The Pursuit of Excellence

1. The Pursuit of Excellence

2. Curse and Addiction Potential Conversion Resists Argues Dishonors Withholds glory MEDIOCRITY! The Pursuit of Excellence

3. What is the Purpose of Our Existence? Psalms 79:8-9 Isaiah 43:6-7 Ephesians 3:20-21 I Corinthians 10:31 Serving God with mediocrity violates the purpose of our existence. The Pursuit of Excellence

4. The Book of Malachi The Pursuit of Excellence

5. The pursuit of Excellence tells non-Christians that we value our God and our faith. Key factor in evangelism! While we have the message of salvation, what we say by how we do things may be so loud that the public will never hear a word. The Pursuit of Excellence

6. What visitors notice… • A building that is clean and neat on both the inside and the outside. • A sign that can easily be seen and maintained • A well maintained lawn and parking lot • Someone greeted them when they entered the building • Services that begin on time ( with the members present on time) • Bible class teachers that are prepared • A service that begins with a warm welcome and a focus on spiritual things The Pursuit of Excellence

7. What visitors notice… • A song leader that is prepared • A song service where the members know the songs • A song service in which all the members participate • A scripture reader who is well prepared and reads with passion • Meaningful prayers that are clearly spoken into a microphone so all can hear. • A Lord Supper service that is reverent with appropriate brief remarks The Pursuit of Excellence

8. What visitors notice… • Preaching that is well prepared and delivered well • An audience that pays attention and turns to passages • Visual aids such as PowerPoint • Announcements that are brief, emphasize church family and urge visitors to return • Guests are given special attention by the church members The Pursuit of Excellence

9. Whether we pursue excellence or not has a powerful effect on people! If we don’t care about excellence in our facilities and our worship to our God, why should our visitors care about us or our God? I Corinthians 10:31-32 The Pursuit of Excellence

10. First Things First – Greeting Visitors with Excellence How important is first impressions? Have you ever visited a congregation that was unfriendly? How many times does “greet” or “greeting” appear in the New Testament? 50! Romans 16:16 II Corinthians 13:12-13 I Thessalonians 5:26 The Pursuit of Excellence

11. First Things First – Greeting Visitors with Excellence The problem! We live in a society today where we have the tendency not to approach strangers. Matthew 5:47 John 4:4-10 This is our key to growth! WHY??? The Pursuit of Excellence

12. First Things First – Greeting Visitors with Excellence When you see someone new before worship or Bible class immediately go to them, smile, make eye contact, stick out your hand, welcome them, tell them your name and then ask what is their name. Focus on loving them! Enjoy talking to them! Care about their eternal destination! Before the conversation ends, be sure that they have a visitor’s card. Invite them to sit with you. If there is a fellowship meal sit with them. The Pursuit of Excellence

13. First Things First – Greeting Visitors with Excellence The First Minute Rule If you haven’t met the ones visiting before class or worship began, in the first minute after dismissal go directly to that visitor. Speak to them before you speak to anyone else. “We love you!” “We want you! The Pursuit of Excellence

14. First Things First – Beginning the Worship Service with Excellence What is the best way to begin a worship service? Little things can make a big difference. How we begin a worship service can have a big impact on our visitors and our worship. What is our purpose in assembling on the Lord’s Day? 1. Worship God 2. Edify one another The Pursuit of Excellence

15. First Things First – Beginning the Worship Service with Excellence When does our worship really begin? Worship begins in the mind as one contemplates who God is and what God has done. Power and Wisdom Love and Grace Blessings great and small What is said and how it is said at the beginning of a service makes a big difference. When we start our worship service, God should be the only thing on our minds. The Pursuit of Excellence

16. First Things First – Beginning the Worship Service with Excellence The best way to start a worship service… a call to worship that reminds the audience our reason for gathering together and points to God. • A spirited song of praise that everyone knows. • Welcome visitors with an invitation to worship. • A short scripture reading that focus our attention on worshipping God. • Do not make any announcements! • Start on time. • Be on time The Pursuit of Excellence

17. First Things First – Beginning the Worship Service with Excellence The beginning of our worship service is the most special moment of our week. We have stepped from the world into the assembly of the saints. We are reunited our eternal family. We have come before the creator of the universe to recognize who He is and what He has done. We have come to remember the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on our behalf. The Pursuit of Excellence

18. First Things First – Beginning the Worship Service with Excellence It should be the moment in which we most clearly see who we are and the purpose for which we were made. It is a humbling time. It is a glorious time. It is a time when we must pursue excellence! Psalm 95:6-7 (KJV)  ”O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” The Pursuit of Excellence

19. Reading the Scripture with Excellence I Thessalonians 5:27 The public reading of scripture has long been a central part of what God’s people do. Why does it need to be done with excellence? Ephesians 3:4 Isaiah 34:16 Nehemiah 8:8 Reading scripture is not something that is a part of our service just to break up the routine or fill space. You are reading God’s word to people. “An example to prove a point.” The Pursuit of Excellence

20. Reading the Scripture with Excellence God’s word deserves the highest reverence and excellence. God is listening to you speak His words. An illustration from World War II Suggestions to help us achieve excellence • Pray • Don’t let it become too routine but appreciate the privilege and the opportunity to publicly read God’s word. (reverence and excellence) • Look at Jeremy’s email. • Practice! • Look at the context and tone so you know how to read the passage. • Remember everything communicates (dress, eye contact, use of microphone, etc.) • Announce the text two times and give opportunity to locate. The Pursuit of Excellence

21. Leading the Singing with Excellence Of all the things we do in worship, singing is the most culturally foreign to us. The song leader has a task of great magnitude… getting people to sing who normally would never dream of singing in public. But getting someone to lead the singing is an even greater task! John 4:24 Eph. 5:19 Prov. 3:9 Visitor perception (accapella) Song Leaders vs. Song Starters The Pursuit of Excellence

22. Leading the Singing with Excellence Suggestions for Striving for Excellence • Pray • Prepare a song list (first song, prayer, sermon, Lord Supper) • Practice • Announce the number and spell out the number if not using screen (Announce which verses you intend to lead) • Determine the pitch • Raise hand and inhale • Beat pattern (Hold up hand to cut off congregation) • Tempo! • Look up from time to time. • Reflect the song The Pursuit of Excellence

23. Leading the Singing with Excellence What the congregation should do • Pay attention to what the song leader is doing especially his lips and beating pattern (look up) • Sing with excellence! • Be encouraging The Pursuit of Excellence

24. Leading Prayer with Excellence One of the most important things we do on a daily basis is pray, why? How much more important is it then for the collective gathering called the church to pray? Luke 18:1-8 The life of Jesus (Mt. 14:23; Mk. 14:35; Lk. 6:12) Early church (Acts 2:42; 6:4; 12:5) Paul commanded the Church at… Rome (12:12) Colossae (4:2) Ephesus (6:18) Philippi (4:6) Thessalonica (5:17) The Pursuit of Excellence

25. Leading Prayer with Excellence If prayer then, is such an essential part of our lives and worship… how does one pray with excellence??? When it comes to praying with excellence it is more about the internal than the external. • Remember to whom we are praying. The Levitical Priesthood (powerful reminder) In the New Testament age we have a more intimate relationship with God, but that intimacy must never come at the expense of reverence! The Pursuit of Excellence

26. Leading Prayer with Excellence • Make an Effort to Prepare Properly Newsletter! You are coming before God and addressing Him on behalf of the congregation! We must carefully consider to whom we are praying, for whom we are praying and for what we are praying. This should be done before we ever step before the microphone. Practice? Paper? The Pursuit of Excellence

27. Leading Prayer with Excellence • Avoid Meaningless Repetition Matt. 6:7??? Be careful of simply repeating the words of others. Example – “guide, guard and direct” God wants you to genuinely talk to Him not give a performance (# 1 reason why someone won’t lead public prayer) Some of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard were new converts praying publicly for the first time. Why? Simple, yet reverent; heartfelt, not canned Sadly, as they learn more about the “fine art” of praying from the more experienced brethren, their prayers become very routine. The Pursuit of Excellence

28. Leading Prayer with Excellence • Speak from the Heart! Matt. 6:5! If we are not careful, we will more concerned about how it is perceive by others than to Whom it is directed. We can fall into the trap of labeling the person who is able to craft a well-worded prayer as being more spiritual. Why don’t we just record one of our men, praying the most beautiful, magnificently worded prayers ever imaginable and just play a recording of it during the service. Prayer involves more than words! Leading the prayer with excellence isn’t determine by the eloquence of the words we used or the duration of the prayer, but the heart from which it flows. The Pursuit of Excellence

29. Leading Prayer with Excellence • Communicate to be Heard and Understood The Pursuit of Excellence

30. Observing the Lord Supper with Excellence The Command The Washington Monument… Vietnam Wall… help us remember. How then are we to keep fresh in our minds the greatest event in human history? Jesus did not leave it up to man to figure out on his own. If He had, I imagine it would not be the simple and profound reminder we observe. The Pursuit of Excellence

31. Observing the Lord Supper with Excellence The Danger #1 thing - We need to make sure that we do remember Him. Sometimes this does not happen… Why? #1 Reason – It becomes too routine. It is same thing every week. It is the same men, following the same procedure, reading the same passages, making the same comments week after week. It is so easy to simply go through the motions without really focusing on what Jesus has done. The Pursuit of Excellence

32. Observing the Lord Supper with Excellence The Danger We face two challenges if we will pursue excellence. Focus our minds Eliminate distractions We wage this battle on two fronts. Personal Procedure The Pursuit of Excellence

33. Observing the Lord Supper with Excellence The Suggestions Keep it as brief as possible without losing focus It is a mistake to assume that spending more time on our remarks will automatically make the moment more spiritual. In fact, just the opposite is true. The longer the remarks the more likely minds will stop focusing on the Supper and start thinking about something else. Prepare your comments We need to give careful thought to what we say. Our goal is to help people focus on the cross. Never leave the impression that we are just going through a ritual. Avoid illustrations that take too long. Our goal… Prepare our minds for the Supper so we can EAT the Supper! The Pursuit of Excellence

34. Observing the Lord Supper with Excellence The Suggestions Use different passages It is very easy to use the same “Lord Supper” scriptures that are used every Sunday i.e. I Cor. 11. This causes people’s mind to wander. Try to think “outside the box” and use scriptures that make a connection to the cross that people don’t expect. For example, Heb. 8:12 or Eph. 1:3-7 A new scripture will engage the mind of the congregation. Don’t let personal appearance become a distraction The Pursuit of Excellence

35. Mark 7:37 Fanny Crosby in 1875 “For I know what e’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.” His disciples? What have we discussed thus far when it comes to excellence in worship? Listening with Excellence What was one of Jesus’ favorite sayings? “He who has ears to hear let him hear” (Mt. 11:15) What did He mean by that? What is the longest avenue of worship in which we participate? The Pursuit of Excellence

36. Listening with Excellence What is listening with excellence? 1. An Open Bible Why? Acts 17:11 “Searched” – to study thoroughly Acts 18:26 How did two tent –makers do that for such an eloquent speaker? We need to come to services wit our Bibles, then we need to open our Bibles. Children need to see their parents with open Bibles. Visitors need to see that they are with people who believe that the Word of God is the final authority. Romans 10:17 The Pursuit of Excellence

37. Listening with Excellence 2. An Attentive Mind Just because our Bibles are open does not mean we are listening to what it says. Acts 17:11 “readiness of mind” = a willing and eager i. e. a mind that is prepare to hear Neh. 8:3 What prevents us from having an attentive mind? Distractions Preparation The Pursuit of Excellence

38. Listening with Excellence 3. A Receptive Heart The heart is the target of every sermon (Acts 2:37) Luke 8:15 (8:18) Listening with excellence is not just about having ears to hear. It is a heart issue. It should all start with our own heart but what do we often do? How does what is being studied applies to me? When it comes to the preaching of God’s Word with Excellence, it is more about the one listening than the one preaching. The power of any sermon is not in the preacher, but in the word he proclaims. Matt. 17:5 The Pursuit of Excellence

39. What do visitors see when they visit our church for the first time? When someone visits us for the first time, they often walk in the door just like a potential buyer walks in the front door of a house he may buy. Some visit with a critical eye. Sometimes it is the “little things” that have the biggest impact. The appearance of the building both inside and out makes the very first impression a visitor has of this congregation. The Pursuit of Excellence

40. Maintaining OUR Facilities with Excellence How??? Adopt a Space and or Tackle a Task Be aware (looking through a visitors eyes) The Pursuit of Excellence

41. The Christian life is a Life in the Pursuit of Excellence Rev. 3:15-16 Eccl. 9:10 Phil. 1:9-10 II Cor. 8:7 I Thess. 4:1 I Cor. 10:31 I Cor. 15:58 The Pursuit of Excellence