Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

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

The Theology of the Church for Team Leaders Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis • The Timothy Conference: Building Church Plant Teams . Wichita, The Urban Ministry Institute, 2005.

Christians discover in the Bible the “interpretive framework” by means of which our lives come together – make sense – as a unified whole. This interpretive framework is linked with the biblical narrative, the story of God at work in the world bringing creation to a glorious future goal. The Spirit addresses us through this narrative. Through it, he invites us to see our lives in the light of God’s work. He summons us to link our personal stories with God’s story and the story of God’s people. Through the “old, old, story,” the Holy Spirit calls us into God’s new community. And the Spirit leads us to view our personal lives from the perspective of this ancient Gospel narrative. As we look at all of life from this vantage point, our lives begin to make sense. And we begin to see a unity within the variegated experiences that form the ingredients of our existence.

~ Stanley J. Grenz. Created for Community . Grand Rapids:Baker Books, 1998. p. 170.

I. The Church Is the Locus (the Place) Where the Kingdom Power and Authority of God are Experienced and Displayed.

The Church of Jesus Christ is God’s anointed arena where his presence and power reside, and in the midst of this redeemed and redemptive society, the rule of the Kingdom of God is being experienced by his people.

A. The Church is the locus of God’s revelation and salvation.

1. The Church is the custodian of the Gospel and the Word of God.

1 Tim. 3.15-16 (NKJV) – but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.