The following is a guest blog post by Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor of Mercy Hill Church. Andrew is one of our 50+ speakers at the Exponential Regionals this fall:
Leading as a Kingdom Builder
I am honored and excited to be speaking at the Exponential regional gathering in DC this September for two reasons. First, I love Exponential and how God is using it to help churches evaluate the target when defining success in ministry. Second, I love this year’s theme! Being a hero maker is more significant than being a hero. The great commission is accomplished through a hero making mindset. Hero making leads to church planting, sending, and multiplication. This year I will specifically be talking about Leading as a Kingdom builder. Kingdom builders care way more about what God is doing on the whole than what He is doing in their specific church. Kingdom builders care more about how many leaders they are sending to do God’s thing rather than how many people are coming to their thing. And kingdom builders care more about sending capacity than seating capacity!
But even though we know kingdom building should be the goal, it can be a tough shift to make. The truth is in the numbers. Of all the churches in our context, only 4% are reproducing. Even worse, there are only maybe a handful nationwide that are multiplying. Surely there are many reasons for the gap between what we know and what we do. The everyday grind of ministry constantly pulls us back to thinking only of our individual churches. What we’ve seen modeled as success can also narrow our focus. If the churches we look to are models only because of their size, we can easily be tempted to make size the target.
We face significant challenges in shifting our thinking, but it can and must be done. We will only focus on kingdom building when we catch the larger vision. What God is doing throughout the generations and the world is grander and more exciting than anything He can do in our churches. Jesus said He would do greater things through the church as His work is taken to every corner of this globe. Our part is to pour in and prepare the hearts of those who He will work through. Our part is to build the stage in which others can shine. Our part is to see our fruit growing on other trees.
Special Invitation from Andrew
Getting to Know Andrew
Exponential asked our speakers to answer a few questions to help get to know them better. Check out some of Andrew’s answers to the questions below:
If you were not doing what you are now doing vocationally, and you could pursue any other career, what would it be?
Football coach (We could see that!)
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Western NC
What’s your favorite movie of all time?
Open Range
What’s your favorite hobby or thing to do in your spare time?
Hobby farm
Other than the Bible, what’s the most impactful book you’ve ever read?
Mere Christianity
Join Andrew and ten other speakers at the Washington, DC regional conference!
Hero Maker Conferences
Hero Maker is the theme for Exponential 2018. The theme focuses on the shift from being the hero to coming alongside others for them to become the heroes in our church’s unfolding story. At each conference, we will unpack the 5 essential practices for leaders to multiply leaders: multiplication thinking, permission giving, disciple multiplying, gift activating, and kingdom building.
| 5 Main Sessions | 10+ Speakers | FREE Equipping Labs |
|---|
Other Regional Conference Locations
- Washington, DC: September 10-11
- Southern California: October 2-4
- Bay Area: October 22-23
- Houston: October 24-25
- Chicago: November 6-7
- New York City: December 5-6
To learn more and to register for any of the 2018 Hero Maker conferences, click here.
