How Much Does Momentum Cost and Is It Worth It To You?
How do you know if something has momentum? You know that feeling. You know it when you see it.
A basketball team has been losing all game then all of a sudden they score 10 straight unanswered points the other team has to call a timeout and looks dejected.
That’s momentum.
Everything seems to be going right for your church or organization. New people are coming, people are being born again, people are taking next steps, the youth ministry is seeing new students every week. That’s momentum. You just feel it. There’s an energy.
You feel the wind in your sails and you feel invincible. Momentum is fun. And as the leader you can be a part of creating momentum.
Momentum isn’t created by one single event or one single act or one single sermon you preach, but it’s the accumulation of many, and often the many little things we do as the leader and a team on a regular basis, over and over again.
I read a story about a science teacher who hung a bowling ball from the ceiling and told his students that he’d be able to make the 7 pound ball swing by hitting it with a ping-pong ball, over and over again. Of course they didn’t believe him. But, he kept hitting that bowling ball consistently with the ping pong ball and sure enough the bowling ball moved, a little bit at a time until it gained momentum. Once it gained momentum gravity kicked in and the rest is history.
That’s what it’s like to build momentum in your church or organization or on your team. It’s finding those “ping pong balls” that slowly but surely move you to where God is wanting you to go.
And as those accumulate, momentum accelerates.
Ok now that you believe it’s possible how do you do it?
Eliminate the extra-
If you’re a gardener (I’m not but I read about them) you understand that in order to have the prettiest bloom come springtime you have to cut back or prune certain flowers. This applies to certain ministries as well. I get it. It’s tough.
This one ministry has been around since the church started and there’s still 16 committed, faithful people involved.
These decisions aren’t easy, but they’re necessary. I’ll talk more about that in the next paragraph but eliminating things sometimes creates just as much momentum as creating things.
Post pandemic is a great reason and season to eliminate extras (ex: ministries, events, programs, committees, etc.) that are possibly holding your church and team back from all that God wants to do in this next season.
Pick one thing and go deep -
Most churches and teams think growth and momentum happens by offering more options so people can choose more things and you have more chances to grow. Wrong.
Exhibit A: Chick-Fil-A.
There’s something your church or team already does really well.
Go deeper in that one area this season. Go deeper instead of wider.
Your best people on your staff will focus their best attention on this one area and that alone can build momentum heading into this next season.
The more focused you are, the easier it is to build trust with people. Pick one thing for the next three months that you ask your people to do.
For example if it’s water baptism go all in on water baptism.
• Mention it each week in your sermon.
• Post on social media about it.
• Add it to your email marketing.
• Create a testimony video about someone whose life has been impacted by water baptism.
• Give out cards when people walk in with a QR code to sign up for the next water baptism.
• Find ways to talk about in your Next Gen ministry with Kids and Youth.
• Find a small group curriculum on water baptism and offer it to small group leaders as an option.
Watch how quickly the momentum for water baptism begins to build at your church as you make that the focus.
Fix your systems-
As you begin to focus on this one area it will, with God’s help, inevitably grow. And when it does your systems have to be able to sustain the growth.
If 1000 people signed up to be water baptized over the next 6 months could your church handle it?
Do you have enough volunteers? Would your current baptismal set up and flow work for 1000 people? Would it still fit in your allotted service or post service time?
Craig Groeschel says in order to have sustained growth take whatever you’re doing and add a 0 to it and see if your system still works.
If not get a new system. God wants to give you more, but you and your team have to be ready for it! If you currently have 10 people getting baptized each month, add a zero and build your system on 100 people getting baptized next month.
Just start-
Momentum begins with motion.
A moving ship is a lot easier to steer than one that is docked in the station. You don’t have to have the whole thing figured out to start.
These are the things that tend to hold us back from starting something...
Perfectionism
Over-Thinking
Indecisiveness
Fear
Taking imperfect action is better than taking no action.
Robin Sharma said, “Knowing what to do and not doing it is the same as not knowing what to do.”
It's easy to get consumed with "learning more" before you get to work. Read one more book or listen to one more podcast. But the key to success is to just start.
Think about what is the one think that you can do today to start momentum? What’s stopping you from doing?
Going back to the water baptism example, perhaps it’s designing a new t-shirt to give to people when they get baptized. Maybe it’s creating a promotional calendar for how you will promote it to your congregation.
Whatever it is just take a step! That’s called faith!
As church leaders, we have all been in the situation where momentum is needed. Think of the last time you were discouraged by a decrease in attendance or lack of response to an event.
These types of occurrences can often send pastors and leaders spiraling wondering if people are growing in their relationship with God or not.
But these times are helpful and needed to make us realize that momentum is needed and that God is wanting to do more through your church or ministry.
Creating momentum in ministry is possible through a systematic, strategic process that is attainable for every church and leader. (I can help you come up with a strategy for that! Click here!)
And last but certainly not least is the reality that ministry in and through your church begins with prayer. All of the methods and strategies are important but those are secondary to prayer.
As author S. D. Gordon said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
If you want momentum in ministry, make prayer a real priority.
Obviously momentum comes through God when He breathes upon something, but often times God breathes on people who are open and willing to move on from what He did last and open and willing to what He wants to do next.
Begin praying right now for God to reveal to you the area in your church or leadership that God wants to build momentum for 2023. What has He uniquely equipped you or your church for in this next year?
Cheering for you and believing that 2023 will be full of momentum for you and your church or business!