The term vision is thrown around alot both in the church world, and in leadership in general, but how exactly do you use it? We've talked about what vision is and how to craft it, but this episode is all about how you use vision: the power of it, what paradigm we use at Mercy Hill, and in practice - how do you actually implement a vision?

Todd Unzicker, the Executive Director-Treasurer of NC Baptist, joins Pastor Andrew to discuss Breaking Barriers, church growth, and going on mission.

In Episode 26, we talked about the weekly meeting that we have each week at Mercy Hill called "Sermon Planning" where that community helps to make the sermon better. In this episode, we're talking about the flip side of that coin and how Sermon Planning helps to develop pastors in your church!

*We typically release our podcasts as video podcasts, but due to some technical failures, Episodes 26 and 27 will be audio-only. We look forward to releasing video episodes again starting with Episode 28.

Apart from good theology, this one thing will make your sermons better. Pastor Andrew and Pastor Jonathan dive into this critical meeting called "Sermon Planning," which we have each week at Mercy Hill. Consider adding this meeting to your sermon-prep arsenal each week.

*We typically release our podcasts as video podcasts, but due to some technical failures, Episodes 26 and 27 will be audio-only. We look forward to releasing video episodes again starting with Episode 28.

We did a Zoom seminar a while back where we discussed first-time guests and how to turn them into second-time guests and, eventually, disciples. People often get confused around the lead and lag measures when it comes to first-time guests because they feel like it is 'icky'. We want to see baptisms, people sent out, people hearing the gospel for the first time, and lives being changed. The problem is that the lead measures that lead to those outcomes hinge on people coming to the church for the first time! In this podcast, Pastor Andrew and Pastor Bobby dive into what that looks like at Mercy Hill and how people move through our flywheel of growth.

If you haven't listened to Part 1 (Are "Spontaneous" Baptisms Biblical?), give that a listen, where Andrew lays out the Biblical lineage of people getting saved in the book of Acts. This episode is all about the practical side. The nuts and bolts on how to pull off same-day baptisms.

Join us at the Breaking Barriers Conference on September 17+18, where we'll be diving into the practical nuts and bolts of ministry, sending, and church growth. Find out more and register today: ⁠https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference

Should you require a 6 month waiting period for someone to get Baptized? A Baptism class? Is Baptism a proof of commitment or a promise of commitment? Well, what does the Biblical record say? What does the book of Acts look like in terms of people getting baptized? In this episode, Pastor Andrew looks at all of the accounts of baptism in the book of Acts for what the Scriptural record looks like.

Join us at the Breaking Barriers Conference on September 17+18 where we'll be diving in to the practical nuts an bolts of ministry, sending, and church growth. Find out more and register today: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference

Some churches may be great at execution but not so great at vision, while others are super visionary, but they struggle with the day-to-day execution of that vision. We will all probably lean one way or the other, but we should always be striving to be both!

People might not be getting connected to your church because they might be confused. Making this one shift could help you see more people that come to your church... stick.

Join us for our 2024 Breaking Barriers Conference:

https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference/

Most people think that generosity in the life of a Christian is a product of discipleship. This is not necessarily untrue, but we believe that generosity is not just a product of discipleship, but it is also a pathway to discipleship. Just look at the life and ministry of Jesus! Why is it that Jesus talked more about money than any other spiritual discipline in his parables, and in his general discourse? Because money is one of the things that gets our heart stirred up the most. In this episode, we dive into shifting our mindset to discipleship as both a pathway to and a product of discipleship.