[lead dropcap="yes"]As parking and welcome teams, seasonably clad in Santa hats, ushered in an expectant crowd for our final Heart and Soul of 2016, we assembled to worship and reflect on all that God has done within us and asked that He may give us vision for the SZN ahead.[/lead]We believe healthy things tend to grow. As our numbers swell, our faith reminds us that God has put a passion and a purpose into all of us. Every person counts. As we look into the rearview mirror at SZN 3, we know that we are not just tallying numbers. Rather, we are giving praise to Jesus working through us as he builds the heart of our church - the people.

Here are some of the wins of SZN 3:

SALVATIONS

508Total since launch: 2,277

GROWTH TRACK GRADUATES

103Total graduates since launch: 372

VOUS CREWS

1022Total amount of people who visited a crew at least once in SZN 3

VOUS Kids

160SZN 3 Average amount of kids:

CREATIVE NIGHT

850Unique individuals who participated in Creative Night at least once in SZN 3

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

660 Total amount of unique servant leaders for SZN 3

BAPTISM

364Total amount of people baptized since launch

SZN 3 also saw our first ever Team Conference. Here, Pastor Rich, taking the unique opportunity in addressing all servant leaders, dug deep into what a culture carrier looked like. His powerful Heart and Soul message was an extension of this as he examined our spirit of excellence and challenged us to focus on what a culture killer resembled. [cta heading="IT’S TIME TO MAKE THE SWITCH" subtext="Here are a few pointers from Team Conference 2016 on how to be culture carriers" actiontext="Read Story" link="http://blog.vouschurch.com/its-time-to-make-the-switch/"]

5 CULTURE KILLERS

Consider, culture happens by design or by default. Within that, each of us, whether in our homes or jobs, or in our church either carry the culture or kill the culture. We cannot do both and we cannot do neither.

“If the enemy can't kill you with failure, he will distract you with success.”- Rich Wilkerson Jr.

1. THINK ONLY ABOUT YOURSELF
2. Our preference needs to be people. We are servant leaders, not selfish leaders. May our focus and our hearts be on what we are giving and not about what we are getting.
3. BE A KNOW-IT-ALL
4. If the Enemy fails to kill us with failure, he will distract us with success. Let us we have a teachable spirit - be approachable, ask questions, and be OK with making mistakes.
5. DON’T MAKE A PLAN
6. Lack of plan = Lack of progress. In all areas of our lives - relationships, careers, finances, leisure time and on our individual journeys with Jesus Christ - it is vital that we make the time, carve out the blueprint, release the dead weight and have a vision.
7. NEVER HAVE FUN
8. How can we turn our dreams into nightmares? How can we turn what we love into something that we despise? We do this when we fail to celebrate and when we forget to laugh. Let us be a people unburdened - forgiving easily, apologizing quickly, and not taking ourselves so seriously. Realize, if you’re not having fun, you’re not helping.
9. FORGET YOUR WHY
10. Your why is representative of the heart behind what you do. Why are we doing this? Why are you doing this? The why is our fuel. If we forget our why, chances are, we will find ourselves running on fumes. And if we breakdown in the process, we're destined to take other's down with us.

Listen to the Full Talk

VOUS Podcast

Just once is never enough! Listen to this week’s message and more by subscribing to the VOUS Church Podcast on iTunes.Get the Podcast

Subscribe to the VOUS Church Blog

Get VOUS Church blog posts delivered straight to your inbox![wysija_form id="2"]