Take your Bibles tonight and turn with me, please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. And I have a message that there's no way I can preach all in one setting, and so I'm not going to try. But I'm going to give you enough that you'll want to come back next week and you'll feel like you're going out with something to hang your hat on. I'm not going to shortchange you tonight, but I want to Bring a message that I believe will help you to understand a little bit of the of the philosophy of ministry, because I want everything that we do to be rooted in the truth of God's Word, don't you? If we can't find a basis for the things that we do in the Word of God, then maybe we ought to question whether we should be doing that at all. And so not only Can we find from God's word what we should be doing, but we can find there how we should be doing it. And I'm grateful that God didn't just ascend up into the heavens and as he was going up into the clouds, shout back down, do the best you can. I'll be back someday. You know, he gave us clear instructions. Right. And so I want us to look in God's word tonight. We're going to look in some a number of passages, but we're going to begin here in First Corinthians, chapter 15. And I want you to see in verse number fifty four. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Heavenly Father, I pray that tonight you would open the eyes of our spiritual understanding. Help us to have a biblically based way that we do the things that we do. Not only ascertain what we should do, but from your word, how we should do it. And Lord, we pray that we might see it clearly from your word revealed tonight. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. I want to bring a message titled Overcoming Mediocrity. Overcoming Mediocrity. I believe that God is calling His people to abundant Christian living. The Lord said in John chapter 10 and verse number 10, the second part, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Here the Bible says, because of the victory that is ours, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, as I talk to many people that have made a profession of faith over time, so many of them will settle into a place in. In their Christian experience, that is not the best, it's not really the worst, they just found a comfortable place. And they're quite happy in their comfort zone. You know, by definition, mediocre is not really great. It's not really bad. It's just stuck on average. It's just. It's not super abundant. The Lord has called us to abundant Christian living. Now, what does the word abundant mean? more than the minimum, more than the least requirement. You recall when Zacchaeus accepted the Lord as his savior and he was saved, the Lord said, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He went to Zacchaeus's house and Zacchaeus got saved. And he said, if I've taken from anyone falsely, I restore to him fourfold. Now, what was the requirement of the law? Restitution was twofold if you take him from someone falsely. And he said, I want to restore fourfold. You know what he said? I want because I've received mercy and grace to then turn around and give mercy and grace. I want to give more than the law requires of me. Some people are trying to figure out what the Bible says about what we should do, and they're sinking to the lowest common denominator. They just want to go along to get along. They want to do the least that they can do and still feel comfortable. And friends, my desire tonight is not to place a burden of guilt on you, but if anything, It would be to challenge you in your spirit to become all and and to understand all that God has in store for you. And I believe it's much more than what we're laying hold of. I believe that God has things in mind for us. And I'm not talking about a prosperity doctrine. I'm not talking about a name it, claim it. What I'm talking about is that I think that every day in our lives, there are things that the Lord could be using us to do. That because we have settled into a spirit of mediocrity, and I'm saying myself included, I'm not trying to stand up on the perch and talk down. We're not seizing those opportunities. To become all and to do all that God is putting in our pathway to do, you know, my heart for you, my heart for you is for you to be blessed beyond your wildest expectations. I'm like John, who wrote in was it third John that he desired above all things that that they might prosper and be in health, even as their soul prospered, you know. And he had that desire of it. And not just financially, but in every way that they would have spiritual abundance in their heart and that they would have the supply of every need at the hand of God. And that's my desire for you. I want for your homes to be blessed I want for your homes to be places where Christ is taught and where the Christian life is modeled and where you have the joy of the Lord. I sometimes think, man, if I could just somehow do something and just planted in your in your homes, I would do that. You know, occasionally I talk to people, I think I. I feel like I want them to have the joy of the Lord more than they want it for themselves. Have you ever felt that way for your children or your grandchildren or people that you know? And I tell you this, the Lord wants it for you way worse than we could ever imagine. He wants our homes to be places of joy. He wants our lives to be filled with good fruit in abundance. And yet I find that there are so many believers that they're just settling for We're kind of the least. And God has called us to be heirs of God and joiners with Jesus Christ. And he's called us to be steadfast, unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, not just not just doing the least that we can do so that we can save our conscience. Right. It's talking about abounding in the work of the Lord, and I wonder if we can truly look ourselves in the face and say, am I really abounding in God's work? I'm not talking about stressing myself out to the max by getting spread out so thin that I'm doing more than I ought to be doing that's reasonably good for me and my family, because I recognize that our ministry begins and ends at the home. But friends, if it's all at the home, then that's not a healthy arrangement, because we've got to teach our families to not just become self-centered, But to consider others, because that is the very spirit of Jesus Christ. Now, I want us to consider some things as we. Seek to overcome a spirit of mediocrity that pervades many churches in our country today. Turn back in your Bible of Romans, chapter eight, and we're going to focus in on Jesus for a few minutes. And in Romans, chapter eight, I want you to see something from a very familiar passage of Scripture, but maybe you've never quite looked at it from this angle and maybe it'll make sense to you as we read it. In verse 28, this is a verse that we can quote perhaps by memory, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, then He also called And whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God before us, who can be against us, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things. Now, folks, we have a list given to us here of all those things that Christ has done for us. And if we read one or two things off that list, any of those things alone are better than what any of us deserves, are they not? The Lord foreknew us, and then the Lord predestined us, and then the Lord called us, and then the Lord justified us. And then the Lord glorified us. And then he said, I'm going to be their advocate. I'm going to be for them. And then he said, I'll not withhold any good thing from them. Now, friends, the Lord did all of these things and he continues to super abound in grace toward us. If all he did was justify you, wouldn't that be great? That would be wonderful. But whom he justified, guess what he also did? He didn't stop right there. He didn't say, hey, that's a great gift. That's a good enough gift to give you justification by faith. That would be wonderful. But you know what? He also gave us glory, the hope of glory. that we have a glorified position with Christ. One day we'll have a glorified body. So the Lord didn't just stop and say, well, you know, that's way better than what they deserve. I think I'll just leave off there. He said, I'm going to glorify you. And then he didn't just do that. He said, why While you're on this side of heaven, I'm going to be your advocate. If God be for us, who can be against us? I'm going to be on their side. I'm going to fight for them. I'm going to advocate for them. I'll be the propitiation for their sins throughout the endless ages of eternity. And then not only that, he said, I'm not going to withhold anything from them. I'm going to freely give them everything in the world that they would ever need. Now, folks, the Lord didn't just go the second mile. He said, look, I knew you and then I predestined you and then I called you and then I justified you and then I glorified you. Then I advocated for you. And then I said, I'll give you anything on top of that that you ever might have need of. You know what the Lord did? He didn't just find the least common denominator to get you up to glory by the skin of your teeth. He said, I want to give you glory while you're on the road to heaven. I want to give you everything that you need. I want to have a relationship with you. I want to advocate for you. I am going to abound in my grace towards you, not just manifested when you get up to heaven. But from here to heaven, I want you to sense and know that my grace is in super abundance towards you. The Bible says where sin abounded, there did grace much more abound. And so the Lord has within him a spirit of abundance. Right. He gives us out of the riches of his grace and the riches of Christ Jesus. And that's how he gives to us. It's an inexhaustible supply of God's grace and kindness to man. And so that God who has a spirit of abundance lives in me. He didn't do the least for me. He did the most for me, not only because he gave his very life for me, but friends, he glorified me. He advocates for me. You see this? And then if we read on down the chapter, guess what? He loves me to boot on all of that. My friends, He didn't just do the least. He did the most. And He keeps on doing the most and abounding in His love and His mercy and grace toward us. And so as we consider overcoming mediocrity in our own lives, I want us to see the authority. And it is Jesus. Jesus is the final authority on the subject of overcoming mediocrity or settling into that which is acceptable, average, just getting by. He didn't just get us by. He gave us glory. Amen. Now, folks, this is not a message that says God wants you to drive, you know, a Maserati or a Ferrari and live in a big mansion and have a big bank account. That's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is that the Lord abounded in his grace. The Bible calls it his liberality towards us. God is liberally giving to us. He is not doing the least. He's doing the most. Now, I think in the view of that and in light of the fact that we have that kind of a savior, I wonder, how is it that we're doing the work of the Lord? Are we just trying to do the least we can? Are we just trying to get by? Are we just trying to do enough so that we don't feel guilty? Are we just trying to, you know, be a Christian that cannot bring aught against the cause of Jesus Christ? You know, where Paul said of the Corinthian believers, giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed. And we're thinking that, you know, success for me is not getting involved in bad sin and bringing reproach upon the name of Christ. You see, that's the spirit of mediocrity within the body, because we shouldn't just say success for me is not doing terrible bad sin so that I bring reproach upon Christ success for the believer that has victory over mediocrity in their life would be, look, I want to do more than the least requirement. I don't want to just abstain from fleshly lust at war against my soul, but I also want to invest meaningfully and abundantly with my hands, with my heart, with my feet, with my lips, with all that is in me by laying my life upon the altar of sacrifice, because I've been called to offer my life, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Right. And the Bible says that is my reasonable service. Some people think, oh, that's so much to ask. Man, that's going second, third, fourth file. No, the Lord said it's reasonable. That's the least you can do. Right. That's a reasonable request of the Lord. So can we say in view of that? I'm abounding in the work of the Lord, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. You know, I find that Jesus Christ willingly humbled himself and became obedient of the will of the Father. He came in accordance with the will of the Father. And guess whose will it was also? It was His will. It was Jesus' will. You see, It was his will as much as it was the will of the father. There's no divine pecking order in heaven, but we find an illustration, an example of humility in the person and work of Jesus Christ who became obedient unto death. And not just come down here and and be, you know, get some sodium penethyl put in his veins so that he could go to sleep and never wake up again. No, he suffered the most inhumane death that anyone's ever suffered, even the death of the cross. He he went further for us. If you go to the. teaching in the Gospels concerning the Lord praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in the hour of his agony as he began his passion. We discover there that he went with Peter, James and John, his inner circle, and he he left him at a place to pray. And there's a verse in the Bible that says, and he went a little further. And he went a little further. You know, every time you look at the life of Jesus, you know what you can find about him. He's doing just a little bit more for you. He's going just a little further. And sometimes I'm afraid that Christianity is not looking for an opportunity just to go a little further. We're looking for a place to stop. You know, sometimes it's, you know, hey, I'm limited means or limited time or whatever. And so we begin parsing it out. I'm so glad that God didn't parse out his grace to me. Because I would exhaust it before the next parsing of grace was given. And so the authority concerning abounding and rising above the level of mediocrity is Jesus himself, because He did more for us than we could ever imagine. He did more than he had to do. And the reason why he did it was because he loves us. And the primary reason why we would determine in our hearts to be abundant Christians is because we love him. When we look at what he's done for us, how can we not love him? And if we do love him, How can we settle into a comfort level and do the least? And do the least. You know, folks, when someone has been kind to you, when someone has been generous to you, and then at a point later on, they come and say, hey, can you give me a hand? Do you know what we often say to them? That's the least I can do. And all you've done for it's the least I can do for you. Right. And when we consider all that God's done for us. Sometimes, folks. Consider the fact that your very life is the least you can give. For all he's done for us. And so when we understand that Jesus is the example, that He's not asked us to do something that He has not done for us and that He doesn't continue to do for us, He continues to be the authority on rising above the level of the least or the average or just getting by. You see, He foreknew us. He predestined us. He called us. He justified us. He glorified us. He advocates for us. He gives us all that we may have need of. And He loves us to boot. And nothing in the world will ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. He's the authority on the subject of overcoming the level of mediocrity. I want you to see that we're called as well to serve as he has served, to love as he has loved. And that's an abundant love. That's an abundant service. I think about what the Bible says in John chapter 13, that in the last days of Jesus earthly ministry, he washed the feet of the disciples. And there's a verse in there in John 13 that says, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them to the end. He loved them to the end. He didn't stop short on any level. After He had clearly, for three and a half years, showered patience and grace and love upon these twelve men. He girded Himself with a towel and He washed their dirty feet. You see, He went a little further. He didn't just say, well, I've been the leader and I've been working as hard as they have. I've walked as far as they have in the in the dusty soil of Galilee. And so let somebody else wash my feet for a change. No. He went a little further for them. I wonder what is our spirit when it comes to service to the Lord? And I'm not trying to put anybody under a weight of guilt. I'm just trying to call to your mind some thoughts from the Word of God to stir you up in your spirit to say, have I found a place of mediocrity that I'm comfortable with? Or is God calling me to live an abundant life? to be more abundant in my love and in my service to Him than what I'm demonstrating. And it's all because of love. Because of love. Take for a moment and go to Luke 17, if you would. I want you to not only consider our authority, Jesus, but I want you to consider our allegiance, our commitment, if you would, or our allegiance to Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 17, I find one of the most difficult passages of Scripture to deal with personally. And upon reading it in just a few verses of Scripture, maybe you'll feel the exact same way that I do whenever you read it. Verse 7, which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him, by and by, when he has come from the field, Go and sit down and eat. And will not rather say unto him, make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. I don't think so. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do." We did the things that we were supposed to do. And the Lord said, count yourself an unprofitable servant. Let's apply this to the workplace for just a moment so we can maybe have some understanding. I'm talking to some people that have, through the years, demonstrated a tremendous work ethic. I know that some of you have a profound work ethic. I'm going to pick on Brother Bill for a minute because Brother Bill managed the largest bank or largest volume business bank branch in the valley for years. Now, what was it that you think made that bank branch so successful? Do you think it was location, location, location? Now, I think probably there were other banks in the valley that might have had a more prime location. Maybe you would have had bigger investors. You see, they provided all the same services that every other bank in the valley provided, didn't they? All the same investments, all the same products. They had the same brand, the same rates of interest, correct? So, they could have showed up for business. Bill could have showed up for business on Monday morning, opened the bank, put his people out there, sat down at the desk and said, we're going to do the same thing that everybody else is doing. And you know what? At the end of the month, he would count himself an unprofitable servant if that was all he did. You see, he went the extra mile. You know what he did? He got acquainted with all of his customers. He learned their names. He found out where they were. He helped them with their paperwork. He would work a teller line if it was too long. He would make sure that everything worked and that he had a personal relationship with those people. So people that moved across town still drove across the town to do their banking there. Why? He did more than the least requirement of him. And as a consequence, he had a profitable branch. That's why. Now, folks, That application is made here in this passage of Scripture, that if we just do the simple things that we know we ought to do, and that's all we do, the Lord will say, count yourself an unprofitable servant, because you've just done that which was your duty to do. Right? If you want to be profitable, you know what you do? You do more than the least required. You have to add some value in business. You have to have value added service. Do you not? Occasionally to those clients that are struggling, say, hey, look, I know the bank's not open. If you're having trouble with this, here's my number. You call me on my cell phone. If you need me in an emergency, I'm there to help you. You know what you did? You added some value to the service. Now they're dealing with a person, not a corporation. And people want to do business with people, not with a corporation. People weren't doing business with Bank of America. They were doing business with Bill Wings. Now, in the same token, friends, when people come to Freeway Baptist Church, they want someone to show an active, vital interest in them. And yet there are a lot of people that show up and they think victory for me is being here on time. Right. How many of you know what I'm talking about? That's the victory for them. But friends, God wants us to go a little further, not just say, hey, I made it. But to them, Make a meaningful investment in the life of someone else because we have a love for God. And the compassion for them, because the love of God is being shed abroad in our heart to them. You see that. And so a commitment to God is not going to just do the least. It's not just going to do your duty. But because of love, it's going to go the next mile. It's going to cause you to go a little further and say, I'm going to rise above the level of average status quo acceptability. I'm going to do all that I can for the Lord, not the least that I can for the Lord. And so we start by looking at Jesus, who is our authority, and then we examine our allegiance. Where is my commitment? And I'm going to leave off right here because that's enough for our brains to ponder for a little while tonight. But I want you to reread these passages of Scripture and see if there's some rich truth there that would stimulate your heart into a greater love for the Lord. And might that love produce a level of devotion within you that would cause you to just ascend from mediocrity into a love relationship with the Lord that's characterized by abundant Christian living. It's got to begin and end with Jesus, folks. It can't be all about you. It can't be about what you want, what you're doing, what you're thinking. It's got to begin with Jesus. He's got to be the authority. Amen. And the Lord, who is abundant, lives in you and wants to produce in you an abundant Christian life. And so as we consider the parable of our Lord in Luke chapter 17, and as we consider how the Lord went a little further for us in Romans chapter 8, may we be stirred in our spirit to perhaps consider going a little further for him. And I don't know what that means for you, but I believe the Lord will make it clear in time to come. And I think you believe that as well. And some of you already have an idea what it means. And maybe this will give you the courage to just step out. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for giving us your word, and I pray that you would encourage us from it And Lord, that we would not be hearers only, but cause that we would be doers of Your Word. Lord, we love You. We pray for each one that's here tonight, that You would bless them for their faithfulness. And Lord, I pray that they might truly abound in this Christian life. And may they experience the joy of the Lord, I pray, in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen. God bless you. You're dismissed.