god language and mission

wycliffe.org.uk

God: Communication and

Language

wycliffe.org.uk

WHAT IS THE

MOST

FUNDAMENTAL

THING WE CAN

SAY ABOUT

GOD?

wycliffe.org.uk

GOD IS TRINITY

wycliffe.org.uk

"Here the monks gathered every Sunday to hear

a sermon from the Abbot, except on Trinity

Sunday owning to the difficulty of the subject."

wycliffe.org.uk

The Biblical Conundrum

• There is One God

• The Father, the Son

and the Spirit are

God

• The Father is not

the Son or the

Spirit and the Son is

not the Spirit.

wycliffe.org.uk

THE TRIUNE

GOD IS

RELATIONAL

wycliffe.org.uk

We are made in God’s image

wycliffe.org.uk

The story

wycliffe.org.uk

MISSION!

God reaching out to draw people

into relationship with himself.

wycliffe.org.uk

wycliffe.org.uk

The Bible: A Missional Book• It serves God’s

missional purpose by revealing himself to people to draw them to him.

• It is a living history of his mission to humanity.

• The Bible and mission are two sides of the same coin.

wycliffe.org.uk

My prayer is not for them alone. I

pray also for those who will believe in

me through their message, that all of

them may be one, Father, just as you

are in me and I am in you. May they

also be in us so that the world may

believe that you have sent me.

John 17:20,21

wycliffe.org.uk

We are

called to

share in the

Trinitarian

relationship!

wycliffe.org.uk

As the

Father has

sent me, I

am sending

you.

John 20:21

wycliffe.org.uk

“Those who have come

to know the life of God

through the missionary

activity of the Son are

themselves given the

privilege for becoming

'co-missionaries' with

God.”

wycliffe.org.uk

VARIETY

Three in One and One in

Three.

Father, Son and Spirit

wycliffe.org.uk

The Christian

Church

delights in

Variety!

wycliffe.org.uk

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

wycliffe.org.uk

wycliffe.org.uk

• Mission

• Revelation

• Variety

wycliffe.org.uk

BIBLE TRANSLATION!

Mix them

together and

what do we

get?

wycliffe.org.uk

We do Bible

translation

because

God is the

God He is.

wycliffe.org.uk

wycliffe.org.uk

Christianity seems

unique in being the

only world religion

that is transmitted

without the language

or originating culture

of its founder.

Prof. Lamin Sanneh

wycliffe.org.uk

Christianity does not

belong to any

particular race or

nation.

wycliffe.org.uk

Nor does mission

work!

wycliffe.org.uk

It’s all about relationships.