6.The best growing churches in the world have solid Biblical preaching at their core. These churches do not water down the Gospel so much that you cannot see the lifted cross! They do not overemphasize the seeker and ignore discipleship!

7.Real, heartfelt, God exalting adoration must be the focus of the worship service. It must never lift up the leaders or be a performance to entertain. It is God who is the audience and we are the people who are to praise and glorify Him! We are still to make our services friendly and innovative, as there is noting wrong with plays and contemporary themes as long as the service glories Christ and is not a medium just to entertain the people. Remember, the congregation is the performer, the worship team is the leader, and God is the audience! Don't mix these up! This is where all of the church growth and spiritual growth principles come to their focal point--the reason for discipleship, and maturity. All that we do in the church--from faith, fellowship, and outreach to facilities--come to this point and reason: TO WORSHIP CHRIST! (Psalm 138:1-4)

8.You must have a well thought out, empowered vision and mission statement with a clearly defined purpose, and strategies on what God has called you to do and be. It must be real and authentic, and you must be willing to act on it. It is one thing to write it out, but another thing to act it out (see the article on Preparing the Pastor and Church Leadership to Grow)!! (Hebrews 11:1-2)

9.Teach and model passionate spirituality. The Christian life is not meant to be dry and mundane. Even the Puritans were vibrant, just read their writings! Your job is to convince the people in your church to grow beyond just doing their duty to achieving spiritual passion and conviction. (Phil. 3:7-11)

10. The training, discipline, recognition, and encouragement of the church are critical roles for the pastor. If the senior pastor feels he does not have the gifts and abilities to equip and train others to do ministry, then he needs to build a team around him that does! If the training is not done, the church will fail! Some pastors are great teachers, but cannot do anything else. A pastor must operate in his gifted area, and encourage others who will compensate for him in the areas where he is weak. He must always strive to give support and to do the rest of these bullet points! (Romans 7:4-6; 1 Corinthians 10:14-16; 12; Ephesians 4:9-16)

11. Have a system of pastoral care to train your staff and leaders to immediately respond when they hear of a church member, especially another leader (most churches neglect their leaders, thinking they are OK and do not need anything!) or someone in their family with a pastoral need or emergency. Assign a key person to be in change by 24-hour shifts. Have a contact list and trained deacons or care workers to be ready to act when the need arises. No one is self-maintaining. We all need support and care! Make sure you have caring people to be there in a timely manner! (1 Corinthians 13:1-8; Colossians 4:5; 1 Timothy 3:14-15; Hebrews 12:14-15)

12. Confront sin, evil, and heresy in the church immediately! The leadership must put down conflict quickly, whether it involves political agendas, the color of the carpet, how to say an offertory prayer, what songs to sing, or who is to be in leadership. The church must move in purpose and unity. This is tough, but possible! (Philippians 2:14)

13. The church must be willing to spend at least one-third of its resources of time, talent, and money in outreach and missions. (Psalm 90:1-2)

14. Political agendas that are contrary to God's Word and Will are the second biggest disruption to the church! (John 13:35)

15. The church should strive to be effective. The best way to do this is by following the precepts of Scripture. We can organize the church by mobilizing the people according to their Spiritual Gifts! So few churches do this, even though it is so Scripturally clear! (Romans 12)

16. The church can achieve the extraordinary when the people serve in their area of their giftedness in a team manner. The quarrels and apathy will dry up as the energies are redirected and channeled in a Godly way. People will function less in their own strength and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12-14)

17. Good Biblical teaching and preaching will provide the Holy Spirit with fuel that energizes people and facilitates growth. The biggest growing churches are the ones who preach the Word with power, conviction, and in truth, such as Calvary Chapel (Acts 2:17-39)!

18. The leadership must have a real genuine sense and modeling of being Christ's servant, and the people in their care as His children. This is Servant Leadership Development. (Galatians 2:20-21; Ephesians 4:11-13)

19. Leaders of growing churches empower the people in their care. They do not see or use volunteers just as helpers, but as the tools and the prime resources with which to glorify God, and enablers of the goals of missions and needs to be reached. They do this by encouragement, training, and organization, all centered to have the people of God growing in and receiving the Spirit in order to reach the full potential that God has for them. If a pastor, coach, or key supervisor gives special recognition and encouragement even once, that leader and/or volunteer will usually remain very faithful and loyal to the church! (Romans 12; John 4:23; Colossians 1:24-29; 1 Timothy 4:15-16)

20. The leadership must be able to steer the church through rough white waters! (See our articles on Conflict Resolution, Gossip, and Hypocrisy, and Matthew 18)

21. The best plans and calls of the Lord will stall out due to conflict! God's voice is the first one muted--read the book of Amos! The Holy Spirit cannot work effectively when ill will and ill desires are running the roost. You must drop to your collective knees and pray for revival. That will work! However, church growth, spiritual or numerical, will never work in an atmosphere of conflict! (Philippians 1:6-8)

22. The best way to deal with conflict is to combat it through love. When people know that you love them and will listen to them, it is difficult for them to be mad. Love, indeed, covers a multitude of sins! (Proverbs 10:12 1 Peter 4:8)

23. Warning: do not agree when you do not! (Proverbs 9:8; 17:27-28; 26:20; 3 John 9-12)

24. Be careful about taking on too many negative people! Spread the load out. Delegate. There is only so much you can take, so guard your own heart too! (Proverbs 4:23)

25. If you want people to like you, then be nice to them! Interesting people are interesting because they are interested in others! People like people who like them, so be kind, thoughtful, listen, be polite, and do not forget to smile. Make sure you are real, for if you are not, then you are in the wrong position or profession! You must enjoy people and be interested in them to be a good leader or pastor. Being prideful and/or obnoxious only serves Satan! (James 1:2; Colossians 3:13)

26. Sometimes people just will not like you if you are modeling Christ, and some do not like to be led to Scriptural principles. These people are happy in their will and desires, and will not like the Fruits of the Spirit working around them. They are the weeds in the wheat. Let those people go, and focus on the ones whose hearts are after His! (Romans 16:17-18; Galatians 1:10; Titus 3:9-11)

27. Listening, without arguing or defending yourself, is extremely important! This requires prayer and self-discipline. If you cannot do it, you may be in the wrong profession. Have someone do it, just get it done! Your task is not to persuade people to accept your view, but to communicate Biblical precepts and get them to catch it! You are to make them feel heard. When they feel they are listened to, then their defenses will come down and relationships can be built. Then it will be a pleasure to lead them. They will respect and love you more, and will be more likely to be led by your goals. (Romans 8:31; Ephesians 4:25-29; James 3:1-12)

28. If, and when you use surveys, make sure you are determining between perceived felt needs versus real needs and what God is calling you to! Otherwise, you will take your church down a rabbit trail away from God's call! (Ephesians 5:8-21)

29. A leader must be willing to make improvements and change, even if it steps on the toes of others, but stay firm and be uncompromising to the Word. At the same time, allow people to be in the process with a listening ear, so they can catch the new direction and take ownership of it. (Colossians 4:7-8; Philippians 4:8-9)

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