May 26, 2025 • 52 mins
Healthy churches don’t grow by accident—they grow when every person on the team is intentional. Whether you’re on staff or serving as a volunteer, your role is vital in building a thriving, life-giving church. We’ll unpack key principles for church growth, explore what makes a church truly healthy, and discover how you can contribute to a culture of strength, unity, and impact.
Boyd and Sharon are the National Leaders of Elim New Zealand
and the Senior Pastors of Elim International Church in Wellington, New Zealand. They have devoted their lives to building the local church, raising up leaders, and helping people fall in love with Jesus.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Awesome. How's everybody doing?
Give somebody a high 5 as you grab your seats and that's
great. Such an honor and a privilege to
be here today. And if I could ask all those who
are sitting at the top, if you wouldn't mind making your way to
the middle section, that would be absolutely incredible.
(00:24):
Anybody here you want your church to grow, Raise your hand,
raise your hand. You got to sit near the front.
That's where the anointing us. So if you are not moving right
now, you have a rebellious spirit.
We're going to do an altar call.We're going to do a deliverance
session. I'm not seeing anybody move.
I, I'm going to wait till I see people moving because I want to
(00:44):
be that evangelist that says, I see that hand.
People are moving, people are coming to the altar.
And hey, great to be here. Thank you for for being here
this afternoon. Just to let you know, it is
12:43 AM in New Zealand. So I've never preached.
I kind of feel like Paul and Silas at midnight.
(01:04):
So we're in for an amazing, amazing afternoon.
Thanks for being here today. And I want to give a big shout
out to my amazing wife who's joined me on this trip.
So great to have Sharon. Would you mind standing up?
Give her a big welcome. And we've been married for 16
years. We are blessed with two amazing
boy boys, Joshua and Jackson. Josh is turning 12 in October.
(01:29):
Jackson is five. He'll be turning 6 in July.
He's 6 going on 16. And he told me a couple of weeks
ago that when he turns 18, he will be moving out.
So please pray for us and and great to have one of the legends
of our movement in Elam, New Zealand, Pastor Bob Lawson.
Pastor Bob Lawson LED our movement for many, many years.
(01:51):
He's one of the fathers of the faith in New Zealand.
Bob, would you mind standing up?Give him a big welcome as well
and as great. Hey, this is a super practical
session and I'm going to be talking about church growth and
I don't claim to be an expert onchurch growth, but I'm a student
(02:11):
of church growth and I know you are here because you care about
your church. I honor you for being here
today. It doesn't matter if you are on
staff or you're a volunteer. Do you realize that every single
person is called to build the church?
And Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell
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will not prevail against it. Do you realize that?
He builds it through you and I? And what an honor and a
privilege to be in partnership with the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords. So we're going to have a
practical session where we're going to be talking about
visionary leadership. And often when we say the word
visionary leadership, people automatically look to their
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person standing up the front with the microphone and people
think it's the senior pastor. Do you realize that every single
person here in this room, you are a visionary leadership
leader? And I love the story and the
gospels we hear. I read about this paralyzed man
who had four friends and they had one job, and that is to take
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him to Jesus. And every single one of us here
in this room, we have one job and that is to connect people to
Jesus. And he had four friends.
And I, let me tell you this, allfour of those friends, all of us
here in this room, we are eithera vision connector, a vision
carrier, a vision carer, or a vision caster.
(03:37):
Now, when you write that down, when you take notes, and if you
can't understand my accent, the Holy Spirit will translate it.
You will see subtitles. If you can see subtitles, you've
got the prophetic grace on your life.
You're either a vision carer, a vision carrier, a vision
connector, a vision carrier, or a vision caster.
(03:59):
And nobody is here in this room by accident.
You are not on team by accident.And today I want us to take take
a few moments to unpack key principles for church growth.
I'm very passionate about the local churches and I even though
we have the incredible privilegeof leading Elam New Zealand, our
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movement in New Zealand, we are also local church pastors.
We love the local church. The truth is that God wants his
church to grow. Can I get an Amen If you believe
that we're not called to surviveuntil Jesus comes back.
No. We are called to make disciples
and God wants his church to growto for his church to thrive.
(04:43):
And we have a lot of things to cover and, and I'm going to get
straight into it. Before we dive into principles
for growing healthy churches, I want to address some myths about
church growth. Very quickly at some point in my
leadership journey, I have believed this myth.
So I've said it myself and I've come to a realization, come to a
(05:07):
point that sometimes I believe we say things that aren't
necessarily true. And so I'm going to address some
myths. I'm going to give us 10 myths
that I believe that some of us have believed about church
growths that are not necessarilytrue.
And then we're going to look at some truths about church growth.
Here's the first one. Number one, write this down.
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It's on the screen. If you build it, they will come.
If you build it, they will come.Am I the only one who said that
before? See, we we say things like all
we need is a building or better facilities and people will show
up. Here's the truth.
Buildings don't grow, churches, people do.
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It's not just about the structure, but the spirit and
systems inside. Can I say that one more time?
It's not just about the structure, but the spirit and
systems inside. Now please don't get me wrong.
This is not a prophetic word fora church group who are planning
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on a building project. And you've heard from the Lord,
from the guy from New Zealand. He's brought confirmation that
you should not be buying a building.
No, that's not what I'm trying to say.
Great facilities help, but they are not a guarantee for growth.
I have seen great buildings empty on a Sunday.
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Here's another myth #2 church growth equals compromise.
At times leaders think that growing churches means watering
down the gospel or becoming too seeker sensitive.
Listen to this very carefully. Jesus attracted crowds without
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compromising holiness. You can preach truth with love
and still reach more people far from God.
So church growth does not equal compromise.
Here's another myth about churchgrowth.
Only big churches grow. Some believe church growth only
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happens in large urban churches with lots of resources.
Here's the truth. Church growth is about health,
not size. Rather down.
Church growth is about health, not size.
Small, rural, resource limited. Churches can still grow if they
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are healthy focused. Sorry, healthy focused and
mission driven. Here's another myth about church
growth. I'm going really fast.
Church growth is the pastor's job.
Church growth is the pastor's jobs.
Often we think church growth is the job of the senior pastor.
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There are too many people in thechurch, including church boards,
church elderships, church staff,even congregations that believe
it's the sole responsibility of the senior pastor to grow the
church. Can I tell you that is a lie
from the pit of hell? Because if you believe that
we're all going to be waiting for a long, long time.
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Here is the truth. Everyone has a role.
Every single person here in thisroom.
You have a role. You have a part to play.
And we heard Mark Pew talk aboutit this morning.
Do you realize that it takes every single person to see the
church grow? That's why you are here.
Growth happens when the whole church is mobilized.
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That includes the worship team. That includes children's church
team. That includes Connect group
leaders, more group leaders, life group leaders, youth
pastors. Everyone is on mission.
The body grows when every part does the work.
Ephesians 416 For him, the wholebody, joined and held together
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by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in
love. Each part does its work.
Actually, if you just leave it to the senior pastor and the
rest of the body doesn't function.
Do realize that we've got a paralyzed body, so it takes
everybody on team to to see church growth happens.
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Here's another myth. We just need better preaching.
We just need better preaching. Am I talking just to a handful
of people? Anybody You're leaning and
you're like, man, I can see where this is going.
If we just, we think if we just improve the sermons, people will
come and stay. Listen closely.
Preaching is essential, but it'snot everything.
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Preaching is essential, but it'snot everything.
People also choose to stay at church for connection,
friendliness, discipleship, pastoral care.
Growth is holistic, not just platform based.
Here's another one. Number six, we are not growing
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because people don't want churchanymore.
Let me tell you, we say things like times at church.
People aren't interested in church these days.
Here's the truth. People are still hungry, man.
Let me tell you, there is a hunger.
I know it's the case in, in the UK, in many parts of the world
I'm talking to. People are hungry for a move of
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God, man. Easter services have been
packed, packed out all around the world.
People are saying, man, people are coming to church.
I really believe God is doing something.
I really believe the landscape is changing and people are still
hungry for hope, community, and truth.
The gospel still works. We just have to communicate it
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in ways people can understand and experience transformation.
I, I heard a great leader say this one time, Once Upon a time,
that too many leaders are equipped for a world that no
longer exists. And sometimes we are so good at
answering questions that no one is asking.
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So that's why nobody is coming. But let me tell you, when you
answer questions that people areasking, when you meet a need,
people will get into the building.
Because let me tell you, one touch from heaven and they will
never be the same again #7 Here's another myth.
All growth is good growth. More people always means more
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health. We think that listen to this
carefully. Numerical growth without
spiritual maturity is not good growth.
Numerical growth without spiritual maturity is not good
growth. As I said before, this is a
super practical session. True growth includes depth and
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discipleship, not just attendance numbers.
We often say things like healthythings grow.
That's true, but but it's incomplete because unhealthy
things grow too. Cancer grows, toxic culture
grows, fat cells grow. Bitterness, gossip, division.
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Those things grow if they're unattended.
My advice would be to shift the narrative.
Don't just ask. Don't just ask.
Is it growing? Shift the narrative.
Ask the question, Is it healthy?Because health brings growth.
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Because if it is healthy, growthwill follow.
Listen to this carefully. You can manufacture crowds, but
you can't manufacture fruit. And if you want the fruit that
lasts, you've got to start with the soil.
And that's what visionary leadership is all about.
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Healthy churches grow, but not all growing churches are
healthy. Just because there is a large
crowd doesn't mean it's healthy.And here's what I've learned.
There's no perfect church. Not one.
Why? Because the moment we walk in,
it's no longer perfect. There's nobody in this room who
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is perfect. I'm not perfect.
You are not perfect. And sometimes people say our
church is full of hypocrites. Well, there's always room for
one more. Let me tell you, we are.
We are all imperfect people. And that's why Jesus said to
come and die who was a perfect savior.
There's no perfect church. They don't exist anywhere in the
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world. Every church, no matter how big
or small, has issues, blind spots and broken system.
Can I? I love church reels.
I mean, we produce church reels,Sunday highlights.
Nobody will ever put what happens behind the scenes.
We only put all the good things.But we don't just judge a church
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or what you see on the platform or what you see on social media.
Ask the question, this is bearing fruit.
Do we have members or do we havedisciples?
Do we have attendees or do we have disciples?
Because Jesus said go and make disciples and leaders who've
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been entrusted with the sacred responsibility to continually
make things better. We don't coast, we don't
plateau. We build, we grow, we adapt,
adapt. And I applaud you.
I honor you for being here this afternoon because you can never
have this mindset. We've arrived.
That's the most dangerous place for a leader to be because we
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should all be students of churchgrowth.
So church health begins with with the honesty of its leaders.
Look in the mirror. You know what got you here won't
get you there. What worked in the last season
may not serve the the next one. So here's my, so here's my next
myth #8 we have to be like that church.
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We have to be like that church. If we just copy with what's,
what's with the fastest growing church, what they are doing, you
know, we think we'll grow too. Listen, you can learn from
others. You can be inspired by others,
but you must lead authentically because when you stand before
your Creator, God's not going toask you, why weren't you like
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that church? He's going to ask you, what did
you do with what I gave you? You can be inspired by others.
He God blesses your unique vision.
Not imitation #9 we don't have the budget to grow.
And everyone said all the finance accountants are like
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Amen. No, I'm joking, we don't have
the budget to grow. Listen to this carefully.
Often we say we can't grow untilwe have more money, more staff,
or a bigger budget or a bigger building.
Listen closely. Growth isn't about budget.
It's about intentionality, stewardship, excellence.
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And listen to this very carefully.
Excellence is not about perfection.
Excellence honors God and it inspires people.
Excellence is giving your very best church.
Growth is about a mindset. The shoe cannot dictate how big
the foot can grow. Here's here's the other myth, My
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final myth about church growth #10 if we grow, we will lose our
family. Feel there's another lie,
another myth. People think, Oh my goodness,
people say things like if the church, you know, grows, it'll
ruin our closeness and sense of community.
Here's the truth. You can grow bigger and stay
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close by growing smaller at the same time through small groups,
through life groups, through connect groups.
Health and intimacy are not lostwith size.
They must be stewarded intentional with intentionality.
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Let's change gears. I heard a great leader once says
this. Often church leaders say why
does? Why is my church not growing?
Well, that's the wrong question.The correct question is what is
keeping my church from growing? Growth begins with finding your
current reality. Growth begins by getting clear
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on where you are. Have you ever been lost in a
shopping mall? Shares and I, we were in London
this weekend and and every time we got lost, we would go to the
map and there is a big red dot that says you are here.
You find a big map and you search for that red dot.
You are here in church leadership.
Let me tell you that red dot is critical.
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You can grow. If you don't know your starting
point, here is a leadership exercise I encourage you to do
with your team. Ask these four questions.
Here's the first one. Rather than done.
What's alive? What's alive in our church?
What is alive in our church? What's working, What's thriving?
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What's what? Where's the passion?
What's natural to us? What's the heartbeat of our
church? Where you can see the hand of
God, you can see the grace of God, Man, this is pumping.
You can see life. This is what's bringing the
growth in the love of our church.
So ask the question, what's alive?
Here's the second thing, what's dead or what's dying?
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Where are we manufacturing energy?
One way to work it out is have you ever been to gatherings?
You just look around and you're like, everybody's here because
they have to be here. And then like you look around
and you go, 99.9% of the people here in this room, that's like
your key staff and your volunteers.
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And we're like trying to keep this thing going because someone
started it in 1925 and, and you've got to keep it going.
And, and let me tell you, there's nothing wrong with it.
But there comes a point that some things are seasonal and
visionary leaders are bold enough to say, well, it's served
its purpose. Maybe we need to stop doing what
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we're doing. Maybe God is moving in a
different way. God's opening a new thing that
we need to embrace. What programs or ministries are
dragging? It's it's, it's, it's, it's
costing us momentum, costing life, costing energy.
What ministries have lost purpose and momentum?
Here's the third thing. What needs resurrection or who
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needs resurrection? That's a different topic.
Where do we need a fresh wind, arebrand, new leadership?
What needs revisioning? Restructuring or reigniting #4
what's missing? What's the new initiative, new
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team, or new direction that needs to be birthed?
Growth begins with clarity. Growth begins with clarity.
Visionary leaders ask the tough questions and clarity comes
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through honest questions. Clarity comes through courageous
conversations. In the time that we have
together, I'm going to take a few minutes just to talk about 7
essential ingredients. I don't, I don't.
I'm not saying these are the only seven, there are many, but
I want to touch on 7 things thatI really believe are so
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important for growing, healthy, thriving churches.
I want to be very clear. These are not the only seven.
There are many things, but I want to touch on these seven
things. He's the first one.
Write this down #1 leadership capacity.
Leadership capacity. Everything rises and falls on
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leadership. That's said by John Maxwell, but
listen to this carefully. But not just leadership
competence, but leadership capacity.
Can I say that one more time? It's not just leadership
competence, but leadership capacity.
Competence is skill, capacity isstamina.
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Competence is skill. Capacity is stamina.
What I'm trying to say is how many of us, we pray Lord send
the thousands and the thousands come and then you got to do 5
services and you're like, I'm tired.
You do 5 services on Sunday and Monday morning.
You want to quit ministry. You don't have the capacity for
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it. Capacity is recognizing how much
weight you can carry without collapsing.
In Exodus chapter 18, Jethro sees Moses trying to do
everything and he calls it out. Moses, what are you doing, man?
What are you doing? This is not good.
You're going to weigh yourself out, Jethro's wisdom.
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Find leaders of thousands, hundreds, 50s and 10s.
Some of you, you had the capacity for thousands.
Some of you your capacity is hundreds.
Some of you, your capacity is 50.
Some of you it's 10. Different leaders have different
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capacities, and that's OK. Ask yourself, what's my
emotional capacity? If I was leading a Church of
1000 people or 500 people, do I have the emotional capacity for
it? What's my relational capacity?
What's my strategic capacity? What's my risk taking capacity?
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What's my delegation capacity? See, all of us, we want our
churches to grow, but the reality is that you can't do
everything. You've got to stick to your
strengths and delegate your weaknesses.
We've got a large team. I have many weaknesses, so you
need a big team to delegate my weakness and my wife's agreeing
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with me there. For a second.
I thought, that's great. See if everything flows through
you, you are not leading your bottlenecking, if all roads lead
to you, to your desk as the senior pastor, as the senior
leader, growth will stop at the speed of your burnout.
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Leadership capacity expands whenwe empower others.
Some of you are a Manning and you say, yes, that's true
because I just realized all the senior pastors, they're at the
business meeting, aren't they? This is great.
This is therapeutic. How many of you you've got a
feeling like, Oh my goodness, the Lord is moving in this
place. Raise your hand or hands going
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up everywhere. It's the biggest altar call
they've ever had and you're all on camera.
Leadership capacity expands whenwe empower others.
Can I tell you if if, if this isnot just about senior pastors.
This is about every single person here in this room.
See, often we are insecure to release others because when we
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see people who are more gifted than us, we become threatened.
But God will trust you with greater leaders if you're good
at releasing them in their strengths.
Don't just do the ministry, equip others to do it better
than you. Assignment for today.
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What's the one thing you need tostart or what's the one thing
you need to stop doing in the next 24 hours in order to grow
your capacity? Many of us, many of us in this
room, we have A to do list. Who has A to do list?
Raise your hand. You have A to do list.
Everyday you have a list. How about we have a stop doing
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list? When I get back, I'm going to
stop doing some of these things because you know, guess what?
I've got a DAILY GUIDE. I've got to empower someone else
and release them in their gift, in their grace.
See, leaders don't just do everything.
Our role is to empower other people.
It's a number one leadership capacity #2A mobilized
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congregation. We need a mobilized church, not
just spectators, the local church.
Mobilized is the hope of the world.
We say, oh, the church is the hope of the world.
No, no, a mobilized church is the hope of the world.
We don't need more spectators, we need more soldiers.
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You can do more with 300 engageddisciples than 3000 disengaged
attendees. The church is not a show.
The church is not a cinema wherepeople come and and watch the
pastor, watch the worship team do everything and then we go, Oh
yeah, that was great. I'll be back next Sunday.
No, no, the church is the body of Christ.
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We are the body of Christ. And in a healthy body every part
functions. Ask, ask this question.
Are the people in our church, are they engaged or are they
just attending? Are they on fire for God or are
they just watching me burn? Discipleship is not a ministry,
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it's the mission. If we want cities transformed,
we need churches mobilized. Practical exercise.
I want you to work this out. Work this out as a team.
You'll need your database. You'll need your stats.
What percentage of your congregation is currently
serving? What percentage of your church
is involved in serving? Take the number of volunteers
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and divide it by your average Sunday attendance, and if the
number is greater than 7, that'san indicator your congregation
is not mobilized. So take your number of
volunteers who are involved in the life of your church and
divide that by your your averageSunday attendance and and if the
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number is greater than 7, that means your church is not
engaged. So you need to, you know, help
people discover the spiritual gifts and and help them get
involved in the life of your church.
That number will tell you more about your church health than
you think #3 effective systems. Vision without system is like
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fuel without an engine. You have passion, but no
movement. I heard a leader say this once.
The right system is the one thatworks.
Systems must serve the vision, not sabotage it.
Think about it. The human body is made-up of
systems. Creation is sustained by
systems. Even childbirth is a system God
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is a systems God. You can scale what you can't
scale what you don't systemize. So here's a question.
Do our system support our next level of growth?
See, all of us, we pray for revival.
I don't know where you're based.Let's say if you're based in
London and you're like God, bring all of London to our
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church this Sunday. Do you have the systems if they
all showed up at church on Sunday?
Do you have enough salvation packs?
Greeters, do you have enough seeds?
We pray for revival, but if the Lord answered our prayer, Are
you ready for it? See, often we have a mindset
that, oh, it's God's job to growthe church, But then we all, we
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think, well, he does everything and we just sit back.
No, no, no. Do you realize that He grows the
church through you? He grows the church through us.
Are we structured for addition or multiplication?
Are we still operating with old systems for a new season?
You can't put new wine in old wineskins.
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Show me your systems and I will show you your future.
And I love the story of these fishermen who went to fish and
then they've been fishing all night and, and it was an
unsuccessful fishing trip. They didn't catch any and, and
it's amazing, Jesus comes and hesays put the fishing Nets on the
other side. And I love where it says the
fishing Nets began to break. Do you realize the fishing Nets,
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you know, they, they represent our systems.
The strength of the net determines the size of the
catch. The strength of the net
determines the size of the catch.
Fishing Nets represents our systems.
Fishermen are mending their Netswhen they are not fishing.
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Guess what we do Monday to Saturday?
We are working on our systems, improving our systems.
Why? Because eternity matters most
when people come and, and when you do an altar call or
salvation call and you say, who,who wants to accept Jesus Christ
as the Lord and Savior? Do we have the systems to, to,
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to follow them up? And what do they do next?
Somebody puts their hand up or someone says, Hey, I want to do
something in the life of our church.
What are our systems? How do we, how do we grow
people? How do we disciple people?
What are our, what are our systems?
See the children of Israel, theywere going around in circles.
Did anyone say this at one point?
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This route looks familiar. We've been here before, this is
not working. But how many of us?
We keep doing the same thing. We can we car, but we don't stop
and ask ourselves the question, is this working?
This is producing fruit. What is keeping us from entering
our promised land #4 life givingSunday services, Life giving
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Sunday services. Why do I say life giving Sunday
services? Because I love that verse.
David said. I was glad when they said to me,
let us go to the House of the Lord.
David didn't say I was sad, I was mad.
No, no, he said I was glad when they said to me, let us go to
the House of the Lord. Your Sunday service is the front
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door to your church, and for many people it's the only
exposure exposure they'll have to the gospel that week.
Every Sunday matters because youhave no idea who the Lord is
going to bring that Sunday. We can't be like, oh, it's a
holiday weekend. Do you realize that God also
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moves in holiday weekends? We somehow say sometimes, oh,
you know, everyone's away and you know, we'll be OK.
No, no, every Sunday matters. Every Sunday matters.
We only have 52 Sundays here andevery single one of them matter
to God. We have no idea who is going to,
you know, walk in through our front doors.
Listen closely. People won't bring their unsaved
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friends to something they are not sure about.
But if they know it's going to be powerful, relevant,
welcoming, life giving, transforming, they will invite
boldly. I want to lead a church where
people are like, man, I'm bringing my family, I'm bringing
my unsafe workmates. I'm bringing people because I
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know when they walk in, something's going to happen in
their lives. You don't need fog machines, You
don't need LED screens to do Sundays well.
You just need focus, intentionality, and a heart that
burns for people to meet Jesus. When someone walks in, can they
feel something in the atmosphere?
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Is there warmth? Is there welcome?
Is there? Is there expectation?
Can I tell you teach your church, The best thing you can
bring to to bring to a church service on a Sunday is
expectation. God moves when there's faith in
the room. People aren't looking for
perfection. They are looking for
authenticity, love, and the presence of God.
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Every Sunday I pray God, you know whatever we do, we need the
presence of God. Why without a without his
presence, we're just a club thatmeets on a Sunday.
Prepare with the guest in mind. Think about that first time
guest. Think about that unchurched
person, the single parent, the business leader, the lonely
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senior. They're all walking through your
doors. We cannot afford to waste a
Sunday. We can't afford to just go
through the through the motions every Sunday as someone's 1st
Sunday and possibly someone's last chance.
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Think about that. You want to build a growing
church? Build a church that lives and
breathes Sundays and does Sundays really well.
Not a show, but a divine appointment.
An opportunity for salvation, healing, deliverance, hope, and
restoration. Let me say this clearly.
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People will go where they're being fed, where they're being
led, and where they're being loved.
If Sundays aren't strong, nothing else you do will flow.
So ask yourself, I'll be planning Sundays with
intentionality. Are we evaluating and improving
every week? Are we praying over every seed,
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every soul who will walk throughthose doors?
Are we raising the bar of excellence not for show, but for
souls? If we win the sun, if we, let me
tell you, if you win Sundays, guess what?
You'll win the city, you'll win your community.
Word will get out. They'll be like, man, you've got
to go to that church. You've got to go to that place.
All right, now, if that leads toour fifth element that I want to
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touch on #5 authentic relationships.
Authentic relationships. One of the main reasons people
leave churches is in theology. It's not the worship style, it's
not the preaching. It's because they don't feel
connected. I have often heard people say
things like I just didn't feel like I belonged.
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Sometimes people say, oh, I justwent there.
No one, no one spoke to me. Have you ever noticed a first
time guest standing in the foyerof the church?
Everyone else is talking to eachother and you get you can spot
that first time guest. Actually, here's a question to
ask. Is our church friendly?
We pray for revival, but I'll bea friendly bunch.
Are we? Are we ready for people who will
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not sound like us? They won't dress like us, they
won't look like us, but guess what?
Jesus died for everybody. Here's we say things like come
as you are, but then when they come as they are, then they were
like, that's wrong. You can't do that.
You can't say this man church ismessy, messy.
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But guess what? That's what discipleship is all
about. That's what discipleship is all
about. So we underestimate how
important connection is to retention.
If people don't build a relationship within the first
three weeks, we've probably lostthem.
You can preach like TD Jakes. You can sound amazing on stage
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as a worships leader and you're going to have the greatest
facilities. You can run an excellent
service. But if people don't connect with
someone, they drift. Let's break it down.
Most people spend 90 minutes at church on a Sunday.
That's 1.5 hours out of 100 and 868 hours in a week.
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That leaves 166 point .5 hours where life happens, where
questions come, where battles afford, where people are looking
for someone to walk with them. The real question is who's
walking with them in the 166.5 hours?
Who's there with them? Because that's where church
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becomes family. We don't just need greeters, we
need connectors. Jake, a greeter is like, hello,
welcome to church. Here's your newsletter.
See you later. Now train your greeters to
become connectors. Look for the individual.
See, walk slowly through the crowd.
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And I love this about Jesus. You know, he's in a large crowd
packed with people. And he says, who touched me?
He looked for the blind man. He heard the cry of the blind
man. Can I encourage every single
person? Don't.
Do you realize that we are all on the greeting team?
We are all on the worship team. We're all on the greeting team.
People who are wired to notice, to include, to invite.
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Put them on the guest team. Empower those connectors.
Train them. Their role is not a task, it's a
mission. Make sure no one stands alone.
We need to build multiple layersof connection, from Sunday
services to small groups, from life groups to serve teams.
People need places to be known and needed.
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Jesus didn't say they will know you by my disciples, by your
doctrine, even though doctrine is important.
He said your love for one another, for one another will
prove to the whole world you're my disciples.
Can I tell you that's not just anice quote?
That's that's where we build culture.
So the question is, when people walk into our churches, do they
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see that kind of love? Do they feel that kind of
connection? Do they experience a church that
feels more like a family rather than a crowd?
Here's the truth. People don't care how much you
know until they know how much you care.
You don't need to be an extroverted to care.
You just need to be intentional.Can I encourage every single
person? And it's like, look, I'm not
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criticizing green rooms or anything like that, but listen,
you've got Monday to Saturday tobe in the green room on a
Sunday, be in the foyer, be in the FOIA, be with the people, be
with the people. Can I encourage you?
We need a culture. The gap between the pulpit and
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the congregation is smaller. If you're a pastor, you just
appear 2 minutes before the 1st song and then you disappear.
Guess what? That's the culture you will
create in your church. Because culture is not just
taught. Culture is caught.
People are going to model. What you do, so every single
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person here in this room, can I encourage you, whether you are
rostered to be a greeter or you're in the congregation, can
I encourage you to be that person that connects with
people? It's not about crowds, it's
about the individual, the power of the one number number, number
number six, just checking on you, Targeted evangelism.
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Let's talk about targeted evangelism.
What do I mean by that? It means we don't just share the
gospel randomly. We do it intentional,
intentionally. We become students of our cities
and communities so we can serve them well.
We don't understand. If we don't understand the
people we're trying to reach, we'll end up answering questions
that no one is asking. Ask us, Ask yourself this
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question, who lives in my city? Who lives in my community?
We we live in our capital city. Every week I take time to just
to go for a walk around the citybecause I want to know what's
happening in the city. I don't want to just stay inside
the four walls of our church building.
We're surrounded by cafes, we are surrounded by universities,
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we are surrounded by build apartment buildings.
I want to know who lives in the city.
What are they struggling with? What are their real needs?
What are their hopes, their hurts, their Hangouts?
See, we live in capital city where we've got the parliament,
we've got the politicians, we'vegot business professionals,
we've got families, we've got university students, and just
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around the corner there's homelessness.
I want to see a church that reflects the diversity of our
city. Our church, our Sundays, our
congregation should look like our city.
Others. I don't want people to come in
on a Sunday and go. Who are these people?
Where are they from? They'd loose You look like our
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city. When I when I look out on a
Sunday morning, I want to see people in our pews.
I'm like that looks like our city.
That looks like your community. We've got to be intentional.
That's why you know, for us, it's so, so important as a
leader to to go into your city, into your community, to your
town, your region, wherever. Call this place you, be a
student, say Lord, give me eyes to see.
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Give me eyes to see what's happening currently.
You will never know what God will show you.
And you'll be like, my goodness,I never knew this was happening.
This is a need. This is the currently.
That's visionary leadership #7 empowering culture, empowering
culture. Everything has a culture.
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Your home, your team, your church, your marriage.
You carry culture. The question isn't do you have
culture? The question is what kind of
culture are you building? Culture is this is how we do
things around here. So as the leader, you said the
tone, you, you don't, if you don't define your culture, guess
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what? Someone else will create the
culture of your church. And most of the time I have
found that it's the wrong people.
And, and if I don't set the culture, if I don't set it,
someone else will set it for me.Let's be let's be a church.
Let's be a movement that createsan empowering culture, a culture
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where people are built up, a culture where leaders are
raised, a culture where everyoneis released to play their part.
Lena and Mark talked about it today.
Let's raise hero makers. Not just heroes.
Let's raise disciple makers. Teach your church how to make
disciples. See, there's a leadership
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shortage in the church worldwide.
But leadership development doesn't happen by accident.
It's intentional. We need to shift from just
building followers to building leaders, from just recruiting
people to releasing them. Let's be known as a people that
carries the mantle of multiplying leaders, 'cause I'm
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like God, give me a multiplication anointing.
See where every person is being trained and and and and and and
disciple by someone. Remember this leaders on born.
They are developed. Leaders aren't born.
They are developed, their core shape, trusted, trained and
trusted. We need to think generationally.
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Guess why? Because that's called legacy.
All of us here in this room, oneday we have to pass on the
leadership bet on and you will leave one of two things, either
a legacy or a vacancy. Legacy or vacancy, and that's
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why all of us are called to raise up leaders, raise up sons
and daughters who will do greater things than us.
And bringing this to a close, I want to read first Corinthians 3
chapter, chapter 3, verse 67. It says I planted Apollo's
watered, but God gave the growth.
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We still have to do the planting, we still have to do
the watering, we still have to prepare the soil.
Prayer is absolutely powerful. It's essential.
But prayer alone is not a substitution for action.
It's not a substitute for action.
We can't just sit back and say, oh, Gods going to do the growth
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and and we're waiting on God. No, no, God is waiting on us.
And when we move, when we step hard, when we show up, God does
what only He can do. So my encouragement to all of us
today is to stay on missions, keep reaching, keep building,
keep dreaming, keep growing, because as long as heaven and
hell are real, they've got work to do.
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Jesus said I will build my church.
Church growth isn't a mystery. It's not just something that
happens if we pray hard enough or wait long enough.
No, church growth is intentionaland God is looking to you.
He's looking to you. Say he's saying you're my man,
you're my, you're my, you're my woman, you're my, you're my
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candidate, you're the person. He's the truth.
It doesn't off rise and fall on one person.
It's not just the pastor's job, it's not just the worship
leaders job. It's not just the outreach team
or the missions or the evangelism department.
It's everyone's responsibility. I want to take a moment just to
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pray for all of us here in this room.
And if you're here today and you're like, boy, I need that
anointing to say, Lord, whateverit takes, whatever it takes, I
want to see my city. I want to see my community.
I want to see families, whereverGod has placed you.
If you're saying God, I need that anointing to make
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disciples. I want that vision to keep
going. I want you to stand to your
feet. I'd love to love to pray for
you. I want you to take a few
moments. Would you mind just lifting your
hands to the heavens? And if you're standing and say,
God, use me, use my hands, use my feet.
Lord, I give you whatever I had.It takes all of us to build
God's, God's church, his Kingdomall across this room.
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I want you to lift your voices for a moment and if you speak in
that heavenly language, I know we've got a few minutes.
I want you to take a few momentsas to say, Lord, Lord, let that
anointing. Lord, I pray for a
multiplication anointing in thisroom right now in the mighty
name of Jesus. God, give us eyes to see.
Lord, I pray for vision here in this room, Lord, be there is
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like some sort of plateau or decline or loss of momentum or
vision. Lord, we speak life in the name
Jesus. Come on.
If you speak that language, I want you to go louder than the
band, louder than my microphone.I want you to, you know, reach
out to heaven from the front to the back, lift to the right.
I really. There is an anointing that is
falling into this room right now.
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Karia, Mama. Mama.
Seriya lala Ba ba ba sora Dara. Come on, Lift your voices.
That's it. Come on.
Yes. I really believe this is a
significant moment, Laura. Perfect.
Pray for every single person here in this place.
Got to pray for every worship leader, every children's pastor,
youth pastor, God, every greeter, every car park
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attendant. Lord, I pray for a fresh touch
from heaven and the name of Jesus.
Heaven come down in the name of Jesus.
Lord is not looking for titles. He's looking for availability.
He's looking for faith. God is certain of people in this
room. Lift up your eyes, lift up your
eyes, lift up your eyes. Lord, help us to see that
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individual. Help us to look for that one
person who needs encouragement. Lord, I pray for anybody who
hasn't been attending church fora while.
Lord put their names on our hearts.
Help us to just before the end of the day, send them a text and
say, thinking of you, give them a phone call.
Help us to be good shepherds in the name of Jesus, spirit of the
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living God. Lord, I pray for the fresh full
of fresh, full of fresh. Lord, I pray from multiplication
anointing over your people, overyour church in the name of
Jesus. Lord, I pray in the name of
Jesus, we come against every work of the enemy, every work of
the enemy. There are people in this room.
God is saying, I want you to raise your expectation.
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You'd ask God for your city. Ask God for your city, Lord,
enlarge our territory. Some of you, you need to go to
multiple services in the name ofJesus.
Lord, increase our leadership capacity and the name of Jesus.
Come on few more seconds, few more seconds, keep keep pressing
it. And the name of Jesus prayer of
the living God raise our expectation right now Lord,
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anything is possible when there's faith in this room right
now in the name of Jesus got to pray for more baptisms.
And the name of Jesus Lord of pray there's lost people will
come and the Lord we come against every barrier and the
name of cheese we break it. We come against it.
And the name of Jesus. Lord, we declare that our
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churches will be places, House of miracles, House of
breakthrough and the name of Jesus, that people will come,
they'll find hope, they'll find Jesus.
Lives will be transformed. Lord, we don't mind just
attendees. Lord, we pray for people to to
encounter you, encounter you where marriages are restored,
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families are reconciled. In the name of Jesus, we thank
you, we honour you. God, we receive your presence.
God, we thank you for every person here in this room, all my
time, everybody all across this room.
Would you lift your hands to theheavens, The Lord?
Ioffer my life to you. Ioffer my life to you.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh all across this room.
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God, I pray for fresh vision. Fresh vision.
Doesn't matter how old you are, doesn't matter what your
qualification is. God, we thank you that you're
building your church, and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it until we stand beforeour Creator.
Hear those words. Well done, my good and faithful
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servant. God, we're going to keep going.
We're going to keep going. We're going to see Europe safe
for Jesus, Asia, Africa, all around the world.
Got to pray. Lord, we pray.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Jesus, we give you all the glory, all the honor and praise.
If you believe that, would you give him a mighty shot of praise
in Jesus name? Amen.
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Amen. Thank you.
Awesome. How's everybody doing?
Give somebody a high 5 as you grab your seats and that's
great. Such an honor and a privilege to
be here today. And if I could ask all those who
are sitting at the top, if you wouldn't mind making your way to
the middle section, that would be absolutely incredible.
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Anybody here you want your church to grow, Raise your hand,
raise your hand. You got to sit near the front.
That's where the anointing us. So if you are not moving right
now, you have a rebellious spirit.
We're going to do an altar call.We're going to do a deliverance
session. I'm not seeing anybody move.
I, I'm going to wait till I see people moving because I want to
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be that evangelist that says, I see that hand.
People are moving, people are coming to the altar.
And hey, great to be here. Thank you for for being here
this afternoon. Just to let you know, it is
12:43 AM in New Zealand. So I've never preached.
I kind of feel like Paul and Silas at midnight.
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So we're in for an amazing, amazing afternoon.
Thanks for being here today. And I want to give a big shout
out to my amazing wife who's joined me on this trip.
So great to have Sharon. Would you mind standing up?
Give her a big welcome. And we've been married for 16
years. We are blessed with two amazing
boy boys, Joshua and Jackson. Josh is turning 12 in October.
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Jackson is five. He'll be turning 6 in July.
He's 6 going on 16. And he told me a couple of weeks
ago that when he turns 18, he will be moving out.
So please pray for us and and great to have one of the legends
of our movement in Elam, New Zealand, Pastor Bob Lawson.
Pastor Bob Lawson LED our movement for many, many years.
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He's one of the fathers of the faith in New Zealand.
Bob, would you mind standing up?Give him a big welcome as well
and as great. Hey, this is a super practical
session and I'm going to be talking about church growth and
I don't claim to be an expert onchurch growth, but I'm a student
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of church growth and I know you are here because you care about
your church. I honor you for being here
today. It doesn't matter if you are on
staff or you're a volunteer. Do you realize that every single
person is called to build the church?
And Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell
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will not prevail against it. Do you realize that?
He builds it through you and I? And what an honor and a
privilege to be in partnership with the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords. So we're going to have a
practical session where we're going to be talking about
visionary leadership. And often when we say the word
visionary leadership, people automatically look to their
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person standing up the front with the microphone and people
think it's the senior pastor. Do you realize that every single
person here in this room, you are a visionary leadership
leader? And I love the story and the
gospels we hear. I read about this paralyzed man
who had four friends and they had one job, and that is to take
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him to Jesus. And every single one of us here
in this room, we have one job and that is to connect people to
Jesus. And he had four friends.
And I, let me tell you this, allfour of those friends, all of us
here in this room, we are eithera vision connector, a vision
carrier, a vision carer, or a vision caster.
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Now, when you write that down, when you take notes, and if you
can't understand my accent, the Holy Spirit will translate it.
You will see subtitles. If you can see subtitles, you've
got the prophetic grace on your life.
You're either a vision carer, a vision carrier, a vision
connector, a vision carrier, or a vision caster.
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And nobody is here in this room by accident.
You are not on team by accident.And today I want us to take take
a few moments to unpack key principles for church growth.
I'm very passionate about the local churches and I even though
we have the incredible privilegeof leading Elam New Zealand, our
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movement in New Zealand, we are also local church pastors.
We love the local church. The truth is that God wants his
church to grow. Can I get an Amen If you believe
that we're not called to surviveuntil Jesus comes back.
No. We are called to make disciples
and God wants his church to growto for his church to thrive.
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And we have a lot of things to cover and, and I'm going to get
straight into it. Before we dive into principles
for growing healthy churches, I want to address some myths about
church growth. Very quickly at some point in my
leadership journey, I have believed this myth.
So I've said it myself and I've come to a realization, come to a
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point that sometimes I believe we say things that aren't
necessarily true. And so I'm going to address some
myths. I'm going to give us 10 myths
that I believe that some of us have believed about church
growths that are not necessarilytrue.
And then we're going to look at some truths about church growth.
Here's the first one. Number one, write this down.
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It's on the screen. If you build it, they will come.
If you build it, they will come.Am I the only one who said that
before? See, we we say things like all
we need is a building or better facilities and people will show
up. Here's the truth.
Buildings don't grow, churches, people do.
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It's not just about the structure, but the spirit and
systems inside. Can I say that one more time?
It's not just about the structure, but the spirit and
systems inside. Now please don't get me wrong.
This is not a prophetic word fora church group who are planning
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on a building project. And you've heard from the Lord,
from the guy from New Zealand. He's brought confirmation that
you should not be buying a building.
No, that's not what I'm trying to say.
Great facilities help, but they are not a guarantee for growth.
I have seen great buildings empty on a Sunday.
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Here's another myth #2 church growth equals compromise.
At times leaders think that growing churches means watering
down the gospel or becoming too seeker sensitive.
Listen to this very carefully. Jesus attracted crowds without
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compromising holiness. You can preach truth with love
and still reach more people far from God.
So church growth does not equal compromise.
Here's another myth about churchgrowth.
Only big churches grow. Some believe church growth only
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happens in large urban churches with lots of resources.
Here's the truth. Church growth is about health,
not size. Rather down.
Church growth is about health, not size.
Small, rural, resource limited. Churches can still grow if they
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are healthy focused. Sorry, healthy focused and
mission driven. Here's another myth about church
growth. I'm going really fast.
Church growth is the pastor's job.
Church growth is the pastor's jobs.
Often we think church growth is the job of the senior pastor.
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There are too many people in thechurch, including church boards,
church elderships, church staff,even congregations that believe
it's the sole responsibility of the senior pastor to grow the
church. Can I tell you that is a lie
from the pit of hell? Because if you believe that
we're all going to be waiting for a long, long time.
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Here is the truth. Everyone has a role.
Every single person here in thisroom.
You have a role. You have a part to play.
And we heard Mark Pew talk aboutit this morning.
Do you realize that it takes every single person to see the
church grow? That's why you are here.
Growth happens when the whole church is mobilized.
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That includes the worship team. That includes children's church
team. That includes Connect group
leaders, more group leaders, life group leaders, youth
pastors. Everyone is on mission.
The body grows when every part does the work.
Ephesians 416 For him, the wholebody, joined and held together
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by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in
love. Each part does its work.
Actually, if you just leave it to the senior pastor and the
rest of the body doesn't function.
Do realize that we've got a paralyzed body, so it takes
everybody on team to to see church growth happens.
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Here's another myth. We just need better preaching.
We just need better preaching. Am I talking just to a handful
of people? Anybody You're leaning and
you're like, man, I can see where this is going.
If we just, we think if we just improve the sermons, people will
come and stay. Listen closely.
Preaching is essential, but it'snot everything.
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Preaching is essential, but it'snot everything.
People also choose to stay at church for connection,
friendliness, discipleship, pastoral care.
Growth is holistic, not just platform based.
Here's another one. Number six, we are not growing
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because people don't want churchanymore.
Let me tell you, we say things like times at church.
People aren't interested in church these days.
Here's the truth. People are still hungry, man.
Let me tell you, there is a hunger.
I know it's the case in, in the UK, in many parts of the world
I'm talking to. People are hungry for a move of
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God, man. Easter services have been
packed, packed out all around the world.
People are saying, man, people are coming to church.
I really believe God is doing something.
I really believe the landscape is changing and people are still
hungry for hope, community, and truth.
The gospel still works. We just have to communicate it
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in ways people can understand and experience transformation.
I, I heard a great leader say this one time, Once Upon a time,
that too many leaders are equipped for a world that no
longer exists. And sometimes we are so good at
answering questions that no one is asking.
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So that's why nobody is coming. But let me tell you, when you
answer questions that people areasking, when you meet a need,
people will get into the building.
Because let me tell you, one touch from heaven and they will
never be the same again #7 Here's another myth.
All growth is good growth. More people always means more
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health. We think that listen to this
carefully. Numerical growth without
spiritual maturity is not good growth.
Numerical growth without spiritual maturity is not good
growth. As I said before, this is a
super practical session. True growth includes depth and
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discipleship, not just attendance numbers.
We often say things like healthythings grow.
That's true, but but it's incomplete because unhealthy
things grow too. Cancer grows, toxic culture
grows, fat cells grow. Bitterness, gossip, division.
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Those things grow if they're unattended.
My advice would be to shift the narrative.
Don't just ask. Don't just ask.
Is it growing? Shift the narrative.
Ask the question, Is it healthy?Because health brings growth.
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Because if it is healthy, growthwill follow.
Listen to this carefully. You can manufacture crowds, but
you can't manufacture fruit. And if you want the fruit that
lasts, you've got to start with the soil.
And that's what visionary leadership is all about.
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Healthy churches grow, but not all growing churches are
healthy. Just because there is a large
crowd doesn't mean it's healthy.And here's what I've learned.
There's no perfect church. Not one.
Why? Because the moment we walk in,
it's no longer perfect. There's nobody in this room who
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is perfect. I'm not perfect.
You are not perfect. And sometimes people say our
church is full of hypocrites. Well, there's always room for
one more. Let me tell you, we are.
We are all imperfect people. And that's why Jesus said to
come and die who was a perfect savior.
There's no perfect church. They don't exist anywhere in the
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world. Every church, no matter how big
or small, has issues, blind spots and broken system.
Can I? I love church reels.
I mean, we produce church reels,Sunday highlights.
Nobody will ever put what happens behind the scenes.
We only put all the good things.But we don't just judge a church
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or what you see on the platform or what you see on social media.
Ask the question, this is bearing fruit.
Do we have members or do we havedisciples?
Do we have attendees or do we have disciples?
Because Jesus said go and make disciples and leaders who've
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been entrusted with the sacred responsibility to continually
make things better. We don't coast, we don't
plateau. We build, we grow, we adapt,
adapt. And I applaud you.
I honor you for being here this afternoon because you can never
have this mindset. We've arrived.
That's the most dangerous place for a leader to be because we
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should all be students of churchgrowth.
So church health begins with with the honesty of its leaders.
Look in the mirror. You know what got you here won't
get you there. What worked in the last season
may not serve the the next one. So here's my, so here's my next
myth #8 we have to be like that church.
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We have to be like that church. If we just copy with what's,
what's with the fastest growing church, what they are doing, you
know, we think we'll grow too. Listen, you can learn from
others. You can be inspired by others,
but you must lead authentically because when you stand before
your Creator, God's not going toask you, why weren't you like
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that church? He's going to ask you, what did
you do with what I gave you? You can be inspired by others.
He God blesses your unique vision.
Not imitation #9 we don't have the budget to grow.
And everyone said all the finance accountants are like
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Amen. No, I'm joking, we don't have
the budget to grow. Listen to this carefully.
Often we say we can't grow untilwe have more money, more staff,
or a bigger budget or a bigger building.
Listen closely. Growth isn't about budget.
It's about intentionality, stewardship, excellence.
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And listen to this very carefully.
Excellence is not about perfection.
Excellence honors God and it inspires people.
Excellence is giving your very best church.
Growth is about a mindset. The shoe cannot dictate how big
the foot can grow. Here's here's the other myth, My
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final myth about church growth #10 if we grow, we will lose our
family. Feel there's another lie,
another myth. People think, Oh my goodness,
people say things like if the church, you know, grows, it'll
ruin our closeness and sense of community.
Here's the truth. You can grow bigger and stay
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close by growing smaller at the same time through small groups,
through life groups, through connect groups.
Health and intimacy are not lostwith size.
They must be stewarded intentional with intentionality.
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Let's change gears. I heard a great leader once says
this. Often church leaders say why
does? Why is my church not growing?
Well, that's the wrong question.The correct question is what is
keeping my church from growing? Growth begins with finding your
current reality. Growth begins by getting clear
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on where you are. Have you ever been lost in a
shopping mall? Shares and I, we were in London
this weekend and and every time we got lost, we would go to the
map and there is a big red dot that says you are here.
You find a big map and you search for that red dot.
You are here in church leadership.
Let me tell you that red dot is critical.
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You can grow. If you don't know your starting
point, here is a leadership exercise I encourage you to do
with your team. Ask these four questions.
Here's the first one. Rather than done.
What's alive? What's alive in our church?
What is alive in our church? What's working, What's thriving?
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What's what? Where's the passion?
What's natural to us? What's the heartbeat of our
church? Where you can see the hand of
God, you can see the grace of God, Man, this is pumping.
You can see life. This is what's bringing the
growth in the love of our church.
So ask the question, what's alive?
Here's the second thing, what's dead or what's dying?
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Where are we manufacturing energy?
One way to work it out is have you ever been to gatherings?
You just look around and you're like, everybody's here because
they have to be here. And then like you look around
and you go, 99.9% of the people here in this room, that's like
your key staff and your volunteers.
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And we're like trying to keep this thing going because someone
started it in 1925 and, and you've got to keep it going.
And, and let me tell you, there's nothing wrong with it.
But there comes a point that some things are seasonal and
visionary leaders are bold enough to say, well, it's served
its purpose. Maybe we need to stop doing what
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we're doing. Maybe God is moving in a
different way. God's opening a new thing that
we need to embrace. What programs or ministries are
dragging? It's it's, it's, it's, it's
costing us momentum, costing life, costing energy.
What ministries have lost purpose and momentum?
Here's the third thing. What needs resurrection or who
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needs resurrection? That's a different topic.
Where do we need a fresh wind, arebrand, new leadership?
What needs revisioning? Restructuring or reigniting #4
what's missing? What's the new initiative, new
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team, or new direction that needs to be birthed?
Growth begins with clarity. Growth begins with clarity.
Visionary leaders ask the tough questions and clarity comes
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through honest questions. Clarity comes through courageous
conversations. In the time that we have
together, I'm going to take a few minutes just to talk about 7
essential ingredients. I don't, I don't.
I'm not saying these are the only seven, there are many, but
I want to touch on 7 things thatI really believe are so
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important for growing, healthy, thriving churches.
I want to be very clear. These are not the only seven.
There are many things, but I want to touch on these seven
things. He's the first one.
Write this down #1 leadership capacity.
Leadership capacity. Everything rises and falls on
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leadership. That's said by John Maxwell, but
listen to this carefully. But not just leadership
competence, but leadership capacity.
Can I say that one more time? It's not just leadership
competence, but leadership capacity.
Competence is skill, capacity isstamina.
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Competence is skill. Capacity is stamina.
What I'm trying to say is how many of us, we pray Lord send
the thousands and the thousands come and then you got to do 5
services and you're like, I'm tired.
You do 5 services on Sunday and Monday morning.
You want to quit ministry. You don't have the capacity for
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it. Capacity is recognizing how much
weight you can carry without collapsing.
In Exodus chapter 18, Jethro sees Moses trying to do
everything and he calls it out. Moses, what are you doing, man?
What are you doing? This is not good.
You're going to weigh yourself out, Jethro's wisdom.
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Find leaders of thousands, hundreds, 50s and 10s.
Some of you, you had the capacity for thousands.
Some of you your capacity is hundreds.
Some of you, your capacity is 50.
Some of you it's 10. Different leaders have different
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capacities, and that's OK. Ask yourself, what's my
emotional capacity? If I was leading a Church of
1000 people or 500 people, do I have the emotional capacity for
it? What's my relational capacity?
What's my strategic capacity? What's my risk taking capacity?
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What's my delegation capacity? See, all of us, we want our
churches to grow, but the reality is that you can't do
everything. You've got to stick to your
strengths and delegate your weaknesses.
We've got a large team. I have many weaknesses, so you
need a big team to delegate my weakness and my wife's agreeing
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with me there. For a second.
I thought, that's great. See if everything flows through
you, you are not leading your bottlenecking, if all roads lead
to you, to your desk as the senior pastor, as the senior
leader, growth will stop at the speed of your burnout.
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Leadership capacity expands whenwe empower others.
Some of you are a Manning and you say, yes, that's true
because I just realized all the senior pastors, they're at the
business meeting, aren't they? This is great.
This is therapeutic. How many of you you've got a
feeling like, Oh my goodness, the Lord is moving in this
place. Raise your hand or hands going
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up everywhere. It's the biggest altar call
they've ever had and you're all on camera.
Leadership capacity expands whenwe empower others.
Can I tell you if if, if this isnot just about senior pastors.
This is about every single person here in this room.
See, often we are insecure to release others because when we
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see people who are more gifted than us, we become threatened.
But God will trust you with greater leaders if you're good
at releasing them in their strengths.
Don't just do the ministry, equip others to do it better
than you. Assignment for today.
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What's the one thing you need tostart or what's the one thing
you need to stop doing in the next 24 hours in order to grow
your capacity? Many of us, many of us in this
room, we have A to do list. Who has A to do list?
Raise your hand. You have A to do list.
Everyday you have a list. How about we have a stop doing
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list? When I get back, I'm going to
stop doing some of these things because you know, guess what?
I've got a DAILY GUIDE. I've got to empower someone else
and release them in their gift, in their grace.
See, leaders don't just do everything.
Our role is to empower other people.
It's a number one leadership capacity #2A mobilized
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congregation. We need a mobilized church, not
just spectators, the local church.
Mobilized is the hope of the world.
We say, oh, the church is the hope of the world.
No, no, a mobilized church is the hope of the world.
We don't need more spectators, we need more soldiers.
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You can do more with 300 engageddisciples than 3000 disengaged
attendees. The church is not a show.
The church is not a cinema wherepeople come and and watch the
pastor, watch the worship team do everything and then we go, Oh
yeah, that was great. I'll be back next Sunday.
No, no, the church is the body of Christ.
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We are the body of Christ. And in a healthy body every part
functions. Ask, ask this question.
Are the people in our church, are they engaged or are they
just attending? Are they on fire for God or are
they just watching me burn? Discipleship is not a ministry,
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it's the mission. If we want cities transformed,
we need churches mobilized. Practical exercise.
I want you to work this out. Work this out as a team.
You'll need your database. You'll need your stats.
What percentage of your congregation is currently
serving? What percentage of your church
is involved in serving? Take the number of volunteers
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and divide it by your average Sunday attendance, and if the
number is greater than 7, that'san indicator your congregation
is not mobilized. So take your number of
volunteers who are involved in the life of your church and
divide that by your your averageSunday attendance and and if the
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number is greater than 7, that means your church is not
engaged. So you need to, you know, help
people discover the spiritual gifts and and help them get
involved in the life of your church.
That number will tell you more about your church health than
you think #3 effective systems. Vision without system is like
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fuel without an engine. You have passion, but no
movement. I heard a leader say this once.
The right system is the one thatworks.
Systems must serve the vision, not sabotage it.
Think about it. The human body is made-up of
systems. Creation is sustained by
systems. Even childbirth is a system God
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is a systems God. You can scale what you can't
scale what you don't systemize. So here's a question.
Do our system support our next level of growth?
See, all of us, we pray for revival.
I don't know where you're based.Let's say if you're based in
London and you're like God, bring all of London to our
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church this Sunday. Do you have the systems if they
all showed up at church on Sunday?
Do you have enough salvation packs?
Greeters, do you have enough seeds?
We pray for revival, but if the Lord answered our prayer, Are
you ready for it? See, often we have a mindset
that, oh, it's God's job to growthe church, But then we all, we
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think, well, he does everything and we just sit back.
No, no, no. Do you realize that He grows the
church through you? He grows the church through us.
Are we structured for addition or multiplication?
Are we still operating with old systems for a new season?
You can't put new wine in old wineskins.
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Show me your systems and I will show you your future.
And I love the story of these fishermen who went to fish and
then they've been fishing all night and, and it was an
unsuccessful fishing trip. They didn't catch any and, and
it's amazing, Jesus comes and hesays put the fishing Nets on the
other side. And I love where it says the
fishing Nets began to break. Do you realize the fishing Nets,
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you know, they, they represent our systems.
The strength of the net determines the size of the
catch. The strength of the net
determines the size of the catch.
Fishing Nets represents our systems.
Fishermen are mending their Netswhen they are not fishing.
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Guess what we do Monday to Saturday?
We are working on our systems, improving our systems.
Why? Because eternity matters most
when people come and, and when you do an altar call or
salvation call and you say, who,who wants to accept Jesus Christ
as the Lord and Savior? Do we have the systems to, to,
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to follow them up? And what do they do next?
Somebody puts their hand up or someone says, Hey, I want to do
something in the life of our church.
What are our systems? How do we, how do we grow
people? How do we disciple people?
What are our, what are our systems?
See the children of Israel, theywere going around in circles.
Did anyone say this at one point?
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This route looks familiar. We've been here before, this is
not working. But how many of us?
We keep doing the same thing. We can we car, but we don't stop
and ask ourselves the question, is this working?
This is producing fruit. What is keeping us from entering
our promised land #4 life givingSunday services, Life giving
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Sunday services. Why do I say life giving Sunday
services? Because I love that verse.
David said. I was glad when they said to me,
let us go to the House of the Lord.
David didn't say I was sad, I was mad.
No, no, he said I was glad when they said to me, let us go to
the House of the Lord. Your Sunday service is the front
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door to your church, and for many people it's the only
exposure exposure they'll have to the gospel that week.
Every Sunday matters because youhave no idea who the Lord is
going to bring that Sunday. We can't be like, oh, it's a
holiday weekend. Do you realize that God also
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moves in holiday weekends? We somehow say sometimes, oh,
you know, everyone's away and you know, we'll be OK.
No, no, every Sunday matters. Every Sunday matters.
We only have 52 Sundays here andevery single one of them matter
to God. We have no idea who is going to,
you know, walk in through our front doors.
Listen closely. People won't bring their unsaved
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friends to something they are not sure about.
But if they know it's going to be powerful, relevant,
welcoming, life giving, transforming, they will invite
boldly. I want to lead a church where
people are like, man, I'm bringing my family, I'm bringing
my unsafe workmates. I'm bringing people because I
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know when they walk in, something's going to happen in
their lives. You don't need fog machines, You
don't need LED screens to do Sundays well.
You just need focus, intentionality, and a heart that
burns for people to meet Jesus. When someone walks in, can they
feel something in the atmosphere?
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Is there warmth? Is there welcome?
Is there? Is there expectation?
Can I tell you teach your church, The best thing you can
bring to to bring to a church service on a Sunday is
expectation. God moves when there's faith in
the room. People aren't looking for
perfection. They are looking for
authenticity, love, and the presence of God.
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Every Sunday I pray God, you know whatever we do, we need the
presence of God. Why without a without his
presence, we're just a club thatmeets on a Sunday.
Prepare with the guest in mind. Think about that first time
guest. Think about that unchurched
person, the single parent, the business leader, the lonely
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senior. They're all walking through your
doors. We cannot afford to waste a
Sunday. We can't afford to just go
through the through the motions every Sunday as someone's 1st
Sunday and possibly someone's last chance.
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Think about that. You want to build a growing
church? Build a church that lives and
breathes Sundays and does Sundays really well.
Not a show, but a divine appointment.
An opportunity for salvation, healing, deliverance, hope, and
restoration. Let me say this clearly.
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People will go where they're being fed, where they're being
led, and where they're being loved.
If Sundays aren't strong, nothing else you do will flow.
So ask yourself, I'll be planning Sundays with
intentionality. Are we evaluating and improving
every week? Are we praying over every seed,
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every soul who will walk throughthose doors?
Are we raising the bar of excellence not for show, but for
souls? If we win the sun, if we, let me
tell you, if you win Sundays, guess what?
You'll win the city, you'll win your community.
Word will get out. They'll be like, man, you've got
to go to that church. You've got to go to that place.
All right, now, if that leads toour fifth element that I want to
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touch on #5 authentic relationships.
Authentic relationships. One of the main reasons people
leave churches is in theology. It's not the worship style, it's
not the preaching. It's because they don't feel
connected. I have often heard people say
things like I just didn't feel like I belonged.
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Sometimes people say, oh, I justwent there.
No one, no one spoke to me. Have you ever noticed a first
time guest standing in the foyerof the church?
Everyone else is talking to eachother and you get you can spot
that first time guest. Actually, here's a question to
ask. Is our church friendly?
We pray for revival, but I'll bea friendly bunch.
Are we? Are we ready for people who will
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not sound like us? They won't dress like us, they
won't look like us, but guess what?
Jesus died for everybody. Here's we say things like come
as you are, but then when they come as they are, then they were
like, that's wrong. You can't do that.
You can't say this man church ismessy, messy.
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But guess what? That's what discipleship is all
about. That's what discipleship is all
about. So we underestimate how
important connection is to retention.
If people don't build a relationship within the first
three weeks, we've probably lostthem.
You can preach like TD Jakes. You can sound amazing on stage
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as a worships leader and you're going to have the greatest
facilities. You can run an excellent
service. But if people don't connect with
someone, they drift. Let's break it down.
Most people spend 90 minutes at church on a Sunday.
That's 1.5 hours out of 100 and 868 hours in a week.
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That leaves 166 point .5 hours where life happens, where
questions come, where battles afford, where people are looking
for someone to walk with them. The real question is who's
walking with them in the 166.5 hours?
Who's there with them? Because that's where church
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becomes family. We don't just need greeters, we
need connectors. Jake, a greeter is like, hello,
welcome to church. Here's your newsletter.
See you later. Now train your greeters to
become connectors. Look for the individual.
See, walk slowly through the crowd.
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And I love this about Jesus. You know, he's in a large crowd
packed with people. And he says, who touched me?
He looked for the blind man. He heard the cry of the blind
man. Can I encourage every single
person? Don't.
Do you realize that we are all on the greeting team?
We are all on the worship team. We're all on the greeting team.
People who are wired to notice, to include, to invite.
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Put them on the guest team. Empower those connectors.
Train them. Their role is not a task, it's a
mission. Make sure no one stands alone.
We need to build multiple layersof connection, from Sunday
services to small groups, from life groups to serve teams.
People need places to be known and needed.
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Jesus didn't say they will know you by my disciples, by your
doctrine, even though doctrine is important.
He said your love for one another, for one another will
prove to the whole world you're my disciples.
Can I tell you that's not just anice quote?
That's that's where we build culture.
So the question is, when people walk into our churches, do they
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see that kind of love? Do they feel that kind of
connection? Do they experience a church that
feels more like a family rather than a crowd?
Here's the truth. People don't care how much you
know until they know how much you care.
You don't need to be an extroverted to care.
You just need to be intentional.Can I encourage every single
person? And it's like, look, I'm not
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criticizing green rooms or anything like that, but listen,
you've got Monday to Saturday tobe in the green room on a
Sunday, be in the foyer, be in the FOIA, be with the people, be
with the people. Can I encourage you?
We need a culture. The gap between the pulpit and
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the congregation is smaller. If you're a pastor, you just
appear 2 minutes before the 1st song and then you disappear.
Guess what? That's the culture you will
create in your church. Because culture is not just
taught. Culture is caught.
People are going to model. What you do, so every single
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person here in this room, can I encourage you, whether you are
rostered to be a greeter or you're in the congregation, can
I encourage you to be that person that connects with
people? It's not about crowds, it's
about the individual, the power of the one number number, number
number six, just checking on you, Targeted evangelism.
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Let's talk about targeted evangelism.
What do I mean by that? It means we don't just share the
gospel randomly. We do it intentional,
intentionally. We become students of our cities
and communities so we can serve them well.
We don't understand. If we don't understand the
people we're trying to reach, we'll end up answering questions
that no one is asking. Ask us, Ask yourself this
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question, who lives in my city? Who lives in my community?
We we live in our capital city. Every week I take time to just
to go for a walk around the citybecause I want to know what's
happening in the city. I don't want to just stay inside
the four walls of our church building.
We're surrounded by cafes, we are surrounded by universities,
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we are surrounded by build apartment buildings.
I want to know who lives in the city.
What are they struggling with? What are their real needs?
What are their hopes, their hurts, their Hangouts?
See, we live in capital city where we've got the parliament,
we've got the politicians, we'vegot business professionals,
we've got families, we've got university students, and just
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around the corner there's homelessness.
I want to see a church that reflects the diversity of our
city. Our church, our Sundays, our
congregation should look like our city.
Others. I don't want people to come in
on a Sunday and go. Who are these people?
Where are they from? They'd loose You look like our
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city. When I when I look out on a
Sunday morning, I want to see people in our pews.
I'm like that looks like our city.
That looks like your community. We've got to be intentional.
That's why you know, for us, it's so, so important as a
leader to to go into your city, into your community, to your
town, your region, wherever. Call this place you, be a
student, say Lord, give me eyes to see.
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Give me eyes to see what's happening currently.
You will never know what God will show you.
And you'll be like, my goodness,I never knew this was happening.
This is a need. This is the currently.
That's visionary leadership #7 empowering culture, empowering
culture. Everything has a culture.
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Your home, your team, your church, your marriage.
You carry culture. The question isn't do you have
culture? The question is what kind of
culture are you building? Culture is this is how we do
things around here. So as the leader, you said the
tone, you, you don't, if you don't define your culture, guess
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what? Someone else will create the
culture of your church. And most of the time I have
found that it's the wrong people.
And, and if I don't set the culture, if I don't set it,
someone else will set it for me.Let's be let's be a church.
Let's be a movement that createsan empowering culture, a culture
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where people are built up, a culture where leaders are
raised, a culture where everyoneis released to play their part.
Lena and Mark talked about it today.
Let's raise hero makers. Not just heroes.
Let's raise disciple makers. Teach your church how to make
disciples. See, there's a leadership
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shortage in the church worldwide.
But leadership development doesn't happen by accident.
It's intentional. We need to shift from just
building followers to building leaders, from just recruiting
people to releasing them. Let's be known as a people that
carries the mantle of multiplying leaders, 'cause I'm
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like God, give me a multiplication anointing.
See where every person is being trained and and and and and and
disciple by someone. Remember this leaders on born.
They are developed. Leaders aren't born.
They are developed, their core shape, trusted, trained and
trusted. We need to think generationally.
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Guess why? Because that's called legacy.
All of us here in this room, oneday we have to pass on the
leadership bet on and you will leave one of two things, either
a legacy or a vacancy. Legacy or vacancy, and that's
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why all of us are called to raise up leaders, raise up sons
and daughters who will do greater things than us.
And bringing this to a close, I want to read first Corinthians 3
chapter, chapter 3, verse 67. It says I planted Apollo's
watered, but God gave the growth.
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We still have to do the planting, we still have to do
the watering, we still have to prepare the soil.
Prayer is absolutely powerful. It's essential.
But prayer alone is not a substitution for action.
It's not a substitute for action.
We can't just sit back and say, oh, Gods going to do the growth
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and and we're waiting on God. No, no, God is waiting on us.
And when we move, when we step hard, when we show up, God does
what only He can do. So my encouragement to all of us
today is to stay on missions, keep reaching, keep building,
keep dreaming, keep growing, because as long as heaven and
hell are real, they've got work to do.
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Jesus said I will build my church.
Church growth isn't a mystery. It's not just something that
happens if we pray hard enough or wait long enough.
No, church growth is intentionaland God is looking to you.
He's looking to you. Say he's saying you're my man,
you're my, you're my, you're my woman, you're my, you're my
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candidate, you're the person. He's the truth.
It doesn't off rise and fall on one person.
It's not just the pastor's job, it's not just the worship
leaders job. It's not just the outreach team
or the missions or the evangelism department.
It's everyone's responsibility. I want to take a moment just to
(46:57):
pray for all of us here in this room.
And if you're here today and you're like, boy, I need that
anointing to say, Lord, whateverit takes, whatever it takes, I
want to see my city. I want to see my community.
I want to see families, whereverGod has placed you.
If you're saying God, I need that anointing to make
(47:18):
disciples. I want that vision to keep
going. I want you to stand to your
feet. I'd love to love to pray for
you. I want you to take a few
moments. Would you mind just lifting your
hands to the heavens? And if you're standing and say,
God, use me, use my hands, use my feet.
Lord, I give you whatever I had.It takes all of us to build
God's, God's church, his Kingdomall across this room.
(47:41):
I want you to lift your voices for a moment and if you speak in
that heavenly language, I know we've got a few minutes.
I want you to take a few momentsas to say, Lord, Lord, let that
anointing. Lord, I pray for a
multiplication anointing in thisroom right now in the mighty
name of Jesus. God, give us eyes to see.
Lord, I pray for vision here in this room, Lord, be there is
(48:02):
like some sort of plateau or decline or loss of momentum or
vision. Lord, we speak life in the name
Jesus. Come on.
If you speak that language, I want you to go louder than the
band, louder than my microphone.I want you to, you know, reach
out to heaven from the front to the back, lift to the right.
I really. There is an anointing that is
falling into this room right now.
(48:23):
Karia, Mama. Mama.
Seriya lala Ba ba ba sora Dara. Come on, Lift your voices.
That's it. Come on.
Yes. I really believe this is a
significant moment, Laura. Perfect.
Pray for every single person here in this place.
Got to pray for every worship leader, every children's pastor,
youth pastor, God, every greeter, every car park
(48:46):
attendant. Lord, I pray for a fresh touch
from heaven and the name of Jesus.
Heaven come down in the name of Jesus.
Lord is not looking for titles. He's looking for availability.
He's looking for faith. God is certain of people in this
room. Lift up your eyes, lift up your
eyes, lift up your eyes. Lord, help us to see that
(49:09):
individual. Help us to look for that one
person who needs encouragement. Lord, I pray for anybody who
hasn't been attending church fora while.
Lord put their names on our hearts.
Help us to just before the end of the day, send them a text and
say, thinking of you, give them a phone call.
Help us to be good shepherds in the name of Jesus, spirit of the
(49:30):
living God. Lord, I pray for the fresh full
of fresh, full of fresh. Lord, I pray from multiplication
anointing over your people, overyour church in the name of
Jesus. Lord, I pray in the name of
Jesus, we come against every work of the enemy, every work of
the enemy. There are people in this room.
God is saying, I want you to raise your expectation.
(49:53):
You'd ask God for your city. Ask God for your city, Lord,
enlarge our territory. Some of you, you need to go to
multiple services in the name ofJesus.
Lord, increase our leadership capacity and the name of Jesus.
Come on few more seconds, few more seconds, keep keep pressing
it. And the name of Jesus prayer of
the living God raise our expectation right now Lord,
(50:16):
anything is possible when there's faith in this room right
now in the name of Jesus got to pray for more baptisms.
And the name of Jesus Lord of pray there's lost people will
come and the Lord we come against every barrier and the
name of cheese we break it. We come against it.
And the name of Jesus. Lord, we declare that our
(50:36):
churches will be places, House of miracles, House of
breakthrough and the name of Jesus, that people will come,
they'll find hope, they'll find Jesus.
Lives will be transformed. Lord, we don't mind just
attendees. Lord, we pray for people to to
encounter you, encounter you where marriages are restored,
(50:57):
families are reconciled. In the name of Jesus, we thank
you, we honour you. God, we receive your presence.
God, we thank you for every person here in this room, all my
time, everybody all across this room.
Would you lift your hands to theheavens, The Lord?
Ioffer my life to you. Ioffer my life to you.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh all across this room.
(51:20):
God, I pray for fresh vision. Fresh vision.
Doesn't matter how old you are, doesn't matter what your
qualification is. God, we thank you that you're
building your church, and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it until we stand beforeour Creator.
Hear those words. Well done, my good and faithful
(51:42):
servant. God, we're going to keep going.
We're going to keep going. We're going to see Europe safe
for Jesus, Asia, Africa, all around the world.
Got to pray. Lord, we pray.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Jesus, we give you all the glory, all the honor and praise.
If you believe that, would you give him a mighty shot of praise
in Jesus name? Amen.
(52:03):
Amen. Thank you.
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