1. Make a decision to grow personally.
- growing churches are led by growing leaders
- in order for my church to grow, I must first grow
- i've discovered that i'm the biggest growth barrier to my church
- when i stop growing, my church stops growing
- so i must constantly ask: what am i doing to grow?
- what's my personal growth plan for 2011? for my walk with the lord? my family? my finances? my leadership? my ministry?
2. Get a vision for growth from God.
- i go on two personal prayer retreats a year so i can get alone with god, hear his voice and get a vision for what he wants to do in and through me in the days ahead
- many years ago while on a getaway, god spoke to my heart through his word that he wanted my church to grow
- i'm not saying god wants all churches to be mega churches, but god wants all churches to grow. read 2 peter 3:9, luke 14:23, mt. 28, acts 2, col. 3
- pastors need to hear from god and write the vision down
- set some growth goals / develop a strategy of how you will accomplish those goals
- a coach challenged me years ago to sit down and make a list of 100 reasons why my church should grow. this challenged me and help me develop a vision for growth.
3. Be willing to embrace the pain of growth.
- all growth requires change
- all change brings pain
- when you get a vision from god for growth and begin to implement it, the critics will show up
- develop thick skin as a leader. like really thick skin. rhinoceros thick. and don't be offended when people criticize your plan or mischaracterize your ministry.
- leadership requires thick skin and and tender heart.
- as your church grows, it will require your role to change as a pastor. this is very difficult. you won't be able to do it all by yourself anymore. you won't do all the weddings, funerals, hospital visit, counseling sessions, ad nauseum.
- acts 6 teaches church leaders that it's not our responsibility to meet all the needs of the church family. it's our responsibility to ensure that all the needs are met. big difference.
- your pain threshold will determine your growth threshold.
- if your church grows into the hundreds, even thousands, you won't even know all the people that attend your church. this was very painful for me personally and it still is today.
- but then i decided everyone can know me, or everyone can know jesus. i'd rather them know jesus.
