Last Sunday, Pastor Ken showed us that proper motivation for ministry is the fear of the Lord and the love of Christ from 2 Corinthians 5:11-17. We far too often minister to others for selfish reasons, serving them for our own gain instead of God’s glory. Thankfully, the power of the gospel sets us free from selfish pursuits and to God-glorifying ministry to others.

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2

This Sunday, Pastor Jeremy will preach about the core of ministry for all believers from 2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2, namely, we are all reconciled ministers of reconciliation. We have been reconciled to God in Jesus Christ, and he has entrusted to us his message of reconciliation to the world. Praise God that he loves us and has made a way to be restored to him through Jesus Christ! As you prepare your heart for worship this Sunday, let this devotional from Paul Tripp aid your perspective as an ambassador for God equipped with his message of reconciliation.

Reflect: “Ambassador”

What does it mean to be an ambassador of the King? It means reflecting his message, his methods, and his character wherever he’s placed us.

It really is a very different way of looking at life. It’s a very different basis for making decisions. It’s a very different template for deciding how you should act, react, and respond. It’s a very different way of thinking about who you are and what you’re supposed to be doing. It is a radical way of living, quite different from the worldview that is preached all around us.

The common cultural worldview has you at the very center. It says that life is all about your pursuit of happiness. When someone or something makes you unhappy, it says that the world is not operating the way it is supposed to operate. It really does pull the walls of your motivation and concern to the tight confines of your wants, your needs, and your feelings. But the Bible presents a polar opposite worldview that is to form the identity and lifestyle of every believer. Scripture asserts that you were bought with a price (the life and death of Jesus), so you don’t belong to you anymore (actually, because of creation, you never did belong to you). Take time to look at 1 Corinthians 6:12–20, which applies this truth to something as personal as your sexual life.

God has a purpose for you. It is that you would live as one of his representatives; that is, that you would live representatively. And what are you representing? You are called to represent your Savior King. And what does that practically look like? Representing the King means you represent his message, his methods, and his character. Representing the King’s message means that you look at every situation and relationship in life through the lens of the truth of Scripture—the center of which is the gospel of Jesus Christ—and determine to help others look at life that way too. Representing his methods means that you seek to be a tool of the kind of change he intends to make in people and in the world around you. And representing his character simply means asking yourself again and again, “What of the person, work, and character of the Lord Jesus Christ does this person need to see in the situation that he or she is now in?”

There is no better word for this bigger-purpose-than-my-happiness way of living that God has called each of us to than the word ambassador. It reminds us that there is a King and that we are not him. It moves us to remember once again that our lives do not belong to us. And it puts practical legs on what it means to represent the Savior King in practical ways every day. God’s grace has not only rescued you, but has included you in much bigger and more beautiful purposes for your life than you would have ever chosen on your own.

December 14 Devotional, in New Morning Mercies, by Paul Tripp

Sing: Song List for Sunday

1. “Lamb of God,” by Vertical Worship
2. “Yes I Will,” by Vertical Worship
3. “Even So Come,” by Passion