Summer Shorts IV // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // July 13, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Oh, great to see everybody, man.
What a great day in God's house.
Sorry if I just, while theywere singing, I was on this

(00:27):
front row thinking, lookingacross everyone that was singing
today, and it's a collection ofpeople who did not give up.
Yet there's a reason why we getso passionate when we worship
and it's really because, likeDavid said, if it had not been

(00:53):
for the Lord on my side, wherewould I be?
And I don't know if it's justthis season in my life or if
it's just the way that heavenfeels so close in these moments
that I just can't help but beoverwhelmed as I watch our young

(01:15):
adults and our young people andjust going so strong after the
Lord and really leading us inthis church in an atmosphere of
expression of thanksgiving andpraise and worship.
And we have 25 that are inPuerto Rico right now that are

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doing ministry.
So we keep on praying for themand my prayer is they have just
the right blend of powerfulministry moments and fun,
because serving the Lord is fun,and so I know there are going

(01:59):
to be so many life changemoments and thank you.
So many life change moments andthank you.
I just want to say thank you,church family, for your support
and giving so generously to makeit possible for all of these
young adults and students to bein Puerto Rico, and then for
everybody showing up today, welldone.
I mean, you could be anywheretoday, but you got into this

(02:21):
house and listen.
It's not that the Lord wouldn'tbe here if you weren't here,
because the Lord will show up,he's everywhere, always, all the
time.
But I think there's just aspecial anointing in this house
when we all show up.
And man, how many didn'trecognize Ethan this morning?

(02:43):
I'm like, did we hire a newworship leader?
I did not get that memo.
But no, ethan's our oldest sonman.

(03:03):
My heart's so just full, justby the way he's growing and just
the power that he leads in.
And how many, how many know I,all of us need to, everybody
that serves on the dream team,which is our team, that serves
and volunteers through the weekand on the weekend and takes a
good collection of us to makethis service happen.
But how many know we all need ashirt that says where's Ethan?
All right, like two minutes,two minutes before service.

(03:34):
I knew he was.
He was leading this morning andwe had an issue that we needed
to correct down in the lobby andand somebody said, where's
Ethan?
I'm like, well, he's gettingready to go on stage, so I don't
know that we can call him rightnow, and so, but, ethan, well
done, I'm just so proud.
He's getting ready to go onstage, so I don't know that we
can call him right now, but,ethan, well done, I'm just so

(03:57):
proud of you.
Way to go.
We are in an incredible seasonof summer and I love summer.
Five of you, I love summer.
It's not that I hate winter.

(04:17):
I just dislike February andMarch and most of April.
But I'm thankful for what'shappening in this house and man,
I feel like God really wants tojust continue to move in us and
through us.
So I'm ready to preach God'sword.

(04:39):
Are you ready to receive ittoday?
The year was 2017 and the twinswere in fifth grade, and fifth
grade is a milestone moment inour school system here in Oak
Park, and they do this tripevery year, and I think just

(05:03):
about every one of the 12 or soelementary schools in this area
do this trip at some point inthe spring, and they call it
outdoor education, and so theybus all of the kids in the fifth
grade, as far west as you cango in Illinois and get them in

(05:26):
this outdoor country campsetting and they do all of this
like lesson and instructionabout nature and all kind of I
mean, and so I don't know why.
I guess it's because they'reboys that I did all of the
chaperone trips for them, solike it wouldn't make sense for

(05:50):
Urshana to go on an outdooreducation trip and stay in a
girl's camp dorm without a girlthere that she is a parent to.
So I get to do.
I got to do all those trips andmost of you may know this but I
didn't go to seminary.
Seminary is kind of my life.
I grew up in the home of apastor, who grew up in the home

(06:13):
of a pastor.
So, and my wife, like we'd justbeen around ministry all of our
life, and so I always say myseminary was my upbringing and.
But I went to school and I gota marketing degree and so if you
know anything about marketing,we know how to say great things

(06:34):
and make things look great, butwe always leave the rest of the
details up to the engineers inthe room.
Like as a salesperson, how manyknow it's the best product
you've ever promoted in yourlife and you know that it should
work and you know what itshould do.

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But the fact of how it worksyou don't really care that much
about, you just wanna sell itand then let the support team
take over.
Can I get an amen from asalesperson?
I said all that to say.
On this outdoor education tripwe did pretty good through all
of the different things thatthey had challenged us with.
And on the last day theybrought us together and broke us

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up in groups and gave us acompass.
They gave the kids a compassnot me, but for the story
purpose I'm in it and they gave.
They broke us up into about agroup of four and they had a
compass and then basically theyhad four points in this large

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field wilderness.
I mean, we could have been inthe middle of Colorado for all I
know, but I know we were inWest Illinois, but it just
seemed like we were lost andthey gave us these four things
that we had to do by using thecompass and degrees and all
these things and I'm a marketingmajor, not a compass major, not

(08:02):
a compass major.
So we started off and the kidswere like challenged with making
sure we were going the rightdirection and degrees.
And so we got going and wefound the one spot, the first
spot, and we were like we're init.
And then for the rest of thetime we looked for the second
and the third and the fourthspot, until they actually had to

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blow a whistle over the entirecampground calling us back
because we had gotten just onedegree off going to the second
spot, which meant the one degreeoff going to the third spot was
about six degrees off, whichmeant going to the fourth spot.
We were about 26 degrees off.
And then we were lost and wewere circling around this

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wilderness not knowing.
And it really is the year that Ilearned the detail, right down
to the exact degree, is soimportant for you to arrive at
your destiny and if you're notcareful in the first detail, you
might never make it to the lastdetail.
Why don't you just arrive atyour destiny?
And if you're not careful inthe first detail, you might
never make it to the last detail.
Why don't you just turn to yourneighbor and say we've got to

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dial in the degrees and thenturn to the other one and just
say you look so good today.
Here we go.

(09:33):
We're in this series calledSummer Shorts and it really is
just this look into the gospels,like not taking a lot of time
and not going line by line orprecept by precept, but just
like a brief overview of thegospels and hopefully you're
reading through them this summer.
And what about last week?
Last week was such a great weekwith Noel and Retta and Julian
and it's a powerful, powerfulweekend, as they shared from the

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Gospels.
And so here we are, we're rightin the middle of this and we're
really looking at the facespassage that refer to the faces
of our Lord, faces passage thatrefer to the faces of our Lord.
And it's kind of without.
It's kind of the way to knowwhat Jesus looked like in terms
of character and how he workedand moved and walked on this

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earth.
And Ezekiel 1.10 is thescripture we've been starting
with to get us to the gospel,but it says this as for the
likeness of their faces, let'sgo ahead and pull that screen up
all the way.
As for the likeness of theirfaces, each had the face of a
man, the face of a lion, theface of an ox and the face of an

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eagle.
So these four faces is what thevision showed, not that when
Jesus walked on the earth he hadfour faces, but it's showing
the character of who Jesus was.
And, by the way, in the book ofDaniel, chapter 6, verse 3, the
Bible says that Danieldistinguished himself from all

(11:00):
of the others not by what he did, but by who he was.
A lot of times we think what wedo is the difference maker, but
it's really who we are.
So if we are Christ followers,as we follow Jesus, we want to
become more like him.
And if you want to be more likehim, then you need to know what
he looks like.
And by looking at the gospelswe get a picture of what he

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looked like by what he did, butmore of who he was.
And so we know that John talks.
Really, the overview of the bookof John is that it was the face
of the lion, that Jesus had amighty anointing.
He had powerful anointing onthis earth.
He was 100% God, so he hadpowerful anointing.

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And John talks about thatanointing and that boldness.
And then last week or two weeksago, we read through the book
of Luke and Luke was like yeah,he's 100% God.
Jesus is 100% God, but he alsowas 100% man.
So he was fully God, but he'salso fully man.

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And, yeah, he was powerfullyanointed, but he was also
personally relational.
He became one of us, sat amongus, suffered like we would
suffer, took our sins upon him,like that's relationship, right
there.
And so today we continue andwe're going to be in the book of

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Matthew and Matthew.
Matthew's amazing.
I love Matthew, matthew, if wejust dialed it in into one
sentence, we would say thatMatthew talks about the face of
the eagle, which is excellence,that Jesus did all things well

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and with excellence.
And it's important that youunderstand that Matthew was an
accountant, that you understandthat Matthew was an accountant.
And I don't know about you, butI've never met a messy
accountant.
In fact, you don't want a messyaccountant, you want an

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accountant who, like Matthew,will make sure every T is
crossed and every I is dottedand every detail and every
number matches and makes senseand, like Matthew, was a good
record keeper.
In fact, matthew gives us thisvery precise and very detailed

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look at everything Jesus did.
That it's a precise look at hisbirth, even the lineage, all
the way from Abraham, all theway to Jesus.
He gives us the lineage, veryprecise details about the birth
of Jesus, precise details abouthis ministry, precise details
about his suffering, precisedetails about his death and his

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ascension everything.
He was very precise in sharingthat.
In fact, he did that by quotingmore Old Testament scripture
and prophecy than any othergospel.
That's how precise he was.
He's like I'm going to tell youthis account, but I'm also
going to have footnotes andreferences and show you back
where actually the prophet saidwho Jesus would be and Jesus

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would operate as the prophetsaid.
And he's just very detailed inhis result and, in short, he
says Jesus did everything well,with excellence.
You know, jesus healed withexcellence.
He didn't just fix the ailments, but he restored dignity.
Jesus taught with excellence,not just giving answers but

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actually providing an awakeningof hearts as he taught.
Remember the disciples afterJesus rose from the dead and
they're walking to Emmaus andhe's talking to them and what
they say is didn't our heartsburn within us?
He awakened something in ourhearts.
We have been taught it, but nowwe realize we're living it.

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Jesus led with excellence, notjust from above, peering down
and saying do this and do that,but from among.
He showed the example ofexcellence.
Jesus died with excellence,laying down his life with
precision and purpose, even tothe final detail.
His final breath was it isfinished.

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It wasn't chaos, it wascompletion.
He did it with excellence.
He did everything withexcellence.
Jesus didn't just come and moveinto mediocrity, but he
actually was majesty in motion.
And if we want to be more likeJesus, we have to be powerfully

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anointed, meaning we haverelationship with the Lord and
we seek after his presence which, by the way, is why we have
worship with the Lord and weseek after his presence, which,
by the way, is why we haveworship like we worship, because
it's our opportunity to get inhis presence together and pour
out our life.
The Bible says love the Lordwith your whole, all of your
heart, your mind, your soul,your strength, everything within

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us.
That's how we worship, becausewe love the presence of the Lord
.
I'm gonna talk about that in aminute.
But we can't just be powerfullyanointed.
We have to be good with people,we have to be relational.
We got to get around people.
You're not going to see peoplesaved in your community if you

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don't get into their life andknow about them and ask them
questions and be the example tothem, but also get involved and
sit down at the table with them,so be good with people.
But then Matthew's like yeah,you gotta be powerfully anointed
and, yes, you gotta be goodwith people, but there is a
detail that you have to walkwith excellence, like Jesus did.

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So let's talk about excellencefor a little bit.
What is excellence?
Because there's a lot ofconjecture and there's a lot of
thought process that goes intowhat is excellence.
And let me just first tell youwhat excellence is.
Not perfection, it'sintentionality.
It's not about being flawless,it's about being faithful, a

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good steward with what God givesyou.
So we can't get caught on thedetail of excellence, thinking
it's only about performance, butit really is.
It's about the matter of ourheart being able to steward the
things that God gives us to ourvery best ability.

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Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11,he says follow me as I follow
the example of Jesus, and ifJesus does things well, then I
need to do things well, and Ineed to follow the example of
Jesus, and if Jesus does thingswell, then I need to do things
well and I need to set theexample for the people following
me to live that way as well.
So it's not perfection, andArshana and I were talking about

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this at dinner last night alittle bit.
Sometimes I get to preach mymessage to her and then she
picks some points and perfects.
So if you don't like it, gotalk to her.
But I came across thismediocrity is the graveyard of

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potential.
And the thing is the graveyardof potential.
And the thing is some of us aredying slow deaths in our life,
not because we're sinful, butbecause we've settled it's going
to be just good enough.
If I do, just good enough, I'llget by.

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And I believe that there is noglorifying Christ in that
pursuit, because excellenceisn't just a spiritual
discipline, it's actuallypractical holiness, it's what
sets us apart.

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Holiness, it's what sets usapart.
Ephesians 2.10 says for we areGod's masterpiece.
Everybody say masterpiece.
He has created us anew inChrist so we can do the good
things he planned for us longNow.
That word masterpiece, in theGreek it actually means poem,

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like verse, like line upon line,like roses are red, violets are
blue.
I love Jesus.
I hope you do too.
I don't know, it's just whatcame to me.
I got stuck.
But the reality is this thatthink about.

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And obviously I'm no poet,although I've rapped a few lines
in my day.
Don't make me start, but thinkabout a beautiful no, a

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beautiful poem, a beautiful poem.
And when you read it and itjust flows and it's just man,
it's like.
Think about a song with greatlyrics, like you hear it one
time and you sing it all weeklong, and that is the detail and

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the precision that we are toGod.
He took great care.
We read it in Psalms 139 thathe took great care in planning
out all the days of our life.
He stamped us with his thumb apurpose and an identity and he
wrote all the days down likethis is how, if it all goes this
way, this is what's going tohappen in their lives.
And whenever we mess up, hejust tears that page out and

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rewrites our way back into thestory every single time.
If you don't give up, so you'reGod's masterpiece.
If he made you with excellence,then it is our opportunity and

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our honor to live withexcellence.
Romans 12.1,.
So, brothers and sisters, herewe go see.
Brothers and sisters, since Godhas shown us great mercy, I beg
you, come on, pull it up.
Romans 12.1.
I beg you to offer your livesas a living sacrifice to him,
and your offering must be onlyfor God and pleasing to him,

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which is, by the way, thespiritual way that you worship.
So our lives are an offering.
It means the way we walk is anoffering.
The way we talk is an offering.
What we look at is an offering.
How we act is an offering.
Our work is an offering.

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Our hobbies become an offering.
Like and listen.
Work isn't just work, it'sworship.
And if you can frame it in thatcategory, it will change the
way you walk into your office.
Tomorrow Can't be 1102 already.

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This is supposed to be summershorts, we're supposed to be at
the beach already.
But if we realize work isworship and worship is worth,
ship it, worship is worth-ship.

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It's what he's worth.
And if my song is my best andmy raising my hands is my best,
then also my accounting practiceis my best.
My laundry list is my best.
My mowing the grass is my best.
Like you have to think about itin the form of worship.
My work is worship and so I'mgoing to give my best, not

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because it matters to any of you, because it matters to him.
So really, the start ofexcellence is this you should be
the hardest worker, not theoverworked worker, but the
hardest worker.
It's a difference and we shouldhave the best attitude, always

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striving to do our best to reachour potential, because we're
not working for a church or fora company.
We are striving and working andworshiping for God.
So let me just set a few thingsabout Because, honestly, it is
easy for us to fall into thetrap that excellence would mean

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perfection.
I told you it's not, but stillwe sometimes judge excellence by
the standard of perfection.
I told you it's not, but stillwe sometimes judge excellence by
the standard of perfection.
So let me just set this up foryou Excellence motivates you
when perfectionism Paralyzes you.
Excellence causes or leads tosuccess, while perfectionism

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causes or leads to stress.
I could give you a couple morethat I didn't give to them.
The pursuit of excellence isgratifying and healthy, but the
pursuit of perfection isfrustrating and a terrible waste
of time, because none of uswill be perfect, because none of

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us will be perfect.
Pursuing excellence is not tobe a quest for superiority,
because I'm pursuing excellencedoesn't mean I'm better than
anybody else.
I just have a responsibilityfor what God has given me, to
give my best with what he'sgiven me.
Do my best with all Listenwhatever God has blessed me with

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.
It's my responsibility to usethat to the best of my ability.
Most people would think thatstriving for pursuing excellence
means being better thaneveryone else, and that's not
true.
For one's own glory orsignificance, or for the praise
or the applause of men, oh,that's what you know, living for
excellence.
You're trying to make yourselfbetter than everybody else, or

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show you're better thaneverybody else, or live for the
applause of men.
No, that's no, no, no, no, no.
The whole goal in pursuingexcellence is this we want to be
better tomorrow than we wereyesterday.
I'm going to be better tomorrowthan I was the day before, and

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that is the pursuit ofexcellence Doing our best with
what we have, all to the gloryof the lord.
So what does excellence look atfree church?
Well, here's excellence at freechurch our, our core values.
We have a vision.
That's where we're going.
We have um, we have a bridge toget there.

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It's what we do to get to thatvision.
But we have guidelines orguardrails to help us get where
we're going, and those arecalled values.
And if you don't name yourvalues, somebody will.
So our values at Free Church.
Number one we love God, which,by the way, all of this is in
freeway, which if you've nevergone through the freeway or it's

(27:00):
been a while you might need arefresher.
It's coming up on July 27th,right after service, and we're
calling it freeway extremebecause we are we're going to do
all of freeway 101, 201, 301 inone moment.
After service we'll have somelight snacks, like a continental

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breakfast.
We'll teach you heart andvision, what it means to be a
disciple of the Lord and thenhow to be a part of making a
difference and discovering yourpurpose in this house.
And we're doing this becausewe're moving to two services in
the fall and there's opportunity.
There's great opportunity forour team to grow and not put all

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of the burden on just a few.
You see, no matter like thevision is much bigger than than
maybe what you can see.
We have a great vision, but thevision is not heavy if we all
carry it together.
So Freeway Extreme is coming upJuly 27th.

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You can register on Rene.
Just get your phone out, openup that Slack app.
It's our favorite app of theworld.
Amen, somebody.
We love Slack, woo and DM Rene.
Register forward, slashregister and then select Freeway
Extreme and, honestly, it willbe a treat for you.

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You'll learn so much, you'llget connected and then you'll be
a part of helping us make adifference.
But this is some of the thingswe teach you.
We love God.
That's our value.
We love God.
In fact, that is the face ofthe lion, that's the powerful
anointing the pursuit of hispresence.
We love God.
The second one is we lovepeople.
That's the face of man that isbeing good with people, being

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relational Too much, take it toolong, okay.
Then the third one is we.
I thought you said come on likewrap it up, like landing.
And then the third one is wepursue excellence, not because
we wanna be perfect, but becauseexcellence honors God and
creates comfort.

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When we do what God has givenus to do and we do it well, it
creates comfort.
That's why we don't brew crummycoffee.
We have the best coffee.
That's why our iced coffee willmatch with I'll match it with
anybody any little coffee shopin this area.
Our iced coffee, it'll match it.

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Why?
Not because we want to have thebest coffee, but because a cup
of coffee in our hand createscomfort and helps us kind of
settle in a little easier, makesit feel like home, all right.
So and then the last one, incase you're tracking, is choose
joy, and that's coming up nextweek.
All right, so can I finish thissermon or do I need to like

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table it and come back?
Very quickly, liam, you cancome up and play behind me,
it'll make this sound a lotbetter.
So now we have an idea You'retracking with me.
You have an idea whatexcellence is and what it is not
.
So how can we grow inexcellence?
And this passage of scripturejust kind of filled my spirit

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yesterday as I was just goingthrough my notes one last time.
It wasn't originally in mynotes, but I put it in there for
you and Paul's writing to theCorinthian church.
He says this but since youexcel in everything in faith, in
speech, in knowledge, incomplete earnestness and in the
love we have kindled in, you seealso that you excel in the

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grace of giving Paul's likelisten, you're doing all these
things with excellence.
Well done, keep striving, notfor perfection, but be excellent
.
Excellent in your faith, inyour speech, in your knowledge,
in your earnestness and in yourlove, and even in your giving.
Be excellent because the giftsGod has given you.

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It's good for us to beexcellent in that we're doing
this unto the Lord, not unto man, but unto the Lord.
So how do we grow?
How do we excel?
How do we grow in excellence?
Number one commit to the hiddenplaces.
Commit to the hidden places.
Commit to the hidden places.
Excellence starts when no oneis watching.
Can you be excellent in whatyou're doing when nobody's

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paying attention?
Because when nobody's payingattention, it is my greatest,
it's the greatest threat for meto do just enough to get by.
When the kids used to come inthe room and they want your
attention.
So they start, they do someperforming and, um, they give

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their best to get your attentionand and man, you're like that,
wow, that like the boys wouldcome in and do tricks and
somersaults and all kind ofthings to get our like like show
off in front of the people inthe room.
But they only could do thosethings because they were somehow
practicing those on thetrampoline and other places.

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Like the reality is like, whenno one's watching, you still
strive for excellence.
Listen, jesus first.
All right, let me close it withthis.

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If I, if I make a secondbattery dead, I'm never gonna
preach again.
So listen, jesus lived 30 yearsin obscurity.
For three years of ministry.
Jesus lived 30 years inobscurity, for three years of
ministry 30 years, the Biblesays, of growing in wisdom and

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stature, pursuing excellencewhen no one was watching.
For those three years, and youknow what?
And a lot of times you knowwe're like okay, yes, I'm called
, give me a microphone.
Yes, I'm called Give me amicrophone.
Yes, I'm called Give me aplatform.
Yes, I'm called Give me abudget.
Like, no, no, that's notpursuing excellence.
Can you do it when nobody'swatching?

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Can you build when no one'spaying attention?
Can you prepare when?
Can you be ready?
When it's time to be ready?
So if God is working in youbehind the curtain, it's because
he's preparing to reveal hisglory through you, out and open.
So don't despise your season ofsilence, because that's where

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excellence is forged in you.
The second one refuse to settlefor good enough.
So many of us are living at thelevel of average, not because
we're incapable, but becausewe've become comfortable.
Good enough is the greatestenemy of great.

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Good enough is the greatestenemy of great, and we just
gotta always be.
Listen, we're not trying to bebetter than everybody else.
We're just doing better day byday, by day by day, with what
God has given us.
It is the way we become goodstewards.
And when we steward the giftwell, what's the gift for
ministry?
What's the reward for ministry?
It's more ministry.

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But you don't get the reward ofmore ministry if you're not
stewarding the one talent thatGod gave you, or the two talent,
or the five talent, all right.
So average is always easierthan excellent.
But average will not change theworld.

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You never go back to therestaurant that had an okay meal
.
You never take your clothesback to a cleaner that did okay
with the collars.
You don't go back to the carwash that did okay with most of

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the car, just the wheels and thethe mud flaps.
They missed those, but it'sokay.
No, we don't settle for that.
We're not average people.
We serve an extraordinary Godand we serve him with excellence
.
And then the last one invite thespirit.
Invite the Holy Spirit to helpyou with the spirit of

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excellence.
Invite the Holy Spirit to giveyou that spirit of excellence.
When I told you that Daniel hada spirit of excellence that set
him apart, it wasn't what hedid, it was who he was, and it

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wasn't just natural for Daniel,but it was spiritual.
Excellence is a fruit ofintimacy with the Holy Spirit.
Like we love the fruit of theSpirit in like power and
goosebumps, and you know, like Iprayed for somebody and they

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were healed, or I spoke aprophetic word over their life
and man, this powerful momentthat's happening.
But really the fruit of theSpirit is also being excellent
because it's a part of who weare.
We're like our creator, we'relike our creator.
So ask the Holy Spirit and thisis what you pray, if you want

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to invite the Holy Spirit togive you a spirit of excellence,
this is what you pray.
Ask Him to refine your work, torefine your character, to
refine your character, to refineyour attitude.
And this one refine your rhythm, because a lot of us, since

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we're walking out of rhythm, welose time to be excellent.
Like you can't live scatteredand show up late and expect it
to be excellent.
It's like you know the studentthat gets there a few minutes

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before class starts and they sitin the front, not the back, and
when they get there, they gettheir textbook out, they get
their ipad or their laptop out,they get their pens and pencils
out.
They get there, they get theirtextbook out, they get their
iPad or their laptop out, theyget their pens and pencils out,
they get their note takinghowever they're doing it if it's
digital or they're writing itand they get all ready and
they've got a bottle of water,and it's two minutes before
class starts, but they'resitting and they're ready and

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they're, I'm ready.
And you know what, if you dothat for the people that are
teaching you, the people thatyou'll teach will do that.
I'll never forget, as, as ayoung college student in a young
adult class ministry class Iwas cutting up and not paying

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attention and laughing with myfriends in the back of the class
and the young adult leader ofthe church I was in my dad's
church spoke up and said hey,chuck, guess what?
Someday you're gonna preach onstages, but no one will listen
if you won't listen to me.
You wanna be excellent, beready to be ready so that when

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you start leading, people willbe ready to be ready, so that
when you start leading, peoplewill be ready to be ready.
That was better than that, amen, but I'll let that roll.
Thank you, baby.
Thank you for that one.
That was good.
I wasn't talking to you, I wastalking about all of them,
practically.
Can I just close with thisPractically, number one.

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Listen.
You want to.
You want to distinguish?
Listen.
Daniel wasn't distinguished.
He distinguished himself, notjust what he did, but who he was
.
So listen.
You wanna be practical at workor church, be the first to

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arrive and the last to leave,not overworking.
But listen.
If you're supposed to startwork at nine, if you're supposed
to be on the Zoom call at nine,don't start logging in at nine.
Don't go through the door atnine.
Be first.

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See, this is gonna help youdistinguish yourself.
Young people, young adults,it'll be a game changer.
Be the last to leave.
Then here's another one If youturn in reports, turn them in

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first, but ensure that they areclean and precise and actionable
.
Turn in good reports at work.
That will distinguish you.
Thorough, thoughtful,actionable.
Listen when you do at work,when you do your job at work,

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that's what you get paid for.
When you go beyond yourresponsibilities, that's what
gets you noticed.
Be excellent.
It is not just.
It's not just.
It's sometimes not in ournature.
So we can work at it.
We invite the Holy Spirit tohelp us.
But listen, it's not just aboutperforming well, it's really

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bringing God all the glory inwhat we do.
And it doesn't when you teachit like this.
It doesn't sound so spiritual,but it is steeped in gospel
principle, because it's howJesus lived his life.
Can you receive that word today?
Let me pray.

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Holy Spirit, lord, we thank youfor your presence in this room.
Jesus, you showed up in such apowerful way today.
Our lives are changed foreverand I pray you'll help us live
our life with excellence.
Would you stir that within us,that when people look at us we

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resemble you, because you showedus how to live, doing all
things well.
We declare this in the name ofJesus.
Let the church say amen.
Come on, let's stand together.
As I close, just a couple ofthings.
First of all, if you're givingtoday, maybe you're.