**Excellence honors God and inspires people.

Avoiding mediocrity in our RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

...maturing, deepening

1 Corinthians 14:20

Hebrews 5:14

Ephesians 4:13

The PROCESS of BECOMING spiritually mature.

Philippians 3:12-16

Maturing is an INTENTIONAL process that takes TIME.

God wants us involved in the process of moving toward maturity.

Am I involved in this process?

**Excellence honors God and inspires people.

COMPARISON

Comparison leads to envy.

Comparison to other people is what kills contentment… but contentment is what we all want.

Proverbs 14:30

Proverbs 23:17

Matthew 27:18

Mark 7:21-22

Romans 1:29

Galatians 5:19-21

James 3:14

1 Corinthians 3:3

1 Corinthians 13:4

Galatians 5:26

1 Peter 2:1

Psalm 37:1

Love God, love others:

To love is to will the good of the other person.

The litmus test of how we love our neighbor:

Do we celebrate when others win?

Philippians 4:11-13

CONTENTMENT is the key.

ENVY that is the result of our comparison finds a way to create distance between us and God.

ENVY calls into question God’s very goodness toward us.

1 Samuel 18:6-9

Signs that ENVY has taken root:

- unable to enjoy and celebrate what someone else has

- unable to enjoy what we have because of resentment

How can I possibly expect to avoid envy when I compare myself to others?

**Excellence honors God and inspires people.

TAKING INITIATIVE

1 Samuel 17

Vs 1-12

Vs 16

Vs 23

Vs 32

How can I use my time to create more meaning?

Proverbs 24:30-34

Diligent:

incremental, intentional and persistent

investing in the things that are important, in an ongoing way

Distraction keeps us from being diligent.

Identify your meaning replacements

engagement ↔ escape.

conversation ↔ connection

productivity ↔ busyness

Jesus, does this line up with what you value for me?

Does this leave me satisfied, or does it leave me empty?

Diligence over distraction brings meaning to your time.

1. Divine Commission

vs 1-3

2. Direct Command

3. Disobedient Conduct

vs 9

vs 13-15

vs 20-21

4. Disastrous Consequence

vs 22-23

5. Decision Cure

vs 33-35

You can make progress or you can make excuses... but you can't make both!

There is no right way to do a wrong thing.

6. De-Coronation

vs 16-19

Is this as good as it gets?

How engaged am I?

Am I just killing time?

Mediocrity doesn’t get better on its own.

Why am I allowing what is good to stand in the way of what could be great?

What if I fully realized the potential of what God wanted me to experience in my life??

Nothing stays mediocre if my heart is fully engaged.

What if I were to engage my heart?

What should I do?

Engage my heart fully.

Matthew 1:23

GOD WITH US

I see you.

God-at-a-distance

God with me

- expands your capacity to love

I know, I’m sorry, I’m ready.

Pastor Bob Crosthwaite

Pastor Todd Crosthwaite

Matthew 1:23

GOD WITH US

I see you.

God-at-a-distance

God with me

- expands your capacity to love

I know, I’m sorry, I’m ready.

Luke 1:5-26

#1, God’s story always starts with obedience.

#2, Obedience is doing what is right in God’s eyes, not ours.

It’s not up to us to decide what obedience is.

Vs 16; see Malachi 4:5-6

#3, Faith is trusting God’s faithfulness, not our circumstances.

OUR RESPONSE:

1) We have to accept how God sees us, not how we see ourselves.

2) To be in God’s story, we have to follow His script.

YOU don't define you.

Your childhood or family of origin do not define you.

"Enmeshment": a situation where the boundaries between people become blurred, and individual identities lose importance

Your career does not define you.

Your salary or socio-economic status do not define you.

Your political affiliation does not define you.

Luke 6:26

Proverbs 29:25

1 Thessalonians 2:4-6

What other people think or say about you does not define you.

Romans 8:1

Philippians 3:12-14

2 Corinthians 5:17

1 Corinthians 6:11

Your past mistakes do not define you.

Only our Creator can define us!

Genesis 1:26-27

Jeremiah 1:5

Psalm 13:16

John 14:2-3

I am created in the image of God.

I am loved by God.

I am known by God.

I am planned.

I am chosen.

I am wanted.

I am adopted as a child of God.

I am redeemed.

The Bible was written to tell us what we need to know to believe in, and obey, God.

Matthew 13:55-58

Luke 2:41-52

Some important lessons:

1. Humble obedience & respect for parents

2. Obedience & submission to God

3. Commitment to spiritual growth

If GROWING was so important to Jesus, shouldn't it be important to us?

Hebrews 5:8-9

Jesus is the only way to God and to heaven...

- will you put your faith in him?

- will you live a life of obedience to his teachings?