Pursuing Excellence Series

Pursuing Excellence

Henry Kissinger in, “The Whitehouse Years”

The battle rages between excellence and mediocrity

Oscar Wilde quote

Excellence is important to the future of the church

Its relationship to evangelism

Inspiration to “come and see”

Antonius Stradivarius

Tom Peters, “In Search of Excellence”

7 of 8 things to be excellent

1. Act Quickly- Mt. 25:31-34, 41

We are in an emergency situation

Church located on highway needed a sign

Waited 10 years

2. Serve the Customer- Ga. 5:13, 14

Every business is trying to reach a customer

Farm business, not reaching inner city

We have a message that is for everyone

God is also God of the Gentiles

3. Encourage Creativity and Innovations- Mt. 4:18, 19

This was an innovation

No one had heard this kind of stuff before

This was beyond their time

Jesus teaches as one with authority

We should do the same

This doesn’t mean throw away the past

It doesn’t mean forget our heritage

It means push forward to win people for Christ

1 Co. 9:19-22

4. Know the Value of Your Employees- 1 Tim. 5:17-18

Specifically, the elders

We should honor all who work hard in the church

Volunteers, staff & leaders

Honor Becky Bertram for the lunch that’s coming!

5. Stay Close to Your Business- Mt. 9:10-12

The business of the church is people

We are trying to reach people for Christ

You have to be around them to win them

6. Do What You Do Best- Ro. 12:6-8

Find your area of giftedness and work hard at it

We all have gifts

7. Adhere to Established Values While Allowing Employee Independence-

We hold to certain unchanging truths

Those never change

Beyond that, we should be allowing people to do ministry

We train them to do the job- Eph 4:11-13

Then let them minister without hindering them

Example of Jesus- Mk. 6:7-12; Lk. 10:1

We need to do things with excellence in the church

Joe Theismann

To listen to this sermon, go to www.godshere.org.