GROWTH BITES
BY ART HODGES III

10 COMMANDMENTS OF COMMUNICATION:

1) Believe What You Say. To share a message that moves people, share one that moves you.
2) Believe That People Can Change. Expect your message to change lives.
3) Live What You Say. If you don’t live it, your listeners won’t either.
4) Know When To Say It. Results often come from timing, not content.
5) Know How To Say It. Avoid being predictable. Use all the tools you can to make the message interesting and memorable
6) Know Why To Say It. Demand action. Always require a response to the message.
7) Have Fun Saying It. Smile… Smile… Smile
8) Show It As You Say It. Paint word pictures, use visuals, body language, gestures.
9) Say It So People Can Own It. The shoe needs to fit so the audience can wear it
10) Say It So People Will Do It. The only excuse for any activity is results.

MUSHROOM OR OAK TREE?

God takes six hours to grow a mushroom; but spends sixty years growing an oak tree.
One demonstrates dramatic, but brief existence. The other speaks of permanent growth.
What kind of church are you growing?
To engender lasting church growth, strive for progress rather than perfection.
The Japanese call it “kaizen”, which means small, incremental improvement on a daily basis.
One CEO was asked how they achieved 1,000% production increase in one year.
He answered, “There is no single area where we improved 1,000%; but, we found 1,000 ways to improve 1%.”
The Bible says, “Here a little, there a little…”

5 TYPES OF GOALS

1) Improvement Goals
Focus on doing better. Purpose = prevent complacency.

2) Fixed Target Goals
Purpose =
Meet numbers
Exceed numbers
Far exceed numbers

3) Continuing Challenge Goals
Can be achieved, but difficult to sustain. Purpose = sustain drive.

4) Moving Target Goals
Aimed for, but never reached. Purpose = keep fire in people’s belly.

5) Higher Purpose Goals
Bigger than individuals or organizations. Purpose = connect with what people truly value.

“What really attracts large numbers of unchurched to a church is changed lives!”

Growth Bites” provided by Church Growth Dept., Home Missions. U.P.C.I.

THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY GLEANER, PAGE 5, APRIL, MAY, JUNE, 1998. THIS MATERIAAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.