Ready Set Grow Podcast

If you want to grow past the lid of insecurity alongside pastors who will call out what God put in you, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindYou believe God called you. But do you believe He called you?Many pastors have strong faith in God… and very little faith in who they are in God. It doesn't always look like insecurity. Sometimes it looks like a board that feels against you. A hard conversation you keep putting off. An open door you talk yourself out of walking through.And it has a cost. Your leadership is the lid on your church. And the way you see yourself is the lid on your leadership.In this episode, Scott Wilson shares the #1 leadership lesson of his ministry, and the self-esteem battle he's still fighting level by level.This conversation covers:- The Law of the Lid, one level deeper: why your self-image caps your personal growth- Why you can't consistently act in a way that's inconsistent with how you see yourself- The biblical dream (Ephesians 2:10) vs. the American dream of "be anything you want"- Why false humility is actually pride, and how it blocks God's blessing- What David's insecurity cost him, and what it teaches pastors today- Why every pastor needs a counselor, mentor, and leaders bigger than them speaking into their lifeThe question isn't whether you can be anything you want to be… it's whether you'll become who God called you to be.

If the vision God's put on your heart feels bigger than you can carry alone, and you want coaches and other pastors in your corner as you work toward it, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindThis is Part 2 of 2. Watch Part 1 here: [Ep54 link]Many pastors pray for an elephant-sized dream… but expect a nine-month timeline.So when the vision feels heavy, when it's taking longer than you hoped, when you can't see how it's going to come together… it's easy to assume something's wrong.It might be the opposite. The weight you're feeling may be the clearest sign the dream came from God and not from you.This conversation finishes the last four signs of a God-given dream and shows what to do with all nine as a filter for your vision.In this episode:- Why a God-given dream will always be bigger than your gifts- Why no God-sized vision gets built alone- The elephant story: why bigger dreams take longer to birth- Why the weight you feel isn't a sign you're off track- How to pray from confidence instead of insecurity- How to teach these nine signs to your staff and boardThe bigger the dream, the longer it takes… and it's inevitable if you don't give up.

If you're trying to sort out whether the vision you're carrying for your church is really from God, and you want practical help building the team and systems to see it through, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindThis is Part 1 of 2. Watch Part 2 here: [Ep55 link]There's a big difference between a dream God gave you… and a dream you made up and are hoping He'll bless.Most pastors aren't chasing selfish ambition. You want to please God. But somewhere along the way, "what I'm going to do for Him" can quietly replace "what He told me to do."And the frustrating part? From the inside, they can look exactly the same. You can spend years climbing the ladder… only to find out it was leaning against the wrong wall.This conversation lays out the first five signs of a God-given dream, a filter you can hold your vision up against to see where it came from.In this episode:- Why God often withholds the details until you're faithful with the basics- The difference between a directional statement and a purpose statement- Why a God-given dream consumes all of you and can't be a side gig- The test that exposes a self-made dream: who's the hero?- How unhealthy self-esteem blocks what God wants to do through you- Why every God-given dream is multi-generationalGod doesn't show you the dream so you can grab it. He shows you the dream so you can see who you need to become.

If you want help cultivating a team that knows exactly how to think and operate in this season of ministry, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindYour church has values. They're on the wall. They're on the website.But when your team is in the messy middle of a big push… a building campaign, a new campus, a season of change… those values don't tell anyone what to do next.Most church teams set a new mission and never stop to ask what kind of team it's going to take to get there. Climbing a new mountain demands a new way of thinking and working together.This episode breaks down the difference between church values and staff values, and how to build seasonal team values that actually shape decisions.In this episode:- Why church values and staff team values are not the same thing- How to make team values aspirational and instructive- The 365 framework: three rocks, six responsibilities, five team values- How your team's "caution lights" reveal the values you need most- Four ways to keep team values alive in your weekly staff meeting- A simple test to know if your values are actually workingIf you can't point to a decision your values shaped… they aren't doing their job yet.

If you want to build a culture of discipleship that raises up leaders on purpose, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindThink about the last time you got ready for a vacation or a sabbatical. You knew the date. So you tied up loose ends. You figured out who was preaching, who was in charge, who to call in an emergency.The due date made you focused.Now imagine leading that way every week… not just when a two-week notice or a big transition forces it.Jesus had three years to train a handful of young men to carry the most important mission in history. He didn't just do ministry. He modeled it, handed it off and sent them out to do it without Him.This conversation breaks down due date discipleship: what it is, why Jesus operated this way and how to build it into the everyday rhythm of your church.In this episode:- What due date discipleship is and where it came from- Two questions every leader should ask: Am I ready? Are they ready?- How to put the things only you do on a due date discipleship plan- Solving higher-level problems at lower levels of your org chart- Why there is no success without a successor- The difference between discipling someone and dumping on themYour greatest win isn't the ministry you do. It's the disciples you raise up to do it better.

If you want help building rhythms and strategies to pastor the high capacity leaders the Lord sends you, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind here: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindEvery pastor prays for high capacity people. Very few know what to do when one actually shows up.Because when someone walks in with more money, more experience, or more influence than you have, the instinct isn't to pastor them. It's to manage them. You platform them too fast to keep them… or you stay at arm's length so they never find out what you don't know.Both are insecurity. And insecurity is the ceiling on who God can send you next.This conversation covers how to pastor leaders whose capacity exceeds your own — without treating them as a resource or shrinking back from the relationship.Inside:- Why the "silver bullet" leader rarely becomes what you hoped- What happens to a church when you elevate someone too early- How insecurity quietly disqualifies you from the relationships God is offering- Why expertise in business says nothing about a man's marriage, family, or walk with God- Starting with curiosity instead of an agenda- Building the relationship through prayer, shared vision, and presence in their worldBe faithful with the one God already sent, and He'll trust you with more.

If you want help turning your best ideas into finished work instead of a graveyard of good starts, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindYou're the big idea guy. It's your gift. It's part of why the church is where it is.And it's the reason nothing gets finished.Here's the trap. Somewhere between the launch and the messy middle, the idea stops being fun. People start asking detailed questions. The work gets complicated. And a brand new idea feels better than finishing the one you already started.So you start over. Again. And your team learns to wait you out.The trap is not that you have too many ideas. It's that you're chasing them out of boredom instead of inspiration — and your organization has become the playground where you go to feel something.This conversation breaks down how to keep the gift without paying that price.In this episode:- Why idea-rich leaders chase new ideas out of boredom, not inspiration- Dopamine leadership: why announcing an idea feels better than finishing one- The empty-plate trap — your margin is not your team's margin- Why your church ends up with a graveyard of half-finished initiatives- Where your leftover innovative energy actually belongs — your marriage, your health, your writing, your content- Why pastors funnel every idea into the work bucket, and what changes when your purpose is bigger than your jobYour work is not here to entertain your boredom.

Download the CRM Checklist here: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/crm-checklistIf you want help building the systems that let your team truly know and shepherd your people, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindRight now, someone on your team knows something important — and it's only in their head.It's in a text thread. A sticky note. A hallway conversation nobody wrote down. When that person is out, on vacation, or moves on, the information goes with them.Your church doesn't have an information problem. It has a scattered information problem. This episode breaks down how to build one central place — a system, not a person — so your whole team, and your lead pastor, can see exactly where every first-time guest stands.In this episode:- The five numbers a lead pastor should always be able to check: guests active in the system, connections overdue, connections due soon, connections gone cold, and how many finished the Fastest Path- Why a live dashboard on a phone beats a report someone has to generate- The eight relational milestones (not tasks) that make up a real guest pipeline — from first touch to Fastest Path completed to a graceful exit- Why a graceful exit isn't a failure of your follow-up — you're a steward of the relationship, not the owner of the person- The 10-element checklist to audit whether your current system (software, spreadsheet, or whiteboard) can actually answer what your lead pastor needs to know- How to start with what you already have before you go shopping for something newIf it's not in one central place, it's not really known. It's just remembered — until it isn't.

If you want a way to actually measure and sustain a healthy volunteer culture — not just define one — learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindGrab a copy of our Volunteer Culture Workshop here:https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/the-volunteer-culture-workshopYou can build the perfect volunteer framework and still have no idea if it's working.Most churches define what a healthy culture should look like once… and then never check on it again. Nobody's asking the follow-up question: is this still true for our people right now?That gap — between the framework and the follow-through — is where burnout quietly creeps back in.This conversation is about closing that gap: building a rhythm that keeps testing whether your volunteer culture is actually healthy, not just well-defined.In this episode:- Why a great framework without a measurement rhythm quietly fails- How to build a recurring check-in system instead of a one-time culture statement- Why proximity and season-of-life awareness matter more than any program- How to know if a role is still sustainable, suitable, and significant for the person - doing it- What a healthy feedback loop with your volunteers actually looks like in practice- Why growth depends on your people, not just your systemsA healthy volunteer culture isn't something you define once. It's something you keep measuring.

Download the sermon brief from this episode: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/sermon-briefIf you want to build a sustainable, team-based rhythm for sermon prep instead of carrying every message alone, learn more about the Ready Set Grow Mastermind: https://www.readysetgrowchurch.com/mastermindSunday is coming. Again.You're still recovering from last week's message, and the pressure to produce something powerful is already stacking up for next week. It never stops. It just keeps coming.Most pastors carry this weight solo — writing alone, editing alone, walking on stage alone. It feels heroic for a while. Then it burns you out.There's a better way to build the message, and it doesn't rest on one person's shoulders.This conversation breaks down the exact weekly rhythm a teaching team uses to turn a rough idea into a Sunday-ready message — and how to give and receive feedback without it wrecking your identity.In this episode:- How to build a yearly preaching calendar and sermon series brief before you ever sit down to write- The weekly cadence that moves a message from rough outline to finished manuscript to Sunday delivery- The CRIBS framework (confusing, repeated, innovative, boring, slow) for feedback that actually sharpens a message- Why separating the critique from your identity is the hardest — and most important — skill on a teaching team- The three delivery "zones" (story, teaching, preaching) that turn a monotone communicator into a dynamic one- How to receive feedback on a draft without treating it like a verdict on your worthA sustainable Sunday isn't built by one person. It's built by a team.