Presbytery Core Value 5
The heart of our King also compels us to engage our communities in deeds of mercy and love, of justice and truth.
God's heart moves Him relentlessly to implement His holy agenda through His redeemed people, the Church. Isaiah tells us that when justice is driven back, when righteousness stands at a distance, when truth stumbles in the streets, when honesty cannot enter, when truth is nowhere to be found, when whoever shuns evil becomes a prey,... when the Lord sees this and there is no one among His people to intervene, He is displeased and appalled (see Isa. 59:14-16).
Jesus also made it clear in his ministry that the Kingdom was to be lived out as well as taught. He not only preached the gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation, but he demonstrated it in acts of healing, compassion for the hungry and poor, and passion for justice. This is Jesus’ agenda for his Church; we are to continue, in the power of the Spirit, what “Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). “Christ’s love compels us, and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).
Therefore, putting feet on our faith, we seek to bring the power of the Gospel—through word, deed, and community—to our neighborhoods and communities in social healing, racial reconciliation, justice, and cultural renewal, by God’s power. We are called to be salt and light in our culture through our work, Christian ministries, and all of our relationships. Ministries of word and deed need to complement each other, because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
God's heart moves Him relentlessly to implement His holy agenda through His redeemed people, the Church. Isaiah tells us that when justice is driven back, when righteousness stands at a distance, when truth stumbles in the streets, when honesty cannot enter, when truth is nowhere to be found, when whoever shuns evil becomes a prey,... when the Lord sees this and there is no one among His people to intervene, He is displeased and appalled (see Isa. 59:14-16).
Jesus also made it clear in his ministry that the Kingdom was to be lived out as well as taught. He not only preached the gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation, but he demonstrated it in acts of healing, compassion for the hungry and poor, and passion for justice. This is Jesus’ agenda for his Church; we are to continue, in the power of the Spirit, what “Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). “Christ’s love compels us, and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).
Therefore, putting feet on our faith, we seek to bring the power of the Gospel—through word, deed, and community—to our neighborhoods and communities in social healing, racial reconciliation, justice, and cultural renewal, by God’s power. We are called to be salt and light in our culture through our work, Christian ministries, and all of our relationships. Ministries of word and deed need to complement each other, because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
posted by M Clark at 2/27/2006 09:02:00 AM
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