Four Ways To Shatter The Next Growth Barrier In Your Church

(These are the March podcast show notes, aka "cheat sheet!")

The one thing growing churches have in common is not…

• A particular denomination
• A brand of theology
• A style of worship

The ONE common denominator in growing churches is Romans 12:8 LEADERSHIP!   

When it comes to numerical growth barriers - different people will have different barrier; however, the ones I have identified are:  

• 100
• 250
• 500
• 1,000
• 2,500
• 5,000
• 10,000+

(The following is not a formula - it’s a recipe - it takes leaders who are willing to make it work!)  

Four Things That Will Help You Shatter Your Next Growth Barrier:  

#1 - Prayer

Prayer is about a connection with God - NOT to get Him to think like us, but so we can begin to allow Him to renew our mind so we can think like Him.  

The only way to get a white hot vision from God is through prayer!  

How important is vision?  

Proverbs 29:18 KJV says where there is no vision, the people perish - in other words, churches are dying because they are without a vision—and the ONLY vision worth selling our lives out too is the one that the Lord speaks into the life and leadership of the church.  

#2 - A Plan

• Planning without prayer = Inconclusion (will never get clarity or confidence)  
• Prayer without planning = Irresponsible

One of the saddest things about prayer is people often use it as an excuse for inactivity - because “if I pray about it, I don’t have to do anything.”  
Bible says in Proverbs 21:5…
The plans of the diligent lead to profit
    as surely as haste leads to poverty.

(And remember - when it comes to planning - revelation > imitation!   

And...when it comes to the PLAN - what got you past 100 won’t get you past 250—what gets you past 250 won’t get you past 500 and so on…it’s going to take different plans to break through different barriers.  

#3 - People

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah had a connection with God through prayer (in which he received the vision), he had a plan to rebuild the wall—but in Nehemiah 3 we see him involve people in order to make the vision become a reality.  

#4 - Perspiration

In football, in building a home or in starting a business…it’s not just enough to have a plan and people—it takes WORK to see the vision become a reality.   

Let’s go all the way back to Noah building the Ark - Noah was connected to God (there is prayer), God gave him a vision for building the ark (even down to the exact measurements) - God gave Noah the people (his sons helped build) - but - Noah did not pray and God merely dropped the ark out of the sky - he had to work, to perspire in order to make the vision become a reality.  

One of the things we LOVE to do here at the Growth Company is help churches break through their next growth barrier.  If you are a church leader and feel stuck—and are interested in having me in for a day or two to sit down and discuss with your team what it looks like to shatter through your next barrier - then go to www.iwantmychurchtogrow.com and click on “schedule a call” in the upper right hand corner, fill out the form and someone will give you a call to talk about the details of bringing me in to your church - I would ABSOLUTELY love to serve you if I can.