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February 26, 2025 17 mins

Even the best leaders don’t have the keys today for tomorrow’s growth.

The answers you need to grow your church are out there—in the minds and hearts of leaders who are already where you want to be. And if you could fly yourself to their churches, sit down with them over a cup of coffee, you’d be set.

But that’s tough. You might not have the resources to hop on a plane and travel around the country to take ministry experts out for coffee.

But what if the experts came to you?

That’s why we created Leaders.Church.

Designed by ministry leaders like you who wanted access to the best church leadership training without shelling out lots of money and time to attend the best conferences, Leaders.Church brings the best church leadership training in the world to you.

Get 47% off before Saturday, March 1, 2025.

https://leaders.church/breakthrough-system

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dick Hardy (00:00):
There's a story of two young men who had graduated

(00:02):
from college years ago. Theywere both unbelievably similar.
They were both well liked withlots of friends and very bright
futures. They were better thanaverage students, and they had
great hopes and aspirations forthe future. Interestingly, they
both went to work for the samecompany and did very well. Years
later, at their 25 year reunion,they still had a lot of stuff in

(00:23):
common. They both marriedbeautiful wives, had two kids,
lived in the burbs, and life wasgood, but there was one major
difference between the two men.
They still worked for the samecompany. One was the head of a
small department, the other wasthe president of the company.
You ever wondered why it is thatsome people seem to advance in
life and others don't? I mean,on the surface, both of these

(00:45):
guys looked like they wouldtrack the same way, at the same
pace, and according toeverything else in their lives,
land at similar destinationsthey did not. I've had people
ask me about similar comparisonsregarding people in ministry.
How can two seemingly giftedpeople graduate from Bible
college or seminary, head outinto ministry with great

(01:06):
anticipation and years later,Pastor number one took a church
of 150 and it still runs 150Well, Pastor number two took a
church of 150 to 5000 they wereboth clearly called of God to
serve his church. They both weremen of prayer and had the goods
to do ministry. Now, I knowthere are a lot of factors that

(01:28):
contribute to growth. Thenumbers aren't everything, but
they are something certainly weall know it is the Lord who
builds the house, not us, but insome way, somehow, Pastor number
two did something different thanpastor number one, by the way,
the story of the 25 year reunionman was a famous advertisement
written by Martin Conroy for TheWall Street Journal. It ran for

(01:49):
decades. The difference betweenthose two men came down to
education and training. Duringthe 25 years, one continued to
invest in learning the other didnot. When I hear that story, I
regularly think of pastors andkey lay volunteers in the
church, those who are willing toinvest in being better at
leadership and ministry advancethose who don't don't. I'm Dick

(02:13):
Hardy, and since 2007 I've hadthe privilege of serving as a
pastoral leadership consultantfor 1000s of churches and
pastors, it truly has been a joyof mine to see countless men and
women succeed in growing theirchurches and becoming better
leaders. I started in ministryas a 23 year old kid with all
the eagerness 20 somethingsbring to the table, serving as

(02:33):
the church administrator in thatgreat church of 712 The first
year I was there, I had theprivilege of being part of that
Church's growth to over 2200over the years I was with them.
The other church I was part of,it had only been in existence
for nine years. When I arrived,it was running 3600 at that
time, and two years later, itwas at 4600 absolutely amazing.
Only God could bring thatincrease. However, to contribute

(02:59):
to that kind of growth is whatwe all want in our ministries.
Now, let me ask you this.
You ever said to yourself onMonday morning, it's Monday, and
why do I feel this way, afterall the hard work of the
weekend, and now it's Monday?
Dreams for what was supposed tohappen, but maybe didn't, hopes
that the message would generatea response, and it didn't.

(03:22):
Aspirations for a new future inthe new place. Maybe the grass
really is greener at the nextchurch. Is the ministry you're
leading today. What you thoughtit would be is, is it what you'd
hope for in seeing evangelismand discipleship happen in the
church really happening? Whatabout vision? Do you have it?
Think you have it. Hope you haveit. Do you have more volunteers

(03:44):
than you know what to do with?
Probably not. Here's the deal.
You're not in ministry just tohave a job or just to volunteer
because you have nothing else todo. You are in this because of a
calling on your life. We livefor something much higher than
the dollars we're paid or theaccolades we receive from others
for our service. You believedeeply in Jesus' command to go

(04:07):
and make disciples. You believethe church is the hope of all
mankind. You believe that peoplematter to God, and because they
matter to God, they matter tous. You believe that what you do
matters for eternity, for thosereasons and more, leaders dot
church has created a venue foryou to invest in yourself as a
leader. Think of it as aleadership streaming service to

(04:30):
help you grow the church. Wecall it the Leaders.Church
membership, we've been happy toprovide at no cost the three
previous videos detailing foryou, the barriers to reaching
your dreams, hopes andaspirations. Speaking of hopes,
you know, one of the things Ihear from pastors and church
leaders is their desire to bebetter and to lead at higher
levels, but frequently, that'sall I see or hear out of them.

(04:52):
Hope. Now, hope is important forall of us. We all need hope.
But.
If all you're going to do ishope you'll grow and be better,
I can assure you it's not goingto happen. The only way you'll
get better is to be prayerful inaction. You have to take steps
to be the kind of leader Godwants you to be. That was the

(05:14):
case for Pastor Russ prior tojoining Leaders.Church Russ was
stagnant in his own growth, andHis church was stagnant too.
Things were going so poorly thathe literally was about to give
his resignation to his churchboard. But before he did so, he
talked to a mentor of his, andthat mentor challenged him to
invest in his personal learning,similar to the story of the 25

(05:35):
year reunion man I shared amoment ago, fortunately for
Pastor Russ, that was exactlythe catalyst he needed. He
joined our leaders dot churchmembership, and the growth began
almost immediately. Here's justsome of the results he
experienced after growingthrough Leaders.Church, he
became more dial in as a leader.
He was more forward planned. Hehad more material. Sermons came
easier. Sermons got better,response from people got better.

(05:59):
Overall, he became a betterpreacher and a better leader,
and it all started when hedecided not to blame others for
his poor leadership, but ratherlook in the mirror and work on
what's in the mirror first. Inthe previous videos, we talked
to just a few of those steps.
Today, we're doing what most inministry simply don't take time

(06:20):
to do you're serious aboutinvesting yourself to be God's
man or woman for your church.
The bottom line is, if you wantto take your church and your
leadership to levels you'venever imagined possible, then
Leaders.Church is for you. Ifnot, you can always hope. Now
here's what you'll receive whenyou join the Leaders.Church
membership this week, we'rethrowing in tons of extras so

(06:40):
that you have everything youneed to go to the next level.
Basically, you're getting ourpremium level access to
Leaders.Church for the standardprice, which is our lowest level
plan, but we're eliminating thestandard plan at the end of this
month. So now is your lastchance to get in at such a low
rate. Here's everything you'llreceive when you join

(07:01):
Leaders.Church this week first,you'll have full access and
complete access to the entirelibrary of Leaders.Church
leadership videos. Just watchingthese alone will give you
practical insights on how togrow personally and position
your church for growth. You'llalso get full discussion guides
and outlines for each video,whether you're you want to use
them for your own personaldevelopment or to invest in your

(07:24):
team, your key leaders. You'llalso get to participate in the
monthly live zoom Q and A. It'sit's our Leaders.Church members
only call on these calls. Wetalk about practical application
of the some of the conceptslearned during our monthly
focus. Plus, it's a great way toconnect with other pastors who
are blazing the trail with you.

(07:45):
Now, to make this even easierfor use, for team training,
we're giving you unlimited useraccounts. That way you can add
your key leaders to youraccounts, giving them their own
access to view the material in atime that works for them. Since
so many of these folks have dayjobs, being able to learn when
it's convenient for them is veryimportant. And speaking of... we

(08:07):
are also giving you a way foryou and your key leaders to grow
on the go. When you joinLeaders.Church, you'll have
exclusive access to theLeaders.Church app, where you'll
have everything in our libraryliterally at your fingertips.
I'm also going to unlock the 160plus sample church documents
we've curated over the years.
This is a way to save you tonsof time so you don't have to

(08:27):
reinvent the wheel.
You'll receive the volunteerrecruitment bundle, which
consists of some video teaching,and it includes the volunteer
tracker spreadsheet, which willhelp you stay on top of the list
of people who are consideringgetting involved in a ministry
area. In addition, I'm going togive you a video series training
on how to increase giving atyour church, along with the

(08:50):
generosity checklist, whichcontains 38 unique ideas to help
you increase the level of titheand over and above giving. And
you'll also receive personalinteraction with me through
quarterly personal coachingcalls. These are some of my
favorite times of the week whenI get to help pastors connect
the dots and begin seeingprogress. Then in between those

(09:10):
times, I'm throwing in unlimitedemail coaching. So say you've
got a question, just shoot us anemail and our team will get back
to you in a very timely manner.
And finally, another bigsurprise, that last piece of the
puzzle that makes this anabsolute no brainer, in my mind,
is this, if you joinLeaders.Church in the next five
days, we're going to give you 30days access to all of our Church

(09:32):
University courses. So sayyou've been thinking about
honing in on a particularministry area. Now is your time
to do so the total value ofeverything you're receiving
today is $7,597and you know, you can easily
explain close to that if youwere to take a team of three or
four people to a conference, bythe time you add up

(09:54):
registrations, flights, lodging,a rental car and food, you might
get somegood nuggets and be inspired,
but then it's over and you haveno further access to those
sessions. And that's why I'm sopumped to make Leaders.Church
available to you, because at afraction of the cost, you'll
have ongoing access to all thevideos and resources I just
mentioned. You can watch and rewatch any of it. You can share

(10:17):
it with however many teammembers you want. You don't have
to travel, and you can pick andchoose which material you want
to focus on.
Of course, by now, you'reprobably wondering, what is the
actual cost of the membership inLeaders.Church? And honestly, I
don't see it as a cost at all.
Rather, it's an investment. I'mserious, and here's why, if you
could invest in resources thatwould help you take years of

(10:41):
headaches, trial and error anduncertainty, collapse that
learning down to just a fewmonths, wouldn't that be worth
it to you? So it's an investmentin your future and the church's
future. Now this is what we'lldo for you. If you join
Leaders.Church in the next fivedays, instead of spending $7,000
plus on all these resources, youcan have them all for just $370

(11:02):
a year. That's a 95% reduction.
This is by far the best deal.
But for cash flow purposes, youcan sign up with the monthly
option of just $37 a month, ifthat works better for you, the
annual plan gives you two freemonths free. But I know for some
folks, they prefer the monthlyoption. What we've essentially

(11:23):
doing here is giving you theLeaders.Church premium level for
the standard level pricing, butthis is only available for five
days. After that, you can stilljoin Leaders.Church, but you
won't get all the bells andwhistles we're throwing in here.
And keep in mind, at the end ofthis month, we're completely sun
setting the standard membershiplevel, which means the $370

(11:43):
annual the $37 monthly pricepoint, is going away. So this is
literally your last chance toget the premium membership at
the standard rate. Anyone whosigns up during this short
window will be grandfathered infor the lifetime of your
membership. This means if yousign up right now, you'll lock
in the $370 annual or $37monthly rate, but you'll

(12:07):
continue to receive all thepremium level benefits for the
entirety of your membership. Andto help you test the waters, in
case you're kind of on thefence, we'll let you get started
for free. Yes, that's right, weput together a seven day free
trial to let you kick the tiresand see for yourself how
impactful this resource will befor you. But remember, this

(12:28):
pricing will only be availablefor five days, so it's important
that you act now and start yourfree trial before it's too late.
Let me tell you when I have adecision to make about spending
money. Here's what I do. I askmyself, What do I have to gain
if I do this, and what do I loseto not do this? Everything in

(12:49):
life has risk, everything butfor membership in
Leaders.Church, let me give youthe answer to those two
questions that virtually eraserisk for you first, if you find
value in the teaching,inspiration community, the
resources, the motivation you'llgain in the membership of
Leaders.Church, and you getbetter, and your church gets

(13:10):
stronger and healthier, yourlife gets better. You make
better decisions. You leadbetter. You recruit better. And
you're inspired, then you'll bethrilled that you jumped on this
opportunity. On the other hand,if you don't find that value,
just let us know in the firstseven days and you won't be
charged even the discountedmembership rate. Basically, I'm
trying to make it where you haveeverything to gain and

(13:32):
absolutely nothing to lose.
Remember, if you want theshortest path to success, follow
a guy who's already been whereyou want to go. I know for me,
the biggest breakthroughs in mylife have always happened on the
other side of investing inmyself and my leadership
development. So go ahead, clickthe button below the video and
join me inside Leaders.Church.
Now, if you're still on thefence of whether this is right

(13:56):
for you, let me share with youwhat these pastors have said
about their Leaders.Churchmembership. Barry said, I'm
growing and using Leaders.Churchresources at least 15 minutes,
three times a week. Gabriel saysyour wisdom has helped me grow
so much. Jerry says the lessonsand thoughts have helped me
shape my staff into people whocontinue to be leaders daily,

(14:17):
not just leaders who start andfade. Don says, I'm bi
vocational, very interested inmaking every dollar count for
the Kingdom. Training like thishelps me do that. Pam says, My
husband and I have been trainingnew people for key positions and
Leaders.Church is so beneficial.
Doug said, had a great staffretreat. Thanks so much for the

(14:39):
Leaders.Church video resources.
They added a lot to our retreat.
Donald says, I see how it'sgoing to help our alignment so
we can function as a teaminstead of separate entities and
Lane says the content has bothstretched me and our team to be
better leaders.

(14:59):
To grow yourself and see yourchurch reach new people and
enter a growth mode. Then yournext step is to click the button
and start the seven day freetrial of Leaders.Church. You'll
immediately receive full accessto everything we've talked about
today. And one last thing,remember, there are no silver
bullets to church growth. Youhave to put in the time. You
have to grow personally, andLeaders.Church makes it easy for

(15:23):
you to do, so we've beenrefining it, adding to it, and
perfecting it so you and yourteam can continually level up
your leadership influence. Thereare people that have looked back
on their highly successfulministries and realized there
was a point in their life wherethey stood at a crossroads and
chose to take a step to bebetter. They stood exactly where

(15:44):
you stand today. If you chooseto pass up this investment, I
could guarantee you that yourlife and ministry tomorrow will
be no different than it istoday. You're just going to
hope. But I believe God has somuch more for you, and it begins
with a strategic investment inyourself. If you're ready to
give your church the boost itneeds to go to the next level,

(16:05):
then your next step is to clickthe button and enroll in
Leaders.Church. Now is yourtime. Today is your day. There's
never been a better time. Youcan have the premium membership
with all the bonuses for ourlowest standard pricing, but you
have to act now, because we'reeliminating the standard plan
moving forward, this means it'syour last chance to get the
premium membership for thestandard $37 monthly or $370

(16:29):
annual rates. Start your sevenday free trial to Leaders.Church
today and say yes to moreinfluence, personally and more
impact as a church where you seelives transformed week after
week, click the button below andjoin me. With this free trial,
you have absolutely nothing tolose and everything to gain. I'd

(16:49):
love to serve you as you striveto grow yourself so you can grow
your church and have a biggerimpact than you ever imagined
possible. It's all availablewith the click of that button.
Let's get started on yourlife-changing, direction-setting
path today, and I look forwardto seeing you inside
Leaders.Church.
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