Mission to the Community

Sermon Title: Mission to the Community
Scripture Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

1. Key Scriptures

• 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

• Romans 6:4; 7:4; 8:19-22

• Galatians 6:15–16

• Ephesians 2:13-17

• John 20:21

• 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11

• 1 Thessalonians 5:10

2. Sermon Flow & Takeaways

I. New Creation Identity Fuels Mission (v. 17)
Union with Christ makes us entirely new, not improved but recreated. This new vision reshapes how we see neighbours, family, and ourselves.

• See people not as categories (customer, opponent, ally) but as image-bearers who need reconciliation.

• Let family religion embody new creation... parents modelling repentance, children learning forgiveness.

II. Reconciliation: God’s Initiative, Our Ministry (vv. 18–19)
Reconciliation begins and ends with God. He not only forgives but entrusts us with the ministry of reconciliation.

• God is the first mover, our sin ledger is stamped “Paid in Full.”

• Practice reconciliation at home and in church; our credibility in mission depends on it.

III. Ambassadors for Christ: God’s Appeal through Us (v. 20)
Reconciled people become reconcilers. God makes his appeal through ordinary saints, sending us as his representatives.

• Weakness, not cultural power, authenticates our ambassadorship.

• Every tract, conversation, and act of hospitality is God speaking through us.

IV. The Heart of the Message: The Great Exchange (v. 21)
Christ bore our sin and gave us his righteousness. This is the core announcement we carry to the world.

• Evangelism is not advice or therapy but the proclamation of substitution.

• Our identity and courage flow from being clothed in Christ’s righteousness, not our performance.

Bringing It Together
God makes us new, reconciles us, commissions us, and clothes us with righteousness. Our hesitation in mission comes from unbelief in his sufficiency, but Christ answers that fear with his finished work and abiding presence.

• Pray for neighbours, open your home, and share one gospel story weekly.

• Live as a colony of the new creation in Burlington, pleading with all: “Be reconciled to God.”

3. Primary Sources (cited)

• David E. Garland, 2 Corinthians (New American Commentary)

• Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible

• Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary

• Beasley-Murray (quoted in Garland on new creation)

• James Denney (on Paul’s view of the past as dead in Christ)

• C.E.B. Cranfield (on justification vs reconciliation)

• Roloff (on ministry as diakonia modeled on Christ’s service)

4. Additional Resources

• John Stott, The Cross of Christ (for a deeper dive on reconciliation and substitution)

• Tim Keller, “The Centrality of the Gospel” (article/sermon on how gospel identity fuels mission)

• Desiring God, “What Does It Mean to Be a New Creation?” (devotional on 2 Cor. 5:17)

• The Bible Project video: New Creation