How We Think About Being Externally Focused: Sermon Guide

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• How are you doing at being on mission right where God has you in your own neighborhood? What’s one way you can be more missional? Share the one way you can be more missional with your community group and commit to doing it in the next week.
• Grab your community group and go do UNASHAMED together!
• Pick an area to serve with your community group or family this summer: www.watermark.org/go
• Pick one of our six impact areas (Life/Family Restoration, Health, School Impact/Mentoring, Poverty Alleviation/Community Development, Prison, and Anti-Sex Trafficking), and then email us at externalfocus@watermark.org to learn more about how you can get involved and help.

Summary

One of the greatest threats to any local body is that they can easily form inward facing circles and forget the missional call on every individuals life. Holy huddles shrivel up and die. Outward only circles become hallow and weak. A healthy church makes circles that are both inward and outward facing. Adam Tarnow and Jeff Ward talk through how Watermark embraces the tension of being both inward and outward focused.

Key Takeaways

• From day one, Watermark has done its best to embrace the tension of being both inward and outward focused.
• You don’t go to church, you are the church.
• The church is like a family…you don’t go to family You are a family.
• Watermark is not a cruise ship…it’s a battle ship.
• The Christian walk is less about the “don’ts” and more about the “do's”.
• If Watermark disappeared tomorrow, would our city notice? Would they care? Have we left a “watermark” on our city?
• Being missional doesn’t necessarily mean selling everything you own and moving to Africa. For most people, that’s not what it will mean at all. Being on mission is here and now…wherever God has you.
• Being missional is less about what you do and more about who you are.
• Think of being externally focused as four concentric circles: Neighborhood, Work, City, and World
• What is the call to action? Start simply, and simply start

Neighborhood

• God has placed you where He placed you so that you would be on mission…so that you would reach people in your neighborhood.

Work

• We spend most of our waking hours at work, and it is at work that God both shapes us and allows us to shape others.
• Think of your work as a means to love and serve our city.

City

• How does Watermark decide what to say yes to in our city? We are a church, so we want to look at: 1) God’s biblical mandate (who/what does God care about?), 2) What are the needs of the city?, and 3) How has God uniquely gifted and resourced Watermark? In light of these three things, we have six “Impact Areas”: Life/Family Restoration, Health, School Impact/Mentoring, Poverty Alleviation/Community Development, Prison, and Anti-Sex Trafficking.
• We are trying to lead our city and our country in fostering and adoption, as well as mentoring moms with unexpected pregnancies.
• Watermark Urgent Care started around 5-years ago and now sees more than 10,000 patients per year. We saved Dallas over $10-million in medical expenses last year.
• Watermark just started a new Community Development Corporation (CDC) to help with everything from homeless and relief ministries to job creation.
• re:generation is current being used in prisons in Dallas.

World

• We work with ministry partners all over the world who are focused on identifying/developing local indigenous leaders and churches.
• Different international projects include: water wells, trade schools, orphan care, sending Bibles into closed countries, training centers, and much more.
• Dallas is one of the most internationally diverse cities in the world, and we are doing everything we can to engage people while they are in our city.
• Over 80-different countries are represented in Watermark’s membership.

Mentioned or Recommended Resources

• Suggested Scripture study: John 13:34-35; Matthew 22:37-40; Ephesians 2:10; Jeremiah 29:7; Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 13:44; Matthew 25:14-30
• Missional Opportunity: UNASHAMED
• Want to serve with your family? Visit: www.watermark.org/go
• Want to know more about our Impact Areas? Email us at: externalfocus@watermark.org
• Real Truth Real Quick: Why Doesn’t Watermark Have a Missions Department?
• Real Truth Real Quick: How Much of a Church’s Budget Should Go to Missions