Episode 57 - Your Church IS Big Enough!

What a great conversation we had with Karl "The Shark" Vaters today - and you get to listen to it on this, episode 57, of the 200churches Podcast! The message of this episode is that your church IS big enough - it really IS!! And as God allows us to reach more and more people in our communities, our church will always be big enough. As I type out this blog post, I am listening to the final cut of the podcast, and laughing. Karl is a riot, and we have a blast with him!

This episode is based on Karl's blogpost titled by the same name - Your Church IS Big Enough at his website, which you should visit and subscribe to: www.NewSmallChurch.com.

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used with permission from Manfred Schweda www.thisfabtrek.com

Karl makes the distinction between being satisfied and being content. Are we satisfied with how big our churches are? I'm not. I'm not satisfied because there are still people in my community on the outside looking in. They are not a part of the Kingdom, and they are separated from Christ. So, I will never be satisfied, we must keep reaching people as the Spirit and the Savior use us in their lives. But, I am content with my church, because today, my church is big enough.

Whenever we talk about the value of a 200church, a small church, I am always sensitive that we don't mistakenly come across as being critical of large churches and mega churches. Again, to be clear, we LOVE large churches and we LOVE mega churches. The truth is, we simply LOVE churches - they are the Bride of Christ, His Body. 

But our passion at 200churches.com is to encourage pastors of small churches so that they don't view themselves as less, simply because they have fewer people. Our mission is to elevate, affirm, and appreciate the pastors, the men and women, who lead our small congregations. So enjoy this episode - it was a really fun one to produce!

Finally, before we give you the links to Karl Vaters' stuff... we want to encourage you to share the podcast with every small church pastor you know. So many men and women are out there serving in small churches who are lonely, discouraged, and feeling like failures. Our prayer is that this podcast will lift their spirits, lighten their load, and let them laugh! So whether it's through Facebook, Twitter, or even Pinterest - spread it around!

Karl Vaters is the pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California. He's the author of the recently published The Grasshopper Myth and founder of NewSmallChurch.com, a site dedicated to encouraging, connecting and equipping innovative small church pastors. Karl is a rabid defender of small churches and has a passion for resourcing the often-overlooked pastors of those churches. You can follow Karl on Twitter: @KarlVaters.