Picturing Theology, Revised Edition

Picturing Theology, Revised Edition | 239

F. The Church lives in God’s presence through prayer. 1. Prayer as access to the Holy of Holies (Revelation 5:8). 2. Prayer as communion with God (Psalm 5:3; Romans 8:26-27). 3. Prayer as intercession. a. For the world (1 Timothy 2:1-2). b. For the saints (Ephesians 6:18-20, 1 Thessalonians 5:25). 4. Prayer as thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 1:3). 5. Prayer as the warfare of the Kingdom. a. Binding and loosing (Matthew 16:19). b. Engaging the principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12,18).

The Church Is a Holy Community Where Discipline Is Rightly Ordered

VII. A community of reconciliation A. The Church is a community that is reconciled to God: all

reconciliation is ultimately dependent on God’s reconciling actions toward humanity. 1. God’s desire to reconcile is evidenced by sending his prophets and in the last days by his Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). 2. The incarnation, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus are the ultimate acts of reconciliation from God toward humanity (Romans 5:8). 3. The Gospel is now a message of reconciliation, made possible by Christ’s death, that God offers to humanity (2 Corinthians 5:16-20). B. The Church is a community of individuals and peoples that are reconciled to each other by their common identity as one body. 1. By his death Christ united his people who are born of the same seed (1 John 3:9), reconciled as fellow citizens and members of a new humanity (Ephesians 2:11-22). 2. The Church community treats all members of God’s household with love and justice in spite of differences in race, class,