We talked to Karl Vaters from NewSmallChurch.com about his blog post titled, It's Time For Small Churches To Become Great Churches. So many pastors, and even church members, intuitively think that if a church is small, it simply cannot be "great". They assume that there are no great small churches.
Do you think that's true? Do you pastor a small church? Is it a great church? Or, are you absolutely too humble to ever claim that your small church is a great church?! Pastor, when others ask you about the people in your church, does the word "great" ever slip through your lips? It does?! Well then, that settles it, you CAN have a great small church! We say it over and over, we have great people in our church! We can then go on to describe our leadership, then those who serve in our ministries, those who have been around for decades, some who have been around for just a few months or years and have made a huge difference, etc. We think that the people in your church would love to be members of a great church - without needing to attend a megachurch to do it. They should be able to know that their small church can do great things for God and be a great church. Again pastor, it's about self-esteem, perception, and perspective. Who does Jesus say you are? How does the Word of God describe your people? Who indwells the people in your 200church? That's right, Jesus says you're his friends, the Word of God describes your church family as righteous children of the living God, and the Holy Spirit of God indwells every single believer who worships within your walls. THAT, my friends, is a GREAT CHURCH! We hope that you are encouraged to pastor a great small church. Any church, gathering to worship the Living God, and his Son, our Lord Jesus, in the power of the Spirit - should use no less descriptive a word! It's all about how you view yourself, and how you understand God's view of you. Enjoy episode 85 of the 200churches Podcast! BONUS FUN Every once in a while, size is important - like this pizza slice from Two Ton Tony's Pizzeria in New York. While on vacation this month, Jeff took his son and his nephews for lunch - it was reported to be both huge, and delicious!
Today's podcast episode is so practical, anyone can do this! Do you ever struggle with priorities and knowing what to do next? Ever wonder why your day happens to you, and you don't happen to your day, first?! Today's episode is for you.
Dave Jacobs, the coach to small church pastors, lays out in simple detail how to set priorities and approach your schedule for any given day or week. He provides us with the four foundational priorities we should set just as people, and then his five essentials that every small church pastor should plan around.
In our conversation with Dave, we talked about what our essential focuses should be as pastors. But before he even got to the essential focuses, Dave outlined how we as pastors must prioritize our lives:
Four Foundational Priorities:
Once you have your priorities in order, it's time to focus in on your essential responsibilities. Dave laid out 5 essential areas where we as pastors should be focusing our time and energies: The Five Essentials:
So, how are you doing with focus? Are you scattered all over the place? Can't seem to put first things first and order your schedule well? Step one is checking your priorities. Step two is trimming away the extra "stuff" from your list of responsibilities. And if all else fails (or if you just need a little more help) step 3 is CALL DAVE! We promise, you won't regret it. Don’t you just get the shivers up your spine when you hear a conference or seminar speaker mention the words “time management” or “focus” or “priorities”? Oooooh, I love to hate them so much! We in the western world certainly fixate on time, productivity, and effectiveness. Sometimes it would just be nice to live in one of those cultures where clocks don’t matter, and relationships way trump tasks and productivity. What did you say... that’s what heaven is going to be like? Oh, good! Because from the time we are children, we are taught, however unwittingly, that the clock rules our lives! Cultures in Africa and South America, among others, do not share our American values of profit, time management, effectiveness, efficiency, task orientation, and productivity. Other things like, relationships, relaxation, appreciation of nature and life, and oh, sleep, are much more important. They value conversation, presence, an afternoon nap, procrastination, and doing things well rather than quickly.
The increased opportunities to travel in the 20th century brought situations where two groups of people found themselves in the same space trying to communicate about possible joint ventures, only to leave frustrated and confused, unable to get their points across, or to understand the other group. The problem? They were unaware that cultural differences prevented understanding. So, when it comes to us small church pastor types, how are we to understand time management, focus, and priorities in our lives and ministries? Do we follow our American culture, or the Bible? I mean, if you’re a good American, you’ll immediately understand that there would be no difference… of course. American culture, especially small church pastor American culture, would mirror the culture and values of the Bible! (you can see my tongue in my cheek, right?) There are myriad books on Amazon and in your local brick and mortar bookstore on time management, self help, life plan, etc. But we’d like to offer an additional resource to you – this week’s podcast episode #68! On Wednesday we’ll talk with the man who coaches pastors of small churches, Dave Jacobs, about establishing priorities, limiting our focus, managing our time, and putting first things first in our lives and ministries. How should we think about these things? Wouldn’t these things look different for a pastor of one hundred people than they would for a pastor of a thousand? What if I’m a bi-vocational pastor, how should I think about my time? Here’s my favorite question: How about I just drive myself absolutely insane by constantly second guessing my time management decisions and continually feeling discontent with how well I am managing my life and ministry?! I mean, there’s always going to be a better way, right? As Jonny would say, “Tune in” this week to the 200churches Podcast, episode #68, and just relax with us for a while, and let us encourage you in your pastoral ministry. A new episode is released every single Wednesday at 12:00am. (That would be midnight on Tuesday, for you normal people) This week our goal is to encourage you in your approach to focus, priorities, and time. Finally, remember what Jesus said to us, "Come to me..." |
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