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Ambassadors of New Creation – The Formed Future · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 17 through 20.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: The old things have passed away.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Behold, all things have become new.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But all things are of God,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ,
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation, namely,
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: not reckoning to them their trespasses,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: As though God were entreating by us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Paul puts two enormous ideas next to each other, new creation and reconciliation.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone is in Christ, new creation has already begun.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then, almost immediately,
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says that God gives people who are being made new a ministry of reconciliation.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: That tells us something about the direction of formation.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: What Christ does within us is meant to move outward through us.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Reconciliation begins close to the center.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Christ gathers the divided places of the soul.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Fear.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Desire.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Identity, Thought, Love, and Will begin finding a new center in Him.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: We become less fragmented inside.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Then that movement reaches relationships.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: It changes the way we listen,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: apologize,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: forgive, disagree, repair, tell the truth, and honor the dignity of another person.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: From relationships it can reach families,
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: churches,
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: workplaces,
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: communities, culture, and even the larger creation God promises to renew.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is why Paul calls us ambassadors.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: An ambassador lives in one place while representing the life and values of another kingdom.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: We live in a world still marked by division.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Where people are dehumanized, we carry dignity.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Where resentment has become normal, we carry the possibility of reconciliation.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Where fear narrows a room, we carry love.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Where confusion thrives, we carry truth without cruelty.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Where systems make people invisible, We remember that every person bears the image of God.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds enormous until we remember how reconciliation usually travels.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: It travels through concrete acts.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: One honest apology.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: One conversation we stop avoiding.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: One person we choose to see rather than label.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: One process we make more humane.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: One cycle of resentment we refuse to pass forward.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: The future is being shaped every day by forces that fragment and forces that restore.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: In Christ, we do not have to stand on the sidelines merely reacting to fragmentation.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: We can participate in restoration.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Babel tried to build a future upward around human significance.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Scripture ends with another city,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: the New Jerusalem,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: coming down from God,
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: centered not on human achievement,
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: but on God's presence and the healing of creation.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: We cannot manufacture that city.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: We can carry its character.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, ask where fragmentation is visible within your reach.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: It may be inside you.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: It may be between you and another person.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: It may be in a group you belong to or a system you influence.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Ask what reconciliation would look like there, and then take the part that belongs to you.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: You are not responsible for repairing the entire world,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: but as an ambassador of Christ,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: you can let one part of the world you touch move toward new creation.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, reconcile the divided places within me.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let your new creation life move outward through my words, relationships, work, and choices.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Teach me to carry grace, truth, dignity, mercy, and love into the fractures I can reach.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Make me an ambassador whose presence reflects the kingdom I represent.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Amen As you move back into your relationships and places of responsibility,
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: carry this prayer with you.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Reconcile my life in Christ
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Carry renewal wherever I go
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Reconcile my life in Christ
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Carry renewal wherever I go.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Reconcile my life in Christ.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Carry renewal wherever I go.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady.
• 6:24
  [music]
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Stay open.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Stay present.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.
• 6:43
  [music]