Ministry in a Multi-Cultural and Unchurched Society

Ses s i on 5: The Chur ch and the Wor l d

91

3. The Holy Spirit as living Lord in the body of Christ

a. Provides gifts and endowments, 1 Cor. 12.3-11

b. Appoints leaders and elders, Acts 13.1-3, cf. 20.28

c. Prays with groanings too deep for utterance, Rom. 8.26

C. The Church is the concrete locus of authentic kingdom shalom.

1. The experience of God in a god-forsaken world

Eph. 2.19-22 (ESV) – So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

2. The taste of wholeness in a broken world

1 Cor. 6.9-11 (ESV) – Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

3. The reality of justice in an unjust world