Kevin DeYoung: ‘Rethinking the Mission of the Church”

The link below is for the audio version of a message Kevin DeYoung gave at the recent Pastor’s Conference for Sovereign Grace Ministries.  In his talk, Pastor DeYoung provides a biblically balanced look at the Church’s primary role and how the “Great Commission” shapes that role and provides her direction.  He also shares concerns with language such as “social justice” and “missional”.  Likewise, he mentions Tim Keller’s book, Generous Justice, which I discussed earlier this week.  Please consider listening to this message.  He gives a thorough analysis.

Rethinking the Mission of the Church

His conclusion:

So what is the mission of the church?

The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship and obey Jesus Christ now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father.

In other words, the mission of the church is not equal to everything God is doing in the world, nor is it everything we do in obedience to Christ. The mission of the church is the Great Commission. As Andreas Köstenberger says, “The church ought to be focused in the understanding of its mission. Its activities should be constrained by what helps others to come to believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, is Jesus.”*

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Christian saved by grace through faith.

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