A community of Shalom

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A community of Shalom
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In a post-modern world and its cultural context
Christians, in order to engage in effective
mission and the making of shalom will need
(amongst other things)
A clear and compelling IDEOLOGY
A strong sense of IDENTITY
INTIMACY (koinonia)with brothers and sisters in
the context of Christian community
To make an IMPACT i.e. showing evidence that
God is involved in life changing activity-
spiritually, personally, socially, economically
etc
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CONTRASTING VALUES Older/traditional Contemporar
y 1.Life is hard Life can be easy 2.Youre
going to die You can stay young and keep
looking/feeling young for ever 3.Youre not
that important You are the most important
4.Youre not in
control Above all else you must stay in
control 5.Life is not just about you Life is
mostly about you and your fulfilment
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• GHANDI LISTED SEVEN DEADLY SINS
• Politics without principle
• Wealth without work
• Commerce without morality
• Pleasure without conscience
• Education without character
• Science without humanity
• Worship without sacrifice

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WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

• The church gets into trouble whenever it thinks
  it is in the church business rather than the
  kingdom business. Church people think about how
  to get people into the church kingdom people
  think about how to get the church into the
  worldThe church needs liberating from it has
  become in order to be that which God intends.
• 
  Howard Snyder Liberating the Church

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To be an active agent of the kingdom is our
highest calling. The kingdom generates new forces
of righteousness, justice and peace through the
means of servanthood and self giving love.we
begin to test things by a biblical judgement and
the church is slowly led from conformity to
community and change..The kingdom is within us
and among us it is our standard, our calling,
our hope and our salvation. It is deeper,
stronger, more profound and lasting than all our
programmes, strategies, projects and causes. Jim
Wallis Sojourners Washington DC
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The experience of community is in itself
extremely evangelistic. In a world starved of
relationships it seems that even the most basic
functions of community are powerfully attractive.
In those special times when the congregation is
able to achieve honesty among its members and
before God, there is a qualitative experience of
koinonia which seems to pervade most defence
mechanisms. It is not the kingdom of God but in
those precious moments the community becomes a
sign of the kingdom.
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First the new community should constitute a
challenge to the old. Its values,and ideals, its
morals and relationships, its sacrificial
lifestyle, its love, joy, peace these are the
signs of the kingdom, and present the world with
a radically different alternative society.
Secondly as the world lives alongside the kingdom
community, some of the values of the kingdom will
spill over into society as a whole. The salt,
light and yeast metaphors which Jesus employed
are more dynamic, since each implies the
penetration of the old community by the
new. John Stott Making Christ Known
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Shalom is an enduring vision.among the eloquent
spokesmen for this vision is Jeremiah writing to
the exiles urging the validity of the vision
even among displaced persons I will fulfil to
you my promise and bring you back to this place.
For I know the plans I have for you, plans for
shalom and not for evil, top give you a future
and a hope..you will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all of your heart. I will be
found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore
your fortunes. Walter Bruggemman
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SHALOM
from a Hebrew verb meaning to bring to
completeness to make whole. It suggests
health, wholeness and well-being in these areas
INDIVIDUALLY soundness of body, mind and
spirit, health of body and soul, being a
together person
BETWEEN PERSONS relationships of trust, love,
mutuality, openness and respect, a caring concern
for the other person
IN GROUPS AND SOCIETY being satisfied with
enough so that all may have enough, a commitment
to social justice- no one group standing on the
neck of the other
IN THE NATURAL WORLD living in interdependence,
having mutual responsibility, no exploitation of
the created order no pollution
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SHALOM-
is Gods gift
is Gods vision which passes all understanding
is the total well-being God will for His whole
created order
is the fulfilment of His purposes
is the content of Gods reign
..and all through Jesus Christ the Prince
of Shalom Isaiah 96
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SHALOM is Gods ultimate will that things will be
as they ought to be and working together as God
intends THEREFORE WHEN the RULE of God is
recognised the WAYS of God are learnt and
Gods way of lifestyle is PRACTICED ...then
SHALOM results Isaiah 22-4
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• WHAT and WHO are the enemies and blocks to shalom
  for
• young people you are currently working with
• young people generally in your local community
• young people in the wider context nationally
  and globally
• What evidence will you cite?
• What implications arise for the church Gods
  shalom community?

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GODS SHALOM COMMUNITY THE CHURCH HAS THREE
PRIMARY TASKS
MAKING REAL GODS REIGN IN IN THE WORLD
TO ENGAGE IN MISSION ON GODS BEHALF
TO BE A WORSHIPPING COMMUNITY
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As a community of Gods shalom community, brought
together in and through Christ, we make real
Gods reign in the world when we live as His
NATION therefore are we primarily Christian or
British? ALIENS, PILGRIMS and STRANGERS in a
world that is hostile and opposed to Gods rule
and reign in Christ As a DISTINCTIVE people who
do not conform either to the norms of the world
and its culture or to anything that denies or
defies the Lordship of Christ
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Challenging people to repentance, faith and
discipleship
Sharing in Christs mission and the making of
shalom will involve Gods people in
Witnessing to Jesus love friendship
Penetrating the world in every aspect of its life
Making known the good news of shalom
Declaring Gods forgiveness
Counselling and supporting
Loving those who will not, cannot love us
SHALOM
Demonstrating and making real Gods kingdom
Healing in body, mind and spirit
Befriending, serving, feeding and sheltering
others
Building Christian community
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• SOME TENSIONS IN WORKING FOR SHALOM
• Genuine brotherhood/sisterhood not easy to
  achieve
• Gods vision V human and sinful nature
• Shalom community is Gods vision may not be
  what others consider to be the ideal
• How can the shalom community represent God to the
  world if it is over zealous on not conforming
  to the world? Tension between being in the
  world but not of the world
• Can Gods people ever be a community that is
  wholly and entirely Christian?

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REMEMBER
New methods, new strategies or structures will
neither fulfil Gods purposes or meet the needs
of people unless there is a continuing and
radical renewal of trust in Christ as Lord within
the community of Gods people
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The poor in the O.T. (Hebrew) each of the
words translated as poor has a spectrum of
meanings. Poor is an inadequate translation!
The poor are described as those who are
Oppressed, downtrodden and humiliated
Powerless and diminished
Yearning and insistent
Defenceless and open to exploitation
Needy and in want
Subjected and dependent
Diminished and impoverished
Destitute and bereft
Dispossessed and evicted
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THE POOR IN THE NT GREEK are described
as
The manual worker struggling to survive The
one reduced to meekness The one brought
low The beggar The weak The leper The
heavy laden The widow The fatherless The
destitute The common people
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TRUST YOUR QUESTIONS !
Why is life so different in white communities
than in others?
Why, in this nation, are there so many who are
described as poor, deprived, exploited and
unfulfilled?
Why is there such a gap between the haves and
the have nots in this nation and globally?
Why are a disproportionate number of black young
men in prison than those who are white?
Why are there so few genuine links between white
churches/denominations and their black
counterparts?
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The God who has revealed himself in Jesus makes
it very clear in His word (to those who welcome
His revelation), that our response to poverty is
a crucial test of the reality of our faith. It is
impossible to really know Jesus and be
indifferent to the plight of the poor.
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• As a Christian, professional youth and community
  worker you are
• A disciple of the most radical of Lords
• Called to be a servant, a witness and a herald
• A member of a called out and distinctive
  community
• A member of a profession with a code of conduct
• working in either church or secular contexts
• A member of a number of different communities

THEREFORE what challenges and tensions can be
anticipated as you seek to make shalom among
young people and communities