Anchored in Identity - Saddleback Weekend Service

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Come on, good evening Saddleback Church. Who's excited to be in the house of the Lord today? Amen. Come on. Let everything that has breath. Come on, praise the Lord. Sing praise the Lord. Let everything that has breath. Sing praise the Lord. Come on, praise the Lord. And I'll praise when I'm down. And I'll praise on the mountain. And I'll praise when I'm sure. And I'll praise when I'm bound. I'll praise when I'm numb. And I'll praise when surrounded. Praise the Lord. High in all His triumph. Come on, as long as. As long as I'm breathing. Come on, let's sing it out. I've got reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul. Come on, sing praise.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Hey. I'm praised when I'm feeling. Come on. I'm praised when I know. Let's go. I'm praised. I'm praised because I know. You're still in control. Come on, praise is a weapon. I'm praised. I'm praised is a weapon. It's more. It's more than a sound. Yes, it is. I'm praised is a shout. Hey. That brings care and calm down. Come on, sing it louder. As long as I'm breathing. Here we go. I've got a reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul. Sing praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Sing I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. I've got a reason I keep. I've got a reason I keep. Sing praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul.

Come on, church. Come on, let's sing this out together. I'm praised because you're soft. Praised because you reign. Praised because you rose and defeated the grave. I'm praised because you're faithful. Praised because you're true. Come on, help us sing. I'm praised because you're soft. Come on, sing. Praised because you reign. You rose. Praised because you rose and defeated the grave. I'm praised because you're faithful. Praised because you're true. Praised because there's nobody greater than you. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Come on, can we sing it out? Come on, let's get ready. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Sing praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Sing praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Come on, I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. I've got a reason I keep. Come on, sing, I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. My God is alive.

How could I keep it inside? Sing, I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Sing, praise. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Come on, come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on, let's sing it one more time. Let everything. Let everything. That has breath. That has breath. Praise the Lord. That has breath. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Come on. Come on, give him a shout of praise. Yeah. Come on church. We are excited. For baptisms happening.

Right now. So let's join Jeff outside at the baptism. Well hey church. We are live here in the baptismal. And tonight we have something really special. Happening. I want to introduce you to my friends. Brett and Amber. They are getting baptized tonight. They have been married for 18 years. And tomorrow is Amber's birthday. Woo. And they have been following Jesus for a while. I would say over the last three years. They have gone through some trials. But they have accepted Jesus already. Their eternity in heaven is already secure. But tonight. They are going public. With their faith. Now you notice this water. It is nice and warm. Which is good. But there is nothing special about this water. However the moment that you are going to witness. Is very powerful. Because both of them are going to stand in this water. And they are going to let you know tonight. That they not only love Jesus. But that they are committed to following Jesus.

For the rest of their life. And that is something worthy to be celebrated. So that is where you guys come in. We need this church to be hooting, hollering loud. Let me hear you. I want to hear you out here. Let's go. Does that sound good? You guys ready? Let's get back to worship. And we will see you in a minute. Some would say it is foolishness. But I say it is worth the risk. I can't forget what Jesus did. No I am not ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me. I am free, I am free, I am free, I am free. My sin is gone, how can it be. I am free, I am free, I am free, I am free. Look at what the Lord has done. I am never going back to the way I was. I sing, I dance because I believe. I am free, I am free. Thank God I am free. We have freedom in this place. I found a friend that never quit. No other love is as good as this. And I don't care what anyone says. I will never be ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me.

I am free, I am free, I am free, I am free. My sin is gone, how can it be. I am free, I am free, I am free, I am free. Look at what the Lord has done. I am never going back to the way I was. I sing, I dance because I believe. I am free, I am free. Thank God I am free. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood and I see no cancer. My debt is paid and my record is clear. I couldn't do it so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood now the sinner can see. My debt is paid and my record is clear. I couldn't do it so you did it for me. You took the cross. You shed your blood. My debt is paid. ♪ I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ Only God can do it, only God can do it, only God can do it ♪ ♪ Only God can do it, only God can do it, only God can do it ♪ Come on, let's sing it out. ♪ Where are those chains that once held me, I'm free ♪ You sound good. ♪ How can it be, I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ Oh look at what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing all day like David did, I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body, you shed your blood, now the sinner can't sleep ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and my record is deep, I couldn't do it so you did it ♪

♪ You took the cross and you broke your body, you shed your precious blood, you shed your blood for every single one of us ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and my record is deep, I couldn't do it, only God can do it, only God can do it, only God can do it, only God can do it, only God can do it ♪ ♪ Oh look at what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Oh look, oh look what He said, if He did it for me, He'll do it for you ♪ ♪ Oh look at what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Oh look at what the Lord has done, I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on God, we're mindful of what you've done. We're never going back, for that we are eternally grateful. Yeah. Come on, sing this out. ♪ All my work for sure, I've got nothing new, how could I express all my gratitude? ♪ ♪ I could sing these songs, as I often do, every song must end, and you'll never... ♪ Come on, can we sing this together? ♪ So I throw up my hands, and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah, and hallelujah. ♪ ♪ And I know that I'm much, I'm nothing else but for a king, except for my heart singing hallelujah. ♪ ♪ And I've got one response, I've got just one move, with my arms spread wide, and I will worship you. ♪ ♪ So I throw up my hands, and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah, and hallelujah. ♪ ♪ And I know that I'm much, I'm nothing else but for a king, except for my heart singing hallelujah. ♪ Come on, can we lift our hands again for a moment? Come on, so much to be thankful for. Come on, sing this out. Come on, can we fill the room with worship? Sing, come on. Come on, lift up. Come on, so get up. Hey. Sing, come on. Come on. Come on.

Come on. Hey. Sing, come on, my soul. Oh, come on, my soul. Lift up your soul. Oh, you've got a mighty hand. So get up and praise the Lord. Just get up and praise the Lord. Just get up and praise the Lord. Come on, can we sing? Somebody throw up my hand. Somebody throw up my hand. Come on, sing it out. Hey, hey, hey. Come on, sing it out. Hey, hey, hey. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey. Hey. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Praise the Lord. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Come on, can we sing hallelujah? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on, sing hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Welcome to Saddleback. I hope that you are having a great weekend so far, wherever you're joining us from. And I truly believe that it's about to get better because you decided to join us for church today. And if you're watching on YouTube, we would love to know where you're joining us from so you can leave a comment. I know last week we had people joining us from Korea. We had people joining from Burundi and from South Africa. And so we would love to know where you're watching from.

Leave a comment. And if you are on YouTube right now, head to the link in the description or we want to invite you to download and open up our Saddleback Church app. We know that church can often feel challenging to get connected into, but one of the ways that we make church, especially online, feel personal is through that digital program. It allows us to get to know you. It allows us to get to know how we can be praying for you as a church and also to help you to take a next step in your faith. And so let us know through the digital program and get ready for today's message. And also if it's your first time joining us, we'd love to know about it as well. You can let us know through that digital program by filling out a new here form. Just make sure your campus is set to online community and someone from our team would love to personally reach out to you and to help you get connected. Well, there's a lot going on in the life of our church and we wanted to celebrate our extensions. Extensions here at Saddleback are volunteer-led in-person gatherings of people watching Saddleback service in their local communities. And just recently, our Sanosti New Mexico extension had a month of meaningful connections with people where it started off with a three-day clothing drive where they got the chance to pray for people that came and to meet practical needs. And then they kicked it off with a week-long vacation Bible school where on the first day, they only had two kids joining them, but by the very end of the week, they had 21 kids with them. And then they even got the chance to do a house dedication and hold one of their normal Sunday services in the community as well. And it was such a cool example that every person that interacted with that extension was met with love, was met with care, and was met with the good news of Jesus. And it's so encouraging to hear about how God is moving in and through our extensions, like our one in Sanosti. Even some of you I know that are watching online right now, we see you and we are celebrating

how God is moving in your extension and through you. And if you want to find out if there might be an extension right near you, or maybe you want to learn more about what it would look like to start an extension in your city, then you can head to saddleback.com slash extensions to find out more information. Well, in this service, you have already heard about some of the incredible ways that God is moving in the life of our church. And in just a moment, you're going to hear more of the things that we can look forward to. like our prayer gatherings and our men and women's gatherings that are coming up. And we want to let you know, if you are near one of our local campuses, we would love for you to join us in person for these events. And if not, if you're far away and you're joining us online, we want to encourage you to be a part of them still. You can head to saddleback.com slash extensions to find out more information on how you can be a part of these things that we're about to hear about. So with that, let's join the rest of our church family to hear about the things that we can look forward to. I could use some prayer. I'm out of work, and I'm not sure which direction to take. My kid seems distant, and I'm not sure how to talk to them. My mom is sick, and I'm not sure if surgery is the answer. I just don't know what to do. Can you pray for me? Dear Father, please bring healing. Give him guidance, Lord. He needs to know what to do. Provide financial support. Give this person a job that suits them and honors you. Knowing that you love them. And we thank you for how you will move in these people's lives.

Amen. Amen. And we believe that God does things when we pray, that he doesn't when we don't. Hey Saddleback, wasn't that powerful? We are a church who cares for one another and believes in the power of prayer. That means that every prayer request that you share with us is actually prayed for by our team, by our prayer team, by people throughout our church at gatherings like Wednesday Prayer. Because we know that behind every prayer request, there's a real person. A family walking through a difficult season. A student asking God for direction. A parent praying for their child to come to faith. Or someone waiting for a job, healing, or breakthrough. I've been part of this church for over a decade, and I've watched prayer change circumstances. Prayer isn't just something that we do, it's where we stop carrying everything alone. Every Wednesday, people gather at all of our campuses to seek God, to pray for one another, and we'd love for you to join us at Wednesday Prayer. If you've never been to something like this, here's what it looks like. We worship together, there's a short word of encouragement from God's Word, and then there's time to pray.

First on our own, over real requests that come from our church family, and then praying together. There's no expectations of you, except that you come, and that you pray with us. You can find the time and the details for your campus in the Saddleback app. And if Wednesday Prayer doesn't fit your season of life right now, that's okay. We would still love for you to share your prayer requests with us so that they can be prayed over in the room when we gather. There's two special nights coming up that are built for exactly that time with God. For men, and for the women of Saddleback. Men, on Sunday night, August 16th, we're gathering in the Lake Forest Campus for free dinner, worship, prayer, and a message from Pastor Andy. It's gonna be a night where you are poured into, and also recapture the vision of who God created us to be as men. Then on Sunday night, August 30th, the women of Saddleback are gathering at the Lake Forest Campus for ice cream, worship, prayer, and a special message from Pastor Stacy. It's a night with women who understand the exact season of life that you're in right now. I've been married for 13 years,

and with kids in elementary school, I know how fast the calendar fills up. And it can feel like every part of our life needs something from us at all times. These nights are just a few hours where nothing is asked from you. Getting there might take a little bit of tag teaming, or a little bit of help calling in a favor, and I get it, I live it too. But it's worth it. You can register at the Saddleback app or at saddleback.com slash gatherings. Church, everything that we've talked about, from praying with people in difficult seasons, to creating spaces where men and women can encounter God, is made possible because of your generosity. If Saddleback Church is your church home and you'd like to give today, you can give your tithes and our offerings through the Saddleback app, or with the giving envelope near you. Today we're kicking off Live Sent, a series about bringing the good news and the hope of Jesus wherever we go. So let's hear now from Pastor Andy. Well, hey church family. It is so good to be together, and I'm so excited about this series that we're kicking off today called Live Sent.

But I do just want to say, it's been wonderful over the last month to have a chance to slow down and to spend a little bit more time with my family. Somebody asked, why do you take a month off every summer? And actually I still work, but I take a break from preaching for a period of time just to fill my soul, but also to hang out with my family because my kids are all out of school during the summer. And I want to show you some pictures of some things that we did. We had the privilege of going to Wyoming this summer, and we got to go to a rodeo. Still likes the fact that he's about six inches taller than me, but I did make an AI picture with him where he's shorter than me and he loved that. And then also we got to go horseback riding. I got to see both sides of our family, my family. And I even got to preach in the church that my parents, my dad attends. And they said to me, would you like to control the clicker while you preach for this presentation? It was awesome, I'd never done that before. They don't let me do that here. And it was wonderful. So, and then we got to spend time just with extended family. It was a great month for us and really enjoyed that time. But also in the midst of that, part of my prayer is God, what is it that you have for us

in this next season of ministry? What's the fresh vision that you're asking of us? And this next series really is all about that. It's saying yes to what God is asking of us and the reality of God's call to live a life that is sent. But as I was preparing this message, I was actually thinking about a time earlier in my marriage with Stacey, where we were saving up for our first car that we would buy together. Now, when we first got married, we had some people that felt really sorry for us and gave us cars and they were all really old. But our first car was a minivan. How many of you had the minivan for your first car? It was horrible, that's what they drive in hell, is minivans. And then afterwards, I got to save up for the car that I wanted, and that was a Jeep Wrangler. Now, I had to tell you in high school, one of my good friends had a Jeep Wrangler. He would pick me up from my house and I would break one of the 10 commandments every time I got in it because I coveted his Jeep Wrangler. But I said, when I grow up, I wanna get a Jeep Wrangler. So we saved up and finally, when we got this Jeep Wrangler, I was so excited. I wanna show you a picture of it because I envisioned myself like Batman in a Jeep. That was just my dream here.

And you can see a picture of this bat Jeep. And everywhere I went, people would know it was me. But that was like this car that I had anticipated for years, saving up, that one day when I got a Jeep, I would somehow feel different about my life. And there was this moment a few months in after getting this brand new car, just starting to feel internally sad one day driving down the road because I'm like, this car that I thought would bring me joy and contentment, it's not done anything for me. And maybe you've had some moments like that where you got something that you thought would fulfill something on the inside and later on, you realize it didn't fix anything. It didn't solve anything on the inside. It might've been a job. It might've been a relationship. It might've been a sum of money. But when you got that thing, you realize you were still empty on the inside. And that's because there's a very important point I wanna make today. You were made for more. God made you for something greater. And I wanna encourage you to receive that, that God puts you on planet earth for a purpose. God has great things that he wants to do both in you and through you. And all of us have had things that left us feeling empty.

And I wonder what that thing is for you. What's the more that left you empty? The more that left you on the inside feeling discontent, frustrated with your life. There is a more that God has for you that doesn't leave you feeling empty. And that's what we're gonna talk about for the next four weeks. That more comes with relationship with the living God. And that more comes with a mission, an assignment that God gives to our lives. So if you're here today, I believe that God wants to put a fire in your soul that there's a greater call on your life than just the here and now. So that's where we're headed with this series. And my hope is that wherever you are in your journey of faith, that you would catch this vision. Now there's some of you that you've been following Jesus for a really long period of time. And my prayer for you is that God would reignite in you a passion to live a life that is sent by Him. There are some of you that are exploring faith and maybe you're new to church and you're checking all this stuff out. And our prayer for you is that you would see our heart and you would see the love of a church that cares deeply about the good news of Jesus getting into the lives of people in our community.

And then there are some of you that maybe you've kind of been on the fence when it comes to your journey of faith. And this series is gonna be a kickstart to kind of help you take significant steps to get back into the game with your life. And I want us to look at Genesis 1. Because in the book of Genesis, God really does describe His creation as being made for something greater. And I wanna invite you, if you will, to read this aloud at all of our campuses. You should be awake by now. So let's read Genesis 1, 27 and 28 together. It says this. So God created mankind in His own image. In the image of God, He created them. Male and female, He created them. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish. in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Now this is known as the great mandate that God gives to Adam and Eve. And he says, I'm sending you forth onto planet earth to make a difference, to bring about my rule and reign, to cause earth to flourish.

And there's this vision that God gives to them right in the book of Genesis. But shortly after this, Adam and Eve sin. And once the stain of sin comes upon humanity, now the rest of the Old Testament is describing the outworking of that sin and the hope that somehow God would restore creation. Well, when Jesus comes, he comes to restore creation. He comes to restore the human heart back to relationship with God. And in John chapter 20, verse 21, after Jesus has been crucified on a cross, he's rose again from the dead, he says to his early followers, listen to this, again, Jesus said, peace be with you. As the father has sent me, I am sending you. Now I wanna encourage you in your notes to underline that phrase, I am sending you. The same way that Jesus was sent, he says, I am sending my followers into the world. So you've gotta ask the question, what did Jesus mean when he said the same way the father sent me, I am sending you? Well, in Luke chapter four, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, there's this vision statement about his ministry. He opens up the scroll on a weekend service in a synagogue and he reads the book of Isaiah and it says this, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim the freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. So Jesus is saying, this is why I'm here. I'm here to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, to recovery of sight and healing for the blind, to release people who are oppressed under religion and to proclaim favor that God wants to give to their lives. So when Jesus comes, he comes to establish the kingdom of God here on planet Earth and he didn't simply come to rescue us from an eternity in hell. Yes, he did come for that, but he came to also rescue us from the hell that we live in right now. And so Jesus' plan was greater. It was that he would restore creation, restore humans back to the heart of God. And in Mark chapter one, verse 14, there's another vision component connected to this about God's kingdom. And it says, after John was put into prison, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. Repent and turn into the kingdom of God, Jesus is saying. So this one to two verses right here is helping us understand that Jesus came

to bring about the rule and the reign of God into every corner here on planet Earth. And sometimes we can get confused about God's kingdom and think that maybe God's kingdom is just in heaven, but the reality is God's kingdom is wherever God is king. And what God is wanting is his kingdom to come into your heart. So that in your life, he's the king. He's the one that you turn to, that you rely upon, that you're under the authority of. He wants to be the king of our home. So if he's the king of your home, your home is the kingdom of God. And he wants to be the king of your business. If you own a business, he wants to rule and reign in your business. And he wants to be the king of our neighborhoods and our communities and our nations that his rule and reign would come here on planet Earth. And with his rule and reign comes his blessing and his favor, his joy, his peace. So God's vision for his people, if you are a follower of Jesus, is that you are sent into the world with good news to bring about the kingdom of God here on planet Earth as it is in heaven. So God might send you overseas to another nation, but God more likely will send you to your business on Monday morning. God might send you into one of the hardest places on Earth,

and God also will most likely send you back into your school when school starts this year. So God's vision is that we would live, if we're followers of Jesus, lives that are sent by him with his good news. And this is good news for all of us because the vision that God has for our lives is beyond just circumstance. It's beyond just more money or a bigger boat or a bigger house or a different set of circumstances where we can just go on vacation all the time. God wants to give you something greater that makes your heart beat on the inside, that wakes you up with purpose in the morning, that his call is that you would live a life that is sent by him. So that's where we're going these next five weeks. And I believe that God wants to increase the vision of our church. church, God wants to remind us of what's deeply embedded in the DNA of Saddleback. If you've been here since 1980, you know that deep in our heart, as a church, from the very beginning with our founding pastor, Rick Warren, and his wife Kay, was this longing for God to send us forth as a community into the places where we live with his good news. So God has us here not just for ourselves. Do you believe that? That God has us here for a purpose, for an assignment. So if your heart is beating today, which I believe it is

if you're listening to my voice, and if you have breath in your lungs, it's for a purpose. So if you made a decision to follow Jesus, I'll get to what I'm about to say here in this next passage, but I just feel like I need to keep preaching on this. If you have breath in your lungs and you're a follower of Jesus, God could have taken you back to heaven the moment that you made a decision to follow Jesus, but he didn't. He left you here to make a difference on planet Earth, and I wanna cast that vision for you. So over the next five weeks, we're going there, we're gonna keep coming back to this idea, but I also wanna equip you, because I know that there are some of us that we're like, yeah, I wanna live sent, but I don't know how. So we're gonna talk about how do you live out the good news of Jesus in the various places where you go, where you play, where you go to work and school, and then in addition to that, at the end of our time, in five weeks, this is a five-week message series, at the end, we're praying that 10,000 people in our church family would say yes to live sent, and we would sign a covenant together to say, God, send us with your good news into our world together. Send us out. And at our next return night that we have, we're gonna commission everybody who takes that step, like missionaries going to schools and into our community, and I'm very eager to see what God's gonna do

as we pray into that 10,000 people saying yes. But I know it's gonna take a moment for us to get there, so I wanna start today with 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14. And as you turn there or as you look at your notes, as we look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, what I wanna do in this first message today is I wanna cast a vision around your identity and how your identity fuels an assignment that God gives to you. So what often happens in our lives is that we march into what we do, but we don't do it out of who God's made us to be out of a new identity. And so when you enter into a relationship with Jesus, when you open your heart to him, he gives you a new identity. And the apostle Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14. Let's look at it together. It says, for Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And 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. I want you to think about this for just a moment. What Paul is saying is that the love of Jesus so compels him that he's willing to lay down his life for this church in Corinth.

He's saying what's on the inside of me is this longing for the love of Jesus to impact you the same way that it impacts me. He's saying I'm not doing this whole thing of sharing the good news of Jesus and starting churches in places like your community Corinth for no purpose. I'm doing it because I've been transformed by the love of Jesus. And this is so very important that a life that is sent starts out of an understanding of the deep personal nature of God's love for each of us. That God sees you, he knows you, and when that love gets on the inside of you, the more and more you're transformed, it cannot help but come out. It reminds me of in high school, I had a student pastor that really cast this vision for a group of us. And he just said, God wants to use your one life and the love he shows you, he doesn't want it to stop with you, he wants it to go to your school. And I remember in high school, there was this one guy on my wrestling team, and I know for a fact that he got sick of me talking about Jesus. And I would be like pinning him on the mat and be like, Jesus loves you, brother. And this friend of mine named Mark Ostash,

we spent so much time together writing back and forth to wrestling matches, and I would constantly share about Jesus and what he'd done in my life and his love for Mark. And at the end of high school, Mark and I got disconnected and he hadn't made a decision to follow Jesus, but I knew that there was an openness in him and God used Mark in my life to call me into vocational ministry. And there was a moment for me where I said, God, if you'd ever use me to be a part of a church, to reach people like my friend, Mark, who's open to your message, I wanna do that. And for now, almost 30 years, I've gotten to be involved in ministry in that kind of a way. But Mark, as... I, as I mentioned, we got disconnected after high school. And about 15 years ago, Mark reaches out online and says to me, hey Andy, my life has been changed by Jesus. And I went to church, I met a girl. She took me to church. She said, if you don't go to church with me, not gonna keep dating you. So she goes to church with her and he makes a decision to follow Jesus and he's never been the same. And I tell you that story because many of you, you have people in your life like that. Many of you are like Mark today. That God is working in your heart

and this is a safe place for you to explore what you believe about Jesus. And if you're a follower of Jesus, there are people like Mark in your life that this series is gonna ignite something in you that the love of Jesus would compel you. And Paul says we're convinced that Jesus died for all. And as a result of that, those who follow him no longer, if you could put that verse back up, no longer should they live for themselves. And the tendency for us is the natural focus of our lives is on us, me, myself and I, me, me, me, me, me. And that reality is the me life, the thing that's all about myself, it pulls me away from God's very best. And what God wants to do to grow you, to help you step into the fullness of his design for you is to shift your vision, to shift my vision off of myself. Have you ever noticed the most miserable people on planet Earth are the most selfish people on planet Earth? And you gotta ask, is it a chicken or an egg thing? And I would tell you, it's because the selfishness, all you do is think about yourself and there's nothing greater to live for. And it doesn't get better when you try to fix that need. The way you get out of that is by learning to live beyond yourself, to have eyes for people around you and sometimes that inward focus life until we can break through that,

we don't grow into the fullness of what God has for us. So Paul is explaining that, that we should no longer live for ourselves. Now in verse 17, he says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they're a new creation. The new has come, the old is gone. The news here, all this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Now that word reconciliation is so important because when Jesus came, what he was doing is he literally was bridging the gap between us and God, that sin separated us from God. So Jesus' death was restoring what has been broken. So Paul says, now I have that ministry of reconciliation to bring people back to God. And then watch what he says as he continues, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. How many of you are grateful that God doesn't count your sins against you? And he has committed us to this message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's what? Ambassadors. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. Now I know for some of you teenagers, when you hear the word ambassador, you have the wrong image in your mind. A brand ambassador is not what the apostle Paul

is talking about here. His image of ambassador was somebody that was sent to a foreign nation. So we are ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us to the world. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. God made him, speaking of Jesus, who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf in order that we might become the righteousness of God. That verse right there, oh, there's so much in that. And what Paul is saying, the good news of the gospel, the good news of Jesus is that we can be restored to the heart of God. And what God does is he finds ordinary people like you and me, and he says, I'm gonna send you out, is my ambassador. You're my little representative in the neighborhood you live in. You're my little outpost of my kingdom at your school. In your business, you're my ambassador to your place of work. If you're starting a business, you're my ambassador, and that business is my kingdom. So that identity, when you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror, there are certain things that you see about you, and some of those things are true and some of those things are not true. And what God wants to say through his word is that if you're in him, that identity that you should see when you look in the mirror is that I am an ambassador

that is sent by God into the world with his good news. Now, this changes Monday morning, friends, that when we get a vision like this, it really does lift our eyes and give us joy and purpose to live for. Now, as an ambassador, there are three things that an ambassador would have in order to carry out. assignment from their king. So the ambassador is sent by a king to another land to represent that king. And that king would give his ring, which represented his authority, would give his resources, would also give into that his message. So that ambassador didn't get to create policy. They actually went as a representative. And so I want us to see these three things. First of all, that means that when God sends you, God sends you with authority. God sends you forth in his name with his authority. Now, parents, you get this. You understand what this means. I see it in my family. My daughter loves to give instructions to her two older brothers. She loves it. It's like she was made by God for it. She's like, this is the more I was made for it right here, to instruct my brothers. And God has a greater purpose for her life than that

because it never works. It never works. Except when she says, dad said. And you'll notice that if you're around her sometimes, she'll be telling them to do stuff. And then when she says, dad or mom said, do this, then it gets a different result because she's coming in a name. She's coming with authority. So when Jesus makes a statement, watch this, in Matthew chapter 28, this will blow your mind if you think about it long enough. Jesus came to his disciples after his resurrection. So this is right before the ascension. And this is the great commission that we're gonna unpack next week. We're gonna come to this passage and unpack the whole thing next week. There's four alls, but I wanna look at one of them. It says, Jesus came to them and said what? All authority, can you say it with me? All authority, now this, watch it, in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Why? Because he kicked death in the teeth and rose again from the dead. And because of that, he's in charge. He gets to decide to do what he wants to do. And he says, so based on my authority as the king of the universe,

he says, go and make disciples of all nations. So on Monday morning, when you go to your place of work, if you go as an ambassador, you go on behalf of King Jesus with his authority. This will blow your mind because now you operate not from a place of defeat, you operate from a place of victory. You operate from a place that that kingdom will come, that one day every nation, tribe and tongue will bow at his name. So you're not living as like some sheepish person that has to hide your faith. You are representing the king of kings and Lord of lords who send you forth with good news so that authority transforms the way that you see Monday morning. It transforms the way that you see your school. Every person at your school is a person that Jesus died on a cross for and rose again from the dead for so that they might live into the fullness of life. And you are his ambassador to Tribuco High School. You are his ambassador in Anaheim and in Corona, that there are things that God wants to do in Huntington Beach and Huntington Beach High School through your life. And he's saying, I'm giving you authority to make that happen. You go forth and make disciples of all nations. Now, the second thing that an ambassador would have

is not just authority, but power, resources. Another parenting illustration on this is when the kid has the credit card and like, you know, just goes around to Target and buys what they wanna buy. And you know, that only works for so long, but the way that God works it out is that God gives his resources to accomplish his purposes here on planet earth so that you don't have to operate out of your power. So what that means is the same power that brought Jesus from death to life is available for you to live as an ambassador of God's. Now watch this Acts 1.8. This is right at the same moment where Jesus, he commissions his disciples and then they go into prayer for a period of about 50 days. And then the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost. And Jesus is speaking to them in the front of that, telling them to wait for Pentecost, to wait for the Spirit to come. And I want you to notice this. Jesus says, but you will receive what? You will receive, say it, you will receive power. All of our campuses, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you'll receive power. And then what will you do? That'll give you power to go cheer for your football team, give you power so that you can just make yourself great

and your name great. No, what he says is when the Spirit of God comes on you, you will be my witness. in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Now think about that for a moment. The same power that brought Jesus from death to life is in you and on you if you are one of his followers to extend his good news to the ends of the earth. So the same things that Jesus did in scripture, the same power to heal, the same power to transform lives is available for you. And so often we live weak, anemic lives and part of the reason we do is because you don't need power to do nothing. Let me say that one more time. You don't need power to do nothing. This is like waking up in the morning and saying, God, give me your power for today and all you think about all day is you. That's not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying, if you ask me for my power, my power comes on so you will proclaim my good news and my hope to the ends of the earth. So the shift in perspective is to realize the same God that's at work in your life and in your heart is at work all over planet earth. He's doing things now that you and I cannot comprehend. We're a part of the Capital C Church and God's moving all over planet earth. This weekend, Stacy's preaching in Rwanda.

And at the same time, one of our former staff members was sent out to be a pastor in Virginia and he's being commissioned. And at the same time, this last week, I got to go to the church we started 18 years ago and to be a part of a commissioning of a new building that they just built. And all of this is happening all over the world. God's power is greater than one spot or one leader or one church. Do you believe that, that he's moving? But he invites you into the details of that. So he invites you into that happening at your place of work and his kingdom coming where you go throughout the course of your day. So this last week, I was on a date night with Stacy before she left to Rwanda for 14 days. So y'all pray for me, please. And pray for my boys, because Karis is with them. So dad's at home and we're eating a lot of fast food, but pray for them. And we went out on our date right before she left. There was this guy I walked past and I recognized him. And this happens to me sometimes because I see a lot of people at our church and I'm like, you know, praying for them or talking to them. And then sometimes I see them out and about and I'm not sure, are they from Saddleback or are they from somewhere else?

Funny story, one time I saw a girl smile, gave her a hug. She's like, why are you hugging me? I was like, I don't know why I'm hugging you. I just, I'm really nice to everybody. I thought you go to Saddleback, so sorry about that. And so, but this guy, I saw him, did give him a hug, but I just took note. I recognized that guy from somewhere. So then later, about 20 minutes, he came over to our table and I'm like, oh, you work here, that's how I know you. Because we go there to eat a lot. So he comes to our table and I said, I knew I recognized you. I thought I'd seen you at Saddleback Church, kind of slipped that in. And then I said, but you know, I just really feel like God wants me to tell you he sees you and he loves you. And this guy, you should have seen his face. He's like, are you just, did somebody tell you to say that to me? I'm like, no, I just felt compelled. I needed to tell you God sees you, loves you. And he says to me, well, you need to know that like a couple of weeks ago, one of my coworkers said the exact same thing to me and there was this other guy that was here that told me the exact same thing. And I'm going through this nasty breakup

and to know that there's a God that sees me and loves me. Like this guy, he was blown away and God sees him. That's the power of God at work in just a small practical way. He can do that through you. That's not because I'm a pastor. That's because God is moving all over planet Earth. And he's just looking for people that will join him in his work. So he sends you forth with his power so that you can make a difference here on planet Earth. And then third and final, his authority plus his power also comes with his good news. So he sends us as his ambassadors to bring his good news. And I want you to notice that when Jesus would speak of his kingdom in Mark chapter one, the verse that talks about his kingdom coming, the original word is good news. And the way he would describe it is this is the good news of the kingdom of God. 76 times in the New Testament, the word good news shows up. In the original language, it's the word euangelion. And it means to proclaim good news. So it's very important that if you are a follower of Jesus and you're going forth with this good news, that you recognize it's not bad news. And some Christians live as though it's.

Bad news. And all they do is they walk around with their finger, just kind of waving their finger. You're going to hell. You're gonna burn. You know, it's like they get delight out of it. And that's all they say. I wanna be a good news follower of Jesus. I wanna walk into the room with life. And we wanna be a church from the very beginning in 1980. We wanted to be a church and we've been a church that brings good news to the community that we're in, that brings good news when we go into our workplace or our schools, that God sends you forth with this good news that Jesus died on a cross for your sin. Jesus rose again from the dead and he's made a way that your life can be restored by the grace of God, that you can live with hope, that you can live with joy, that you can live with peace. That's good news. And if you're a follower of Jesus, everywhere you go, you get to bring good news. So might I say as your pastor, don't make it bad news. Don't make it bad news. Bring life when you come. Bring joy when you come. Don't be one of those Christians that walks around with a saddleback shirt and a frown on your face. Walk around with the joy of Jesus, that you've been forgiven of your sins

and the God that's been good to you, that you wanna introduce somebody to the life that you've found. One beggar finding bread, offering it to another. That's the invitation. So for the next five weeks, that's what we're gonna hit. Next week, when we come back, I wanna talk about this whole idea of good news and what does it mean for us to bring good news wherever we go. But today, what I'd like to do is for us to finish with just a brief story. And as we conclude our time together today, I'm gonna ask you to pray a very simple prayer at the end of this message. It's a prayer of surrender in response to God sending us forth. But I wanna start with this story. Back in 1951, there was this young couple. The man was 29 years old, his wife, 25. Their names were Bill and Vonette Bright. And this young couple, they were in their home in Hollywood Hills. And they were already followers of Jesus. But there was something stirring inside of them that God was asking them to surrender and wanting to do more through their lives. And there are some of you that are at that place today that there's this stirring that there's more that God has for you. And as Bill and Vonette Bright in their little apartment

sat there together and just trying to figure out what does it look like for us right now just to surrender wholeheartedly to God, they took out a white piece of paper and they just wrote on top of this piece of paper their prayer of surrender. A very simple prayer. God, we surrender all that we are. We're asking you to use our lives for your glory, to use our lives to make a difference here on planet Earth. And then they left this big empty white space on the paper and they signed their names at the bottom, Bill and Vonette Bright. Now at this moment when they signed it, they had very little money. They weren't a part of some renowned ministry. They just simply were surrendering their life to God. And in the coming weeks after this surrender to God, God deposited into Bill Bright's heart a vision for what would become Campus Crusade for Christ. And on campuses all over the world, they would start these little outposts of God's kingdom and millions of people would surrender their hearts to Jesus and discover hope and begin a relationship with Him. They would show the Jesus film as a part of their initiative and over six million people would make decisions to follow Jesus for the very first time through their lives.

And it all started with a simple yes. With one yes to God. You know, our church began with a simple yes. It started with our founding pastor, Rick Warren, and his wife Kay saying yes to God. Use us to impact South Orange County with your good news. And God had something so much greater in mind that that vision became a global vision. And God starts with a simple yes in your heart. And that yieldedness of Him to say, God, use me. And I wonder today at all of our campuses, if you would say yes to God simply by just saying to Him, God, use me. Use my ordinary life to make a difference. And God has a purpose for you. I want you to hear me, no matter what season of life you're in, God wants to use your one life to make a difference. And there are some of you that you're taking for granted. Teenagers, there's no JV version of the Holy Spirit in God's call. You can be 13 and respond to this vision in God's call on your life. You might be a college student and God is stirring in you for the rest of your life to make a difference. There's some of you in your 80s and God has you here for a purpose. You still have breath in your lungs for a reason. There might be some of you in this glorious midsection

where your kids call you old and everybody else kind of thinks you're young and you still think you're young but they think you're old. There's a lot of life inside of you and God's got more in store for you. And I want you to hear me. At the end of your days, you will stand before the living God. And when you stand before the living God, it's not gonna be about your boat or your back Jeep or what vacation you went on. It's what did you do with the message that he put in front of you? And what did you do with the one life that he gave to you? And I want you to stand before the living God with confidence to say, God, I gave my one life to your kingdom here on earth. God, I gave everything I had to be used by you. And it could start right now. Some of you are so miserable right now. And it's not because you need more medicine or you need a bigger house. It's because you need a yes to God. It's because you need to say to God, my life is yours, I'm done doing it my way. Some of you are followers of Jesus and that misery is because the spirit of God is inside of you and will not let you settle for less. And he's inviting you into more. And I wonder if there's anybody in this church

that has a longing to be used by the living God, that has a longing for something greater. I wonder if there's anybody here that just says, I know that there's nothing in this world that will satisfy my soul. God is calling you for more. And there are some of you today that that is starting with a yes to Jesus to surrender to him for the very first time, to say, I open my heart to you. So here's what I want to ask of you. If you can pull out that card that you received, it's on your seat. And I'm gonna ask you to write on that card a very simple prayer of two words that says, use me, God, use me. And just two words, God, use me, use me. I want my life to count for your glory. And this is a prayer of surrender. Whatever it is, some of you, maybe you'd write more, like, it's my business, I know that I need to be used by you there, or there's something God is asking you to let go of today. This is your moment to say, God, I want my heart, I want my life to be surrendered. Some of you today need to surrender just to receive salvation from God and to put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Today can be that day.

Others of you might look and say, you know, today I need to take the step to go public with my faith and be baptized, and that's your all-in moment to say, I'm gonna stop living for myself and start living for the things of God. And in just a moment, at all of our campuses, there are gonna be some buckets that go by, and there's gonna be an opportunity just to respond with that card as your yes to say, God, use my one life. So I wanna pray a prayer over you of blessing, and then we're gonna worship and respond with surrender to say, God, I'm available to you. I wonder if you would say that aloud with me, God, use me, say it with me, God, use me. God, use our lives, use our lives, use our church. Let's pray together. Father, we pray today that you would use us for your purposes here on planet Earth. Use us for your glory. God, I thank you today for what you've done on our behalf, that you invite us into something greater than the here and now, than our circumstances. Today, you call us forth into more, and God, make us a people that respond. God, thank you that you love us enough not just to settle in this life, but to live for more. So bless us as we say yes to you in this moment. God, we love you. We want our whole lives to be for your glory.

We want it all to be for you, and it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen. Let's stand together, let's worship, let's declare our lives for his glory. Let's honor and sing to him. My whole life for your glory, Jesus. ♪ For your glory, oh Lord ♪ ♪ For you own everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And with my days tell the story of it being ♪ ♪ Love you only everything for the honor of your name ♪ Come on, let's sing that out together. Come on, sing my whole life. ♪ My whole life for your glory, oh Lord ♪ Come on, we say use me, God. Use me, God. Come on, can we just lift our hands to heaven and sing it, Mahalo, Mahalo, Mahalo, Mahalo. Come on, it's my day. Come on, let's sing it again. Come on, Mahalo, Mahalo, Mahalo, Mahalo. Come on, sing it out, sing it out. For you are everything for the honor of your name. And in my day, tell the story. For you are everything for the honor of your name. Come on, last time. In my whole world. Come on, can we show the room? In my whole world. Come on, sing it out, sing it out. Let's set the tone for the next few weeks.

Come on, use us, God, and it's my day. And it's my day. Tell the story, let it be. Holy one, yeah. Yeah. For the honor of your name. Thank you, God. Well, thank you for joining us for service today. And we want to remind you, before you go, if you decided to say yes and you wanted to pray that prayer that said, use me, God, use my life to make a difference here on this earth and in the people around me, then we want to invite you to don't forget to let us know, fill out a prayer card through our digital program so that we as a church family can come alongside you and be praying with you as you say yes to being used by God. We are so grateful that you joined us this weekend and what a great way to start our new series, Live Sent. It was so awesome to get to hear from Pastor Andy again. We're so glad that you're with us, and we'll see you again next weekend.