Acting the Miracle – Incentives for Acting the Miracle: Fear, Rewards, and Multiplicity of Biblical Motivations

This chapter wants to correct a too-narrow focus on motivations for sanctification. DeYoung believes that preachers and counsellors are too limited in the tools available to encourage biblical holiness. He feels that commands, gratitude, and duties are unhelpful on their own. Believers are motivated in different ways. He illustrates from Colossians 3 that there is a wide array of motivations for holiness.

What Is the Mission of the Church – What in the World Does Jesus Send Us into the World to Do?

Chapter 2 wants to answer the question, “What is the church’s mission in the world?” The authors think it best to start with the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19. First, they examine a few other passages that are sometimes understood as offering a fuller mission identity for the church: Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 19:5–6, Luke 4:16–21.

What Is the Mission of the Church – A Common Word in Need of a Careful Definition

The following words of Stephen Neill are used to introduce chapter 1: “If everything is mission, nothing is mission.” The chapter wants to introduce the concerns of questions like, What is the mission of the church? Is the mission of the church the same as the mission of God? Should we distinguish between the mission of the church and the responsibilities of individual Christians? Is Jesus’ mission continued by the church?