TEXT
Isaiah 2:2-4
Isaiah 11:4-5
Joel 2:28-30
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Mark 1:14-15
“The reign of God is not a safe and comfortable place, a haven or retreat from the problems of the world. Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ have been incorporated into his body. As such they participate in his mission: to challenge the forces of the present age by witnessing to the inbreaking of God’s new creation. The church is not only to be a holy people at worship, not only a community of mutual love and service, but also a messianic instrument of God’s reign. God’s salvation does not fall magically from the clouds, but reaches to the end of the earth through the life and ministry of the church. As the body of Christ in the world the church is God’s primary agent of healing, forgiveness, and transformation. It is by being a faithful sign and foretaste, that the church is an instrument of God’s reign. The question which has to be put to every local congregation is the question whether it is a credible sign of God’s reign of justice and mercy over the whole of life, whether it is an open fellowship whose concerns are as wide as the concerns of humanity, whether it cares for its neighbors in a way which reflects and springs out of God’s care for them, whether its common life is recognizable as a foretaste of the blessing which God intends for the whole human family.” - Lesslie Newbigin, Sign of the Kingdom