Brussels Statement Commentary. A long history of reaching, planting, training, and touching people....
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Transcript of Brussels Statement Commentary. A long history of reaching, planting, training, and touching people....
Brussels Statement Commentary
A long history of reaching, planting, training, and touching people.
Touching is what we do.
Our actions in compassionate ministries should be clearly enunciated as part of an intentional theology and strategy.
Kingdom of God is key term to formulate biblical principles of church missions that seeks to obey all Christ's commands
Signs of the Kingdom are seen clearly in Jesus’ ministry
Jesus’ exemplary ministry and sacrifice on the cross is a summons to service for all His followers.
Though the Kingdom of God plants signposts of the future in the present:
There remains an eschatological fulfillment when the messianic salvation will be perfectly accomplished in the age to come.
To enter the Kingdom requires a radical transformation in one’s life through repentance and faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
The blessings of life in the Kingdom come by God’s gift of grace alone.
The Pentecostal narrative in Acts connects the Kingdom of God and mission of Jesus.
The empowerment of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 and the eschatological hope in the return of Jesus energized the early church.
The Spirit empowered disciples to do all that Jesus began to do and teach.
Acts demonstrates the rule of God pushes followers to:
Continue miracles, signs, wonders
To continue compassionate responses to human need
To break down humanly constructed social barriers
Continue to proclaim the Gospel to all nations
To enter the Kingdom is to come under God’s rule and be incorporated into the new order of life where love is normative.
Moral imperatives such as love, mercy, peace, justice, respect of person are not prescriptions of law, but what life looks like under God’s rule.
The local church is called to be God’s visible and corporate entity bearing witness to his Kingdom in mission and reconciliation between people.
The ministry of the church is to all people because all people have been made in the image of God.
Jesus’ earthly ministry demonstrated a deep concern for every aspect of human existence.
To follow Jesus’ example, the church must do the same.
The church models Jesus’ lead:
Ministry to children provides dignity
To the marginalized, it provides self-worth and justice
To the sick, it provides healing
The hope of the return of the Lord makes demands on our life and service in the present.
We long for Jesus’ return, but we are not passive.
The promise of Christ’s return compels us to continue to proclaim the good news, engage powers of darkness and show compassion of Jesus to suffering people.
This is the gospel preached and demonstrated to all nations until the end.