Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

192 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

2. In the body of believers, we obey the Great Commandment : Love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves, Matt. 22.37-40 – And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 3. In the community of disciples, we fulfill the Great Commission : Go and make disciples among all nations, Matt. 28.18-20 – And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 2 Cor. 5.20 – Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 1. To the Church alone is given the responsibility to do justice and love mercy in the name of Christ, Mic. 6.8; cf. 1 Pet. 2.9-10. 2. To the Church alone is given the task to evangelize the lost among all people groups, especially among the poor, Luke 4.18 – The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. 3. To the Church alone is given the role to catechize and disciple new converts, incorporating them into the family, the body, and the temple, 2 Pet. 3.15-18 – And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You C. The Church stands out in urban mission as the agent and ambassador of Christ and his Kingdom .