Sermon Tone Analysis

EXCELLENCE - INTEGRITY - STRIFE

Personal Teaching Notes

P494

03/30/22

EXCELLENCE - INTEGRITY - STRIFE

For Gateway Church April 9 and 10

Choosing To Be Excellent

We must choose to be excellent because if we must go with how we feel, the flesh is always mediocre at best!

Mediocre is halfway between success and failure!

The world today (including many Christians) are not excellent!

They compromise and do as little as they can to just get by.

They don't do what they do with excellence and they don't keep their word.

1. Called To Be Excellent

IIIIII Peter 1:3 (AMPC) - 3 For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).

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IIIB.An excellent person exceeds requirements; they go above and beyond.

They do more than enough; they do a superior job.

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John Maxwell said one of his goals when he goes to

Ispeak is to always do more than is expected of him.

IC.We are called to the more excellent way!

IEXCELLENCE-INTEGRITY-STRIFE

IIIII Corinthians 12:31 (AMPC) - 31 But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces).

And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all-love].

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Matthew 24 tells us that love of the great body will grow cold in the last days due to the wickedness and lawlessness in our society.

If we focused more on walking in love and less on getting what we want, we would be happier and more powerful in the Spirit than we can imagine.

Walking in love should be our number one goal because Jesus said that is how people would know that we are His disciples.

God has done excellent things.

Isaiah 12:5 (AMPC) - 5 Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent things [gloriously]; let this be made known to all the earth.

IIGlory means the manifestation of all of the excellencies of God!

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Ephesians 3:20 (AMPC) - 20 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams] ...

EXCELLENCE-INTEGRITY-STRIFE3

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I3.Matthew 5:41 (NIV) - 41 If anyone forces you to

Igo one mile, go with them two miles.

IIIIIf you work 8-5 with an hour for lunch, clock in at 7:55 and out at 5:05.

Take one hour for lunch, not one hour and ten minutes.

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IC.

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Don't do your personal business during working hours on the phone or computer!

Matthew 7:12 (NIV) - 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

IIA Man Who Was Excellent

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Daniel was determined to keep his commitments!

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IIDaniel 1:8 -But Daniel resolved not to defile

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himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to

Idefile himself this way.

IIExcellent people keep their commitments (their word) if at all possible!

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IIMy experience with the pastors from Florida who I invited to my house and

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Ithen wanted to back out of it.

IIIIEven something as minor as telling someone you will call them back is a commitment and should be kept.

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IEXCELLENCE-INTEGRITY-STRIFE5

IB.Daniel 6:1-10 - 1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,

IIII2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.

The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.

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II3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

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I4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find

IIgrounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of

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government affairs, but they were unable to do so.

They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy

IIIand neither corrupt nor negligent.

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5 Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to

Ido with the law of his God."

II6 So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: "May King Darius live forever!

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III7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict

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and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your

IMajesty, shall be thrown into the lions' den.

IIII8 Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered-in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed."

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9 So I<ing Darius put the decree in writing.

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10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.