21.819 --> 00:33:23.480 thing this represents for me is this, your sex 00:33:23.480 --> 00:33:29.099 life. In your sex life, you are a brand ambassador 00:33:29.099 --> 00:33:35.759 of God Almighty. What is being said of your sexuality, 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:39.779 how you handle yourself in the area of sex, what 00:33:39.779 --> 00:33:43.740 is being said, what brand... Representative, 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:47.140 ambassador, what is left of the brand when you 00:33:47.140 --> 00:34:07.980 leave? We had to do this one. The mundane. Anybody 00:34:07.980 --> 00:34:09.400 do laundry in the room? You're like, it just 00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:10.920 keeps coming. Don't know where it comes from. 00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:15.010 But I'm sick of it, right? The laundry just piles 00:34:15.010 --> 00:34:18.550 up. It's the mundane. Even in the mundane, you 00:34:18.550 --> 00:34:22.750 are a brand ambassador for God Almighty. There's 00:34:22.750 --> 00:34:26.909 something in how you do the mundane tasks. Something 00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:30.230 in the mundane tasks speaks volumes to the brand 00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:33.789 that I believe Jesus to be. The way you serve 00:34:33.789 --> 00:34:37.329 others. The way you do it when nobody else can 00:34:37.329 --> 00:34:43.900 see it. It speaks volumes. And then there's this 00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:48.059 guy. What this guy represents, should have sat 00:34:48.059 --> 00:34:52.480 down the whole time. What this represents is 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:57.340 you go camping with people. It's your family. 00:35:00.900 --> 00:35:06.460 Hey, parents in the room, what brand of Jesus 00:35:06.460 --> 00:35:10.340 do your kids see in you? What are they left with? 00:35:12.139 --> 00:35:15.820 You only, you by the grace of God, and who knows, 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:22.239 you have limited years to show them what it looks 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:26.219 like to be in harmony with God. You have limited 00:35:26.219 --> 00:35:30.440 years to pour into them what it looks like to 00:35:30.440 --> 00:35:33.300 be a friend of God Almighty, to live out the 00:35:33.300 --> 00:35:37.139 brand. And at home is what you do at home. Do 00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:41.900 they see the same person out here? Husbands and 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:44.639 wives in your relationship is your relationship 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:48.079 one that enters on the platform. If we are ambassadors 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:51.199 for God in the way we do this relationship speaks 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:54.320 volumes to our world around us that need the 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:59.260 person of Jesus in their life. But don't make 00:35:59.260 --> 00:36:03.940 a mistake. We are ambassadors. You are a brand 00:36:03.940 --> 00:36:09.699 ambassador and you represent God almighty in 00:36:09.699 --> 00:36:13.780 all that you do. And here's one last thought 00:36:13.780 --> 00:36:19.519 and we're done. We created these, you can buy 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:25.659 these. It's not why we created them. We created 00:36:25.659 --> 00:36:29.659 them because some of us need to understand. This 00:36:29.659 --> 00:36:33.480 is a journal. And what goes in a journal is often 00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:40.079 my personal, intimate thoughts. And what this 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:44.730 is, is this represents that if you are going 00:36:44.730 --> 00:36:47.889 to be a brand ambassador for God in all that 00:36:47.889 --> 00:36:51.130 you do, you need intimacy with God to be the 00:36:51.130 --> 00:36:54.469 marker of your life. What do I mean by that? 00:36:54.570 --> 00:36:57.070 I mean that that isn't just showing up on a Sunday 00:36:57.070 --> 00:36:59.329 and then not thinking about the God the rest 00:36:59.329 --> 00:37:01.329 of the week and showing up on, that's not how 00:37:01.329 --> 00:37:03.630 this is supposed to work. You will never understand. 00:37:03.690 --> 00:37:05.329 I wonder how many of us don't even understand 00:37:05.329 --> 00:37:07.849 the brand that we've been given in Jesus. We 00:37:07.849 --> 00:37:09.710 don't understand the gospels because we've never 00:37:09.710 --> 00:37:11.710 read them. We don't understand who Jesus is, 00:37:11.789 --> 00:37:14.630 so we don't understand what we represent. Intimacy 00:37:14.630 --> 00:37:17.289 with God, what? Shapes my thoughts, shapes my 00:37:17.289 --> 00:37:21.510 soul, shows me what God is like, and it transforms 00:37:21.510 --> 00:37:25.460 the way. that I interact with every single part 00:37:25.460 --> 00:37:30.719 and piece of my world. We are, we are, it is 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:35.280 a gift that God has given. We are ambassadors 00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:40.380 for Christ. Why? Because you're new, you're new, 00:37:40.500 --> 00:37:43.920 and you have relational harmony with God. What 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:46.159 does your relational harmony look like to the 00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:49.699 world? And so when I get this, I get to this 00:37:49.699 --> 00:37:51.800 point, I'm like, God, I just need to process 00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:54.480 that you're worthy of it all. I need to get my 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:56.699 eyes on you. I need to see who you are. And I 00:37:56.699 --> 00:37:59.239 need to go, man, you are just, God, you are worthy 00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:02.539 of everything in this life. Every single part, 00:38:02.619 --> 00:38:05.579 every single piece, you are worthy of each and 00:38:05.579 --> 00:38:07.639 every one. Why? Because you have purchased me. 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:13.619 And I'm your friend. And you're his friend. And 00:38:13.619 --> 00:38:14.980 so we're gonna use our voices. We're gonna sing 00:38:14.980 --> 00:38:16.400 together. We're gonna declare. I'm gonna pray 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:18.949 and then we'll sing. God. We just thank you. 00:38:20.010 --> 00:38:23.650 We thank you for being good to us. We thank you 00:38:23.650 --> 00:38:30.449 that your goodness is what leads us into relational 00:38:30.449 --> 00:38:34.110 harmony with you, God. We understand you chose 00:38:34.110 --> 00:38:38.010 us. And so God, even in these moments when we 00:38:38.010 --> 00:38:42.769 get to raise our voice, even in these moments 00:38:42.769 --> 00:38:45.690 when we could choose to represent you in a different 00:38:45.690 --> 00:38:50.400 way, God, would you help us to choose to step 00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:52.579 in and go, this is what it looks like for someone 00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:55.440 in relational harmony with God to raise their 00:38:55.440 --> 00:38:59.980 voice and to sing. This is what it looks like 00:38:59.980 --> 00:39:02.440 for someone to declare you are worthy of it all. 00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:08.460 Every single piece. Why? Because everything we 00:39:08.460 --> 00:39:13.820 have, we recognize has come from you. And God, 00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:17.219 we just give it back today. So God, thank you 00:39:17.219 --> 00:39:18.920 for the reminder that we are just camping in 00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:20.880 this life. Thank you for the reminder that the 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:25.119 end is secure and one, the new heavens and the 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:27.059 new earth. And in the meantime, we just say, 00:39:27.159 --> 00:39:29.820 you're worthy of everything in this just camping 00:39:29.820 --> 00:39:33.280 life. It's in your name we pray, everybody said, 00:39:33.460 --> 00:39:34.539 amen.