Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition - Mentor's Guide

M E N T O R N O T E S / 1 8 9

Doing Justice and Loving Mercy Let Justice Roll Down – The Vision and Theology of the Kingdom

L E S S O N 4

Welcome to the Mentor’s Guide for Lesson 4, Doing Justice and Loving Mercy: Let Justice Roll Down – The Vision and Theology of the Kingdom . The overall focus of this lesson is to provide you with missional, theological, and strategic foundation to this important ministry in the life of the urban Christian leader. We are exposed to the issues of communities which have been historically subject to a litany of chronic social problems, spiritual oppressions, economic exploitation, and moral compromise. To be an urban Christian leader is synonymous with being a messenger of the justice, mercy, and peace of Jesus Christ, and the church in which he or she serves is the literal outpost and embassy of the Kingdom of God, a rule known by its justice and mercy. In order to benefit from this lesson, you must embrace this vision as your own, that is, you must see that a critical element in your understanding and application of this material is your ability to visualize yourself as a leader for justice and peace, and the church where you worship and serve Christ as a center for that same justice and mercy. Without your own acceptance of this passion in your own life as mentor, you will be severely limited in your ability to help your students embrace this as their own vision. As you discuss the various concepts, questions, and issues that arise from the material in this lesson, it will be important for you to stay cognizant of how central this theme of demonstrating justice and loving mercy truly is. In many ways this entire lesson is an attempt to understand and to flesh out the simple yet powerful admonition of Micah 6.6-8, an analysis and injunction which summarizes what God would have his person and people to become and to do. Mic. 6.6-8 – With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? [7] Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? [8] He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? This text is a summary judgment about the kind of service and worship that the Lord desires and demands. On the one hand, God is

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U r b a n M i s s i o n

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