This past Sunday I offered a brief exposition of John 17.6-21 & John 20.21, explaining what it means to be “sent” into our community and world in the same way God the Father sent Jesus into our world. These texts demand that we understand, as John Stott says: “Our God is a missionary God.” They also demand that we continually ask ourselves:
- In what way was Jesus sent?
- How am I responding to/reflecting being sent?
While in no way exhaustive, I offered 5 simple observations for us to put into practice:
- More Incarnational than Attractional
- Focus More on Building Bridges than Building Walls
- Prioritize Service > “Serve Us”
- Move Beyond Fellowship to Functional Unity
- Measure Our Effectiveness More by Our Impact than Our Attendance.
GRACE & PEACE 
The issue in all of this Dennis is communicating the how as well as the why and deliberate structures in support of implementation.
Otherwise (given it’s understood) the best intentions fall short without some structure that supports implementation. Or it becomes just high talk.
While communication is essential to function, genuine understanding is essential to communication.