WEEK 4 - REAWAKENING TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
The Church was purchased by Christ, initiated by Christ, and is under the ownership and leadership of Christ. He is in the position to tell us the purpose and function of the Church, and we are to submit to His ownership and headship. Think about Jesus’ intent for the Church and how we are to live into that intent. Pray for an open heart.
DAY TWENTY SIX - THE CHURCH AS CHRIST’S AMBASSADORS OF RECONCILIATION - KELVIN WALKER
2 Corinthians 5:19-20
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
The dictionary defines the word “ambassador” as: “An accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country . . . a person who acts as a promoter of a spec- ified activity.” As ambassadors for Christ and citizens of heaven, we are His representatives on earth and have been given “the ministry of reconciliation.”
In a world that tries to define the role of the Church in worldly, unbiblical ways, let us not for- get that our calling as Christ’s ambassadors is to proclaim without apology that: the Kingdom of God has come; the way of salvation and reconciled relationship with the Father is through the atoning work of Christ on the cross; anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; a reconciled relationship with the Father makes way for reconciled relationship with one another; and “all this is from God, who reconciled us to himself though Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).
We are Christ’s ambassadors. We carry the ministry of reconciliation! The Church is the answer to racial unity and racial harmony in a world that is filled with racism, discrimina- tion, and division. This ministry of reconciliation starts with the gospel, is at the heart of the gospel, and reaches beyond the walls of the Church as we take the gospel to the world. So, in the words of the apostle Paul, I “implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
PRAYER POINTS:
1. Pray that the Church, as citizens of heaven, will be Christ’s ambassadors first and foremost.
2. Pray that the Church will preach and live out the ministry of reconciliation—to God and to those who bear His image—for the sake of the gospel.
3. Ask the Lord where you might have blind spots as His ambassador that need to be corrected by His Spirit.