Ministry in a Multi-Cultural and Unchurched Society

Session 5 The Church and the World Drafting a Biblical Ecclesiology in a Multi-Cultural and Unchurched Society

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 narra tive, 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 narra tive. 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.

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I. The People of God Foreshadowed: The Church as Center of the Drama of Human History and the Story of God

The Church of Jesus Christ lies at the very center of God’s intention to draw out of the earth a new humanity from every kindred, clan, people, tongue, and nation that will belong to him forever, in a new heaven and new earth, restored to his reign.

A. The foreshadowing of God’s people: the Abrahamic Covenant, Gen. 12.1-3

B. Gentile inclusion within God’s redeemed humanity, Isa. 9.1-2

C. Definitions of the Church

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