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Knowing, being and doing God’s story.A Biblical Mandate for Mission

Karen Shakespeare

June 2013

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‘Evangelism without social action is flight from the world…. social action without evangelism is flight from the personal depth of the gospel.’

Phil Needham 1987 Community in mission:62

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The foundation of our mission is the mission of God that unfolds in the Bible….

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Knowing – our understanding of faith, obedience and hope

Being - who we are in relation to God and other people

Doing - the way we live

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‘Mission, from the point of view of our human endeavour, means the committed participation of God’s people in the purposes of God for the redemption of creation’ Chris Wright 2006 The Mission of God :67

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God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:19

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The Salvation Army’s mission is the mission of a Trinitarian God, whose own love seeks to include others. Ray Harris 2003 The Salvation Army: Its name and

mission :11

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‘God is at work in the story of redemption, drawing peoples from all nations to himself and re-establishing his reign’

Craig Ott and Stephen Strauss 2010 Encountering Theology of Mission :5

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Knowing the story

‘…watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.’ Deuteronomy 4:9

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God is revealed as the God who makes himself known, a God who longs to be in relationship with humanity, a God who constantly works for their redemption.

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Exodus: a decisive act of grace which is

• political

• economic

• social

• spiritual.

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The kinsman redeemer protects, defends, avenges and rescues his family, at cost to himself.

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When Francis accepts an orphan child into his home, is he simply being caring and compassionate, or is he modeling the mission of God in the world? Although he is unable to challenge and change the structures of society, he is choosing to intervene where he can, and offer restoration.

What are the implications of the Exodus narrative for us, as individuals, and as an Army?

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Being the people of God

I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.

Leviticus 11:44a

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• A status…

‘… I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’ Exodus 31:13

• A task…

‘You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees, I am the Lord your God.’ Leviticus 18:3-4

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Doing – living as the people of God

‘Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight…’ Deuteronomy 6:18

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Observe them carefully for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.Deuteronomy 4:6

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‘Unless there is something about church, or Christians, or Christian faith that intrigues, provokes or entices, then all the evangelism in the world will fall on deaf ears. (Graham Tomlin)

It was evident as we walked down the road with Francis that he is known and respected as a Salvationist, as a Christian. His way of being in his world is distinctive.

What does this mean in your context? Is your corps intriguing, provoking or enticing?

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Each time, God is faithful, and in ‘acts of grace beyond belief and certainly beyond deserving’ recalls the people to himself.

C. Wright 2006 The Mission of God :350

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Knowing the Redeemer

‘… I know whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day’ 2 Timothy 1:12

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‘The cross was the unavoidable cost of God’s mission’.

C. Wright 2006 The Mission of God :312

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His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

Ephesians 2:15-16

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For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.Colossians 1:19-20

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Knowing is no longer located in the story of the nation, but in a relationship with a person.

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Being the new people of God

‘we…are being transformed into his image…’ 2 Corinthians 3:18

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Doing - go and tell…

‘…as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ John 20:21b

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‘People who are called to be agents of God’s healing love, putting the world to rights, are themselves to be people whose own lives are put to rights by the same healing love’. Tom Wright 2006 Simply Christian :174

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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

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If you were to ask Francis about his involvement in mission, he would probably list the things that he does. In his context these strategies are effective……

What explicit missional practices are relevant in your situation?

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When we understand this story, when we make it our own story, then we understand better who God is, and who we are in relationship with him. We are shown who we should be, and what we should do in order to live for his glory. God’s mission is our mission.

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How can The Salvation Army ‘faithfully improvise’ the mission of God in the 21st century?

What does it mean for us to live as witnesses to, and signs of, God’s transforming grace for a broken and divided world?

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‘Salvationists engage in mission because they have been loved with a great love and gifted with a profound grace. The Salvation Army is called to embody God’s immense salvation in a wounded world’. Ray Harris 2003 The Salvation Army: Its name and mission :11