Bruce Reyes-Chow posted something that reminded me again of the mission of the church.
This paragraph in the PCUSA Book of Order sums it up brilliantly I think:
G-3.0400: "The Church is called to undertake this* mission even at the risk of losing its life, trusting in God alone as the author and giver of life, sharing the gospel, and doing those deeds in the world that point beyond themselves to the new reality in Christ."
I hope we can all keep our focus here in order to withstand the pressures of discord that will shake our foundations a bit looser. We all must remind ourselves taht these foundations that will shake loose are those we have constructed. If what we have constructed gets shaken loose, may we, by the grace of God, build something better to mediate the Kingdom.
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* c. The Church is the body of Christ, both in its corporate life and in the lives of its individual members, and is called to give shape and substance to this truth.
a. The Church is called to tell the good news of salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord, proclaiming in Word and Sacrament that
(1) the new age has dawned.
(2) God who creates life, frees those in bondage, forgives sin, reconciles brokenness, makes all things new, is still at work in the world.b. The Church is called to present the claims of Jesus Christ, leading persons to repentance, acceptance of him as Savior and Lord, and new life as his disciples.
c. The Church is called to be Christ’s faithful evangelist(1) going into the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all he has commanded;
(2) demonstrating by the love of its members for one another and by the quality of its common life the new reality in Christ; sharing in worship, fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened life of prayer and service under the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
(3) participating in God’s activity in the world through its life for others by(a) healing and reconciling and binding up wounds,
(b) ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the powerless,
(c) engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger, and injustice,
(d) giving itself and its substance to the service of those who suffer,
(e) sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world.
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