v. The Missional Vocation of the Church (continued)

v. The Missional Vocation of the Church

The Scriptures teach that in Jesus Christ, God is taking his sin-marred creation and redemptively restoring it in every part, until at last all things are made new. This is the missio Dei, the redemptive mission of God to the world. But how does God extend these redemptive purposes? How does He accomplish this mission? The answer to this question—both mysterious and ennobling—is that God intends to accomplish this mission by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Christian church (Matt. 5). The church, that one, holy, catholic, and apostolic community—that is both global in its reach and local in its expression—is the intended instrument for the mission of God.

iv. The Complex Meaning of Union with Christ

Of the many glories of Christian confession the greatest, surely, is this: That in Jesus Christ, God makes His life with us.  It is this confession that throughout the centuries has confounded the wise, cast down the proud, ennobled the suffering, enveloped the lonely, and liberated the tongues of a hundred thousand choirs.

The Expansive Scope of the Gospel... continued from Part 5a

What then is the Scriptural vision of the gospel? That in Jesus Christ, God is taking his creation—which has, because of sin, fallen into ruin—and redemptively restoring it in every part, until the time of consummation, in which all things will at last be made new. It is this Christ-centered, comprehensive, and restorational gospel that should animate the life and witness of the Christian church. 

iii. The Expansive Scope of the Gospel

ii. The Pervasive Nature of Sin

2. Recovering Theological Foundations

Renewing the Church In our Time:

A Framework for Change

The Church In Our Time: Calling, Challenge, and Opportunity

The Christian church is a community defined by the joyful confession that in Jesus Christ God has graciously acted to bring salvation to sinners and to our sin-marred world. We believe that our God, because He is love, has moved toward us: sending His Son to demonstrate His love and His Spirit to extend His love unto the renewing of all things (Jn. 3). This is the animating hope and joyful confession of our community.