Missional

"A mission focus looks first at those who are outside the church before it ever looks at the internal needs of the church."

"Success is achieving an intended outcome. Success in God’s Church is achieving the outcome God intends. Another word for this outcome is mission."

"If the Church is to be missional rather than institutional, we must begin with a clear understanding of what that mission is....Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, the Lord of the Church. Christ cast the only ballot that counts. Since Jesus Christ is the owner of his Church and thus all of its local expressions, we do not get to dream up the mission for our congregation."

"Christians living in modern culture face a fundamental challenge. That challenge is to learn to think about their culture in Missional terms."

"To fulfill the Great Commission, we need to stop doing ministry by addition and start doing ministry by multiplication...planting churches that plant churches that plant churches that plant churches."

"Mission is no longer about crossing the oceans, jungles and deserts, but about crossing the streets of the world's cities."

"Remember, you are never more like God than when you are living in relationships with God's people and working in partnerships for the re-creation and redemption of God's world."

"The Church is by nature missionary to the extent that, if it ceases to be missionary, it has not just failed in one of its tasks, it has ceased being Church."

"Participating in the mission of God means leaving our place of security, to travel to the place where other are. This is the heartbeat of the incarnation....Mission is always in the direction of the other, and away from ourselves."

"When the church ceases to reach out to all people, it ceases to be a true church. This is why the Great Commission is a controlling and central command. All these metaphors and commands spring out of one profound reality: the church is a result of and a participant in the mission of God."