*DAILY DEW 2/DECEMBER/2022* *The Church’s Mission to Make Culture* _Key Bible Text:_ *"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."* (Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV)) _Bible Insight:_ The late founder of one of my alma maters was fond of saying, “If it’s Christian, it ought to be better.” This wasn’t an arrogant claim that Christians possess superior talents or abilities. It was just his way of saying that faith in Jesus should make a positive difference in how we live. After all, the gospel is not a message that rescues sinners from the world yet fails to change the world sinners live in (Acts 17:6). No, Jesus does indeed bring positive change, both personally and culturally. The earliest Christians understood this well. _Learning from the Early Church_ Though they were a persecuted minority for much of the first three centuries, the early church did not abandon the call to engage the culture. Indeed, they viewed themselves as subjects of a king whose kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36 CSB) while being very much in the world (Luke 17:21). This makes every church an outpost of an otherworldly kingdom that will one day replace all the kingdoms on the earth (Rev. 11:15). In view of these truths, early Christians knew they could not withdraw from the world around them. Yet neither could they imitate the world’s way of life. There were elements of their societies that needed to be countered while other things were waiting to be created by people who had an entirely different vision for life. In other words, early Christians were neither culturally derivative nor exclusively defensive. Instead, they were culturally creative. They built hospitals because of their belief in the dignity of humanity. They cared for the poor because of their desire to imitate Christ. And they revered God in their private and public lives, often enduring ridicule and persecution because of it. _MEDITATION:_ *“The gospel is not a message that rescues sinners from the world yet fails to change the world sinners live in.”* *#Dayton_Hartman* *#Daily_Wisdom_for_living* *#Becoming_More_Like_Jesus* *#The_Rise_of_An_Army* *#Daily_Dew_Devotional* *#Guest_Message* *#Hello_DECEMBER* ❤ Links To Visit: *Register4HTP2022:* https://bit.ly/HTP2022_ACTIVATED *FB Pages* https://www.facebook.com/DavidJoshuaEgbochuo/ https://www.facebook.com/thedavidgen/ https://www.facebook.com/THEREVIVALCORPS/ *Telegram Group:* https://t.me/joinchat/NzXQlVc9Hx7LfaRSnh9fHg Feel Free to Share with Friends. God bless you.