Page 23 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

Introduction to Church History

The nature of the church is both Pentecostal and missional. During this
study we should ask three basic questions: (1) Has the church fulfilled its
mission? (2) If not, why? (3) If yes, how? The answers to these questions
must be used to plan individual responses and church strategy.

The late John York, a distinguished Assemblies of God missionary
educator, offers an excellent rationale for understanding the missional
nature of the church. In a paper presented to the leaders of the Assemblies
of God Division of World Missions on July 7, 2000, Dr. York listed the
following conclusions based on the biblical theology of missions:

1. There is no other church than the church that serves the
Creator of all.

2. There are no other people in the church than those made in the
image of the Creator. All people are created capable of responding
to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and thus being saved. All people
are created so that, having been redeemed, they may represent
the Creator in accomplishing His will within the earth.

3. There is no other mission for the church than its mission
in relationship to the universal Kingdom of the triune God,
announced throughout the Old and New Testaments, given by
Christ to the apostles in both broad and specific form, further
demonstrated and articulated in Acts and the epistles and seen
as having been concluded in Revelation.

4. There is no other Holy Spirit into whom believers are baptized
than the missionary Holy Spirit as anticipated within the Old
Testament and Gospels and portrayed in Acts and the rest of the
New Testament.

5. There is no other consummation of church history than the
consummation seen in Revelation when all believers from all
nations are seen as having served as “a kingdom and priest”
(Revelation 5:9–10; Exodus 19:5, 6; Romans 15:16; 1 Peter 2:5, 9).

6. There is no other expectation from the historical record of the New
Testament other than the full incorporation of each new Gentile

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