NT Wright has it powerfully nailed.This is very new to me, but profoundly important. He said: What the New Testament really says is God wants you to be a renewed human being helping him to renew his creation, and his resurrection was the opening bell. And when he returns to fulfil the plan, you won’t be going up there to him, he’ll be coming down here.

I think there is so much truth in that God wants us to be renewed first and then renew the world we live in. We are not going to leave this world and join God in heaven and leave the world to rot on its own. But rather we are here in this world for a purpose, to renew this world we live in!! To renew the city we live in.

Hence the revised Vision/Mission statement for Hope NY Church:

To be a renewed person joining God to renew his creation, the world and to proclaim the gospel to the city with words, power, and the Holy Spirit & deep conviction . Also to build a community towards fullness in Christ in New York, and through it, to the world.

Fullness in Christ: Means our being (character) and our serving/obeying (purpose).