WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.359 Thank you for listening to the Kelowna Christian Center podcast. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.160 Our desire is that today's message will be fresh and encouraging to you. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:13.359 For more information on KCC and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.399 Great to have you all here today. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.800 We're continuing on our series on leveling up. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.480 Turn to your neighbor and say, level up, level up, come on now. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:25.679 Level up. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:27.359 That's right. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.120 You're leveling up. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.880 We uh, as my kids say, it's okay to be a noob. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:34.719 It's okay, you know what a noob is? 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:35.840 It's a newbie. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.799 Uh a new a new player, a start, someone who starts on the ground floor. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:45.280 It's okay to be in that place, but it's important to move past it. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.240 To keep moving on, to keep moving up. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:55.359 And uh today we're gonna be talking about carrying a spirit of excellence. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:57.520 Excellence. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.439 This is a better way. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.359 This is the better way. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:06.239 And this is how we believe you can level up as an individual. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:14.799 Level up in your faith, level up in your family, level up in your home, level up in your finances, level up in your relationships. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:33.120 You level up, you find that better way that God has for us by taking that extra step, by taking that, by carrying that spirit of excellence into your uh into your relationships, into your lifestyle. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:50.239 Uh one of the challenges we've had is uh well one of a not really a challenge, but challenge in terms of our time, was that our worship department for a lot of years, they were just they the our teams were just really busy as a lot of people often are. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:02:00.480 And our teams were finding ways to like get to church early in the morning to be able to practice, to be able to present uh worship on a Sunday morning. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.640 And we said, you know, that's wonderful, you're doing a great job, everything's good. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:06.719 I said, but how do we level up? 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:12.479 And the way we leveled up is we said, okay, music has to go out by the week previous, right? 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:13.680 I'm not a musician. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.639 Well, I am a musician, but I'm not uh on the team. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:20.479 But if you'd like to hear me sing, I can do a rendition for you later. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:28.879 But uh you can you level up and said we can come early, we get the song list early, people are practicing at homes. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:43.360 There's a practice before the weekend or the weekend service, and then there's a practice before service, and there's constant practice and there's constant uh intent to be able to present better than they were before. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.039 Now, is that a good thing? 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:54.639 Yeah, it's it's good when teams are are vocally in sync, are spiritually considerate of where they're going and are in sync. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:59.759 They're on the same heart, the same mind, the same plan, they're working together. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.919 There is a better way. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:08.000 And we believe that this spirit of excellence is actually a spiritual virtue. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.120 It's a spiritual virtue. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.360 And it's a virtue that we should pursue at all times. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:26.719 Whether it's washing windows, at home, or in your business, whether it's running your company or just uh just running the race of life. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:33.360 We should be operating and living in that level and that spirit of excellence in our lifestyle. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:37.199 Excellence may be a virtue, but it's not always our value. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:47.840 In fact, oftentimes in the church, we can have a tendency to elevate other values or other virtues above the virtue of excellence. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.800 But excellence should operate within every virtue. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.199 Our love ought to be an excellent love. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.520 Our welcome should be an excellent welcome. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.000 Our joy should be a perfect joy. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:11.439 The Bible talks about this perfect peace, this abundant joy, this love that never fails. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:16.480 Like this is excellent love that we should be carrying. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:23.199 In all of it's an excellent spirit that injects into everything we do. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:25.600 So the scripture says this. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:32.319 It says in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:39.680 Whatever you do, whatever you do, whether it's going to order coffee, it should be the best. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:44.079 Like I'm I will have the, I don't even know how to order sometimes. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.519 The first time I went to Starbucks, I think I was like totally in shock. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:54.480 And now if it wasn't for my wife having worked at Starbucks, I would just, I get to the till and I'd be like, she's got me. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:56.560 Like she she'll order. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:14.959 But when you're ordering, when you're talking to people, when you're driving, when you're uh when you're parenting, parenting particularly, do it with the best that you can offer for the sake of your children and for the and for the glory of God. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:17.680 This is something that we offer. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.399 Now I know that there are tradesmen in here. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:26.959 I know that you know that there are people that you can get on a job site that just get the job done. 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:31.519 And then there are those who do an excellent job at what they do. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:38.160 I know that there are business people in the community here today, or students in the community here today. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:48.560 You know the difference between someone who just does the bare minimum to get the grade versus that person who's got an interest in actually doing excellent in their work. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:52.399 And that those are the people you want to have a study group with. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:54.560 Those are the people you want to hang out with. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.480 Because you know, as Johnny would say, is uh what kind of job do you do, Johnny? 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:00.480 What's your technical HVAC? 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:01.439 HVAC. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:08.959 So it's not like it's heating, air conditioning, the whole uh venting systems. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:32.160 He when Johnny was learning, Johnny was learning that work, or when Aaron was learning telecommunications, these people these guys were learning from people, they wanted to surround themselves with people who knew what they were doing, who were excellent at their trade, excellent at their work, because in that environment of excellence, you get better. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:36.079 So we turn to your neighbor and say, I want to level up. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.959 So you've got to get better, I've got to get better. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:39.920 That's right. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:46.879 You got to carry this excellent spirit with you so that you're doing things the right way. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:53.279 I go, I was trying, I was thinking, man, where can I go to to find excellence? 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.079 So it was our small group this week. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:14.000 I said, guys, we met at Starbucks, and and uh it was the small church was meeting, and it was just a few of us that were there at Starbucks, and I thought, okay, we got an hour before, but it was after school to the time you get home for dinner, and we're like, okay, we're meeting, we've got this short allotment of time. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:18.480 I want to go somewhere, and so we went to August Luxury Motors. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:39.120 It's a little uh place, it's a dangerous, dangerous place for a man to go to, uh, or a woman for that sake, because you walk in the place and there's Lamborghinis and Ferraris, and I'm thinking, I'm just looking, and everything is precise, everything is handcrafted, hand molded, hand stitched. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:48.240 And I'm looking at this cart, and then I look at my Toyota Camry, and then I look back at this Ferrari, and I'm thinking, that cost my house, but is it worth it? 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:49.680 Can I live in a car? 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:51.920 When my kid, I know my kids would. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:54.480 They'd be like, do it, dad, do it. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:56.959 But I know I couldn't do it. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.519 And uh I thought about it though. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:09.680 Um, but I looked at these beautiful cars, I looked at the the Porsches that were in that on display, and everything was just perfect about it. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:17.279 And I thought, this, and then I walk into my car, and of course, my kids have been in there just like fishy crackers in the backseat, and then brushing them out. 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:19.519 And I thought, can I do better? 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:21.279 Where can I move? 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.240 Where can I elevate my own life? 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.399 There's a better way. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:30.480 This better way, this better way. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.720 I thought this one, I'll give you one example of this this week. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:40.559 I really felt that the Lord gave me wisdom this week in terms of excellence. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:51.600 Uh, my son has a tooth that's coming down on top of a tooth, one of his uh uh primary teeth, his first teeth. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:09:00.559 And so he's got a tooth that's coming on top, but that tooth that's coming on top is breaking through the gums, and so it's not hasn't pushed that other tooth out first. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:02.960 And we're gonna have to get it extracted. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.039 And so he's got an appointment on Monday. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:08.879 We're like, we got it, it's wiggling, but it's just not coming out. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.879 And this extraction is gonna cost us money. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.159 That's a good way to get to a dad's heart. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:17.840 Is this gonna cost you money? 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:27.840 I'm like, yo, this is a money that could go towards that Ferrari, come on, and uh, but he's like, he had the this money is there, and I'm thinking, how much is it gonna cost? 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:33.600 And Natalie calls me up and she's like, Oh, we've got three kids, and they all need teeth work right now. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:42.320 Like, they're all gonna need braces, they're all what and this tooth, just as tooth getting removed, it's gonna cost us like$200 or something along those lines. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:52.559 So I go to Caden this week and I'm like, Caden, I will give you a hundred dollars cash. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:00.559 If you can move that tooth out by Monday, the time you get in that chair. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:02.879 And you know what? 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:15.519 That was with that to me, that's an ex that's a better way because it doesn't take my time getting to the dentist, it doesn't take my money going out the door. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.399 If I'm gonna pay someone, I might as well pay my child. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.440 They're gonna need the money anyways, at one point, right? 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:27.279 And so I said, so every morning he's grabbing that tooth and wiggling it away. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:29.200 And my daughter's like, what'll I get? 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.639 Can I get a hundred bucks? 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:40.320 And I'm like, no, you just this deal is between Kate and I work that tooth, and he's asked me, can you put something around it and slam the door? 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:42.320 He's going on the website. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:44.879 We need to buy carrots and apples. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:49.919 And Natalie's like, fine, I need to eat and break this tooth like loose. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.120 And I'm thinking, this is a better way. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:58.480 What an incredible example for Sunday morning of a better way to do. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.320 And I felt like God got glory in that moment right there. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:12.879 But Paul tells us, Paul says, whatever you do, do it with all your heart, all your effort. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:20.399 The Bible says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength, all your emotion. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:26.080 When you come into a worship set, put everything you have into it. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:29.600 Everything you have into it. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.799 Like just embrace the moment. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:34.960 Seize the moment. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:39.200 In that moment, when it comes to worship, be the best worshiper. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:42.240 One of the greatest examples in scripture I know of. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:49.279 I got a I get texts during the service about what God's doing, and people feel God's doing in the service. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:59.120 And they send me quick texts, and one of them popped up and said, just remember David, King David, and how he began to worship God? 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:02.240 The Bible said he put such effort into it. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:06.480 He was he was the king of Israel and he's stripping off clothes. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:11.440 He's just hot, he was so excited and so liberated. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:19.519 He says, I'm gonna like I'm gonna dance before God with all my strength, all my might, all my effort. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:23.039 I'm gonna put into this because God is worth it. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:25.840 And excellence is worth it. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:27.440 Spirit of excellence. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.000 It's not about being satisfactory, it's about being excellent. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.759 It's more than just surviving, it's about thriving. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:44.159 And we wanna be a church, we want to be people whose faith and whose lifestyle is more than just surviving. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:46.720 But we're thriving in our faith. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:49.679 Our marriages just aren't hanging on. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:57.200 Our marriages are excelling in because of how how strong our relationships are with God. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.679 We're not just living on a margin, a thin financial margin. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:07.279 We're living in a place where we have the ability to do whatever God calls us to do. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.799 Our missionaries don't need to worry about cash. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.879 If they need an investment, we've got something available for them. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:21.600 There's an interest in uh excellence. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:29.679 I've been in an environment where I've been in the presence of excellence. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:46.320 And perhaps you've been in an environment too, where you've been in the place where maybe it's a pianist or a or a musician or a an or been a part of an actor's studio or a or in a the presence of art, great art. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.559 Like I can barely draw a stick, man. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:14:00.799 So when I get into a place of great art, I'm just amazed at the capability of people to be able to imagine and present and put on paper the things that they do. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:08.879 Um when you're in the presence of excellence, it makes you better. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:15.759 And when people come to the place of your life, are they wowed by it? 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.159 Are they wowed by it? 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:30.320 And I'm not talking about being perfect, I'm just I'm talking about putting your heart into what you do, putting your effort into what you do. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:53.200 And so the Bible says that the first church in Acts, the first church after Jesus had uh been raised from the dead and gone back to heaven, the Bible says this first church, people came into the church and their response was this wow, surely God is in this place. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.799 Wow, surely God is present in this place. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:02.559 Surely God is here in this house. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.440 Surely God is with you. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.720 Surely God is with this company of people. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:13.840 They would say, Man, I've never experienced love like I've experienced in this church. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:21.039 I've never experienced forgiveness and people just quick to forgive the way I've experienced it in this church. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:28.799 I've never experienced the type of mercy that the mercy that I don't deserve, but you're gonna give me mercy. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.360 I don't deserve it, but I get it freely. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.879 I've never experienced it like I experience it in this place. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:44.159 The Bible talks about a quality and a place of your life and an improvement in your life that excels that of others. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:48.720 Philippians chapter 1, verse 9 to 11 says this. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:52.320 Paul's saying, This is my prayer for you as believers. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:16:00.639 My prayer is that your love may abound more and more and more and more and more. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:05.759 Your love is abounding, it's growing, it's out of control. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:13.279 This better way is abounding in knowledge and depth and in insight. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.799 You would know such deep love. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:36.559 You would have this excellent view of love so that you may be able to discern what is best and what it may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of rightness that comes through Jesus Christ, so that God may have glory and praise. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:44.320 So, someone exam exemplifying excellence, we can go in the scripture, we can find it all through the scripture. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:54.080 People who exemplified excellence, but today I want to talk to you a little bit about this one individual, uh, a young man named Daniel. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:17:07.920 Daniel was uh was uh prisoner of war, captured by the Babylonian, Babylonian king, uh an example in scripture of a war of the world. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:25.680 And he was captured and he was taken, uh he was it was when Jerusalem was besieged and uh took over, and the king said, I want young men who are handsome, healthy, highly intellectual, I want the best of the best. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.680 I want the best of the best, I want them trained to be able to work with me, the king. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:39.759 And this is what happens, I feel, is like the world is always saying to the church, man, I want the best of the best of the church. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:44.240 And the church sometimes is saying, All right, we'll give you our best. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:46.960 We'll give you the best. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:50.240 But Daniel had a priority in place here. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:18:00.720 He said, You know what, I'm gonna do my best for you, King, but I'm gonna actually serve in my faith, be faithful in my relationship with you, so that it's strong as well. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:20.559 And Daniel chapter 6, verse 3 says this Daniel, after three years, he was distinguished among the presidents and the satraps, which were the governors or the generals, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:36.240 So here a king has a captured individual, a young man who's been captured, and he's willing because of an excellent spirit to put him over the whole kingdom, over the whole realm. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:45.839 And what was in Daniel stood above every other person in that realm, because an excellent spirit was in him. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:49.680 It was more than what he did or even accomplished. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:59.599 The king thought of this position, and it wasn't a small position, but the king was willing to put him above because of an excellent spirit. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:07.839 Sometimes we look for promotion and we're not willing to do the things that require the promotion. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:17.279 And we look for it and we say, Well, what can I do, Lord, to actually be better, choose the better way? 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:28.480 And the Bible says that God is committed to actually working with you and giving you wisdom and insight that sets you up differently compared to others. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:45.839 It's wisdom, it's creativity, it's ability, and that's why our church, we love that entrepreneurial spirit that says uh there's got to be a better way, and if there is a better way, let it be us to create it. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:49.039 So that's why we created the online school. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:53.119 That's why we created different programs in our campus school. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:56.799 That's why we approach missions in a different way. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:00.960 Because we see a better way. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.920 Excellence is all around us. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.279 Just like the Bible says, wisdom is all around us. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:12.079 You it shouts from the rooftops, it's along the streets, it's it's everywhere. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:17.599 It's those people who have the ability to see it and connect with it, is what's really important. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:33.759 Excellence is in the heart of a father who takes the time to spend with his individual children, and you've got three kids, and a father is able to learn the love language of each child and learn how to identify it and then connect with that child. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:48.400 Excellence is a father or a wife who knows how to recognize their her husband's space, mental space, and realize what perhaps the husband needs in that moment in time. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:21:05.440 It's a young mom who's able to work the work and maybe put in a difficult situation, but she doesn't quit and she goes and takes care of her children by working the work she does and still raise, has the time to raise her children. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.440 These is excellence. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.359 Excellence is found in grandma's cooking. 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:10.079 Amen. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:12.559 There's something about grandmas. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.720 I don't, they have an ability above their own. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.599 Um it's uh excellence. 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:27.599 When you go to the gym, uh maybe infrequently, maybe you need to go to the gym, I'm not sure. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:39.440 But when you go to the gym and you see that that fellow who's older and and still's working out, and and he was there when you left, and he's still there when you rejoined the gym. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.240 And he hasn't taken any days off. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.680 And he continues, and you ask, like, where are you at? 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.240 And he says, continues doing the work he's doing. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.400 That's a spirit of excellence. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:59.359 The Bible says this in Psalms chapter 8 says, Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.480 There's an excellence attributed to God. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:09.519 So to level up, we need to carry the spirit of excellence. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.319 So, what does it look like? 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:16.000 Number one, an excellent spirit is going to lift your life. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:20.079 When you're around people who are excellent, they will lift you up. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:21.599 It will lift you up. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:30.240 When you put your best foot forward, you will attract those people who put their best foot forward. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:51.359 And because you walk with an excellent spirit, you'll be put in a place that gets the light shone on yourself more and see that more acknowledgement. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.240 It's something that's in you. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.200 Excellent doesn't please everybody. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.160 Number two. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:07.920 The Bible says the name of the Lord is excellent, but some people actually despise the name of the Lord. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:14.720 And some people they enjoy taking the name of the Lord in vain. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.240 That doesn't make the name of the Lord any less excellent. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:23.119 But excellence doesn't please everybody. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.160 Some people love to celebrate mediocrity. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.119 Because mediocrity is easy. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:34.640 And they don't like to be around people who are in the who carry a spirit of excellence. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:37.440 Because it threatens their mediocrity. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:45.119 So excellence isn't always going to be make you someone that people like or enjoy being around. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:49.440 But it is something that you can carry to elevate your life. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:53.039 So don't allow the criticism towards your excellence. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:59.680 Instead, excellence is about you doing the best that you can for God's sake, for God's glory. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:10.559 And the best in terms of God's gifting that He's placed in you, at the end of the day, you're going to say to God, God, you gave me a gift, and I'm going to give you a hundred percent. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:16.400 I'm going to use this gift for your namesake, for your namesake. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:23.599 Number three, excellence reflects not only his name, but it reflects God's nature. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:27.440 The Bible says this about his nature. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:32.079 It says, your loving kindness is excellent, God. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:36.000 God's loving kindness is perfect. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:39.440 It's excellent in what it is. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:43.039 It says his mercy is excellent. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.440 His love is excellent. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:47.519 It's about his nature. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:54.240 God operates with an excellent spirit. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.359 So it says a lot about who he is. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:06.720 And the reality is that we being made in his image can also offer excellence ourselves. 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:13.119 So if you're if excellence is in your heart, it'll be displayed in a number of ways. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.799 It'll be displayed in a number of ways. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.160 And this is where excellence is really a take home. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:38.960 And it's where each of us can say, all right, this week I'm gonna I'm gonna choose a better way, and this week I'm gonna get challenged in that better way, and I'm gonna remind myself that to actually choose a better way. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:45.599 Because our choices are just satisfactory or excellent, good or great. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.920 And we may need to make that choice in the moment to actually choose a better way. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:57.119 So, number one, this is how you how excellence is displayed. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:59.759 It's displayed in the way you speak. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.759 Would you say that to your neighbor? 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.759 Say it's in the way you speak. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:08.720 It's in the way you speak, it will affect your speech. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:14.960 Proverbs 8 says this I will speak of excellent things. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:19.039 Do you know that there's power in the words that you say? 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:25.519 There's power in the words you say, and the Bible says this about the words that you say. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:40.400 The Bible says that a perfect man knows how to, or woman knows how to guard their tongue, knows when to speak and when not to speak, knows how to speak and how not to speak. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:47.440 But the way we speak says a lot about us because what's in our mouth is in our heart. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.519 And what's in our heart is in our head. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:57.759 It's the way we're thinking and processing, and it's in the way we speak. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:04.079 It should be our goal to look at excellent speak, excellent speech. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:12.160 Now, I'm not talking about being fluent or grammatically correct, even though that's that's a great uh pursuit. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.920 I'm talking about watching what you say and how you say it. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:17.920 Are your words honoring? 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:28.319 The scripture says, think on these things, speak on these things, things that are lovely, things that are good, things that are of a good report, things that are a blessing to each other. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:30.960 When you walk into a room, do you bless? 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:32.480 Do you encourage? 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:33.839 Do you support? 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:44.960 Or are you the one who's like tearing down and cutting, or the or in the corridor and behind closed doors, cutting or tearing things down behind the scenes? 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:53.200 Instead of being up front and being honest and truthful and supportive, the Bible says that it's not sloppy. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:55.839 Our sloppy talk should not be in our mouth. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.400 Instead, it should be excellent talk. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:13.680 Number two, if it's displayed in your life, if excellence is displayed in your life, it's in your heart and it can in it's in your heart and it can be seen in your spirit. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:22.160 Proverbs 14, 27 says this a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:27.759 Another translation says this excellent spirit is a calm spirit. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:30.000 A calm spirit. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:35.200 An excellent spirit is actually a calm spirit. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.559 It's building on the right things. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:44.720 It's got its priorities in place, it's not ruled by its own insecurities. 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:49.839 I love when I hear about Daniel, who carried this excellent spirit. 00:28:50.160 --> 00:29:02.960 He was told by the king had written a decree that anyone who prays to another God other than Nebuchadnezzar would be thrown into a den of lions, where death was almost guaranteed. 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:08.720 And Daniel instead decided, no, I'm going to commit to God. 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:11.039 I'm going to commit to the habit of prayer. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:13.920 And he bowed his knees to pray to God. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:23.200 And people who were out for Daniel, who were again jealous of his excellent spirit, they looked for a way to trap him, and they knew that he prayed every day. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:28.240 So they wanted to trap a man of an excellent spirit. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:32.000 So they lured him into this trap and he prayed to God. 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:42.799 And as he prayed to God, they came in, they they uh they grabbed him, took him before the king, and he said to the king, We're gonna throw you in the lion's den. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.839 Throw you in the pit with the lions. 00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:49.200 And Daniel says this to the king. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:53.680 He says, My God is with me, don't worry about it. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:55.680 Come check me in the morning. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:03.279 If anyone exhibited a calm spirit in that moment, it was Daniel. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:09.519 Not to mention his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, uh, we'll see you on the other side. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:12.720 And they walk into the furnace, a blazing furnace. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:15.200 They had an excellent spirit. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:26.000 And that morning, King Nebuchadnezzar runs down to the pit and he calls down into the pit where the lions are, and he says, Daniel, did your God save you? 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:32.559 And Daniel yells up, Yes, I prayed, and an angel came and shut the mouths of the lion. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:47.359 And they pulled Daniel out of the pit, and at that moment, like the king said, made a new decree and said, The whole of our nation has got to recognize the God of Daniel. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:50.079 God got glory in that moment. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:31:02.160 But it was a calm spirit that Daniel carried, and that calm spirit is an excellent spirit because he didn't operate on the basis of insecurity or fear. 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:11.759 He operated on the basis of faith and his understanding of the capacity of God that God created the lion. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:14.240 God can do anything. 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.400 Put me in a room with a bunch of lions. 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:23.119 Now, I don't want to go into a room with a bunch of lions myself, but he knew that God could do it. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.279 Excellence is shown in our own example. 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:39.599 The righteous, the Bible says, is more excellent, should achieve this excellence more than his neighbor, and seek that you may excel in the building of the church. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:32:03.119 One of the challenges for the church has, I think, has always been this mediocre, you know, I can't say it in all situations because the church at one point in time tried to develop these great big citadels with like stained windows and glass and gold and the whole bit, and it was just a waste. 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:10.000 Because the real work was going into a building, it was going into an image, and it was superficial. 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:17.039 But our missional charity work should be better than any other missional charity work around the world. 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:28.799 Our capability to strengthen, to support our community, we should be the strongest support and pillar in Rutland that there is in Rutland. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:32.319 That's where our strength should be. 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:39.839 Our support should be that when the city needs to call on someone to support, they can call on the church. 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:45.759 They can call on us because we're operating with that spirit of excellence. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:51.920 It's not about being better or having more than another person. 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:57.920 It's about uh, it doesn't have to be big or fancy, but it should be tidy. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:00.720 It should be the best as we can offer. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:05.519 And is there a commitment in the church to excellence? 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:12.079 It's a tragedy that people would celebrate mediocrity when we celebrate a great God. 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:18.640 The Bible talks about God doing great and marvelous things. 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:29.759 And God wanting to do in you and me things that are new, things that are different, things that will shock the world. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:35.519 And Jesus even said, greater things will you do in my name than I even ever did. 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:37.920 Imagine what that is. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:45.359 Instead of just hearing someone's problem and challenge or difficulty, consider, you know what? 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:46.880 I'm gonna choose a better way. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:48.319 I'm going to engage. 00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:53.519 Engage in prayer, engage in support, engage in carrying someone forward. 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:56.960 Instead of backing off, let's step in. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:59.839 Because there's a more excellent way. 00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:01.920 Allow God to give you wisdom. 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:04.799 When you think of it, just think of the tooth. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:06.000 The tooth. 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:08.800 There is another way. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:11.199 There is another way. 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:15.519 But we have to see from God's perspective to see the new way. 00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:16.400 Amen. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:19.519 Would you bow your heads with me this morning? 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:23.199 Father, we thank you today for your presence with us. 00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:28.400 We thank you for the excellent spirit, Lord, that you've given us. 00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:38.559 We thank you that you performed the perfect, perfect act of uh of salvation. 00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:47.760 You not only conquered sin and death, but you removed the sting from death so that we don't have to live in it any longer. 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:52.400 And today, Father, we accept the fact that we need you. 00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:59.360 And we believe today that you are the only one who can rescue us and pull us out. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:10.000 And for those of us today who have never made this decision, I'm inviting you today to commit and confess your life to Jesus Christ. 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:20.719 To make that decision, to make Him Lord and to embrace who God has called you to be in your fullness. 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:23.840 Be excellent in everything. 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:31.199 Be excellent in all you do so that you can bring pleasure and bring glory to God. 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:33.840 Father, we thank you for your presence. 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:35.599 We thank you for your spirit. 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:38.880 It's a perfect holy spirit. 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:50.320 Lord, you take care of our every need and take care of our every um every question and thought. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:36:01.440 Lord, you recognize the cynicism or the critic in the crowd, those who have questions, you recognize those who have challenges. 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:09.280 And Lord, today you're reaching out and you're planting seeds of truth, Lord, in every heart and soul. 00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:12.480 And we thank you today for your word. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:15.599 Guard it for us, Lord, this week. 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:21.119 Help us to level up and become better in all that we do in Jesus' name. 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:22.480 And everyone agreed? 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:24.079 Said, Amen. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:25.519 God bless you. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:27.360 Come on, Brian.