INTRODUCTION
SLIDE #1
I want to share a couple of passages with you this morning to ponder this morning.
SLIDE #2
Colossians 3:17 (NASB) 17Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:23 (NASB) 23Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,
Today as we continue to look at “When God Builds A Church”, I want us to consider the principle of excellence.
I believe we serve a great God, and our great God has given us His best, I believe we owe Him the same in return.
There are too things done for God that are “good enough”. Too many times we look at what we are doing for God and His church and say “It is good enough.”
What we need to be doing is to ask ourselves if what we have done was the best we could do with what we had.
Our calling from God demands more from us that “good enough”, it requires our best efforts.
Let us take some time together to study the principle of excellence!
SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. UNDERSTANDING EXCELLENCE
1. What is excellence?
• If we are going to strive for something, we need to know what it is. According to the dictionary, the word “excellence” means- The state, quality or condition of excelling.
• Does that help? Excellence is something that is rather subjective. How do you know if you are excelling in something or if something is such quality that it reflects excellence?
• I would give the definition of excellence is doing the very best with what you have to work with. It is something that takes more than just casual effort to obtain.
• Maybe to get some perspective on what excellence is, let us look at what the word mediocre means. Mediocre is defined as “moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary, see synonyms at “average”.
• We should strive for excellence in ALL we do in life. If we are painting a wall, are we doing the very best we can do? Notice I did not say was it perfect. Excellence is not perfection, it is the striving to do the very best we can, to give the best we have to anything we do.
• Imaging how the church would be if we all gave and average efforts. We would be a mediocre church. I believe Avis has a commercial that says they try harder. They show you what life would be like for you if the people of Avis just tried.
What would happen to a church where everyone was striving for excellence? GROWTH!
SLIDE #4
2. Why striving for excellence is important?
• SLIDE #5
Our efforts are a reflection of the God we serve.
SLIDE #6
Colossians 3:23 - 24 (NASB) 23Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Verse 17 encourages us to do all we do in the name of the Lord. Our efforts are a reflection on the God we serve. If we give God half efforts, then it will look like God is not worth our best.
The context of verses 23-24 deals with slaves. Whatever we do, we are to do it in the name of the Lord. Even slaves were called to give their all.
When you have an FCC license plate on your car, do you drive more carefully? REFLECTION ISSUE.
This is why it is important when there is a problem in the church family; it needs to stay in the family so it does not reflect poorly on God’s church.
SLIDE #7
God has never accepted second best. (Leviticus 22:17-25; Deuteronomy 17:1-ff)
In Leviticus 22:20, God tells the people He will not accept and animal with blemish from them as a sacrifice.
When God required sacrifices, He required the best animals you had.
Giving God the best was a test of faith. God required the first fruits of the field. The first and best went to God. He did not accept leftovers and second best.
God did not give us an “average” effort or “average” blessing, He gives us His best.
Giving your best is a matter of trust; do you trust God enough to offer up your best to Him?
SLIDE #8
The mission we are entrusted with is too important for “good enough”. Nice well kept facilities is not a stumbling block to winning the lost. A poor looking women’s bathroom and nursery can hurt our ability to reach lost people. That sounds silly, but it is reality, a reality we have to face. People draw conclusions about our church by the way it looks.
Our mission to reach lost people is too important for us to be an “average” church. We must strive for excellence.
We are in the business of communicating the gospel. We must do it with excellence.
This is why we do our bulletins on the computer; this is why we keep our copy equipment in good repair. This is why our audio/video technology needs to be constantly evaluated.
SLIDE #9
II. OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING EXCELLENCE
SLIDE #10
1. Excellence does not happen by accident.
Excellence takes work. You do not accidentally achieve excellence, it takes work and planning.
Sometimes you can get by flying by the seat of your pants, but more times that not, a lack of effort is evident.
1st QC REPORT Hurried through it.
Some people can get by on talent alone, but not all great performances achieve excellence. If that talented person would have put more effort into what they did, how much better would it be?
SLIDE #11
2. Excellence is evidenced in the details.
I have to watch this one. I am a big picture person who sometimes does not deal with all the details.
We must resist the urge to do everything last minute. It will show in our performance.
God deserves our best planning and prayer when we do things.
When God gave Noah the plans for the ark, they were detailed; the plans for the tabernacle were details.
SLIDE #12
3. Striving for excellence takes daily diligence.
It would be easy to achieve excellence and then just sit back and rest on that.
When this facility was built, it was very nice. What if we quit working on it? It would go down hill fast.
Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act. It is a habit." So what kind of habits have you developed in your life? Contributed by: David Yarbrough at www.sermoncentral.com
We have to strive daily for excellence.
Roger Clemens who has won 348 games in MLB is 44 years old. He is still dominate long after many pitchers have had to hang up the cleats. He is where he is because of his drive and work ethic.
SLIDE #13
4. There can be negative issues surrounding the quest for excellence.
• SLIDE #14
• Confusing striving for excellence with arrogance.
• In his book “When God Builds A Church”, Bob Russell states: People who are committed to mediocrity will resent excellence. They’ll say, “You’re too into performance. It’s all just a show- a big moneymaker.” But its’ not about performance. Excellence is about utilizing your gifts to build up the Body. It is about giving Christ the firstfruits. It is about doing everything we can to win people to Jesus.”
• SLIDE #15
• Disappointment
• People would think striving for excellence produces pride, but in reality it breeds humility, because there is a frequent sense of failure.
• I cannot tell you how many times I have stepped out of the pulpit feeling like I failed God. Rarely have I felt I did a GREAT job. I never want to be satisfied with what I do for God.
• The job we have is big; sometimes we can overwhelmed by it.
SLIDE #16
III. SETTING THE STANDARD FOR EXCELLENCE AT FCC
What can we do in insure that we strive for excellence when we serve our God?
SLIDE #17
1. Establish a standard of excellence now.
• No matter where you have been, start today being committed to excellence in your life and in your service to Jesus!
• Sometimes we can allow the past to cripple us to the point we never change. If you have not been putting in the time you need to do something with excellence, change that today.
• SLIDE #18
2. Do not trust your own evaluation.
A higher level of preparation will mean the job is done better, but that will not always bring you more satisfaction. You will always look back thinking of something you could have done better.
Take notes and implement those things next time. Bob Russell states your level of expectation is directly linked to the amount of preparation you have done.
The more time I spend on preparing a sermon, the better I expect it to be. Most of the time, I fall short of what I expect. You can be too hard on yourself.
Sometimes we can be satisfied with something not because it was excellent, but because it was better than you thought it would be.
Get some other people involved in the process of evaluation. You will be amazed at what you will learn from others.
SLIDE #19
3. If an activity or ministry is no longer fruitful, drop it!
If something worked well 5, 10, or 20 years ago does not mean it will or will not work today. If something is not fruitful, replace it.
Do not think that because it worked well 20 years ago, it will all the sudden be successful again if it is dead. FEED A DEAD HORSE.
Do not be afraid to try new things and let go of what does not work.
SLIDE #20
4. Encourage people to serve in their areas of giftedness. SQUARE PEG ROUND HOLE
SLIDE #21
5. Clearly define expectations for each area of ministry.
This is an area the leadership team and I will work on to improve. How do we hit a target if we do not know where the target is?
Have you had a job where they just turned you loose with no training? Churches do it all the time, it is frustrating for all involved.
Even something that seems a simple as being a greeter needs some training.
SLIDE #22
6. Strive for excellence without extravagance.
The most expensive is not always a sign of excellence.
We are not called to spend the most money; excellence requires that we get the best with our given budget.
If you purchase equipment you cannot afford, you have not achieved excellence; you are in debt.
CONCLUSION
Striving for excellence in everything you do will make you a better person. It will make you a better servant of the Lord also!
We need to give God our best, not our leftovers. God has set a standard of excellence in dealing with us, let us show Him the same respect by doing the best we can for Him.
The name Stradivarius is synonymous with fine violins. This is true because Antonius Stradivarius insisted that no instrument constructed in his shop be sold until it was as near perfection as human care and skill could make it.
Stradivarius said, "God needs violins to send His music into the world, and if any violins are defective God’s music will be spoiled." His work philosophy was summed up in one sentence: "Other men will make other violins, but no man shall make a better one."
Antonius Stradivarius expected his workers to do their very best in producing violins. How much more should we as Christians strive for excellence in the work assigned to us! Contributed by: Mark Hodges www.sermoncentral.com
