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The Externally Focused Church

The Externally Focused Church. Six traits of Ext. Focused Church:. Inwardly strong but outwardly focused Integrates good deeds and good news into life of the church Values impact and influence in the community more than attendance. 4. Seeks to be salt, light, and

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The Externally Focused Church

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  1. The Externally • Focused Church

  2. Six traits of Ext. Focused Church: • Inwardly strong but outwardly focused • Integrates good deeds and good news into life of the church • Values impact and influence in the community more than attendance

  3. 4. Seeks to be salt, light, and • leaven in the community • 5. Sees itself as the “soul” of • the community • 6. Would be greatly missed by • the community if they left.

  4. Service is, and should be, the identifying mark of Christians and the church.

  5. We have to tell the truth to a world that no longer believes in truth.

  6. One of the most effective ways to reach people with the message of Jesus Christ is through real an relevant acts of service.

  7. To tell the truth, we must show the Truth!

  8. People have given up on the truth because they do not believe people can be trusted.

  9. The world is full of people who have been hurt by those who were supposed to love them – people they should have been able to trust.

  10. Before churches will be heard, they must re-establish trust.

  11. To establish trust, the church must first show their ability to love.

  12. Two items clearly reveal the truth about what matters most to us: • Our checkbooks • Our calendars

  13. Regardless of what we claim, how we spend our money and our time exposes what truly matters to us.

  14. Churches talk about service, and everyone agrees that it ought to be important to us, • but do we really know how to effectively meet the needs of our communities and reach lost people?

  15. Are we willing to step outside the safety net of our church pews and cross the street into real-life, real-world, acts of service in order to share the truth of Jesus Christ?

  16. People don’t care how much you know until they find out how much you care!!

  17. Showing through serving can help Christians and churches tell more effectively.

  18. The success of an externally focused church depends on _______. • Getting involved in community • Creating genuine relationships • Being truly useful

  19. In the process of showing, externally focused churches have discovered again and again, that people are more willing to listen to their telling.

  20. Two Types of Churches • Externally Committed • Externally Curious

  21. The Externally Committed • Increase number of people deployed into community – Agents of Transformation • Increase frequency or depth of service • Move from service to relationship

  22. Learn to leverage & increase impact by beginning new ministries or partnering with existing efforts.

  23. The Externally Curious • Heard about this movement and want more information on how to become more externally focused. • Ask: ”How did they do it?” • Ask: ”How do we do it?” • Page 13

  24. Purpose Of This Study • Why should we be an externally focused church? • What are we trying to accomplish? • How can we get started or improve on what we are doing? • Page 14

  25. Church will get its feet wet and probably muddy! (Page 14) • Community will be benefited by its service. • Church builds relational bridges giving Christians opportunities to share God’s grace in the midst of real need.

  26. Chapter One • What is an • Externally Focused • Church??

  27. “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” • Victor Hugo • Page 15

  28. Church effectiveness is not measured by what happens inside the church but rather by the impact the people of the church have on their communities.

  29. The people are • engaging their communities with • truth and grace • good news and good deeds • Question: What is “truth”? • Page 16

  30. John 17:17 (NIV) Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. • Joh14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

  31. The church is becoming: • The salt that preserves • The light that shines • The leaven that transforms a community

  32. Definitions • Internally focused churches concentrate on getting people into the church and generating activity there.

  33. Internally Focused Churches • Powerful worship services • Excel in teaching • Offer thriving youth programs • Vibrant small groups • Measured by number of people and activities Page 16

  34. Isa 1:13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

  35. Isa 1:14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

  36. Isa 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;

  37. Isa 1:16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,

  38. Isa1:17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow

  39. Isaiah exposes the inadequacy of the faith of people who focus on loving God but forget about loving man. • Page 17

  40. Isa 58:6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

  41. Isa 58:7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

  42. Externally Focused Churches • Intern. Strong/orient. Exter. • Focus reflected in budget • Because they engage their communities with good works & good news of Jesus, communities are better places to live.

  43. Externally Focused Churches • Look for ways to be useful • Build bridges to their communities instead of walls around themselves. • Don’t shout at the dirty streams but get in the water and clean it up!

  44. Externally Focused Churches • They determine effectiveness not only by internal measures but also by external measures • Ask: Whose lives are different because of this church?

  45. Externally Focused Churches • Nearly everything done on inside prepares and equips them not only for personal growth but also for personal impact! • Internally focused helps individuals but externally focused helps the world!

  46. 1. The identifying mark of Christians and the church is (and should be)________. • Service

  47. Targeted Audiences: • EFC moves toward two specific groups: • Those on the margins of society • The city

  48. EFC moves toward two specific groups: • Those on the margins • The city

  49. Deu 10:18 (NIV) He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. • Deu10:19 (NIV) And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

  50. The two items that reveal the truth about what matters to us are: ______ and _______. • (Explain why to your neighbor when asked to do so.)

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