Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART II: T HEOLOGICAL AND M ISSIOLOGICAL P RINCIPLES AND I NSIGHTS • 161

4. Christ’s victorious reclamation of all things in the name of God, cf. Eph. 1.10-11 with Col.2.15; 1 John 3.8; 1 Cor. 15.57

D. Making disciples among all nations and displaying the Kingdom’s glory is fulfilling our role in the script of Almighty God!, Matt. 28.18-20.

1. To declare salvation to the nations, Ps. 96.3

2. To prophesy deliverance to the captives, Luke 4.18-19; cf. Isa. 61.1ff.

3. To be salt and light in the midst of corruption and darkness, Matt. 5.13-16

4. To be a dwelling place of God in the Spirit, with Christ as the cornerstone, Eph. 2.19-22

E. The Church is an eschatological community, being both the locus and agent of the Kingdom of God.

1. As locus , the Church is itself living proof, a concrete cosmic visual aid as to the splendor of God’s grace, and as the very body of Jesus in the world: Churches are concrete evidence of the Heavenly Realm.

a. We recite the story in our worship and praise.

b. We remember the story in our remembrance through the Church Year.

c. We reenact the story in our disciplines, festivals, and sacraments.

d. We embody the story in our relationships as the new Israel of God.

2. As agent , the Church is the community of faithful witness, called to show and tell in concrete form what the Kingdom is and does in this in-between time: Churches are outposts of the Kingdom of God.

a. We unashamedly declare his glory among the nations in sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God.