pushing through another growth barrier

For all those interested in the church planting side of this blog, I have to give God "mad props" (or Praise) for what HE has done. As a church we just crested the 300 barrier on a non-holiday Sunday. In my head, here are some of the reasons of the "why" and the "how."
- DISCLAIMER - I only on rare occasion ever talk numbers. I believe we as the church focus too much on BIG and not HEALTH. HEALTH is our focus and goal. Numbers are only 1 gauge out of many.

1. God's favor - Nothing, and I mean nothing compares to this.
2. Gary Fowler - An incredible leader that knows his role in the body of Christ. Gary is my right hand (more like both hands) as C3's #2 guy. We will both do so much more by working together, then either of us would a part. He is truly defying the myth that success in the ministry is being the "Senior" pastor.
3. Outwardly focused - God is giving us an incredible reputation as the "church always doing something free for the community." I'll take it.
4. Our Team - Both paid staff and unpaid volunteers, we have some amazing people who strive for excellence in their serving God. There are also opportunities to serve that are freely available for new people to be trained and jump on the team.
5. A plan - We have a clear plan (putting the finishing touches on it now) to move people in their spiritual discipleship. Also, we know why we are here and what we are to be doing.
6. Working in our strengths - Our key leaders are very intentional about doing what ONLY THEY CAN DO. This is a continual process that requires giving away power and always recruiting and training others.
7. Proactive rather than reactive - We have done our best Not to waste all of our time on petty small fires, but rather look ahead and deal with the root issues rather than the symptoms. Realizing that any conflict or issues can be used by our enemy to hinder C3, we have chosen to RUN at issues and deal with them quickly.
8. Hunger to grow - As myself and our leaders grow, so grows the church. Read, Listen, Pray, Pray, Pray and one more, Pray.
9. Playing to our strengths - We have several of our staff and leaders who know how to organize big events with excellence. (The State Youth Dir. position helped out a lot...ha) So we have done big events aimed at culture of our community. At our events, Jesus is not preached, but lived out........it seems to be working.
10. Did I mention prayer? - One word about prayer.......FOUNDATIONAL!

I hope you glean something from this.