In the second session of Catalyst One Day Chicago, Craig Groeshchel spoke about “Busting Barriers with Mindset Changes” building from Romans 12:2.  His opening statement was that one of the major momentum killers is an improper mindset.

Craig is a great storyteller.  Here is some of what I learned from Craig in session two:

Think differently about your church culture. Every church is different and needs a different mindset.  As the church grows and changes, its mindset must be willing to change.

We all have those phrases “Our people won’t __________”  (Come to the early service, volunteer all month, give sacrificially…etc.)  Instead of saying that, we need to change our mindset to say “We haven’t led our people to _________”

Think differently about people leaving the church. The church can actually grow when people leave.  Churches need more confidence in the church God has called them to be.  Sometimes people are in the church for the wrong reasons and churches shouldn’t strive as hard to keep them.  There may be a church, which better meets what they are looking for in a church.

Think differently about limitations. Often the truth is “we CAN’T because we don’t.”

We don’t necessarily need more money.  We may need to learn how to do more with less.  Sometimes God doesn’t give us what we want for a reason.

Craig ended his talk with three assignments for the audience.

1. 1. Find someone one or two steps ahead of you and learn how they think, not what they do.

1. 2. Identify one wrong mindset you currently have and ask God to renew your mind with truth.

1. 3. Identify one painful decision you’ve been avoiding and commit to make the decision no matter what the short-term pain.

There was much more to this session that what I can share.  This is another reason you need the CD’s from Catalyst One Day Chicago.

What are your thoughts?  What limitations have you placed on your church, because you aren’t trusting in God’s power or strength?

Andy Stanley led the opening session from Catalyst One Day Chicago.  He shared a few introductory thoughts to his talk:

• Businesses immediately respond when momentum decreases, but for some reason the church will ignore momentum declines for years as long as the bills are being paid.
• Momentum is always disruptive, so it scares some churches.
• Momentum is all about moving forward, which is why leaders like momentum.
• If you lack momentum and you don’t understand these principles, you are one dumb decision away from losing it all.

Three components of sustained momentum:

New – Anything new, negative or positive, triggers momentum…

Organizational momentum is often triggered by one of these three things:

• New leadership
• New direction
• New product

New doesn’t guarantee sustained momentum, but new is an essential trigger for momentum.

Improved – The new must be a noticeable improvement over the old.

Improving – Momentum is sustained through continuous improvement.  This improvement must be continually evaluated.

Andy walked us through the local supermarket to see how businesses do this everyday.  Andy explains these principles, including how he applies these principles directly to the church.  It was a very helpful talk.

What is your church or organization doing to offer new, improved and improving sustained momentum?

I’m excited to be a part of the excitement at Catalyst One Day Chicago.  This is the first time in Chicago for Catalyst.  We are at Willow Creek Community Church.  This is my first trip here, and as I was warned, I’m blown away by this facility.

Today we will hear from Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel…in fact…they just walked on stage.  We are talking about momentum, but they are also doing a Q & A session.  We have just prayed that God would speak to us today with fresh ideas, renewed vision, and a greater hope.  That’s my prayer too!

I’m curious, if you had 5 minutes with either of these two great leaders, what would you like to say to them or ask them?