Bridgebuilders: The Great Exchange // Rev. Matt Kennedy // June 7 2026

In a world with increasing global conflicts that seem harder and harder to resolve, it can feel like diplomacy is a lost art. Across the history of civilization, tribes, nations, and empires have called upon individuals to cross boundaries with wisdom and skill to negotiate peace and friendly relations. When describing the work of an apostle, Paul uses this image of a diplomat, telling the Corinthians, "We are Christ's ambassadors." We may not be tasked to negotiate international treaties, but our calling is to announce reconciliation between God and a world that has turned from Him (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).In the second week of this sermon series on the public witness of the church, we turn our minds to the primary message of the gospel: that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus have brought about the forgiveness of our sins and the undoing of our deaths. This is the greatest act of reconciliation in the universe, and when we take this awesome mystery to heart, Christ's love compels us to plead to others, "Be reconciled to God!" (5:20). We often call this evangelism—a word that has sometimes been misused, but should not be abandoned. It is the work of the highest kind of peacemaking: pointing to the God who reconciles the world with His blood, not ours (5:15).