Sunday I challenged our church family to raise their expectations and the expectations of others. That is not an easy task but much needed so we can be stronger and help others see their value.
Too often nominal Christianity has become the normal. God has called us to lead more, to love stronger and to live distinctively different lives before a watching world. Yet how is that possible if … we live in fear, live unforgiven or unrepentant, live disconnected or live without purpose?
We are called by God. First to salvation and then to live for Him. Get this and don’t miss it. God called us to Himself and then God called us to live with Him and for Him to impact a world in desperate need of Him. Does that make sense? If it does, we have to be GETTING HONEST.
GETTING HONEST is not one of the easiest things we do, but it is something we so need. In fact our church is built on seven core values. They are: Community, Relevance, Acceptance, Creativity, Authenticity, Unity and Expectations.
That core value says… We seek to raise EXPECTATIONS by lifting levels of commitment, holding each other accountable and experiencing God’s best.
2 Corinthians 8:5 NLT
They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.
We fail when we aim at nothing because we hit it every time. Wait. That means we hit the target. But that is the wrong target. God desires for us to set goals, raise our standards, to live with purpose, to make much of this life and to make a difference.
One sure fire way to do those things is to raise the expectations we have for ourselves, and we need to raise the expectations of others. I heard it put this way… when you raise the expectations, people will achieve more. When you lower expectations, people will do less.
I believe God is calling His church, His kids to do things with excellence and to give Him glory. Lets aim for that. Lets choose the high road. That is how God made us. Remember this…
Ephesians 2:10 NASB
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
We are created for good works. We are created by God to do more and fly higher and make a difference. The choice is yours and mine.
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