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Psalm 133:1 (Message) How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!
Romans 15:5 (Message) May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all.
GOD LOVES UNITY. What an awesome testimony to His goodness to us when His worshippers laugh together, pray together, and get down to life and ministry together. This is really a rare thing and yet a precious thing. And God says that if we DWELL in unity, He commands BLESSING. To be in unity together is a decision that we ALL have to continually make.
Fight for it. Do whatever it takes to have it because God blesses it and he responds to it. He requires it.
Colossians 3:13-14 Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Excellence Matters
We serve with excellence, because we know an excellent God, and to give Him anything but our best would be horrible. Offer Him your finest, at whatever stage your finest is at. Not what you want your finest to be, or what you wish it was, but your finest for TODAY. The testimony and impact of serving with excellence is like watching the ripple effect over the ocean - it sends waves out, touching lives in ways that you will never see. Many people think that if they just get the look right, and get to know the right people, or if they can get the sound right and sing the right
songs, then they've got the formula for "success". THAT IS SUCH A LIE. We are excellent because of Jesus Christ and ONLY because of Him. This is not about striving or struggling - this is about living for the GLORY of God. In 2 Corinthians, Paul esteems the Macedonian church for excellent living in ALL they put their hand to - INSPIRING.
Determination Matters
Don't be ruled by your feelings. As "creative" people, we are the "feelings" department, and it can be both our best and worst attribute. It's the thing that makes you brilliant, and it's the thing that will kill you if you don't place it under submission.
Isaiah 50:5-7
(Message) The Master, God, opened my ears, and I didn't go back to sleep, didn't
pull the covers back over my head. I followed orders, stood there and took it
while they beat me, held steady while they pulled out my beard, Didn't dodge
their insults, faced them as they spit in my face. And the Master, God, stays
right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like
flint, confident that I'll never regret this. (flint: 1 : a massive hard
quartz that produces a spark when struck by steel)
These scriptures show determination. I will NOT be tossed. I will NOT be moved.
I will NOT draw back because of fear, insecurity, lack of confidence, or
inadequacy in my own eyes. You have to be determined to just grab hold of
God and ask for a miracle, because He is MORE desperate for it than you are!
We need that determination to complete our mission. As part of a worship
team, we are never on a "gig" or a "show". We are on a
Heavenly mission.
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