Secondly, last Friday Peter Kell (CEO ANGLICARE Sydney) delivered the annual Richard Johnson Lecture at the University of Wollongong. It is well worth reading for what Kell says about 'social exclusion' and urban planning in Sydney. See also this.
Kell also sets out a rational for caring:
"For Christians, deeply aware of the nature of saving grace in their lives and the need to honestly question any personal motivation beyond a simple response to grace, the question of why we care is just as important as the question of how we care. And this is especially true also for an organisation like ANGLICARE, a Sydney AnglicanKell goes onto quote Don Carson's sermon on 1 Cor. 15 at the 2007 Gospel Coalition Pastors’ Colloquium. According to Carson, the gospel is primary because it is:
diocesan organisation charged with delivering care beyond the scope of individual Christians and the local church but, wherever possible, in partnership with them. ANGLICARE Sydney has always been committed to the reality that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. So it must first be said unequivocally, that for ANGLICARE the gospel is primary."
- Christological: that is, that the gospel centres on the person and work (the life, death and resurrection) of Jesus Christ.
- Theological: The gospel tells us that sin is first and foremost an offence against God and that salvation is first to last the action of God, not our own.
- Biblical: The gospel is essentially the message of the whole Bible.
- Apostolic: The gospel is passed on to us by Jesus’ disciples as authoritative eyewitnesses.
- Historical: The gospel is not philosophy or advice on how to find God, but rather the news of what God has done in history to find and save us.
- Personal: The gospel must be personally believed and appropriated.
- Universal: The gospel is for every tongue, tribe, people and individual.
- Eschatological: The gospel includes the good news of the final transformation, not just the blessings we enjoy in this age.
2 comments:
Yes.
It is also political (as you've touched on) because being called from every nation to obedience to Christ Jesus, we are called out to form a new community. An alternative community such as the Christian Church is inherently political.
Yes! A new humanity has no choice to political.
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